Saturday, February 13, 2010
Waylon is the King
I know we don't usually blog on Saturdays, but I'm a big Waylon Jennings fan--he had me at the Dukes of Hazzard, and every time I hear that guitar riff and that smoky voice, I stop like I'm bewitched--and today is the day he died, eight years ago. I hope Waylon is somewhere, picking guitars, writing songs, and challenging the establishment.
He'd undoubtedly hate my parody (for not being original and trying to be cute rather than hellraising), but I think he'd just grin and shake his head. What are you going to do?
So if you like original hellraisers and challengers of the establishment--raise a glass to Waylon. Waylon is still the king.
He'd undoubtedly hate my parody (for not being original and trying to be cute rather than hellraising), but I think he'd just grin and shake his head. What are you going to do?
So if you like original hellraisers and challengers of the establishment--raise a glass to Waylon. Waylon is still the king.
Writers ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold.
They'd rather give you a story than bank bonds or gold.
All-ripped dark heroes and old faded sweatpants,
And each night begins a new day.
If you don't understand her, an' she don't die young,
She'll prob'ly just write away.
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be writers.
Don't let 'em peck keyboards or dream about what if.
Let 'em be waitresses who work the late shift.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be writers.
'Cos they'll always at home and they're always alone.
Even with someone they love.
Writers like musty old bookstores and jaunts to the sea,
Purring old cats and chocolate and men who can go all night.
Them that don't know her won't like her and them that do,
Sometimes won't know how to take her.
She ain't wrong, she's just different but her pride won't let her,
Do things to make you think she's right.
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be writers.
Don't let 'em peck keyboards or dream about what if.
Let 'em be waitresses who work the late shift.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be writers.
'Cos they'll always at home and they're always alone.
Even with someone they love.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Potatoe? Potatah?
It be the dawn a’ the pirate age, when the stylish thing ta wear be a fur tricorn and weave bones in yer hair. We find two stalwart Neanderthal pirates stompin’ about the deck a’ their giant, thick walled ship. It be near sunset and Og holds a carved wooden tankard a rum. (Because there was, and always will be, rum).
Tar, his second mate, holds a large orange, sliced in half and be slurpin’ away at the juice. It’s pretty disgustin’, as his beard is all sticky and all…
A sudden gust a’ wind caused both ta loose their footing… Og manages ta hang onta his tankard (somethings never change and spillin’ rum be heresy) but Tar’s wonderful juicy orange flies inta the air…
Only ta land with a large *kerplunk* in Og’s tankard.
“Ya got fruit in me rum!” he roars.
“Ya got rum in me fruit!” Tar roars back.
Og takes a cautious sip, grunts, takes another.
And so, on a blistery day, back in the time a’ the ancient ancestors, rum punch be born.
What does this have to do with my blog topic today? Well, what came first, the orange or the rum. (I know, I should have used a pineapple, that would have needed to be one huge tankard.) (And I like OJ in my rum.)
So, we did critiques at my last local RWA chapter meeting. I put forth a few pages of my latest grand scheme to rule the… Uh, I mean, I brought two pages of my pirates with i-pods epic. And read it aloud. (Which was very helpful for me personally and I may try this reading aloud stuff more…but I digress…)
Yeah, yeah, nothing new there…
Anyway!
One of my chapter mates has Donald Maass as her agent and I think she’s already pubbed, but I’m not sure. (I’ve been told, I’m certain, but per norm, it went in one ear and sped through my convoluted brain, got lost, found, lost again and then dribbled out the other ear.)
This lass said, (not a direct quote, btw…remember the convoluted brain?) “You have a very literary style. It’s very compelling, but distant.”
Crap.
Not because it’s compelling, or literary…but the distant sort of bugged me. I looked around at the others and they were all nodding in agreement. I asked for some clarity on exactly what is a literary voice and after some stumbling comments I left about as confused as I normally am.
Stop snickering!
I went home and thought about those comments. They touched on style, on an agreement that what I read was compelling. And even that a literary voice is very appropriate for my genre. So, I wasn’t hurting, just a tad…confused.
