Writing: An Oroborous Tradition

After reading Stephanie Vanderslice's post on boy's literacy, I thought I'd add my thoughts. One of the themes I found the examples she gave was adventure stories. This is probably how most people come up in the literary tradition: pulps, comics, magazines, ten-cent westerns. When we're young our parents grab the cheapest, safest books that are close at hand. My progression was as follows: Laura Ingalls, Louis L'Amour, J.R.R. Tolkien, William Golding, Joseph Conrad, Cormac McCarthy. Slowly, I climbed toward more complex storytelling, character development and themes.

We all have horror stories of early English teachers who took away our story notebooks because it wasn't the assignment or who commented on the lack of substance in our reading preferences. Every form of art or creative endeavor makes this cycle, though, from genre to genre. Everything moves through cycles of epic, pastoral, romantic and so on. I use the word cycle because I don't believe that people evolve in a linear fashion. We're like Oroborous in that we come back to the beginning, time after time. We find what is useful in our literary tradition and create our own voice.

In my own work, I developed my own voice by studying the deeply personal characters from Laura Ingalls, plot from Tolkien, setting from Conrad, moral themes from Golding and beautiful language from McCarthy. The Epic is no more valuable to us culturally than the Romance. Each has a place and each offers us a tradition for our own writing.

Holding the Line.
Bri

On Hideously Rude People and Adorable Diagrams!!

I'm glad everyone loved the photos! I use a Fujifilm FinePix S700 (10x zoom and 7.1 megapx), for those of you who wanted to know. For those pictures of Robespierre, I used natural light and a macro setting on the camera. That's right: I was horribly brave. To get that sort of shot, I got about two centimeters away from him, careful that the wind did not blow him into my face. Now that I think about it, I sort of shiver.

Also, I'll post about all my classes tomorrow once I'm done! :D

Bri Meets Two People With No Manners and a Mean Streak

Today was the most outrageously rude day I think I may remember. When I went to my science fiction writing class this morning, all ready for a great day of creativity, two people were standing outside of the Writing Center. I realized fairly quickly that they were discussing the Center and how "blanking useless" they thought it was. Of course, my first thought was sophomoric. Nuh-uh, your mom is useless. But instead, this was the conversation:

Dude: "Yah, and you know the Writing Center is so f-ing useless."
Girl: "Yah, I agree. The people who work there are so-"
Me: "Excuse me? Yes, um...pardon...but I work there, by the way."
Girl: [sneering] "Yah? Well, it's f-ing useless."
Dude: "Absolutely."
Me: [O.o]

I know. I was amazed that someone could be so monstrously rude and horribly ugly. The tutors at the Writing Center are paid at or less than minimum wage and students bring in papers that need catastrophic amounts of corrections or direction. I make sure that the students I work with leave, happy. And most of them request me for future sessions - CONSTANTLY. Needless to say, I was offended. All through class, those two ignored the rest of us and made friendly with the professor.

The line to the Caff (the pit of hell where we eat :D) was out in the street, so I went to the C-Store . But they had no soda or sandwiches (I guess it wasn't lunch time at the C-Store). So I came to my room and had turkey, grapes and cheese - but no bread. We're out. All of fifteen of us on my hall are out. But, enough about the day! Look below for an adorable diagram!

A Cute Diagram for Explaining My Story

As far as Sweating with Sven goes, I'm coming up on the last scenes of Act II, so I have made it through the Wastelands of the Middle. While I know how the end comes, I'm a little nervous.

The thing is, I view a story like a series of flooded hallways. Weird, I know. This is how it works. The first part of the story is not so tense and your characters are in about ankle deep. But then there is an event that pulls the characters in. They can't turn away, so they make a choice - and I usually think of that as them opening the first door.

Instead of finding relief from soggy boots or their problems, our heroes find themselves up to their hips in deeper, darker waters and darker problems. So they scramble for a decision; because there is no going back, they open the next door...And so on, until you get to the end. By this point, the tension is so high you could snap and your characters are almost drowning.

Beware, Sven!! I approach the last door!
How's the week going for you guys?

So say we all.
Bri

Plans within Plans...and Packing for the Great Migration

I've been off the blogosphere for a few days because I've been packing. That's right. The autumnal migration of Bri has begun once again. Today, I reduced my life to five cardboard boxes, a laundry basket and a few rugs. I still have to sort through my art stuff, but everything else is packed.

