June 23rd, 2006
[Hannah is guest blogging today]
This is my pack:
- Walking Boss: Walking Boss does all the fun stuff with me. He plays the footgame. He plays the leashgame. He likes to carry me around, which is only sort of fun, and stick his fingers in my mouth and sit on me. He also likes to go outside with me and he sniffs really foul stuff while I sniff interesting things. And he really knows how to roughhouse. But he also does all the really unfun stuff, like making my leash short when things get really interesting, and dumping me into the bathtub to put icky smelling stuff in my fur. And when he’s not being fun or unfun, he wants me out of his way.
- Talking Boss: Talking Boss talks and talks and talks. She is always making noises with her mouth. So I sort of tune those out. If I can see her, I can tell when she’s saying something important, because she waves her hands around. And if I can get her to look at me, I can usually make her understand what I want, though it can be slow going sometimes. Like those treats today… but I’ll talk about that later. She’s the one in charge of food, and she’s the one I have to keep an eye on to figure out if anything important is happening. She’s also the one who pays the most attention to me when we’re not actually playing. She never minds if I’m underfoot. She even kind of encourages it. Which is good, ’cause I really like to help and follow her around! She always rescues me from the bad place, eventually.
- Snuggly Guy: Snuggly Guy locks me out of his den when he’s not around, but even so, I think he’s great. He likes to pet me, and he likes to throw things for me to chase, and he never ever does anything unfun, except for sometimes getting irritated at me for not paying attention to his babbling. I can’t keep track of everybody’s language, folks! I’m doing good here to speak Talking Boss, understand Walking Boss, and get the gist of Cat. And even so, it’s not like you make more than a token effort to understand me. How many ways do I have to say, “Please give me the unfinished dinner you’ve left on your plate,” before you get it? Anyhow, Snuggly Guy is really really great, ’cause like Talking Boss, he likes it I escort him to the mailbox and, really, everywhere. Except his den in the middle of the night. Not sure what’s up with that.
- The Dinner Kid: The Dinner Kid used to live in Snuggly Guy’s den, but then he left. He roams the world seeking out great things to eat and occasionally he returns for visits, with souvenirs. He smells like hamburgers, and, oddly, cats. He’s my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were puppies! And I want him to know I still love him even though he spends so long away that the others have practically forgotten him. He doesn’t mind if I crawl into his lap. Only food is better than squeezing onto the couch between Snuggly Guy and the Dinner Kid. And often they HAVE food! Mmmm.
- Puppy Girl: She’s not actually a puppy, I just like to think of her as one, ’cause she has fluffy hair like a puppy. And she truly understands the role of fuzzy toys, though not that I need to take them all and put them someplace safe or else the Cats…. but that’s another story. I don’t see Puppy Girl as much as I’d like to. She gives the best hugs and I let her know how welcome she is. I don’t mind sharing the fuzzy toys with her. If she needs them. But does she?
- Omega Cat: Omega Cat is this cute fuzzy lump of black fur. He squeaks when you step on him! And he eats really yummy food, but he never gets enough. I share my food with him, because you have to look out for those who can’t take care of themselves in your pack. He never races around to play with me, which makes me sad, because I know he does it with the other Cat. But he’s at least glad to see me most of the time, even if he’s too much of a scaredy cat to actually make his affections plain. I get the gist of Cat, as I said.
- Alpha Cat: I share my food with Alpha Cat, too. He’d be cute if he didn’t have such an attitude problem. Sometimes I play with him but it never lasts very long. I know not to step on his toes but it’s important he realize that the toys Talking Boss gives me are mine and he can’t have them. I can share my bed and my dogfood, but people need to understand the toy thing, and that’s that.
So, things have gotten confusing again. After a whole bunch of trips to the bad place for me and the Cats, Walking Boss started feeding the Cats a new kind of food, and Talking Boss started putting my bowl out of our reach for most of the day. Why?
The Cats are really unhappy about it. They let everybody know when they’re displeased. I think maybe they’re starving, since they don’t get enough of their yummy food. I’m kind of hungry, too, ’cause I’m used to grazing a few times a day, and right now, the bowl only comes out in the evening.