I said, stop snickering!
Blast.
I looked up style and then voice. Well, that was fairly useless. About as much help as what came first, the chicken or the egg. One source said… “Voice is the author’s style, the quality that makes the writing unique and which conveys the author’s attitude, personality, and character.”
Well, that was some help. Though it basically said style and voice were the same thing. Another definition said that style was “the way an author writes. The word choice, tone, syntax…”
Sigh.
Aside from my personal search for exactly what is meant by the term literary voice, now I’m bobbing about the sea, wondering about the entire concept of voice vs. style.
What does the crew have to offer? Any clue on the meaning behind what is to me a cryptic phrase — literary voice — or on the entire debate of what is which and which came first and if the two are the same? How do you define your voice? Your style?
And thanks to Terrio, who contributed another well earned kick in my ass when I worried if I needed to change my voice. Thanks, Ter. Whenever you need a swift kick, I’m yer pirate.
BTW, Tar wanted his orange back and Og wouldn’t share so a bloody fight ensued…all perfectly normal.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
trapping small animals and other blizzard ramblings
I've been stuck in my house since Friday. Actually I take that back -- I got to go to work on Tuesday, and then drove straight back home. My only attempt to leave the house all week. Our mayor has actually installed a curfew, threatening immediate arrests of anyone driving a motor vehicle after dark, and we have well over three feet of the snow on the ground in an area that normally never sees more than a flurry or two in any given winter.
Cabin fever doesn't even cover it. I'm all twitchy and snippity, and if I play one more game of solitaire, or watch one more rerun of NCIS, I might just lose it. I'm like a small animal that's been backed into a corner (namely, my living room), and is going to come out biting and squealing.
So to occupy myself, I started wondering how Josephine, my current protagonist, would deal with two blizzards in one week. She just got out of prison, and has a bit of a problem with claustrophobia, so I doubt she'd deal any better than I would. Then again, she'd certainly know how to entertain herself for a few days -- what is prison if not cabin fever?
I have another character, Ana Lucia, who has been held hostage in an underground bunker for over a year. Sheesh, anyone else sensing a theme? Both women have been trapped, and been trapped for a long time. Enough time to get much meaner than just twitchy and snippity.
Long enough to come out fighting back.
Everyone reacts differently to being trapped. When we've been backed into a corner, whether it's a physical like my characters, a snow-created like me, or an emotional imprisonment, we all react in our own ways. I just bitch at my husband until he smiles all cute and talks me into playing naughty games to pass the time. Ana Lucia keeps her head buried in a book and tries not to think. Josephine creates new chemical equations, wishing she had an actual lab to test out her experiments and find new ratios for the best explosion.
What do your characters do when trapped? How would they withstand a blizzard? What if their backed into an emotional corner -- do they come out fighting? Who else is buried under feet of snow? Marn, Ter -- you guys holding up?
Cabin fever doesn't even cover it. I'm all twitchy and snippity, and if I play one more game of solitaire, or watch one more rerun of NCIS, I might just lose it. I'm like a small animal that's been backed into a corner (namely, my living room), and is going to come out biting and squealing.
So to occupy myself, I started wondering how Josephine, my current protagonist, would deal with two blizzards in one week. She just got out of prison, and has a bit of a problem with claustrophobia, so I doubt she'd deal any better than I would. Then again, she'd certainly know how to entertain herself for a few days -- what is prison if not cabin fever?
I have another character, Ana Lucia, who has been held hostage in an underground bunker for over a year. Sheesh, anyone else sensing a theme? Both women have been trapped, and been trapped for a long time. Enough time to get much meaner than just twitchy and snippity.
Long enough to come out fighting back.
Everyone reacts differently to being trapped. When we've been backed into a corner, whether it's a physical like my characters, a snow-created like me, or an emotional imprisonment, we all react in our own ways. I just bitch at my husband until he smiles all cute and talks me into playing naughty games to pass the time. Ana Lucia keeps her head buried in a book and tries not to think. Josephine creates new chemical equations, wishing she had an actual lab to test out her experiments and find new ratios for the best explosion.
