TV Shows That Will Chase Your Writing Blues Away

William Zinsser is quoted as saying writing is thinking on paper. This simple notion doesn’t often play out in reality. I admire anyone with the ability to consistently pen exceptional work despite the changing tides of both their immediate environment and life in general. Whether you’re musing over new material or smack in the middle of one, writer’s block is one unforgiving {fill in your choice word here}.

One of the reasons behind this creativity purgatory is confidence. Or lack thereof. For example, if you’ve had the privilege of recurring success, pressure to sustain your momentum is inevitable. Waning inspiration is another reason why some authors will confess to going days, weeks and even years without writing a single word.

You may have abided to certain rules such as keeping a writing schedule, managing, at least, 300 words a day no matter what rubbish it sums up to, and even subjected your body to a series of uncomfortable angles in the belief that it will fend off the negativity, but if you still can’t shake off this depressing sensation, then I advocate for television watching. There’s nothing like venturing into another dimension to escape reality, or even better, provide a reprieve for the one you’re attempting to create. Here are 3 shows that never fail to live up to my need for escape.

La Femme Nikita

Not the CW offshoot, but the original, Canadian version, which ran for 5 seasons. The cast are stellar in their portrayal of members of a secret agency. The set is futuristic, the technology impressive and the blatant callousness of the leading antagonists, namely Section and Madeline, send shivers down my spine. On the question of chemistry, the relationship between Nikita and Roy Dupuis’s character is yet to be outdone by anything I’ve seen since. Josephine?  

Prison Break

What’s more entertaining than two attractive brothers fleeing prison and spending 4 seasons trying to clear their names? I caught this massive FOX hit in the middle of the third season, and I was immediately hooked.  I am now the proud owner of the entire DVD box set. The twists and turns, and the loyalty between the characters is nothing if not endearing. Who needs to write when you have a government conspiracy to solve?  

Scandal

Yu-mmie! This is, by far, Shonda Rhimes’s best work. The ABC must-see is not only scorchingly sexy, it’s smart. I’ve wasted precious hours immersing myself in political thrillers, regardless of medium, but I haven’t been this entertained in a long while. My verdict? 10/10!

Well, those are my guilty pleasures, though a mere handful! What about you? What TV shows help you through your rut?    

Great Bite?

Orange candied popcorn. TV food with a twist!

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The Implication Of Leaning In, Sheryl Sandberg’s Style

Condoleezza Rice is a constant source of intrigue. Did you know she was an assistant professor at Stanford by the age of 27? Or that she is a born-again Christian? Her documented achievements notwithstanding, women of her ilk are as rare as a bottle of Rudesheimer Apostelwein. That brings me to Sheryl Sandberg, and the furor her memoir/manifesto, Lean In: Women, Work And The Will To Lead, has evoked, which is both puzzling and comprehensible.

Success is subject to the will of the individual. If your desire is to scale the ranks and earn the accolades as a distinguished author, CEO, or whatever field your talent steers you toward, then your passion will determine not only your speed in achieving your goals, but the outcome of your input as well. Sow mediocrity, and expect to reap mediocrity. And that goes for both men and women.

Statistics reveal that the number of women graduating from college supersedes men, and although we have proven to be their academic peers, somewhere along the way, we deviate from the course and fail to inhabit the pinnacles of many an arena. From company stewards to slots in government, across the globe, women consistently feature on the lower teens in the percentile spectrum.

Ms. Sandberg’s solution to this seeming crisis is to change the balance of power, specifically in the corporate front. She aims to empower women by providing simple tools to get them back in line, allowing them to qualify for more opportunities. She blames external and apparently internal factors for restraining women from breaking tradition and achieving their full potential, pointing out that they are indeed their own worst enemies.

It begs the question. Despite these supposed roadblocks, exactly how many women seek to soar the heights of their respective professions? Crave it like men? I’ll use the example of my siblings. They will not speak to me for a while after reading this, but it’s my observation that their drive slackened following the arrival of their children. In their strive to manage the work/life balance, they grew disillusioned in their respective professions, leaning out more and more.

It is precisely this observation that Ms. Sandberg has attracted all this flack for. Comments on the issue have been sniggering to say the least. From the dailymail,

“For Sandberg to invent the excuse that women are holding back their true potential is a theory based on conjecture {sic}”

“She is so condescending, it’s not even funny. Women can do anything they want and don’t need some idiotic life plan on how to do things {sic}”

And on and on it goes.

Critics, none other than women, have summed her advice as this: women have to become more like men to succeed, and the notion is insulting. But we forget that Ms. Sandberg is in a unique position to voice her concerns in light of her managerial posts in Google, and currently Facebook. It’s not women’s fault passé, she’s quick to add, but it’s her view that they are not contributing as much and as frequently as their male counterparts. She uses a number of studies as proof, one of which declares that women, in their natural capacity as nurtures and peacemakers, prefer to be liked than to be considered aggressive. If you haven’t noticed, ascending the corporate ladder inspires ruthless tendencies and they in turn deplete likeability, especially from fellow women.    

Some commentators have observed that she comes off as bitter and unhappy, despite her achievements.  She has managed to miff others in her failure to include single mothers in her stratagem for success. The criticism has even spanned to her body language on the Time Magazine cover. To add to the pile, several point out that many women are gratified to remain in the home and raise their families and that not everyone bears the ambition of running a corporation to feel a sense of worth, or equality to men. On the subject of men, another points out that perhaps they are to blame for women’s shortcomings, as many continue to hold on to the belief that women are not up to snuff when it comes to critical thinking.

