Stew, Bread, Pizza, Portishead

Hello there friends! And strangers. And anyone else who might be reading this.

After a few months of pure insanity, I've been working on getting life back on track, and lemme tell ya...so far, so good.

As far as writing goes, can I just say that I'm so in love with OpenOffice? Seriously, I'm having a major love affair with it. The fact that it's COMPLETELY FREE also makes me smile. Just a little bit. :)

I've been working on transferring all my hand-written pages, from the week my computer crapped out, onto OO, and in the process, getting back into the groove. The story's been marinating, and I'm almost ready to reach back into the stew and pull out some more awesomeness. A big meaty piece of fantasticness. And now I'm hungry again! (big surprise right?)

I've been on an epic journey of music collection as well, and at this exact moment, I'm listening to Sea Wolf. I love playing their music while I write, and when I clean, and when I drive, and...well, you get the point. Also Sia, girl has one of those haunting sopranos that isn't obnoxious at all, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The Drums, Hurricane Bells, and of course, Portishead. Writing and music are like bread and butter to me; like ham and cheese, or pizza and beer, or....dang it! Always with the food/drink comparisons!!!

Shouldn't Have Left You (without a dope beat to step to)

Pardon my title, for some reason that line from the Aaliyah song is what I thought of, so I used it.

I'M SORRY!!! It's been an entire week since I posted, but there's a reason. A few reasons, actually, and both of them good.

#1. Twilight. Yep, that's it. It premiered this week/weekend, and the internet has been overwhelmed with interviews, pictures, and various random things concerning Kristen Stewart, who I just adore because she's kinda bitchy, and really smart; Rob, who I could just listen to allllllll dayyyyyy loooooooong!! I'm so obsessed with all things Brit, it's really ridiculous. And Nikki Reed is just so beautiful I am forced to search out flaws, which simply aren't there. She really is just gorgeous, naturally. (ugh.)

#2. New Story!!! Yes, that's right! I was sitting on the front porch, freeeeeeezing to death, and looking at the stars, finding my favorite constellations. I've always loved them, their stories, so I always look for them. Orion has always been my favorite. So, I was sitting there, looking for Orion, when a new plot line pretty much punched me in the face. It came from no where, and I love it, and I'm going to start a little outline and see what happens. But I'm pretty excited about it, so I've got that going for me, which is good. (I adore Caddyshack, sorry for the references I always make.)

I'm still continuing with my original story, but I haven't written a whole lot out this past week. I've spent more time just thinking about it, where it's leading, and a few details that are mucho importante, which I can't seem to make work the way I want. I've got no more time now, but I'll be back later with more details.

Until then...!

No Sooner Said Than Done

Precisely the reason I keep this blog. I'm getting ahead of myself again. So let me clarify.

Yesterday, less than an hour after I'd published the last post, which I'll refer to here as Doom & Gloom, I sat down, and wrote for the next two hours. Sweetness doesn't begin to cover it.

And not only did I write but I got through something I'd been putting off. A beginning. Not quite The Beginning, at least I don't think so right now, but a very important one nonetheless. And I do not like writing beginnings I do not like them Sam-I-Am, I will not eat green eggs and ham! It's so much easier for me to write the parts I love, the parts I see in my head like a movie scene. Of course, those scene's are the highlights of the story, big deal things. And while they're the meat, they need some bread on either end to make a nice fulfilled sandwich.

(Can you tell how much I seriously love food? To quote Woody Allen, I lurve food; I luff it.)

And I wrote one, almost completed it actually, before I had to save my youngest from the world's tightest hug from my oldest. He really loves her, a lot.

Back to it though, the reason I felt like I had the ability to write is because I talked myself into, I inspired myself into it, by writing the last entry. Which is pretty cool to me that I can release pressure into one outlet, freeing up space for another outlet to fill. I'm not sure if that makes sense to anyone but me, but that's how I say it in my head so I'm not changing it here. I've noticed that if I go back and try to change what I've written into something easier for someone outside of my head to understand, through each draft something of my original intention is lost. Which defeats the purpose to me.

On top of the world again, I guess, for now. Haha, well, not quite that much, but I am feeling pretty good. It gets easier each time I write to get back into my characters heads, and their world, which makes it easier to write, which makes it easier to get back into them, which....see where I'm going with this?

I had "Dance Hour" with my kids this morning, so hopefully they'll be tired enough to take a nap together and I can get some more writing in. God knows it tired me out enough for a nap.

Au revoir for now =)

PS-I'm in the process of editing my playlist slightly, adding some, removing others. Don't everyone run there at once.

Music To Write By

So I put up part of the playlist I listen to when I'm writing, or trying to write at least. These songs are either inspiring to me, or remind me of a character, or a plot line. I mixed up the order I play them in, and I set it on automatic shuffle as well, because I didn't want to give anything away yet. Eventually I'll come off more detailed details, but right now I'm at the earliest beginning. Like baking a cake, sort of, I don't want to ask people to taste the eggs for me, I have to at least mix all the ingredients up into that delicious cake batter we all love to sneak before the cake is done. ;)

I do have to ask that you listen to at least one song specifically-L'apres Midi- by Yann Tiersen. I just love that song, it has stories just flying out of it.

