Nov
13

And Just Who *Are* My Characters, Anyway?

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Sort of a continuation of yesterday’s post, but without the smut. (Boo…) Anyway, so as I continue to NaNo along, I’ve definitely found ShadowWeaver to be picking up nicely. Although a few of the chapters start out a bit aimlessly, I now have a good idea of where I’m going. It’s different than I initially imagined it, but I’ve got the setup in place now and we’re starting to get into the action. MoonSong still continues to give me off and on fits. In some ways, I’m actually grateful for NaNo for this – it’s allowing me to try writing the same chapter from different PoVs without the added pressure of feeling like I need to produce it NOW. (Unlike ShadowWeaver, which is more established in my head, so I know what I’m putting down needs to count a bit more). However, some interesting things coming into play here with… Read more
Nov
12

Smut and the 1st PoV

Posted in craft, pov, smut, writing | 7 Comments
I had a slightly different topic of discussion yesterday that was lost by way of a few careless keystrokes, but I think this might be a little more interesting. It’s funny to me, because as I’ve mentioned before, I adore first person stories. Or maybe a better qualified statement is that I adore *good* first person stories. And as I’ve stated before, most of my favorite books are written in first, although certainly not all of them. We’ve had quite the discussion on the FF&P loops the last few days about it – what people like and don’t like, and I’ve seen a few impromptu polls go up on Facebook about it too. People seem to fall into three categories: 1) Either they loathe first person and refuse to read anything in it, regardless of author, storyline, etc or 2) People who don’t mind it at all. or 3) People… Read more
Oct
27

Minor Epiphany?

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And I do mean minor. Took my netbook to the David Garrett concert because 1) I’m a big ass nerd. 2) I was going to be alone there for at least 2 hours before the show started. 3) I’m a big ass nerd. Oh wait.  Right, well, so I skipped the bar scene and found a corner where I could set up and even though I couldn’t connect to the wi fi, I was able to get some things done…mainly look over the writing, do some light plotting, work on the pitch, whatever. Maybe it was the change of venue, or the general atmosphere – excited people, that sort of thing. Kinda swept me up a bit, and I realized that perhaps I’ve been writing in the wrong direction. I have a tendency to push past the point of sanity and put a lot of undue pressure on myself sometimes.… Read more
Oct
23

On the Edge of…Something.

Posted in craft, muse, nanowrimo, writing | 2 Comments
Mmmm…finally hit 10,000 words on Moonsong – but it’s been a slog. Should hit the same on ShadowWeaver shortly as well. Which doesn’t mean anything  – it’s just an arbitrary number, but I’d like them both past that point before NaNo starts. Sort of OCD of me, I guess, but there it is. And yet, when I’ve been writing the last few days, it feels like I’m skating the edge of where the real story is. (More on MoonSong than ShadowWeaver, truthfully). Like if I can just somehow get past this last little bit, the part that actually wants to be told will be sitting there, waiting for me. I wouldn’t call it a block, exactly. More like an expectancy of some sort. And to be honest, as wretched as some of the stuff that seems to come out when I’m writing is, I’ve discovered that it’s actually nowhere near… Read more
Oct
21

Team Effort

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It’s funny, but for all that writing is considered a solitary pursuit, the actual act of getting pubbed requires much more than a Team of One.  (At least for me).  I mean, sure – the writing belongs to me, the act of putting the words on the page, the sitting of my ass in the chair to actually do the work  – but there’s so much going on behind the scenes that it’s really unfair to claim all the glory for myself. (And I use the term glory *very* loosely – LOL – sometimes it’s nothing more than slamming my face into the keyboard.) But behind many writers is a coterie of people – the beta readers, for example, who are willing to run through your book again and again and again. This can be so important during editing, because after a while I know that I’ve looked at those… Read more