The Cake Pop Rule, or, Desire Rules the World (A Love Letter)
Wanting fuels our writing--and our lives
Hello lovies,
The other day I was babysitting the three boys who live in the main house. (And by babysitting I mean working while they watched TV and played Minecraft in the other room.) The morning proceeded without incident until Mom came home and the three-year-old freaked out. First with joy, because aside from sharks, dinos, and Cocomelon, Mom is his whole world. But his joy turned to anger when he realized that his mother had not brought him a cake pop. (For those without three-year-olds in residence who are not intimately familiar with cake pops, refer to above photo.)
A tantrum ensued. But this was not a garden-variety tantrum. It was a mega, world-devastating tantrum. I swear, his screams were shattering glass three blocks over. Over the top. Really, nothing you could do but wait it out. Except he didn’t stop. My daughter tiptoed into my room for a break. And like any good Nonni, I said, “For the love of God and all things holy, can you just buy the child a cake pop?”
She allowed as how that would be giving into his tantrum and I said I didn’t care (excellent grandparenting moment). And besides, a latte sounded good. So all of us, including the tantrum-throwing three-year-old, his two brothers, me, and my daughter piled into the car and went to the Starbucks drive-in. And laughed the whole way about how the youngest child always gets his way. (True story. I speak as a youngest child myself. I got away with murder.) But more than that, there’s this:
Desire rules the world.
All five of us stopped what we were doing and went to get the cake pop because one small child wanted a cake pop. The three-year-old was willing to do anything and keep it up for as long as it took to get what he wished. This, my friends is desire. And it is what the main character in your novel must emulate (minust the tantrum). It will help the momentum of your novel if your protagonist wants something really, really, really bad. Something big, real, elusive.
Furthermore, it will help you as a writer if you want to be successful at this writing thing really, really, really bad. (Most of the writers I meet and those I work with feel this way.) We all know there’s not an easy path to big writing success. Desire will help you to achieve it. It’s safe to say that without desire, you’ll get nowhere.
And so: cake pop rule.
Remember it the next time you’re trying to figure out what the main character of your novel wants. Remember it when you’re pondering what you want out of life. That best-selling novel? It’s yours if you desire it enough. (Cake pop rule.) Your character needing to see the love of her life one more time before she dies? She can do it. (Cake pop rule.) You need to figure out a way to re-jigger your schedule so you have time to write. Want it bad enough and it is yours. (Cake pop rule.)
Desire rules the world, period. Cake pop rule.
Love, light and good writing,
Charlotte
P.S. If you need help with the wanting to be a writer part, my coach and one of my favorite humans Camille Pagan is accepting applications for her Career Author Mastermind. Highly recommend.
P.P.S. Have you experienced a cake pop moment? Please do tell about it.
Books
The Blackbird Oracle, by Deborah Harkness. I’ve read the others in this series and this one enticed me even more. Witches, vampires and magic are sometimes but not always my thing but I love the way this author writes. Update: Still reading and enjoying
Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice, by Natalie Goldberg. Natalie introduced me to the wonders of prompts and free writing years ago. I was a young, fledgling writer floundering in a sea of not knowing what to write. Her first book, Writing Down the Bones, started me on a less wobbly path. So when I read in the description of the book that Natalie herself had lost her way I of course had to figure out how she found her way back. Update: This book is more memoir than craft volume, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless.
Resources
Excellent article on not querying to agents.
“I’d love to write a novel, but I don’t have the time.” Jojo Moyes tells it like it is.
5 Steps to Writing an Unforgettable Setting.
When your story world falls apart.
Organizing your writing life. Excellent ways to look at what works best for you!
Overseas Workshops—Space Available!
Late-breaking news: last-minute cancellations for both France and Italy leave us with space available. Does one of them belong to you?
Blog posts on our website will tell you all about the location of our France workshop and why we love it so much. You can read about art and artists in Céret, the crazy annual footrace there, and best of all, the wonderful local bakeries. Nab your spot now. And here is the promised interview with our guest resident Angela M. Sanders (written by the wonderful Shari Lane, whose book is also wonderful!)
And here is the most recent blog post about Perugia. (Update: it’s filling up fast. We’ve had several writers sign up. There’s still space, but you need to act quickly.) To tempt you further, here’s the villa where we are staying.
Other places to connect with me:
My website (badly in need of an upgrade)
Our workshop website
My original blog (now for archive purposes only, no longer updated)
Ways I can help you:
Book coaching
Manuscript evaluation
Mindset coaching
(While I get my coaching site up and running, reply to this email for more info, or leave a comment if you’re interested. Can’t wait to talk to you.)
I so appreciate every set of eyes that lands on this newsletter. If you enjoy what you read here, I’d love it if you shared it with others who might also. Thank you!
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This has me thinking very deeply, Charlotte. I definitely followed the cake pop rule in forging my folk music career. But, if I can stretch the metaphor, I ate too many cake pops and became physically and mentally unwell. So, now I’m working (very slowly) on how to desire something without driving myself over the edge. It’s an amazing thing to have the energy I have to make things and I never want to lose that desire. But I find myself thinking carefully about how to share my work in the future without decimating my health. It’s an interesting cake pop puzzle which I’m often puzzling. You’ve given me good things to consider! xx