Wow, it’s been a crazy year!  As I look back on it, I still can’t believe how much has happened.  Sometimes it doesn’t quite seem real, you know?  Here’s a snapshot of the past year here at iggi&gabi in writing (and other) milestones:

April:  iggi is born.
            iggi&gabi blog launches.

May:  Gabi finishes thesis and graduates from MFA.

September:  DIY MFA!!!

November:  Rough draft finished.

December:  Gabi and hubby close the deal on dream home!  That’s right, it became official on Monday and we’ll be moving sometime early in the new year.  We’re really excited because we’d been dreaming about this place for ages and now it’s finally come true.

As for 2011, I’ve already got a few things to look forward to with my writing, including some conferences in January, some new classes for me to teach (and maybe some for me to take too) and of course, our new home!

I also want to thank you all for being such awesome readers and such a great community!  I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to share this past year with you all.  The online writing community is amazing and supportive, I’m just thankful to be a part of it and to know I have you guys in my corner.  Seriously, regardless of what happens on my publishing journey, I will always feel like a writer because I am part of this community.  And in the end, that’s what really matters.

I wish you all health and happiness in 2011.  May your New Year be filled with all sorts of miracles.

Today I will to admit to one of my guilty pleasures, so please don’t point and laugh at me (you can laugh next to me but not at me).  And please keep it just between you and me, ‘k?  Don’t go blabbing about it all over the internet because then I might cry and sic my pet gremlins on you.  All right, you ready?  I’m about to tell you something super personal and embarrassing.  Here it is in 3… 2… 1…

IwatchtheshowLeverageandthinkit’skindacool.

I know, *gasp* right?  I mean, it’s not high-quality television and yes, I feel like I’ve lost one or two brain cells after I watch each episode.  But it’s so deliciously entertaining, kind of like Ocean’s Eleven, only with a whole Robin Hood theme going on.

It occurred to me that Leverage is actually a really good metaphor for the writing process.  Each episode follows the leverage team as they plan and execute a “job” to steal stuff from rich people and give it back to poor people.  Each character has a special skill that allows him or her to contribute to the task at hand.  What does this have to do with writing, you ask?

Writers need leverage.  They need skills that work together in order to pull off the “job,” which in this case means writing the book.  Every member of the team needs to do his or her job so that they can achieve their desired goal.  The only difference between writing a book and pulling off an elaborate heist is that instead of wearing one hat, the writer must wear all five.  Here are the roles the writer must play in order to get the job done.

Grifter:  Sophie (far left) is the con-artist, the actress of the group.  She is able to step in and out of different roles as easily as you or I might change our shoes.  Writers must be able to do the same thing.  One minute we have to be in our protagonist’s head and understand her motivations, the next we have to empathize with our villain.  Writing convincing characters means being able to get inside their heads, feel what they would feel, think what they would think.  Then make them do what we want.

Hitter:  Eliot (second from left) is the workhorse member of the team.  Basically, if some bad guy needs to be punched out, Eliot’s the man for the job.  Again, this is an important skill for a writer to have.  Sometimes there isn’t an elegant solution to a writing problem; sometimes you just have to use brute force and beat your way through writer’s block.  Of course, we would love to be able to solve all our writerly dilemmas with a flourish of the pen, but sometimes there’s no other way around it: we just need to beat the story with a stick.

Thief:  Parker (second from right) is the acrobat, the daredevil.  She’s the character who plunges off of rooftops or crawls through air vents.  She also has an affinity for all things bright and sparkly, like diamonds.  As writers, we need to remember to take risks and have fun with what we do.  Sometimes we need to jump first and think about finding a parachute after.  And hey, if we end up with something bright and sparkly in our hands, isn’t it worth the risk?

Hacker:  Hardison (far right) is the guy who knows how to work the system.  Whether that means hacking into a complex network or breaking some crazy code or getting the team inside a locked-down building, he’s the guy who gets it done.  Similarly, writers need to know how to work the system as well.  Whether it means learning how to format your manuscript the right way, or figuring out where to send your work, it’s important to understand the network you want to break into and that means doing research and learning about the business as well as the craft.

