Bullying's toll

I'm usually a fairly happy-go-lucky person. I don't dwell for too long on the bad stuff in life, and I think I have pretty solid coping mechanisms. When I heard the news that Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide after an encounter he had with another man was put up on the web without his knowledge or permission, I shuddered.

Then came Ellen's plea on TV about anti-gay bullying, and I began to pay more attention. On the heels of these two tales, the Minneapolis Star Tribune just had a front page story about schools struggling with how to deal with anti-gay bullying after seven, yes SEVEN, students committed suicide IN THE LAST YEAR in one metro district alone.

Double-take. WHAT?! I certainly don't live with my head in the sand, but holy cow, I was, and still am, shocked. So. What does this have to do with writing?

As writers we use words to evoke many emotions, and have the ability to make people feel certain ways. One writer, Julie Ann Peters, uses her stories as a launchpad for numerous social issues. One of her books, By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead, directly addresses the issue of youth bullying and suicide. I know there are many other books out there that take on bullying of all kinds, and I applaud those who use their writing magic to expose issues like this, issues that are so easily overlooked.

This unfortunate situation serves to remind me that, as an author, the topics we pick and the choices we make in our stories can make a huge difference to our readers, and can go so far as to be a tie-breaker between death and life. As I travel along my writing journey, I'm going to remember that. No one needs to feel like they are going through this kind of thing alone. There is help and there is hope.

Jessie

www.jessiechandler.com

Bingo Barge Murder May 1st, 2011

Goals and Dreams

Last year I watched with amusement as Ellen DeGeneres set out to entice the elusive George Clooney onto her television show. She eventually succeeded. This year Ellen set her goal to be on the cover of Oprah’s magazine. It was almost too easy. Then Ellen needed a new goal.

Goals are a very hot topic in life. We all know about New Year’s resolutions, which are just a different term for goals. Weight loss is always associated with targets or goals. And who hasn’t been asked in a job interview about their short term and long term career goals?

Writers talk a lot about goals. Some make themselves sit for a certain amount of time each day, writing words—whether they’re publishable words or not. Others force themselves to write a certain number of words per day, no matter what. Ever wonder if some days they write #*!!**# over and over?

Often writers give themselves one year (or two or more) to finish a book. They talk less about what the term “finish” means. Is it 80,000 words, perfected, proofread and ready to publish? Or is it an unedited stream of narrative, description and dialog that will need another year (or more) of revisions before it can be marketed?

When I decided to write a book, my goal was to write a mystery that a publisher recognized by Mystery Writers of America would deem worthy of publication. (Note that my goal was not to be published—that’s a goal fraught with peril, IMHO). For Better, For Murder will be released in September. For Richer, For Danger will follow in 2010. The third book in the series is ready for market, too.

Now I need a new goal. It can’t be too easy, like the Ellen/Oprah magazine cover. And it has to be measurable, reasonable, and attainable. Otherwise, it’s not motivating, and a goal should be motivating. And fun, because life should be fun.

I could write more books in this series. That would be fun, because I love these characters. They talk to me in the shower and the car and sometimes even when someone else is talking to me. But I don’t see any point to it yet, so it’s not motivating. Maybe if the sales on my first book go wild by year end, I’ll get busy on book four. Still, I need a goal now.

I could set a goal to write a different standalone book or series. Now here’s the rub. I don’t feel like it. Plus the characters from my Broken Vows mystery series might get jealous and stop talking to me.

I’m thinking about a goal to write a saleable screenplay. I have no experience or training in writing one of those either. But I love movies almost as much as books and I bought a book on how to write screenplays. That’s a start. And I understand and appreciate formulas, which seems to be what Hollywood is sticking to at the moment. Who can blame them? Formulas work.

And if my screenplay should by some miracle get the green light, maybe I could get Ellen to set a goal to entice George Clooney to star in the movie.

Dream big, right?!