"Thank you so very much."

Two of the easiest words to say, often withheld like both syllables were bored from a vein of platinum.  It's easy enough to say them.  We should make it more of a habit.

As creatives, we don't always get paid for our work, especially when we're staring at the dust under our heels, standing on the ground floor.  We frequently aren't paid proportionally to our efforts or the rewards for whom we're laboring.  Sometimes, we have to give a lot more that we can't exactly quantify on an expense account like it's an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

(btw, YTJD is one of those properties that I would write almost out of love, The Green Lama being another, so if someone needs a writer, well, you know... one of these times, remind me to talk about what we'd do for the Klondike Bar of our creative dreams)

One of my interests is costuming.  Not just helping sew and design for the theater, but actually getting dressed up in outfits and playing Major Attention Sponge at comic conventions and similar gatherings.  For many years, I've admired the costumers who've sewn their outfits and crafted their bodies to more closely resemble their favorite characters from TV, movies, comic books, anime, whatever. 

I followed their activities for years before deciding to become one of them, albeit nowhere near the leagues of some of my friends.  Some of them make appearances at childrens hospitals, military bases, and other places where people could use a smile from a four-color personality.

The municipality of Metropolis, Illinois pops up in this blog frequently.  This is no accident.  Some of the most creative, kindest people make their ways there, if they don't live there already.  Here's one more love letter to them.

Noel Neill is more than an actress and singer.  She's more then just the Lois Lane of the serials and all but the first season of the classic Adventures of Superman television program.  Since 2003, she's been the official "First Lady of Metropolis" and deservedly so.  Well, to honor her career in show business a few years ago, the Superman Celebration put on a gala '40s-themed dance ball.  Needless to say, I had to be different (something I'd heard since first grade).

I designed a Victorian tuxedo in the colors of Superman, which my wife Cookie (that's her real name ... we just nicknamed her "Carol") sewed with a little (tragically little) assistance from me.  The pants and jacket were blue, the vest was firehouse red, and we sewed the famous S-shield onto the lapels and the back of the red opera cape.  We also constructed a belt that matched the design of the classic uniform.  We rounded out the ensemble with red trainers (there's only so much discomfort I was ready to endure) in lieu of finding the correct shade of formal shoe.  With a pair of  red suspenders and a bright yellow shirt to match the hue of the chest and cloak emblem, we were ready to go.

We received compliments for the outfit, mostly for the moxie it took to wear it.  Later on, I wore it for the 2010 Gen Con Costume Contest and received a special judge's commendation for its imagination (and the word "weirdest" did pop up).  Plus, I got my ego fed for all the pics that were taken, one of which wound up on Wikipedia.

(for those of you who aren't in the know, Gen Con is held annually in Indianapolis and is the largest game-related convention in North America.  It is four solid days of gaming and good gamer vibe as well as massive love from Indy who knows how to make out-of-towners feel like family)

So to follow up, this year my wife and I crafted a costume based on Uncle Dudley Marvel.  You see, I admire the costumers who will "become" a character, despite not fitting the original's silhouette (can you tell I watch too much Project Runway?).  This is far from a criticism.  If being their fave hero or heroine makes them happy, then why the heck not dress up?  God bless them for it, I say!

(for those who came in late -- sorry Phantom fans -- Uncle Marvel was really a lovable con man who accompanied Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. in their adventures ... one of the most memorable was when Dudley tricked their most powerful foe, Black Adam, into uttering his magic word that robbed him of his magical abilities)

Anyway, I dressed up as Uncle Marvel (and even entered the costume contest) and immediately upon entering the Indianapolis Convention Center, I was asked if I minded having my picture taken.  After a half dozen of these requests, I started saying, "Do you this I'd be dressed like this if I didn't want my picture taken?"

Cookie was having lower back problems so I carried her backpack as often as I could.  But the longest I could carry it was around a minute before someone asked to take my picture (and Lord knows how many were taken without asking).  Fortunately, I'd worked out a pose: pointing at the camera, the other hand on my hip usually, and with a big smile.

Sure, it was tiring to pose, to find a place to pose where I wasn't blocking the aisles, and to organize a crowd so everyone got a "smile and a point" of their own.  Also, I couldn't really eat or drink a lot for fear of spilling on my uniform.  Mostly, I rinsed out my mouth with a quick swallow of water, ready to pose once again.

