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Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
In the American Civil War, many soldiers referred in their writing to “seeing the elephant” – going into battle. The idea comes from an old concept of experiencing the rare and exotic first hand, and of never really understanding a thing until one has experienced it. It’s a phrase that’s always held a certain appeal for me, and never more than now.
I’m off to see the elephant, you see.
At this year’s RWA Nationals, author Candace Havens presented a workshop on “Fast Drafting.” The object is to get the brilliant story you’ve locked away in your head out on paper before your brain has a chance to muck it up. It’s a grueling and arduous attempt, that makes NaNoWriMo seem an absolutely sane pace by comparison, but it also sounds like exactly what I need.
I’ve joined up with some other like minded authors, so we can support each other as we dive into this strange and crazy thing. And when it’s all said and done, we will surface together, accomplished, exhausted, and proud parents of a (admittedly mistake ridden) first draft. But it will be on the page, and sometimes that’s the hardest part.
I don’t know what it looks like, but I will definitely see the elephant before we’re done. And it’s as exhilarating and terrifying all at once as I would expect it to be. I look at my outlines and scene cards (I’m still a plotter after all). The dear C.A. Young has helped me hammer out the kinks (or at least smooth the rough spots) to get it as ready as I can be. So now all that’s left to do is take the plunge. And let me tell you, I can’t wait.
See you on the other side, Ray.
Tags: Fastdraft, my methods, Seeing the Elephant, writing
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Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
I have survived the craziest 4 days in writing once again. RWA’s National conference has come and gone, and scenic Times Square New York has made a hefty impression. I had a great time, filled with productive networking, incredible workshops, tear-filled speeches, and even a little time for sightseeing. The air of positivity, support and creativity seemed to lift us all up, which is good, because the elevators couldn’t be relied on to do that in any particular hurry.
The Gathering – the annual awards dinner for the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal genre chapter was once again a smashing success, and the PRISM awards were handed out to some incredible writers. Science Fiction Romance was well represented (and even got a pair of nods at the Rita Awards for Marcella Brunard’s great romp “Enemy Within”).
Speaking of SFR – this year’s keynote speaker was Sherrilyn Kenyon, and there weren’t many dry eyes in the room after she told her story of triumph and success despite what seems like insurmountable adversity. Her signature, on the inside cover of my Nook, will be a reminder of her inspiring story, and will definitely be a place for me to look when I think it’s “just too hard” to do this crazy carousel. By comparison, I can assure you that I haven’t even begun to see a rough road.
Dry eyes were also hard to find during the Rita and Golden Heart awards – RWA’s yearly awards for published works and unpublished manuscripts. Most of the recipients got teary eyed with joy, and we followed right along with them. Tales of unwavering support, loyalty, and love reminded us that no matter how much this feels like a solitary endeavor, none of us exists in a vacuum.
Old friends were met, and tales of the last year were swapped (because despite all the time spent writing, I and many others are simply rubbish at answering our e-mail). New friends were met, and friendships kindled over drinks, cheesecake, and more drinks. Workshops filled us with new ideas, and if other folks are like me, left with notes about current and upcoming manuscripts scribbled hurriedly in the margins around their notebooks. Critique groups formed, and so did plot brainstorming circles. Manuscripts were pitched (and some of those will probably be started in the coming weeks, no matter what their state was declared to be when pitched).
In other words, it was the best of times and I was sorry to see it end. Now the challenge will be to keep the magical feeling of that time alive in the weeks after the Big Show has ended. Fortunately, like everyone else I talked to, I came away with my creative batteries at full charge, eager to take on the world and pour myself into the writing at a fever pitch. I hope that everyone else who attended got as much out of it as I did.
Tags: Keeping up with Appearances, Nationals, New York, RWA, Samhain, SF Romance, writing
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Monday, April 4th, 2011
Oh how the time flies. Hockey is preparing to start its Second Season (the playoffs, which can carry us into June). All across America, bats are swinging and fantasy baseball owners are looking at their freshly drafted teams with a mix of hazy regret and wishful “this year”-ing (or maybe that’s just me)and I’m far enough along on my current Work-in-Progress that I’m already thinking about the next.
