Addicted to Writing

Manage Your Freelance Writing Career While Writing What You Love

My Productivity E-Book is Ready, Why I Like Kevin Can Wait, and Other News from The Writing Trenches

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I’m back! OK, technically I wasn’t gone. I was just waiting for my WOW! Article to go live, so that I could post a review on successful freelance writer Suchi Rudra’s e-book review as my next post.

But my article hasn’t gone live yet, and it has been too long without a post. So here it is.

– My Productivity E-book Is Finally Ready!

I’ve collected some of my favorite posts on productivity from this blog. I edited, updated, and added to them according to need, and put together a decent resource on how to become more productive. The price, should you choose to “buy” it from my blog, is your e-mail address. If you are already a subscriber, just let me know if you want the book, and I’ll email to you.

It features chapters on writing during times of mediocre health, how to make procrastination work for you, favorite books and blogs on productivity, managing your emails and more.

I’m figuring out my way through my newsletter service, and once it is ready, my book will be on the way. I’m so excited because it is my first.

Hope you enjoy it.

– I Hurt My Back: Lesson Learned About Being too Sedentary

Sunday was off to a good start. I had plenty of sleep, did a lot of formatting, did market research, evaluated my options for my novel, hung out at a favorite coffee shop, took a short walk, patted cute kittens, and overall, had a pretty good day.

I was planning for another good day with even more nature, work, and exercise. I started to pack my bag – that was the kind of good writer soldier I was being, and then, bam! I managed to strain my back without doing anything extreme. I was reaching for something from my desk and felt something weird in my lower back.

I’m guessing it is not serious because it doesn’t hurt when I sit or lie down, but it feels pretty horrible when I try to stand or walk.

Luckily, I have the right meds, I’m not alone at home, and among a knowledgeable mom, friends, and YouTube strain-relieving exercise videos, I should be fine. (That said, I’m no baby when it comes to going to the doctor. If it doesn’t go away soon, I’ll make an appointment.)

And this brings us to the sitcom starring Kevin James:

 

Kevin Can Wait
Image via CBS.

It’s been a while since my favorite, laugh-out-loud, hilarious sitcoms ended.

In case you are wondering, they are:

– Friends

– Coupling (UK, first three seasons),

– Spin City (first four seasons – until Michael J. Fox’s departure),

– 3rd Rock from the Sun (first season)

I really like Mom, and it makes me laugh a lot, but it is also a tragic show in many ways and it doesn’t make me shake with laughter like the ones above did.

Apart from Mom, I’ve seen some entertaining episodes from shows that made me smile, chuckle, or occasionally laugh hard. But none had the memorable characters, funny and original one-liners, awesome physical comedy and great storylines my favorites did.

To be honest, the first seasons of Supernatural, almost all of Damon Salvatore’s lines from The Vampire Diaries and the first seasons of Teen Wolf provide funnier and lovelier stuff than most of the sitcoms.

But sometimes, all you need is a good time, and characters that you can more or less relate to. And even though they are your severely exaggerated traits, you can’t help but enjoy yourself. I could never get into King of Queens much, but I quite like Kevin Can Wait.

It’s about an out-of-shape retired cop forced to endure his ridiculous British future son-in-law and the rest of his family’s shenanigans. Of course he and his other retired cop buddies provide more shenanigans than his entire family combined.

Not all episodes are equally funny, but the good ones are solid entertainment.

And it might be strange to relate to a married middle-aged dude with a large family, but he is clumsy, blunt, addicted to unhealthy food and an overall nice guy with no particular talents… Yep, I got my answer there. 😀

So I might as well keep a smile on myself while I wait for my back to get better.

*

What have you been up to?

 

 

Younger TV Series starring Sutton Foster: Shows with Writer Characters, Doing Crazy Stuff to Follow Your Dreams and Living Like a 20-Something…Whenever

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Younger Sutton Foster, Hillary Duff, Debi Mazar (from left)
Younger Sutton Foster, Hillary Duff, Debi Mazar (from left). Image via TVLand.

 

One of my best friends got me hooked on TVLand’s Younger, a comedy series with a lot of heart, spice, humor and an irresistible love triangle.

If you are a romantic, I recommend it. If you’re in your 20s to 50s, I recommend it. But I have to insist on watching it if you are a writer.

Here’s the plot for Younger TV series in a nutshell:

Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) is a 40-year-old, about-to-be-divorced mom with a daughter doing a semester abroad in college in India. She lives with her lesbian best friend (yes, this is an important plot point) Maggie (Debi Mazar).

Liza is eager to get back to work in publishing after a 15-year hiatus. Unfortunately, even her Dartmouth degree can’t save her from the agism and prejudice toward her resume. But when a hot younger guy named Josh (Nico Tortorella – The Following) hits on her assuming she is around his age, Maggie’s inspired to give her friend a makeover. She has the looks and the body. All she needs is a crash course in pop culture, and she is good to go.

Younger Josh (Nico Tortorella) and Liza (Sutton Foster)
Younger’s Josh (Nico Tortorella) and Liza (Sutton Foster). Image via deadline.com.

