Watt, Alan (2010-10-07). The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story within (p. 16). The 90-Day Novel Press. Kindle Edition.

Pretty and handsome are allowed in romantic comedies. Hot? Not so much. Here is my theory about romantic comedy leads:

He has to be hot but not too hot. Bonus points for “cute.”  I have this theory that people don’t want to see extremely pretty people fall in love.  Have you ever noticed that? It’s why you will never see Megan Fox in a romantic comedy lead. To all of us watching these movies, really hot girls are the ENEMY. Hiss. Boo. GO. MEAN. HOT. GIRL. That’s another thing. Really attractive people often come off as jerks, don’t they? Scarlett Johanson doesn’t look like she would be a particularly sweet girl. Same goes for Bradley Cooper. Bradley, you can smile all you want but you still look like you would cheat on me with my best friend.

I am going to do EVERYTHING she tells me to do. Even the woo-woo stuff. We are starting with a list of romantic intanglements. Uhhh? As the Bud Lite commercial says, here we go!  A Bud Light might help.

1. It’s good for accountability. I can’t write about my day in good faith and leave out the corn dog I might have eaten. P.S – Corn dogs are my favorite. I miss them the most.

2. I still can’t believe I’m doing it and I need evidence of this crazy adventure. It feels bigish and I should document it, right? Who knows where this all will take me?

3. I am loving connecting with other  folks who are living greenish. I have developed an obsession with tagging vegetarian dishes on my pintrest and I am meeting lots of new blogs in the process.

4. I need to catalog the recipes that work (well) and want to do again and I figure this is a good way for me to build up my staples.

Why did I choose the word greenish? I HATE rules. I hate titles even more. Vegan/vegetarian/evoo something or other. I don’t LOVE commitment and committing to a title that everyone gets to recognize me with doesn’t jive with me.   It also makes what I am doing feel bigger than it should. I am just trying to eat better. Period. And eating better means being greenish. Veggies are the best. Go VEGGIES!  I’m also saying bye to processed foods and those nasty carbs (not the awesome whole grain kind). Right now, I’m participating in Kris Carr’s cleanse which requires me to also go gluten-free and sugar-free. I also drink lots and lots of green juce.

My miracle juice: KALE, romaine, cucumber, spinach + apple

I doubt this blog is JUST going to be about green stuff. So far, my new greenish has been the catalyst for many other things too. Expect some other stuff too. Life is going to be getting all big and crazy soon and this is the place I’ll document all the craziness.

Can I just say, it’s amazing to write something non-business.

Oh, and another thing! This blog is a work-in-progress, which means it doesn’t have my signature Shenee-style on it yet. I figure just getting this site up was a big step in the right direction. If this is something I really fall in love with, expect this site to be pimped.

How can I help you?

I have been doing a lot of asking lately and I haven’t stopped to look around. I want to know what you are doing and I would love to help out. Just so you know, January is all about the payment plan, so if you think you might need something from me, let’s get it done. And if it’s as easy as reviewing, testing, feedbacking, email me. I love connecting with you all.

With that in mind, add me on skype. I am a newbie at it but I am loving putting the moving faces to the avatars. shenee.howard is my username. Add me! : )

Let’s start with my storytelling blog, which finally has a name.

Eight Thirty Seven — Why 837? Well, a couple of reasons.

• There is a story behind it, 8:37    is the time I wake up everyday to write and work. It is the time all  my great ideas/story happen
• I think it’s a cool name
• I was tired of trying to think of  something more straight forward and started to hate the word story.  I am less likely to hate a number. It’s like having an address. Who     starts to hate their address? I love the numbers to my address.

So, right now I am trying to navigate the name situation.
Www.837.com is on sale and to get it, I would have to pay 100,000. Yikes.

Some of my ideas:
www.the837.com
www.storiesat837.com
www.eightthirtyseven.com <— this is my favorite, I always like spelling out numbers but I don’t know if anyone else would.

What will this blog be? In a nutshell: 837 is about the creation of your story, the appreciation of other stories, and just the pursuit of a story-telling worthy life.

Something like that.

It will be a blog about story creation, a place for story curating and with some random writing + life tips to go with it.

How you can get involved with the launch of this blog:

I am hoping to get some content ready  for the launch in February. I am currently writing the e-book that will be the cookie for signing up for updates.

