They Taped Over Your Mouth

I will never understand why people are the way they are.  There are these habits that seem to be engrained in people's heads and despite their best efforts to try and get rid of them or improve themselves, they can't.  Maybe it has to do with what my co-worker was talking about, working on strengths and trying to develop them.  I know that a character that is completely without weakness is a terrible idea (I know Mary-Sues were always bad in the role-playing game world - ick.) but sometimes it isn't easy to create a character that is believable and not a walking cliché (Thank you Professor Westermann).

But people have these quirks and ticks that make them "normal" by societies standards.  And then there are the ones that are weird or strange, something that seems to be a completely relative term to anyone who is looking at a person.  So, how as a writer, do you approach this?  Does it have to do with how you personally view something or do you go with the social norms?  It's the kind of thing that seems to make my brain hurt.  A lot.  

But it's Alright, I'm Alright, Just Dance

Who knew that talking to a good friend and dance music could make it better?

Apparently not me.  After having one of those up and down days, it took a long conversation with someone and a random dance mix on my iPod seemed to make me feel better.  It might be cheesy, but it works.  So where are the stories about that?  About friends that keep us grounded and sane when every little things seems to be going wrong?  Maybe they're all in the Young Adult or Teen section, but even if they are, I think that the rest of the world need it too.  Like a mini ego boost, to see that there are people out there that are exactly like you and your friends.  Granted, I'm not the best at writing these kinds of stories, but a girl can dream, right?  

And on that note and with this very short, more personal entry, I head to bed.

So Wrap Around Me and Baby, Let's Dance

It seems that I have discovered something. The more emotionally involved I feel in a story, in a character, the more it sticks with me.  (Okay, so that part isn't news to me, but here is the good stuff, I promise.)  But if I'm too invested, if I think too much about the characters, what I want them to do, or if I put too much of myself in them, I never seem to finish what I'm working on.  I was writing the other day to a lyrical prompt I gave myself about a girl who just found out about a friend's engagement.  Since that had happened to me that day (literally an hour or so before), I couldn't finish it.  It wasn't something I wanted to read, let alone write.  This whole thing is trial and error; I suppose that makes each error a learning experience and I should just chalk it up to that.  

Disappointment is an emotion I seem to be feeling a lot lately.  Not just in regards to work, though that's there, but in regards to family, friends, finances.  As good as things are, there are still life's disappointments. Someone didn't come over when they said they would.  Another friend decided to go someplace without you.  A family member forgot your birthday.  Your good friend wasn't sympathetic when you needed he or she to be.  But sometimes you need to store that away for another day.  Sometimes it's just not the time for that story about the girl who's friends all seem to be getting married or having babies.  Maybe now isn't that time for a novel about a young woman holding out for her soulmate.  Maybe now is the time for stories about finding love or starting fresh.  Maybe if you write about what you want to happen, about positive things (not personal things), it'll be easier.  Or maybe it'll be that day to write something that makes you cry, just so you get it out and can move on.