Month: April 2017

Top 10 Favorite Moments from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

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I’ve written already about my love of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now that we’re in between seasons, I need to both occupy my time and get my fix, so I’ve made a list of my Top 10 moments of the show so far. In truth, making a “Top 10 Favorite Songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” would have been a tall order, so this was damn near impossible. The writing/music/choreography/etc. on this show is just so sharp. I’m sure next month I’d be able to update this with an entirely new set of scenes/images/lines.

Without further ado:

10. Paula and the ice cube tray. Girl, we’ve all been there.

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9. Darryl: I like women – I like sleeping with women! I like the way they smell, I like the way that they – the feel of their skin, I like their… bird-like voices. I mean, does that sound gay?
White Josh: Nope. Sounds like a serial killer, but a straight one for sure.

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I’m guaranteed to like pretty much any scene White Josh appears in. He’s the voice of reason of this show.

8. These costumes.

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So I’m not the biggest Jebecca (Joshbecca?) fan, but I really dig these groovy outfits.

7. #humbleandblessed

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We’ve reached the hashtag portion of this list. This comes from “I’m a Good Person,” and I repeat it in conversation often. Honestly, why isn’t this used all the time?

6. #gurlgroup4evah

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Look, I always love Rebecca and Paula, but one of the great joys this season was seeing Rebecca explore other friendships with some unlikely allies. Heather has been one of my favorite characters since Season 1. She started out as Rebecca’s unenthused neighbor; it took a while for her to find her place in the show’s universe, but she–like White Josh–is one of the show’s best secondary characters. I can’t wait to see where this girl group goes in Season 3.

5. “You’re pretty, and you’re smart, and you’re ignoring me, so you’re obviously my type.” This is the line I knew I’d be rooting for Greg.

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4. This moment. I don’t know how the show got around S&P to air “We Tapped That Ass,” but I’m so glad it did.

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3. Paula: Honey, be yourself.

Rebecca: What?! Who? No! Ew. Ugh. Who wants to be that?

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2. The lyrics “For some reason you’re now on the top of my to-do list/let’s get this over with/so I can focus on other tasks.”

I know exactly what it says about me that this is the sexiest thing I have ever heard. Also, Scott Michael Foster is scrumptious in every frame of this video. The entire Santa Ana wind episode should be a national treasure.

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1. This song.

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If you’ve even been a high-achieving woman, I think you know how this feels.

 

4 Quick Tips to Improve Your Writing

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In my day job, I spend a lot of time getting into the nitty gritty of a writer’s prose. Here are habits I see all the time that can be easily avoided to strengthen your writing.

1.Prune adverbs

This is advice novice writers always hear. It’s sometimes mistaken for “use no adverbs,” which is not what this suggests. Take a look at your adverb usage and look for places where adverbs compensate for weak writing. For example, “she said softly” could become “she whispered” or “she murmured.” Make sure that the adverbs you use are necessary to your meaning. The same advice goes for adjectives.

2. Take a closer look at was + ing

The was + ing (was walking, was talking, was writing, etc.) can often be replaced with a past participle. Unless it’s vital to the understanding of a timeline, this should be rendered in past tense. Many ongoing and continuing actions can be understood in past tense. For example, “he was looking at her throughout the night” can become “he looked at her throughout the night” with little loss to the meaning.

3. Keep an eye out for stage directions

When writing, authors like to visualize a scene in their head, parsing it out step by step. But sometimes those steps aren’t eliminated in the revision stage. A reader rarely needs all the detail about a character that strides to the door, places her hand on the doorknob, turns the knob to the right, pushes open the door, steps into the room, swings the door back, and shuts the door. Use only what’s necessary for the story.

4. Make sure you know whose head you’re in

If you’re narrating in close third person, don’t slip into another tense or POV without reason. I see many authors writing in close third person switch into first person italics without considering the perspective. If we are in a character’s thoughts, we don’t need tags like “she thought.” In the same vein, “I heard someone knock at the door” is not as strong as “someone knocked at the door.”

What I’m Watching: An Appreciation of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

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My favorite screenshot from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

I’ve talked extensively on my previous blog and in real life about the increase in my television consumption once I started working in publishing. Since I read all day, sometimes I want to relax with another storytelling medium.