The site already has some built in community-based content and I would like to start gathering that as soon as possible.Guest Posts for this site aren’t going to be typical evergreen “useful” articles, although that works too. I am looking more for your stories and discoveries with some other stuff mixed in. Some ideas I had for posts:

- Style Stories – Pick a favorite outfit/tee-shirt/shoes  and tell a short story about something great that happened while wearing it

-Writing Routines ( Unmasked ) — Reveal some of the weird ways you get inspired and some of the sources of inspiration. Share your tips of the trade that have helped with your writing
-
—- Tiny Workshops — I’ll start putting out a call for content to be workshopped by me/ the readers of the blog. This could be anything, really. Just as long as it is relatively short and has some meaning behind it.

-Mini-Memoirs — These will be around 500-800 words long and explore a topic of your choice. Share a story that is funny, sad, happy. Whatever. I’ll be providing little prompts along the way to help guide the process.

-Photography — I would love to start getting photo stories from you all. You don’t have to write a lot about each one, just submit some photography with a little blurb about the story the photos tell.

–Food Stories — Share a recipe you love alongside a story about that recipe, we can have pictures but we don’t have to, I hear food photography is tricky business.

-Song Stories —- I am trying to open up to new songs. I rarely listen to lyrics, like really listen. Mostly, I just listen to hooks and the music. I want to start curating songs with really great lyrics.  I lost all of my music when my computer was stolen, I will start opening my world for recommendations cause I am literally starting at zero. Bonus points if the song is free.

So, if you know someone that knows someone’s mother that can help me out, let me know  And I know everyone likes to get some exposure, even if we are playing to a little audience. I might have only 450ish followers but that is 450ish people that might not have known about your site otherwise, right?

Right?

Thanks guys!

When I was in the 4^th grade, we moved into my grandmother’s house after she died. It was a small house in a neighborhood which was a cross between ghetto and the sticks.  But my grandmother lived on a decent stretch full of old people in even older houses. They shuffled to the grocery store on senior discount day and to church on Sundays.

I spent that first summer feeding an addiction that I still have. Pickles.

I had my first pickle a couple of days before my grandmother died. She was my favorite person and I wore her favorite hat everywhere for the whole month she was sick.  My grandfather would walk me up and down the street and he would let me tell him about my favorite television shows. It was on our fourth trip up and down the street that he bought me a pickle.

The best thing about that neighborhood was the gas station that didn’t sell gas at the end of the street.  My grandfather’s best friend worked there and he had a huge gun prominently displayed behind the countertop next to some of his war medals. He had a large jar of pickles tucked behind the lottery tickets.

My grandfather stared straight ahead, taking big bites of his pickle. He didn’t say anything. I took a huge bite of my pickle and my eyes started to water. It was sour. The consistency was complicated. Crunchy.  Refreshing. A little sweet. And the sour bits, that was my favorite part. Pickles have a numbing effect on your thoughts. You are so overwhelmed by the smell, the taste and the texture. You don’t really have time for anything else.

And it gave me what I described as dragon breath.

This made me feel powerful. I was hooked.

Every other day, I would spend a huge chunk of my morning digging through couches and folding clothes so I could buy 2 large dill pickles for 89 cents. Sometimes my dad would pay me to organize his shoes or alphabetize our VHS tapes. I never liked doing this job. This always held me up. I often found a movie I hadn’t watched in a while and ended up sitting in front of the TV for an hour and half when I should be looking for dimes.

When I had just enough, my mom had me take Gug, my grandfather’s dog up the street with me. Gug was almost bigger than me and he was so well trained, I didn’t even need to put him on a leash. He was meant to be my protector and he did a really good job. If anyone looked at me, he made sure they knew that wasn’t a good idea.

We would always stop by Mr. Slaughter’s house. He was also a Vietnam veteran who dealt with his lingering addiction by eating lots of pistachios and drinking gallons of iced tea. He kept a huge sack of pistachios next to his rocking chair and I would get a huge handful and sit. He would tell me a story that only lasted as long as it took for me to eat my pistachios. He had a dog that was so old that when he tried to bark, he puffed smoke. Gug and old dog would sniff each other and that would be it.

After I finished my pistachios and I would continue on to the gas station, Gug lagging behind. When I got to the gas station, I would buy 2 large dill pickles from the big jar next to the lottery tickets.  The clerk would always add an extra dime when I wasn’t looking because I never had enough change for both.  And I never understood tax. I would stand outside of the gas station and eat my first pickle right away.

