Sunday, November 20, 2011

Falling off that writing thing - easy as falling off a bike!

Hello Friends!!

I have been out - to lunch, breakfast, dinner,....hmm, no, more accurately, I have been out to Life. And, Life is a very nice place, both to be, and to come back to.
However, the Life thing seems to be getting used to doing a few things on it's own, so some writing time popped up on Friday! Yay! Yippee! Wahoo!!

And i grabbed that time with two hands, fired up the 'magic deCrapifier button', scoured the WIP, and wrote the next unwritten scene. I got so stinkin' proud of myself I even went and emailed it to the always gracious Claudia Lefeve (she, of all people, deserves to see that the concept of 'story' is finally sinking in!). I worked for about 40 minutes (goal was 30), wrote about 800 and deleted about 300 total.

One issue that I've been mulling over is plot-why's - as in, during a movie, you sometimes think that the protagonist could easily have saved themselves a whole mess of Trouble if they, you know, just, like, told somebody what was going on. I am specifically thinking of teen-centered horror. Since my MC is in fact a teenaged girl, I wanted to begin validating the information she does or does not share. And giving plausible reasons for her to hold things back.

Also, I wanted to start addressing that whole 'inserting facts that back up the premise of the story' thing. I have been working with the luxury of knowing how it ends, and not putting in a ton of 'how to get there', so I'm happily in that groove, which means I might even be starting to visualize the Finish Line (and then start the obsessing over re-writes part ;-)

So, that's what's been happening with the WIP. My daughter seemed to have shaken the pneumonia, but today she's a bit warm, and a seriously runny nose. Not a good sign. My son - who has really epic struggles with slowing down his 7 yr. old brain - had wonderful feedback from his teacher at parent conferences, and really strong grades to show him the payoff on his homework and classwork. Compared to his struggles last year, this is GOLD for him :-) I've done a bit of holiday baking, we are starting the holiday shopping, and I've been indulging myself aesthetically.

I've been re-watching "The Other Boleyn Girl" - mainly for the cinematography and costumes at this point, and "Black Swan" - mainly for the costumes and the relief of watching someone More obsessive than myself!! I've found some old musical favorites online - currently I am treating myself to All About Eve's "Scarlet and Other Stories". It's a wonderful wintery album - and other than a tune called "December" (a really lyrically/vocally pretty, if very 80's-sounding, song), I couldn't exactly tell you what is so wintery about it. We've the snowy weather inspiring me now - I am one of the few people who rave happily about the gorgeous scenery, chiefly because I Don't Have To Commute, I think.

I want to get back onto my busy day, but I think (despite school being out for my daughter, and Brief for my son) I might be back on the ROW-wagon. At least, I truly hope so!

Hopefully, the weather is kind to you, and you have a lovely week. If you are in the US, I will pray you are Not stressing about Thanksgiving. I'll be adding links here, to gorgeous up the blog, I think!

Be well, I am really happy you came by :-)

S.

Other Fabulous ROW-ers below! See what they are up to - this is a great way to meet another new author!



6 comments:

  1. Aww...and you know I'm always honored to read your stuff!!

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  2. good for your boy - its hard to learn to wait for results over time but yay for him - hope your girl recovers poor dab and well done you on grabbing your oppotunity to write

    I always think 'why dont you read the script you idiot dont you know its dark out there and theres a homicidal manic loose read the script!!!!!'

    all the best

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  3. You have a "magic deCrapifier button"? Are they available on Amazon? Seriously, all this time I've been deCrapifying by hand. ;)

    Best wishes for a speedy full recovery for your daughter, and congratulations on the GOLD for your son. :)

    Good luck with the back-up-the-premise thing. I know I have that hill to climb yet. lol

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  4. Why thank you Claudia! and I have Not forgotten that I get MY Claudia dose in December! Wheee!!

    Alberta, Nice to see you again! Actually, it's nice, in general, to remind myself how good I feel when I actually take part in the community! That foreknowledge thing - 'no, don't open THAT door!!!' is such a pesky bugger, so I really want to educate the MC at the same time as 'the reader' - less frustrating, don't you think? :-) Thanks for coming by, I know you are a Busy Busy Busy gal!

    Ms. Stewart, it's all about the deep breath, the - ok, yes, that does indeed suck warm sick through a straw - now say buhbye.... Thanks for the kind thoughts on the kids - not worrying about them frees up So much energy for....everything else! can't wait to check in on YOUR trip up that hill - have an excellent week!!

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  5. Hope daughter is feeling better and yay! for your son. Good for you, making sure your protag is doing things for the right and explainable reasons.

    "Decrapifier button!" Love. It. Glad you were phappy with what you wrote -- I try not to look over what I've written for fear my eyeballs will burst into flames. But that's just me.

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  6. Good Morning, Amy! I swear, there is probably a 'newbie's guide to writing stuff' that teaches you how to map all this stuff out, but in the meantime, I apparently believe in the 'make all your mistakes at once, rewind, repeat! method.

    Thanks for coming by and sharing a moment - this community is a godsend :-)And you can share the decrapifier anytime :-) Clearly, your eyes work just fine :-)

    take care, have a wonderful week!

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