Teach & Talk T-day: Jennifer Moore

Guest Post: Jennifer Moore is a writer who blogs great book reviews and such at The Write Stuff (HERE) She's also just a ton of fun.












Tyrannical Rule

This house isn’t a Democracy, 

or a Republic, 

or a Plutocracy.

It’s a Matriarchy, 

or more specifically, a Dictatorship, where a tyrant rules

—Oh, and that is me. That’s right. I don’t make any justification for commanding my underlings to do my bidding. Usually, I just don’t feel like doing it myself.

And, there are some tasks that I flatly refuse to perform.

Putting away laundry

Cleaning out the dishwasher

And making my bed. 

I hate it. 

I don’t want my bed made. 

I don’t care if it looks nice. 

Or makes my room look clean. 

Or if I have adorable throw-pillows to decorate it. 

What if I want to sit on it and read? Or write? 

Or what if somehow, the stars line up and I have 20 minutes of peace and quiet to (gasp) take a nap. I don’t want to curl up on a made bed. I like getting all comfy in the sheets, and blankets, and pillows.

I don’t like my bed made. 

But every morning, my subjects must make their beds before school. Or friends, or x-box.

But I don’t have to.

Because I am the supreme ruler of my house.

And I’m mean like that.

Friend Friday: James Duckett

Guest Post: Since age 7, James Duckett has wanted to be a writer. After not finding his true callings as a perfume salesman, fence painter, accordion player, radio DJ, and popsicle maker he has decided to refocus on being the man his 7-year-old youth wanted him to be. James is going to be a published author. Join him on the journey at www.jamesduckett.com



Keep All of Your Writing
James Duckett



I’ve been told several times that writers should never just cut large sections of their book out, but should instead save them in a file to possibly use another time. Until recently, I thought this was a mediocre idea, at best! However, it costs me virtually nothing to follow this practice so I did it anyways.

A couple of weeks ago I needed an idea for a story. So I opened up my master file of abandoned writings and started to scroll through. And there it was! An idea that I had a year ago that never panned out. This time it jumped out and spoke to me saying, “What if this setting wasn’t an island, but an alternate universe?”

And that was exactly what I needed at the time. Since then, this story has blossomed in ways it never did before. But it never would have come to fruition if I hadn’t stored what I thought was of little to no worth.

So now I drink from the “keep everything” Kool-Aid bowl! You should too!

Friend Friday: Jenn, Just Jenn

Guest Post by Jenn at Just Say Jenn. She's a writer with work in Yahoo!, Buzz Magazine, Stack Magazine, and Gather Entertainment and writes screenplays in her spare time.

The Importance of Passion and Persepective

Guest posting is hard, yo! I had to rack my brainspace and figure out what a nonsense TV writer such as myself could possibly have to contribute to this blog. So after a few boxes of wine, I decided to write about one of the biggest struggles a writer faces... taking the gigs, or following your passion?

I've been doing this for a while, and it's something I still struggle with daily. When you're first starting out in writing, you're just such an eager beaver you'll work morning, noon and night for nickels or less, just to have your name on something and your work published. I can remember days of writing about completely foolish things like “10 Ways to Tell He's In To You,” and now I have an empire firmly rooted in the “Real Housewives” franchise, I'll let you debate within yourself on whether that's actually a step up anywhere.

No writer is going to tell you they live, breathe, and die for the gigs or beat writing that is out there. We all have passions somewhere. Mine happens to be screenwriting and fiction, not “Five Things You Think Kim Kardashian is Thinking” and I wasn't getting much work done in the things I wanted to be doing. I was logging long hours writing about things I could care less about, and it was taking it's toll. A toll of the bourbon in the coffee kind...well, not really, but you know what I mean.

So that's when you have to have that hard conversation with yourself. Is it the money or the art you're in this for? Weren't we all about the art when we wrote our first story? Didn't the excitement of creating something you're in love with get you out of bed in the morning? I know at some point I was actually dreading writing. I had pictures of all of my editors on a dartboard and I was not a fun person to be around. I chose to be a writer so I wouldn't have that 9-5 feeling...

But money makes the world go 'round...a girl's gotta eat, pay her kids' soccer tuition and get her nails done, right? At what price, though? To live with a screaming banshee woman swinging from the rafters at 5pm on her third edit of, “Guess What George Clooney Had to Eat Today?” Nope. Nobody wants that life.

It's all about balance. You have to keep your mojo firing on all cylinders with the passion, while keeping your name out there and the nickels coming in. You also need to keep your perspective, too. What do you want to be known for in the end? That great novel or investigative piece or a thousand pieces of disposable content? I don't know about you, but I'm winning the 2014 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Stop laughing, I totally am.

So as you go about your writing, remember that. You should always wake up jazzed to crate something. That's what separates that from the cannibals. If you're not, take a break and find it again. It changes everything.