Dear Canada, Who Are You?

I love blogspot.

For one, it's got a simple setup.

For two, I can follow all my favorite bloggers on one easy page.

And lastly, it shows the statistics of where your readers come from.

Most of you are from the U.S. Big surprise, haha!

But there's also some internationals out there.

Hi France and Switzerland! I know who you are and I love you.

Hi Malaysia (I think)! I believe I also know who you are.

But there's also a reader from Canada.....

This gets me confused. Obviously, most of you come from my Facebook...but I thought I only had two friends who live in Canada...and they usually prefer Twitter or other social sites. Besides, I don't think they'd be that interested in this blog.

So this got me thinking...do I have a reader from an outside source? Or are you, my dear Canadian reader, actually so far north in Washington, Maine, New York, or Minnesota that it looks like you're from Canada? This is all a mystery to me...

Dear Canada, who are you?

Also, readers, feel free to comment. There's an anonymous option if you're really that shy.

In other news, I hope you already found that nifty iPod touch over there ---->

A good friend of mine, who is also a writer and a blogger, added one to hers and, being the Copycat that I am, I had to get one for myself. (If she gives me permission, then I'll link you to her blog cuz she's got a bit more writing stuff on hers than I do. And, also, she's basically amazing.) It's some of my favorite music and I'll probably be adding more to it as time goes on.

Meanwhile, I do have an actual subject for you today.

A few days ago, I went to a cast party for a show I stage managed at my old high school last semester. It took me a while to get into the party mode, and then we headed to the pool. I know, it always seems like the greatest ideas happen in the pool.

Originally, I hadn't been planning on going swimming. I didn't bring a bathing suit cuz I'd just gotten off a 9 hour shift. But someone lended me and extra and in I went. For a while we just paddled around, blah blah blah.

There was, of course, some testosterone filled teenage boy who felt the need to push everyone into the water. And that's just what he decided to do to me. Eight feet of water is a long way down for someone who isn't a very strong swimmer. It took a while for me to surface and as soon as I did, there was that same kid in a wrestling match with another boy and they fell plop on top of me. Eight feet again.

The rest is kind of a blur, but I think that someone grabbed me and pulled me up. I just remember surfacing again and going on like nothing had happened.

But the next day, I was sitting on the couch and that's when inspiration hit.

I told you that I've been sort of mulling over my next book. This one is supposed to be dark and edgy. Well, in any book, or at least in mine, there is always the question of how the two main characters (love interests in this case) going to meet?

Somehow that experience in the pool had more impact than I had initially thought (get it? Impact... heh heh). It seemed like the perfect time for something like this to happen...at least in the context of this book.

The point I'm trying to make is that if you're writing, you have to actually listen to your fourth grade English teacher: "Write from what you know." It's so true because books are written for humans, all of whom experience similar emotions and can relate to something on a basic level. That's why we love them so much. And next time you're reading, also remember that if you feel like you understand how a character feels absolutely and completely, then the author probably went through what you're going through.

That's my way of making the world a little smaller today. :)

--Bianca

Literary Contractions

It's quite funny how when you're in the writing mode, inspiration can come from the strangest of places.

Three years ago, when thinking up ideas for a project I wanted to create for my best friend, all it took was a piano player, who was so dedicated to his work that it was positively moving.

Before that, when recreating the idea of Cinderella, it took a documentary of women of the Medieval court.

And even earlier, for my very first full length pet project, a simple line came from the top of my head while I was daydreaming. That one line became the basis for an entire story.

So my current project...the one that has caused me so much joy and grief over the past few years...where did the inspiration come from that?

Cracker Barrel.

Here me out, now. It wasn't the comfort food restaurant itself that provided the inspiration. Rather, it was while I was staring out the window by the table I was sitting at with my parents. A shooting star fell across the sky and it seemed as if something in my mind clicked. I gave a meaning, a name, to that star. And soon an entire story came.

Whilst I cannot reveal the plot of my story (because anything can be public domain on the interwebz) what I can say is that it involves that star.

What brings me to talking about inspiration tonight? The idea actually came across my mind while toiling away at work today. In my hayday of writing, inspiration used to come every few hours, if not closer together. I like to refer to them as literary contractions. They're there for a fleeting moment, and the more you have them, the closer you get to having a baby--in this case, a story of your own making.

Alas, the inspirations were not always that great. In fact, they hardly ever were. My mind would sometimes be concentrating so hard on these, that I forgot to create the world that surrounded it. My old harddrive can attest to all the few paragraph writings that I did, with just a brief explanation or quote of what I had thought about.

A "good" idea came only once in a blue moon. But when it did, it was quite difficult for me to create anything else outside of this world. The literary contractions stopped, and the words began to push.

I started the story I'm currently working on in late 2007 (or maybe sometime in 2008...it's all begun to run together). It was written concurently with the story for my very best friend, being pushed to the wayside while I concentrated on that. Obviously, a great deal of time has passed, and only a couple hundred pages (whilst a great feat) have been written so far.

And I realized today that I haven't had an inspiration since this story began its inception. To me, that makes this story of such a higher importance than I had initially thought.

So my message to all of you? Well, like it's said "anyone can write a blog"... I'm not going to try and retool that to "anyone can write a story" because, to be perfectly honest, that's not true.

What I will say, however, is that, whatever your passion is, whatever makes your heart beat a little bit faster just thinking about...look for the inspiration. If it comes frequently, play with it. And once you have something that sticks, you'll know it.

Pleasant dreams, dearest reader.

--Cici