Superhuman

It seems to me, that male characters are more readily allowed to have superhuman traits.  They take (or give) a punch and rarely suffer any ill effects, for example.  But female characters are expected to be mere mortals.  Not only that, but even “strong” female characters are expected to be rendered helpless by relationship drama in their lives.  The female characters don’t get the privilege of being superhuman—they aren’t allowed to shake off personal problems they way male characters do.  (Not to mention the fact that most male characters can actually stay focused on their job/ task/ plot and not be derailed by personal issues.) 

This is where Bo is an outlier… she is more like a male character.  But with all those fun female traits.  She gets to be sexy and smart and more capable than the average woman.  This too me sounds like a lot more fun than another average woman who gets her friends/ family in danger because she can’t think straight for more than two chapters in a row.

Perhaps this is the type of female character that is preferred?  Except, over in Urban Fantasy, women like Bo are more the norm. 

Professional v. Profanity

I'm starting to fear that being professional is a lost art to some kids these days. And some grown ups. Particularly in the age of insta-communication-- emails and texts written without forethought or afterthought.

My students usually smile when I tell them during the first day song and dance that I understand that profanity becomes habit. They smile and nod to each other. Then they get all flummoxed when I tell them taht I can out-swear the best of them. And I could. I can string profanity and vulgarities together in a way to make even the most bad ass high school wigger stop and stare. But I also know when not to use it.

When I'm heavy into writing, I notice that my speech pattern is altered a bit. I use more big words, even in the classroom than otherwise. I'm also more prone to being vulgar and shocking. Though you'd think my Hubby would be used to the things that come out of my mouth... even writing the words makes those speech patterns seep into my speech.

I don't have any real problem cleaning up my foul mouth for teaching (good thing!) though the occasional snarky line does sneak out. Luckily, each time it was with students that found it more amusing to hear such a thing from their teacher than offensive to hear it in school.

Nor do I have any problem writing polite, professional emails. In fact, I have a hard time being ME in email. I'm usually in something similar to "teacher-mode" that's nice, polite, and proofreads twenty-seven times to make sure that what I've written has a very high likelihood of coming across as intended.

I do, however, have trouble cleaning up my fiction for those markets that request things that way. I don't write clean by nature. To clean up, I usually go back in edits. And when I'm done, I always feel like the color has been bleached out of the story. Sometimes I think taht should I release a collection of Bo Fexler stories someday, that I'd go back and re-write the profanity and vulgarities back where they 'belong.'

Of course, the funniest part of all this, is I only swear at top strength around Hubby and a few other select people who I know don't find it offensive in anyway. I respect their right to not heard my creative use of bad words. But, man, they are missing out on some great lines...

Words, words, words

During the last several weeks while I was finishing grad school, I spent a lot of time reading research reports and studies. They included a lot of graphs, tables, and charts. I realized that I actually hate graphs, tables, and charts. I would find myself searching for that information to be given in my preferred form: words. Just words.

I already knew that I am very, very much a visual learner. If you just say something to me, there's a really, really, high chance that it won't even register. The hardest classes I ever took were ones heavy on lecture. I would have to force myself not to just mentally wander off. Auditory stimuli is easy for me to ignore. Still, it surprised me to realize just how much I prefer reading words to charts. (With a few exceptions, of course.)

Okay, fine.

But then I realized, I dream words. And daydream words. I don't dream pictures-- rarely do I get the "movie-in-your-head" dreams. Nope, I dream words. I think them in my dreams-- not read or hear, just think. Like a narrator, sort of. I might have scenery backdrop to these dreamed words. And in my dreams, I reorder the words to be more aesthetically pleasing, rewriting even my dreams.

In some ways, this is nice. I think it makes it easier to 'translate' the story in my head to the page. I'm already thinking the words. It's just a matter of sending them down to the ends of my fingers, into a keyboard, onto the page. We can debate the quality of said stories another time.

And I'm curious-- what about you? How do you dream? If you're a writer, how do your stories... come to you?

