I normally don't do a lot of these, but when I read this one on insevens' LJ this morning, my brain immediately ran away with the idea, because this is simply brilliant :)
1) Make a list of fifteen characters first, and keep it to yourself for the moment. That way you're not fitting the characters to the questions.
(I have chosen fifteen characters from the four novels I've been working on, both male and female.)
2) Ask your flist to post questions in the comments.
(for example: 'one, nine and fifteen are chosen by a prophecy to save the world from four. do they succeed?'
'under what circumstances might five and seven fall in love?'
'which character on the list would you most want on your side in a zombie invasion?')
3) After your flist has asked enough questions, round them up and answer them using the fifteen characters you selected beforehand, then post them.
So, anyone got any questions for me?
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Camping, writing and laptops
This is not the first holiday I drag my laptop with me, nor will it be the last. Yet, even though campsites are swarming with laptops these days - I had so much fun laughing at all those people sitting on a bench with their laptops and connection enhancers at a certain spot on the campsite to get the best wireless connection, while we had almost perfect connection on our spot - most people don't get why I tag it along.
Nine out of ten times their first assumption is that I'm working, of course, that would imply I actually have a job (I'm not counting starting work for a postal service this week). When I tell them I'm writing, you get all sorts of questions about what you write, etc, etc, etc, you all probably know those. Then the mumbling about vacationing, relaxing, enjoying my free time starts, since, apparently, wrting is like working. They are partially right, since I do want to get published some day, but what I don't get is why it is so hard for them to understand that for me, being able to spend all day in and around our little camper writing *is* relaxing for me. I *am* on holiday, which means I don't have to feel guilty that I'm writing while I should be studying or cleaning the house. I don't have anything else to do, well, except for a bit of sightseeing every now and then, and I can focus on what *I* love doing most, writing and reading. I thought that was what being on holiday was all about, doing what *I* want.
During this holiday, I read two books (part two and three of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials) and spent the rest of my time writing, plotting, thinking about my characters and just plain enjoying my holiday. And, apart from the fact we had to go two days without our camper because of a technical defect, I did enjoy my holiday, thoroughly. Of course, managing to write between seven to eight thousand words during those eleven days is a big bonus, so, I'm calling this holiday a success :)
I can't say my behaviour is any better, though, since I don't understand people wasting their holiday browsing the net or taking a tv with them or the fact that most campers seem to be equipped with a satelite dish. Personally, I thought having an internet connection was not a good thing, since I ended up browsing the net more than I wanted to (and my kids kept asking if they could look something up for their Pokémon games on their Nintendo DS). For entertainment, we bring board games - this year we brought scrabble, triominos, tantrix, poker and yahtzee, simple games that can be a lot of fun, but don't take too long to play - the kids have their NDSs, and if the weather is really, really bad, we use my laptop to watch a film.
Of course, we barely noticed we actually *had* kids. After breakfast they'd disappear and apart from dinner time, we'd only rarely see them around. Sander (my eldest) actually never got 'home' before we went to bed. Suffice to say, they had a grand time as well :)
We're not real sightseers either. We like exploring the area - my men had a lot of fun on a wonderful low-ropes course - but we don't spend days driving/walking around to look at castles and such. As long as we still travel with our teens, the holidays are teens orientated. All they need is a swimmingpool and friends to play with (as far as you can call teenagers hanging around playing), so, we are content to spend our days lounging about, relaxing and just doing what we like best.
Honestly, though, both Kees (hubby) and I can't wait for the day we can go camping without our kids ;)
For those who are interested, photos of our trip can be found [here]
Nine out of ten times their first assumption is that I'm working, of course, that would imply I actually have a job (I'm not counting starting work for a postal service this week). When I tell them I'm writing, you get all sorts of questions about what you write, etc, etc, etc, you all probably know those. Then the mumbling about vacationing, relaxing, enjoying my free time starts, since, apparently, wrting is like working. They are partially right, since I do want to get published some day, but what I don't get is why it is so hard for them to understand that for me, being able to spend all day in and around our little camper writing *is* relaxing for me. I *am* on holiday, which means I don't have to feel guilty that I'm writing while I should be studying or cleaning the house. I don't have anything else to do, well, except for a bit of sightseeing every now and then, and I can focus on what *I* love doing most, writing and reading. I thought that was what being on holiday was all about, doing what *I* want.
During this holiday, I read two books (part two and three of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials) and spent the rest of my time writing, plotting, thinking about my characters and just plain enjoying my holiday. And, apart from the fact we had to go two days without our camper because of a technical defect, I did enjoy my holiday, thoroughly. Of course, managing to write between seven to eight thousand words during those eleven days is a big bonus, so, I'm calling this holiday a success :)
I can't say my behaviour is any better, though, since I don't understand people wasting their holiday browsing the net or taking a tv with them or the fact that most campers seem to be equipped with a satelite dish. Personally, I thought having an internet connection was not a good thing, since I ended up browsing the net more than I wanted to (and my kids kept asking if they could look something up for their Pokémon games on their Nintendo DS). For entertainment, we bring board games - this year we brought scrabble, triominos, tantrix, poker and yahtzee, simple games that can be a lot of fun, but don't take too long to play - the kids have their NDSs, and if the weather is really, really bad, we use my laptop to watch a film.
Of course, we barely noticed we actually *had* kids. After breakfast they'd disappear and apart from dinner time, we'd only rarely see them around. Sander (my eldest) actually never got 'home' before we went to bed. Suffice to say, they had a grand time as well :)
We're not real sightseers either. We like exploring the area - my men had a lot of fun on a wonderful low-ropes course - but we don't spend days driving/walking around to look at castles and such. As long as we still travel with our teens, the holidays are teens orientated. All they need is a swimmingpool and friends to play with (as far as you can call teenagers hanging around playing), so, we are content to spend our days lounging about, relaxing and just doing what we like best.
Honestly, though, both Kees (hubby) and I can't wait for the day we can go camping without our kids ;)
For those who are interested, photos of our trip can be found [here]
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
On Write-Ins
Until I 'discovered' NaNoWriMo in 2005, I had never had the opportunity to talk shop with other writers. Sure, a couple of friends read my stories now and then, and offered some constructive criticism, but that was all. So when I stumbled across the Dutch/Belgian Regional Lounge at the NaNoWriMo Forums, it was a real eye-opener for me. Besides finding out that there were other Dutch (and Belgian) writers writing in English, everyone on the forums enjoyed to talk about writing, whether it was about plot, characters, or just talk about their writing rituals.
Even better was actually meeting my fellow NaNo writers at the 'Kick-Off Party' and the 'Thank God it's Over Party', meetings held in Utrecht to celebrate the start and end of NaNo. I had never met so many writers or had so much fun talking about writing, even though we're all very different persons and have different styles and different genres. Suffice to say, the meetings were a big success for me and I wanted more. I heard about the frequent write-ins some of them organised and I really liked the idea, but unfortunately most of the writers live in the west of the country and that seemed just too far for me to travel frequently.
Over the past couple of years I made a couple of friends at the meetings and after last year's NaNo, we decided to hold our own write-ins. So the four (five now) of us come together (mostly at my place) about once a month to write, bounce ideas around, vent about writing problems, discuss characters or ask advise on how to handle certain scenes. Sometimes the smallest word from one of them, gives me a multitude of ideas for my story, and I hope that goes for them as well.
Of course, we sometimes end up just chatting for hours or watching funny clips together, but the opportunity is there, and that's enough.
For me, meeting these people and having these write-ins are a large part of keeping me motivated to write, and they deserve recognition :)
So, THANK YOU, YOU ROCK!!! :D
(You know who you are)
Even better was actually meeting my fellow NaNo writers at the 'Kick-Off Party' and the 'Thank God it's Over Party', meetings held in Utrecht to celebrate the start and end of NaNo. I had never met so many writers or had so much fun talking about writing, even though we're all very different persons and have different styles and different genres. Suffice to say, the meetings were a big success for me and I wanted more. I heard about the frequent write-ins some of them organised and I really liked the idea, but unfortunately most of the writers live in the west of the country and that seemed just too far for me to travel frequently.
Over the past couple of years I made a couple of friends at the meetings and after last year's NaNo, we decided to hold our own write-ins. So the four (five now) of us come together (mostly at my place) about once a month to write, bounce ideas around, vent about writing problems, discuss characters or ask advise on how to handle certain scenes. Sometimes the smallest word from one of them, gives me a multitude of ideas for my story, and I hope that goes for them as well.
Of course, we sometimes end up just chatting for hours or watching funny clips together, but the opportunity is there, and that's enough.
For me, meeting these people and having these write-ins are a large part of keeping me motivated to write, and they deserve recognition :)
So, THANK YOU, YOU ROCK!!! :D
(You know who you are)
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Keeping myself inspired
Sometimes a writer needs more to keep themselves inspired to write, more than just their imagination and determination. I don't just mean ways to gather ideas/plots when creating a story, but something to keep themselves connected to said story. Maybe you have a certain song that reminds you of one of your characters, or a map of the world you created. Maybe a picture of a certain forests reminds you of the journey your characters take, or maybe the symbol of the clan your character represents. These motivationals help us keeping forcussed, keeping our attention on the story, even when we're not writing.
