Snow Day!

Bam! It's winter! It was such lovely fall weather all week last week, and then the snow hit last night and hasn't stopped yet. It's a heavy, wet snow that's weighing down all the poor trees with their leaves still attached. And I'm not entirely sure where my snowboots went, so running out to whack the snow off the branches as best I can in my hiking boots without socks has definitely proved to be an experience. But I'm too short to get the bulk of the snow off, which has be a little anxious. I'm sure it'll be fine, but I'm a worrywart.

The good news, I suppose, is that all the snow has somehow messed with the internet (or, you know, the internet's just being weird and slow), and the cable, so it's definitely a writing day. Huzzah for getting rid of distractions! My plans? Make another cup of cocoa (my mother makes the best homemade mix, and with a peppermint, it's absolutely delicious!), cuddle up with a cat and try to pound out a chapter or two.

Also, NaNoWriMo starts in five days and eleven hours, as of this writing. Eek!

Planning Between the Coughs

You know what the worst time to get anything done is? When you're sick. Sniffles and coughs and aches abound, but you're still expected to get into the office and do your work, or sit at the computer and write your daily word count. Needless to say, I've been terrible about that daily word count thing when I can't focus. Oh, well. It should be over soon.

Just in time to start planning for NaNoWriMo! This will be my seventh time participating, and hopefully my fourth win. For those of you who don't know, National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. That's about the size of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm hoping it'll help get my writing habit back on track this year, but I'd also like another rough to work on. I lost two of the three 'winning' manuscripts when my hard drive crashed a few years back, and I haven't had the desire to go back and fix up the last one yet. Eventually, maybe. For now, I'm planning something new and different, set in a world I'm already familiar with. It'll be an interesting time working on three different manuscripts at the same time, certainly, plus work and social time and, you know, being a human being.

I'm sure it will be worth it, though. Anyone else want to try with me?

The Writer's Bane

On a cold, rainy day such as today, what is a kitty to do except jump up and sleep on his mom's computer, despite the fact that she had only just gotten up to fetch a glass of water and had every intention of returning to get some writing done?

–ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº˜ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ææææææææææææææææ––––æ˜æ˜˜ææ––––––––∆∆æææææææ∆–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººº–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––˙æ-6dr

(The above is Blizzard the cat's masterpiece in the middle of my new manuscript. I hope you enjoy it. Poetic, isn't it?)

Random Rambles

Last night was the first meeting of my new in-person critique group. I'm so excited! Everyone involved (even those who couldn't make it to the meeting last night for various reasons) is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to getting into the groove of actually turning stuff in again. That's yet another plus of critique groups: accountability. I don't know about you, but I feel guilty and terrible if I don't have something to give to the group just because I was lazy that week. Busy, on vacation and sick are acceptable excuses for the most part, but can definitely be abused, which makes me feel guiltier. So I have to write at the very least twenty pages a month, hopefully more. That'll be so much better than what I've been doing recently! Woohoo! Who wants to join me in a happy dance?

And on the "oh, no, I have no time; what am I going to do?!" side of things: National Novel Writing Month is fast approaching. For the last few years, I've had at least an inkling of what I want to write. Last year, I even had characters and a vague plot and some pretty intense world building before I went in, and I won for the first time in three years. This year, I have nothing. Nada. Not even a specific character I really want to work with. There's still almost a full month left, but I'm starting to get nervous. Can I really work on three different books at the same time? Which one will have to suffer to get a NaNo out? And I can't just not do NaNo, when I've attempted every year since my sophomore year of high school (that's six years, for those who are curious; and I've won thrice). I guess it's time for some major brainstorming! Maybe I'll try a new genre this year or something. Anyone else trying NaNo this year? I could use someone to word war with.

Imaginary Friends

I saw this great shirt in a catalogue yesterday that made me laugh so hard. Because it's so true. The quote: "Writer's block: when your imaginary friends stop talking to you." I don't know about you planners out there, but I have had characters hijack my stories so often it's ceased to be a quirk. It's the way I write. I think the story's going on direction and then BAM! Someone informs me that they're pregnant or gay or have a dead brother that they want to bring back from the dead.