An educated peer states that another reason why women fail to inhabit powerful positions is because the skills they need to get them there–aggression, ego and the willingness to exploit the vulnerabilities of others–are not typical traits found in our DNA, and that many of us do not, in fact, harbor the desire to acquire them. She concludes that it’s time women stopped adapting to a man’s world to earn a seat at the proverbial table and exploit our own advantages instead to get there.

At the core of the debate is a forgotten fact that as women, we don’t have the luxury of the in-between option. We either give it up to raise our families or have it all. Former Lehman’s CFO, Erin Callan, blames her job for missing out on key milestones in her life. Now at 47, and in her second marriage, she is trying for a baby, quick to warn admirers that the C-suit is not worth the sacrifices. The flip side of those sacrifices for those who are not swayed include beating men at their own game, media notoriety, more than enough money put away for a rainy day, and a coveted slot in Forbes, Fortune and other revered ranks of powerful women. It is a rare woman who can happily declare that she has succeeded in conquering the balance. Ms. Sandberg happens to be one of them.

My take? Life is too short to compromise on excellence. Why do we, then, continue to apologize for our ambition, whether it’s limited to the home or the workplace? One comment could not have stated it better: “People are people, some want to achieve some do not. Real freedom is doing what you want with your life {sic}”

Great Bite?

A shot of reality, that’s what!

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A Treat For All Seasons: Ice Cream Cake!

This past weekend, my siblings and I got together to celebrate my nephew’s birthday. It was a culmination of an exhausting week of debates involving decorations and a suitable guest list, never mind the fact that the birthday boy is only three… Anyway, the temperature-tapering argument that took the cake, was, well, the cake!

I strongly advocated for carrot cake, my absolute favorite, only because I’m convinced of its health benefits! Other varieties tossed into the ring were the basic fruitcake, the boring white cake, chocolate cake to please the children and a red velvet cake to add a touch of class.

To simmer tantrums, we compromised on a cake-tasting trip to our favorite bakery. For some reason, the mention of ice cream cake makes my teeth wince. All that sugar! To my, and our pleasant surprise, this delicious, melting piece of heaven immediately stole our hearts, dental health be damned. I can’t believe I waited this long to be a fan! I immediately solicited the good baker for a recipe and although he chose to withhold his secret ingredients, what he contributed continues to water my mouth. This is me, generously sharing a simple creation of the same. Try it. I definitely have no regrets!

Ingredients

A box of your favorite cake mix.

1 ltr. {1 quart or 1/2 a gallon} of your favorite ice cream flavor.

Frosting, topping or cold whip of your choice.

Directions

Follow the instructions on the cake mix box and bake the cake in a 9x13 silicone pan, separating the batter according to the number of layers you wish to have. Allow the cake to cool completely once done.

Place the first cake layer on a metal or marble tray, or any other, as long as the cake remains cool.

Use a spatula to spread the ice cream between each cake layer until you’re all out of layers.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 2 hours to set.

Remove, then paste the cake with the frosting of your choice.

Cover with plastic wrap again, then freeze for 3 hours {or more, it’s up to you} before serving.

Tips

Wrap the cake layers with foil while they cool to prevent them from drying out.

For the ice cream to be spreadable {if that’s even a word}, let it sit out for 30 minutes. If you’re impatient, microwave the tub for no more than 15 seconds.

Add crushed candy bars, nuts, cookies and even marshmallows to the ice cream before layering to enhance the yum factor!

To effortlessly cut the cake, either take it out of the freezer an hour before serving or use a heated knife.

Substitute the ice cream with sorbet or sherbet.

The role of the plastic wrap during freezing is to prevent the cake from absorbing other food scents present in the freezer.

Switch up the recipe by spreading a layer of ice cream on a pan and freezing it. Place these sheets of frozen ice cream between your cooled cake layers, sheath with topping, freeze again, then serve.

Great Bite?

Multiple glasses of water with cucumber slices to cleanse your system after indulging in the above, why else?

Purchase your copy of Love’s Pendulum here and here. Thanks!

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Some Encouraging Quotes For a Despairing Writer {or anyone for that matter!}

Phew! I’ve just put to bed another work, and by that I mean completed a fourth read-through of a crime novel, keenly aware from previous experiences that two more linger in the horizon {don’t judge!}! A work is never truly complete and self-editing is an arduous process when you take it in perspective. Spell checks, grammar checks, sentence structures, ellipse usage, contractions… It all gets to be too much sometimes.

Like most writers, I have a system of editing my work, and the predictability of that system has its drawbacks on the enthusiasm scale.  If you’ve been there, tempted to hit delete in the throes of frustration, don’t despair. Help is near.

I amass quotes to help me cope with life’s burdens, and the few I’ve listed below have helped my sanity tremendously. I’ve left out the names responsible for these great words, and take no credit for them, but I hope they reel you back from the brink as often as they have done for me. Here goes!

Never be satisfied with the first draft. In fact, never be satisfied with your own stuff at all, until you’re certain it’s as good as your finite powers can enable it to be.

The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.

Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Finish what you start.

Remember, writing doesn’t love you. It doesn’t care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.

Only bad writers think that their work is good.

Don’t wait for inspiration. Discipline is key.

Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it!

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

Be without fear. This is impossible, but let the small fears drive your rewriting and set aside the large ones until they behave – then use them, maybe even write them. Too much fear and all you’ll get is silence.

Now shrug off your melancholy and get cracking on whatever it is that needs done to transport you to a higher plane of excellence.

Great Bite?

Sweet and sour pork rinds. Yum yum!

Purchase your copy of Love’s Pendulum here and here. Thanks!

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