So, what keeps me inspired? What helps me focus?
I like to create a visual of my characters that I can put on my desktop when I'm writing (and when I'm not writing). I like to look at my characters and ask them questions when I'm stuck, or just look at them and imagine their expressions in certain situations (like anger or joy). I also just like to stare at them, wondering where they hell I'm going with it.
I started making these visuals when I started doing NaNoWriMo. NaNo wasn't the reason for making them, a comment on one of the forums I like to hang out in did. Someone asked for a program to create faces, so she could visualise her character to help her write him better. Someone mentioned an online face making program, and I almost downloaded it ... actually, I *did* download it. But just before I started installing it, I remembered that I have 'the sims 2'. Why would I install a program to create faces, when I had *the* perfect program (well, in my eyes) to create my own characters. So, I opened the 'sims 2 bodyshop', started creating, and soon had my first motivational. The only downside of using programs like these is that the faces look too beautiful (no blemishes), but hey, we can't have everything, can we?
From then on, I made one for every novel I've created (which makes four ... I know I said three in my last post, I forgot one that I had to shelve pretty early because of a big plothole I couldn't get out of, and that I'll have to solve at some point in the future).
Here they are:
CyMagick Incorporated
From left to right: Isaac (detective), Tess (orphaned girl), Tiana (computer programmer and witch) and Kadri (computer programmer and Tiana's best friend)
For some reason I had a very clear picture of what my characters would look like, but overdid it a bit when I started downloading a lot of clothing from different sims sites to create the perfect outfits. It was fun, but even in novels people change clothing, and I'd have had to make several versions of them. Actually, as you can see, with that motivational, I only used the heads anyway.
There'll be dragons
From left to right: Aidan Beckett (pilot), Jade Peretti (dragon trainer), Syméon Valeshi (healer and dragon guard)
My main character for this story was inspired by John Sheppard, one of the characters in 'Stargate Atlantis'. I kept imagining a intelligent, but lazy-ish pilot in a very technological world, who found himself surrounded by dragons and magic in an attempt to save his latest client. So, the most logical thing for me was to use a pic of Joe Flanigan as John Sheppard (only with more pointed ears, since my pilot was an elf). Jade I always invisioned looking a little like Tonks in Harry Potter, but since there were barely any pics of her, I made one using 'sims 2 bodyshop'. Syméon is a very stoic man, and who does stoic better than Severus Snape? Now, I love Alan Rickman, but he was just not what I thought Syméon was like, and someone somewhere had used a picture of Adrien Brody as Severus Snape in a RPG, so I chose a picture of Adrien Brody as Syméon. And then I added two cute little dragons (even if the dragons in the story were anything but small) to complete the pic.
Ki'vahn
From left to right: Specialist Joshua McKinnon (scientist) and Ki'vahn Pyrrin (elf and stowaway with a knack for maths)
When I started writing this story, the only thing I really knew is that these men would bond over chess. So the first thing that I wanted in the picture was something to do with chess. I had a bit more trouble describing them, because I didn't have a clear picture yet, besides the fact that Ki'vahn has pointy ears (and if you look hard, he looks like Aidan Beckett (aka John Shepard) with pointy ears). I actually had a 'sims 2' John Sheppard, so I just started messing around with that one until I was satisfied. After that, it was only logical to use Rodney McKay as Joshua :)
and last, but certainly not least
Echoes
From left to right: 3x Noah Smith (360 yr old owner of a bookshop) and Gareth Jones (PA of one of the directors of an organisation that protects Earth from aliens - which I still need a catchy name for)
Since this story, including Noah and Gareth, was inspired by 'Torchwood', my vision of these two characters wasn't even up for discussion, So, yes, I shamelessly abused pictures of 'Torchwood' and 'the Bill' for it. Of course, the only thing Noah and Jack Harkness have in common, are their immortality and their penchant for drinking water (err ... and err ... enjoying sex, though it would take too long to explain Noah's view on that). And while Gareth is kind of like Ianto Jones job-wise (in short, meticulous), he is more relaxed and easy-going in his free-time (though, who's to say Ianto's not like that?)
See last post for a little more on this story.
As for some of the pics in this motivational: the victorian picture was made by fanbot @ LJ, the small inlay in the bottom left corner was made by me (using a picture from the film Lorna Doone - since that's set around 1675)
Pfew ... that was a long post
Anyway, welcome to Cayendi's world :D
So, what keeps me inspired? What helps me focus?
I like to create a visual of my characters that I can put on my desktop when I'm writing (and when I'm not writing). I like to look at my characters and ask them questions when I'm stuck, or just look at them and imagine their expressions in certain situations (like anger or joy). I also just like to stare at them, wondering where they hell I'm going with it.
I started making these visuals when I started doing NaNoWriMo. NaNo wasn't the reason for making them, a comment on one of the forums I like to hang out in did. Someone asked for a program to create faces, so she could visualise her character to help her write him better. Someone mentioned an online face making program, and I almost downloaded it ... actually, I *did* download it. But just before I started installing it, I remembered that I have 'the sims 2'. Why would I install a program to create faces, when I had *the* perfect program (well, in my eyes) to create my own characters. So, I opened the 'sims 2 bodyshop', started creating, and soon had my first motivational. The only downside of using programs like these is that the faces look too beautiful (no blemishes), but hey, we can't have everything, can we?
From then on, I made one for every novel I've created (which makes four ... I know I said three in my last post, I forgot one that I had to shelve pretty early because of a big plothole I couldn't get out of, and that I'll have to solve at some point in the future).
Here they are:
CyMagick Incorporated
From left to right: Isaac (detective), Tess (orphaned girl), Tiana (computer programmer and witch) and Kadri (computer programmer and Tiana's best friend)
For some reason I had a very clear picture of what my characters would look like, but overdid it a bit when I started downloading a lot of clothing from different sims sites to create the perfect outfits. It was fun, but even in novels people change clothing, and I'd have had to make several versions of them. Actually, as you can see, with that motivational, I only used the heads anyway.
There'll be dragons
From left to right: Aidan Beckett (pilot), Jade Peretti (dragon trainer), Syméon Valeshi (healer and dragon guard)
My main character for this story was inspired by John Sheppard, one of the characters in 'Stargate Atlantis'. I kept imagining a intelligent, but lazy-ish pilot in a very technological world, who found himself surrounded by dragons and magic in an attempt to save his latest client. So, the most logical thing for me was to use a pic of Joe Flanigan as John Sheppard (only with more pointed ears, since my pilot was an elf). Jade I always invisioned looking a little like Tonks in Harry Potter, but since there were barely any pics of her, I made one using 'sims 2 bodyshop'. Syméon is a very stoic man, and who does stoic better than Severus Snape? Now, I love Alan Rickman, but he was just not what I thought Syméon was like, and someone somewhere had used a picture of Adrien Brody as Severus Snape in a RPG, so I chose a picture of Adrien Brody as Syméon. And then I added two cute little dragons (even if the dragons in the story were anything but small) to complete the pic.
Ki'vahn
From left to right: Specialist Joshua McKinnon (scientist) and Ki'vahn Pyrrin (elf and stowaway with a knack for maths)
When I started writing this story, the only thing I really knew is that these men would bond over chess. So the first thing that I wanted in the picture was something to do with chess. I had a bit more trouble describing them, because I didn't have a clear picture yet, besides the fact that Ki'vahn has pointy ears (and if you look hard, he looks like Aidan Beckett (aka John Shepard) with pointy ears). I actually had a 'sims 2' John Sheppard, so I just started messing around with that one until I was satisfied. After that, it was only logical to use Rodney McKay as Joshua :)
and last, but certainly not least
Echoes
From left to right: 3x Noah Smith (360 yr old owner of a bookshop) and Gareth Jones (PA of one of the directors of an organisation that protects Earth from aliens - which I still need a catchy name for)
Since this story, including Noah and Gareth, was inspired by 'Torchwood', my vision of these two characters wasn't even up for discussion, So, yes, I shamelessly abused pictures of 'Torchwood' and 'the Bill' for it. Of course, the only thing Noah and Jack Harkness have in common, are their immortality and their penchant for drinking water (err ... and err ... enjoying sex, though it would take too long to explain Noah's view on that). And while Gareth is kind of like Ianto Jones job-wise (in short, meticulous), he is more relaxed and easy-going in his free-time (though, who's to say Ianto's not like that?)
See last post for a little more on this story.
As for some of the pics in this motivational: the victorian picture was made by fanbot @ LJ, the small inlay in the bottom left corner was made by me (using a picture from the film Lorna Doone - since that's set around 1675)
Pfew ... that was a long post
Anyway, welcome to Cayendi's world :D
Who's writing this story anyway?
