Category: characters

Re-thinking this whole writing thing

…okay, not really re-thinking. Let’s just say I’m going to try something new (or, actually, old). Confused yet? Let me explain. Have you heard of Holly Lisle? If you haven’t, well, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Holly is a rarity: a mid-list author who actually makes a living with her writing. She’s smart, she’s a great writer, she knows what she’s doing, and, more importantly, she’s really big on paying it forward (she did start Forward Motion, after all). She spends a lot of her time helping her fellow writers out. To that end, she has created lots of helpful things, from the smaller workshops like How to Create a Language, How to Create a Character, How to Write Page-Turning Scenes…and she has also created huge, incredibly detailed classes Like How To Revise Your Novel and How To Think Sideways.

I was in the original HTTS class, as well as the original HTRYN class, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much difference these two classes made in my writing. The way Holly thinks, the way she breaks things down using plain language, worksheets, examples…well, it got me thinking in ways I’d never thought before (which was the point, right?). Since I don’t have much done on The Fall–in reality, I have only a handful of pages written, basically no pre-work, and haven’t touched it in weeks–I’ve decided that I’m going to take it through HTTS. I know the end result will be much closer to the story I have in my head, much more true to the vision I can see for the story. It will just be better. Yeah, it’ll be a lot of work and it will take me a while, but in the end, it’ll be worth it.

I’m a huge fan of Holly’s writing in general, and I know her courses can really get results–if you’re willing to do the work. I am. I haven’t been published, but I’ve gotten some partial manuscript requests because of her courses, and I want to give everything I can to The Fall. I’ve also decided to become one of Holly’s affiliates. I do believe whole-heartedly in her methods, her teaching, and her results, and if you have any interest in checking it out for yourself, go here. If you aren’t a writer, but you’d like to read a great book, you can check those out as well.

Zombified

"...brains..."
“…brains…”

I have become a zombie.  It’s true.  Several months ago, I noticed that most of the people on campus at my university can’t seem to go anywhere without headphones on.  It takes what, three minutes to walk between classes, and they can’t go that long without listening to music?  And some of them would sit in the classroom/auditorium/lecture hall with their headphones on, until the professor would come in and actually start talking before they’d take them off. Then they’d act like it was a huge inconvenience to be without them.  It was like all these people were withdrawing from the world, wanting to live in their own little bubble, with no contact with anyone outside of it.  On one hand, it irritated me greatly.  On the other, my Muse thought it had great potential to be used in a dystopian story, and that turned into The Fall.

Today I realized I’m guilty of this as well.  I don’t know when it happened.  I don’t know how.  But I rarely go anywhere on campus now without my headphones on.

It’s not because I don’t want contact with the people around me–although sometimes that’s the last thing I want.  Have you seen how annoying teenagers are now?  (Suddenly, I feel very old.)  Plus, there are inevitably people who decide to talk to me, even though I am clearly wearing my “Please Don’t Talk to Me” face (Seriously, people?  Can you NOT see the look I’m giving you?  Get a clue.).  But even that’s not the real reason.

The real reason is because I find myself in desperate need of inspiring and uplifting music to get through the day.  My priorities have shifted drastically over the last six months, and one of the things that has changed is the music I listen to most of the time.  It keeps me on an even keel.  And considering the stress in my life, I need an even keel (and, possibly, a life preserver).  Hence the ever-present headphones.  But I do take them off when I go into a classroom.  And I can’t listen to words with music when I’m writing–not that I’ve done much writing lately–so I don’t use them there, either.

I haven’t written in a couple of weeks, but I did some background work on The Fall this weekend, filling in some details.  I also worked on the revision outline for the zombie story, AND the revision on the werewolf story.  I also spent an hour or so starting the Scrivener tutorial.  I’ll try to finish that up this week, and start actually using it this weekend.

I need to write.

Playing with the Muse

Despite the stresses of this week–my aunt was just diagnosed with breast cancer, one of my best friends had brain surgery today–I managed to finish the revision outline for the werewolf story.  It’s not very in-depth, only six pages long, but I think it will help me get organized to actually finish the revision (FINALLY).  I’m hoping so, anyway.

