The “Perfect” Movie

I’m not alone.

Roger Ebert considers McCabe & Mrs. Miller a perfect movie. It scores an impressive 89% freshness rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Charles Taylor’s review of the 1971 film at Salon is typical of the critical response. The experts absolutely love the tale of McCabe’s travails in Presbyterian Church:

For me, “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” is the standard for a sort of emotional purity, a movie whose feeling permeates you without ever once forcing a thing. Emerging from it, I always feel like the town drunk who attempts a jig on the ice in one scene: drugged, unsure of my footing, as if one step would send the whole enterprise crashing to the ground. I try to clutch the images to me even as they seem to evaporate like smoke. Like all things that are beautiful and unalterably sad, “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” by its final scene — the hired guns tracking McCabe through a quiet, persistent blizzard — achieves a deep sense of peace. Your heart is breaking, but you can’t help being struck by the loveliness of the snow that, like Joyce’s, settles over all the living and the dead.

It’s an outright, no-doubt-about-it, inarguable classic.

Maybe.

Pretentious and Obvious?

Vincent Canby reviewed McCabe & Mrs. Miller for the New York Times in 1971. He wasn’t impressed. He saw a pretentious movie with an ill-fitting soundtrack that insulted the essential dignity of its lead characters with its ham-fisted efforts to load the western with contemporary allusions.

The review is too polite to be considered scathing, but it certainly didn’t encourage anyone to purchase a ticket. To Canby, the best part of McCabe was its depiction of weather, a nice change of pace for NYT reviewers who spend too much time in air-conditioned offices.

I don’t think anything happened between Canby’s assessment of the movie’s “tired symbolism” and Taylor’s willingness to put it on par with Joyce. It’s the same movie. We’re basically the same people.

Differences of Opinion and Taking Sides

Somewhere, there’s a person who went to see The Abominable Dr. Phibes instead of McCabe and Miller on the basis of Canby’s review. He trusted in Canby’s criticism and sought an alternative to a “perfect movie” to serve as an excuse for popcorn munching.

One of you might read this and click right on over to Netflix to add McCabe to your queue. You may find it annoying, bleak, obvious and a perfect example of what happens when someone takes himself or herself too seriously.

I think the Ebert/Taylor/Brackney perspective is wholly accurate but, as Canby reveals, there’s room for disagreement.

The lesson of the dueling reviews of McCabe and Mrs. Miller isn’t unique to that movie, obviously. It’s true of books that are beloved by some literary critics and reviled by others. It’s true of the work of well-known artists. Debates rage over architecture, music, food and poetry.

It’s easy to fall into one group or the other in these arguments. Bukowski was a genius. Bukowski was a lout. Gates BBQ has the world’s greatest ribs. They’re too salty. Tastes great. Less filling. We stake out our position and defend it. That’s human nature.

The desire to embrace and defend one perspective over the other intensifies when the criticism comes home.

When You Get a “Thumbs Down”

As a writer, you probably think you’re at least reasonably talented. You take pride in your work. You don’t vomit out garbage, you create quality pieces. When someone comes back at you with a critique–whether it’s a mean-spirited attack or a subtle suggestion for change, your reflex is to fend off the attack and to support your material. After all, you’re not just defending a forty year-old Altman movie. Those are your words. Your sweat. Your thoughts.

Unfortunately, a blind defense of our favorites stymies our own progress and development. An unwillingness to consider the merits of a critique leaves us stuck in the same place. As writers, we’d all like to improve and to grow. We can’t do that when we ignore (or blindly attack) criticism.

This is why all writers need to develop an ability to step away from their personal connection to their work. They need to accept criticism. Acceptance doesn’t imply agreement. Instead, it’s a matter of recognizing the room for differences in perspective and the willingness to sincerely assess and consider critiques without engaging in knee-jerk backlash.

You’ll never become an objective evaluator of your own work. It’s too close to you. It’s from you. Nor do you want to fall into the stereotype of being your “own worst critic”. Being too tough on yourself and your work can choke you.

Canby was Right (Somewhat)

You do need to realize that the client who doesn’t like your word choices may have a point. You need to understand that your essay may suffer from a moment of faulty logic.

I think this post is halfway decent. You might think it’s long on appreciation for McCabe & Mrs. Miller and short on substance. You may have a point. You might think it’s too long for a blog. If you raised those issues–or any others–I’d listen. I might not agree, but I’d listen. And I’d listen seriously. If you had a strong argument, I’d take it to heart. I’d learn from it.

