Friday, May 18, 2012

Theme of Life

by Amanda Stevens

I have a deep, dark, dirty secret that I wish to share with you all this morning.  I used to be an Ally McBeal fan.  Fan is maybe too strong a word, but I did enjoy the show.  It was fluff and angst with ridiculously short skirts and a freaky dancing baby.  But one episode has always stuck with me—“Theme of Life”—which featured Tracey Ullman as a kooky therapist.  Her advice to the hopelessly neurotic Ally was to get herself a theme song, a tune that would make her feel empowered, special and happy every time she heard it.



I took this advice to heart because, let’s be real, we writers are more than a little neurotic from time to time and who doesn’t need to feel empowered, particularly in the face of deadlines, reviews and rejections?   

So your assignment today, should you choose to accept, is to get yourself a theme song.  Not to be confused with the soundtrack of your book, mind you.  This is your own personal anthem, a ditty you can play in your head whenever your muse needs a little kick in the pants.

I’ve had the same theme song for nearly fifteen years and it never fails to motivate.


5 comments:

Jordan Dane said...

Maybe you've got a thing for armadillos.

Now I'm off to discover my theme song. It could be buried under the big hair of the 80s.

Amanda Stevens said...

Do NOT knock big hair. That was a very flattering look for me. ;)

Heather MacAllister said...

I remember that episode! I have several theme songs. One is Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."

Amanda Stevens said...

Oh, hai, Heather! :) "I Will Survive" is a good one!

Dan Haring said...

Ooh, good idea Amanda! I need to find one now. I'll report back!