The pickle was always perfect. My brain was quiet.

But I would always feel a little sick afterwards because of the pistachios.

Afterwards, I would run home and get my mom to store my pickle in a large mason jar  on a shelf in the fridge that was out of my reach so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat it right away. I saved them for when my grandfather got home from wherever he was. He would come home, his eyes a little red.  He would make his way to the kitchen  and reach for his pickle in the Mason jar in the back of the fridge.

He looked like his brain got quiet. And I know the pickle was perfect.

If you have an interesting story, you can make anyone think about considering anything. Including pickles.

 I searched the word story and got this photo, ha

Happy New Year, friends.  Who is jazzed about the New Year? I am.  So many great things have been happening.

Let’s just get right into it, shall we?

I had an epiphany.

While, this blog is a huge reflection of who I am, I’m not really fully exploring the topics that truly interest me.

My blogging life has been plagued with doubts on my end of things. I constantly struggle with fitting into the system and going by the “rules” to become successful. I read all the blog posts. Then I didn’t.  For the last month and a half, I have used this blog as a place to experiment with different styles and subject matters. I still couldn’t figure out the thread that connected everything. I know that there was something there, in the corners of my brain. But I couldn’t acess it.

Then I had a consultation call with my good friend, Tessa Zeng. And she helped me connect the dots but asking me a really simple question.

What keeps you up at night?

 My answer: making up stories. I am obsessed with creating stories. My brain is constantly switched on, playing out some random movie or short story I haven’t written yet.  And then I went back at my favorite posts and the concepts that I most connected with,  I was able to get some insight for my new direction.

Before you follow anyone’s advice about your business or your blog, know your story first.

And this is why everything I read ( in terms of advice ) goes in one ear and out the other. I didn’t have my bat signal. My story wasn’t together. And I think that is what happens to a lot of us.

We buy all these e-products and read all these blogs with the hope that these resources will make us richer. Or more effective. And these e-products aren’t equipped to help you with your first order of business before you set out on your journey. Knowledge of your story. And I think that secretly, we hope that these products will help us discover our story. Most of the time, that isn’t the case. Most products assume that you understand your story already. And if they don’t, they ask you a couple of questions about your intrests. For most of us, that isn’t enough.

Your Story

Your story is not just what you want to write about it. It is about how your desires connect with your life path. There should be a connection. What life circumstances got you to where you are right now? And how does that connect with what you write? 

And it shouldn’t just be a passing interest.  Your story should be so close to your heart that it just comes naturally to you.

My New Blog

I have realized that this is what I want to start writing about: the discovery of personal story and the importance of stories in general. So I will be relaunching. In a big way. I am going to be creating a beautiful, highly interactive design for the site. I won’t have to code it, one of my clients is going to help me out.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will be using this blog to test out some of my ideas for the (unnamed) project. I am going to start asking for stories from you wonderful people. I am crazy, so I hope to launch offically by  Valentine’s Day. 

 Here are some of my ideas:

Some big themes

• The importance of telling your own story
• Stories are everywhere — In our food, in the shoes we wear, our dogs
• How your story will make your business stronger
• The Power of Imagination to Manifest
• How to Find Your Bat Signal — Your mission to serve — and the story that goes along with it
• Finding the hidden gems in your own life — Your Story
• Developing actual fictional stories from inspirations in our real life
• Visualizing your story + Your Ideas ( Index Cards, Inspiration Boards )
• How To Get Inspired by Everything
• Real World Storytelling —- Writing Letters, Newspapers — Provide insights into storytelling practices and awareness.
• Forum for real stories.
• Use NaNoWriMo tips + practice for daily writing
• How to be inspired by people — the right way
• Action Steps taken everyday
• How Story turns to product
• Slow Memoir Writing
• Guest post by storytellers
• Several Interactive Projects

This  is what the future holds. What do you guys think? I have been stuck on a name for my movement / project. Have any ideas? : ) Tell me your story.

Alex Franzen is wonderful. She is my hero. Our talk was amazing. She is a  “promotional writer and pro-active pimp.”  She is also rocking out her business and life. Doin’ the entrepreneurial hustle. On this podcast, we talk about a lot of things to help navigate the entrepreneurial waters.

