Erin Grey's Blog
August 5, 2020
Wow-oh, I'm an Alien
Yup, I've got that Sting song in my head. It always resonated with me although I wasn't quite sure why - I live in the country where I was born.
At times, I'd think of myself as 'displaced', like I was born in the wrong time period, among the wrong people, in the wrong nation. I couldn't pin down what was so wrong with me, why I didn't seem to fit in any of the holes available to me.
When I discovered the Myer-Briggs personality test and found out I'm an INFJ, the mists began to clear. INFJs are unusual, they said, rare. They wear many masks; they adjust themselves to match the expectations of others. They fit everywhere, so they never click in anywhere.
Currently, I'm reading a book by Lauren Sapala: The INFJ Writer. This passage felt like the explanation for life, the universe, and everything:
"Sensitive Intuitive writers have felt so different from other people, so alien, for all of their lives that they can't shake the feeling that they're weird. That something is wrong with them."
This is me. I feel alien. I feel weird. I feel wrong.
I used to chastise myself when I thought about how different I was. 'You think you're special?' I'd ask myself. 'You think you're different from everyone else, that you're the only one like you? Conceited much?'
I told myself I wasn't different or special. I was just broken somehow.
Which brings me to the very next part of that passage Lauren wrote:
"This feeling eats away at the self-esteem and causes insidious damage to the creative spirit. That's when we get into problems like chronic and crippling procrastination, self-sabotage, and paralyzing writer's block."
And there it is. The reason I get stuck. It's the endless worry about what's 'wrong' with me. That what I'm writing is different and alien and weird and therefore WRONG. So I try to be 'normal'; I try to write the 'right' thing.
And lose my voice, because what I'm writing is not coming from me - it's coming from who I think I'm supposed to be.
I want to believe that realising this is the key to forever overcoming procrastination and self-sabotage, but my sad little rational brain knows it's not.
Which is why I'll be making myself a personalized motivational poster I can look at whenever the paralysis hits:
You are different
You are alien
You are weird
But you are not wrong
At times, I'd think of myself as 'displaced', like I was born in the wrong time period, among the wrong people, in the wrong nation. I couldn't pin down what was so wrong with me, why I didn't seem to fit in any of the holes available to me.
When I discovered the Myer-Briggs personality test and found out I'm an INFJ, the mists began to clear. INFJs are unusual, they said, rare. They wear many masks; they adjust themselves to match the expectations of others. They fit everywhere, so they never click in anywhere.
Currently, I'm reading a book by Lauren Sapala: The INFJ Writer. This passage felt like the explanation for life, the universe, and everything:
"Sensitive Intuitive writers have felt so different from other people, so alien, for all of their lives that they can't shake the feeling that they're weird. That something is wrong with them."
This is me. I feel alien. I feel weird. I feel wrong.
I used to chastise myself when I thought about how different I was. 'You think you're special?' I'd ask myself. 'You think you're different from everyone else, that you're the only one like you? Conceited much?'
I told myself I wasn't different or special. I was just broken somehow.
Which brings me to the very next part of that passage Lauren wrote:
"This feeling eats away at the self-esteem and causes insidious damage to the creative spirit. That's when we get into problems like chronic and crippling procrastination, self-sabotage, and paralyzing writer's block."
And there it is. The reason I get stuck. It's the endless worry about what's 'wrong' with me. That what I'm writing is different and alien and weird and therefore WRONG. So I try to be 'normal'; I try to write the 'right' thing.
And lose my voice, because what I'm writing is not coming from me - it's coming from who I think I'm supposed to be.
I want to believe that realising this is the key to forever overcoming procrastination and self-sabotage, but my sad little rational brain knows it's not.
Which is why I'll be making myself a personalized motivational poster I can look at whenever the paralysis hits:
You are different
You are alien
You are weird
But you are not wrong
July 28, 2020
The Trouble with Titles
It really is quite an art to come up with a good title. I know I've been attracted to books because of the title, such as David Wong's 'This Book is Full of Spiders' or 'John Dies at the End'.
Tom Holt has an endless list of good ones:
The Good, the Bad, and the Smug
You don't have to be evil to work here, but it helps
Who's afraid of Beowulf
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages
And then there are those titles that are succinct but tell you exactly what to expect. Gail Carriger has a knack for these. She writes Victorian-esque paranormal steampunk. Her series about a finishing school that teaches espionage and assassination is particularly well-named:
Etiquette & Espionage
Waistcoats & Weaponry
Curtsies & Conspiracies
Manners & Mutiny
I mean, don't you just get Victorian + espionage + humour + schooling from those?
Now, I'm writing a series of humorous fairy tale retellings set in a Discworld-type universe. But coming up with a good series of titles (and a title for the series) is proving most challenging. I want to convey humour + Victorian + fairy tale + romance. Even just the first 3 would do. But how to go about it?
Here are some ideas I've had for the first book in the series (a Goblin King + labyrinth inspired story):
The Sensible Lady’s Guide to Goblins & Red tape
This book has Goblins in it
The one about the Goblin King
The Goblin's Advocate
How to train your Goblin King
IDK. Any of those look appealing to you?
And I still have to come up with a series name. Fairy Tales for Sensible Young Ladies? The Nulli Verse?
It's sooooo haaaard.
What's your favourite book title? One that made you go 'I have to read that immediately'?
Tom Holt has an endless list of good ones:
The Good, the Bad, and the Smug
You don't have to be evil to work here, but it helps
Who's afraid of Beowulf
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages
And then there are those titles that are succinct but tell you exactly what to expect. Gail Carriger has a knack for these. She writes Victorian-esque paranormal steampunk. Her series about a finishing school that teaches espionage and assassination is particularly well-named:
Etiquette & Espionage
Waistcoats & Weaponry
Curtsies & Conspiracies
Manners & Mutiny
I mean, don't you just get Victorian + espionage + humour + schooling from those?
Now, I'm writing a series of humorous fairy tale retellings set in a Discworld-type universe. But coming up with a good series of titles (and a title for the series) is proving most challenging. I want to convey humour + Victorian + fairy tale + romance. Even just the first 3 would do. But how to go about it?
Here are some ideas I've had for the first book in the series (a Goblin King + labyrinth inspired story):
The Sensible Lady’s Guide to Goblins & Red tape
This book has Goblins in it
The one about the Goblin King
The Goblin's Advocate
How to train your Goblin King
IDK. Any of those look appealing to you?
And I still have to come up with a series name. Fairy Tales for Sensible Young Ladies? The Nulli Verse?
It's sooooo haaaard.
What's your favourite book title? One that made you go 'I have to read that immediately'?
July 22, 2020
The First Day of the Rest of the Blog
You'd think that after 34 years I'd know better than to start more new projects than I can realistically chew, but as it happens, I'm just as silly and misguided as ever.
That said, my plan for this space is to share:
-what I'm reading this week
-what I'm writing
-what music I'm using to inspire my writing
-new ideas I'm toying with
-new releases and sneak peeks
-IDK, probably stuff my cat does
Hang around and you might be amused.
Hugs,
Erin
That said, my plan for this space is to share:
-what I'm reading this week
-what I'm writing
-what music I'm using to inspire my writing
-new ideas I'm toying with
-new releases and sneak peeks
-IDK, probably stuff my cat does
Hang around and you might be amused.
Hugs,
Erin