So this morning, I was pretty hungry and the Cats had kept me up all night yowling. So I went to find the Talking Boss, to let her know the situation. I think she understood me, but she said, “No, Hannah, those cat treats you stole the other day are not yours,” whatever that means. I understood the part about her not giving me those treats I found the other day. Stupid plastic bags.
Okay, so, I went to lay in wait for Walking Boss, and Plan B. When he went outside to sniff his foul stuff, I went outside with him. Then I turned around and asked to go back inside! Because, see, sometimes when I go inside the house, I get a cookie. I’m not entirely sure what determines when I get a cookie and when I don’t, but it never hurts to try.
Walking Boss mumbled something and let me in again, and I told Talking Boss I wanted a cookie. She didn’t quite understand the cookie part, but by now she knew I was hungry, so she filled up my bowl and put it down. This is why I like Talking Boss. However, Alpha Cat was lurking in a corner, and I felt kind of uncomfortable eating while he was there starving. So I told him he could have some. He didn’t understand, of course. As I said, attitude problem. Talking Boss was confused, too. When I explained to her that I was waiting for the Cat to eat, she put my bowl away again! I don’t understand! And I’m hungry!
Does anybody know what’s going on? I’m going to run out of my secret stash at this rate.
Categories: Pets |
Tags: Pets | 2 Comments
June 22nd, 2006
So, more weird quirks of my hand-edits:
Sometimes I write new lines above an existing paragraph. I don’t scribble out the old paragraph. Do I want to replace the paragraph? I think so. And if not, I draw a line pointing at where I want to insert it.
I do a lot of big scribbling out. I scribble out words, I mark out lines and paragraphs. I draw lines pointing to the back side of sheets.
Oh, so the massive mysterious procrastination was screwing around with titles. I have two sets. I’m not really happy with either of them, although I did decide that, in keeping with the codename ‘TFN’, the set of books will be called ‘The Trilogy of X’. No dancing around it with ‘Chronicles’ or ‘Song’ or ‘Saga’! Well, at least in my personal notes. I am aware that agents and publishers change titles with calculated abandon.
The first set:
- Citadel of the Sky
- Thrones of the Firstborn (not perfect, as is also title am using to refer to series at the moment)
- Sword of the Eldest (also not perfect but has some subtle appropriateness)
The second set:
- Phantasmagory
- Aegis (kind of… bland and short)
- Tenebrescence (I think the problem with this one is apparent, even if it fits)
I have a WIP called Xiphotologos. I invented that word, sort of. Unlike any of the above. Honest.
The current trilogy name I have poked at is ‘Trilogy of Ghosts and Shadows’. Which isn’t grrreat, partially because it’s not quite what I want and partially because there are like a million Knights of Ghosts and Shadows out there. No joke. Try google. But hey, it’s not Creatures of Light And Darkness!
Categories: A Trilogy of Darkness and Glow, Citadel of the Sky, Structure Tutorial, Writing |
Tags: tfn, Writing | No Comments
June 21st, 2006
So, first of all, I revised the setting a tiny bit after I started the type-in.
Second of all, I locked myself out of my computer all day on Sunday, by accident.
Third of all, writing the new scenes is a lot harder than I thought it would be, even with my outlines. At least, the first one was. It stalled me for 2 days. I’ve added about 2500 words just from that. I’m not sure if it has enough tension or contributes enough to the plot, but I wrote it for sharing more about the setting so… guess we’ll see.
Fourth, it’s all too easy to slip into simply rereading and editing on the fly. That is, not looking at my handnotes. I’m having to force myself to skip any text without ink next to it. This isn’t a final polish; it’s wart-removal and tightening and consistency. If I didn’t think it was worth writing ink on, I can’t allow myself to spend time thinking about rephrasings now. I have a deadline. It may be a personal deadline and I may have to extend it a couple of days but it’s a deadline. Gotta stick to it.
Fifth, my notes are incomprehensible. I can usually puzzle out my handwriting, but sometimes I’ll come across three different revisions for the same line scribbled in the margin, or a random expository note with no indicators or hints as to where I wanted it to go (and it doesn’t really seem appropriate anywhere).