There were two major ones with Savior (that I remember) that made me want to smack my characters. The first was that, after three years of working on this story, my protagonist pops up and says that his name wasn't really Trick, after all. It was Araeli, but he had changed it at some point to honor his brother's death, and wanted me to include that fact if I could. So I did, when I rewrote the entire manuscript. Then, this past spring when I was reworking the first hundred pages or so, Kel informs me that he had a cat that really ought to still be living with his brother and could be an important plot point. I tried my darndest to work that stupid cat in; I tore my hair out over it. In the end, I couldn't make it work. I don't think poor Vysni even got a mention, though I do have some fun ideas including her for shorts or prequels, if I ever make it that far.

Then there are the brilliant times when you're walking around (downtown, at work, around the house, at a writer's conference), talking to these insane beings that live in your head. Out loud. Please tell me I'm not the only one that does that. When they spring a plot point on you in the middle of the shower and you scream something incomprehensible at them because it either solves all the things you've been struggling with for the past year or creates even more chaos, and then your mother races up the stairs to make sure you didn't accidentally cut your arm off with the razor, is a particularly fun time. Especially explaining to her afterwards what really happened.

Non-writers just don't seem to understand the insanity that happens when working with characters who are supposed to be so real and believable. Part of being a good writer is creating these believable people to act in our stories; so why do we get incredulous looks and insane name tags when we bring up the fact that these characters really control the story, not us, the authors? Is it really so difficult to fathom?

Hello. My name is Emerson and my characters boss me around.

Distraction!

You know of what I have far too many? (We’re going to ignore that awkward sentence structure in light of it being grammatically correct.) Distractions. You know what I love but really should hate with the passion of a thousand dying stars? Distractions.

My favorite distraction? Text-based role-playing. It’s addictive for the writing-influenced mind, I swear. I suppose it could be compared to World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons (I’ll admit to playing the latter, but I’ve never tried the former), except it’s all done with words. It’s all written out. There are no dice to throw or graphics to load, just a good, old-fashioned story to write with your partner(s). It's so helpful for throwing ideas around and a bit of world-building on occasion, definitely character development. What better way to get to know your characters than by sticking them in random situations with someone else's character, after all? 

But there's an inherent problem here. Well, two, really. 1) It's addicting and time consuming. 2) It's a distraction. There have been several times when I wander around thinking about a story and realizing I'm plotting out my characters' next moves in a role play when I should be working on something like figuring out how long it takes to get from one country to another in my actual story, especially without falling into the "Horse as Motorcycle" syndrome. Don't get me wrong, everyone needs a break from their work now and again. But this gets ridiculous. And, I'll admit, there have been times when I'm so sucked into a particular plot line with someone else that I neglect my book(s) for weeks at a time. I tell myself I'm still writing, so it's okay. 

Except that it's not okay. Yes, the role plays are fun and helpful on occasion, but they're not helping me get my book written. (With the sole exception of the one plot my friend and I are attempting to turn into an actual book eventually.) So here's my confession: My name is Emerson and I'm addicted to distractions. 

That's step one in recovery, isn't it? What's step two? I have no idea. For this, it's probably turning the internet off for a while every day and forcing myself to actually work. Otherwise this is going to be a very long, very slow, very painful process. 

What about you guys, all three of my readers? What are your worst distractions and how do you overcome them? 

Quite Possibly the Maddest Thing I've Ever Done

Almost exactly a month ago, I started a new piece. It's super duper different from Savior, as I'm attempting to make it an adult epic fantasy, for the hell of it. I wrote a bit about my inspiration for it over here. The original idea was to write the minstrel character from the song I linked to, going to war and all that fun stuff. Then I added magic and craziness, to make it an actual fantasy piece (and because I love magic). I had a vague idea of the cause for this epic war, but nothing solid.

Then I came home from the conference last Sunday with this desire to add two more point of view characters, just to play with it. I've been wanting to attempt a story with multiple points of view for a while now, why  not try it with this one? So I did. Neither of them are as developed as the main PoV character at the moment, because I just started them, but they've already given me the cause for the war, the main antagonist, and an insight into the initially 'evil' country that started the war.

Only problem is now this story is going to be huge. And it no longer follows the inspirational song basically at all. That makes me a little sad, but oh well. The story's got plot now! That's kind of important. And I've always wanted to write something that included both sides of a conflict as 'good guys.'

So let's hope this experiment works! Anyone else had a story veer sharply from the original intent after a single decision like this? Or is that a pantser thing?