However, as the day wore on, more and more con-goers, young and old, male and female, thanked me for making them smile and reminding them of a time of their youth they treasured, a story they read long ago and ached to read again, or just being upbeat and cheerful amidst the sturm und drang of some videogame/anime/comic characters.  And the ladies didn't seem to mind putting their arms around Ol' Dudley ... I'm married, but I retain a pulse, okay?

And Cookie delighted -- although she's loathe to admit it -- in watching the smiles and hearing the compliments for her work.  I was just the model.  She was the designer and the one who truly "made it work."

Once I realized it, I found myself swept up in my emotions.  I wish I'd counted how many people had asked me for my picture, how many posed with me, how many compliments I accepted with as much grace as I could manage, how many people genuinely smiled at me.

(we will ignore the people who called me "Flash" because of the red outfit with yellow lightning bolt on the chest as well as the ones who called me "Captain Marvel" or "SHAZAM!"  Close enough, I say, and why rain on their parades?)

When we take the stage, or write a story in whatever format or genre, we are not just feeding our our creative urges.  We might see ourselves as singing in the dark of night, hoping someone will hear us and find our talents pleasing.

But know that somewhere, there is someone who is waiting for us to become another character or to create something that might put an aspect of everyday life into sharper focus.  Perhaps someone waits for us to simply distract them from the pain of real life, or to rekindle an emotion thought lost, or even simply to let someone know they are not alone.

We are not only creating for ourselves.  We are also creating for someone else, even if we don't know -- and may never learn -- who they are.  But when they find you, it's worth all the effort and then some.  So don't give up ... someone is waiting for you to finish what you do.

***

Have a comment?  Feel free to leave some below or drop me a line at bkmorris56@gmail.com.  And as Stan the Man -- and I ain't talkin' baseball -- used to say, "Hang loose, True Believers."  www.freelancewords.com is almost ready to be launched.

So feel free to discuss below. 

"No, you can't have everything done first!"

Did you ever have a week when too many things are happening at once?  Welcome to the world of the creative person who still has to deal with the pressures of mundane life.

(please note that until this paragraph, I'd kept my inner geek wrestled down and didn't refer to real life as for the "mundies")

This week, I'm working on reading a dear friend's screenplay, editing another friend's manuscript (I'm glad she's either patient or too polite to tell me she's given up on me taking so long), writing a script for a presentation on Saturday, writing a mystery novel, starting a childrens book, researching a financial grant, and taking in webinars to expand my store of knowledge.  And I'm planning an out-of-town trip in the near future.

So I won't be too long here.

It's all too easy to become overwhelmed when you see the enormity of the tasks before you.  While Nature abhors a vaccuum, you and I frequently like the idea of keeping ones duties in manageable amounts.

(Granted, we don't want our lists too short because that means we are running out of paying gigs, right?)

Sometimes, to keep the pressures at bay, you have to make a schedule for yourself and your creative endeavors.  The key to this is prioritization.

First, make a physical list of everything you think needs to be done today before you go to bed/have dinner/make time for yourself/whatever.  This can also include household tasks, cuddling the S.O., watching your fave TV show, whatever is really important to you and must be executed before the end of the work day.  This list must be written out.  This gives it power by making it real.  Besides, mental lists are like verbal promises ... they aren't worth the paper they're written on.  Don't let this list get any longer than nine items.  There's a lot of stuff that can be done.  The list exists to demonstrate what must be accomplished today.

Second, examine the list thoughtfully.  What has a firm deadline and what doesn't?  Which deadline comes sooner?  Is it a paying job or one done for fun or as a favor?  This is where you decide which is more important, love or money.

Third, alphabetize by priority.  Any deadline job might get an A while something for free might get a B.  Reserve C for stuff you've wanted to work on, but it can wait. Obviously, if your list is longer than three items, some letters will be used more than once.  I'm ahead of you here.

Fourth, number each task within each letter grouping.  Look at your A tasks and decide which one needs to be worked on first and which one(s) can wait.  Then do the same with your B groupings and then C.  You will wind up with a 9-item list with a A1 job ... that one should be worked on uber alles if possible.  Then your A2 and A3 jobs, followed by B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, and C3. 

This gives you a roadmap of what requires your attention first.  And if more than one task requires some labor, even if it's not to complete the job but to make some headway, then set a timer for an hour.  That will represent the maximum amount of time you should allow for any given effort, although you may find you wrap up your task in less than sixty minutes.  On the other hand, you may find yourself on a creative roll, in which case you'll reset the timer for another 30-60 minutes.

