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Showing posts from 2017

Reconciliations

Jane and I have getting along better this year. At the beginning of this month Richard and I saw Coco. It's a great movie about how a boy ends up going to the spirit world on Dia de les Muertos (the Day of the Dead). The movie made Richard and I cry a lot. The movie highlights the importance of family and passing on stories about those who have passed on. The movie had me wondering about my Grandpa Gabbert, who passed away before I was born. I also thought about Dad and my Uncle Harold. My Aunt Rita loves to tell stories about her husband. They had a wonderful marriage. One of her favorite stories to tell me was how they'd talk every night with no distractions. It made both Richard and I were both curious about our relatives. The next day I emailed the most knowledgeable people in my family; Grandma Sally, Aunt Rita, and Jane. I also put up a status asking for memories tagging Uncey Jeff, Jason, Aunt Rita, and Jess. I've also reconnected a bit with Uncy Jeff and Jason this

What I've Loved the Most about my Writing so Far

Almost a week a ago, I was surprised when some of my friends, Andrea, out of the blue asked me about about my favorite writing accomplishment was. I answered publishing Drag Me to Hell and learning more about marketing myself. I also love being about to talk to people about writing. I asked why she was asking about it and she said it was Full Sail University class. I don't remember an assignment like that. I felt weird about how the conversation went from there. So I'll write it here. What I love about my writing so far is that how ever since I wrote my first story on my way back from a winter church camp when I was eleven story writing has come naturally to me. I tested the waters in writing poetry, scripts, and fan fictions. Dad, Tim, and my moms, Jane and April were supportive and gave me feedback. I probably still own every notebook they bought and more I was given by others and I bought myself. Dad told me that, at one point that I should try to make my own characters and

Been a Month (Since Graduation)

It's been about a month since I've been out of school. I've had phone meetings with a mentor, marketing people, a life coach, and my career counselor from Full Sail. I'm now in three writing groups. I've worked on and finished one of my personal projects. It's Treasured Memories, the post under this. It was the first project I wanted to make available to everyone mentioned. I shared it on both my personal and professional pages, LinkedIn, my website, and CareerSync, a website that Full Sail University provides their graduates that works a bit like LinkedIn, but our counselors can help from there. After meetings with a writing mentor and the life coach I've realized that I'm in a good place writing-wise. I'm confident and have written almost every day since school let out. The writing groups I'm in help a lot with different things.  Passionate Writers Community  is for serious writers who get stuck or have questions for each other. We share advic

Treasured Memories

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WARNING: THIS WILL BE MY LONGEST BLOG ENTRY. Worked on this through August 6 through September 4. Started this post August 10th. Life, as we know it, is a complicated storybook for humanity as a whole. Some lives end before they can begin while others experience a lengthy lifetime of bizarre moments that form character development and plot twists. Some stories tell of sacrifice of a parent or child while some stories tell of a victorious march that turned the tides for a nation. Your life is your story and it's scary knowing how much control over it you actually have. Are you the courageous protagonist  or the disillusioned antagonist? Are you a doctor living wealthy or are you scraping change and living paycheck to paycheck? How much of your story have you shared with others, and how much have you kept away? Life doesn't end after the book is finished. Each of us impact someone else in an amazing or terrible way. But it's up to you how your story coincides with someon

My Full Sail Experience

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It has come to my attention when I was talking to Tim and Grandma Sally recently on the phone. I'm on my way to graduation, and as I am going to work on this for the next two and a half months. Today, June 17, 2017, when I finished talking to Grandma Sally I realized how much I've loved going to Full Sail University. I have always wanted to to be a novelist. When I started attending Full Sail I knew they didn't cater to novelists like me, but I felt there was so much more I could learn. Right now I have learned about networking, archetypes, and how to write different genres as well as different career types (like writing for film, TV, animation, and video games). I've also learned about working in teams, world and character building as well as transmedia. I also learned a lot more about children's entertainment than I ever thought I would. I'm so much better off with knowing everything I learned. The things I've learned that I listed above will help me in m

Glamour: Random Acts of Courage

Once again a Glamour article inspired me to want to write another blog post. This one is from the August 2017 issue. This is just for the month unlike one of the other blog posts inspired by Glamour that were in every issue for a while. Cindi Leivi, Glamour's editor-in-chief, started us off by bringing up risks she's not ready for, but as she thought about it she how she has taken risks though. (For those of you who follow people on Twitter you can find Cindi Leivi at  @cindi_leivi  ) On the page after, seven women talk about the biggest risks they've ever taken. Some of the risks mentioned are writing a letter to the owner of Ms. magazine. (Cindi Leivi) The owner of the magazine didn't take the bait. Haha. Other risks from the other women included starting a YouTube channel, visiting Paris with her best friend when she was sixteen-years-old, and moving to New York with next to no money. In Cindi Leivi's page she wrote that, "We all get wherever we are in li

Achievement Unlocked: Promise Kept

DO NOT POST THIS TILL JULY 17!! When I was seventeen my dad was giving me a ride home from somewhere that I can't remember. I don't know what he and I were talking about originally, but the conversation shifted to people's personalities and marriage. He started to tell me about how people change as they grow. He asked me if I was the same as I was two years ago, and I replied no. He said people change over two year periods all the time until you're about twenty-five years old when you've kind of figured out who you are. So on this car ride when we were on our street and almost home he made me promise that I would not get married until I was twenty-five. Even though Dad passed away in 2010 I was determined to keep the promise. In 2012, I met Richard online. Our relationship went from messaging each other on a writing website to texting in one day. We texted and then lost touch for like a week or two. I texted him and we reconnected. By April 21, 2012 we were offic

Life Incoming!

So there's been a lot going on. It seems a little overwhelming sometimes. Maybe if I write it all down it will help me calm down. Writing always calms me down so maybe it can help me with my nerves that popped up yesterday, last night, and tonight. I'll start by saying that I love that when I'm worried about something that I can always trust and come to my best friends and family Richard and Twin. They both helped me last night when a tidal wave of anxiety just hit me out of nowhere. Eric, one of my other best friends and family members, was visiting my place last night. He- always- Even though we don't talk about my anxieties or whatever he always knows how to make me feel better... Well... Like he makes me feel like it's okay that I'm human and I'm not perfect all the time. I'm in such a better environment since I moved here to New York. So onto the reason I'm writing this... because last week as I was starting the one of my last three classes I

How My Writing has Been Going

So I know that months ago I was talking a lot about working on Escaping Hell and Fight for Equality. But lately I've been taking a break from them. It's hard to work on Escaping Hell when my thoughts and feelings have changed since I've grown. I'll still work on it eventually. I haven't been actively working on Fight for Equality either. But when I see an article or a set of notes that makes me think of one of my characters I collect them. So last month I was in Writing Workshop II: TV. It was a tough class with a strict teacher. Because of all the rumors I heard from staff, alumni, and current students I was so terrified. I hadn't done well in the first TV writing class; in fact, I had to retake the class. So due to all the pent up fear as soon as I let the teacher know I was worried and I wanted to do my best. The teacher helped me out and I was feeling good. I wasn't doing great, but I was doing my best. I passed the class... Barely. I'm grateful for