Paint & Memory

"The headdress was formed in the shape of the ridges of a conch shell in seven graded bands, and was made using Flexicast with a powdered dye mixed through, and then hand-painted."

CHRIS HEMSWORTH as THOR ODINSON

I am totally somewhere in the "This is hard!" or "I don't know s***" zones right now (and it's where I stopped last time.) On this second go-around, I won't let it defeat me, though! Been reading little advice tidbits here and there that have been really, really helpful.

A few gems from a great discussion about the purpose of a draft that spoke to me:

Q. What makes you keep writing your first draft even though it's a complete mess?

I. Being a complete mess is the one and only job of the first draft. Proof of life. Keep going. It's like moving, which is the world's single worst activity. You box up every fucking thing in your head, and set it all out in your new space, and it's the worst day of your life when you do. And the satisfaction of moving all those boxes and finishing the laborious work is fleeting because now your new space looks like absolute garbage, and it will keep looking like a cluttered unlivable mess for months and you know it and you wonder why you even bothered moving. But you slowly unpack and organize and hang things on the wall until one day you're living in the home you always imagined.

II. Think of the mess as a puzzle that you get to have fun solving.

III. It's only a mess compared to other things you've read. But other things you've read are finished.

Stop comparing your work in progress to finished works.

It takes months or even years to finish most stories (excepting short stories and maybe novelettes). You're not going to get there on your first draft, or your second, or even your third. So, according to the words of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, "Don't be afraid to write crap. Crap makes great fertilizer."

IV. Writing anything is an accomplishment. So many people think about, talk about, post about writing… and never do. (shush, I know I'm guilty of that at this moment!!)

Set a daily goal (words, pages, whatever). Hit it each day and take pride in JUST THAT accomplishment. It will get easier each day to reach that goal it as it becomes a habit rather than a chore.

Your story can't just exist in your head, it has to be given form. Writing it will gradually, eventually reveal what you can keep, what you must refine, and what you need to mercilessly cast away. If it's only in your head, it ALL exists, good, bad, and mediocre. Putting it in words starts the process of separating it from your mind and ego, and will start to give you some detachment and perspective for further drafts. It might start as a mewling little lump of words that drools and vomits and shits itself but by GOD you are going to raise… er, revise… that story into a fine figure of a tale.

You don't need to diminish yourself in order to make others feel good about themselves.

You can compliment someone else without insulting yourself. In fact, demeaning yourself will probably make it more difficult for the other person to accept the compliment.

You also don't need to disparage your own abilities in order to give someone else confidence. You can be a capable person and support other capable people.

Compliment: You write such great angst! I was in tears after that last chapter. Compliment + self-insult: I could never write angst like you. Mine never has that gut-punch that yours does.

Compliment: You look gorgeous! That's such a pretty colour on you. Compliment + self-insult: I wish I had your fashion sense. I just wear whatever smells clean.

Compliment: This piece is awe-inspiringly good! How long did it take you?? Compliment + self-insult: Your art is so much better than mine. I could practice for a million years and never get close to this.

The thing about insulting yourself while complimenting someone else is that you might think that you're making your compliment sound that much better because you're increasing the distance between their level and yours. But what you're actually doing is refocusing your compliment away from them and onto you and your insecurities.

Maybe they'll notice and maybe they won't, but you will. Eventually, all of the insults you've given yourself will make you feel bad about that other person's skills and now, instead of a mentor or a colleague you have someone you're jealous of. Or at least, that's how it tends to go for me.

Tokyo’s subway system is arguably one of the most complex in the world. The map itself can be an immediate turn-off for any unfamiliarized straphangar. But exactly how do all these lines run underground, overlapping as they carry hundreds of thousands of passengers each day?