A note from Jane
Recently I attended a showing of Sundance Shorts, seven short films chosen as standouts by the Sundance Film Festival. My favorite by far was We Were the Scenery, about a couple who fled Vietnam by boat in 1975 and ended up in the Philippines as refugees.
In the first minutes of the film, I was expecting nothing but sadness and tragedy, then the story took an unexpected turn. Along with roughly 100 other refugees, the couple was recruited to be extras in Apocalypse Now.
No spoilers—you’ll have to find it and watch—but what I most admired was the filmmaker’s choice to tell this story in 15 minutes. So often I encounter writers of all kinds who assume their stories need to be book-length (or feature length), even told in several volumes. The longer it is, the more important, the more profound or complex, yes?
But no. This short film is powerful because it withholds so much and mines a single, weird and even humorous opportunity to convey the lived experience of a generation.
Jane
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Jane’s Electric Speed List
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Beautiful Japanese ceramics and cooking gifts
Over the years I’ve bought numerous items from Toiro Kitchen Supply and treasured every single one. Highly recommend.
Our cat loves Earthborn food
Recently, the cat food we’d been purchasing was discontinued, which—as any cat owner knows—is a devastating event. Moreover, our cat, Tova, eats a grain-free, chicken-free diet because of health complications, so the range of products we can consider is already limited.
We were fortunate to stumble on a brand we’d never heard of before, Earthborn, through a local store. It’s a big winner for Tova. A nice bonus: Earthborn is a family-owned company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, where I was born and went to college.
My new travel companion: Nuun tablets
When I travel, I have a bad tendency to get dehydrated. So I’ve started carrying around Nuun electrolyte tablets as a gentle reminder. Love the compact size, but still easy to surface in a cluttered bag.
Holding back the summer heat: 3M window film
I wish my husband and I had discovered this product earlier: 3M window film can reject a significant amount of the sun’s infrared and ultraviolet rays, reducing heat gain. Not cheap, but now our HVAC units won’t have to work so hard to keep the house comfortable.
Mastering Character Inner Life with Tiffany Yates Martin / July 9, 1–2:30 p.m. EDT
Regardless of what genre or POV you’re writing in, allowing readers to understand what’s going on inside your character is what makes a story immediate, direct, and vivid. Without that rich interiority, your characters might as well be game pieces we simply watch progress along the board. That doesn’t mean swaths of navel-gazing self-reflection or inner dialogue that risk stalling out forward momentum and stealing focus from the story’s action. It simply means giving readers not just a front-row seat to the character’s journey, but a backstage pass.
Your turn: trusted sources for TV/movie recommendations 📺
In the last issue, reader Carol Vincent said, “Your question about ‘who do you trust to recommend books’ was helpful. I’d love it if you asked the same about TV shows and movies. I can’t tell you how much time we waste every week just trying to find something to watch.”
This one seemed to stump folks; I received more answers recommending specific films or shows that people have recently enjoyed rather than answers to the question.
- I enjoy IMDB for discovering any and all new and upcoming shows and movies, but it can feel like a free-for-all. When I’m looking for something specific to my streaming services, I count on JustWatch as my TV Guide. You select your streaming services and it shows what’s playing. You can also search for a specific title to see if it’s available on your services. As a bonus, it has a free tier (with ads). —Rachel Aukes
- This week the New York Times published a list of best films of the century so far. It’s pretty varied and has some good ideas. —Cynthia
I struggle to come up with a good answer myself, but right now I typically use a combination of the New York Times Watching newsletter (requires paid subscription) and Rotten Tomatoes, where you can filter by streaming service and ratings. I’ve also been trying Criticker.
Next question: It’s summer vacation time. Is there a book you’ve been saving for the beach or to listen to on a roadtrip? Hit reply to this message, or head over to Discord to share.
Do you have a question you would like Jane to ask all readers? Offer up your suggestion, and she might feature it.
Free resources featuring Jane
Upcoming online classes
Meet Jane at an event
- Midwest Writers Workshop (Muncie, IN), July 10–12, 2025
- Today’s Key Book Publishing Paths (Cincinnati public library, free to the public), July 26, 2025
- Craft & Publishing Voyage (cruise ship!), Aug. 27–Sept. 3, 2025
- PNWA Conference (Seattle, WA), Sept. 11–14, 2025
- New Frontiers in Writing (Amarillo, TX), Sept. 26, 2025
- RedPencil Conference (Seattle metro area), Nov. 8, 2025
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—Marshall McLuhan
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