They say you can’t take criticism personally. That’s silly. It’s always personal. Those are your words and your ideas. They’re an extension of you. Only a robot could completely divorce itself from the process of creation. But taking criticism personally doesn’t mean lashing out against it, ignoring it or attacking those who bring the negative message.

It’s merely a willingness to concede your humanity and fallibility. There’s no shame in being on the receiving end of criticism. It happens to the very best and to the very worst. It’s inevitable. Even the flick that has a freshness rating of 89% has 11% of the critic pool tossing tomatoes at the screen.

I like McCabe & Mrs. Miller. I don’t agree with Canby’s review. At the same time, I understand his arguments. I have no choice but to concede some of them. Ebert may consider McCabe a perfect movie, but, when push comes to shove, there’s room for improvement.

There’s always room for improvement. That’s true whether you’re making movies or writing articles. One way to move forward is by accepting the inevitability of imperfection and criticism–and using it to your advantage instead of using it as a provocation to backlash.

This is just a guess, but I think it’s a smart one. Robert Altman didn’t go from making industrial documentaries to making McCabe & Mrs. Miller because he ignored or attacked his critics. Somewhere between Kansas City and Hollywood, he paid attention to the criticism–even if he didn’t like it.

I had a once in a lifetime opportunity recently. Being a 2010 WordCount Blogathon member meant I could schmooze with the best of them. That includes writer friends that I truly admire. I’ve been a big fan of Carson Brackney’s since I caught his regular post on Freelance Writing Gigs awhile back. Can you imagine my excitement when he agreed to swap guest posts with me? Yep, I was pretty dumbfounded. I’m sure you’ve already heard of this writing whiz, but in case you didn’t. He’s a marketing master, creative copywriter, and web content whiz. Thanks so much Carson for visiting! Visit Carson at his super savvy website. He’s not only super talented, but super nice.

Here’s what I know for sure:

While there are no easy ways to success, there is a simple way. And it’s one thing you can do now that will help you down the road to success.

In the almost year long path that I’ve been on a pursuit to follow my freelance writing dreams, I’ve learned a few things.

1. You can’t trust everybody. I had enough deadbeat clients to learn that the hard way. But it also taught me my next lesson.
2. I’m responsible for my career. This means that I need to be selective about the people I work with, write for and invite into my professional life. This leads to lesson #3 and what I consider to be the #1 secret for a successful life.
3. Confidence! If you don’t feel it, feign it. Why? Because over the last year I realized that you get what you think you deserve. If you feel unworthy of a successful freelance writing career, then you’ll get exactly what you think you’re worth.

The big ‘aha’ moment for me came when I dug in deep and discovered that what was really holding me back was me. There was a voice that said that I was not good enough as a writer to do it for a living.

The thing that got it from boisterous betrayer to wimpy whisper is understanding that I was creating my destiny. I was tripping over my own path because I believed that I wasn’t good enough to deserve better.

What got me over the hurdle was building up my own sense of self-worth. Reminding myself of how far I’ve come professionally and silencing the inner critic with a larger than life ally.

The difference has been profound.

Just thinking that I deserve everything I desire has gotten me better clients, better pay (in one case, almost 7x’s what I was making at the start) and more opportunities. The best indicator of the change is my writing. Just like the way people can perceive in your body language how you feel about yourself, I think you wear your writing on your sleeve.

While I’m still a work-in-progress, I definitely think that confidence has helped me go from, “I think I’m a writer,” to “Yes I can and Yes I am a writer!” And this single secret to success, I believe can also help you on your own endeavors. Try on a bit of confidence, wear Oprah’s or a mentor, someone you idolize, and see if that doesn’t get you one step closer to your dreams!

I just joined this year and have been secretly blogging every day on this site as well as my other blogs (not2shabby and 2inspired), to fulfill the requirement. So far, I’ve learned that even when I feel uninspired at times, I can still push through and create a pretty good post.

True, it’s been less than a week. But I think the process has already given me confidence in my writing abilities. Forget about blogger’s block. Feeling a surge of strength and empowerment from the community of bloggers also on this trek (see the list on Michelle’s website) I feel like I can do anything.