What do your characters do when trapped? How would they withstand a blizzard? What if their backed into an emotional corner -- do they come out fighting? Who else is buried under feet of snow? Marn, Ter -- you guys holding up?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Divas and D-Listers: What Jeff Bridges and Setting Have In Common
So I was thinking about the setting in The Wolfman. I watched the trailer and was completely sucked into the mood and setting of the story; and I thought, for a total remake, they did an excellent job of choosing the time and location—it was practically a character itself. And yet, description and setting are often disregarded in the realm of importance of writing.
Characterization and Plot are frequently featured like A-list celebrities, while things like Voice, Theme, and Setting often get shunted with Kathy Griffith to the D-list. Tragic, because these very writing techniques are the Jeff Bridges of the writing world. We all know they were absolutely essential to the overall product, but no one remembers to acknowledge them in their Oscar speech. Or give them their own Oscar.
Consider Dracula. A brilliant character, but nothing without the setting he was drawn in. The story wouldn’t work if he were in a setting like modern day California, with all its sunny weather and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” people. His whole inner-makeup would dissolve like his face in the sun. He needs weather as moody and dramatic as he is, to mirror his moody and dramatic nature. We’re constantly reminded to write bigger, and using setting to the best advantage in our writing is one of the simple ways to show a Bigger Story. (Simple, but not easy.)
And the setting is much more than mere location. The when of the setting is extremely important. Timing is everything. The new movie, The Wolfman, takes place in Victorian England. What better time setting could you have given such a tale? It’s the perfect blend of science and superstition, of the modern and the old. We clearly see the progressive methods of solving crime using Scotland Yard detective work as well as new medical techniques and studies, but at the same time, the threat itself, a wolfman, is a realm of the old world. Not only are we experiencing the hero’s conflict with becoming a monster, but also the conflict of science versus magic (curse). It makes for a much dramatic telling of the story than say Teen Wolf. Which was quite a classic for me growing up, but is pretty much what would happen if we discovered a wolfman now, right? We—in theory—would be accepting of something that was different from us and wouldn’t try to trap it for the discovery of science. We’d bring it in the house and enroll it in high school.
I like to watch movies (obviously, since most of my blogs involve movies), but more than for the story. I like to watch what was included in a screen shot because I know, like scenes in a book, everything is there for a reason. And you can’t fit everything into a screen shot either. You have to focus on what’s most important, especially to the character. What shows character/story the most?
For example, I watched Adventureland and picked out all the very 80s things in the “description.” There were the girls who had their hair styled in that Gilled Lizard sort of fashion (very popular) and had their t-shirt collars ripped out and the bottom tied into a knot so we could see their midriff. Blue eyeshadow. Madonna-esque fashion accessories. All the cars the boys drove were Gremlins or those monster cars that their grandparents would drive. Cassette tapes were predominant; one boy bragged about his CD player that he paid a ton of money for. (In fact, the only thing not very setting authentic was Kristen Stewart, who not only pranced about in low-rise jeans, but whose hair looked exactly like it does from Twilight.)
The best description and setting (in my opinion) is active within the story, the little drops here and there that are explicit to the character themselves. Like the lemondrops on Dumbledore’s desk (you see them in the 6th movie); or the way Dracula’s shadow moves outside of what his actual ‘reflective’ shadow should be. Doing what Dracula would actually like to be doing to Harker. (I always laugh at that scene.) I also think description and setting is probably best done during the second draft, after you’re done getting the story on paper because after all, character and plot are the A-list; and setting and description is more in the B- and C-list range. (You know, you gotta deal with the divas first before you return for the ones who help make the whole thing hold together cohesively. You can’t have A-list characters and plot in a white room. It doesn’t work.)
I agree with some articles that say less is more (mainly because when it comes to writing description, I definitely am a less is more.) However, I’ve read some books where description is definitely that writer’s forte and I wouldn’t have them change a word. I’ve also read authors, like me, who are minimalists and you see the story just as clearly as you do Harry Potter’s world. Both ways work—just don’t forget about it.