I have to admit, I haven't written that much in the past three weeks, instead I'm revising a little - yes, yes, I know I shouldn't do that in the first draft, but up to now I didn't exactly write my story linearly, and to keep track of it, I needed to put everything in order before writing on - and I'm also thinking about my plot and characters *a lot*, and really enjoying it all :)
Three weeks ago I wrote about a new character, well, new ... a walk-on character turned villain. I was over the moon about what that villain could contribute to my story. But it wasn't all fun.
Don't take me wrong. I still *love* the addition of a real villain in my story, but ...
With the villain came new plot ideas, and, seeing as I was already nearing 10,000 words, I had to face up to the fact that I would never be able to round it off within reasonable limits and still call it a short story, which I had intended it to be.
Just to show how characters can 'take-over' a story, and how sometimes stories don't end up becoming what they started as:
'Echoes' (working title) started life as a lovely little gay romance, in which an approx. 400 year old immortal falls in love with a young man who resembles an ex-lover (from about 200 years earlier). Resembles in character more than looks. I wanted to call it 'Reincarnation'.
Then I had this fabulous idea, which I won't go into right now, as I'd be spoiling the plot and rambling for ages, just know that one of the characters turns out to be alien, and the other belongs to an organisation that protects Earth from aliens. So, it evolved from a romance to a romantic SF/Fantasy story, with a dash of detective work. Nothing wrong with that, besides that the title really didn't fit in anymore, so I renamed it 'Echoes' (with the help of the friend).
And finally, I added a real villain who likes to steal alien artifacts, which not only makes the story longer, it also adds kidnapping and torture. So, more complex and, hopefully, more thrilling, but too long to be a short story. *sigh* Of course, my working title probably won't fit the story anymore either, maybe I'll have to go with the alternative: 'Smith and Jones'.
So, instead of having two unfinished novels and a short story, I now have three unfinished novels (right, one finished first draft and two unfinished novels)
On one hand I'm happy with the fact that I still have more than enough imagination/material to keep me writing, but on the other hand ...
All I really wanted this time, was to write a short story.
Three weeks ago I wrote about a new character, well, new ... a walk-on character turned villain. I was over the moon about what that villain could contribute to my story. But it wasn't all fun.
Don't take me wrong. I still *love* the addition of a real villain in my story, but ...
With the villain came new plot ideas, and, seeing as I was already nearing 10,000 words, I had to face up to the fact that I would never be able to round it off within reasonable limits and still call it a short story, which I had intended it to be.
Just to show how characters can 'take-over' a story, and how sometimes stories don't end up becoming what they started as:
'Echoes' (working title) started life as a lovely little gay romance, in which an approx. 400 year old immortal falls in love with a young man who resembles an ex-lover (from about 200 years earlier). Resembles in character more than looks. I wanted to call it 'Reincarnation'.
Then I had this fabulous idea, which I won't go into right now, as I'd be spoiling the plot and rambling for ages, just know that one of the characters turns out to be alien, and the other belongs to an organisation that protects Earth from aliens. So, it evolved from a romance to a romantic SF/Fantasy story, with a dash of detective work. Nothing wrong with that, besides that the title really didn't fit in anymore, so I renamed it 'Echoes' (with the help of the friend).
And finally, I added a real villain who likes to steal alien artifacts, which not only makes the story longer, it also adds kidnapping and torture. So, more complex and, hopefully, more thrilling, but too long to be a short story. *sigh* Of course, my working title probably won't fit the story anymore either, maybe I'll have to go with the alternative: 'Smith and Jones'.
So, instead of having two unfinished novels and a short story, I now have three unfinished novels (right, one finished first draft and two unfinished novels)
On one hand I'm happy with the fact that I still have more than enough imagination/material to keep me writing, but on the other hand ...
All I really wanted this time, was to write a short story.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Inspiration is a bitch!
I always say, "Inspiration is a bitch, with a lousy sense of timing."
And boy, was I proven right again today.
I've only been writing a little today - in the waiting room at the physiotherapist's - trying to make sense of my scene order, and rewriting the beginning of a scene that just didn't sit right with me. The rest of the day I've been studying and making wallpapers, without any thought of my story, but that's nothing new either. My A5 binder is close enough, should inspiration strike me.
Just before I planned on making dinner, I needed to go out to do some last minute shopping. So, I got my wallet, my coat and my bike and cycled to the the small centre (less than five minutes cycling from our house). As usual I tried out some dialogue that may or may not end up in the story - for some reason I always do that while cycling - when, suddenly it hit me. I had this walk-on character, only featuring in a failing blind-date, that would be THE perfect villain. Upto now I had a protagonist, a villain that wasn't really a villain, but no real villain. All of a sudden it all came together. But ... I was on my bike, with no paper to write on, and, of course, I didn't even take my cellphone (with voicerecorder) with me. *sigh*
So, I could do nothing but try and keep it in mind until I got home. Now, I know that doesn't sound hard, but to me, it can be. If I don't write an idea down instantly, I might get distracted and lose it, and no matter how hard I try and remember, it just won't come back to me.
I remember coming back home, parking my bike and telling my husband that the cooking would have to wait, I had to write something down first. I dropped the shopping on the counter, got my binder and sat down to write everything I could remember down. I think I've got the most imporant things, so it'll be all right, but next time, I'm going to make sure that, for small trips like these, I at least have my cellphone with me.
Anyway, by the time I finished writing, hubby had already cut the potatoes and put the chicken on the grill. All I had to do was make the salad :)
And now ... of to insert my new plot idea into the story :D
And boy, was I proven right again today.
I've only been writing a little today - in the waiting room at the physiotherapist's - trying to make sense of my scene order, and rewriting the beginning of a scene that just didn't sit right with me. The rest of the day I've been studying and making wallpapers, without any thought of my story, but that's nothing new either. My A5 binder is close enough, should inspiration strike me.
Just before I planned on making dinner, I needed to go out to do some last minute shopping. So, I got my wallet, my coat and my bike and cycled to the the small centre (less than five minutes cycling from our house). As usual I tried out some dialogue that may or may not end up in the story - for some reason I always do that while cycling - when, suddenly it hit me. I had this walk-on character, only featuring in a failing blind-date, that would be THE perfect villain. Upto now I had a protagonist, a villain that wasn't really a villain, but no real villain. All of a sudden it all came together. But ... I was on my bike, with no paper to write on, and, of course, I didn't even take my cellphone (with voicerecorder) with me. *sigh*
So, I could do nothing but try and keep it in mind until I got home. Now, I know that doesn't sound hard, but to me, it can be. If I don't write an idea down instantly, I might get distracted and lose it, and no matter how hard I try and remember, it just won't come back to me.
I remember coming back home, parking my bike and telling my husband that the cooking would have to wait, I had to write something down first. I dropped the shopping on the counter, got my binder and sat down to write everything I could remember down. I think I've got the most imporant things, so it'll be all right, but next time, I'm going to make sure that, for small trips like these, I at least have my cellphone with me.
Anyway, by the time I finished writing, hubby had already cut the potatoes and put the chicken on the grill. All I had to do was make the salad :)
And now ... of to insert my new plot idea into the story :D
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Almost a year later!
Last time I posted about my writing, I was still researching a new story.
Well, that story is now over 50,000 words. Yes, I WON NaNoWriMo 2007, and damn, it feels good :)
I have no idea what went better this year, but halfway through I already knew I was going to make it. Of course, afterwards I went back to not writing for a while (November kills!, it really does), and when I finally went back to writing somewhere in Januari/Februari, I had a new story idea, which meant putting my NaNo story back on the shelf ... temporarily that is.
So, to recap the past year:
- partially edited the first draft of CMI
- won NaNoWriMo 2007
- wrote an unfinished 50,000 word story (working title: Ki'vahn)
- started a new story (approx. 10,000 words and counting - working title: Echoes)
What will the rest of 2008 look like?
- finishing editing first draft of CMI
- finishing Ki'vahn
- finishing Echoes
- come up with a new plot of NaNoWriMo 2008
Pfew ... I doubt I'll finish everything this year, but I'm damn well going to try!
and I'll keep you all posted on the process :)
Well, that story is now over 50,000 words. Yes, I WON NaNoWriMo 2007, and damn, it feels good :)
I have no idea what went better this year, but halfway through I already knew I was going to make it. Of course, afterwards I went back to not writing for a while (November kills!, it really does), and when I finally went back to writing somewhere in Januari/Februari, I had a new story idea, which meant putting my NaNo story back on the shelf ... temporarily that is.
So, to recap the past year:
- partially edited the first draft of CMI
- won NaNoWriMo 2007
- wrote an unfinished 50,000 word story (working title: Ki'vahn)
- started a new story (approx. 10,000 words and counting - working title: Echoes)
What will the rest of 2008 look like?
- finishing editing first draft of CMI
- finishing Ki'vahn
- finishing Echoes
- come up with a new plot of NaNoWriMo 2008
Pfew ... I doubt I'll finish everything this year, but I'm damn well going to try!
and I'll keep you all posted on the process :)
Monday, June 04, 2007
Research and other ramblings
I have been writing a bit, but I've been striking more. Not surprising, since what I deleted were two versions of a beginning that I had rewritten, but still contained some info I needed for a later scene. So I kept moving those parts forwards until they finally served their purpose and are now officially moved to the 'unnused scenes' file.
