Steff Metal (of the infamously awesome list) wrote:
65. Write a Personal Manifesto
Who are you really? What are you about? What makes you tick? What morals and beliefs do you follow?
Write yourself a personal manifesto – who you are, who you want to be and how you’re gonna get there.
I’ve been looking forward to this entry. Then I saw a post by Donald Miller (http://donmilleris.com/) about seeing your life as a story (rather than a Dilbert-esque mission statement) and, as a storyteller, I LOVED it. So here’s the blurb on the back of the unfolding movie of my life (remember to get breathless as you reach the end):
A burnt-out missionary writes young adult books featuring true heroes – the kind that readers can look up to. She hangs on the edge of major publication for years as her mental illness worsens. Will she achieve her own dreams before her illness swallows her last heroic spark of hope?
(The answer, of course, is yes.)
And in the meantime, I live a heroic life every day, and inspire others through my blog of Daily Awesomeness. And of course I keep writing (I forgot to mention during “Try, try again” that my novels have been rejected sixty-eight times – about twelve of which were by a very narrow margin. A perverse part of me hopes to reach a hundred before I get accepted.)
Play along at home: Write your own storyline with a main character (that’s you), a crucial problem to overcome (what do you want most?), and what’s at stake for you. Think Hollywood, baby! It’s adjective time at last!
If you’re brave enough, post the results here.
Incidentally, happy mothers day to all my lady readers. Goodness knows we all mother our menfolk every day. A special shout-out to my pregnant sister. If your partner hasn’t bought you chocolate (or perhaps pickles and ice cream), he is a cad. Go buy your own.
Oh! Sorry I forgot to give a reverse burglary clue yesterday. Here’s two:
1. My victim was not a student of mine.
2. When I “broke in” I walked through the front door.
Do you plan to hint strongly that I look in particular places tonight?
I’ve tried to think of my plot blurb before, and I fail dismally at coming up with one.
As a similar one, the old writing task of writing your entrance to a (kind of badly written) story. You know that thing you’re not really supposed to do:
“W walked into the room, his boots thudding on the floor. At five and a half feet, he wasn’t quite the shortest person in the room, but certainly below the average. His beard, much to his friends’ chagrin bushed out from his face, making him look rounder and older than he was. His untucked shirt hid his paunch, and powerful legs stuck out from the bottom of his shorts.”
A more psychological version is also possible:
“When W came into the room, everyone greeted him. Knowing that he was the centre of attention he struck a pose, dramatic and way over the top. When people rolled their eyes in mock exasperation, he grinned and took it further, leering mercilessly and pushing the lines of decency towards breaking point. Some people don’t know when to stop. Most people thought of him as an attention whore and a joker, but a keen observer would also notice that it covered for showing true feeling.”
Those paragraphs are great! Here’s another:
A professor of psychology appears to have everything he wants. But there is ONE thing. . . [and yes, I changed a detail or two here 🙂 ]