Actually, sometimes that happens pretty early. Not because I don’t love my WIP (I do – the Heroine is one of my favorites since Syna Davout), but because I am fighting issues with my magpie mind something terrible. It’s very much a case of “Ooh shiny!” and “Do this!” that can be a bit of rough trade to bring under control as I’m going. And of course that’s what I’m going to talk about today.
I love to knit (after all, practically a third of this blog is dedicated to my knitting), and a lot of times that’s all I need to do to still the magpie mind. It’s a form of meditation, and it doesn’t take more than 20-30 minutes before I’m focused and calm and ready to shift over from the day to my writing.
But that’s not good for everyone, and even for me it can be rough. That’s why I really like what Holly Lisle refers to as “Candy Bar Scenes” – those scenes you just can’t wait to write. I find that if I can tweak a scene, adding a conflict or an element I hadn’t thought about originally, it can often switch my mindset from “work” to “treat”. I get excited about writing the scene, and when that happens I know that some of my excitement gets transferred to the readers.
So that’s my method, for when the Magpie Mind wants to do something – anything else. If I’m not excited about the scene, I try to step back and decide why. I ask myself if it really needs to be in the story, or if I can move the plot along better by putting the important elements of the scene in another place and dropping the scene. I ask myself if there’s something I can add to up the stakes for the character. I work myself towards excitement, and excitement follows.
How about yourselves, dear (loyal, patient) readers? Any particular methods that you fall back on again and again to keep your mind on the right track?
Tags: Hearts and Minds, my methods, Stilling the Magpie, writing
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Monday, December 27th, 2010
2010 is almost in the history books, and with it the first decade of the 21st century. (Sadly, still no flying cars.) I’m still trying to figure out where the time has actually gone. It seems like February was just a few weeks ago, not most of a year. Little to do but go forward, though.
I’m taking a break from the normal format here at the blog to give a recap of things I’ve loved that came out in the past year. It’s been a great year for a lot of fields, and certainly there’re plenty of things to point out on the off-hand chance you haven’t managed to find them on your own. Today I’m going to talk about ParRom, Wednesday will be Gaming, and Friday will be whatever oher things happen to pop up in my mind (as befits a potpourri day).
Two great new series kicked off in 2010, and I am hard pressed to decide which I enjoy more. Stacia Kane’s Downsider series (Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic, City of Ghosts) are a gritty post-apocalyptic supernatural series that doesn’t flinch away from the ugliness of life on the low. Chess Putnam is an addict, and makes Sookie Stackhouse look like the queen of good decision making. She’s a great heroine, and her foil/partnering with the criminal enforcer Terrible makes for compulsive reading. Further, Kane has given us great world-building, where the truth about life-after-death has been laid bare, and the world’s religions have collapsed as a result. Great stuff and highly recommended.
Completely different and no less addictive is Zoe Archer’s Blades of the Rose books (Warrior, Scoundrel, Rebel, and Stranger, plus a novella in Half Past Dead) are tied together by their world and themes, rather than by a specific character. Part Adventure-Romance, part Paranormal-Pulp, and all phenomenal her series follows the members of a secret society dedicated to protecting the world’s sources of magic from those who would corrupt them. The books span the world, including stories in England, the Canadian Backwoods, and Outer Mongolia and Archer manages to capture the feel of her locations and make them another character in her stories. The romances in each are as different as the characters involved, and don’t feel tacked-on as sometimes happens with adventure romance. I’ve loved each one of these books, and cannot recommend them enough.
So there you go – two great new series that have kicked off this year, and exploded onto the scene. Go, find them, and if you haven’t done so yet, buy and read them.
Tags: Best of 2010, Blades of the Rose, Downsiders, writing
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Monday, December 20th, 2010
The long night of Winter Solstice is almost upon us, occurring for the first time in over 400 years in conjunction with a lunar eclipse. There’s a lot to be said for that sort thing. It just feels momentous. The majority of writers I know personally are a superstitious lot – with writing in favorite rooms, or with certain brands of pens, or after observing certain rituals. Over and over I’ve heard tell of the nightmares of trying to produce new words while Mercury is in retrograde, or how good or bad someone’s relationship with their muse might be.
