What Dreams May Come

So I took a nap after church today and had this dream where the combined crews of the Serenity and the USS Enterprise (Next Generation) had to battle the aliens from Alien. Tasha Yar got eaten - big surprise. Neither captain was in sight. Only by updating the records of the Hamilton VA and Daniel UT LDS wards could they defeat the aliens. Jayne saved the day with a cool combination of shooting and record-keeping skills. Never, apparently, underestimate the power of accurate data entry.

Well. Well well well.

It has been some time since my last post. All I can say - or that I'm willing to say here - is that things at home have undergone a radical change and I needed to give myself time to deal with the fallout. I gave myself permission to take a break from all my writing, fledgling blog included, but have recently started up again. I am pleased that it has once again become enjoyable, instead of yet another source of stress. Writing has always been something I love, so the fact that it has resumed that status again is a relief.

One of my goals for this year is to be creative again. It's amazing how that has fallen by the wayside in the past, but it's a part of myself I have dearly missed and want back. Writing is part of that, and I'm happy to say I've been making good (for me) progress so far on fixing (ie, tearing apart and completely overhauling) my current WIP. It's coming so much more easily than it has in the past, which is really exciting, and since I changed the voice from third to first person, it's almost writing itself. Odd, how it needed that means of expression.

There are other projects on my plate as well, which I am very excited about. Once upon a time, I used to paint pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) - mostly wooden eggs rather than real ones - and I've started working on those again, so expect future posts on them. Happily, I've finally got one design worked out that has been bugging me for some time. Can't wait to post pictures of it. : )

Singing is another project. I used to sing a lot, but have let it go in the last couple of years. It's something I need back - music is one of those things like breathing that I don't notice until it's not there anymore, and it kills me when it's gone.

Good things are coming. : )

I Gave at the Office

Is anyone else as heartily sick of the whole vampire craze as I am?

No, seriously. I get the classics - Bram Stoker (though I have no personal desire to read Dracula) earned a place in literary history. That's cool. But the recent trend towards glamorizing the evil undead has just gotten really, really boring, particularly as it's been paired with teen romance (a genre that makes me personally want to hurl rocks). Don't even get me started on Twilight, I'm warning you.

(IMHO, the only vampire novel worth reading is Robin McKinley's Sunshine. Just sayin'.)

(Also, the whole MHI series by Larry Correia, in which vampires are their traditional nasty selves and get slain. A lot.)

But the straw that just broke my camel's back? Vampire, the fragrance. No, really. Click the link. There you go. I'll wait while you clean up the mess. I mean for crying out loud, what's it supposed to smell like, O-positive? I sincerely hope this is a joke, but there is no holding of breath going on here.

Can we all please agree that this trend has run its course and call it a day? Er, night?

Musical Storytelling

I know, it's been months since my last post. Things have been a little crazy - my brother got married, I quit one job, got another, and got promoted, and have been doing lots of training in the new position. Writing (of any kind) kind of got shoved to the side for a while.

However, I'm back working on my novel (RH) again, and it's beginning to take actual shape now, which is encouraging! I was thinking about it on the way home from work the other day, and realized that one of the problems I've had in structuring this thing is that I'm trying to write it like music.

I know, that doesn't make a lot of sense.


Think of a musical score. Something choral (because I'm more used to that than anything but solo piano). Handel's Messiah or Brahm's Ein Deutches Requiem are good examples - Bach's Magnificat is also brilliant for this. You have multiple vocal lines (anywhere from 4 to 8), one line for each voice part - soprano, alto, tenor, bass, etc. Then you have the accompaniment below it. Each staff is expressed in multiple dimensions (I'm ADHD, try to keep up) - say vertical (where notes appear on the staff) and horizontal (timing - the value of each note) - a dual-axis system. But you have multiple dual-axis lines here, all layered on one another, with all of the notes fitting perfectly together and complimenting one another.