Feel free to remake this list every working day.  As you remove jobs as they're completed or cancelled -- it happens -- or reprioritized (because deadlines are changed or you realize you didn't give the proper importance to some task), re-do your list.  A priority list shouldn't be used for more than a couple days in a row, really.  If nothing else, re-do the list to ensure that your focus is on the proper jobs in the right order.

As I said, priorities can change for any number of reasons.  Thus, yesterday's C3 task could be your  A1 tomorrow.  Don't panic ... this is perfectly normal and usually means you're getting stuff done and out the door.

Making a priority list is how you forbid the jobs at hand to overwhelm you.  Remember the old saying, "By the yard, it's hard.  But by the inch, it's a cinch." 

"Everyone's entitled to my opinion ..."

"CrimsonAgent93" cracked his mental knuckles, prepared to go to war.  He slid the headphones over his pierced ears, cranked up the tunes, and typed out his comic book review.

"This crapfest offends me!  Joe Low can't type his way out of an open phone booth and Sy High should pull the pencil from his orifice so he can see what he's drawing for once.  It's nothing like THE version of the book that I grew up with, which of course was the DEFINITIVE version of the character.  So if you like toilet paper that sucks sewage through a dirty straw, this is the one for you."

So how seriously should be take Internet critics?  Frankly, my contempt for these intellectually dishonest parasites grows every passing day.  Hiding behind a pseudonym grants false courage to the "reviewer" which gives that person license to spout off without accountability.

Knowing that snark is easier to write than something well thought out and eloquent, the writer works himself into a lather ... or is that "blather?"  And for good measure, let's start the name-calling because that's "always" funny.  In fact, it's been funny in every blog entry for the last six months so repeating it should make it even more hilarious, right?

Besides, he's repeated the lie enough that he doesn't care if it's not the truth.  It's time to make another blog entry.

But let's not check out the source of our ire.  Heaven forbid we should confuse ourselves with potentially contradictory facts. 

With one's ignorance firmly in place, the "reviewer" readies a few names and begins to type ...

                                                                * * *

My distaste for Internet critiques began a few months ago ... actually, it was more along the lines of I'd reached my saturation point with them. I make no secret of my out-of-control fetish for all things Kryptonian.  My view of Superman doesn't favor one version over another.  Instead, I look for the unique charm of each interpretation, much like how I enjoy Doctor Who in its myriad forms.

I also enjoyed the JJ Abrams relaunch of Star Trek.  I thought it had plenty of decent acting and action (although I think my retinas are scarred from all the lens flares).  I especially enjoyed the concept that this was an actual alternate timeline and the classic Trek of my misspent youth still existed, even if Mr. Spock wasn't in it any longer.  That way, Classic Trek sill existed ... but the movie audience's attention would now be focused elsewhere.

Also, in September of 2011, DC Comics did a reboot of their mainstream comic book line which included Superman.  Now, Superman was greatly affected by this in his origin seemed to have changed except in the basic premise of Neo-Moses found in the bulrushes of Kansas (no time spent as Superboy, his early days in Metropolis were spent as the Social Activist of Steel, his adoptive parents were dead, his uniform now resembled armor while no longer possessing the red trunks worn on the exterior, and Lois Lane was never his love, merely a good friend).

Creatively, it was a bold move.  Contemporary comic books are so tied up in their own continuity that sometimes consistency with a story that was published before most comic fans were born that it took real guts to break away from 75 years of continuity and start anew.  Also, sales were pretty bad so it was a calculated gamble that actually paid off when DC retook the #1 sales position in the comics industry for a couple of months.  In fact, during the last year, a relaunch of Aquaman outsold The Uncanny X-Men.  I'm tickled to see the day, I tell you.  Anyway ...

Immediately after these franchises were relaunched, I read way too many rants, many of them from friends who I expected to be a lot more eloquent and well-reasoned.  Suddenly, "Jar Jar Abrams" was supposed to have "ruined" Star "Track," past and present, forever and always and every actor in the new movie should have turned down their paycheck, rather than "steal" the roles from the original actors (some of whom have died prior to this movie, most of the rest are not exactly going to enter the Olympics to take the Gold in gymnastics, if you know what I mean).

And The Man of Steel was similarly "ruined forever," even before the first issue of "The New 52" (the number of mainstream titles that DC published as well as a reference to 52 alternate Earths in their continuity) hit the stands, even before a single page of artwork was drawn and shared with the community at large.  DC was "turning its back on older fans" and "going to drive away all their readers" because they were no longer publishing "THE" Superman.