My TV shows have ebbed and flowed over the years. In college, my friends and I watched 30 Rock, then Parks & Rec. We committed to old episodes of Daria and Summer Heights High. But those shows have gone since then, and I had little to take their place.

For many years, I loved The Mindy Project, which I watched every week, but I stopped this seasons; the show lost some of its spark without Danny, and I felt like I kept watching Mindy in the same situations as she had been in earlier seasons. None of the characters seemed to be growing or maturing; the ones that did moved on (Peter, for instance).

Two of my favorite shows at the moment hail from the CW: Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Apparently, hour-long comedies are now my thing. Jane the Virgin is pure fun: mystery, love, family, novel writing. I love the way it alludes to, pokes fun at, and upends the telenovela formula. And although a certain update this season was heartbreaking, it’s really reinvigorated the story. The three-year jump has been particularly effective, and reminds me of the last season of Parks & Rec, where it also worked so well.

But my favorite TV show–by far–is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I haven’t loved a show as much as this in I don’t know how long. There is not enough time for me to detail everything I admire about the show. I want to be smart when talking about television, but I’m not, so I’ll point you to this fabulous piece by Emily Nussbaum, which is what convinced me to give Crazy Ex-Girlfriend a shot.

Since I’ve become obsessed with the show (I watched the first five episodes over Winter Storm Jonas weekend in January 2015), I’ve made it my mission to proselytize. The title, coupled with the key art from the first season, had made it difficult for me to give the show a shot. It wasn’t clear that the show was mocking the term “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” The show opens with Rebecca Bunch, a successful and miserable attorney with mental health issues, who has a breakdown the day she’s offered the position of partner at her law firm. She runs into her camp boyfriend, Josh Chan, in the throes of this. He mentions he’s moving home to West Covina, California. Rebecca thinks that it sounds like a place where she could be happy. So she quits her job and moves there, much to the astonishment of everyone who knows her. At her new law firm, paralegal Paula suspects that Rebecca’s not being truthful about why she moved to town, and finds that Rebecca is obsessed with a guy named Josh Chan. Rebecca has been hoping to run into him, and meets his friend Greg at the bar where Josh had been sitting minutes before. Greg likes Rebecca; cue the love triangle. By the end of the pilot, Paula vows to help Rebecca get Josh, becoming her best friend.

But what really makes Crazy Ex-Girlfriend unusual is the fact that it’s a musical comedy. I always bury the lede on that point (for a former singer, I have an astonishing number of friends who dislike musicals). Rachel Bloom, who stars and co-created the series with Aline Brosh McKenna, is a writer and comedian. The songs cover (and sometimes skewer) everything from women getting ready to go out to female friendship to guilting mothers. If you’re unfamiliar, “The Sexy Getting Ready Song” from the pilot is probably a good place to start. The songs can be crass and sometimes hit a little too close to home. But I love that the show is unapologetic about showing how difficult it can be to be a young woman in our society, particularly one dealing with mental illness. The show has evolved over two seasons in a fascinating way, and the season 2 finale had me frantically texting everyone I know who watches (which is now a large number; perhaps I should consider becoming a missionary?). I cannot wait to see where the show is going in Season 3. It’s only getting more brilliant.

If you’re a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fan, please let me know! I always love finding more people to talk about it.

250 Words a Day, One Year

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In October, I wrote about my goal of writing 250 words every day for the entire year. It had come up as a project of mine for my “25 at 25” list, a manageable daily goal with big returns (91,000 words) by the end of the year.

A few weeks ago, I made my 26 at 26 list, and that 250 words per day goal is still there.

The problem is, I’ve hardly even started on my 26 at 26 list. The perils of creating your yearly list of goals on vacation. So far my word count has been minimal.

But to back up for a second to the first year of 250 words per day.

I didn’t manage 250 words every day. I strived for it, which made a difference. If I knew I had limited time one evening, I tried to make it up the next day. The goal did get me in a pattern of writing more often. As with anything that requires habit and practice, it got easier the more I did it.  By August, I’d written a 91,000 word novel, which fulfilled my yearly word count goal.

And then I kind of took a break. I edited the novel, which counted for something. But I got busy and fell out of the habit. I think I should feel guiltier than I do about it.

So I’m trying 250 words again this year. I’m not going to beat myself up if I skip a day or week, but it’s reassuring to have the goal there; to know that a little bit each day translates to big rewards by the end of the year.