Worked on other projects today, then in the evening pulled up my dystopian WIP. Was too tired to get my brain into any of the grooves currently needed by the dystopian, so instead I wrote out the first chapter of this other book I want to work on after the dystopian is done.
The other ms is the very first book I ever started or finished, the first book I ever wrote. I began it back in, ahem, 1992. I learned to write on that thing. I rewrote the entire ms from scratch, over and over, off and on for years. Whenever I hoped it was good enough, or simply didn't know what else to do to it, I'd send it to an editor and would get back either a form rejection, or a brief but nice (and vague) personal note.
I do not know why I woke up this morning at some ungodly hour thinking how the opening chapter should go. But I did, so today I wrote it.
Showing posts with label historical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label historical. Show all posts
Sunday, January 25, 2009
No writing today. Maybe if I had been more organized and stricter with myself...but then, I guess it's possible I still could get some writing in, if I can get this other stuff done.
Today I caught some of the end of Unforgiven (the movie with Clint Eastwood), which--I think this is probably accurate--sparked my ability to write novels. I saw that movie when it came out (1992), and it opened the door as far as thinking, "Hey, now I understand what you need to write a whole novel, rather than short stories or picture books." The movie sparked a driving question, and characters soon followed, and suddenly I knew I had enough to work on and explore for many pages and a lengthy period of time. Before that it was always, "How could I ever write a book? What on earth can anybody write about for that long?"
That was the first book I ever wrote. Much rejected, never published--but I still feel there's something to it, and I am still determined to work it out. I have not seen Unforgiven since then, but seeing that bit today made me think I might be able to start to figure this out. What I have is characters and a situation, but not much of a problem--at least, not an interesting one with anything at stake. I think that if I look at the situation--which involves one of the adults in the story--and consider how it might parallel the MC's situation, bearing in mind working toward problems rather than playing with character--I might come up with a book that works.
Someday. Not today, though. I am feeling a bit discouraged because I was also thinking that it is likely to be a good long while before I have anything finished. Six months, a year. More. Both my WIPs are in early stages--both after years of work and multiple "finished" versions. I feel rather wheel-spin-ery today, very...oh, what's the guy rolling the boulder up the mountain. Sisyphus. That's it.
Today I caught some of the end of Unforgiven (the movie with Clint Eastwood), which--I think this is probably accurate--sparked my ability to write novels. I saw that movie when it came out (1992), and it opened the door as far as thinking, "Hey, now I understand what you need to write a whole novel, rather than short stories or picture books." The movie sparked a driving question, and characters soon followed, and suddenly I knew I had enough to work on and explore for many pages and a lengthy period of time. Before that it was always, "How could I ever write a book? What on earth can anybody write about for that long?"
That was the first book I ever wrote. Much rejected, never published--but I still feel there's something to it, and I am still determined to work it out. I have not seen Unforgiven since then, but seeing that bit today made me think I might be able to start to figure this out. What I have is characters and a situation, but not much of a problem--at least, not an interesting one with anything at stake. I think that if I look at the situation--which involves one of the adults in the story--and consider how it might parallel the MC's situation, bearing in mind working toward problems rather than playing with character--I might come up with a book that works.
Someday. Not today, though. I am feeling a bit discouraged because I was also thinking that it is likely to be a good long while before I have anything finished. Six months, a year. More. Both my WIPs are in early stages--both after years of work and multiple "finished" versions. I feel rather wheel-spin-ery today, very...oh, what's the guy rolling the boulder up the mountain. Sisyphus. That's it.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
I need to think about my girl character, because I strongly feel there was a turning point in her life, years before the story starts, that will help me define her. I know when the turning point was, and what caused it, but I don't know exactly what the point itself was--that is to say, how things changed for her.
This is the kind of thing I can sometimes figure out (if I'm lucky) while walking the dogs or mowing or driving kids to school (depending on how far, and how traffic is). But it's too stinkin' hot to walk dogs (over a hundred degrees every day, for a couple of weeks now), and it's too hot to mow long enough to really think that deeply, and school's out. I don't know how to think about stuff like this while I'm sitting still. I may try to, anyway--but it's like one of those cheap crackerjack-prize-type games where you have a little maze with a tiny ball in it, and the object is to tilt and maneuver to get the wee little ball to sit in a cutout hole. My brain is the tiny little ball, and I can't get it into the hole. It rolls everywhere all over the place and still won't land in the hole. It's frustrating.
