Category: HTTS

On The Other Side of the Looking Glass

So, if you haven’t heard, the New Orleans Saints are going to the Super Bowl. (And really, if you haven’t heard, what rock have you been hiding under?) First of all, let me say this: I’M GLAD THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL. There. That’s out of the way. Really, I’m glad. However…I don’t watch football. I don’t know anything about football. And I’m fairly new to the NOLA area, so I… don’t quite get the whole level of excitement that has invaded this area. I mean, I get that people have been waiting for this to happen for like 40 years, but to me, in my football-neutral mind, I’m thinking “So? It’s just a game.” Um, apparently not, to a LOT of people around here. At work, total strangers have been asking “Wasn’t that a great game?” (To which the reply “What game?” apparently isn’t an acceptable answer. Oops.) When they won the game Sunday night, there were fireworks going off outside. People driving down the street were honking their horns. People ran around outside screaming. And–and this part is kind of scary–people were shooting guns up into the air. It’s CRAZY. The newspaper sold out on Monday, so they had to re-print it yesterday, and everyone you see is wearing black and gold. Bourbon Street looked like Mardi Gras. It was just mind-blowing for me. That level of excitement I’d have to reserve for winning the lottery or getting a publishing contract.

In other, non-football-related news, my HTTS lessons are going much better this time. So far, anyway. The lesson I’m at now is outlining, one sentence per scene, on index cards. I’m not an index card person. I prefer to do a phase outline, with a paragraph or two (or sometimes a page) per chapter. But I promised myself I’d do these lessons like Holly says, so I sat down yesterday and started working on my cards. Counting the four scenes I already had sentences for (from previous worksheets), and the sentences I got from the 8k I already have written on the story, I had nine cards done. My goal was to do five more.

However, my Muse started pitching ideas at me, and when I finally stopped working on the cards, I had 30 cards done! 30! Woot! Go, Muse! Now I just need 5 cards today. I’m starting to get really excited about this story, too. Love the characters, and can’t wait to work on them again. Sam has some really mean things in store for her…

The werewolf revisions are going pretty well. I think I’m about to get into the really heavy-duty stuff, so I’m actually looking forward to that. And I saw Legion this weekend. SCARY–to me, anyway, I’m a chicken (Have you SEEN the preview where the old lady crawls on the ceiling? Bleh. TOO CREEPY!) –but it has me anxious to start revising Tempest.

And… that’s all for now.

Is It Crowded In Here, Or Is It Just Me?

So, I’ve been working through Lesson 6 of the HTRYN class. It’s about characters, and figuring out if they’re doing what they need to be doing, or if they’re just…taking up space. So far, I’ve stumbled across a couple that are more or less just taking up space. A lot of them do live up to what I need them to do, more or less, but I need to put some thought into exactly what I want them to do and fire the rest of them. (Donald Trump. That’s me.) It’s food for thought, anyway, and something I never even considered before.

I’m getting into editing the zombie story as well. Wow. Hard to believe how off-track from the original vision this story ended up. It’s going to take a lot of elbow grease, but I think it can be massaged back into something resembling that original idea (only better).

And, in other news, I’m slowly working through the HTTS lessons for the 2YN sequel. Currently, I told my Muse what I wanted and gave it a deadline. It’s lobbed a couple of un-related (but possibility-rich) ideas at me, and also given me some rather staggering suggestions for its actual assignment. And I do mean staggering. One of them completely knocked me for a loop, and left me going “Wow. Really? You think so?” (Muse does.) I’m still waiting for the answer to “Why?”, but it’s all good. Funny how the Muse is currently personified by Gerard Butler, as he looked in The Ugly Truth (complete with devilish glint in eye and crooked grin). Go figure. But as far as visions go, I could be doing a lot worse!

Goals for 2010

Okay, so you knew this was coming. I can’t help it. I’m OCD about some things. Making lists, especially To-Do Lists, is one of them, and goals for an entire year are like the mother of all To-Do Lists, so here’s mine for the year. Well, some of them. I have a lot of personal goals that aren’t really relevant, and are more like things I want to get done this year (upgrade my computers’ memories, for example), so this is mainly just my writing-related goals.