Soon enough, Liza lands a job as a marketing assistant under the tough 40-something Diana (Miriam Shor) who has a clear disdain for millennials. She is soon taken under the wing of Kelsey (Hillary Duff), a millennial junior editor and she can’t resist dating the lovely Josh.

Now she is working, working out, partying and dating like a 26-year-old. Can she keep this up? Oh, and then there is her divorced, hot 40-something boss Charles (Peter Hermann) who thinks Liza is wonderful. Can she keep it up?

Younger Charles (Peter Hermann)
Younger Charles (Peter Hermann). Image via pinterest.

Why Watch Younger?

As a 32-year-old – which makes me an older millennial – it is not that hard for me identify with the “old folk.” In fact, my social media knowledge and love for going out to dance aside, it is often easier to feel more at home with the pains and jokes of the 40-somethings. I’ve always been a fan of reading paper books, and movies and music from the 80s and 90s.

Of course some of it is exaggerated for comedy and it works. But mostly, the show is just blunt and sincere. Even its more extreme characters are people we have run into at some point in our lives. Some of it characters, we’d just love to run into. (Charles and Josh, anyone? And Maggie is literally one of the best people you could have in your corner.) Diana is hilarious with her strict bitch mode, and we root for Liza all the way. Yes, there is a ton of things she could have tried to maintain a certain form of career at home, but she was too busy raising a kid, dealing with a gambling and cheating husband. And sometimes life gets in the way.

The show is the ultimate anthem for breaking the rules that don’t make sense or just seem to serve as annoying roadblocks in your way. And that you are never too old to pursue your dreams, find yourself and find love.

And let’s face it. Love triangles are a lot more fun when you don’t mind either side winning. Although no one is perfect and some episodes in season 3 seem determined to paint Liza as the one with most flaws, I can honestly say I’m a bit more in love with Charles as a character than Josh. Yes, Peter Hermann’s Charles seems like an even more evolved version of Mr. Darcy – a tall hunk with no social interaction problems, a loving father, a romantic who loves Berlin (the band) and someone who reads…

Let’s watch on to see all of these characters’ adventures.

Writer Characters in Younger

Technically, Liza works in marketing. But she is in publishing, reads a ton, and she gets to write and edit for a couple of authors in some of the episodes. We also see a lot of authors and can learn a few things about what not to do when you are signing with a serious publishing house.

Also, nothing quite sets a fire under our writing asses to see the publishing world up close. And we can only work to be one of the most celebrated authors of a publishing house like theirs.

*There might be affialite links in the post.

 

 

 

 

 

On Happy Endings and Why I Rarely Kill My Characters in my Stories (And Why Black Mirror Isn’t My Kind of Show)

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Spoiler Alert. The post contains spoilers about the following movies: (And there are aff. links in the post.)

Black Mirror is a great show, make no mistake. It’s engrossing; you can’t take your eyes from it. The quality of production is top-notch, and the stories show how technology often takes our flaws, obsessions or inhumane qualities one step further. So each episode tends to be extremely depressing. Ergo, it is not for me.

 

Strange Days image via Amazon.

I need a bit of light in things that I watch. One of my favorite movies is Strange Days from 1995, which is not a happy movie in general. It takes place in a brutal 1999 where a technology allows people to get high on other people’s experiences. Since you feel everything yourself, it has turned into the most addictive drug. And it’s illegal. Disenchanted ex cop Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) makes a living selling these tapes, and people either go for the overly violent or sexual. He is obsessed with his ex girlfriend, hooker Faith (Juliette Lewis), and his only friend is Mace (Angela Bassett), who is a kickass limo driver that often has to save his sorry ass from trouble. With a Los Angeles that is out of control and a serial killer on the loose who is making his victims watch their own killing, it is a dark movie. But it is also a lot of fun, and there is love, action, hope and friendship. And friendship and love win. I can’t recommend the movie enough. I’ve seen it more times than I can count, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

The Broken Circle Breakdown. Image via youtube.

One of my least favorite movies is The Broken Circle Breakdown. A friend of mine fell in love with this movie, and even though I loved some parts of it, it depressed me so badly, I was swearing at the writers at some point. I’m not saying the movie isn’t good. It’s just so emotionally raw that you feel like you have a big hole in your soul, just like the characters do. And I don’t like to feel depressed. I suffered from depression, my dear readers, and I’m not good with characters who don’t try to deal with it. And by deal with it, I mean actual therapy! You can’t just fix yourself after losing your child! And these are freaking musicians from a well-developed country. I’m pretty sure they could have found the means from their government (Belgian!) OK, I’m calm, now. J

They destroy each other with their pain. They grow distant instead of supporting each other. Go ahead and watch the movie, and let me know if you left the movie with joy.

Surprise, surprise, I hate unhappy endings. Sure, you might say, your favorite movie Braveheart has the protagonist dying after being betrayed by his closest ally. Yeah, but he also impregnated a princess that seemed determined to take over the kingdom and that betraying ally decided to win the war in his honor. So sure, he died, but nothing he did was in vain. And while he was alive, what a life that was!