While Sven is a (still) a complete jerk, I have kept ahead of the word count and made some wonderful discoveries in the story.

1. My protagonist, a cool guy, has become doubly cool because of some responsibilities and goals I gave him. I was delighted when I realized how awesomely awesome he could be by changing just a few things.
2. I've also introduced this dashing and sort of gruff highlander who becomes the heroine's right hand. He might be (slightly) in love with her, but I'm enjoying him so much I don't see much problem with it.
3. I'm having a little bit of trouble with POV and exactly who should have those scenes and who can do without. Generally I work around about four POV characters (in limited third person), but if I have another one or two every now and then, I'm not sure it will hurt.
   
4. I've also been considering my heroine's half of the story. As the hero's sister, she has to be pretty rocking awesome to compete. Quite unexpectedly, her story has become as cool, if not cooler, than her brother's. We'll have to work on this.
5. The End of the Series is working itself out...

Which leads me to say that tomorrow, I'll begin posts on how handling my own series' various storylines and subplots (Tuesday), POV and character development (Wednesday), and theme and brainstorming methods (Thursday).

Otherwise, life is good. I'll post a video of the before and after shots of my packing rampage and probably a sketch or two from designs I've been working on for the past few weeks. Anyway, sorry I haven't been around much! I'll be around to say hi and comment later tonight, promise.

So say we all.
Bri

Throwing up Road Blocks to the Creep of Apathy

A SMALL NOTE BEFORE THE ACTUAL POST:

For those of you who commented on the MFA post - thanks so much! It was very encouraging :) I gave a few answers to some of the questions you asked, at the end if this post. Also - thanks to Jess at Tudor's Desk for the Rocking Girl Blogger nomination!

POSSIBLE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES

In an episode of panic early in May, I feared my novel and series lost forever to the Charybdis and Scylla of Writing. Apathy and cynicism struck such a blow that I questioned the very validity of my story, my characters - even why I ever thought I wanted to write.

Since getting over that and plunging back into the novel's world, I've found my story and my characters again. I figured I should probably understand how I did it - in case it ever happens again. I'll start a series of posts on this after my Friday Snippet this week.

Also, sweating with Sven - I'll post more about that probably later today or tomorrow. It's fun. :)

ALL THE PRETTY NOTEBOOKS

I have a horrible habit of collecting beautiful notebooks and then becoming so intensely intimidated by their beauty that I never write in them. They sit on my shelf and regard me mournfully. They seem to say, Bri! Don't you love us? Don't you want to put pretty words on these pretty pages? Bri! And I shake my head and mutter something about being sorry.

And then, Joce, my long-time friend from VA, has a brilliant idea. We'll send each other our lovely notebooks, filled with poetry, newspaper clippings, critique and ramblings. They'll fill up with strange collages and we'll exchange them. Celebrate, you lovely notebooks! You are no longer empty! You are no longer devoid of purpose! Celebrate!

SOMETHING TO POINT THE WAY HOME

I know some of you have probably seen this, but I finid it absolutely beautiful and so decided to post it here. I've noticed there have been dozens of trailers for "children's fantasy" movies in the past few years, but this is the series I've been hoping they would adapt to the screen. It makes me wish I had an armored polar bear...that could talk.

THE PROMISED ANSWERS ABOUT THE MFA

Yes, I read up on Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. It is on my list for applications. Thanks for the heads up!

Yes, I am considering teaching creative writing. Currently, I work at the university during the school year helping students with papers and other creative writing projects. Luffs my job.

So say we all.
Bri

Writing in Shades of Grey...With a Hat

CREATION v. DESTRUCTION

After reaching today's word count, I wrote out some theme ideas and how to work them into the story. My characters use violence or pacifism - depending on their morals and what would better serve their causes. So, I've got a theme of creation v. destruction.

WHITE HATS v. BLACK HATS

Most of these characters make these decisions based on their personal backgrounds. The protagonist will not always chose "creation" and the antagonist will not always chose "destruction." They will chose like any "real" person would - based on background, personal experience, and circumstance.

