The Treasures Inside You

Take a left at the spleen.

Note: For some reason, Substack defaults to only letting paid subscribers comment, and I went with it because… easy. But the more I think about it, the more I don’t like it. As of this post, commenting is open to everyone; have at it!

THE INSPIRATION: Treasures inside you

“Do you have the courage? Do you have the courage to bring forth this work? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”

—Elizabeth Gilbert, quoting poet Jack Gilbert, in Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

In the first season of “Big Strong Yes,” Dr. Kelly Jones and I read three books, one of them “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book wasn’t just about creativity, but living a creative life, and figuring out how to do that. I highly recommend it.

This quote stood out to me when we started talking about “Big Magic,” and I still think about it from time to time. It’s the call to courage, and the promise of treasure. It’s how many stories begin. Do you have the courage for this adventure? Do you understand that the treasure you are hoping to find is actually inside of you, wanting expression and realization in the world?

And it is a treasure that, once created, gives itself to everyone else who might stumble across it. It is infinite, and it is inside of you, waiting to be let loose.

THE FAT ORANGE CAT: It’s a lot

We have three cats.

That’s too many cats.

Look, I know there are people who have 17 cats and if that’s not too many cats for them, then that’s not too many cats. For them. Three are too many for me, and for my beloved, who also agrees that we have too many goddamn cats.

He had one. I had two. We feline Brady Bunched this whole thing hard, and now it is what it is, but what it is is too many.

So today’s FOC is about quantity. One of your characters has too much of something. What is it? How is it making them maybe a little crazy?

Is it perhaps that they purchased a $500 litter robot for their too many cats, and then it scared their cats who now refuse to use it, so your character bought like five other not inexpensive boxes to underwhelming results and then they read somewhere that cats prefer shallow litter boxes so they pulled a $10 underbed plastic storage box out from the garage and filled it with litter and now all the little shits put all their daily votes in that ballot box while the expensive boxes and a $500 robot go untouched? And maybe your character is feeling a little frustrated by and resentful of that extremely expensive turn of events?

Not based on a true story.

The “Get Your Stuff” link will bring you to an item I selected specifically to accompany this post, but you do not have to buy that thing in order to support me. Just keep popping through Amazon and buy the stuff you were going to buy anyway.

THE TROPE: Bad Boy Writing Devices

There are a lot of writing devices, which I would also define as tropes, that I slam on my podcasts. The reality is, like other tropes, the devices themselves—voice over, flashback, prologue—are not bad in and of themselves, but only frequently used for purposes other than story purposes; they tend to serve writer purposes. I consider them the “bad boy” writing devices; so appealing, yet so easy to go bad.

So today, we’re going to talk a bit about voice over. I’ll get to the other bad boys in future newsletters.

VOICE OVER

WHAT IT IS: Voice over, for instance, is a visual medium writing device that allows a writer to give narration to a character who then speaks over the visuals we are seeing. But the reasons why VO goes bad also can apply to dialogue within a story.

WHY IT GETS A BAD REP: VO is a huge part of the film noir aesthetic, and it’s really not that different from a first-person novel, or expository dialogue from a character, which is basically all voice over. Where it goes bad is when a writer puts in voice over so that the character can explain something (exposition) to the audience.

HOW TO GET IT RIGHT: Voice over is an aesthetic tool, not an expository one. When you use it as a quick fix to get information to your audience—telling, not showing—it can come off as forced, boring, and inelegant. VO (and dialogue in novels) should be a tool used to access character and move the story forward, not a cheat to get past the challenges of show, don't tell. Sometimes exposition is necessary, and sometimes you may have to use expository methods, but be sure you know you’re doing it, and make it as brief as possible.

THE QUESTION: Building readership

“New-ish to Substack, and I wonder: Have you found any particular tech/social/magic levers helpful to pull while building your readership? Or is that slow ‘organic’ growth the only answer?”

—Substack Newish-bie

Dear SN,

Wow, did you ever ask the wrong person. All of my growth is always slow and organic, because I am terrible at promoting myself, and I am terrible at asking people for things. I was admitted into a program called Substack Grow, where the good people at Substack kind of take you through the process of building a solid newsletter, promoting it, and making it profitable, and I’m learning. But I think the big answer to your question—and mine—in all areas of entrepreneurship is… ask.

I recently read Amanda Palmer’s “The Art of Asking” and it made me super uncomfortable on a lot of levels, many of which have to do with internalized misogyny which results in a woman who is secure in her own value making me twitch a little, but that’s between me and my therapist.

Bottom line, I think Amanda’s right.

You just have to ask.

You have to ask that people share your Substack. You have to ask that people feature you on their podcast. You have to ask that people support you monetarily if they get value out of your work.

I am perfectly dreadful at it. Putting the little buttons in this newsletter damn near killed me, but the thing is, if you don’t click on them, there’s no social discomfort. You don’t have to say no… to my face.

<shudder>

I think it’s my combined fear of rejection and fear of success that make it a particularly sticky wicket for me, but 2022 is going to be my year. I’m going to do the things I want to do, and I’m going to ask for support while doing them. Some people are going to say no, and that’s okay. I’m going to come up with three new asks every week, and goddamnit, I’m going to ask.

I’ll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck.

And good luck to you.

Everything,

L

Note: Any letters sent to me will be copy-edited if I use them. I will never, ever, ever change your meaning, but if a period is missing or a comma is out of place or a word is misspelled, please understand… I literally cannot help myself. I do this all day at the day job and apparently it’s been absorbed into my being, like permanent car grime stuck under a mechanic’s nails. I like to think that, like the mechanic, it gives me a hint of charm and character.

I might be wrong about that, but it can’t be helped, so please, in this one instance… leave me to my delusions and understand that clicking the Ask Me link constitutes copy-editorial consent.

THE PRACTICAL: What I learned from watching Buffy

I finished recording my last “Still Pretty” episode on Saturday (it’ll be in the feed tomorrow) and it still feels weird, to not be talking about Buffy anymore.

So to stave off the nervous sweats that happen when I have to think about who I am if I’m not the Buffy lady, I want to talk to you about Five Things Buffy Taught Me About Writing.

1. Watching people change is at the heart of fiction. Stories create meaning, and meaning comes from change. Characters that go through a thing and come out the other side different people are characters we can relate to and learn from. It’s also incredibly satisfying storytelling.

2. If it’s easy, it’s not interesting. Sometimes, writers turn to fiction because they want a break from the harsh realities of real life, and they want to write a character where everything goes right for them. There is no greater fictional snooze than that. Show them how a character faces adversity, falters, and then triumphs, and you’re cooking with gas.

3. Love stories are delightful. I’m not going into the whole Angel vs. Spike thing. I’m talking about love stories. The love story between Willow and Buffy, between Buffy and Giles. Between Willow and Magic. Between Spike and food. Connecting a character with something they love a great way to have fun and create fun for your readers.

4. Pain is important. The things that cause us pain matter. In real life, sometimes, they’re too painful for us to face. But a character’s pain can help us access and process our own. It’s one of the most sacred functions of fiction.

5. Perfection is boring. If you view your characters as real, flawed people, you’ll write them that way. No human is perfect, and no one wants to read about characters who are perfect. The more scuffed up and grimy they are internally, the better traction your story gets with them.

I may have to start another watch-through.

Everything,

L