Sixth, I’m going through a massively insecure phase right now, because of the clusterfuck my interview turned into– oh yes, it got bad. I didn’t go into detail at first because, you know, burning bridges is bad and all– but on Friday an epilogue to the whole mess occurred that made it clear there weren’t many bridges left to burn. I was officially categorized not as not just ‘not as much what we wanted as this other guy’ but ‘totally worthless to us’.
Now, I know rationally it was politics of a sort at work. That I was a shoo-in for the role, if not as first choice then as second choice. But politics and social confusion reigned, the person who made the final decision had no interest in my qualifications, and I got pushed aside. However… I don’t really run on what’s rational. So… I feel pretty bad. I’m wondering if my estimates of my own competence are way off base. I thought I was in a good position for that job, right? Just like I think I’ve got what it takes to be a pretty good writer.
Anyhow, such crazy irrational fears are also slowing down the type-in.
Categories: A Trilogy of Darkness and Glow, Citadel of the Sky, Structure Tutorial, Writing |
Tags: tfn, Writing | 2 Comments
June 15th, 2006
I had a job interview at Flying Lab today, as a mission designer on Raymond’s team. The content lead and one of the other mission designers interviewed me. Unfortunately, I got the ol’ ‘cut the interview off long before it was scheduled to end’ and indeed, they decided to hire the person they interviewed yesterday instead, because he had industry experience, and apparently I wasn’t giving the answers they were looking for.
I’m upset. Kevin and Raymond have a plan, though. It’s one that I suggested, but not one I’ve been able to really wrap my head around yet. We’ll see if they’re still willing to go through with it in a few days.
Anyhow, I finished my hand edits on the manuscript. Now the type-in. It feels good to reach a milestone, though, to come once again to the end of the story. Might have more to say tomorrow on some of the complications of ending the first book in a tightly-connected trilogy, if I remember, but for now it’s 2 AM and I’ve had a long day.
Categories: Citadel of the Sky, Structure Tutorial, Writing |
Tags: tfn, Writing | 2 Comments
June 11th, 2006
The new pen I got to do my editing with ran out of ink.
Categories: Citadel of the Sky, Structure Tutorial, Writing |
Tags: tfn, Writing | 5 Comments
June 11th, 2006
I’m working through a hard part at the moment, the end of a set of scenes that dragged me down for almost two months back in December and January. I’m cutting a lot of fumbling around as my characters try to figure out what to do.
I also cut a vast amount of words that amounted to a major secondary character telling me how much she hated the role she’d been placed in. I remember being surprised by her attitude when I wrote it, and upon getting to it in the revision… well, it’s dull. The end of the previous scene serves as a great place to end a ‘part 1′ of the story– it’s the end of the first act for the entire trilogy and almost exactly halfway through the novel– and this character’s scene represents an almost seamless flow between one scene and the next. But really, it’s dull. She goes places and talks to people she’s not very connected to, and feels sorry for herself. So, I cut it. I don’t think it accomplished anything. I may turn a previous scene from her PoV into one from the PoV of another character present, because it would be easy, and remove her PoV entirely from this novel. Her personal plot doesn’t really kick in until the second book, anyhow. I think there’s one more scene from her PoV, and it also consists of her observing more integral characters and brooding. I just can’t figure out what’s achieved by all the brooding. And it’s all off-script, too. It’s the result of me floundering for content, in sections I assigned…
Actually, that was apparently a bonus section I felt compelled to write that wasn’t even in the outline. So is the upcoming scene from her PoV. I wonder what I was thinking? Well, I’ve taken it into consideration that she hates her life, contrary to plan, but I think that this is also a lesson about letting characters have their head. Heck, I can’t even stay on topic in a blog post without some sort of guiding line.
I know I never even bothered to write another scene late in the novel that I DID assign, since it seemed to be entirely ’show this third character reacting to news of the other character’s actions’. It felt like if there was no movement in it, it could be cut. What I’ve had to do a couple of times, and boy is it hard, is invent movement to pair with exposition.