Why I Write Mysteries

I started writing mysteries because it was the first genre that I could plot. It made sense-- and it was easier, for me, to figure out the plot. Simply put-- there was a crime and the resolution was the solving of that crime.

Before that, I'd always struggled with coming up with conflict. Or at least with conflict that was important enough to make a story about. Or I'd have a conflict, but could never figure out how to solve it.

But mysteries came easy to me.

It was how I cut my teeth, gnawing on the edges of fairly simple investigations.

I still write mysteries, but I think I've also scooted over a bit to straddle the line with crime stories. Some of the stories don't have anything to do with the solving of a crime-- the conflict comes from something else. Lately, because of a sadistic trend in my writing, the conflict has involved sticking Bo in some difficult situation and trying for her to talk, fight, or, um, sex, her way out of it.

Maybe I'm getting better at this writing thing. Maybe someday I'll be able to write other genres successfully. Maybe it doesn't matter, because mysteries are where my heart is. There's something in the detection-- and, in many detective stores, the lack of personal involvement (I get tired of angst. ;-)-- that appeals to me.

But, it's still nice to think that I'm improving in this writing thing. Even if I "only" ever write mysteries and crime stories.

Name Game

There's nothing quite like coming up with a cast of characters for a piece of fiction. In writing shorter fiction, I learned to trim names and even characters to make things easier to keep track of.

In the novel, some of this has gone out the window. In the novel, it's a complete investigation-- and a complex one-- that leads Bo to do what investigators do best. Talk to people. And many of these people need names.

I usually grab a first name and run with it. I try not to make my first names too similar, and also try to limit the number of character's whose names start with the same first letter. This could be a little overly cautious, but I know how lazy I can be as a reader.

The amount of Star Wars novels I consumed during my late high school years certainly shaped my naming practices. One of the things that perpetually drove me nuts were letter combination that I couldn't pronounce or even come up with a reasonable pronunciation. So a character ends up being thought of as something else. Like "That C-guy." I'm sure that's what the authors were going for... but I have some choice words for the authors on this matter.

So, now, coming up with surnames for characters, I still recall those tongue twisters I read. And I don't do it. In fact, I'm heading into territory of really easy names. I try to throw in some ethnic names, but only if they're easy on the tongue.

In fact, I cheat. I took one of the old phone books and brought it up to my office. And when I'm in need of a name, I flip open the phone book and scan the page. If I don't find a good name there, I flip to a different section and letter and try again. Then I steal the name. Bwahahaha!

I do try to avoid picking a name where there's only one of them in the County. And I don't put them in the same city-- so if Sleazeball Character is in Brighton, I would not select a surname listed with a Brighton address.

The names I pick don't mean anything. While I occasionally have some connotation with names, it's very light. I worry more about upsetting someone by writing them as a nasty character than I do about my own connotation. Besides, connotation is so malleable. In fact, for me the name Bo is now completely inseparable from the kick ass female character Bo Fexler. So much so, that I forget at times that Bo is actually a male name.

Need for Creativity or Logic?

While starting a story takes creativity, I'm going to make the argument that continuing-- and finsihing-- a story takes more logic than creativity. The dominoes are all set up, creatively, and there is really only a small number of logical conclusions to the scenario. Especially in crime fiction, I think this holds true.

Crimes are solved more through deduction than imagination. Put together the motive, the opportunity, the means, and the answer comes out. Once a story is set up-- then it becomes a matter of figuring out, from the clues already there, what the most likely scenario is.

Add in the normal facts that crime solvers use-- like how most crimes are committed by someone who knows the victim, and that murders are usually committed by a current or past lover, and it becomes easier to play out the scenarios. There's still some creativity, I suppose, in making up these situations for imaginary people, but stealing from real life doesn't take much creativity. (Watching Court Tru TV will help with this angle.)

A conflict has been presented-- what is the most likely conclusion? What has happened in real life? How can that fit with the story? What if? And what happens next?

