Math, Star Wars, and the Only One

In sixth grade, my grade mixed with the fifth grade to form math classes based on skill. Each class went for four to six weeks, then we took a test. If we passed that class, we moved onto the next highest one. If we failed, we stayed in the same class.

Since math was my favorite subject EVER, I always went to the top math class. And that class was always taught by the same teacher— one who also managed a local movie theater / arts center. If you passed his class, he gave you free movie tickets.

The last class of the year was one they had never taught at our elementary school before because it was HARD. And because it was so unbelievably hard, he dangled an unbelievable award in front of us. A special showing for the theater employees of ALL THREE STAR WARS MOVIES! Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, one right after another. It was a never-been-done-before epic event. And since it was a special showing, you couldn't buy tickets. They had to be given to you. I wiped away the drool and decided right then those tickets were mine.

At its core, math is all about rules. I’m a rule follower. Math and I love each other. We spent a lot of quality time alone together during those six weeks.

At the end, I took the test with all the confidence of someone hanging out with their bff, and passed! On the Saturday morning of the showing, my mom dropped me off at the theater for nearly seven hours of movie watching bliss. I walked in and realized I was the only one in my class who had passed.

Seven hours of movie watching.... alone.

Had I been a wise girl, I would've realized that as a group, we had the power to get every single one of us there if we had helped each other out. If we had used our strengths to help pull up the group, and let other people's strengths help us pull up our own weaknesses. Not only would we have had more fun during the preparing, we'd have had so much fun AT THE MOVIE.

For all of us who have ever had aspirations of being published, we've looked at that elusive book deal, wiped away the drool and decided right then that a book deal was ours.

Writing can be a lonely profession. Most of the time, we write alone. We read books and blogs about the craft alone. We sit in dark rooms or go on walks or do the dishes while plotting and working through scenes alone. But if we work and work and work and finally make it, do we really want to sit in that victory seat all alone?

I’m guessing no.

Which is why it's so great that we have the power to rise together. To use our strengths to pull others up, and to use the strength of others to pull us up from our own weaknesses. Not only does being a part of this amazing writing community help each of us to reach our goals, but makes the journey SO MUCH FUN.
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The Circus Tent

First off, make sure you check out the current standings for Word Processor Wars (the post below this one). And if you haven't thrown in your vote yet for which word processor you use, get on down there! (Especially if your vote is for WordPerfect. I'm just sayin'.) Everyone's comments were killing me. You guys are hilarious!

Secondly, sometime today, my blog will get a new look! And an ACTUAL NAME. No, really. (Up until the time it goes live, I'll take guesses on the name. :)) I've been waiting in line for my turn for a few months, and I'm so excited I'll get to show you soon!

Okay, now on to the actual post.

Every single year, my sixth grade teacher hung hundreds and hundreds of really long strips of crepe paper from the ceiling in the exact center of our classroom. He then took each strip and attached it to the wall, only a couple inches from the previous, letting it hang down a bit in the middle. The end result made it look like we were inside a circus tent.

I can't even imagine the time it took. And he re-did it every year, choosing different colors.


So, what did it accomplish? Well, school had to happen. We had to go learn about integers and symbiosis and homonyms and lost civilizations. Those things were inevitable. You couldn't progress to the seventh grade without them. Even with a fabulous teacher, learning all that stuff could very well have been mind-numbingly boring. But let me tell you-- those things are SO much funner to learn when you feel like you are learning them in a circus tent! When you can just imagine that you are in the center of fun things going on, it truly made a difference.

When we write, there are dialogue scenes that have to happen. They're inevitable. Things couldn't progress in the plot if these scenes didn't happen when they need to happen. But they have the potential to be boring. Even with really great dialogue!

And that's where the circus tent comes in. When your dialogue scenes happen in interesting locations with interesting things going on, it truly makes a difference. If the dialogue happens while racing through back alleys, or crouched hiding in a dank cave, or in the middle of a blinding snowstorm, or backstage in a play as the characters wait their turn to go on, or floating in the middle of the ocean with fish nibbling at your characters' toes, it makes it more fun.

Not only does it add excitement, but it adds another layer to the conversation. Extra stressors. Extra distractions. Extra difficulties. And that can turn a boring scene into one of your favorites in the entire manuscript!

So what kind of cool locations have you used in dialogue? Or what locations have you WANTED to use?
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