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

Days 7, 8, & 9: Yipee-ki-yay and the Deep Green

Sorry for the sudden lack of posts. I was determined that Saturday be a day of rest. So I worked all week to get the word count up so that I wouldn't have to worry about skipping a day.

Today, I went back over my outline, adding and taking out scenes as necessary and to my complete surprise, found that I am entirely in love with my story. It's like this: a few summers ago, I went to Europe and loved everything about it - but I was a stranger in a strange land. When my plane landed in Atlanta, I almost cried. I was home. So, yesterday when I stepped back into the world I created and found that I understood the direction of the plot, my characters, the mythology and the political situation, it was a great and wonderful thing.

Many of the places over the Continent are similar, if in very strange ways, to the places I grew up. When I was little, we lived in a log cabin my dad built for my mom before I was born, and when it rained, the smell of pine and resin filled the warm log rooms. But outside the house, woods spread out with their dark green secrets in the damp. I remember standing at the back door, just knowing there as some menace in that crush of olive and hunter. When I was too unnerved to look anymore, I would tear back to the front door, staying near my mom and obscenely fat cat for the rest of the day. All of that to say this: when I write about a lordling's home in the high forest mountains, those same smells and that same fear of the heavy green find their way into my characters and setting. And yesterday, it happened all at once and the writing life was good.

Now, to completely shift the conversation:

Today, I watched Die Hard for the first time and I think John McClane may be the best hero ever. Not only does he get shot, punched, rolled down some stairs, but he runs over glass, bleeds all over the building and blows up a bag of C4 fighting terrorists - and still manages to be the awesome that is Bruce Willis. That's all I have to say on that one. Tonight, I plan to watch The Prestige with my mom; I've already seen it, but I hope she enjoys it as much as I do.

The last thing: I have decided to put down George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. The book has come to fill my sleeping and waking thoughts, while the tragic events of the series actually affect my moods. So, I will be taking a break, to read something more like Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy or his The Keys to the Kingdom. Any suggestions for lighter fantasy/scifi reading?

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 4: Again with the Peticoats

While writing a scene for one of my lead females today, I stumbled into an entertaining thought. I write Rei, giving her traditionally masculine characteristics - sparse dialog, cunning, rationale, strength. While tragedy forces her to grow up fast, her first act of adulthood is to cut her hair and prepare for war, both things that make her physically more masculine.

The question I found myself asking was this: Are female characters respected in fiction because they act like men?

Starbuck in the new BSG fights, flies, drinks and smokes as well as, if not better than, the boys and for this we love her. But when she gets emotional as anyone in her situation would and takes on a feminine appearence, she gets offed. Arya in A Song of Ice and Fire keeps her hair cut short, looks like a boy, fights like a boy, talks like a boy, and for all intents and purposes, becomes a boy. Eowyn, in The Lord of the Rings, hides her femininity to ride into the battle and instantly becomes a reader favorite. Ellen Ripley in Alien, definitely masculine in appearance and attitude, is pretty much the most awesome badass in the movie. She takes out alien scum while any other man or woman fails. Are these female characters admirable because they act like men? Or because they cast aside their femininity, as though it were a weakness?

To counter this, there are shows like Firefly where each female character maintains her authority and feminine characteristics without coming across as a complete contradiction. Buffy the Vampire Slayer follows in much this same vein. Other more extreme examples include Xena, Trinity, Catwoman, and Molly from Neuromancer. I would argue though, that when taken to this extreme, the attempt at creating a strong female character becomes more of an attempt to exploit the sex appeal of strong and decisive women.

Just a thought. And the word count is coming along just fine.

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

Day 1: In the Beginning

In the beginning, there is a boy who learns some horrific news and takes his first step to becoming the hero we all know and love. And so begins the first 2,558 words of my novel! While this whole word count thing is at times stressful, the one beautiful thing I can say about it, without one single doubt, is that is makes the story move!

The story, when it all comes rushing out onto the page, may not be the most beautiful prose, but it does make characters DO things (imagine that)! It makes events occur and sets in motion greater purposes in the plot! Cultural minutiae cropped up through the characters' religions, traditions, laws, and thought, and while these pages definitely need to be fine tuned, I am very well pleased with the first day's results.

I'm off to read A Clash of Kings, but tomorrow, I have a few thoughts to share concerning the greater nature of things to come - in the novel and life.

So say we all.
Bri

The All-Or-Nothin Days, They're Back!

And so the chronicle of my journey into the proverbial Wastelands begins: today, the mad race toward a completed first draft of 60,000 words is on. Yesterday, I spent my time focusing on my main characters, the mystery of the novel, the inevitable progression toward greater and greater conflict and the major twists at the end, which lead to the next book. And now...

Now the bar is set for the coming month o' June:
1. 2,500 words a day with time to edit.
2. Adjust plot, if necessary, at the end of every day.
3. Eat.
4. Read A Clash of Kings.

I'll keep you posted with a daily count and how things progress/digress. Now, I head toward sleep and the last pages of Neuromancer. Godspeed and all that jazz, right?

So say we all.
Bri