11/29/08 edit-all the songs on the playlist now are amazing, Iron and Wine being a huge influence right now

Also, if you notice song there more than once, it's supposed to be. ;) That means it's important, and I listen to it repeatedly.

Enjoy, and feel free to share your music, I always love new tunes and new inspirations!

Ecstacy by Maxfield Parrish

Marshmallows DO NOT Mellow Me!

I forgot to mention in my last post that, in my frenzied day of writing, I devoured approximately 456 of those mini marshmallows. Thankfully, I ran out before I could make myself sick off them, but I was definitely up late with all that sugar rushing through my blood! But I did get some pretty sweet (bad pun intended) stuff down so....

Today I sat down to edit again, ugh, I really don't like to go back and re-read what I've written but-(drum roll pleeeeease...)

I ACTUALLY DID!

Haha, yes, I actually edited the first half of a chapter, and in doing do I had a few ideas about how to continue. Which is great, obviously. Hopefully this will teach me that editing is not the worst thing in the world to do. Hopefully. Although I do have to agree with Ms. Meyer when she says, "I am most creative when I'm procrastinating."

I also found some amazing pictures for my Conservatory scene. I always look for pictures to help me get inspired, whether it's for character or places. And while I'm not (of course) going to tell you what exactly the Conservatory scene is, I had to share what it looks like, because it is BEAUTIFUL! It's the Horniman Conservatory in London, which I desperately hope to one day see in person. I think this could inspire anyone to write! See for yourself...


Also in my thoughts today....

I love the way Robert Jordan doesn't have any minor characters. I mean, if the man mentioned a name, you can almost guarantee that they will be back later in the story, possibly in a huge way. While I don't think that I could maintain anything like the epic saga he created, it is interesting to me, as a writer, to see his techniques, and his amazing skill in creating a totally believable world. He has about a hundred characters, tons of different cultures, times, and places, and every single one is so full of detail and personality that you have no difficulty in seeing it in his mind. I only hope that reading his work while writing mine will make some of that insight rub off!

And in a small aside, my spellchecker told me that when I misspelled "guarantee" above, it was corrected as Garfunkel. Hmmm...

I've also got an amazing playlist of songs I listen to when I write, either for background noise, or because it fits a character or a story line, so I'm going to (eventually) get around to putting that on here so you guys can hear what I hear. I'm sure you'll be dying of anticipation now, and wondering what they mean! (there was some pretty heavy sarcasm there)

Time to feed the little monsters, and hopefully continue editing after they go to sleep.

Wish me Luck!

Love Scenes Make Me Happy =)

I spent most of yesterday being upset that I couldn't write. It just wasn't happening. And my horoscope yesterday specifically said it was a good day to be artistic, especially with writing! Haha, not that I live and die by my horoscopes, but lately there's been quite a few about writing, and taking the opportunities available, so I think that's a good sign in general.

But yesterday, nothing worked out like I wanted it to. Imagine that, two kids and a messy house, and not having time for anything...who knew? =)

Once the kids finally went to sleep, I was waiting for Ryan to come home, and surfing the internet, not really with any purpose; I was debating on whether or not to try to get some stuff down. But I wasn't really in the right frame of mind, so I figured I would just try to edit some of the other stuff I'd already written.

Once again, those crazy characters grabbed my by surprise and wouldn't let me go. I spent two hours (!) writing a scene I'd been putting off, because it is so important, and I really wanted it to be perfect. I've really been procrastinating it because I didn't want to mess it up, and I wasn't sure exactly how to put what I was seeing and feeling into words.

And can I just mention that was the fastest two hours EVER! I couldn't believe it was almost midnight when I stopped. I love writing!!

But it turns out I didn't have to do anything. They told me exactly what would happen, I just had to keep up. And I'm pretty happy with what I've got so far. I haven't re-read it yet, maybe while the kids nap I can, but while I was writing, it was just laying itself out so well, I kind of felt dumb for waiting to try it.

The scene is pretty vital to my main characters, a turning point in the whole story, and the beginning of a serious conflict with one of my not-quite-main characters, which is going to be fun to get into.

So I think I've got most of that chapter down, and the way it ended it perfectly set up for the next chapter to start. I think I'm going to do that one next, just because I can see it in my head pretty well, which is a good sign. It's going to be from another character's POV I think, because I really got into her head last night...or she got into mine. She's my scheming female anti-hero of sorts, and her head is so full of twisted plots and connivances, I'm excited to see what kind of trouble she's going to cause. And believe you me, she is a trouble maker!

Yay, I'm so happy and excited still, I just wish there were a way for me to have two whole hours to myself everyday, in a room by myself, with my music playing....

Speaking of music, I've started a playlist of songs I'm listening to while I write, I might stick that up here sometime so you can hear it too, if you're interested. =)

That's all for now, it's time to go clean the house I left to the elements (kids) yesterday. Cross your fingers for me to get more down tonight!