Asking For Help: Writing, Movement, Music

[rsadelle]

If you've been around for a while, you know that one of my personal growth things is to ask for help when I need it. So here we go:

Writing
tesla321 mentioned a really interesting entry about common themes in an author's work. I've thought a bit about this before, but ruric got the ideal situation where someone paid attention and told her what she was writing about. I really want someone who will tell me what it is I don't know I've put into fic. One of my ex-friends used to do that sometimes, but, of course, she's now an ex-friend so if she does that kind of thing, she doesn't do it for me anymore.

I think there are two problems with trying to figure this out myself. First of all, I'm probably too close to it to see it. Secondly, I know too much. I know what happens in the future or what's happened in the past or the alternate scene I left out for a lot of my fics, and the idea here is to figure out what it is that comes out in the finished fic.

So if you've noticed any themes in my fic, please let me know! If you come up with anything interesting, I'll try to come up with the reason behind it. I will also spare you, for the moment anyway, the rambling about how stupid it is to ignore the reality of an author being behind every piece of writing.

Movement
I've been taking belly dance for a couple of months, and I've hit a place where I think my biggest problem is actually a mental block. I feel awkward instead of graceful, and I think part of it is that I don't really believe I can be graceful, which is silly. I'm very graceful in my own kitchen. What I'm looking for here is two-fold:

1. An external reminder that I can be graceful. (What I really want--programmers take note--is a customized, randomized, email affirmation service. I'd love to type up a couple of reminders to myself that I can be graceful, or whatever else I want to remind myself of, and have them emailed to me at random intervals.)
   
2. Any hints you have about being graceful would really help me. I could especially use any advice about making my arms more graceful. I've been trying to lift weights, and that seems to be helping. I think I can hold my arms up for longer now.

Music
Here's a confession for you: I can't listen to music and hear the beat. This makes dancing to music a little difficult. If you have any ideas on what would help me learn to count a beat, I'd love to know what they are.

Comments

[allegram.livejournal.com]

But you were (admitedly briefly) a drummer!

[rsadelle]

And I was a bad one because I can't count a beat!

(There were also some teaching issues around that experience.)

[meacoustic.livejournal.com]

Some kind of workout video that's dance-based, maybe? Like, ballet-based. All the warmups I ever did while taking ballet involved graceful arm movements. (This made tae kwon do kind of weird, when they'd tell me I needed to be more solid in my movements and I was like "but you don't understand! I took dance lessons for ten years, this is what happens!".)

[rsadelle]

I've been thinking about possibly taking a ballet class. I took ballet until I was about six or eight, and then I fainted during class one day, and that was the end of it. I have to see if the studio that does the classes through the local rec department have a really strict dress code the way the other ballet place in town does.

[meacoustic.livejournal.com]

And maybe, concentrate on how your hands are moving? I was thinking about it just now and realized that if I think my hands are moving gracefully, my arms kind of follow along.

[rsadelle]

Hmm. I'll have to try that in my everyday life.