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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Somebody Give the Woman a Shrine Already

It's been a few days since I've written anything...here that is. The reason being, I've been writing a lot on my story! (Yay!)

My characters are really people now in my head, they tell me what they would do in the situations I put them in, I hear songs on the radio and they tell me what they think of them. I know I sound like a crazy person, hearing voices in my head, and fictional character's voices at that. But it's the way it works for me. My characters become real, and tell me their story, and I just have to write it down and not screw it up, haha.

I've decided to take a page out of Stephenie Meyer's book, so to speak. Most of you know that she is the reason I've finally "picked up the pen", and started writing. I often refer to her as my "Inspirational Dream Chasing Guru". I'm not going to go further into that here, because I've already written quite a bit about it on my Twilight blog. If you're interested in reading it, click here.

On her website, Stephenie said that she wrote the scenes she liked the most first, and then went back and strung all the scenes together. Um, can you say GENIUS?! Why have I never thought of that? I've tried to sit through writing the things that have to be there, the boring back stories, the important facts, to get to the good stuff. And 9 times out of 10, I'd get to bored, or lose inspiration, and never even get to the good scene!

Not this time though, not since Stephenie gave me such awesome advice. I'm writing my favorite scene at the moment, and let me tell you....it's good. I sat down and didn't even think about what was supposed to happen next, I just wrote it as fast as I could to keep up with what I was seeing in my head. Of course, having two kids, a husband, and various responsibilities, I didn't get too far into it before I had to stop to make lunch, then stop again to help my mother mutilate a bookshelf, (that was pretty funny actually), and then get groceries.

I was pretty worried that if I stopped writing before I got it all down, I would lose something vital, or I wouldn't be able to start writing the way I was. What if I forgot something? This was my favorite scene, vital to my story, what if I couldn't write it?

Baseless fears it turns out. I picked up right where I left off, reading the last few lines I'd written, and the I was off and running again. Running so fast, in fact, I was just barely keeping from falling flat on my face. A pretty heady feeling, and very exciting.

So things are going pretty good and I hope they continue along this path! Now I have to go write since I've noticed my kids are entertaining each other...which will probably last all of 30 more seconds...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Character Study

I got one whole solid hour today to write!! Yay!! That might not sound like a lot to most of you, but the chances of both of my children being asleep for an overlapping hour is like finding hidden money or getting a Christmas gift you didn't think you were actually going to get.

I actually sat down with the intention of actual writing. Like starting a chapter, laying out a full scene, etc. But once I started going through all my notes, I kept adding in little notations and blurbs next to my character descriptions. I got so into thinking about what this character would do in this circumstance, and why this one acts this way, that I decided to run with it and wait to start the actual story itself.

(Is part of that procrastination? Of course; I am who I am. And it's still pretty scary to me, this whole "writing a novel" thing. But I'm more excited than scared, so no worries that procrastination will be taking over permanently.)

Once I quit pretending like I was just jotting down little notes, I really got into my characters. I just have such a clear view on them, I know them already! I know what kind of music they like (or don't), and their pasts, and what they look like. I know that one of them would eat pancakes every day if she didn't have to cook them, and that one runs 3 miles everyday.

Of course, it's impossible for me to get all this information that my characters are telling me and not get at least some of the story behind it. So then I start making those little side blurbs again, and wondering if I should start Chapter 1 with this or that...

Alas, I was prevented from getting into anything really juicy at that moment, because baby #1 woke up, and baby #2 wasn't far behind.

I have to admit, I'm surprised every time I start up again, every time I look at my characters and read what I've got, that I'm still interested. That there is still so much in my head to get out. I think that's what is giving me faith this time to keep writing. Because I can keep writing; in fact, I can't keep up with how much there is in there! It's like a dam was knocked down, and the flood is still there, just waiting for me to stick my toe in. And as soon as I stick my toe in, there's more floodwater. Doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's how I see it.

In an aside, I read a poem today that I love, and I wanted to share it with yous guys. =) I'm sure you were forced to read it in school, but some things get better over time, with new perspectives.

Birches

by Robert Frost.

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.
Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-coloured
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground,
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm,
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows--
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father's trees
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate wilfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Slacking

So I haven't written today, and I don't think I'm going to. I went out last night, and that's always a double edged sword. On the one hand, I get to hang out with my friends, have a few drinks and dance, which I adore. On the other hand, I got four hours of sleep, and I'm always sooooo tired the next day.

Hangover=No writing...

That's enough to make me think twice about going out. Of course, my sanity is directly dependent on my time away from my kids, so maybe I'll just consider those "days after" as a day off. That sounds about right, normal people don't work seven days a week anyways...pretty funny though, that I'm considering myself as a "normal person" for that purpose alone.