Even "uncreative" people can solve mysteries when presented with the clues. So to can writers who've set up the conflict in their own writing.

Bias alert?-- Whenever I take those right/ left brain quizzes, I come up more left-brained. Except it's the right brain that is supposed to be the creative side. As in, writers tend to be more right brained than left. Except me. =) But I guess that just proves that writing CAN be a logical process so much as it is a creative process.

I've Been Here Before...

Every writer has their particular trouble spots. Some writers revise the beginning.

I tend to keep my beginnings. My pattern is to get to the climax without much trouble. Then, I tend to stop for a while, gathering my wits (ha!) and figuring out the best way to end the story. I'll write an ending. Then, let it stew for awhile. Depending on my gut feeling about the story as a whole, I may revise the beginning part, may even send the story off to my beta reader.

Sometimes, the end part stays. But, more off than not, I trash the ending and write a whole new version, from climax (or shortly thereafter) to final line. It's not so bad in a short story. But scrapping the end of a novel is rough. That's, like, nearly 20k words!

I'm hoping, now that I've just strutted past the 50k mark in the current Bo Fexler novel, that I won't do what I usually do. But, chances are pretty good that I will still be me. And I will probably end up writing the ending of the current novel twice. It's a little discouraging at this point.

I've tried plotting out the end, then writing it. I've tried waiting a few days to let the idea gestate before putting it down. But time and time again, it doesn't matter. I have to write the ending twice. At least.

Do you have any such writing quirks?

Note to Self

Writing longer stories necessitates keeping track of all the details, from characters to timelines. Shorter stories are much easier to scroll back or even just to remember since they are focused and only include a few things.

My memory is less than stellar. I'd like to blame it on such a busy schedule, one that requires me to shift gears several times during the day. I can't rule out a genetic component, though.

So, I make notes to myself to keep track of names, characters, appearances, details, even what those characters know (vs. what they said they knew). Notes on what Bo should later do with information from Bill or who she should talk to next after the current scene.

But where to put these notes? How and where to write them? Increasingly, I've moved to putting more and more on the computer. The digital form is less chaotic and much easier to keep track of. But there are certainly limitations to the digital form. Such as switching between windows while I'm working. Call me quirky (because I am) but it's just easier to jot a note into a notebook in the midst of working on a piece on the computer.

But, most of my notes are on the computer. It's a little technical, a little convoluted, and sadly, only mostly helpful. I'm not entirely satisfied with the system. Perhaps because it's completely haphazard!

I use the Comments feature in Word (Insert--> Comments) to make notes to myself. Since I have Word2003 (and 2007) the comments show up in ballons in the margin. It monkeys with my page layout at little, but it's quite a workable solution. Except one thing-- the text gets awful small.

I type up notes to myself on the bottom of the WIP. Since I work linearly, this is usually directly after the last thing I am typing.

My new attempt at organzing the timeline is to use a new Style. I use the Document Map (LOVE!) for my chapters. That box hides styles. Any heading style shows up in the document map. So, if I apply a new style, I can put MONDAY AM in my Document Map, allowing me to see, at once, when the days change and what day X happened.


Techincal stuff: Doc. Map is View--> Document Map. To apply a style, select the text and find the two little AAs. Styles is fun and oh, so useful!

No, I don't spend more time tweaking my writing process than writing. Not overall... but some days. What? How do YOU put off writing? ;-)

Kick Ass Heroines

They seem to be lacking a bit in the mystery genre. There's a few, sure, but not very many and even the toughest in the mystery genre tend to get their panties in a bunch in ways that Phillip Marlowe and Sam Spade (and countless other men) never did.

I found where all the kick ass women are hanging out though. They're over in the urban fantasy book shelves. Maybe shelved in horror (which of course overlaps urban fantasy.) And the kick ass women don't all have superpowers, etc.

Why is it that the mystery genre hasn't embraced the uber-tough, ultra-cool female heroine? (I'll skip my usual rants on why most of the mystery females do not meet my definition.)