I haven't had time to sit down with Holly Lisle's books yet, my non-writing life is keeping be rather busy at the moment, busy enough not to find time to study either. So, same old, same old.
Taking some time for myself last night, I have managed to change the layout of my blog ... or both my blogs, since my LiveJournal received the same treatment. I was good to be able to spend some time on something as frivolous as this, while my life is running past me. (on that same note: I'm so looking forward to my second singing lesson tomorrow)
Right ...
Research.
I used to think I could write about anything I wanted to. I have a good dose of imagination, and ideas keep popping up into my head.
But sometimes, sometimes you need to make sure you get your facts straight.
This is one of those moments.
With all the plot ideas I have, I've turned a small entertaining scene into the beginning of a more intense set of 'head to heads' between my main characters. (ie: they bond over chess)
Their way of playing is not the same though, so I've been googling around to see if I could find out a little about the history of chess. When I did, I also found my 'point of origin' from where player 1's people have split from player 2's people. Though neither know there even was a split. Player 2's crew has just rescued player 1 from certain death and are taking him to their planet. Player 1 thinks he's on some boat and doesn't even know what a planet is.
So, they bond over chess, and player 2 quickly realises player 1's tactics are slightly old fashioned. He's still bloody good though, so he's interested in playing him again. And what began as a simple way to meet someone, has now turned into something more.
So, I'm researching history and trying to make sense of the tactics and strategies either one may or may not know about. What I really need is to familiarise myself with the game again, and see if I can come up with some way of evolving player 1's game in a different way than our modern chess, and not just make it look like he's stuck in the middle ages.
For now I'm coming up empty though. I have found some links, but not enough to satisfy me, and half of them are links to chess books.
I love my writing, don't get me wrong, but I'm NOT going to buy books on chess for my story.
I have a big job ahead of me, and part of me is excited, but another part of me just wishes it was over and done with already.
I'll keep you posted on how the research is going.
I haven't had time to sit down with Holly Lisle's books yet, my non-writing life is keeping be rather busy at the moment, busy enough not to find time to study either. So, same old, same old.
Taking some time for myself last night, I have managed to change the layout of my blog ... or both my blogs, since my LiveJournal received the same treatment. I was good to be able to spend some time on something as frivolous as this, while my life is running past me. (on that same note: I'm so looking forward to my second singing lesson tomorrow)
Right ...
Research.
I used to think I could write about anything I wanted to. I have a good dose of imagination, and ideas keep popping up into my head.
But sometimes, sometimes you need to make sure you get your facts straight.
This is one of those moments.
With all the plot ideas I have, I've turned a small entertaining scene into the beginning of a more intense set of 'head to heads' between my main characters. (ie: they bond over chess)
Their way of playing is not the same though, so I've been googling around to see if I could find out a little about the history of chess. When I did, I also found my 'point of origin' from where player 1's people have split from player 2's people. Though neither know there even was a split. Player 2's crew has just rescued player 1 from certain death and are taking him to their planet. Player 1 thinks he's on some boat and doesn't even know what a planet is.
So, they bond over chess, and player 2 quickly realises player 1's tactics are slightly old fashioned. He's still bloody good though, so he's interested in playing him again. And what began as a simple way to meet someone, has now turned into something more.
So, I'm researching history and trying to make sense of the tactics and strategies either one may or may not know about. What I really need is to familiarise myself with the game again, and see if I can come up with some way of evolving player 1's game in a different way than our modern chess, and not just make it look like he's stuck in the middle ages.
For now I'm coming up empty though. I have found some links, but not enough to satisfy me, and half of them are links to chess books.
I love my writing, don't get me wrong, but I'm NOT going to buy books on chess for my story.
I have a big job ahead of me, and part of me is excited, but another part of me just wishes it was over and done with already.
I'll keep you posted on how the research is going.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Back ... on writing
As 'there'll be dragons' was fading from my mind, a new story wormed its way to the surface. Again inspired by the same fanfic.
At this point I've got less than 5,000 words written, but it feels stronger than 'there'll be dragons' did. The characters are just as clear, as are some of the plotlines. The story just feels more right for me at this point.
As with 'there'll be dragons', there is still a lot of research to be done, and what I've written so far is more like a warming up than actual story (though the first couple of scenes are the real deal), but I'm amazed at how many ideas spring to mind by just trying to validate certain facts about my main character and his race. For the last couple of weeks I've been letting it all sink in, and my mind boggles with all the things I need to tie in together.
Research, research, research.
I decided to start with Holly Lisle's latest book on writing: Create a Plot Clinic (see link in sidebar). I'm hoping reading it (and doing the exercises, etc) to strengthen the plot(s) I already have.
I'm also thinking of reading her 'Create a Culture Clinic' after that, since my character's race is very important to the story.
I'll let you know how that goes :)
At this point I've got less than 5,000 words written, but it feels stronger than 'there'll be dragons' did. The characters are just as clear, as are some of the plotlines. The story just feels more right for me at this point.
As with 'there'll be dragons', there is still a lot of research to be done, and what I've written so far is more like a warming up than actual story (though the first couple of scenes are the real deal), but I'm amazed at how many ideas spring to mind by just trying to validate certain facts about my main character and his race. For the last couple of weeks I've been letting it all sink in, and my mind boggles with all the things I need to tie in together.
Research, research, research.
I decided to start with Holly Lisle's latest book on writing: Create a Plot Clinic (see link in sidebar). I'm hoping reading it (and doing the exercises, etc) to strengthen the plot(s) I already have.
I'm also thinking of reading her 'Create a Culture Clinic' after that, since my character's race is very important to the story.
I'll let you know how that goes :)
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Nano 2006 - a learning experience
So, I 'failed' NaNo 2006, and only managed to write about 9,000 words.
I had my characters and I had a main plotline and a subplot or two ...
but it wasn't enough.
I knew there were still some things I needed to figure out. I thought they'd come to me once I started writing ...
I was wrong.
The first couple of scenes went off without a hitch. I knew I needed to research travelling distances and such, but those could wait.
Then I realised I needed to know more about the dragons I had. What was there use? Who were the hunters chasing them? And what was that deep dark secret in character three's closet?
No matter how many times I tried to come up with something, it wouldn't be forced. My writing slowed down, my ideas were still running strong, but couldn't be written without the much needed and uncooperative background. Holes appeared in my scenes, many of them highlighted by the words [ENTER SUBJECT].
I have to admit that there was one other thing that stood in the way of the story. It had nothing to do with the story itself, but it did influence my lack of inspiration for it.
I was reading too much fanfic at the time. (err ... still am actually)
Granted, the same fanfic gave me the idea for one of my characters, but it wasn't enough. I couldn't stop incorporating the fanfic's characters into every thought, every idea I got, up to the point where I just couldn't see my story anymore.
The story started losing its appeal to me and I stopped writing.
I am not about to throw the story away though.
There are many things about that world and the characters that I love too much to diss it. But ... it is going to need a major overhaul and mountains of research before I can think about writing it again.
So, for now, 'there'll be dragons' is going in my archive until I'm ready to write the story the way it wants (and deserves) to be told.
I had my characters and I had a main plotline and a subplot or two ...
but it wasn't enough.
I knew there were still some things I needed to figure out. I thought they'd come to me once I started writing ...
I was wrong.
The first couple of scenes went off without a hitch. I knew I needed to research travelling distances and such, but those could wait.
Then I realised I needed to know more about the dragons I had. What was there use? Who were the hunters chasing them? And what was that deep dark secret in character three's closet?
No matter how many times I tried to come up with something, it wouldn't be forced. My writing slowed down, my ideas were still running strong, but couldn't be written without the much needed and uncooperative background. Holes appeared in my scenes, many of them highlighted by the words [ENTER SUBJECT].
I have to admit that there was one other thing that stood in the way of the story. It had nothing to do with the story itself, but it did influence my lack of inspiration for it.
I was reading too much fanfic at the time. (err ... still am actually)
Granted, the same fanfic gave me the idea for one of my characters, but it wasn't enough. I couldn't stop incorporating the fanfic's characters into every thought, every idea I got, up to the point where I just couldn't see my story anymore.
The story started losing its appeal to me and I stopped writing.
I am not about to throw the story away though.
There are many things about that world and the characters that I love too much to diss it. But ... it is going to need a major overhaul and mountains of research before I can think about writing it again.
So, for now, 'there'll be dragons' is going in my archive until I'm ready to write the story the way it wants (and deserves) to be told.
Monday, October 23, 2006
It's been too long
First of all I'm sorry I have neglected my blog so abominably. I've been rather distracted (a new obsession called Stargate Atlantis being a big part of it)
I want to thank Cyn and Tee. I know It has been obvious from my sidebar that I'd finished my first draft, but I never actually wrote a post about it.