One of the things I try to think about when I create a character is their little superstitions. Whether it’s a common “wives tale” in a fantasy setting, or simply a particular habit of an individual, it’s the little superstitions that make characters feel more rounded. It sometimes also makes them come off a bit eccentric, but that’s the point.
I’ve been working on a new story, with limited success (no doubt to the aforementioned Mercury in retrograde) but one of the things I’ve tried very hard to do is throw away some of my superstitious crutches. I write in other places than my office. I push myself out of my comfort zone, partly to remind myself that I don’t need those other things. Partly, I am reinforcing the belief in my mind that “A writer writes. No matter what.”
I encourage each of you to stretch yourself in some way, as the days stretch out once again. Write with joy and write with abandon. Most of all, just write.
Happy holidays, whatever your holiday of choice may be.
Tags: character, Holiday Havoc, my methods, Write with Joy, writing
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Monday, December 13th, 2010
I love cyberpunk, and near-future sci-fi of all stripes for that matter. I’ve been writing a bit of that, lately, and in so doing I began to think about how much the world has changed since William Gibson first coined the phrase cyberspace.
Time was, cyberpunk tended to confine itself to the pacific rim nations – Japan, California, and the ever-popular Seattle. With the exception of George Alec Effinger’s brilliant Marîd Audran series (set in the Middle East) cyberpunk showed a decidedly Western view of the way things were headed. It was the 90s, the dot-com bubble hadn’t burst and the future was heading towards us full throttle.
Now the Naughties, or the Nothings, or whatever we want to call the first decade of the 21st century are coming to a close, and the prospective for the world and the future is significantly different. America’s technological edge is waning, and other countries are nipping at our heels. It makes the cyberpunk of our past seem quaint and antiquated.
Cyberpunk is growing to meet this changing world, however. For example, Ian McDonald’s River of Gods – set in India on the hundredth anniversary of its statehood. In addition to showing a future of decidedly non-western bent, it does much with the changing sexual topography of the world and with increasing tensions between religions.
When working on my current story, I needed to come up with a setting that recognized both the changing current world and reasonable future. Rather than India, I’ve picked out the glittering jewels of the UAE. Overflowing with wealth and with a significant class dichotomy between the Emiratis and the migrant workers who live there – it is a playground for the glitterati and is easy to transform into what I hope makes for compelling and believable cyberpunk.
Tags: Cyberpunk, Sci-Fi Now, SF Romance, writing
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Monday, December 6th, 2010
So, it’s been a little secret around here of late, and something I’ve hinted at in a few of my posts but I’ve been having trouble writing lately. This isn’t a cry for help or pity, merely a statement of fact. I know who’s fault it is that I’ve not been writing, and while I don’t like it I can certainly justify it. There’s been a ton of upheaval in the house lately, including the death of someone dear to me, and the chaos has left me floundering for a way back into my writing.
But sorry-feeling time is over. Writers write, as the adage goes, and if I am still serious about writing (I am) then I need to be doing that very thing. This is why I give so much thanks for my spouse and my writing partners, because without them, it would be nigh impossible to climb back on the wagon once more. They are the gadfly and badger that keeps me bent over the keyboard and pushes me to keep going. I don’t believe in Writer’s Block, but I understand that sometimes it’s tough to make the monkey mind sit up and behave. Writing is work, and I’ve always considered it such. A necessary work, mind you, as without it all these stories build up in my brain until my head exploded. That would leave a mess, and regardless of the look of my office at the moment, messes are not conducive to well-being.
So this is my public promise / comment – I’m back on the wagon. I’ve been reviewing my manuscript, and I figured out how to patch the holes in it that have been vexing me. Soon, I’ll even be making forward progress again. I have ideas for a half-dozen stories clamoring for my attention in the back of my head, so hopefully 2011 will look a little shinier than the last half of 2010 did.