If they didn't, they would be typecast as "heroes" or "villains." And everyone knows that while villains are tons of fun to write, heroes can be boring and predictable. I generally detest the idea of writing a villain who is evil, only for evil's sake, or a hero who does good...only because it's the right thing to do. I know I sound like a cynic, but hear me out.

I enjoy characters who make these decisions based on human need, who are interesting flawed. I don't like characters who are motivated by high-minded ideals or gutter-deep depravity - at least not at first. I don't mind if eventually the protagonist gains higher goals or motivation, or the villain darker intentions and plots. I love the characters who deal with the conflicts as humans. Not as characters.

Obviously, both types of "good" and "bad are necessary - I just prefer one over the other in what I read.

SOME EXAMPLES TO CLARIFY

• Protagonists: Equality 7-2521 in Anthem, Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Howl in Howl's Moving Castle, Han Solo in Star Wars, Mal Reynolds in Firefly
• Heroes: Robin Hood, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Superman, Captain America, Luke Skywalker

• Antagonists: Jaime Lannister in A Song of Ice and Fire, Denethor in The Lord of the Rings, Deth in The Riddlemaster, Vicious in Cowboy Bebop
• Villains: Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, the Borg in Star Trek, the Agents in The Matrix Trilogy, the blue-handed men in Firefly
  

So say we all.
Bri

SOS - Doing Swimmingly Well - SOS

Yes, that picture is of me. I made it when the loa of the net decided to turn against me. And yes, that link does lead to an article on Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy because the two subjects are related.

Anyway, on Friday CableOne cut off our internet (read: civilization), even though we paid them six months in advance. Now it's back, and I have returned from the wilds. Rejoice!

To the actual post:
My hands hurt very badly. I think it's a combination of this horrificaly wierd weather and too much typing. Texas, most of the Tri-State area and the Okies are living/swimming in the Second Flood and still the clouds pile up in angry smoke-blue mountains. But! Other than witnessing a spectacular lightning show with earth-splitting thunder in hi-def surround sound, I finished the first draft of XIII!

And now I'm a little overwhelmed. I've established the fifteen most important scenes to the story, but now that I'm revising, I sort of want to curl up in a fetal position. Generally, I work by creating a long list of scenes I want to see in the story. Then I summarize, asking specific important questions. After that, I write the scenes out until I have a workable story line and prose draft. Anybody have any revision techniques or ideas?

Probably by Friday, I'll have a few pictures I've sketched up for the story and I'll post them.

So say we all.
Bri

Day 22: Ex Machina is Good...Just Not in Plot

THE PLOT STORM OF THE SUMMER HAS ARRIVED
Things I Find In My Not-Spare Time

Plot problems plague me (and I like alliteration). For the past few days I have decided I would rather bum around than write and I figure maybe a few days furlough couldn't hurt. I find strange things to do with my time, like read obscure books and find even more obscure comics (see below). I've tried to focus, but with the weird weather and any number of other usually insignificant things, it's been difficult. I talked to Joce today and we came up with a few solutions.

1. THE END IS NIGH - I wrote the end of the book a very long time ago and maybe I feel trapped in that ending. She suggested I stop worrying, and write what felt right, and let the characters take over for a few scenes, just to see where the story would go. I agreed.

2. TAKING A BREATHER - I have always felt as if each scene should further the plot. As we talked, we discussed one of our favorite books: The Time Traveler's Wife. Several scenes in that book-of-wonderful don't seem to drive the plot. Rather they allow the reader a chance to breath and see the characters in a less stressful situation. They probably also help the author not stress out while writing. So I'll probably add some of those.

IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

Things I Find In My Spare Time

Ex Machina is a series about Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer, who gains strange powers to speak to machines. In the comic universe, Hundred becomes a hero on 9/11 when he saves the second World Trade Center Tower by guiding the plane to land in the streets of New York. After unmasking, he is elected mayor of New York and the comic follows his political career and the further development of his powers. The series is clever and well-written by DC's Brian Vaughan (Runaways, The Pride of Baghdad, and Y: The Last Man), with ever single issue beautifully drawn and colored. This series is probably my very favorite (and the best) of all the comics I read.. If you get a chance, definitely try to get a copy and give it a look. I promise - you won't be disappointed in the least.

Speaking of Y: The Last Man, I also picked up the first volume this weekend. Y is the story of a worldwide tragedy in which all men die - all men, that is, except Yorick Brown. While it's sort of a tongue-in-cheek commentary on gender, Y is probably one of the more inventive comics as far as storytelling and concept goes. I loved.