• The power of fantasy mentors
• Mr. Rogers and quiet leadership
• Giving yourself time to grow and refine your brand
• How to attract amazing clients
• The Evolution of a Business
• How to develop consistency throughout your web presence ( I do drop the B-word which I have since abandoned completely. Branding. Shhh. )
• Inspirational Ted Talks

How to get on the Alex Franzen love train:

http://alexandrafranzen.com/

@Alex_Franzen

Twitter Follows:

Alex: @TedTalks  @DyanaValentine

Mine: @kristinlow @stretchdnick

Some show notes:

www.whenIgrowupcoach.com

http://tedxcaltech.com/

John Hodgman’s Ted Talk

Questions to leave you with:

Who is your imaginary mentor?

How do you feel about RuPaul?

How can you make your online presence bigger than yourself?

This year I realized that I am not just a writer or a designer. I am a creative tactician. And I am cocko for coco puffs over it. I am a workaholic, guys. A strategist. With that in mind, I recently rolled out a set of new services with creatives in mind.

Business Minimalism

But there are a lot of services. I have been reading  Smalltopia and I have gotten a lot of ideas about how to effectively run a business. I will never be a minimalist but I love how the concepts apply to business. I am a child of the multi-tasker movement. I always figured if I could do more, I could get more. And that has worked. Kind of. Most of the time, I end up overwhelmed and a little frustrated. And things always feel a little undone.

Figuring Out What Sticks

I am in the process of cutting back. My workaholic ways are killing me. But before I do that, I need to figure out which services are truly sticky. Once I figure out what sticks, I will offer 3-4 packages and maybe a couple of a-la-carte things on the site. But how do I figure out what really resonates? You test them all out and ask lots of questions. So, this is what I am going to do: I am going to kill myself one more time in January.

Lets Make a Deal

I am gonna go all “make me an offer” for all of my services for clients. This trial offer is only for January and I am only taking a very specific number of people. So email me ASAP, with your offer. Here are my services.

What services do you offer? Maybe we could do a trade-type deal. But party people, money would be wonderful. I do understand that money is tight, especially now. Tell me your story and we will work it out. And I don’t shame. We’ll figure something out.

I am getting a lot from this too. Hopefully you will love what I can do and will refer me to others. Maybe you will write a glowing testimonial. I am all about growing my business and this will be a great way to find out what works and what doesn’t.

And it’s not like I won’t help you out, I am good at what I do. All of the services I offer I have tested out in some capacity over the last couple of months.

Here is a glowing testimonial from one of my clients:

“From the start, Shenee has been a positive and enthusiast force in my inbox. Through interesting questionnaires, thoughtful feedback and gentle nudging in the right direction, Shenee allowed me to refine the vision I had for my blog and gave me the tools to build a meaningful manifesto. She helped me reach higher planes of creativity to find my “big idea”, the one I knew was hiding somewhere yet eluded me for so long. If you have vague (but grand!) notion of what you want for your future blog or project, Shenee can assuredly help you dissipate the haze!”  — Maryse Coziol-Lavoie

So, what do you think? Help a sister out?  sheneehoward [ at ] gmail.com.

When I was growing up, I idolized Harriet the Spy. I carried around the notebook. I wanted the utility belt. I even had a decoder pen. I recently revisited this movie and got totally inspired. To me, the movie was all about how fun it can be to explore the world and write it all down. It is all about the importance of stories and how rewarding  they can be to share. I always considered Harriet The Spy a cautionary tale. The easiest way to get people to read your journal is to label it PRIVATE.

I think my love for writing started with this movie and essentially, it’s why I’m here. I remember reading a paper I wrote when I was in the 5th grade. This is what the first sentence said:

I will be a great writer.

Well 8 year old Shenee, we are tryin!

The movie is just amazing. I love the way it is shot. The use of color is amazing. It’s retro New York at it’s finest. The Art Director of this movie is genius. The imagery is beautiful.

I also realized that Harriet’s worldview really aligned with my own. Just like Harriet, I am obsessed with stories. Ira Glass is more or less my life teacher.

And some of the quotes from that movie just knock you on your ass with awesomeness. I pulled some of my favorites. Watch the movie.  It’s awesome. And it’s on YouTube!

You know what? You’re an individual, and that makes people nervous. And it’s gonna keep making people nervous for the rest of your life. -Ole Golly