I managed to finish it one day before my self-imposed deadline. It was a great feeling :)
Less great was that two days after that I suddenly got ideas for two more scenes. I nipped those in the butt though, and decided to leave those to the editing stage.
So, what's been going on in Cayendi's World?
After finishing my first draft I gave myself some time off (which ended up being three weeks, give or take)
After that I started thinking about editing and NaNoWriMo.
I decided to leave the editing for december, and focus on my NaNo project in the meantime. Originally I planned to finish/edit a short story I wrote as well, but I haven't done anything about that one ... yet.
My new project will definitely be fantasy this time. A highly technological world with dragons, magical healers, elves, gypsies and dragon hunters.
Of course, because of the dragons, my story will mostly play out in the less technological part of the world.
I have three MC's (at least I see them as MC's, though one of them could easily be seen as the antagonist ... from the protagonists pov), and am planning to do only one POV this time. It's a challenge, but one born out of necessity. The antagonistic MC needs to stay rather mysterious, and I don't think I can accomplish that in a satisfactory way if I give him his own voice. My only female MC, though a wonderful person, I don't really want to give her own voice either.
So, only one POV. It's a challenge :)
What else can I say?
Well, I've been working on their characters using Holly Lisle's 'Create a Character Clinic', which I think is a wonderful book. I've plotted out some background, some setting, connections between the MC's that are going to play a role. All of that is working out all right at the moment.
Not so good is the fact that I have an incident happening about 12 years before the book, in which a gang/group is involved that I still haven't really been able to flesh out yet. While the core members of that group have a hidden agenda, the 'cover' of that group needs to be something my antagonistic MC felt drawn to when he joined, but after the incident (and seeing his lover die at the hands of their leader) change his image and drive him to a desperate act after which he secludes himself from society the way he knows it.
I will solve this, but right now nothing comes to mind. It's annoying.
Also, I have two plane crashes, but the first one doesn't happen at the dreaded moment of change that is advised you start a book with, so it needs to be mentioned in a flashback.
What I don't want is opening with the second crash, only to find myself forced to mention the first one in the second chapter ... ideally I'd want to spread them out a bit more.
Well, I hope the people who've been waiting to hear from me are satisfied with my rambling.
I'll try and keep you posted on my NaNo Prep.
I'm not promising to post anything during NaNo, because I'm not sure I'll have time to.
I want to thank Cyn and Tee. I know It has been obvious from my sidebar that I'd finished my first draft, but I never actually wrote a post about it.
I managed to finish it one day before my self-imposed deadline. It was a great feeling :)
Less great was that two days after that I suddenly got ideas for two more scenes. I nipped those in the butt though, and decided to leave those to the editing stage.
So, what's been going on in Cayendi's World?
After finishing my first draft I gave myself some time off (which ended up being three weeks, give or take)
After that I started thinking about editing and NaNoWriMo.
I decided to leave the editing for december, and focus on my NaNo project in the meantime. Originally I planned to finish/edit a short story I wrote as well, but I haven't done anything about that one ... yet.
My new project will definitely be fantasy this time. A highly technological world with dragons, magical healers, elves, gypsies and dragon hunters.
Of course, because of the dragons, my story will mostly play out in the less technological part of the world.
I have three MC's (at least I see them as MC's, though one of them could easily be seen as the antagonist ... from the protagonists pov), and am planning to do only one POV this time. It's a challenge, but one born out of necessity. The antagonistic MC needs to stay rather mysterious, and I don't think I can accomplish that in a satisfactory way if I give him his own voice. My only female MC, though a wonderful person, I don't really want to give her own voice either.
So, only one POV. It's a challenge :)
What else can I say?
Well, I've been working on their characters using Holly Lisle's 'Create a Character Clinic', which I think is a wonderful book. I've plotted out some background, some setting, connections between the MC's that are going to play a role. All of that is working out all right at the moment.
Not so good is the fact that I have an incident happening about 12 years before the book, in which a gang/group is involved that I still haven't really been able to flesh out yet. While the core members of that group have a hidden agenda, the 'cover' of that group needs to be something my antagonistic MC felt drawn to when he joined, but after the incident (and seeing his lover die at the hands of their leader) change his image and drive him to a desperate act after which he secludes himself from society the way he knows it.
I will solve this, but right now nothing comes to mind. It's annoying.
Also, I have two plane crashes, but the first one doesn't happen at the dreaded moment of change that is advised you start a book with, so it needs to be mentioned in a flashback.
What I don't want is opening with the second crash, only to find myself forced to mention the first one in the second chapter ... ideally I'd want to spread them out a bit more.
Well, I hope the people who've been waiting to hear from me are satisfied with my rambling.
I'll try and keep you posted on my NaNo Prep.
I'm not promising to post anything during NaNo, because I'm not sure I'll have time to.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Chronological or Not?
This post is not a desire to know which is better, it is more realisation of why I suddenly write more out of chronology.
Now that I'm nearing the climax and the end of the story, I find myself writing more and more out of chronological order. Strangely enough the start of my novel was the same. I wrote parts in the right order, but I also wrote scenes that were to happen a lot later, ony to suddenly think of a scene that needed to be inserted at the beginning. The rest of my novel is pretty much written in chronological order, though, again, I did sometimes insert scenes I thought were missing.
So, why this change?
OUTLINING
I have outlined some major events for these last chapters (meaning that I know the 'big bang' happens on tuesday), and some minor events (like dinner with parents etc). There are still scenes that need to be inserted here and there (specificall here as in Sunday ... another nice quiet Sunday ... the quiet before the storm? Sunday), and those are giving me a bit more trouble.
While I've already written most of Monday, and even a small beginning of Wednesday (notice, I haven't written anything on the 'big bang' day itself yet), my Sunday is very slowly in coming. I just didn't have enough information, yet, to fill it in; I had to write Saturday to find out what exactly would take place on Sunday.
CONTINUATION AND CONSEQUENCES
I also needed to think about concequences of a conversation on that same Saturday for the events on Monday through the end of the book, before I could write a continuation of that on Sunday ...
Am I still making sense?
Let's try again.
It wasn't until I had written a small tidbit that came to mind about a hospital scene on Wednesday, that I knew my MC would NOT mention anyhing about the information she got on Saturday with her (not quite yet) boyfriend when she met with him on Sunday.
That tidbit made me realise that thought my MC had already made her mind up about what to do, she wasn't yet ready to tell him. It was too early in their relationship.
THAT BIG BANG FEELING
I have most the scene in mind, or at least a good idea of what will happen. Yet, I'm still not writing that scene. It is as if I'm savouring the idea, writing little tidbits here and there that are tied up with the 'big bang' scene, like my MC ending up in hospital with her soon to be official boyfriend visiting her. Thinking up an interrogation scene with the badguy, writing the monday scenes that lead to the big bang. As if I want to keep the best for last.
Okay, so that's not exactly true, since I need to actually write the scene before I can write some others, but it still feels like it. And it gives me an enormous rush just thinking about it.
To all the people who've been wondering about my lack of sigarets, coffee or alcohol ... I get high on writing. :D
On the writing front itself:
After a mere 250 words on Saturday and missing my daily count yesterday by 17 words, I hope to write a big dent into my count the next couple of days. For wordcount: see sidebar :)
Now that I'm nearing the climax and the end of the story, I find myself writing more and more out of chronological order. Strangely enough the start of my novel was the same. I wrote parts in the right order, but I also wrote scenes that were to happen a lot later, ony to suddenly think of a scene that needed to be inserted at the beginning. The rest of my novel is pretty much written in chronological order, though, again, I did sometimes insert scenes I thought were missing.
So, why this change?
OUTLINING
I have outlined some major events for these last chapters (meaning that I know the 'big bang' happens on tuesday), and some minor events (like dinner with parents etc). There are still scenes that need to be inserted here and there (specificall here as in Sunday ... another nice quiet Sunday ... the quiet before the storm? Sunday), and those are giving me a bit more trouble.
While I've already written most of Monday, and even a small beginning of Wednesday (notice, I haven't written anything on the 'big bang' day itself yet), my Sunday is very slowly in coming. I just didn't have enough information, yet, to fill it in; I had to write Saturday to find out what exactly would take place on Sunday.
CONTINUATION AND CONSEQUENCES
I also needed to think about concequences of a conversation on that same Saturday for the events on Monday through the end of the book, before I could write a continuation of that on Sunday ...
Am I still making sense?
Let's try again.
It wasn't until I had written a small tidbit that came to mind about a hospital scene on Wednesday, that I knew my MC would NOT mention anyhing about the information she got on Saturday with her (not quite yet) boyfriend when she met with him on Sunday.
That tidbit made me realise that thought my MC had already made her mind up about what to do, she wasn't yet ready to tell him. It was too early in their relationship.
THAT BIG BANG FEELING
I have most the scene in mind, or at least a good idea of what will happen. Yet, I'm still not writing that scene. It is as if I'm savouring the idea, writing little tidbits here and there that are tied up with the 'big bang' scene, like my MC ending up in hospital with her soon to be official boyfriend visiting her. Thinking up an interrogation scene with the badguy, writing the monday scenes that lead to the big bang. As if I want to keep the best for last.