And then after watching the first four episodes for free online, I decided that apocalyptic tv-drama Jericho is up there with my other very favorite shows - Battlestar Galactica, Lost and The Office. I was also thoroughly impressed that the fans of the show fought to save it from cancellation by pelting CBS high-ups with 20 tons of nuts. Bravo.

So say we all.
Bri

Day 18 & 19: Love is a Many-Splendored Thing

I THOUGHT PEOPLE WOULD'VE HAD ENOUGH OF SILLY LOVE SONGS!

Today, two of my very favorite couples in XIII finally saw their "love at first sight" moments, though neither couple knew such a moment had just passed them by. Oddly enough, my favorite love story is not that of the hero and his oracle lover, but rather is that of his younger sister and her dangerous envoy from the west. Reason?

The sister and the envoy are so incredibly different. Age, race, religion, beliefs, even suspicion of murder - all stand between these two and blood and death follow like a pack of wolves. Sure, my protagonist and his lady have a love of tremendous awesomeness, but their bittersweet story is not, nor intended to be, as much of a hurricane-romance as that of his sister and her envoy.

BUT I LOOK AROUND ME AND SEE IT ISN'T SO!

I guess one of the things I've been working on is subtlety in plot, character and romantic development. The first two have helped take care of themselves, while the issue of romantic subtlety has raised its ugly old head and caused me trouble. So here's what I figure:

1. FLOWERY LANGUAGE IS A SILLY PLACE! RUN AWAY! - Here's the thing. No way will a couple describe each other in (full-of-evil) flowery-love-terms on their first meeting. Usually, the scene will pass in a thundering rush, with the characters focused on their original goal. Only later will each realize they are thinking of the other. I try to have them recall small, seemingly insignificant details they found charming/annoying etc. This cuts down on the potential for cheesiness/syrup-ness in any love story.

2. LAY YOUR LINES LIKE A NINJA - I try to lay hints of a romance fairly early on in the story. These don't need to be signs that scream, "Their romance is very fracking nigh!" These hints need to be unnoticeable, possibly forgettable. When I decide to reveal that a couple is in the loves, I want the reader to be pleasantly surprised and to smile, not to feel that the romance was unheralded or an unplanned cop-out.

3. WOAH, WOAH, FEELINGS - Sure, my characters have feelings. But usually my scenes are written from a very limited third person POV, which means I can record only one character's emotions at once. Sure, the POV character can notice the other's facial expressions and interpret her feelings. By limiting POVs, I also limit the amount of cheese/syrup from my romance story lines. The reader is not overwhelmed by being dragged between two characters' POVs. He is able to be content and enjoy the story at a safe vantage point from a designated POV.

WE COULD BE HEROES, FOREVER AND EVER!

I found this animation clip courtesy of a great and valiant friend named Jocelyn Howard. She knows of my enduring love of all things comicbook. So this fit. For those of you who have read Astrocity, you know how delightful this style of storytelling and drawing can be when done well. If you want, visit Chris Applehans' Site and look around. It's impressive.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!

Yesterday, I read through the entirety of The Road, a book by Cormac McCarthy which won the Pulitzer for Fiction. That's right. I read the whole book in one day, if that gives you any measure of how powerful the story is. The book follows a father and his child struggling to survive a nuclear holocaust in a dead world. As a novel, it was incredibly beautiful and touching, but some scenes were so entirely disturbing, cruel and completely awful, I still feel sort of distraught. A few details about the story, including the tone of the end, considering the post-apocalyptic genre, irked me. But it didn't irk me enough: I would definitely recommend The Road for McCarthy's portrayal of human nature and the relationship between father and son. Definitely give it a look-see.

WHERE EAGLES FLY, ON A MOUNTAIN HIGH!

Our blog, Written (R)evolutions has launched! A group of writers, artists and true believers have come together to discuss and create fiction of the fringe nature: fantasy, science fiction, horror, macabre, apocalyptica, cyberpunk and other whimsical and terrifying sundries! Visit us and tell us what you think!

That's all I got.
So say we all.
Bri

Day 16 & 17: I Could Be A Legend

HALFWAY TO TO END OF THE WAR OF THE WORD COUNT!