So how do you deal with description and setting? What tips and tricks work for you? What movies have you admired for their use of setting/description? Is anyone else looking forward to The Wolfman and not Valentine’s Day like I am? Who's hoping Jeff Bridges finally gets an Oscar?
Characterization and Plot are frequently featured like A-list celebrities, while things like Voice, Theme, and Setting often get shunted with Kathy Griffith to the D-list. Tragic, because these very writing techniques are the Jeff Bridges of the writing world. We all know they were absolutely essential to the overall product, but no one remembers to acknowledge them in their Oscar speech. Or give them their own Oscar.
Consider Dracula. A brilliant character, but nothing without the setting he was drawn in. The story wouldn’t work if he were in a setting like modern day California, with all its sunny weather and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” people. His whole inner-makeup would dissolve like his face in the sun. He needs weather as moody and dramatic as he is, to mirror his moody and dramatic nature. We’re constantly reminded to write bigger, and using setting to the best advantage in our writing is one of the simple ways to show a Bigger Story. (Simple, but not easy.)
And the setting is much more than mere location. The when of the setting is extremely important. Timing is everything. The new movie, The Wolfman, takes place in Victorian England. What better time setting could you have given such a tale? It’s the perfect blend of science and superstition, of the modern and the old. We clearly see the progressive methods of solving crime using Scotland Yard detective work as well as new medical techniques and studies, but at the same time, the threat itself, a wolfman, is a realm of the old world. Not only are we experiencing the hero’s conflict with becoming a monster, but also the conflict of science versus magic (curse). It makes for a much dramatic telling of the story than say Teen Wolf. Which was quite a classic for me growing up, but is pretty much what would happen if we discovered a wolfman now, right? We—in theory—would be accepting of something that was different from us and wouldn’t try to trap it for the discovery of science. We’d bring it in the house and enroll it in high school.
I like to watch movies (obviously, since most of my blogs involve movies), but more than for the story. I like to watch what was included in a screen shot because I know, like scenes in a book, everything is there for a reason. And you can’t fit everything into a screen shot either. You have to focus on what’s most important, especially to the character. What shows character/story the most?
For example, I watched Adventureland and picked out all the very 80s things in the “description.” There were the girls who had their hair styled in that Gilled Lizard sort of fashion (very popular) and had their t-shirt collars ripped out and the bottom tied into a knot so we could see their midriff. Blue eyeshadow. Madonna-esque fashion accessories. All the cars the boys drove were Gremlins or those monster cars that their grandparents would drive. Cassette tapes were predominant; one boy bragged about his CD player that he paid a ton of money for. (In fact, the only thing not very setting authentic was Kristen Stewart, who not only pranced about in low-rise jeans, but whose hair looked exactly like it does from Twilight.)
The best description and setting (in my opinion) is active within the story, the little drops here and there that are explicit to the character themselves. Like the lemondrops on Dumbledore’s desk (you see them in the 6th movie); or the way Dracula’s shadow moves outside of what his actual ‘reflective’ shadow should be. Doing what Dracula would actually like to be doing to Harker. (I always laugh at that scene.) I also think description and setting is probably best done during the second draft, after you’re done getting the story on paper because after all, character and plot are the A-list; and setting and description is more in the B- and C-list range. (You know, you gotta deal with the divas first before you return for the ones who help make the whole thing hold together cohesively. You can’t have A-list characters and plot in a white room. It doesn’t work.)
I agree with some articles that say less is more (mainly because when it comes to writing description, I definitely am a less is more.) However, I’ve read some books where description is definitely that writer’s forte and I wouldn’t have them change a word. I’ve also read authors, like me, who are minimalists and you see the story just as clearly as you do Harry Potter’s world. Both ways work—just don’t forget about it.