Okay, so that's not exactly true, since I need to actually write the scene before I can write some others, but it still feels like it. And it gives me an enormous rush just thinking about it.
To all the people who've been wondering about my lack of sigarets, coffee or alcohol ... I get high on writing. :D
On the writing front itself:
After a mere 250 words on Saturday and missing my daily count yesterday by 17 words, I hope to write a big dent into my count the next couple of days. For wordcount: see sidebar :)
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Forest, Trees and Background
No matter what kind of story we write, we all have backgrounds for our characters. (At least I'm assuming you do too).
I write the background to my characters in my A5 binder, add to it whenever I think of something, and date it too. Actually, I date everything I write, so I won't have to wonder which thought came last, if they contradict each other.
So, I have this badguy who has spent some time in prison before the book begins, but I hadn't really worked out the exact circumstances of him getting caught (he's a hacker). The few scenes I needed this information in, I left it open to fill in later. I can always work it out during the edit phase, right?
Right.
Apparently not this time, because a couple of nights ago, I was rereading some of the background I wrote, and I suddenly found one small comment that cleared the whole thing up. Worse, it was dated somewhere in february!!
So, all this time I thought I still needed to make up a reason my badguy ending up in prison before the book started, I already knew ... for months!!
Silly, silly me!
Together with the epiphany I had, it's not been a bad week for me. Still, no writing today. I decided to go to bed early today, because I think I'm coming down with a cold (again), and it's tiring me out.
I write the background to my characters in my A5 binder, add to it whenever I think of something, and date it too. Actually, I date everything I write, so I won't have to wonder which thought came last, if they contradict each other.
So, I have this badguy who has spent some time in prison before the book begins, but I hadn't really worked out the exact circumstances of him getting caught (he's a hacker). The few scenes I needed this information in, I left it open to fill in later. I can always work it out during the edit phase, right?
Right.
Apparently not this time, because a couple of nights ago, I was rereading some of the background I wrote, and I suddenly found one small comment that cleared the whole thing up. Worse, it was dated somewhere in february!!
So, all this time I thought I still needed to make up a reason my badguy ending up in prison before the book started, I already knew ... for months!!
Silly, silly me!
Together with the epiphany I had, it's not been a bad week for me. Still, no writing today. I decided to go to bed early today, because I think I'm coming down with a cold (again), and it's tiring me out.
Epiphany
Vacation's over. It was wet, but relaxing and I managed to get some typing done :)
Not the 6500 words I hoped for, but almost 6200 nevertheless.
I also didn't write down as much on my creative process as I wanted to, but I do have one or two things to write about :)
One of those is finding the heart of the matter ... when you've almost finished writing the book.
I know my main character's backstory. I know what she was trying to come to terms with when the book started, and where I wanted her at the end.
Yet ...
Only now do I realise her true obstacle. Though obstacle isn't the right word.
Blaming her ex-bf for everything was just so easy, that she never considered that was not what she needed to come to terms with (I know, repetitive, but I can't seem to find other words to describe it ... *sigh*, must be the fact it's almost 3am here)
Of course, even though I will probably have to hint to the fact in earlier chapters (which I think I did, once), Tiana will still only realise in the scene I've just written (which is chapter 19).
It was a revelation finding this little fact. It will mean rewrites, but it'll be worth it. :)
I'm basically working on three chapters at the moment (chapters 17 and 18 are still in progress), and I might start writing more out of chronology because some key scenes are already in my head. I'm not sure how many chapters will follow, but I have moved the 'big bang' forward one chapter (forward as in moving from chapter 21 to 20). I'm not sure what I'll do after that. I might write one more chapter, I might also decide to go straight into the epilogue ... it depends on how much still needs to be wrapped up, and how I need to wrap it up.
Next time on this blog: something about forest, trees and background!
Not the 6500 words I hoped for, but almost 6200 nevertheless.
I also didn't write down as much on my creative process as I wanted to, but I do have one or two things to write about :)
One of those is finding the heart of the matter ... when you've almost finished writing the book.
I know my main character's backstory. I know what she was trying to come to terms with when the book started, and where I wanted her at the end.
Yet ...
Only now do I realise her true obstacle. Though obstacle isn't the right word.
Blaming her ex-bf for everything was just so easy, that she never considered that was not what she needed to come to terms with (I know, repetitive, but I can't seem to find other words to describe it ... *sigh*, must be the fact it's almost 3am here)
Of course, even though I will probably have to hint to the fact in earlier chapters (which I think I did, once), Tiana will still only realise in the scene I've just written (which is chapter 19).
It was a revelation finding this little fact. It will mean rewrites, but it'll be worth it. :)
I'm basically working on three chapters at the moment (chapters 17 and 18 are still in progress), and I might start writing more out of chronology because some key scenes are already in my head. I'm not sure how many chapters will follow, but I have moved the 'big bang' forward one chapter (forward as in moving from chapter 21 to 20). I'm not sure what I'll do after that. I might write one more chapter, I might also decide to go straight into the epilogue ... it depends on how much still needs to be wrapped up, and how I need to wrap it up.
Next time on this blog: something about forest, trees and background!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Assen, here we come!
Even though I'll be writing every day for the next week, I won't be able to update my blog, because I'll be camping with my family.
I hope to have written between 6500 and 7000 words by next saturday. But we'll see.
At the moment I'm trying out a scene. I'm not sure I'll keep it, but I need to know what it'll do to my badguy if I let him experience this ( I know, vague, but if I start explaining ... I have no idea how to explain this in only one paragraph yet, but it's got something to do with a robotic pet ...)
I'll try and make notes on my writing, so I'll be able to fill some posts with my rambling.
See you all next week :)
I hope to have written between 6500 and 7000 words by next saturday. But we'll see.
At the moment I'm trying out a scene. I'm not sure I'll keep it, but I need to know what it'll do to my badguy if I let him experience this ( I know, vague, but if I start explaining ... I have no idea how to explain this in only one paragraph yet, but it's got something to do with a robotic pet ...)
I'll try and make notes on my writing, so I'll be able to fill some posts with my rambling.
See you all next week :)
Monday, July 24, 2006
Scenes and Scenery
On scenes:
I may have mentioned this before, but I have about 5 POV characters (some more important than others), and I change POV per scene, not per chapter, but per scene.
After listening to Michael A. Stackpole's podcast 'the secrets', I thought changing POV per chapter seemed like a good idea, but once I started writing, it just didn't work out that way.
I had written a 500 word scene, and I automatically changed POV and wrote another scene with another character, and another, and another, until the chapter was done. I was unsure of whether it would work, but once I had gone this road, I couldn't change back again. There was no way that I could fill a complete chapter with scenes from one POV only. I needed the input of the other characters to make the chapters complete.
As for whether it works ... time and the chance of getting it published will tell.
Another thing about scenes is their length. I have scenes ranging from barely 200 words to over a thousand. They are mere snippets, and might be expanded in the editing process, but I don't want to fill them with unnecessary info to do that. I like my writing tight.
Which brings me to my next subject:
Scenery:
I know some readers/writers love scenery, specifically the description of it. They say it brings the surroundings and the story to life. I on the other hand, tend to skip the descriptions of scenery and get on with the good parts.
Books don't necessarily have to be fast paced of full of action, and I don't mind a bit of scenery every now and then, I just can't stand having to read half a page of extremely detailed description of how a pub, street, garden, and so on, look.
I want to know what's going to happen next.
There is a fanfic writer whose writing style I like, apart from her descriptions. With her it's mostly food, area specific food that she describes in detail to give us a better idea of it. Most of her readers absolutely love that about her, I skip it. They could have been eating pancakes for all I care. I don't think it makes the story better, I think it distracts from the plot.
So, I don't write scenery, much. I really have to force myself to insert it, and often scratch it out again, because it reads the way I wrote it: forced.
The city my book is centered around could be anywhere; it could be yours. I'd like people to think it could be theirs (which goes for a lot of my stories). Any description I would give, might disturb that image. When something, a building, garden, anything, is important to the plot, I will write it in. I'll probably make a note of it too, so I can hint to it at other points. Other than that, I rarely do scenery.
Holly Lisle said in her interview with Mur something about only writing what she wanted to see, and I try to keep to that, though I'm not sure all of my scenes qualify ... but I'll leave that to the editing process as well.
I hope, of course, that there are people who share my opinion, because if I do get this book published, I will need readers :)
Writing Progress: 2209 words in two days :D
I may have mentioned this before, but I have about 5 POV characters (some more important than others), and I change POV per scene, not per chapter, but per scene.
After listening to Michael A. Stackpole's podcast 'the secrets', I thought changing POV per chapter seemed like a good idea, but once I started writing, it just didn't work out that way.
I had written a 500 word scene, and I automatically changed POV and wrote another scene with another character, and another, and another, until the chapter was done. I was unsure of whether it would work, but once I had gone this road, I couldn't change back again. There was no way that I could fill a complete chapter with scenes from one POV only. I needed the input of the other characters to make the chapters complete.