Today, the first day after our personal storm, I got back to writing. At first, the scenes spilled out without reason or rationale, and I thought I somehow lost my voice. The story was scattered, the characters strangely aggressive or weak - and I knew, I knew! Something was terribly wrong! My voice was gone! My voice was off! But, after three or so pages, I fell back into the rhythm of the plot. It was hairy there for a little, though.

THOUGHTS ON GETTING BACK INTO A STORY!

1. START MID-SCENE - I write out a scene, making sure I have memorable characters and settings. And then I stop. , mid-sentence. I have to remember where the scene is supposed to go, because I'll pick it back up when I lose the story.

2. STASH O' SCENES - I think of all my scenes that will make readers bite off all of their fingernails, hide under the blankets with a flashlight way past bedtime, or sob into their pjs. When I forget where I'm going or where I've been, I pull out the stash o' scenes and write one up to help find the story again.

3. THE RED TELEPHONE - I write a version of the end. This is cheating. It is only to be used as a last possible measure. It's like nukes in the Cold War. Don't pick up the red telephone unless you mean it.

AND THEN I FOUND A FEW THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY!

1. I AM LEGEND - I read the book (a 1950s sci-fi novel by Richard Matheson) about a year ago, and knew a movie was in the works. And then I saw the link to the trailer and my head almost exploded. Robert Neville is the last man on earth, but he's not alone. Vampires stalk him as the last prey they can find. Every night they come to his house to try to kill him. Every day he hunts them down and stakes them out...literally. Look at the trailer - I promise it is fairly full of awesome.


2. ORYX AND CRAKE - Written by Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake is novel about dystopia and cloning and what it means to be human. On recommendation from my cousin, I picked it up and am already thoroughly in the love.

3. DAEMONS AND MY SOUL - How awesome is it that my daemon's name is Leonidas?

So say we all.
Bri

Day 12: The Bare Necessities

The Beast:
Today I have attempted avoid info-dumping as though it was a rabid dog. I've tried to find various ways to incorporate the info without overwhelming the reader, but none worked quite so well as what follows. Behold! I give you knowledge of info-dumping!

The Knowledge to Defeat Said Beast:
When I asked my friend to read something for me today, I followed with the question of whether or not I gave too much info at once. And his immediate response was, "Why MUST this info be HERE and not spread out elsewhere?"

I just gaped at the simplicity of the question. It was so obvious: the answer to my question was necessity. How much does the reader need to know in order to function in the world, and what can he pick up from more subtle clues, like religious rituals, sayings, landmarks, stories, and family heirlooms? That was the answer! And I could have run myself over with a bus for not seeing it.

What I Think Happened:
Sometimes XIII seems like an ocean and I seem like I'm drowning. Today was one of those times. The family relationships alone - blood, oath, adoption and fostering - combined with the politics of the world and the personalities of the characters sometimes tend to maul my umph to write. And, more to the point, I have the tremendously bad habit of getting so immersed in my world and characters that it looks like fun to get lost/drown, though finding/resuscitating me can sometimes be an ordeal. We're working on that...

After a few hours of editing here and there, something deliciously grand appeared on the page. It's nowhere near a finished draft, but I am actually very pleased with it.

So, Here's What We Learned Today:
Info Given Based on Necessity = Good Structure
Total Immersion Without Continuity Checks = Drowning in Plot

So say we all.
Bri

Day 5 & 6: I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing

With the word count proceeding smoothly on schedule, the different story lines established in the first scene continue to expand and work with the main story's goals. For this I am very grateful. Today, instead of proceeding with the established order of things, I wrote a scene from the middle and one from the end of the novel. Reason for this madness?

First, I have to have faith that I will finish the novel. When I write these out-of-order scenes, I inevitably want to fill in the gaps between what I have "now" to get to "there." While I am no Indiana Jones to take a leap of faith, I like to see at least a hint of a path before I hop off into nothing, dragging the story with me. Second, I like to know where my characters are going. By writing that middle and end scene early in the draft, I hope to sort of give myself a north star - a point of reference so I can be sure to guide not only the plot, but also my characters' development in the right direction.