(Before you ask, yes, all quotes are from actual posts that I've read and rolled my eyes at)

In both cases, these judgments were made by people who had never seen the movie, hadn't read the comic books, and had no intention whatsoever of doing so.

Granted, I understand the feeling of disenfranchisement that comes with change.  However, the vehemence of the reactions took me aback.  I mean I'd listened to the "fans" dissing John Byrne revamping Superman in 1986, Michael Keaton portraying Batman on the wide screen, and then the howls of outrage when he left the role to Val Kilmer.

Now how does this relate to creativity?  (or was this just an excuse to rant against the current level of social platform criticism ... well, now that you mention it ... )  We've discussed rejection in earlier editions of this blog.  If you don't remember those, feel free to check out earlier editions of this blog (and a refresher is always encouraged).

One roadblock many writers/artists/actors face in presenting their talents to the public is the possibility of receiving negative feedback.  Too much weight is given to the other party, putting them in charge of our attitude towards ourselves and our artistic endeavors.

One local theater group had a Facebook page to promote their shows and a volunteer to provide the site with continual content.  Well, the theater took down its page for fear of someone posting something, anything, negative.  A few weeks before, another local theater group received a trollish posting and the other fans of the acting troupe pretty much tore the offending writer a fresh, and much needed, orifice. But this group preferred to cut themselves off from free publicity, rather than endure just one sling, just one arrow of contrary opinion.

Too many potential Oliviers have never set foot on a stage for fear of someone telling them they lacked talent.  Manuscripts sit in locked drawers -- or worse yet, never written at all -- because of a writer's fear of a bad review or a rejection slip.  And sometimes, the negativity becomes more believable when it's delivered by a so-called friend.  Also, it's all too easy to fall into the negative mob mentality.

But the only way you can never fail is to never make an attempt at success.  You'll miss 100% of all the targets you never aim at.  And the only way to never receive a negative review is to never put your talent out for display.

But you should never let that stop you.  If someone has a criticism that's useful, see if you can apply it.  If the feedback comes from someone who can't articulate their opinion or justify their judgment, let their words roll off your back.  If they can't criticize without name calling or ridicule, drop them like a live ember.

Frequently, I've found that many critics are, to be honest, so full of crap that their eyes should be brown.  Most people who have the time and inclination to assess your work really have no basis for judging, except if it appeals to them on a level that they can't put into words.  I mean if a piece or performance works in a way that the person enjoys it, that's good.  But as a creator, you want to know why.  Keep searching until you can find that critic who has the words to help you grow as a creative entity.

If you're like me, you'll find your worst critic (in terms of both quality of judgment, usually) is yourself.  That's why putting a different set of eyes to your work is important.

***

"CrimsonAgent93" adjusted his glasses and rested his fingers on the edge of the keyboard.  He pondered what he was going to say as well as the reaction.  Was he looking for "attaboys"?  Was he seeking ego gratification?  What if the source of his snark happened to read his review?  What if that guy didn't read it?

Would it worth the time and effort to create a blog entry?  Would the work improve?  Would the sun shine a little more brightly tomorrow?

Just whose mind was he trying to change? 

"CrimsonAgent93" turned off his monitor and considered his next words carefully.  For once ... 

***
Just a couple of quick aside here ...

First, thanks for putting up with my irregular schedule lately.  I've had to get some rush projects done but I hope to put out (he said "put out") a couple of entries a week for a few weeks.

Second, check out www.audiomoviesclub.com.  Mary Hackett heads up a great team of performers, writers, and technical people who put out all-ages friendly, reasonably priced audio adventures, or "the best movies you'll ever hear."  Get in on the ground floor and enjoy their terrific stories!

Third, my friends Jim Amash and Teresa Davidson run a page on Facebook called Buster's Boosters.  Buster was a beloved cat who left this world too soon, but with a lot more love than when he came here.  Jim and Teresa have worked for various comic book companies, Archie Comics in particular, and are helping repay Buster's owner for medical expenses incurred while trying to save the animal.

Go to https://www.facebook.com/BustersBoosters where Jim and Teresa are selling original art pages from various comic books they've worked on as well as original sketch commissions.  The pages are VERY reasonably priced, many as low as ten buck a page, and you can often pic up entire stories filled with your favorite Riverdale friends.  So if you would, please help my friends help their friend while giving yourself a one-of-a-kind work of art.

Meanwhile, what's the worst or best criticism you've ever received?  Let me know at bkmorris56@gmail.com or leave me a comment below.  See you in a few days!