Mastermind:  Nathan (front and center) is the coordinator, the hub, the nucleus of the team.  He makes sure everyone knows what they need to do and that they actually get the job done.  Again, it’s a mighty important skill for writers to have.  After all, you can play all the other parts beautifully, but it won’t matter if you can’t assess whether your “team” is working together well and doing it’s job.  This means stepping back from time to time and looking at the “big picture” of your writing life.  What aspects are working well?  What areas could you improve upon?

So, how’s your Leverage team looking?  Which areas do you have covered and which skills do you still need to polish?  More importantly, what are you going to do about it?

The universe has a weird sense of humor.  You want to see your work in print but instead you get a pile of rejections.  You want to write something deep and meaningful that will reach people, and instead all that comes out is nonsensical garble.  You want to take the nice flat road and instead you find yourself pushing a giant boulder uphill like Sisyphus.

Like the song says:
“You can’t always get what you want.  You get what you need.”

No, I’m not going to get all new age-y on you, but I definitely think there’s something to be said about a greater construct that can see beyond my own myopic point of view.  Some people call that a divine power.  Others (like Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way) call it synchronicity.  I like to think of it as the universe having common sense.

Whatever you want to call it, I have seen proof that the universe knows what I need much better than I do.  Some time ago I took a writing class and really hit it off with one of my classmates.  After a couple of semesters in the same class, our lives took us in different directions and we fell out of touch.  A few months ago, I got an email from her out of the blue… only it wasn’t from her exactly; someone had hacked her email account and spammed everyone in her address book.  Even so, it reminded me that here was a writer I wanted to be in touch with and it inspired me to me to reach out and say hello.  Now, months later, she and I have become good friends and she’s one of the go-to people I consult with about writing stuff.  We still crack up about how our friendship was rekindled by a Viagra spam email.

My point is, sometimes the universe plays tricks on writers.  Sometimes a door opens and it doesn’t lead anywhere near where you want to go, but it’s the only open door so you take it anyway.  Sometimes Santa puts coal in your stocking instead of that iPod you wanted.  It happens.  Here’s how to deal:

1)  You can burn it to make fire.  So you got a lump of coal (READ: rejection letter, nasty critique, door slamming in your face).  So what?  Don’t let it get you down.  Instead, think about how you can use it to light a fire in your writing.  Don’t let naysayers stand in your way.  Prove them wrong.

2)  Coal is basically the same as a diamond, only not as well put-together.  What can you do with the coal you’ve got in your hand to turn it into diamond-material?  How can you rearrange those molecules to make that dull lump of gunk into something sparkly and beautiful?

When you find coal in your stocking, think of it as a call to action, a BIG fat hint from the universe.  What you do with that hint is up to you.  After all, a lump of coal is just a lump of coal until you do something with it.

While hanging out in the North Pole, I got a chance to chat it up with Rudolph.  Let me tell you, that is one optimistic little reindeer and a lot of his advice applies really well to writing.  Here are some super-secret tips he shared about how he made it to leading Santa’s sleigh.

Be nosy.  That’s right.  Writers need to have no shame about asking questions so they can learn about exciting new things.  After all, how else do you get all that material to write about?  If you want to know about something, ask.  Or go to the library.  Or ask Google.  And remember: don’t just write about what you know, write about what you want to know.

Develop a thick skin.  Writers are a strange bunch.  They spend years writing a book, then tearing it apart in edits, then querying and collecting rejection letters.  Just as Rudolph had to get used to being picked on by fellow reindeer, writers need a thick skin to survive the volume of rejections that comes with the job.  Rather than letting it get to us, we need to follow Rudolph’s example and just let our noses sparkle.

Don’t let the fog scare you.  At one point or another, all writers hit the fog.  You know, that feeling that nothing you write is ever good enough and “where’s this book going anyway?”  Just remember, real writers don’t just work when the weather’s clear, they write in the snow and wind and fog as well.  And most of the time, it’s when they break through the nasty weather that the real magic happens.

How about you?  What reindeer games have you learned from our red-nosed friend?