Not involving the writing life, but still of (slight) importance is the following:

Comicbook Day: Alas, comics you have failed me. Three of the four were slow and tedious, dealing with horrid continuity problems or pointless dialog. I decided to shorten my reading list. These I will include for your enjoyment: Ex Machina, Y: The Last Man, and Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, along with a few monthlies like Batman and The Spirit.

Mr. George R.R. Martin: You write entirely too well, ser, and your series The Song of Ice and Fire, being entirely too wonderful, is the sole object of my adoration.

So say we all.
Bri

Day 2 and 3: And I Had an Idea

At 7,668 words, I have moved well into the second chapter and the second POV character of the novel.

But after realizing that most of what I wrote yesterday and today came out badly rushed, I got call from Joce in Virginia. She related her adventures into the world of ceramics and pottery, including her process of carving and preserving her finished pieces. When we got off the phone I went back to writing and realized what I was doing was very similar. She starts by creating a rough outline on her piece, then gradually brings the whole thing to perfection as a whole rather than focusing on only one part of the piece.

To get a better view of my project, I looked at it with this sort of mindset. First, there was a rough outline in my little black book - notes, brief scenes and sketches of plot and potentially powerful POV characters. Then, there will be a very rough 60,000 word draft, staying as close to the outline as possible, while still allowing for some creative sidetracks. In the next few months, I'll adjust this draft, adding and editing down scenes as necessary. Only at the final draft will I begin polishing individual sentences and scenes to my satisfaction. Start rough and work toward polish.

While we ran through a similar exercise in Vanderslice's class this spring, I only applied it to short stories and had never taken the leap to practicing the same process on a novel. No time like the present, right?

So say we all.
Bri

When the World (R)evolves Around a Character

In the fall semester of 2006, I drafted the first 200 pages of the first book of XIII. While I've worked steadily on this series for most of my adult life, this book always made me skittish. The middle and the end of the series were not difficult to write, but the beginning was always the bane of my existence. The reason?

My protagonist was like a rock star. A celebrity. Unlike celebrities in the real world, the entirety of the fictional world I created revolved around this guy and his choices. I had to write him exactly as I imagined him, because he was so utterly important to the plot and development of the other characters. He. had. to. be. awesome. All the time. But writing like that was exhausting and intimidating.

So, I solved his ego problem today: the revisions have gone smoothly since. I just had to force myself to realize my hero didn't - couldn't - know his own destiny. As such, I shouldn't write him as though he already carried that weight. He can be reckless. He can be young. He has no idea that at some point, everything will depend on him. So that's that.

Keep your ears open: there's something secret a few of us are creating in the blog-iverse. It has a little something to do with revolutions and evolution...and maybe a little writing. I'll be sure to keep you posted, because I'm sure you'll enjoy.

So say we all.
Bri

War Reports, Erebus, and the (Maybe) Return of Barry Allen

I bring you news from the front. I return after a regretfully long campaign into the realms of plotting and viciously smug ideas that appear in the night and vanish before I can find a pen. My war against their evanescent nature continues daily. But, behold! An exit strategy appears for the first novel of XIII, which, by the way, needs a better title. Any suggestions?

How did I do this, you ask. I will tell you. I read. I read a lot. I read George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, Steven King's The Drawing of the Three and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. I watched my favorite episodes of Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. I watched and read and observed, making notes. And the method in which they plotted out long-standing story lines and character arcs became increasingly clear and not so amazing. I could see the mechanics behind the writing and applied those same observations to my own outlines of XIII.

Tension created by additional complications ("Bushwacked" episode of Firefly), foreshadowing given frequently, subtlety and early (Drawing of the Three), and the methods of creating interesting political scenarios and intrigues (Battlestar Galactica, A Game of Thrones and Children of Dune) were all things I added to XIII's first book.

The result was amazing. The story took on a new life and the scenes where I felt the action dragged had a way in which to improve. I'm not saying that the story is perfect, at all. But I am standing in the middle of a faster paced, more tightly woven story than I was a week ago.

Other news, not from the front. Our neighbor across the street has a giant black male cat. I have named him Erebus. While, Erebus is not so fearsome as his name would suggest (he let me pick him up and he flopps around on my driveway), he is very dark and very fat. Which had nothing at all to do with him being fierce or like Erebus. That's all.

Last thing: DC is probably bringing back Barry Allen as The Flash. And while this fills me with glee, at the same time I wonder if this does not cheapen his death and his character from the late 1980s.

