The Pen’s There for a Reason

Last night, I was blogging in my head. Not that it does me a lot of good being in my head and all, but there you have it. I’ve decided to take it as a good sign that I may be falling back into the habit. Now all I have to do is translate that habit into something electronic and printed, and it’ll become more than just yet another way my mind likes to keep me up at night.

Naturally, I couldn’t remember a thing I wanted to write about when I woke up this morning. I don’t remember anything other than at one point thinking to myself about a specific line, “Hey, that’s pretty good.” I even keep pen and paper in my nightstand drawer but did I bother to pull it out? Noooo… You’d think I’d have learned by now.

Ah well. What’s life without a few quirks? Besides, it’s those same idiosyncrasies that make characters stand out, so in a way I could consider my own personality ticks a form of research, albeit a vague, meandering, and unhelpful one. *Grins* The ultimate goal in life: to define the world in such a way that it’s able to fit neatly and with finality into a set of personal parameters constructed over time by evolving patterns of experience, environment, and genetics. In other words, to come up with reasons for why we do what we do without having to wonder why we wonder about why we do what we do. Or more succinctly, to find ways to believe our own excuses.

Of course, that’s my take on it, relevant only for as long as I feel the need to grumble about why I don’t want to work on the manuscript I think I should work on.

Louisiana

I went to Louisiana this past weekend, graciously hosted by the Infamous Kate W., and I can see why it’s a favorite with writers. Having lived in Houston for almost a decade, I enjoyed being back in the humidity and the lush, swampy green, but it was the entrenched Cajun culture that sucked me in. I enjoy experiencing regional cultures–though I admit that experience is limited to Texan and deep South–but the texture of them, the unique feel and flavors can make me giddy if I let it.

That tactile sensation is what I want to achieve in a book, that palpable sensation of layered consciousness that’s as old as it is new. Can it be done? Of course! Can it be done by me? Uh… Heh. I guess that’s for time to tell.

Well, time and lots and lots of practice. I mean, seriously. LOTS. Even then, the achievement can be a bit of a crap shoot, what with the requirement for something akin to talent, patience, perserverance and all. Still, it’s an excuse to keep on writing, though I’d argue I need less of an excuse and more of a swift, solid kick to the rear.

Although, I can now proudly confess that, as of last Monday, my no-writing streak is over. Woo-hoo! While I’m not working on the manuscript I feel I should be working on, I am working, and I’ve decided that’s much better than nothing. I think I may be one of those folks who can’t work on just one manuscript; I seem to work better if I have a main focus ms and a secondary ms, but–again–I could be fooling myself. I know that I’m quite good at that.

What I need is a better schedule. Maybe then I can start blogging regularly again. Sheesh. Thanks for your patience, all you poor, wonderful, dear folks who keep checking in here. One day I may actually make it all worth it.

The Neat Stuff Out in the Internet Ether

In an effort to fulfill all Librarian-esque duties for my local RWA chapter, I asked members for their favorite research and/or writing tips, tricks, and techniques websites with the intention of gathering all the links and placing them in a couple easy-to-access locations for the group as a whole. I’m going to wait a few more days before sorting and displaying as only a handful of people have been able to respond so far, but holy toledo–what they’ve sent me is pretty damn cool. I didn’t know this stuff was out there in the internet, ripe for the taking, which is stupid of me, I know, but still. Way cool.

The chapter gets first priority, but once I get the list set up over there, I may have to still a link or two for my site. *Grins* Granted no one minds.

So? Anyone out in this neck of the woods have any really neat research sites to recommend?

Speaking of research, I stumbled on a History Channel show called “Life After People” which was, in a “this is totally a sign” semi-creepy way, just what I needed when I needed it. The show describes what would happen to all the man-made structures if humanity were suddenly wiped from the planet. Not exactly your Tuesday night pick-me-up, but fascinating nonetheless. The two characters talking loudest at the moment (who aren’t the ones I need to be focusing on, by the way, though I decided to let it go because writing something was better than writing nothing), while decidedly human which makes the basic principle of the show a bit moot, are a part of a world where the human population had been abruptly and drastically been reduced, so a lot of it still applied.

