Stay Awake

[Sabine]

Sabine's Journal

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy."
Rumi.



A quiet space for quotes & thoughts & good vibes.
Please feel free to contribute.

x

[Sabine]

truth is always subversive.

I recently finished reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird and loved it so much that I immediately wanted to post all of my favourite quotes for you.

But since that could be a bit overwhelming and might involve posting half the book, I'll just start with this one:

"Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you're conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader. He or she will recognize his or her life and truth in what you say, in the pictures you have painted, and this decreases the terrible sense of isolation that we have all had too much of. ...

If something inside you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Don't worry about appearing sentimental. Worry about being unavailable; worry about being absent or fraudulent. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you're a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act--truth is always subversive."
Anne Lamott.

[Sabine]

feels.

"'How much do you love me?' Midori asked.
'Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter,' I said."
Haruki Murakami.

[Sabine]

stoicism.

“So-and-so’s son is dead
What happened?
His son is dead
Nothing else?
Not a thing.

So-and-so’s ship sank
What happened?
His ship sank.

So-and-so was carted off to prison.
What happened?
He was carted off to prison.
-But if we now add to this “He has had bad luck,” then each of us is adding this observation on his own account”
Epictetus.

[Sabine]

nightdreams.

"Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking and loving and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new and deeper meaning."
Elie Wiesel.

PS. To my thread partners: I appreciate your patience with me & send you infinite amounts of love. <3

[Sabine]

on vulnerability.

I want to share this excellent conversation on vulnerability, creativity, and dealing with emotion, criticism, & the stories we tell ourselves. I can’t recommend this enough, and really encourage you to set aside an hour to listen to the interview. Brené Brown is brilliant and thoughtful and wise, and I’m convinced that every writer can learn something from her.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can talk about this subject for days, so I'd love to hear from you if you do end up giving this a listen. x

[Sabine]

darling.

“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
Pablo Neruda.

[Sabine]

tuesdays.

“Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.”
Jonathan Safran Foer.

[Sabine]

rules of storytelling.

So yes, I know I should be writing instead of posting (still more) notes about writing, but one of my friends sent me Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling tonight & I really want to share it here so it sticks in my mind. The wisdom is real.

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

& it warrants repeating: finish your story, finish your story, finish your story.

[Sabine]

desire.

“Stars, hide your fires,
Let light not see my black and deep desires.”
Shakespeare.