Tags: Getting on with it, Writer's Block, writing
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Monday, November 29th, 2010
I’m going to be predictable for a bit, and write a short set of thank yous, as appropriate for the season. I know, it’s sappy and sentimental, but I get like that from time to time (especially as the nights get long.) We’ll try not to let such things happen too often.
First, like everyone would expect, I am thankful for my family. Without the support of my spouse, and the unconditional love of my dogs (not to mention their skill at keeping my feet warm in the office), this would be a harder row to hoe than it already is. As part of the family, I would like to thank my local writing partner – he’s been a gadfly the last few weeks, exactly when I’ve needed him the most. I’ve been a bit slack in the face of unexpected upheavals and excessive craziness. While my long-distance fellows are wonderful, sometimes having a guy on your doorstep every week challenging me to sprints is a great motivator.
I’m also thankful to Samhain Publishing and my editor Sasha – they’ve done right by me in a serious way the past year. I am thrilled and flattered to be one of their authors, and couldn’t be happier with the work they’ve done on my behalf. As an aside, anthologies make great presents, and Impulse Power (which includes my novella Hearts and Minds) will be available December 7th! Buy early and buy often.
Promotional blurb aside, I am also thankful for my friends both writerly and non. You’ve always been there for me, even though I have stubbornly refused to lean on you as much as you have offered. You are dear to me as any kin. Thank you all. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that there’s never enough time to hug the people whom you care about, and if there’s a motto for me to live by in the coming year, it’ll be to keep all of my friends closer to me than I have.
I’ve got so much more to thank, and could list people who have made the past year easier on me and helped make me the person I am. Still, I promised I’d keep this short, and that’s what I intend to do. If I missed you, it’s my failing not yours. Let me unfairly lump you all together in a single “Thanks”
Tags: A little help from my friends, Holiday Havoc, Samhain, writing
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Monday, November 1st, 2010
It’s just after Halloween, actually it’s All Souls Day, which makes this post especially appropriate. As a person who writes for a living, normally words come easy to me (at least in print – like most writer’s I’m not always the best conversationalist). Even so, I recently had to struggle through the hardest set of words I’ve ever had to write.
I had the honor of being asked to write an obituary for a dear friend who had died suddenly and unexpectedly. Working through a person’s life in a page, giving an impression for those who have never met him or her is an art I’ve never practiced before, and I won’t lie and say it wasn’t a struggle. Where I can normally write 200 words without blinking, it took me the better part of a day to finish the obituary.
All the same, it gave me an enormous sense of closure to be able to put those words together – not that I don’t grieve, of course I do – but this simple act helped me to accept our loss as real, and to begin the long road towards healing.
Tags: things I hate, writing
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Monday, October 25th, 2010
Two Months? More? Let me check the dates… Looks like my last post was September 8th, so not quite two months. Close enough for horseshoes, certainly. When last I wrote, Hockey Season had not yet started, and now the Habs are off to a surprisingly good start (despite trading the greatest netminder in the game today to St. Louis, which I’ll never understand). So yeah, it’s been a while.
Suffice to say, I’m trying to make amends by getting some news posted, and by getting the blog back to regular posts once again. Since I’ve been lax in updating, I figure a post about writing posts is in order.
Bluntly, I’m not always sure what I should right about here. For me, writing isn’t some mystical process where characters talk to me or tell me how they want the story to proceed. My Outlines don’t change significantly from first draft to final (unless I reduce characters to make the story tighter, which happens frequently in the first rewrite). I sit down at the desk and I write. Words get added to words, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly, but the process itself doesn’t change much. Some nights it’s fiction, some (like tonight) it’s a blog post.
With blog posts, my biggest difficulty is coming up with topics. I don’t always know what people would like to read. In that respect, by all means, let me know what you’d like to see. I’ve got several posts planned now, but certainly if someone has a better idea I’ll be happy to go with that instead. Want more world-building? Just the day-to-day insight into my process? More waxing poetic on the nature of Romance in Science Fiction? Leave a comment, I’ll add it to my queue.
Tags: inspiration, my methods, writing
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