Sometimes I wonder if it's an age thing. Seems to me that the young kids are writing the urban fantasy. Of course, over here in Mystery Land, *I'm* still just a kid! Some one find me a mystery author younger than me.

But youngters aren't really getting into the mystery genre. There's some sort of stigma. Maybe lack of good movies? Maybe too populated by older characters? Maybe there's just not enough sex appeal?

Mystery book shelves are dominated by long running series' by people who are old enough to be my mother. And, to a large extent, I think that affects the things they write. Nothing wrong with that. I'd just love to see some more younger writers, younger protagonists. And maybe a few women who could compete with those urban fantasy babes.

Cell Phones and Plot Devices

This New York Times Article about literature being cell phone free was interesting and amusing. And it got me thinking.

While cell phones certainly have changed the way that people communicate and there are quite a few plot devices that are rendered improbable by the common usage of cell phones, there are still ways to use some of those plot devices.

People don't always contact someone in the event of changing plans. Some do. Some don't. Just as some people out there don't have cell phones. Or maybe someone doesn't answer the phone.

Or perhaps the wrong number is texted to. (There's an infamous story of a girl who texted her "friend" about losing her virginity, but instead she'd highlighted "Dad" in her cell contacts. Yeah. Dad was thrilled.)

Misunderstandings are still common. In fact, in my opinion, because people are communicating more often, they're usually doing so with less information and sometimes less clarity.

Some work arounds with cell phones are going to seem convenient no matter what. It's that little problem where coincidences are frowned upon in stories. I've had my cell phone mysteriously shut off. I don't notice it for hours since no one calls and I don't have any calls to make. Or a battery dies. Or we had a roaming voice mail the other day-- I left it on Hubby's phone on a Thursday about 3pm. Friday evening, his phone chimed with the incoming voice mail. Write that in a story, and prepare for the Pitchfork Brigade.

Cell phones and technology are changing story-writing. Maybe that's why some people like to write their stories set in those "simpler" times. I think it's just a new challenge. If the technology is available, how do you fuddle plans for your character? Think harder.

Womanly

The question came up the other day about what it means to act like a woman. My first reaction is that however a woman acts is acting like a woman. Then, I went and mulled it over, brushing off some of my ideas and notions on what might be considered female behavior.

There is a broad range of "female" behavior. Somethings, like having babies, are still relegated only to women. But not all women do, either by choice or by chance. This does not make them less female.

Some women carry purses, wear high heels, and defer to the men in their lives. I would rather cut off my dominant hand and beat myself with it.

Many female traits, though, are considered negative. Most people don't really want to read a book where the main character doesn't do anything even though many women prefer to take the passive role. Being assertive isn't an inherently female trait. But there have always been women who took charge of their lives. Women who were very active.

I know a lot of young women who defer to their boyfriends. And some who will get married still defering to their partner. They won't stand up for themselves. Around some of them, I get a bloody lip from biting it so much...

But most men I know think that confidence is DAMN sexy. (I suspect that part of it is a belief that confidence outside the bedroom will also mean confidence, assertiveness, and active participation in the bedroom.)

It's a fine line between being confident (good) and being assertive (not good). Assertiveness viewed negatively is just plain labeled 'aggressive.' Aggression is pretty safely negative regardless of gender.

Is there a way that "women" talk? Perhaps it's about relationships. Or with deferential phrases that show that the woman is willing to be flexible in her opinion. If she even states an opinion. Sadly, "female" speech is more likely than male speech, in my experience, to be full of soft self-degradation. Men rarely talk that way. My Hubby says that I always sound like I know what I'm talking about, even when I may not. Does this mean I talk like "a man?"

What does it mean to act like a woman? What are the best things that women do?

(Pic from wikimedia commons)

What I Learned from the Writer I Used to Be Part 3

Ah, college. I enjoyed college a whole lot. Especially after the intellectually vacant years of high school-- all two and a half of them. (I left high school halfway through my Junior year, got my GED and the following fall began as a college freshman rather than being a high school senior. A hard decision, but it was worth it.)

