Cold cold cold cold cold. And I forgot to set my alarm last night. What woke me was the morning sunlight, beaming through the window, a sight I don’t see at this time of year until I’m on the road. Urk.
I should be happy I managed to wake up at all. I took a clonazepam last night because both my wingstubs and my back were hurting me. Slept great, but it left me woozy and light-headed this morning, not to mention disinclined to wake up. And my wingstubs still ache.
Writing Stuff:
Saw that zarabee posted on the RM that the contents of issue #17 and #18 of ASIM are being swapped around to accommodate editorial Life Events. So “The Life and Times of Penguin” which was slated to debut in February, will instead premiere in April. Glad to know. Thanks for the update, zarabee!
Story (by Robert McKee) got me contemplating ye olde novel again. I hammered out an outline in five acts with scenes and everything. I figure I need a solid foundation of structure if I’m going to finish it this time around. Have the first chapter written, although I’m dissatisfied with my setting. I’m confident I can make it richer and more interesting than what I have currently. I’m also trying to avoid committing the heinous crime of a prologue. I wrote the damn thing because I needed to have a good feel of the backstory, but I’d much rather figure out a way to incorporate the information into the storyline than use it. *ponder ponder ponder*
Words: 1500 – Mostly planning and otherwise gearing up for The Novel™. Brainstorming, outlining, world building, character construction, and a bit of futzing with prose.
500/day
12
I love Story. After my first read I couldn’t write a word for weeks, I just felt unworthy of the craft. Now I use a lot of his techniques and tools for telling stories. His scene analysis, beats, and the treatment draft are all a part of my writing technique. Good luck on the novel.
I love Story. After my first read I couldn’t write a word for weeks, I just felt unworthy of the craft. Now I use a lot of his techniques and tools for telling stories. His scene analysis, beats, and the treatment draft are all a part of my writing technique. Good luck on the novel.
What sort of Novel? Fantasy? SF? Children/Grown Up?
I wrote a 70,000 word one for my Senior Thesis in college, but really it was one I’d been working on for years in various guises, it wasn’t just concocted for a Thesis project. I still intend to write and publish it, along with a number of others set in the same timeline, but the version I did for my Thesis doesn’t satisfy me and I’ll be making drastic, drastic changes before seeking publication.
I get bogged down, sometimes, writing notes and plot ideas for my novels, because, while I know a lot about particular elements and characters and plot events, some of the most basic things are uncertian – should the planet be desert or jungle is a question in one of them, for instance, and things like that stop me when I start to write the first chapter because they effect details of the scene, even if I know what I need to know about the characters and where the story is going with them.
And the environment question is tied up with other questions, like what kind of terraforming may have been done on the planet in question, what balance between native (alien) lifeforms and imported (terran) ones, how realistic or fantastic do I want to be, etc. Any of these questions would be relatively easy to just pick what suited my preference, except for the interconnection with ever-expanding networks of other issues. If I go desert, all of a sudden I can’t have the underwater society I thought about including… If I go jungle, I can’t draw on the symbolism of comparisons between my desert society with its religious factions and the desert society of ancient Israel with its various sects.
This is just one small example, but you get the point. That’s why, when working on the novels, I end up doing lots and lots of note writing, very little prose writing. At least at this stage.
What sort of Novel? Fantasy? SF? Children/Grown Up?
I wrote a 70,000 word one for my Senior Thesis in college, but really it was one I’d been working on for years in various guises, it wasn’t just concocted for a Thesis project. I still intend to write and publish it, along with a number of others set in the same timeline, but the version I did for my Thesis doesn’t satisfy me and I’ll be making drastic, drastic changes before seeking publication.
I get bogged down, sometimes, writing notes and plot ideas for my novels, because, while I know a lot about particular elements and characters and plot events, some of the most basic things are uncertian – should the planet be desert or jungle is a question in one of them, for instance, and things like that stop me when I start to write the first chapter because they effect details of the scene, even if I know what I need to know about the characters and where the story is going with them.
And the environment question is tied up with other questions, like what kind of terraforming may have been done on the planet in question, what balance between native (alien) lifeforms and imported (terran) ones, how realistic or fantastic do I want to be, etc. Any of these questions would be relatively easy to just pick what suited my preference, except for the interconnection with ever-expanding networks of other issues. If I go desert, all of a sudden I can’t have the underwater society I thought about including… If I go jungle, I can’t draw on the symbolism of comparisons between my desert society with its religious factions and the desert society of ancient Israel with its various sects.
This is just one small example, but you get the point. That’s why, when working on the novels, I end up doing lots and lots of note writing, very little prose writing. At least at this stage.
I like winter for about a month. Then I’m ready for spring. 🙂
I like winter for about a month. Then I’m ready for spring. 🙂
I guess novel inspiration is in the air along with all that cold. I’ve been outlining and researching, which is way out of character for me. I’ve stuck with the short form for a long time. Anyway, I guess I’ll take it.
Good luck!
I guess novel inspiration is in the air along with all that cold. I’ve been outlining and researching, which is way out of character for me. I’ve stuck with the short form for a long time. Anyway, I guess I’ll take it.
Good luck!