Another thing is that, to me, there's a dichotomy between history and literature, when it comes to girl characters. In history, women are largely silent and we mostly hear about their lives through the writings of men. Women--and girls--from families of means and power (this is what's relevant in my WIP) had few options. It seems like MG and YA these days tend to give girl characters empowerment based on what we consider empowerment; they are role models for today's girls because they're spunky and sassy and--I cannot describe how this makes me cringe--they all learn to use a g.d. sword. * Swords which I'm thinking they seldom actually kill anybody with--but maybe they do, who knows. But I say, if that's the answer to female empowerment, just give 'em a gun and be done with it! Let's not wimp out; let's take the empowerment to its logical conclusion and show the girl blowing somebody's brains out.
Sword, schmord.**
But anyway, I'm more interested in the hard choices girls and women have had to make to survive or (occasionally) to prosper. I know the issue has to be simplified sometimes, to provide role models etc., but role models aren't my thing. Honestly, to me it looks like one of the primary means of control women had over their lives in the past was sex, by which they could sometimes manage men, to gain some measure of control, influence, or even power. G*d knows you can't put that in a MG or probably most YAs, and I don't really want to, at this point (in my GN, I definitely want to explore this in more depth--but that's on the back burner for now). At any rate, it seems to me that women usually only gained power if the men allowed them to have it, or if there was some kind of vacuum where a guy didn't step up to the plate and the girl stepped boldly in. Females had to take advantage of men's failings, to come into their own potential. And even then they were likely to be excoriated for it, either when other men came in to take over again, or by popular opinion, or by the tales passed down about them.
So it feels horrendously wrong for me to deliberately try to do the spunky-sassy thing. If it happens to come off that way, fine, but if I catch myself doing it, it will bring me to an utter, self-loathing halt. On the other hand, I don't think there's much tension or interest in a character who only has tiny changes in her arc because her life is so constricted.
Don't know. Must think. Hope I come up with something, although my own writing history says the outlook for doing so is dim.
* Must note inconsistency: some of my favorite, best-loved books have girls using swords, like Sherwood Smith's Duel books and Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint. I have no idea why I adore certain books and it doesn't bother me that the girls use swords in them. Maybe if I think about it, I could figure it out, but I really need to be digging in on my WIP today, getting my hands dirty, not cheerily skipping through my writing day forming theories about something somebody else has already written.
**Another inconsistency: I fully intend to give my girl MC a sword and let her learn to use it, in book 2, if that ever comes to pass.
(Consistency is for the timid, IMO. Embrace your inconsistency, flaunt it, I say!)
This is the kind of thing I can sometimes figure out (if I'm lucky) while walking the dogs or mowing or driving kids to school (depending on how far, and how traffic is). But it's too stinkin' hot to walk dogs (over a hundred degrees every day, for a couple of weeks now), and it's too hot to mow long enough to really think that deeply, and school's out. I don't know how to think about stuff like this while I'm sitting still. I may try to, anyway--but it's like one of those cheap crackerjack-prize-type games where you have a little maze with a tiny ball in it, and the object is to tilt and maneuver to get the wee little ball to sit in a cutout hole. My brain is the tiny little ball, and I can't get it into the hole. It rolls everywhere all over the place and still won't land in the hole. It's frustrating.
Another thing is that, to me, there's a dichotomy between history and literature, when it comes to girl characters. In history, women are largely silent and we mostly hear about their lives through the writings of men. Women--and girls--from families of means and power (this is what's relevant in my WIP) had few options. It seems like MG and YA these days tend to give girl characters empowerment based on what we consider empowerment; they are role models for today's girls because they're spunky and sassy and--I cannot describe how this makes me cringe--they all learn to use a g.d. sword. * Swords which I'm thinking they seldom actually kill anybody with--but maybe they do, who knows. But I say, if that's the answer to female empowerment, just give 'em a gun and be done with it! Let's not wimp out; let's take the empowerment to its logical conclusion and show the girl blowing somebody's brains out.
Sword, schmord.**
But anyway, I'm more interested in the hard choices girls and women have had to make to survive or (occasionally) to prosper. I know the issue has to be simplified sometimes, to provide role models etc., but role models aren't my thing. Honestly, to me it looks like one of the primary means of control women had over their lives in the past was sex, by which they could sometimes manage men, to gain some measure of control, influence, or even power. G*d knows you can't put that in a MG or probably most YAs, and I don't really want to, at this point (in my GN, I definitely want to explore this in more depth--but that's on the back burner for now). At any rate, it seems to me that women usually only gained power if the men allowed them to have it, or if there was some kind of vacuum where a guy didn't step up to the plate and the girl stepped boldly in. Females had to take advantage of men's failings, to come into their own potential. And even then they were likely to be excoriated for it, either when other men came in to take over again, or by popular opinion, or by the tales passed down about them.
So it feels horrendously wrong for me to deliberately try to do the spunky-sassy thing. If it happens to come off that way, fine, but if I catch myself doing it, it will bring me to an utter, self-loathing halt. On the other hand, I don't think there's much tension or interest in a character who only has tiny changes in her arc because her life is so constricted.