My writing time took a serious hit as I was working full time and attending college full time (about 12 credits, four classes per semester.) I still dabbled in writing, working on a historical fiction piece, then moving on to the "first" Bo Fexler novel.

In the beginning, Bo was cool, aloof, and completely unrealistic. Slowly, I began my research into the private eye field. I accumulated most of the then-current Writer's Digest Howdunnit Books. And as the internet became more filled with useful information, I began to research heavily on line. Google is my friend.

I polished 'Missing Link' and attempted to query it without success. I also worked with a professor on the story. This was useful, to have a discerning reader and English professor to help me. She really liked Bo's point of view, which only showed up sporadically because the book was written in third person.

Then, I started to dabble in two new things-- short stories and first person (snarky) narratives. I learned that I do have a particular voice that's not quite the same as everyone else's. That I can use my bitter cynicism for more than just rants to Hubby.

And most importantly, I learned that I *could* write short stories. Previously, in all my long-winded writings, I had been convinced that I could never write short stories. I had just too much to tell. Well, clearly, I was very wrong.

This is one of the few times that not only will I admit I was wrong, but I'm glad of it. I can write short stories. Sometimes, I can do them damn well.

Writing short stories, where so much is implied or left out, made me a better novel writer. No more infodumps and backstory. I learned how to weave the important details in, and to leave the reader demanding to know more about what I don't say.

Now, if I can just get Bo's first novel "Sex and Violence" into the right hands, then everyone will get to see what I can do.

Is there a defining moment in your growth as writer-- that made you the writer you are today?

It's Hubby's Fault

I'm finally starting to rearrange my routine after the turmoil of moving. But even as I've planned and allotted chunks of time, I kept feeling like I had no time. In fact, it's been far, far too long since I've opened a Word doc that wasn't a school assignment.

I can blame a lot of moving and turning the new house into a home. Then there's the end of semester grading. Then the beginning of semester preparation.

And, the biggest time chunk of all... goes to Hubby.

I've finally figured out where all my writing time went. I've been spending more time with Hubby than I have in, well, years.

This isn't inherently a bad thing... I am kind of fond of the guy. But I think I'm hiding from my writing. I haven't had much inspiration. Though that's an excuse that only goes about three inches before it runs into trouble. I've forced myself to write plenty of times before, inspiration or now. I've revised, written, plotted and submitted without "inspiration."

Now that many of the tasks for the coming semester are dealt with, my work load in that regard should lighten up. I'm getting used to how job number 4 works out. Most of the projects in the house are done (for now.) It's time to take a little more time for writing.

I have fans waiting. Right? Are you folks still there, waiting for Bo Fexler to saunter on back in something provocative?

Thanks for you, my readers of both my fiction and my blog. I do appreciate you. It's more fun to talk when someone's at least nodding along. (And yet I'm a high school history teacher... ;-)

Now, I'm gonna get a sandwich and play writer for a while.

The Quiet Ones

Watch out for the quiet ones. We may not be as innocent as we appear.

We may not swear or say much. We may have our noses in a book or pad of paper. We may do what we're "supposed to."

But we may have other plans. Other lives.

Mine include tales of sex and violence. Doing some research into erotica (yum) has lead me to believe that the first Bo Fexler novel may be an erotic mystery. I'm good with that. Erotica is fun. Sex is fun.

Except for that romance and happily ever after stuff. Gets in the way of the fun part. ;-)

Few people who know me in real life would expect this from me. What about you-- what do people not know about you?

Oh Dear

So, I was musing along in my NaNo, trying to think of a way to make Niki Gipsiss, my new character, into a fuller character.

I decided to have her get laid. Which would have been good for word count too... ignoring the fact that her boyfriend wouldn't comply. (Damn character get these ideas that they can dictate their own actions...)

But shortly there after, I realized that Niki is a very sexual character. She quickly became a fuller character once I started to explore her views and thoughts on sex.

Niki's different from Bo, but sex is a big part of Niki's character too.