I see stories the same way. You have the main plot (call it the melody) layered with multiple subplots (the harmonies), which sounds a lot simpler than the above explanation. They are each moving along the horizontal (temporal) axis, but each has different timing, and they are all layered together vertically (the notes themselves, or developments in the story), but shift around on that axis so different plot points are emphasized at different times, like notes or chords in music.


My problem is arranging all the "notes" and "chords" in the story so they harmonize well and make sense, so that the music of the story is something that flows well.


I have no idea if understanding this is going to be helpful in writing. I'll keep you posted.

Internal vs External

When you're telling a story, there are two major struggles you take into account: the external struggle (all the exciting stuff that happens on the page - physical battles, etc) and the internal struggle (all the more or less invisible character-building that goes on as a result of all the physical, external stuff).

Today I am trying to get my writing groove back after weeks of an appallingly unfriendly work schedule, and it is not working. At all. Not the way I want it to, anyway. All I seem to be able to focus on is my main character's internal struggle, which is nice and all, and kind of important, but really, really boring to read about. And I don't seem to be able to connect anything internal to the external.

Bleah.

I'm going to blame my lack of thyroid meds for this, turn off the computer, and go think about something else. I need to get ready for work anyway - hooray for closing shift. Will work my way back into this.

Not Dead Yet; Writing Progress

I just feel like it. Have I mentioned how evil retail work is? It is. Very evil. Especially the crap hours. And the pay. And the customers. And the pay. And the hours. (Fingers crossed for tomorrow's interview.)

But I digress. Point being: not dead, just random. Thank you, jobs.

Despite the crappy work schedule, I have managed to get some writing done on work-in-progress #1, Rogues' Hollow (henceforth WIP:RH).* Which is awesome, because I have had the world's worst case of writer's block with this sucker for months. Like, 10 months. Maybe more. I lost count. However, last week (is it really only Tuesday??) I made a breakthrough and things have been flowing since, knock wood, turn around three times and spit.

I should explain: I've had the rough draft written for some time now, and make no mistake, it is rough. Frankly, it sucks. So I've been pulling the thing apart, tearing things down and rebuilding them for an age now trying to fix what's wrong and throw away the stuff that can't be fixed. It's been a great learning experience.

Because I'm ADHD, structuring anything, be it work, the novel I want to write, or whatever, is one of my biggest challenges. I've gotten really good at organizing at work, but it took years of practice. Writing? Ha. Even though I've known basically the story I want to tell, I have had an inordinate amount of trouble trying to put the thing together so that it works. (I'm sure this problem is not unique to ADHD, but trust me, that doesn't make it any easier.)

Then I got really, really lucky and found Holly Lisle's workshops for writers. I've been working with them for a couple of months now and absolutely love them. Maybe they're not for everybody, but they've really helped me break things down into manageable bits until finally, breakthrough. Here's hoping it keeps up. Shall I post progress reports?


*I actually have several WIPs all of a sudden. Here's the breakdown:
WIP:RH - Rogues' Hollow. Contemporary fantasy.
WIP:SC - Stupid Cupid. Murder mystery.
WIP:NB - The one with the French (Corsican) dwarf that doesn't have a title yet. Mangled history, but lots of fun.
WIP:HG - the Herb Garden. Not actually a WIP, but I do have a notebook devoted to it. Trying to design an herb garden to plant if spring ever comes to this forsaken wasteland of a state.

Of Knights and Dragons

I cannot fathom why a girl would want a "knight in shining armor." I mean, just examine that phrase a little. "Shining armor." Shining. Pristine. Untouched.

Undented. Unused. Untried.

Maybe I'm over-thinking the idea a bit, but I would personally prefer a knight in dented, scorched armor. Someone who has come up against the dragons in life, been knocked down, gotten back up, and kicked the dragons' collective butts. Someone who has earned every last dent and grown stronger from each one of them. Someone with whom I can compare dents and bruises, laugh about them together, then, when life decides to send another dragon our way, we can go out there together as partners and make dragon-kabobs.