"How Can You Miss Me If I Don't Go Away?"

I know, I know ... you've been asking, "Where the heck has Brian been?"

Busier than a Van Helsing at a Twilight convention, that's how busy your not-so-humble typist has been!

First of all, I attended the amazing Popeye Picnic in Chester, Illinois in early September.  The people of Chester definitely know how to put on a party!  The town where Thimble Theatre creator Elsie Segar was raised, and where some of the locals inspired many of the characters in the famous newspaper strip.

On State Route 3, welcome home, spinach fan.  (photo copyright 2012 Cookie Morris)

I also got to see Nicola Cuti, filmmaker and former Assistant Editor at Charlton Comics and co-creator of E-Man.  This man couldn't know it at the time, but way back when, he sent me a small pamphlet on comic book production that set me down the path of writing. He was a kind man, just as he was when I saw him at an Indianapolis comic book convention back in the mid-'70s.

The freelancer and Nicola Cuti (R) at the 2012 Popeye Picnic (photo copyright 2012 Brian K. Morris)

I"ll scribble down my adventures on the banks of the Mississippi River later on, promise!  Needless to say, it was a good time, especially thanks to the kind people of Chester and friends like Debbie & Mike Brooks (presidents of The International Popeye Fan Club at www.popeyethesailor.com), artist Ken Wheaton (and his mom), new buddy Donnie Pitchford, and indefatigable hostess Cathy Rinne, to say nothing of the staff of  the Chester Public Library who all made for a great and memorable weekend. 

Also, I've been spending time setting up my business website: www.freelancewords.com.  If anyone tells you that setting up a website is easy, slap them for me, would you?  Granted, I had a template to work with, but it certainly wasn't easy ... although I admit I tend to overthink some things, my website among them, apparently.

Anyway, I am now in business.  My specialties are copy writing, multi-media scripting, and e-publishing.  I've spent a lifetime learning this stuff, now I can put my talents to use for you, your company, or your friend's business.  Please feel free to pass on the news of my website, which not-coincidentally is named after this blog ... or is it the other way around?  Who knows?

During this time, I collected ideas for future blogs which will be appearing over the next few months.  In addition, I'll be retooling this blog just a bit.  I'll try to add more graphics, keep you posted on Freelance Words (the business), and I'll be serializing my first two e-books.

The first tome will be a non-fiction book on networking and the other is a childrens book that I think you'll all appreciate.  Keep visiting this blog and my website for updates, okay?

Also, I'll be offering exercises for you that I hope will inspire you to kick down the barriers that limit your own creativity.  Plus, they'll be fun!

So what is the tie-in to this blog's theme?  While it was a pain to do -- and at times, I thought I'd never finish and almost gave up -- the final result was worth it to me.  I now have a website that's in MY voice that's delivering MY message to the world.  And as a "living document," the site will grow and change to reflect any changes in my business as well as my own personal evolution.  It's "good enough" right now ... but I know what will make it better, having written and designed the site.

I'd never written copy for an entire sales website before ... just as I'd never blogged before last spring ... but if I didn't try, I wouldn't know if I was any good at it.  Also, by doing this, I learned a lot about my new business -- what to offer, how to describe it and what to not mention -- as well as honing my design skills.

Just because you've never done it before, NEVER use that as an excuse for not attempting something new.  If you are an actor, try directing.  If you script nothing but comedy plays, write a dramatic monologue.  If you paint pastoral scenes, do a pencil study of a futuristic, Mega City One (for your Judge Dredd fans) on a winter's day.

Don't just step outside your box.  Kick the walls down!

Then take the lessons you learn back to your specialty.

Always challenge yourself.  Never stop growing.

So what can you do that will kick down your limitations?  Write me at bkmorris56@gmail.com and tell me.  Or check out the Freelance Words website (and don't forget to visit my friends' links ... tell them I sent you!), hire me for an estimate on a creative consultation, and I'll see you soon with a new blog entry.

"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!

"Reject ME, will you?  I reject YOU!!!" (insert maniacal cackling)

Near-death experiences are pretty much expected at auto races and in the Intensive Care Unit of any hospital.  It shouldn't occur when you open the mail or get into your e-mailbox.

I spoke last week about receiving a rejection to your creative efforts.  It can be a demoralizing experience until you have your emotional shields up and working.  And even then, it may sting a little because you put some work into that, right?  Whether it's girding your loins for an audition or sending off some art or a piece of your writing.  It's like hearing that your children are too short to ride the roller coaster they've been aching to experience for what seems forever.

First, give yourself a few minutes to grieve.  You put forth the effort to create, research your market, and then submit, so you're entitled to a moment.  Walk around the block.  Use this as an excuse to buy something nice.  Console yourself that your efforts would have been accepted if the buyer/producer had a human soul.  Then close the door on the pity party.

Now here's where you make your work stronger.  Let's start out with looking at your writing.

You've probably not seen your baby for a couple of months.  Take a cold, calculating look at the work.  Read it aloud once again.  You did read it aloud when you first sent it out, right?  Sure, it feels wacky/crazy/demented/creepy but your writing can't read any better than it sounds.  Make sure it sounds right, which is always a good reason to brush up on your elocution and vocabulary.  If you find yourself wanting to rush through speaking the piece, chances are your audience can't wait for it to end either -- and I don't mean rushing to find out how it ends so much as when.

