The Best Advice

I suppose you have heard the old saying, "Learn the rules, then and only then, can you break them." I don't know if this is true or not. I think it depends on the writer. Telling people you are writing a book is a bit like telling people you're pregnant. (Sorry guys but the moms will understand.) The moment you tell people you're pregnant the horror stories come out. I was in labor for 10 days! They had to have five men stick their hands up there and yank the baby out. I nearly died. My ankles and face swelled so much I looked like the blueberry girl from Willie Wonky. Or my personal favorite, "Once you get pregnant, you'll never be slender again." (This said while drinking two colas and eating three snack cakes.)

When you tell people you're writing a book, the horror stories start. No one under forty gets published, you might as well wait. You have to know someone or you'll never get published. You need an MFA/PhD to get published. No one will take you without an agent. Agents won't rep you unless you're published. Outline? No, it's too contrived. No outline? You'll have to rewrite the entire book~no one ever writes a good book without an outline. Then people ask what you're writing and when you tell them, they get to tell you how no one is buying that. Or how that will never sell.

Next come the questions that mirror: when are you due? Haven't you had that kid yet? Are you still pregnant? They're: when's your book come out? Have you sold it yet? Are you done writing it yet?

Finally- no matter what you decide to do just like hospital or home birth- you will do it "wrong." Sign a contract with the big six? Wrong. There will be people standing in line to tell you why your choice was bad. Decide to Self publish? Wrong. There will be just as many standing in line to tell you how bad that is. Decide on a small press? OMG! How could you do that?

If you've read this far you either know exactly what I mean, or you suspect you'll understand someday.

My best advice to writers of all stages is this: Relax, be open to learning, be open to changing as much as you comfortably can and understand that everyone's journey is different. Which means that everyone and no one is right when they give you advice. It's your journey. Have fun with it. If it's not fun, it's not worth it. Cheers~

Book review and advice to live by

I don't usually do book reviews. Why? Well, being in the business as long as I have been, I know too much. I know too many people. I've seen the tiny man behind the great and powerful OZ.

That said, I want to talk about a bio I read. It's "A Little Bit Wicked," by actor Kristin Chenoweth and Joni Rogers. I like to read bios because I like to hear other people's stories. How the people who seem so far away and famous are in fact just like us-struggling to reach their dreams. Kristin's stories are light hearted and fun. She talks about how people complain that she is just "too nice." (Something I get all the time...sigh.) The funny part is the critics only complaint about this book is that she was...yes... "too nice" and didn't get into the dirty gritty details. Please. Some people like to keep some things private. I get that. Anyway, for me this was a fun read. I'm from southern Kansas which is practically Oklahoma. I have friends in Oklahoma. I have friends who are music theater majors with opera masters degrees. For me it was like listening to a girlfriend tell stories of her life.

Why review it here, you ask? Because I want to quote her. Here is the quote I want all writers and would-be writers to hear:

"Cool Aunt Kristin's Advice for Young Actors (writers)

* It's been said a thousand times, and it's true: if there's anything else you could be happy doing, you should do that.
* Run with the big dogs or stay on the porch with the puppies but let your ambition be about WHO you want to be, not what you want to get.
* Awards are on the outside. Rewards are on the inside. That means rewards don't have to be dusted. :)
* Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
* Never, NEVER, forget the FUN factor."

Great advice for writers. Cheers!