So how do you deal with description and setting? What tips and tricks work for you? What movies have you admired for their use of setting/description? Is anyone else looking forward to The Wolfman and not Valentine’s Day like I am? Who's hoping Jeff Bridges finally gets an Oscar?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Feisty Friday
Been a rough week, crew. I wrestled with deep despair over contest results. Again. (Crew, do not let me enter another contest. Ever. Club me with a rum bottle, hang me from the yardarm by my feet if I ever, ever babble about entering another one, ever.)
Our dear Bo’sun hauled me outta the pits and set me straight. So, I’m better now. But…still been a scrappy week. Felt like Hellion was going to toss me overboard a few times for disagreeing with her and refusing to acquiesce to being lashed.
So, let’s pick a few fights today. Get it all out there and bloody up the deck. The rum will flow… I’m serving up Feisty Friday Freezes.
Number one. I don’t read what I write. Who wants to take me on about this one? Now, I have a powerful green eyed jealous monster who rides me back. If I read something I felt I could have done better, should have done better, should have been first, could have been first… I shut down. Convinced it is too late, I suck…you name it. So I don’t read it.
Seldom read it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know…how can I know the genre if I don’t read it. Well, I read about it! So, come on…tell me why I’m so incredibly wrong…
Number two. I also write what I don’t do. Never been a mother, but I’m writing about a conflicted mother. Sue me.
If writers only stuck to what they had personal experience with, no one would write historicals. So, there!
I have a mother, I talk to her…a lot. About being a mother. I read…a lot. And there are so many mothers in fiction. So, I can write one. And there are daddy’s that look good on paper and to a child’s eyes they are fabulous. But are really monsters that deserve walking the plant. Over a volcano. An active volcano. Moms, too!
I also write about alien abductions, fairy, pirates and a ton of things I have no personal experience with.
Sin? Every really killed anyone? Wallowed in blood?
Hal? Last arms deal you took part in?
Marn? Have any traffic with demons lately?
Hel? Last time you dated Lucifer?
Now, I know Bo’sun coached the girl’s version of baseball…softball. So, I guess she’s the only one allowed to keep working on her stuff.
OK, Hel might actually have dated Lucifer…
Number Three. Anyone can disagree with me and not be an idiot. I feel pretty strongly about this one.
And Frodo was too a hero.
Moms who go to work do raise their children. And moms who stay home are worth way more than any family can afford to pay them.
Avatar was a good movie.
Anyone else have any tidbits they want to throw in the ring from the last few weeks? Toss it up and see who steps into the ring to duke it out? Do you read what you write? Do you write only what you know? Can you know something well enough by reading about it to write about it, convincingly? Let’s go, I’m feeling feisty!
Our dear Bo’sun hauled me outta the pits and set me straight. So, I’m better now. But…still been a scrappy week. Felt like Hellion was going to toss me overboard a few times for disagreeing with her and refusing to acquiesce to being lashed.
So, let’s pick a few fights today. Get it all out there and bloody up the deck. The rum will flow… I’m serving up Feisty Friday Freezes.
Number one. I don’t read what I write. Who wants to take me on about this one? Now, I have a powerful green eyed jealous monster who rides me back. If I read something I felt I could have done better, should have done better, should have been first, could have been first… I shut down. Convinced it is too late, I suck…you name it. So I don’t read it.
Seldom read it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know…how can I know the genre if I don’t read it. Well, I read about it! So, come on…tell me why I’m so incredibly wrong…
Number two. I also write what I don’t do. Never been a mother, but I’m writing about a conflicted mother. Sue me.
If writers only stuck to what they had personal experience with, no one would write historicals. So, there!
I have a mother, I talk to her…a lot. About being a mother. I read…a lot. And there are so many mothers in fiction. So, I can write one. And there are daddy’s that look good on paper and to a child’s eyes they are fabulous. But are really monsters that deserve walking the plant. Over a volcano. An active volcano. Moms, too!
I also write about alien abductions, fairy, pirates and a ton of things I have no personal experience with.
Sin? Every really killed anyone? Wallowed in blood?
Hal? Last arms deal you took part in?
Marn? Have any traffic with demons lately?