As for whether it works ... time and the chance of getting it published will tell.
Another thing about scenes is their length. I have scenes ranging from barely 200 words to over a thousand. They are mere snippets, and might be expanded in the editing process, but I don't want to fill them with unnecessary info to do that. I like my writing tight.
Which brings me to my next subject:
Scenery:
I know some readers/writers love scenery, specifically the description of it. They say it brings the surroundings and the story to life. I on the other hand, tend to skip the descriptions of scenery and get on with the good parts.
Books don't necessarily have to be fast paced of full of action, and I don't mind a bit of scenery every now and then, I just can't stand having to read half a page of extremely detailed description of how a pub, street, garden, and so on, look.
I want to know what's going to happen next.
There is a fanfic writer whose writing style I like, apart from her descriptions. With her it's mostly food, area specific food that she describes in detail to give us a better idea of it. Most of her readers absolutely love that about her, I skip it. They could have been eating pancakes for all I care. I don't think it makes the story better, I think it distracts from the plot.
So, I don't write scenery, much. I really have to force myself to insert it, and often scratch it out again, because it reads the way I wrote it: forced.
The city my book is centered around could be anywhere; it could be yours. I'd like people to think it could be theirs (which goes for a lot of my stories). Any description I would give, might disturb that image. When something, a building, garden, anything, is important to the plot, I will write it in. I'll probably make a note of it too, so I can hint to it at other points. Other than that, I rarely do scenery.
Holly Lisle said in her interview with Mur something about only writing what she wanted to see, and I try to keep to that, though I'm not sure all of my scenes qualify ... but I'll leave that to the editing process as well.
I hope, of course, that there are people who share my opinion, because if I do get this book published, I will need readers :)
Writing Progress: 2209 words in two days :D
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Headache, Heat and Hope
It was a tough week. It's too bloody hot outside (and not much better inside). It wasn't surprising that Tuesday a debilitating headache announced itself that lingered until late Thursday.
Did I mention that I can't really handle this kind of weather? And that being exposed to the sun gives me headaches? It's a miracle that I haven't head more of these headaches (but then again, I barely do anything during the day in fear of getting them).
So, Tuesday I husband sent me to bed right after dinner, woke me up for a bit around ten, and sent me back to bed barely half an hour later. I couldn't see straight, or sit straight. Even though was it still too hot to sleep, I think I slept like a baby. I awoke around 3am because my youngest was standing next to my bed complaining about not being able to sleep, and felt no strain in my neck, which was definitely good news.
Unfortunately the strain was back when I woke up in the morning again, but didn't grow above a nagging feeling. I still went to bed early two nights in a row, because the heat and the nagging still tired me out.
Yesterday went a lot better. No nagging for most of the day (only for a while after spend the latter part of the afternoon cooking), and after ten in the evening the temperature and slight breeze were so refreshing, I was happily typing away until long after midnight.
Five days of writing (well, four days, because I didn't write anything on Tuesday), 2.922 words of which I wrote 1,638 on Friday.
I'm still a happy camper :D (as long as there is no repeat of Tuesday's headache)
Did I mention that I can't really handle this kind of weather? And that being exposed to the sun gives me headaches? It's a miracle that I haven't head more of these headaches (but then again, I barely do anything during the day in fear of getting them).
So, Tuesday I husband sent me to bed right after dinner, woke me up for a bit around ten, and sent me back to bed barely half an hour later. I couldn't see straight, or sit straight. Even though was it still too hot to sleep, I think I slept like a baby. I awoke around 3am because my youngest was standing next to my bed complaining about not being able to sleep, and felt no strain in my neck, which was definitely good news.
Unfortunately the strain was back when I woke up in the morning again, but didn't grow above a nagging feeling. I still went to bed early two nights in a row, because the heat and the nagging still tired me out.
Yesterday went a lot better. No nagging for most of the day (only for a while after spend the latter part of the afternoon cooking), and after ten in the evening the temperature and slight breeze were so refreshing, I was happily typing away until long after midnight.
Five days of writing (well, four days, because I didn't write anything on Tuesday), 2.922 words of which I wrote 1,638 on Friday.
I'm still a happy camper :D (as long as there is no repeat of Tuesday's headache)
Monday, July 17, 2006
The Character's Choice
I wrote just a little over 1000 words, mostly on a scene I kept putting off (because I didn't really know where to go with it), and I'm glad I put it on hold.
The way the scene turned out is better than it would have been (actually, it's a completely different scene, but still better), and it gave me some ideas for some other scenes (either new ones or existing ones that need some patching up/expanding)
Which brings me to the Character's Choice.
I'm not a writer who constantly has her characters running through her head telling her how they want to be written. Sometimes writing scenes I want to write are a struggle to get through. Other times, though, like tonight, I just get an idea and let my characters take me where they want to go. They're still not telling me anything, but they are there, in the background, guiding me ... it seems.
On nights like this I only need a word to trigger a complete scene, or more even. Words seem to just fly out of my fingertips (or pen).
I'm grateful for these moments, but it does make me wonder. Why does it sometimes seem so hard to even get one sentence down, while other times I can type a 1000 words in the same time it takes that one sentence?
Is it my state of mind? Am I more relaxed? Or is it that I'm more in touch with my story?
*sigh* So many questions that might never be answered.
The way the scene turned out is better than it would have been (actually, it's a completely different scene, but still better), and it gave me some ideas for some other scenes (either new ones or existing ones that need some patching up/expanding)
Which brings me to the Character's Choice.
I'm not a writer who constantly has her characters running through her head telling her how they want to be written. Sometimes writing scenes I want to write are a struggle to get through. Other times, though, like tonight, I just get an idea and let my characters take me where they want to go. They're still not telling me anything, but they are there, in the background, guiding me ... it seems.
On nights like this I only need a word to trigger a complete scene, or more even. Words seem to just fly out of my fingertips (or pen).
I'm grateful for these moments, but it does make me wonder. Why does it sometimes seem so hard to even get one sentence down, while other times I can type a 1000 words in the same time it takes that one sentence?
Is it my state of mind? Am I more relaxed? Or is it that I'm more in touch with my story?
*sigh* So many questions that might never be answered.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Writing Romance
Well, I felt a little stuck when I finally got to the scene of the first date ...
but, a couple of days later, I finally got myself through it and just wrote the damned date.
Okay ... so it's only a bit of chatting, some thinking, some nervousness and a rather awkward/nervous goodbye.
They have a second 'date' lined up, and wonky first impressions have been set straight :)
Of course, the second date is watching a game of basketball. Teen basketball, because Isaac coaches them. But I'm sure Tiana will have fun anyway :)
As to my unstable wordcount: two days of keeping to my daily goal. Two days of over 800 words. Which means my total wordcount is now: 49,980
As for the short story. I'm leaving it for now, but I will get back to it. I'm just not sure whether it will be before or after I finish my first draft.
but, a couple of days later, I finally got myself through it and just wrote the damned date.
Okay ... so it's only a bit of chatting, some thinking, some nervousness and a rather awkward/nervous goodbye.
They have a second 'date' lined up, and wonky first impressions have been set straight :)
Of course, the second date is watching a game of basketball. Teen basketball, because Isaac coaches them. But I'm sure Tiana will have fun anyway :)
As to my unstable wordcount: two days of keeping to my daily goal. Two days of over 800 words. Which means my total wordcount is now: 49,980
As for the short story. I'm leaving it for now, but I will get back to it. I'm just not sure whether it will be before or after I finish my first draft.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Naught point zilch
I passed the internship, which means one less burden (a big one in this case, because of all the trouble it brought me), but I haven't written a word on my novel in ten days.
I wrote a short story though, after a sudden bout of inspiration. Around 1750 words in one night. Not bad.
Yet ... nothing on my novel.
Right now I'm torn between reading a book (The Secret History by Donna Tartt), printing out the short story for editing, or ... right, you got it ... finishing my novel. I know it should be the third, but I'm so very tempted to do the either of the other two. (though, if I'm honest, I'll probably keep thinking about what to do, and ending up doing none of the above ... it's happened before)
Oh, and did I mention that my fingers are almost itching to write (handwriting)? Does anyone else ever have that? The feeling that you just want to hold a pen and write? It doesn't matter what (it could even be copying text), as long as I'm writing. Sometimes I wonder about myself.
I wrote a short story though, after a sudden bout of inspiration. Around 1750 words in one night. Not bad.
Yet ... nothing on my novel.
Right now I'm torn between reading a book (The Secret History by Donna Tartt), printing out the short story for editing, or ... right, you got it ... finishing my novel. I know it should be the third, but I'm so very tempted to do the either of the other two. (though, if I'm honest, I'll probably keep thinking about what to do, and ending up doing none of the above ... it's happened before)
Oh, and did I mention that my fingers are almost itching to write (handwriting)? Does anyone else ever have that? The feeling that you just want to hold a pen and write? It doesn't matter what (it could even be copying text), as long as I'm writing. Sometimes I wonder about myself.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Short Update
I'm tired and it's way past my bedtime.