On another note, I'm still excited about writing. I'm already in love with my character, and I hear conversations they have in my head. Things are definitely progressing in a great way so far. Tomorrow I'll start writing again, and I'm looking forward to that! I can't wait to see one scene particularly, between my unwilling hero and my leading lady...and another one between my unwilling hero and wanna-be leading lady...

Hmmmm....

Maybe I will write a little something today. =)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

HOLY COW!!!

2299.



What is that number you ask?

Why, that's the number of words I just typed out into a very rough outline of my story.


HOLY COW!!!


And I know it's 2299 because I used a counter ;)

So I put the kids down for a nap, and decided to type out what I had written so far. I always write everything by hand first. It feels natural to me to physically write, since that's how I started all those years ago. The act of writing is very important to my thinking process.

So I started typing some of my ideas and then it just took off. I had so many ideas pouring out, and for every one I got out, three more grew off of it. I basically changed the plot, for the better, with the same characters, (who I already love by the way...)

And the story just keeps growing. I'm really super excited right now, and scared to death, and loving it!!

Now I have to go back and try to make sense of it, and put it together, and flesh out some details...but it's there! The backbone of my story is there, and I'M THRILLED!!!

(Can you tell I'm still riding on the high of writing? Yeah, I thought so.)

I have to stop for now, since I'm trying to nurse my daughter and type simultaneously, which is hard enough to do here, much less to do at the frenzied pace I type when it's flowing...which reminds me I have to go interpret half of the words I used, I never go back when I'm feeling it so there are A LOT of misspellings and half words I just used for reference points.

Also, I have to come up with names for my two main characters. I want to get them right because they mean a lot to me, and right now I just refer to them as "him" and "her"...also need to come up with a name for one of the other characters, a girl who is catty and irritating and is definitely going to cause some serious trouble...and I really like her too, for some reason. =)

Okay guys, this has been a great day. To quote Miss Piggy, "yippee skippee!". I might not be back for a few days since tomorrow is Football Sunday...which means I'll have to give the computer over to my husband for Fantasy Football purposes...

but I'll try to sneak back anyways ;)

So Far, So...Good?

So I've been kind of hesitant with my writing, basically out of fear of coming up against a wall. But miraculously, I haven't hit it yet. (Yay!)

I know I will eventually, it's just a part of writing, but I'm really not looking forward to that part at all. Oh well, I need to just enjoy the good stuff while it lasts.

So I've got a few scribbled pages that I'm really pretty happy with so far; just a basic outline mostly, and some character descriptions. But I've also started adding in some plot conflict, and some secondary characters. This is actually pretty sweet, because along with the secondary characters comes plot conflict anyways....it's like finding a twenty in the pocket of a pair of jeans you haven't worn in a long time. When you're flat broke and really need to buy the new VMAN mag because it's got the best pictures ever of my current favorite cast....(sorry, little sidetrack into my obsession...or should I say Robsession?)

Anyways, things are going pretty good, like I said, and keep those fingers crossed that things continue to do so.

Oh, did I mention that I think this is going to be a slightly sci-fi/fiction story? Fun fun!!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Thought

I love the sign for "story" in sign language.

It's like you're pulling something out of thin air.

Perfect.

A Little More Beginning

I'm getting a little bit more excited, although still petrified. I've got two totally separate ideas down on paper, with a little detail added in. I think I like the second one better, just because the first feels a little too close to home. A whole "what if?" line of thought....which can be great fodder for inspiration, but seriously....who wants to live in the "what if?" and try to still be happy in their own world. I may come back to that one later, but for now, it just feels...too shallow. What I mean is, it is so deep for me, there's so much to it, that putting it down on paper right now doesn't feel like it could capature the exact essence that it should. Because it's a pretty big deal, to me at least. So for the second idea....

I've actually been tossing it around in my head for a few days, and I keep coming back to it. Something about it seems to work, and so far, I've got enough to go on, to keep filling in details. I'm hoping this is a good sign....this is the first time I've actually sat down and thought about a serious book idea, and tried to put it all out there, so I have no idea of what I'm doing. Haha, that's okay, I'm pretty good at pretending I know what I'm what I'm doing until I really do....or I'm so lost that it doesn't matter anymore, hahaha.

So...my heart is beatingthisfastasecond right now, in the afterglow of my little writing frenzy...or maybe "middleglow" is more appropriate. I might have a few more details in my head to put down now...

Or, I can wait till later since my daughter is determinedly saying mamamamamama in between my legs while I try to type this....(*sigh*)

I love my kids =)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A Beginning

So I started writing last night, after my day of inspirational-Stephenie-interview reading. I'm pretty sure I've got the backbone of my story, which is pretty exciting. So I guess I'm going to try and flesh it out and see what happens. I'm unsure of anything past this point, since it's all new ground for me, but I'll say this: It felt amazing to be scribbling out pages of words in a flurry of thoughts last night. It felt incredible to see a story taking shape under my hands.

I think I can really do this. I AM doing this. My fingers are crossed, I hope yours are too!