So say we all.
Bri

On Picking Up Threads and Pieces

Well, after a day or two of thinking over the novel and wading through a cast of about thirty, I have divided my story into three main themes, and parred number of characters down to twenty-two. Don't get me wrong - it broke my heart to do that. Some of those characters have been in the since before I knew the story. But it was necessary. While the plot still remains a bit of a mystery to me, I have plenty of threads because of the overlapping themes. The idea to try the three themes came from a little book called Chapter After Chapter, thanks to Dr. V.

The two other science fiction short stories are coming along, evolving slowly, but steadily. All I can tell you is that one has something to do with a young man named Yuri, going faster than the speed of light, and madness. The other involves a young woman trying to find her way back to earth once we move out of our Solar system and lose our roots in the vastness of space. No titles exist yet, but I'm still running the ideas around in my head.

Last note on writing: my dear friend from Virginia called me tonight and we discussed her long-running novel. Mainly we talked about how she could restart the project by changing her point-of-view and narration styles. It was a fascinating chat about the actual technicalities of writing - why an author would use first person over third, or why a writer would show a certain scene from a certain character's perspective. It's been so long since I've had one of these conversations, I was terribly engrossed. Much fun was had by all.

On to much more light hearted subjects.

Comics:
DC's Countdown #51 just about blew my socks off. It was so much fun. Written by Paul Dini (the guy who wrote Batman: The Animated Series, Superman, Justice League, and JLU for a mazillion years) is the head writer of this series. The story they've set up looks great.

Battlestar Galactica (yes, it gets its own section):
I started watching Battlestar Galactica again, and that first season is just about enough to make your head explode. One of the things I noticed was that the writers began all the major plot lines of the next three seasons in that first episode. Pretty impressive.

So say we all.
Bri

On Banishing Beasties

I am afraid that my novel has crept away from me. I have not managed to work on it for the past few weeks because of classes and various other projects and hurtles, throwing myself ever closer to the end of the year. Short stories, in legion, have flooded my head and found their way onto paper in scraps and frazzled sentences, but all the while, I worry over the novel.

All of my characters are on hold, all the plot lines, drawn with so much momentum two months ago, shuddering under the strain of waiting for my return. Nice metaphor, no? I thought so. But in all seriousness, I am worried about the "spirit" of the work slipping out of my fingers, that I might lose inspiration to write or my love of the characters.

I am currently reading Chapter After Chapter on the recommendation of one of my professors, and the author discusses this directly. Her ideas are inspiring, but at the same time, I hear that quiet little voice hissing, "What are you doing?! Fantasy writers all fall into the same cliches, they always create stupid senseless stories, which no one will ever remember or enjoy! I like to talk over every other character trying to find his way onto a page! I like to use exclamation points!" This small but irrationally irritating cretin is an amalgamation of varying people in my own life and my own worries and doubts.

So with that recognition, I decree: Begone foul beastie of cruel intentions and subtly malicious words! Begone!

So say we all.
Bri

Digging out of a Rut

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I just returned from a brief vacation to San Antonio to visit my aunt and her two massively fat cats. I've been editing my three short stories this week and hope that by the time I return to school, they may be ready to send out to various magazines.

As far as the "Hard Lessons" post is concerned I've been working on this as well. The problem, in brief, was that my narration style had gone very "anonymous." I couldn't tell my voice from the narrators in a few short stories, and I knew my critic-friend was right when she said that if I did not stop this habit now, I would probably never be able to stop it. And the fear for me was that I might find myself writing the same characters for the rest of my writing life - so the effort to get myself out of this rut has been tremendous. And needless to say, it has paid off in so many ways.

I'll let you know more about this as it progresses, but just know that whatever problems there was, I feel like I am steadily gaining ground on it. My posts may be scattered for the next few weeks, seeing as how the end of the term is rushing down on us with a mountain of tests, papers, book reports and short stories as well as portfolios. I will be posting links to various other writers' blog within this week, so be looking for that in the sidebar.

Last note: my Into Print professor recommended a book called Chapter by Chapter, and while I have only made my way through the first three exercises, I strongly (repeat, strongly) recommend it for anyone even interested in writing. What I have done so far as helped tremendously in my own work - so at least go check it out.

So say we all.
Bri