Don't know. Must think. Hope I come up with something, although my own writing history says the outlook for doing so is dim.
* Must note inconsistency: some of my favorite, best-loved books have girls using swords, like Sherwood Smith's Duel books and Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint. I have no idea why I adore certain books and it doesn't bother me that the girls use swords in them. Maybe if I think about it, I could figure it out, but I really need to be digging in on my WIP today, getting my hands dirty, not cheerily skipping through my writing day forming theories about something somebody else has already written.
**Another inconsistency: I fully intend to give my girl MC a sword and let her learn to use it, in book 2, if that ever comes to pass.
(Consistency is for the timid, IMO. Embrace your inconsistency, flaunt it, I say!)
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Back from Anaheim. Several people are looking at the swordfighting ms now, so I will take a break from it. I need one anyway.
The question is, what next? I have multiple projects going, so the choices are:
1. graphic novel script, first draft completed. This is a completely new format for me, and I have no artistic background, so I hesitate to move forward without at least some idea of what I need to do. There's no point in poking at it helplessly with a stick. A writer friend offered to look at it, so I'll send to her; maybe we can discuss it at some point and see if anything strikes her strongly about it.
2. midgrade semi-historical I started a billion years ago. I think I finally found the right voice and pov character for this, but I'm about midgraded out right now, after so much intensive work on the swordfighting ms.
3. sequel to swordfighting book. See above. Plus, what's the point? If I start it and then can't sell the first book anyhow, my heart with be doubly and triply broken. Why punish myself if I'm not driven to write this ms right now, above all else?
4. sequel to Night Road. This is what I'm leaning toward, maybe because I ended up talking about NR so much at ALA, and also because I'm ready for some darkness and angst for a change. I have some scenes already sketched out--in fact, I have an entire ms for the book. It's just all with the wrong MC. I know who the MC is now, and what he lacks and fears. I have an antagonist I really like, in a twisted way; I've never actually had a real antagonist before, one that I had no sympathy for. I understand him, but I have no sympathy for him. I don't know if that's good or not. It might not be; it might make him cardboardy. But no point in fretting about that right now--it's just something to keep in mind.
My main worry about the NR sequel is whether (in my head) I've pulled away from NR enough moodwise and characterwise to do right by a completely different story. Also, I can feel echoes of the MC from Repossessed in what I'm thinking about this new MC, and I don't think that's a good sign. This new guy has got to be his own person. But maybe if I take what I already have and start reworking it from his pov, and write this one brand new scene that I know is his alone--which I have been excited about for some time, even though it's not a big deal of a scene--I can start to get a stronger bead on what I'm doing.
One thing I must get straight in my head is how this guy (he's a heme) deals with omnis. Up till now, he's been confused with Cole in my mind. I've got to get him out on his own.
The question is, what next? I have multiple projects going, so the choices are:
1. graphic novel script, first draft completed. This is a completely new format for me, and I have no artistic background, so I hesitate to move forward without at least some idea of what I need to do. There's no point in poking at it helplessly with a stick. A writer friend offered to look at it, so I'll send to her; maybe we can discuss it at some point and see if anything strikes her strongly about it.
2. midgrade semi-historical I started a billion years ago. I think I finally found the right voice and pov character for this, but I'm about midgraded out right now, after so much intensive work on the swordfighting ms.
3. sequel to swordfighting book. See above. Plus, what's the point? If I start it and then can't sell the first book anyhow, my heart with be doubly and triply broken. Why punish myself if I'm not driven to write this ms right now, above all else?
4. sequel to Night Road. This is what I'm leaning toward, maybe because I ended up talking about NR so much at ALA, and also because I'm ready for some darkness and angst for a change. I have some scenes already sketched out--in fact, I have an entire ms for the book. It's just all with the wrong MC. I know who the MC is now, and what he lacks and fears. I have an antagonist I really like, in a twisted way; I've never actually had a real antagonist before, one that I had no sympathy for. I understand him, but I have no sympathy for him. I don't know if that's good or not. It might not be; it might make him cardboardy. But no point in fretting about that right now--it's just something to keep in mind.
My main worry about the NR sequel is whether (in my head) I've pulled away from NR enough moodwise and characterwise to do right by a completely different story. Also, I can feel echoes of the MC from Repossessed in what I'm thinking about this new MC, and I don't think that's a good sign. This new guy has got to be his own person. But maybe if I take what I already have and start reworking it from his pov, and write this one brand new scene that I know is his alone--which I have been excited about for some time, even though it's not a big deal of a scene--I can start to get a stronger bead on what I'm doing.
One thing I must get straight in my head is how this guy (he's a heme) deals with omnis. Up till now, he's been confused with Cole in my mind. I've got to get him out on his own.
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