Hel? Last time you dated Lucifer?
Now, I know Bo’sun coached the girl’s version of baseball…softball. So, I guess she’s the only one allowed to keep working on her stuff.
OK, Hel might actually have dated Lucifer…
Number Three. Anyone can disagree with me and not be an idiot. I feel pretty strongly about this one.
And Frodo was too a hero.
Moms who go to work do raise their children. And moms who stay home are worth way more than any family can afford to pay them.
Avatar was a good movie.
Anyone else have any tidbits they want to throw in the ring from the last few weeks? Toss it up and see who steps into the ring to duke it out? Do you read what you write? Do you write only what you know? Can you know something well enough by reading about it to write about it, convincingly? Let’s go, I’m feeling feisty!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Circus Act
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” Casting Crowns. There is something about this instrumental song that brings me back to it over and over again. It’s been repeated over 300 times in my iTunes. It’s not at the record of my repeats. I’ve listened to Eclipsed (Evans Blue) almost 500 times. (Love that song. Still need to write a blog in regards to that song. Hm, will put that on the burner for next time.)
Since I’ve gotten back into my writing, I’m finding that pounding out blogs each week is a little easier for me. Creatively, my well is feeling dry; but my brain is functioning at a higher level than usual. I’m trying to keep in mind that my year horoscope said I’m in for big successes and big life changes. I’m gearing it towards writing because I need all the positive influence and karma I can get at this point. I've become more of a circus act trying to pull everything together for entertainment purposes than a multi-tasker so far this year.
Writing for me is much like a production. You have all these players practicing their parts, learning their roles. Everyone has a purpose and a part to play. Like the circus. The main story is out for everyone to see. The daring acts, the high flying stunts and the stories we weave for the crowd, but underneath the surface lies the real truth. You play your part for the crowd, you turn it on when the light shines on you and when the light dims the real story begins.
My characters have taken on new life the last couple of weeks. Finally, I can hear them again through all the responsibility and chaos that has been my life for the past few months. Kiki is eager to get back to her life in the gray area and Sadie is ready to tackle life. Dex is ready to convince Kiki she can’t keep working her life alone and emotionally detached from everyone and everything. Ruiz is working pretty hard to convince me he should sleep with everyone. Ash is quiet. He’s always quiet. He’s making a case study of Kiki. Can’t say as I blame him. She’s pretty internal at this point. If I’d spent five years trying to locate someone who was legally dead in the system, I don’t know if I’d spend much time talking to someone I couldn’t trust any further than I could throw him.
Kiki’s emotional state is far from pretty. Her family is dead. Her life is one calculated risk after another. Kiki doesn’t care.
I’ve been told there is a fine line between making a character redeemable and making a character who turns into the bad guy at the end. Kiki is my tightrope walker.
Writing is a fairly new process to me. I’ve completed projects before. I know to seal the deal between characters. I know my way around a black moment. But this whole concept of reminding myself that a main character has to be redeemable is completely foreign. I know at this point I should just ignore all the rules and regulations but it’s one of those things that once someone puts it in my mind, I can’t let go.
Kiki can’t let go of the fact she’s alone in this world. She tells herself that it’s better for everyone if she remains that way, but when she’s alone at night, she spends her spare time looking for clues to Sadie’s whereabouts.
No one wants to be alone in the world. Not even Kiki, my uber headstrong stubborn main character.
I think I’ll just go with Kiki’s flow and see how we turn out. If she’s deemed unredeemable, well then maybe my writing is just unredeemable. I’m feeling rather indifferent about it at this point. Sort of like my apathy for V-day. It’s just another day in the record books.
More on that soapbox next week.
Do you have emotional tightrope walkers in your writing? How do you personally feel about your own writing and does that emotion sometimes bleed into your characters?
Since I’ve gotten back into my writing, I’m finding that pounding out blogs each week is a little easier for me. Creatively, my well is feeling dry; but my brain is functioning at a higher level than usual. I’m trying to keep in mind that my year horoscope said I’m in for big successes and big life changes. I’m gearing it towards writing because I need all the positive influence and karma I can get at this point. I've become more of a circus act trying to pull everything together for entertainment purposes than a multi-tasker so far this year.