Looks like Niki has a tendency to turn to sexual thoughts. A lot. It's fun. I think, for now at least, this is my calling as a writer. (Sorry Ma! ;-)

This is fun-- exploring new writerly worlds. I think it's important as writer to try new things. New stories, new characters, even new processes of writing. Shake off the ordinary and explore. I'm not sure if I can pull off 50k this month, but I'm happy for what I've gotten that doesn't show in word cont.

I've never talked about politics here, but...

I have no intention to start. I'm going to talk about characters and NaNoWriMo.

I'm writing a new character, Niki Gipsiss, for my NaNoWriMo project. I wouldn't exactly call this endeavor a novel. It'll be novel length, and it'll have a plot somewhere under the excess verbiage. I'm not padding my word count, just exploring the thoughts, feelings, and histories of this new set of characters.

Before I go on, let me reassure my dear readers, that Bo Fexler is no going away. I love her character. If Niki ever develops, she'll just share time with Bo. Maybe I could do two novel series, one with Niki and one with Bo, alternating books or something. Of course, first I have to get ONE series going... but I dream big. Very big.

Anyway, Niki is very different from Bo. She's not nearly as hot. She's attractive, but more in your average girl sort of way. Brown hair, brown eyes, only slightly taller than the average woman (5'6 to Bo's 5'10 1/2"). Niki's more cute than ohmyfuckinggod hot.

Right now, I'm noticing that Niki doesn't have much character. She's pretty vanilla. Bo's got serious attitude that oozes from her every sentence, swing of the hips, and curve of the lips. She's a bad ass right to her core.

Niki's different. I'm have some trouble figuring out what her flavor will be. She needs some sort of character, but it's not that easy for me to just come up with one. Especially since I tend towards the bitter and snarky... like Bo. I don't want to write another type of Bo-character.

But I'm going to give Niki 50,000 of her own words to figure out who she is. I think it's time to stretch my writerly abilities and see where it will take me. Maybe no where-- maybe I am a one-trick pony.

At least it's a fun trick.

Keep track of my NaNoWriMo progress on the right over there with my NanoCat progress meter. Mew.

I May Never Understand

I realize that there are people who find sex unacceptable in any context. And that some of these people don't bat an eye at graphic violence.

These people confuse me. I simply cannot wrap my head around it. I respect the differences, but I don't understand it.

I would rather read about characters having sex and, you know, enjoying themselves, than characters being shot, killed, dismembered, and other nasty things. I accept murder and death in the mystery genre. But I have trouble when bodies pile up faster than leaves under the giant oak tree come November. It's a stretch of realism, and to me a sometimes distasteful disregard for human life. I can accept a *little* bit when the bodies are all evil guys, but still, surely there are other ways to dispatch these baddies.

But sex is a no-no? Unless it's forced (which makes it violence), sex is FUN. No body gets hurt in sex. How is it that it's wrong to use a sex act for information, but it's okay to smash someone's head into a wall?

Someone getting hurt it okay, but someone getting his jollies from a willing participant is not?

I don't get it. I don't think I ever will. So, since I'm writing something that I would want to read... there's always going to be more sex than violence. Besides, writing sex is fun too.

Coffee Shops

I've heard and glimpsed those folks who truck out to coffee shops with their laptops and their lattes to work on whatever project they're working on. But you'd be more likely to find me in a convent than you would in a coffee shop working.

Now, I admit my bias-- I'm a hermit crab. I prefer to stay in my little cave. I have my computer and my internet, all my foods in the fridge (and it's all safe). I have my notebooks, my dictionaries and thesaurasi, my baby names book and my private eye reference books and a couple other wordsmithing tools. So I just don't see the benefit of heading OUT someplace where I have none of this to work.

I had a hard enough time working in the Reading Room at the University I attended for four years. With the people coming and going and the occaisional cell phone or other conversation to eavesdrop on, it was very distracting at I soaked it in and mused over the stories that might go along with these characters.