“Character Development”

As I mentioned yesterday, I stumbled upon an unconventional character development tool: The Sims.

Okay, okay. So really I was procrastinating, but hey–a game can be a useful tool.

Yeah, you’re right. That’s pushing it, but within those lost hours of playing a three-dimensional version of simulated life with a clear hierarchy of needs, I decided to create a neighborhood based on my various stories and/or ideas. (Sure, it’d have been better to actually write the stories, but we’re moving past that.) Granted, no matter how well made The Sims, the game could never simulate the stuff that goes on in my head, but when creating the characters, I found myself pondering details that I don’t usually consider.

I tend to have a much better concept of my heroines. Aside from the obvious advantage of being a woman myself, I was raised with two sisters, often surrounded by a passel of aunts, female cousins, and friends from school. (How my father survived while surrounded by so much estrogen, I’ll never know. Bless his heart.) But while the heroines are often vivid, the heroes tend to be a little more vague until I’ve gotten deeper into the story.

Working out the hero from the first of the sisters series, Daniel, in the game, I had to not only settle on his appearance, but the aspects of his personality. Sure, there are limitations that exist in the game that don’t exist in real life, but I still had to decide whether he was more nice than neat. Would he be more drawn to groups or one-on-one interactions? How serious is he? How creative?

Then, when setting up his household, I needed to keep that personality in mind. What would he have lying around? Would he do anything with the yard? Hang up pictures? And in doing all that, I discovered more about my hero than I thought I would. What I’d intended to be a sheer waste of time became, in a way, educational. I discovered that Daniel is creative, but with an eye for the bigger picture with a tendency to lose sight of details. He likes clean, clear lines, bold statements, and sharp colors. Understated and loyal, Daniel does well in social situations but has no problem being alone. He’s a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy, who’s interested in so much that he has a tendency to start projects and never finish them, always moving on to the next “ooh, shiny!” What fully captures his attention, though, becomes a lifelong passion.

And here all this time I’d just had him written down as a brunette with gray eyes.

Still Working Out the Kinks

Okay, so I didn’t get much writing done this past weekend. Actually, I haven’t done much writing this entire week, but I’m not counting Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday because real life needed my attention. I’ll admit I have no real excuse for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I managed to get a little written late last night, but it’s hardly worth mentioning. Maybe a 100 words or so, which would be fine and dandy if I’d managed that every day, but I figured out pretty quick last month that I don’t do well with that schedule.

My main goal this weekend was to attempt to plot some of the sister’s series. I’ve plotted before using the index card method. You know, where you write down plot points on index cards so you can shuffle them or move them around if/when needed? Yeah… turned out to be a waste of index cards. Less than half of the plot points made it into the story, and the ones that did were so obviously forced that the story itself lost a lot of its heart.

Sometimes I think after over a decade of decently steady writing, I’d have my method down, but I remind myself that 2 full manuscripts (3 if you count PYNIMY, which I don’t because it’s terrible and horrible, and I’m rewriting it because it will never, ever, ever see the light of day as it is now) doesn’t a habit make. So we’re still working out the kinks. Well, that and the whole ten-years-of-writing-I-have-only-two-manuscripts-to-show-for-it?? thing, but one step at a time.

I have discovered, though, that stuff like theme and character arcs help a lot, so that’s part of what I’m focusing on with this series. While I’ll still have to get some major plot points for the series arc, which is part of where I’m tripping up, I did manage to get the book order figured out, match the heroes with the heroines, decide on a theme for each book, and figure out what the heroine’s arc will need to play out.

The heroes…well, they’re still cardboard cut-outs, but I have discovered a new form of procrastination technique that helped. (Surprised the heck out of me.) But more about that tomorrow.