Writing for me is much like a production. You have all these players practicing their parts, learning their roles. Everyone has a purpose and a part to play. Like the circus. The main story is out for everyone to see. The daring acts, the high flying stunts and the stories we weave for the crowd, but underneath the surface lies the real truth. You play your part for the crowd, you turn it on when the light shines on you and when the light dims the real story begins.
My characters have taken on new life the last couple of weeks. Finally, I can hear them again through all the responsibility and chaos that has been my life for the past few months. Kiki is eager to get back to her life in the gray area and Sadie is ready to tackle life. Dex is ready to convince Kiki she can’t keep working her life alone and emotionally detached from everyone and everything. Ruiz is working pretty hard to convince me he should sleep with everyone. Ash is quiet. He’s always quiet. He’s making a case study of Kiki. Can’t say as I blame him. She’s pretty internal at this point. If I’d spent five years trying to locate someone who was legally dead in the system, I don’t know if I’d spend much time talking to someone I couldn’t trust any further than I could throw him.
Kiki’s emotional state is far from pretty. Her family is dead. Her life is one calculated risk after another. Kiki doesn’t care.
I’ve been told there is a fine line between making a character redeemable and making a character who turns into the bad guy at the end. Kiki is my tightrope walker.
Writing is a fairly new process to me. I’ve completed projects before. I know to seal the deal between characters. I know my way around a black moment. But this whole concept of reminding myself that a main character has to be redeemable is completely foreign. I know at this point I should just ignore all the rules and regulations but it’s one of those things that once someone puts it in my mind, I can’t let go.
Kiki can’t let go of the fact she’s alone in this world. She tells herself that it’s better for everyone if she remains that way, but when she’s alone at night, she spends her spare time looking for clues to Sadie’s whereabouts.
No one wants to be alone in the world. Not even Kiki, my uber headstrong stubborn main character.
I think I’ll just go with Kiki’s flow and see how we turn out. If she’s deemed unredeemable, well then maybe my writing is just unredeemable. I’m feeling rather indifferent about it at this point. Sort of like my apathy for V-day. It’s just another day in the record books.
More on that soapbox next week.
Do you have emotional tightrope walkers in your writing? How do you personally feel about your own writing and does that emotion sometimes bleed into your characters?
The Secrets or The Disaster
Typically Santa would be blogging about something profound, but...I'm not sure where she is. Or her blog. So I'm going to pirate her spot for a very important decision blog.
Meaning there are TWO online workshops I want to take, but I don't want to take them at the same time because I know I will only have time for one of them. (Bo'sun is taking two, but she's an overachiever like that.)
http://lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/#2010
I blame the Write Chic blog for even bringing them to my attention--darn though brilliant ladies!--and now I'm torn between the class about Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Diaster AND the one about Characters and Secrets. The GMCD would be great for me now; however, the character-secret one, well, that was just looks way interesting. Plus I think Eve is hiding a secret (though she won't tell me what it is) and I don't know if this is the sort of class that might reveal it to me. If I could find them being offered again later this year, I'd take one now and one later, but I can't see that as an option.
So...what shall I take, pirates? Secrets or Disasters?
Meaning there are TWO online workshops I want to take, but I don't want to take them at the same time because I know I will only have time for one of them. (Bo'sun is taking two, but she's an overachiever like that.)
http://lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/#2010
I blame the Write Chic blog for even bringing them to my attention--darn though brilliant ladies!--and now I'm torn between the class about Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Diaster AND the one about Characters and Secrets. The GMCD would be great for me now; however, the character-secret one, well, that was just looks way interesting. Plus I think Eve is hiding a secret (though she won't tell me what it is) and I don't know if this is the sort of class that might reveal it to me. If I could find them being offered again later this year, I'd take one now and one later, but I can't see that as an option.
So...what shall I take, pirates? Secrets or Disasters?
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