I wrote for 20 minutes or so yesterday on The Fall.  Only got a few hundred words or so, but that’s better than nothing.  Even better, I have an idea for part of the plot.  Well.  Kind of.  I think maybe it’s going to be super-important to the plot…but I could be wrong.  It has to do with an up-’til-now-unseen character that disappeared six months before.  I think I know WHY he disappeared…where he went…and even more importantly, how it ties into the larger story arc.  And here I thought he was just the used-to-be best friend.  Who knew?  My Muse, apparently….

I love the mystery and the surprises in writing.  It’s what makes the whole thing truly worthwhile and beautiful.  I love when the little things all come together and something clicks inside my head and it all makes sense.  (I just wish real life could make sense like that.)  I love when a tiny detail you thought wasn’t important turns out to be the key to everything.  I love writing.  I love creating.

Does this count as “work”?

So…after being told repeatedly by several people that I needed to watch The Walking Dead because it is, apparently, the greatest show ever, I finally ordered the first season on DVD. It came in today. Now I’m faced with a conundrum: stare at the blank page of my new story, or this:

like a boss

This is a really tough choice, isn’t it? Yeah, RIGHT. So, since I’m obviously not going to be staring at the blank page, my next question is this: does watching I-don’t-know-how-many-episodes of The Walking Dead count as “writing”? Not actual writing, clearly, but research for writing? I mean, my best friend and I DID write that zombie story. And my new story DOES have zombies in it….So. Clearly this is writing-related. Win!

Character Introduction: Cacia

I’m supposed to be posting here twice a week. That’s my goal (as of mid-May, anyway). However…I frequently occasionally find it difficult to come up with something to write about.  That makes posting quite a bit more difficult, as you can imagine.  Sadly, I don’t have hours to spend in dreamy contemplation of what to blog about.  In fact, I’m lucky to have 15 minutes to both come up with a topic and compose the blog.  I recently saw a suggestion to blog about your characters and story.   While that would seem blindingly obvious…it never occurred to me before, except to mention them in passing.  But now I’m going to remedy this deplorable lack on my part.  So…

I’d like you to meet Acacia Fauve, or Cacia.  Cacia doesn’t think she’s anything special.  Average height, average build, with brown eyes.  Her only remarkable physical feature–in her mind, anyway–is her dark red hair. She doesn’t like attention, so she keeps it braided all the time. She’s mostly shy, unobtrusive, and trusts very few people. Very, very few. Like, two…She works as an assistant to the “customs” agent in Thule. She is terrified of mages (more on that in a sec). Cacia sees ghosts. All day, everyday. Her best friend is a cat named Damali who also sees ghosts–at least Cacia thinks he does. He’s not a talking cat or anything, just a regular old cat, so he can’t exactly tell her.

Cacia lives in a tiny cubbyhole not far from the shop. She has one other friend besides Damali, a servant named Ben who works in the castle. She doesn’t see him much, but he’s still her friend. She’s about twenty now, but when she was ten, she saw her entire family killed. They were jungle farmers, back when it was safe to live in the jungle, but the Wakaun came out of nowhere one day and killed her family. Cacia isn’t sure how she survived–or why–but the arrival of the Wakaun drove her into the city.

She doesn’t talk about her ability. To anyone. Not even Ben. The yearly feast of Zo–where the priests do a bloodletting on everyone so they can see the ghosts of their ancestors in an offering of power to Anik (a god)–is a nightmare for her. She avoids it, because the bloodletting only makes her power worse, and she doesn’t need any more crazy in her life. She has quite enough, thank you. And speaking of crazy…Cacia avoids the mages at all costs. She thinks they’re crazy, and she knows they’re greedy for power, so she stays far, far away, and is very careful to keep a tight grip on both her power and her emotions. There’s safety in control and calmness, and she likes it that way. At least until she meets Breck and Casanova…