The only reason I can come up with making the foray to work at a coffee shop or some other wi-fi hot spot is for that free wireless connection. Of course, I have internet at home-- that's non-negotiable. I'd rather sit in the cold and dark than not have internet.

Though I have to wonder if my persective would change if my main job didn't get me out of the house... and working with ever-delightful adolescents who don't tend to like school, teachers, or work.

Or it could just be that I'm a quite, introverted person. The kind no one expects to be writing about a kick-ass woman who trades sexual favors for information. And that kind of writing should probably best done at home... for various reasons. ;-)

Women's Roles

One of the ideas/themes that's come up more than a few times in the female-lead books I'm reading is women's roles, compared to men.

Some examples:

• The female lead feels she has to prove herself to be as good, or better than the men she works with.
• The femal lead feels uncomfortable with being a woman in a man's role.
• The female lead thinks, repeatedly, about her place in a man's world/role.
• The female lead compares herself with how the men are doing.
• The female lead wonders what a man would do in her position.

Now, it should be no surpise that being the atypical woman I am, I have some trouble with these sentiments. I *know* there are women out there who legitamately think and feel these ways.

I just don't understand why.

I have never once thought myself anything but equal to *everyone* in the room. I've never even thought about how I compare to men, even though I often found myself working with mostly men. It never even occurred to me that I was somehow less capable. (Sure, when I started in retail, I couldn't quite lift as much as some of the guys, but I can lift just about as much as any of them now.)

I don't know exactly what factors contributed to my sense of equality, but I am very glad that I have it. I would hate to feel like I had to "prove myself" to anyone. I am as competent and capable as the next person. Male or female.

One thing to note, though, is that I am significantly younger than all but one of the authors of these female-lead books I've beeen reading of late. Maybe this was part of the factor?

As a modern woman, I do think that men and women are equal. No one is better than the other based on gender alone. It's all what we do with ourselves.

I've heard that nothing is sexier than confidence. Hubby likes my confidence (and competence.) What do the rest of you think-- is confidence sexy? Is self-doubt?

By Golly, I Think I Get It!

The whole twenty-seven pairs of black shoes thing!

I've mulled over the tweny-seven black shoes thing for quite some time. I don't like when there are things I don't understand. This one has long elluded me-- as a strong pragmatist, I had trouble grasping why more than one of a particular color, of even style, is necessary. I own five pairs of shoes, myself. A nice pair that are big, chunky and black, a navy blue pair because black doesn't go with everything (or so I learned on What Not to Wear), a black and white striped summer pair (when the big chunky black ones are too hot), a pair of beat-up walking-around-in-retail shoes, and my Wave-Zone Velcro-on sandals (not suitable for dress-up).

But, on the other hand, I own hundreds of pens. I have tons of black pens, blue pens, green pens, and other odd colors-- including hot pink, brown, orange, and yellow. I do now understand why my teachers cringed when I handed them papers written in yellow... I have ballpoint pens (the ones that have not escaped off to live a ball-point pen styled life...), gel pens, felt tip pens, extra fine tip pens, retractable/ clickie pens, glitter pens, "extra smooth" pens, and so on. Hundreds of them. No-- this is not an exaggeration. And I don't like to share with Hubby, either. These are MY pens. =)

Why so many pens? Especially when the bulk of my writing is done on the computer now? It's all about mood for me. What I *feel* like writing with. Each type of pen has a different feeling when the ink is transfered to paper. And this feeling dictates which pen I use. Whether it's the grocery list, writting down a phone message, or making notes on who knows what and when in my novel.

I think this is part of same thing that goes into the twenty-seven black shoes thing. There are different finishes (matte vs. glossy vs. textured), different styles from flats to heels. Different weights-- some are thin and delicate while others are chunky. I don't know if most women really need, say, twenty-seven pairs of shoes... probably no more than I need to buy the set of pens that has the turqoise, purple, and lime AND the one that has red, blue, black. Yeah, I need them.

This is making me want to buy more pens.

What sort of similar-seeming thing do YOU collect?

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