Part of the reason is that it’s just like preparing for a marathon. You practice and train until writing as an exercise because a daily habit. Basically you take the fear out of the equation and you get results.

If you haven’t already signed up, it’s already too late to do so. But you still can benefit by blogging along on your own blogathon or write-athon.

How do you get to your writing goals of writing a book or article?

You start every day with an intention to take that first step. Those small, baby steps add up. Do it now and those daunting goals? You’ll get to them in no time!

Many freelance writers love the flexibility of their job and the creativity with dreaming up their own life.

But the downside?

No more 15 minute coffee breaks with your pal in the next cubicle. Ever watch The Office and actually feel pangs of jealousy?

The good news is that your normal.

All writers feel this way. Even super successful author Robert Bly says in Getting Started as a Freelance Writer, “You may think you’re losing your social skills.” And the Savvy-Writer similarly blogged about, “How to Combat Freelance Writer’s Depression.”

The bad news is that you’re going to have do something about it yourself.

Depressed yet?

Don’t be! There are things you can do to take some of the lonely out of this lonely profession.

Here are a few to get you started:

1. Reach out and touch someone. Connect with old friends you haven’t since you started working as a freelance writer. Remember when you’d had those long hourly breaks for lunch that you’d use to gossip with a co-worker? Well why not make a date with a friend by taking an hour of your freelance schedule during lunchtime to catch up? If you feel like you have too much work or feel guilty doing so, schedule it in as a treat for an hour once a week or even make a date for tea or a walk after your work day is over.
2. Join a group/club. There are sites like Meetup.com that are dedicated to helping people make new friends. There are book, exercise, new mommies, hiking, biking and every other subject under the sun. If you’re interested and passionate about something in particular, I dare you to look. You may find the group you’re looking for. The best thing about joining a club besides having the potential to make new friends is the opportunity you have for networking with other like-minded peeps and having a topic to write for that next article, book or blog post.
3. Meet digitally. I’ve made a few writerly friends on the web who live in other states. While it would have been nice to have coffee with them in person, I didn’t let the distance come between us and I’m glad I didn’t. There are a whole host of people across the country and even in the world that you can connect with. Don’t let distance stop you from interacting with potential writing friends that can offer you a world of support, advice and guidance on your journey.
4. If all else fails, social network. While Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., are not as good as face-to-face interaction, it can be the boost you need in a challenging work at home day. Sometimes we just need someone to vent to, celebrate with or cheer us up. And the fastest and easiest way to do that is through social networking. In fact, while I was scrambling to finish a few projects today, a friend I hadn’t spoken to in ages saw me on Facebook and chatted with me online. It was just for 1o minutes, but it was the break I needed to keep going.

How about you? Any secrets you’d like to share on making freelance writing less isolating? I’d love to hear it.

It’s the end of another long week freelancers. And on this freelance Friday, I must ask, “What do you do to decompress?”

I know how it goes. You’re toiling away at your computer, making phone calls, coming up with creative queries, networking, marketing your services and spending the spare time you have left on Facebook or Twitter. With all of that and your ever growing to-do list, do you ever make time for yourself?

In Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance (Artist’s Way), author Julia Cameron suggests artists make a weekly date with themselves, write daily in a journal (what she calls morning pages) and take a walk. I try to do at least one of those a week and when I don’t, my writing libido falls and inspiration starts to wane.

As a fun Friday, please share your own experience on what you do to keep yourself motivated. As for me, I’ll let you in on my own little secret. When I’m feeling really uninspired, I do what I’ve done since I was in high school…I go straight to the car wash.

For just about under 6 bucks, I get an exciting amusement park ride, a 5 minute trip to the spa and a psychedelic trip all meshed into one. You might be surprised to know I’m just going to a regular, pretty ordinary car wash. What makes it exciting is my ability to transform the experience by concentrated, conscious focus on it.

By being present in the moment, the sounds of water splashed onto my car reminds me of a waterfall, the methodic rhythm of the brushes hitting against my window puts me in a meditative state and the colorful bubbles sprayed onto my car feels ethereal. It’s the reason why I get claustrophobic on a small plane, but being in my tiny two door car in a car wash makes me feel completely relaxed. Even the rude lady at the front fails to reckon with my mood.

I think it’s all about being aware of the ordinary moments around you. When you stop and pay attention to the little details of life, you’ll gain something greater than another check-mark off your to-do list, you’ll gain perspective, insight, and clarity. You might even give yourself the space to let more inspiration and ideas flow in.