I’ve also had to do a lot of updating to keep a few minor characters in line with their personalities, and keep the dialogue and expectations in line with what I eventually decided was true. Since the role of the Blood changed somewhat from beginning to end, there’s a lot of that, and I actually had to cut the end of the scene that led into the PoV I cut entirely. It featured one of my favorite characters acting incredibly out of character, yelling at my protagonist. Had to fix that and it was no longer appropriate for him to be scolding her, in any case. I’m a little worried that I’m removing sources of tension and conflict, and I’ll regret it. I’m also worried about trimming sheer wordcount, since I don’t know how many words the new scenes I’ve outlined will amount to. Sometimes I’m afraid that my story being so short means I just don’t have what it takes. My hope is that the story will feel more focused and thus be stronger but it’s incredibly hard to see the forest for the trees right now.
On a more positive note, I studied some of my favorite author last night and decided to borrow his method of providing a break between scenes and doing worldbuilding. It’s flat exposition, but I’ve decided that flat exposition from a distant third person narrator is much better than close third person exposition of a character thinking about something. It makes stuff feel stronger and closer rather than filtered through a distinct PoV. In general I’m less and less in favor of characters thinking about things. Anyhow, I think this is the first time I’ve lifted a recognizable stylistic element. I’m kind of pleased, actually. Writing-types always say writing like other people is an early part of finding your own voice, and I’ve never been able to figure out HOW to write like other people. I’m also going to keep in mind what Jenna told me about my Writing Descriptions post down yonder.
I write in close third person by default, because it echoes my observations of other people. I’ve often got a running commentary inside about what I believe somebody else is thinking. And while this is interesting to me as it happens, it turns out it doesn’t really snag me when I’m reading it. I like dialogue, I like physical manifestations of emotions, I like conflict with somebody else, all a whole lot more than reading about the highs and lows of somebody’s emotional state (described as such, even: ‘Her frustration spiked but she took a deep breath and calmed herself down’).
I remember a discussion a year or more ago about writing in fanfic vs the standard ‘good writing sense’. Somebody was complaining that JK Rowling never added any close emotional observations to her dialogue attribution (see my example above but add ‘and said’), while her favorite fanfic writers did, and she’d grown to expect and enjoy those details; they added depth to the character-interaction-focused stories that she favored. Somehow romance novels came up, with the suggestion that they actually do utilize more of the close emotional observation. I wonder if that’s true.
Anyhow, this is long enough, and I hope to get another 70 pages (or more) editted today. I think the type-in is going to take a lot longer than the weekend+ I’ve got allocated to it. So the sooner I finish trudging among the trees, the better.
Categories: A Trilogy of Darkness and Glow, Citadel of the Sky, Structure Tutorial, Writing |
Tags: tfn, Writing | 1 Comment
June 7th, 2006
Wordpress just ate my post describing my amazement at the Left Behind franchise deciding to sell backlist volumes for $6.66 yesterday.
Articles I linked to:
http://www.westernrecorder.org/wr/wrsite.nsf/stories/200621-666
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060601/bs_usatoday/marketershope666willbetheirluckynumber
Learn about Left Behind from a Christian who thinks it’s crap: http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/left_behind/index.html (start at the bottom)
Categories: Updates From the Void |
Tags: Me | 1 Comment
June 7th, 2006
Yesterday, the new pedometer I ordered arrived. I buy a new one roughly every year, and stop using them when the clip breaks, or they stop registering properly, or the clicking drives me mad.
This one had good reviews at Amazon, the Omron HJ-112. It was more expensive but but still not expensive. The packaging it arrived in was normal, but inside I found the most comprehensible small electronics manual ever. It even had quality typography. They also included a small piece of metal as a screwdriver, to use to install the large battery, if you didn’t have a screwdriver on-hand. The device itself is awfully sturdy, and doesn’t need to clip onto my belt just to measure walking steps– I can carry it in my pocket.
I’m very pleased. No, seriously.
OMG, great manual!
Categories: Updates From the Void |
Tags: Me | No Comments
June 6th, 2006
by personally conveyed votes:
Eidolons and emanations (a write-in suggestion).
Categories: A Trilogy of Darkness and Glow, Citadel of the Sky, Structure Tutorial, Writing |
Tags: tfn, Writing | 2 Comments