I managed to stay 3 words short of 47000 tonight.
The football match was a giant distraction, even though I really don't like it, and was thoroughly reminded why tonight. It was a terrible match, with so much unneeded and senseless foul play. I wouldn't be surprised if this went down as the worst and most unsportive match of this World Cup.
*shudders* I'd say I'll never watch another match again, but that's rather difficult when you have three men (err ... 1 man, 2 kids) living under your roof who do like to watch it. And I don't know about anyone else, but when the tv's on, you tend to watch, whether you want to or not (wich is why I hate visiting people who refuse to turn the bloody thing off when you arrive. I've been brought up to believe it's impolite)
Anyway ... as opposed to yesterday (when I practically fell asleep with my laptop in my lap because of the very long day I had), I did manage to reach my goal.
The last couple of days have been slightly a different experience. Instead of writing complete scenes, I've been adding paragraphs to a number of scenes.
Writing a sentence in scene x suddenly inspired me to add something in scene p, or check scene o whether or not I actually mentioned that. So, I think I changed about ten scenes in total (all for the better I hope), and I feel pretty good about it.
What I'm not really chuffed about, is the fact that I'm wondering if I'm not forgetting things. So, I'm making an awful lot of notes for the editing phase.
I kind of calculated that I still have about 12 chapters to go (based on the average chapter length upto now). So it might not be a bad idea for me to take a short break and see whether my basic (very very basic) outline needs some finetuning.
On the study front: I have a deadline for the dreaded internship report, which means I'll be working on that very intensely for the next 5 days. I hope I'll still be able to reach my daily writing goal, but the next 5 days the report comes first!!!
Mmm, this post ended up a lot bigger than I planned it to be.
I managed to stay 3 words short of 47000 tonight.
The football match was a giant distraction, even though I really don't like it, and was thoroughly reminded why tonight. It was a terrible match, with so much unneeded and senseless foul play. I wouldn't be surprised if this went down as the worst and most unsportive match of this World Cup.
*shudders* I'd say I'll never watch another match again, but that's rather difficult when you have three men (err ... 1 man, 2 kids) living under your roof who do like to watch it. And I don't know about anyone else, but when the tv's on, you tend to watch, whether you want to or not (wich is why I hate visiting people who refuse to turn the bloody thing off when you arrive. I've been brought up to believe it's impolite)
Anyway ... as opposed to yesterday (when I practically fell asleep with my laptop in my lap because of the very long day I had), I did manage to reach my goal.
The last couple of days have been slightly a different experience. Instead of writing complete scenes, I've been adding paragraphs to a number of scenes.
Writing a sentence in scene x suddenly inspired me to add something in scene p, or check scene o whether or not I actually mentioned that. So, I think I changed about ten scenes in total (all for the better I hope), and I feel pretty good about it.
What I'm not really chuffed about, is the fact that I'm wondering if I'm not forgetting things. So, I'm making an awful lot of notes for the editing phase.
I kind of calculated that I still have about 12 chapters to go (based on the average chapter length upto now). So it might not be a bad idea for me to take a short break and see whether my basic (very very basic) outline needs some finetuning.
On the study front: I have a deadline for the dreaded internship report, which means I'll be working on that very intensely for the next 5 days. I hope I'll still be able to reach my daily writing goal, but the next 5 days the report comes first!!!
Mmm, this post ended up a lot bigger than I planned it to be.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Plagued by Ghosts
Last night I feared I wouldn't make my daily goal when my youngest came downstairs. Kids at school had been talking about ghosts, and my youngest being who he is, forgot about it, until he was in bed.
Unable to sleep, he literally raced downstairs (we almost thought he fell down) and looked for shelter in my lap.
Together we tried to chase the ghosts away, but it took a little while before he finally felt safe enough to try and sleep again, in my lap of course, because he wasn't going upstairs again. In the end he moved to his own chair (so I could write again, he said) and fell asleep.
By that time the only thought in my head was making the 640 and go to bed myself. (I could barely stop yawning)
But I made it and now my wordcount is 45,295, which means I passed the halfway mark
It seems writing is becoming easier with each night. :)
Unable to sleep, he literally raced downstairs (we almost thought he fell down) and looked for shelter in my lap.
Together we tried to chase the ghosts away, but it took a little while before he finally felt safe enough to try and sleep again, in my lap of course, because he wasn't going upstairs again. In the end he moved to his own chair (so I could write again, he said) and fell asleep.
By that time the only thought in my head was making the 640 and go to bed myself. (I could barely stop yawning)
But I made it and now my wordcount is 45,295, which means I passed the halfway mark
It seems writing is becoming easier with each night. :)
Monday, June 19, 2006
Back on Track?
I managed to write almost 2000 words in the last three days. I don't think that's bad after a long dry spell.
I'm back into writing at least 500 words every day, or around 630 if I'm more accurate. Why 630, well, that's the daily count I need if I want to finish the first draft by the end of August. I hope I'll be able to persevere this time, if not, I want to at least write something every day, even if it's only one sentence. I'm going to force myself to write EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!
As for the past three days ... I'm content. I'm very content.
Other good news ... I'm finally throwing myself into my studies again by finishing my internship report for the internship I did TWO AND A HALF years ago (which stayed unfinished because of health problems).
After that dratted report is finished I'm going to start on other subjects. I still need to finish two other first-year subjects before I can throw myself into the second-year ones.
So, apart from writing every day during the summer holiday, I'll be reading and reading and reading for 'Themes in Literature'
Pity there is a list ... I hope my selection is readable. (I'm not going to name books, since we all have different tastes. the books I hate, may well be your favourite and vice versa)
I'm back into writing at least 500 words every day, or around 630 if I'm more accurate. Why 630, well, that's the daily count I need if I want to finish the first draft by the end of August. I hope I'll be able to persevere this time, if not, I want to at least write something every day, even if it's only one sentence. I'm going to force myself to write EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!
As for the past three days ... I'm content. I'm very content.
Other good news ... I'm finally throwing myself into my studies again by finishing my internship report for the internship I did TWO AND A HALF years ago (which stayed unfinished because of health problems).
After that dratted report is finished I'm going to start on other subjects. I still need to finish two other first-year subjects before I can throw myself into the second-year ones.
So, apart from writing every day during the summer holiday, I'll be reading and reading and reading for 'Themes in Literature'
Pity there is a list ... I hope my selection is readable. (I'm not going to name books, since we all have different tastes. the books I hate, may well be your favourite and vice versa)
Monday, April 10, 2006
Finally back to writing
Only 280 words on a scene I started writing a week ago, but I've written something again.
My sabatical was not completely voluntarily, but it wasn't a block either. I've been having some problems with my back, combined with bouts of tiredness. Me writing again doesn't mean the problems are gone now, though, but at least I've rediscovered my lust for writing. Now if I can only hold onto it.
My sabatical was not completely voluntarily, but it wasn't a block either. I've been having some problems with my back, combined with bouts of tiredness. Me writing again doesn't mean the problems are gone now, though, but at least I've rediscovered my lust for writing. Now if I can only hold onto it.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Welcome to my 'office'
Earlier today I posted a picture of my desk/workspace in a comment to show 6 of Tee Morris's Survival guide to writing fantasy. I didn't want to deprive anyone of that image, so here it is.
My livingroom is my workplace. I long ago decided it was silly to be home alone most of the day cooped up in a room upstairs, so the computer (my computer) has its place downstairs.
Every now and then I wish for a space of my own, when my kids and husband get too loud and intrusive, but on the whole I still like it.
It may look rather organised at the moment, but looks can be deceiving ;)
The chair next to my desk is the chair I sit in (with laptop firmly planted in lap) when I'm not working at my desk.
On to the writing. As a means of getting back into writing, I decided to browse around for sample questions to ask my characters, so I can get a bit more background (more organised background) on them. I stumbled across this site: The 100 Most Important Things To Know About Your Character
It's more a cross between a character chart and an interrogation, but it's fun to fill out (at least the questions I can find answers to, some of them I'm still leaving open)
Tonight I've been working on my badguy's answers, and I can't help but enjoy it.
My livingroom is my workplace. I long ago decided it was silly to be home alone most of the day cooped up in a room upstairs, so the computer (my computer) has its place downstairs.
Every now and then I wish for a space of my own, when my kids and husband get too loud and intrusive, but on the whole I still like it.
It may look rather organised at the moment, but looks can be deceiving ;)
The chair next to my desk is the chair I sit in (with laptop firmly planted in lap) when I'm not working at my desk.
On to the writing. As a means of getting back into writing, I decided to browse around for sample questions to ask my characters, so I can get a bit more background (more organised background) on them. I stumbled across this site: The 100 Most Important Things To Know About Your Character
It's more a cross between a character chart and an interrogation, but it's fun to fill out (at least the questions I can find answers to, some of them I'm still leaving open)
Tonight I've been working on my badguy's answers, and I can't help but enjoy it.