This is where you get the opportunity to re-evaluate your work, rewrite it if necessary, and then send it out, a stronger work than before.

If you are auditioning for a part, this is where you can re-run your "gaffs" and instead of kicking yourself for committing them, even if inadvertently, you can re-rehearse and strengthen your presentation.  And remember that sometimes, a producer or director may see what they're looking for anyway.

A personal aside here: once, I auditioned for a local production of The Music Man.  My goal was to snag the role of Charlie, the anvil salesman.  Well, I did just about everything wrong that an actor could do during the audition.  First of all, I showed up 20 minutes late.  By then, the dancing piece was rehearsed and everyone floated like the Law of Gravity had been repealed.  My reading was okay, but then we had to sing and my voice wasn't warmed up.  I left the audition ready to give up singing, dancing, acting, writing, and living.  I was morose for two solid days over my total fubar of an audition.

However, I received a phone call from one of the stage managers.  I was told that didn't get the role of Charlie, which I expected, and waited for the plea to never audition again ... a request that never came because I was offered the role of Mayor Shinn, a much meatier role.  So sometimes, you're a good fit ... sometimes you aren't ... but what good will it do to fill your time with regret.

I've heard it said that to get almost any job, you need to be 1) talented, 2) good with deadlines, and 3) a good person.  But what if you don't sell your script or snag that role? 

Thank them anyway.

When you receive any sort of rejection, just drop a friendly line, reminding them of your work ("my audition for the role of Q.C. Proops in your production of Jekyll and Hyde," "my one-act play Beach Blanket Bazinga," "my novelization of The Two Towers," etc.) and to thank them for the opportunity. 

This places your name in the back of TPTB's mind.  Next time, if it's a choice between you and someone of comparable talent, your total class and positive attitude will stick in their minds.  It could give you the edge you need to land that next gig because you sound like someone who they will want to work with

Perhaps they'll even wonder if they made the correct choice after all.

I've heard of people who've lost out on jobs who later got a call when the first candidate didn't work out.  If nothing else, you may establish a relationship with someone who may even become a friend later on.  I know it's worked for me in the past and you lose nothing from the effort.

But what's most important is to think of yourself like a shark.  You must swim, constantly move forward to survive.  Keep writing ... continue to work on your monologue ... work those strings ... continue to create and to get better at what you do.  Eventually, you can turn those rejections into contacts, productions, and paychecks.

"You hate me ... you really hate me ... "

No one ever died from being told "no" ... well, maybe Socrates when he asked, "You got something I can chase this hemlock with?"

When you get that letter, phone call, or e-mail saying that you've been turned down, it should never be a reason for celebration.  If that's the case, you should have your temperature taken and the thermometer placed nowhere near your mouth.  No one enjoys rejection for any reason.  In any creative field, someone not desiring your services seems especially painful.

A writer may spend hours polishing their blog content.  In the case of an article or a poem, it could be days.  And with novels or full-length plays, we could be talking about years of concerted effort.  After investing all that sweat equity, to say nothing of locating a market for your talents and taking the time and trouble to present your work, it hurts just a little (or a lot, depending on how much you wanted the acceptance) to be turned down.

Even in the case of an actor, that person could have read the script, rehearsed a song, or memorized a monologue for the audition.  This doesn't count the years spent learning to put together a role inside one's head, much less the time spent in training the voice, learning to move on stage, or just finding a way to commit the lines and blocking to memory.  In writing, anything that comes from the keyboard reflects the living and processing of a lifetime's worth of stimuli.  It's become almost cliche to liken our stories to our genetic progeny, but still ...

While it still may sting to receive a rejection, I just remind myself of several things.  First of all, and foremost, they are not rejecting me as a creative person or as a human being.  Heck, they don't even know me.  The only contact they have -- or may ever have -- is the creative product I've put before them. 

Since I've been in the position of being able to accept writing or to cast performers, it's never really personal.  The overall work must be of primary importance.  Does this fit the overall design?  Will it/they work well alongside others?  It might be good.  It might be brilliant.  However, it may not be a good fit for the project and there's nothing wrong with that. 

Years ago, I submitted a short play to a production company in the hopes that it would be included in their Christmas-themed night of plays.  Of course, it had Santa Claus in it ... but I wanted to do something that wouldn't be too saccharine or overly sentimental so I added a dollop of dark humor to it.  Naturally, I didn't exactly capture the warmth of the holiday within my work (when was the last time you heard the words "advanced decomposition" in a Christmas play?) so I wasn't surprised when the note came back that it didn't fit the evening's overall theme.  I was told the committee found it quite amusing ... horrifying, but amusing.  But hey, ya gotta try!

Instead of treating a rejection as if it said that you had two months to live, you should find positive uses for it.  Use it to 1) learn, 2) keep the door open for future submissions, and 3) make them wonder if they made the right choice after all.  How can you do that?

I'll cover that next time around. 

So what have been some of your most memorable rejections?  Did any crush you, if only for a little while?  Or did they inspire you to keep trying?  Leave me some comments, okay?