Head, Meet Desk

Welp, I didn’t get anything written last night. I did, however, do an absolutely marvelous job of procrastination by cleaning the kitchen, watching Castle with the oh-so-dashing Nathan Fillion, and finishing Tall Tales and Wedding Veils. A fabulous evening, if still unproductive.

So the good news: my local chapter RWA meeting is tonight, which is always such a fun, inspiring, and fantastic time.

The bad news: despite the awesomeness and inspirational kick in the caboose that are the ARWA meetings, I have a few appointments in the coming days that are likely to prevent me from taking advantage of said awesominity and inspiredness. Guess I’ll just have to get my kicks by making up words.

Awespiration.

Inspirawesomeness.

My work is complete.

Horses & Twitches & Scaring the Odd Child

I have been depressingly unproductive. I haven’t written anything new nor done any editing for several weeks now, and it’s starting to get to me. At the moment, I’m going through a “my writing sucks” phase, and I don’t know if that’s because I’ve been unproductive or if said nonproductivity is because I feel this way. All I know is that it’s just a phase, a bit of a “poor, poor me” moment, and I’ll get over it soon enough. Probably as soon as I tell myself to suck it up, sit down, and freakin’ write already.

My goal for the night.

I’m starting to get that crawly, itchy sensation under my skin that starts to develop when I haven’t been writing. Ever seen the way horses can make their flesh jump and twitch when they’re bothered by flies? It’s a little like that only, you know, not visible. Which is a good thing, otherwise I’d scare small children whenever I walked down the street. Not that I’m so sure I don’t do that already.

Oh, hey!

I just noticed the links on the right side of the page have reappeared. Woo-hoo! My master plan of doing nothing and hoping the problem fixes itself has worked!

Isn’t it great when a plan comes together?

Ack!

Okay, so as you’ve likely been able to tell by my absence, or (for those who know me personally) my zombie-fied, glazed expression, the Day Job has absorbed pretty much everything. Unfortunately, it has yet to let up. We’ll see how the next week or two goes, but at least now I’m fighting back. Hence this post.

I can’t promise much coherency, but I’m trying to re-center everything, so to speak, so I can get stuff done in my personal life. I’ve got a lot of projects going on, and I haven’t been able to work on a one of ‘em, including CAROLINA. I’ve still got less than 100 pages left to edit, and I’ve only worked on it one day out of the last 10-12. But no more! I vow to work on it at least two days this week. (Hopefully more, but we’ll start with two, especially considering I have family coming into town for Easter which means I lose yet more time. Not that I don’t love my family and really look forward to seeing them. It’s my own damn fault that I’m not where I want to be with my manuscript.)

But I digress.

I also need to work on my synopsis for CAROLINA. Have I mentioned I hate synopses? I understand their purpose, but double anyway. I either have too much external plot and not enough character arc or vice-versa. I haven’t yet found a happy medium that exists in 1-2 pages. Triple

Ooh, and I’m trying my hand at a new plotting technique. While I’m a pantser at heart, I need to know at least the beginning, the end, and a couple key turning points to write a cohesive story. Otherwise, I have a tendency to meander. The series idea I have will require extra work since the plots of each individual book will need to lean some on all the others, but as I still plan to finish BEAR before beginning the new stories, I’ve got time to work out the kinks.

Of course, I first need to kick out the hero and heroine who’ve taken over my brain for yet another story. Though I don’t know how well that’ll work. They’re both pretty hard-headed. Whenever I try to reason with the heroine, she just kind of snorts and goes tearing off again into the storyline, leaving me scrambling for pen and paper. But I’ll have my revenge. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to be uber pissed at me at one of the plot points I’ve got planned. Muwhahaha!

Okay. *Sighs* Back to the real world.

Still Alive,

but also still in number-crunching hell at the Day Job. I hope to reappear again sometime on Monday.

Until then, thank you for your patience and happy reading!