Mel Gibson in The Man without a Face
Mel Gibson in The Man without a Face. Not the movie poster, but you needed to see the face. Image via movie-rouletteç

The Man without a Face showed McCloud (Mel Gibson), whose face is so badly burned that he is referred as a freak, being excluded, judged and blamed, but he turned Norstadt (Nick Stahl) into an achiever. He gave him a father figure. He gave him an excellent mentor, teacher and best friend. And the end? The end is at the very least semi-happy.

Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, The Crow. Image via movieweb.
Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, The Crow. Image via movieweb.

The Crow has Draven (Brandon Lee) take his revenge, make peace with Sarah, die happily to be with his dead love of his life forever. Happy! He was already dead when the movie began, so I wasn’t exactly sad when he went back to his grave.

My point? Don’t give me a love story where the couple loses a kid, and one of them dies. Thank you!

*

Maybe this is why I tend to write romantic comedies and dramas. This is why I rarely kill off a character. There have been no villains in my stories so far. Maybe jackasses and assholes, but that’s about it.

I’ve killed two characters in a total of five screenplays (three finished, two in the works): One was dead practically before the story began; his death was the catalyst for three characters’ actions, and the other was a supporting character whose death, while tragic, was necessary for one character’ growth. And while my characters go through a lot dealing with these deaths, it doesn’t define them. It doesn’t take my story into a direction so bleak that my viewer/reader will get depressed alongside them. Feel sad? Yes. Desolate? No.

It would probably come as no surprise to you that I love reading John Grisham and Lee Child. The main character almost always lives. They might not always get a happy ending, but the stories give me enough adrenaline and serotonin that I don’t mind (a lot).

I’m not saying I won’t ever kill off many characters. I’m not saying I won’t ever write a thriller or action movie. I’ve been dreaming of finding brilliant thriller premises ever since I was a kid. But I haven’t found the right idea. Yet.

*

Here’s the thing: Life is full of pain, death and destruction. It is also filled with love, happiness and hope. I don’t need to be reminded of the first that often. News, politics and our own lives provide enough of that. On the other hand, I don’t mind overdosing on the positive stuff.

How do you like your endings?

 

 

2016 in Writing: The Best of This Blog, Year in Review, and Goals for 2017

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This post contains affiliate links.

As I’m writing this post, it is 3.45 pm, and it’s snowing heavily outside. Power is out for the second time, and I’m just glad we live on the sixth floor of a seven-storey apartment. (My intolerance of heights disappears when there are floods everywhere, and I’m just glad we are safe, warm and dry.)

2016 has been a weird year, to say the least. I’ve had personal and professional ups and downs, as well as financial ones. I’m not going to talk about what a terrible year it has been on a global scale. We all know what happened. News and social media feeds and friends’ updates, and even our favorite cartoons, constantly reminded us that the world had become even more dangerous than many of us knew.

Best of 2016 for This Writer

Let’s not mock anyone who feels 2016 has been the worst year ever. If they live in a country where terrorism attacks have increased, it might truly be the worst year ever.

Now that we acknowledged that, below are some of my highlights:

  • I finally decided on the theme and launch date of my travel blog.
  • I was published on The Washington Post’s Solo-ish blog.
  • I took some great courses on advancing my writing and my writing career.
  • I started to stick to some of my earlier resolutions.
  • I read some great books.
  • I’ve made some important decisions to make 2017 different in a terrific way.
  • I was active on some amazing FB groups, made great connections and friends.
  • I started cold-pitching.
  • I responded to calls for submissions, meaning I wrote according to a given theme and sold two articles in this vein.

Some of My Favorite Movies of the Year:

Favorite Novels

Favorite Series (That Premiered in 2016)

  • This is Us
  • Bull
  • Good Behavior (My review on my entertainment blog.)
  • Designated Survivor

Plans and Goals for 2017

  • Train my Dragon Dictate: Apparently, there is a book on it. My hands hurt, but typing has always been my favorite method of getting my point across and recording those points.
  • Move, move, move! I plan on getting a gym membership or taking regular dance classes again. I’m particularly interested in zumba.
  • Travel, travel, travel. I haven’t been aboard since 2015, and I’m itching.
  • Pitch, pitch, pitch! This goes for both fiction and non-fiction. Gina Horkey’s 90 Day Pitching Challenge was an awesome prompt in the right direction, but I still have some organizing to do. I haven’t been able to keep up with the 10 pitches-a-day goal. I fully plan to this year.
  • Eat more healthily. If I can’t eat perfectly healthily, I will at least add healthy stuff to make the relatively less healthy better. For instance, to keep my blood sugar level in check, I’ll have some nuts with your dark chocolate. Advice borrowed from one of my country’s top nutritionists.
  • Launch my first e-book on productivity.
  • Take on more coaching work
  • Respond the more submission calls.
  • When you are taking a course, actually apply the sound advice.

2016’s Top Posts on the Blog

  • How Not To Pitch An Editor: Be Vague and Impatient. Pitching is our bread and butter. Whether you’re looking to guest post, apply for a staff writing job or pitching ideas, you need to know your pitching etiquette. I offer two of the most important things to avoid with real life examples.

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That is it. What about you? What are your favorite moments of 2016? What are your goals and plans for 2017? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

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