Write, using HTTS:
2YN 2
Ash’s story

Revise, using HTRYN:
Werewolf story (already in progress)
Tempest
Chasing Shadows
Atlantis
TSS
Zombie story

Other goals:
Go back to school
Start learning Irish
Read 150 books
Blog twice a week
Run a half marathon

Looking back over this list, which is NOT the complete list by any means, I feel I should probably add another one: Learn to function without sleep. So, how about you? What are your goals for the year?

Randomness

For the past two weeks, I’ve felt like I have absolutely no spare time at all in my life. There is so much that I want to get done, and there really aren’t anywhere near enough hours in the day to get it all done. And I’m not just talking about writing-related things, either.

I’ve tried to really make working out a priority in my life right now. Getting up early and going before work, going on my days off. It’s hard, and I’d much rather be doing other things, but I know it’s worth it. It just seems like it sucks up so much of my time! I’ve barely had any time to read for the past couple of weeks, which is beyond unusual for me. Normally, I read something every day, even if it’s only a couple of pages. Lately, there have been days where I haven’t read anything at all (or at least nothing strictly for enjoyment).

I’ve been reading the story I’m critting in a novel swap, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I actually got pretty sucked into it last night and read about thirty pages or so. Now I’m twenty pages from the end, and looking forward to the rest of it.

Other than that, I haven’t been getting much accomplished. I’m re-reading Tempest of Angels right now, trying to figure out how to make it stronger. Haven’t had any revelations in that department yet, but I’m hoping.

The HTTS lesson did not go terribly well. I gave my Muse what I wanted, and a deadline, and my Muse proceeded to pretty much ignore me. Until the deadline passed. Then I got one idea with a bit of detail, and today, two more ideas with little-to-no detail. Sigh. Please, Muse, can you help me out here?

Calling Down Lightening

Dear Muse:

I know Holly said all I had to do was tell you what I needed, and get out of the way, but I must admit, I’m skeptical. I’m not trying to cast doubts on your abilities, I just don’t know how well you perform under pressure. But I’m not going to pressure you. I just want to clarify my request a little bit more.

I said I needed three unrelated story ideas, ideas unique to me, and based on words and concepts from my Sweet Spot Map, any genre, any length, deadline one week. To be slightly more specific, I would like:

One epic or high fantasy idea
One paranormal idea
One mainstream idea

Also any length, and the deadline is still one week. I know you’re busy playing with the ideas right now, and I just want to thank you in advance, Muse, for what will be, I’m sure, wonderful ideas.

Love,

Me

January

I didn’t come anywhere near hitting my goals for January. At all. Guess that’s what I get for setting such high goals, huh? I’m really not stressing about it, though. I started on the werewolf story, made it to the second chapter, and stalled out, probably because I was writing without any sort of plan. Then I discovered the HTTS class, which I’m going to use on this story. So really, although I’m not actively writing this story, I’m still working on it. (At least, that’s how I’m wording it to myself.)

The zombie story fell by the wayside this month, too. But, my co-writer had a computer meltdown, so we couldn’t really email about things like we normally do. (That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.) I am currently working on a chapter, though. And it should be finished up today.

I also did a novel swap in January that wasn’t anywhere in my plans for the year. Unplanned, maybe, but greatly appreciated and enjoyed. (Thanks, Dale!) I got some good things out of the crit I received, and as always, learned a lot from the crit I did.

Now, I’m off to work on Lesson Two of the HTTS class: Making a Sweet Spot Map.

Falling Behind Already

I did have some big, audacious goals for this year. I wanted to write half of my werewolf story this month. So far, I’m on chapter two. 🙂 For a while there, Chance didn’t have much to say to me, so writing just wasn’t happening. Now, I’m struggling with not knowing where the story goes next. Apparently, writing without an outline just doesn’t work for me. At all. So I clearly need an outline before I go any farther.

Which (sort of) brings me to the next thing: I signed up for Holly Lisle’s How To Think Sideways class. I’m doing the 12-month course, so I’ve only received the first lesson, but I’ve been reading the comments and questions on the boards, and I really think I can get a lot from this class. So I’ve decided to use the werewolf story for HTTS. Which means I won’t be actually writing it just yet. Not that that means I won’t get it done this year. Just that I won’t be doing it exactly when I had planned.

Other than that, I’m in the middle of a novel swap with someone (the Atlantis story), and I’m about to swap the 2YN story with someone else. Of course, neither one of those crits were in my plans for this year, but I’m really enjoying the one I’m working on, and looking forward to the next. I always learn so much doing crits.

And that’s it for me. For now, anyway.