The show I've put off watching...until now

by Brittany Geragotelis

I was a hardcore gymnast from the time I was 8 until about 16. In fact, when I quit, I was training for the Olympics. From the day that I was told that's where I was headed, I started to stress out big-time. I woke up every morning thinking about how I might mess up in front of the whole world. And by this age, I'd also started to realize that if I made a mistake, I could actually die. In basketball you just miss a shot or in volleyball you hit the net. Not a lot of danger there. But in gymnastics? One misstep and you're paralyzed or worse.

But I digress. The point is, gymnastics was my sport. It was my passion and what I trained all my young life for. And I cut my career and dreams short because of fear. Needless to say, I haven't watched gymnastics since. I haven't seen a single Olympics since I've quit. I can't stomach it. It just reminds me of what I could have been...

photo credit: ABCFamily/Make it or Break it

Because of this, I've been putting off watching the show, "Make It or Break It" on ABC Family ever since it started. But I recently finished watching the entire "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" series and needed a new show to watch. So, at the insistence of several friends, I gave it a go. And although it brings back certain old feelings and I definitely miss those days of training hard for something, I'm actually enjoying the show.

The stars don't exactly have gymnast bodies and some of the drama is a little over the top, but they do get some stuff right. The gymnastics scenes are intense and super fun to watch and the politics that come along with the sport are spot on. I can't help but feel like Jessica Bendinger's movie Stick It helped pave the way for this show in terms of the public's interest in these tremendous athletes. Way to go Jessica!

Either way, I'm definitely getting sucked into "MIOBI" and if you haven't already checked it out, you should--Even if you're mourning the loss of your own gymnastics career. I promise, It'll be worth it!

5x5,
B.

Writing 101--The Character Collage

by Brittany Geragotelis

Last week, I told you all about how I outline a book when I'm first starting to write a novel. A part of outlining the book with all the details of the story is creating your characters. It's important to really know your characters (especially your main character) before starting to write them. That means, knowing what they look like, their attitude, their past, even their personal fashion styles are all things that are good to know before you put that character down on paper.

That's where creating a Character Collage can come in handy. Now, I haven't done a Character Collage for every book I've written, so it's certainly not something a writer has to do; in fact, it's something that I've started doing more recently, but it's been incredibly helpful.

courtesy of Jessica Bendinger

The Character Collage is actually a tip that I picked up from famed Bring It On and Stick It writer/director turned author, Jessica Bendinger. Having met and interviewed Jessica in the past, she contacted me when she was coming out with her debut YA book, The Seven Rays, and we sat down to discuss her latest venture. One of the things that I thought was particularly impressive about that meeting was that she brought along these collages that visually showed the characters in her book. I'm not sure if it's because her background's in film or if it's simply just the writing process she's created, but I was immediately drawn to this aspect of her writing practice.

So, here's the idea behind the Character Collage. Before you begin writing a character, the point is to know everything there is to know about them. For me, it always starts with figuring out who would play the person in a movie of the book. Now, do I really think that a movie will be made out of my novel? Not necessarily (although I wouldn't be upset if it were), but it's a helpful way to picture what that character looks like, their mannerisms, their style. So, I start by looking through magazines and cutting out pictures of the person I think would represent my character. Once I have her cut out, I move on to her personal style: what she wears, the kind of makeup she applies, her height, body size, hairstyle, etc. Then I move on to other details. Does this person have pets, what is she passionate about, what are her personality traits, what is she obsessed with, what is she scared of? I cut out pictures or phrases or words that describe my character.

After you've cut out everything you can think of that describes your character, take a notebook and start taping/gluing/attaching all of your bits and pieces onto a page with your character's name at the top. Once they're all down on paper, I like to fill in the blanks that I didn't include from my cut-outs. This can be little tidbits like age, friends, beliefs, etc.

When you're done with this, you should have a nice little overview of exactly who your character is, as well as a clear picture of what they look like. This will help you to keep that vision fresh in your mind as you develop them further while writing the book. And after you've finished mapping out your main character, you can move on to your secondary characters, performing a collage for each.

Doing a Character Collage is certainly not a requirement when writing a story, but it's been helpful to me and I'm sure it can be helpful to you. Plus, it's actually a lot of fun (when was the last time you did a little arts and crafts?)!

5x5,
B.

Advice from a blonde pop star

by Brittany Geragotelis

One of the cool things about my job is that I get to meet a variety of celebs. Through work I've gotten the chance to meet Meg Cabot (Otherwise known as my writing hero!), Danneel Harris (Pictured with me here; Sooo sweet & the lucky girl is dating "Supernatural" star Jensen Ackles!) and Bring It On & Stick It writer/director, Jessica Bendinger (My sister-soulmate; you'll never meet a more humble person from Hollywood).

photo credit: Matisse

Don't get me wrong, though--it's not like there's a celebrity in our office every day. But every once in a while we do get the occassional surprise guest. Yesterday, the pop singer, Matisse (pictured left) stopped by. In case you're not familiar with her, Matisse (real name, Brittany Smith), got her start as one of the John Frieda Twins. She and her twin sis, Alex, started their own pop group called "Brit and Alex," and had a hit on the Step Up 2 soundtrack. After becoming pretty popular over in the UK, Brit's sis decided to quit the biz, leaving Brit wondering if her dreams as a singer were over.

First off, Brit is a really sweet girl. With a sunny smile and platinum blonde locks she perfectly fits the part of pop star. She's got a quiet disposition though, which is interesting since she's such a dynamic performer. You can tell she thinks through her answers before she gives them, and she's worked hard to get to where she is.

photo credit: Matisse

While we were sitting there and chatting about her impending singing career and her latest single, "Better Than Her" (which has already hit #16 on the charts), the conversation quickly turned to how she came to be "Matisse" and dealing with the rejection that comes with following your dreams. She explained that after her sister left their group, Brit suffered from a serious identity crisis. Her fans knew her as a part of a duo and without her sis, she wasn't sure people would buy her as a solo artist. So, she reinvented herself as an artist, under the name Matisse, named after the artist who didn't conform. The point was, despite the setbacks she had, she kept pushing forward.

This is something that I find myself doing every day. See, all I've ever wanted is to be a published author. It's been my dream since I was little. And when I moved to NYC, the first phase in my dream came true: I got a literary agent. He was a great guy and believed in my writing, but after failing to sell a few of my books (and having a lot of interest for one at Harper Collins Childrens), we went our separate ways.

Long story short, I thought this was a sign I wasn't supposed to be writing. Dumb, I know. After about 9 months of no writing at all (besides at work), I felt myself being drawn back to writing. What I learned from that experience was that I really don't have a choice: I'm a writer. I'm good at it, and I have stories to tell. So, the past 2 years, I've been hard at work and have finished 2 more books and am in the middle of my latest, Painless.

I've been sending out queries for one of my books, Ki$$ & $ell, and have received 8 requests for partials and fulls--but mostly rejections. I'm not going to lie--The rejection is hard. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but that's SO not the case. It's especially hard when I review so many books for work that just aren't good. As time goes by and my dream remains just out of my reach, I'm constantly wondering whether I should give up....

But I don't. And it's stories like Brit's and Meg Cabot's (Meg's said before she hit it big, she got a rejection every day except for Sunday--and that's because the mail didn't come on Sundays) and countless other people who are in creative fields (actors, singers, writers, etc), that keep pushing me forward. I need to have faith that eventually my book will be at the right place at the right time and things will all work out the way they're supposed to.

So, all in all, it wasn't such a bad day at work...

5x5,
B.