So now it’s your turn: When life gets too overwhelming, what kinds of things do you do to bring back fun?

1. Kindle. At $259, writers like me can only dream that someone loves us THAT much! While there are other wireless readers with some still in the works, this one is definitely a writer’s ultimate holiday gift. That’s cause most of us writers are also avid readers. Having the ability to access hundreds of books at the touch of your fingertip is definitely a writer’s dream come true.
2. Livescribe pen.
   If you ever cursed the days spent retyping your handwritten notes, you’ll understand why this pen is a writer’s best friend. At $198 it’s almost as expensive as a Kindle, but its versatility makes it priceless. The Livescribe pen writes, records audio and all of your written notes.
3. Pride and Prejudice never looked so glamorous! Penguin classics like Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and Sense and Sensibility, have gotten a makeover. Perfect for the writer who adores classical novels. And they say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover…
4. Magazine subscriptions. Writers, especially magazine writers, thrive on content derived from magazine articles. But oftentimes, they’ll go the local library or buy a few copies rather than pay for an annual subscription. Make their day by getting them an inexpensive gift they’ll really make use of. Both The Writer and Writer’s Digest are great magazines for the working writer.
5. Gift certificate at his/her favorite coffeehouse. If you know a freelance writer, you probably know where they love to hang out. Although we spend the majority of our time working at home, we do come out once in awhile to frequent our favorite coffee shop. Get them a few cups on you and who knows, maybe they’ll dedicate their next novel to you!

What about you? Any gift ideas for your writer friends or wish they’d get for you this Christmas?

When you’re staring at a blank screen all day and listening to nothing but the sound of time passing by, it’s difficult to be a freelance writer. Then you get days like today. By some stroke of luck I had the chance to connect with one of my writing idols. Can you imagine my excitement when contributing editor and columnist for

What turned you on to writing?

How did you get your start as a freelance writer?

Through the back door, my favorite route! I had co-edited/produced a women’s magazine with a college friend. That gave me my first “clips.” After that, I was lucky to be on the end of a call for writers for a local newspaper after I graduated from college. I wrote a ton for them, then for the magazine they launched and by then I’d gotten my training wheels off and decided I would approach bigger (and better paying) publications. I just widened my “local” focus a little bigger and so on, until I landed my first national publication (which was Writer’s Digest magazine).

Does the fear and anxiety that comes with writing ever go away?  If not, how do you deal with it so that it doesn’t sabotage your writing?

I would say that the fear/anxiety changes over time, and is different for every writer. In the beginning there’s more fear around impressing your editors. Later on, if you become established, there’s more fear about keeping a steady flow of assignments…and I don’t know that the fear of being found to be inadequate ever fully goes away. For me, the crucible of deadline pressure always wins over the anxiety. And strangely, since my first child was born 16 mos ago, I don’t experience nearly the same level of anxiety that I once did. I think children make you realize there’s more serious things to be anxious about than an article!

Do you think in this economy it’s still possible to make a living as a full-time freelance writer?

I want to be Ms. Optimism, but I have to answer honestly that I don’t know. I think if the writer is savvy about how publishing is changing (i,e. the transition from print to online), uses social networks wisely, blogs and does about 4x as much “hustle” as several years before, then yes, probably. I think every freelance writer needs to have several layers of projects going at all times, though. You have to be able to multi-task. For me, I also edit manuscripts, and teach online classes as well as write.

You’ve told me that “you don’t have to be somebody special to be a great writer,” but what do you think is necessary to be not only a great writer but a successful one?

You must be: Blindly persistent. An auto-didact (a self-teacher). Flexible. Resilient. Willing to keep learning and changing as needed.

Anything you’d like others to know about yourself or about your services?

Well, I’m rather fond of these online writing classes that I teach, which can be found at: www.jordanrosenfeld.net/events-classes.html. My most popular class is called “Fiction’s Magic Ingredient.” There’s still room in the November, 2009 session! They’re mostly teaching fictional techniques, but I’ve got some non-fiction classes in the works. Also I do edit fiction and non-fiction manuscripts and come with references.

Thank you so much for hosting me here!

Thanks Jordan!  For more information on her classes, and insightful tips for writers, check out Jordan’s website Make a Scene.