One: I was a tall and skinny kid with fantasies of looking like a bodybuilder, and I’ve been thinking of a fundamental misunderstanding that kept me that way. I’d follow the tips bodybuilders gave other bodybuilders about targeting certain muscles, but what I needed to be doing instead was working the large muscle groups. That would have set the foundation upon which all the detail work could be applied, and without that foundation, I wasn’t ever going to see the results I wanted.
The trouble was that I was “eavesdropping” on people who had already done that foundation work. Their focus was on what they needed, not what I needed, and I was too ignorant to know the difference.
We need to find that advice that applies to us where we are.
Two: I’m a fan of the one-panel comic, and a key to their success is the artwork tells a story that is then reinterpreted by the writing underneath. If the comic is just a talking head saying something funny, it surrenders much of its power.
If we squint hard enough to apply this to fiction writing, it could be interpreted different ways. It could be action within the mise-en-scène that reinterprets and is reinterpreted by the dialogue. It could be the narrative voice set against the voices of the characters. However we apply it, a contrast in narrative elements can reveal things to the reader that need never be directly addressed.
Three: I’m a tall, fat, middle-aged man, but I’m trying to get back in shape. As I wade into the proverbial shallow-end of working with weights, I feel my muscles wanting to lift. If I have a quiet moment, my body is eager for the next dumbbell.
I’m experiencing my body differently, but none of that is visible. I look the same, and while pondering that phenomenon, something struck me.
I didn’t get fat by focusing on the end result. I got fat because I enjoyed the process of getting fat. If I want to get back into shape, I need to focus on enjoying the process. Do that, and the results will take care of themselves.
The greatest advice we can give ourselves:
Enjoy.
—Thaddeus Thomas
Yes that makes a lot of sense.
So true! If I wanted to be skinny, I wouldn't eat Cheezits washed down with peach-flavored water. If I wanted to be as famous as Tolstoy, I'd write more, better.