on characters

I’m going through a bit of a writing slump these days, so bear with me as I get some stuff off my chest.

Now, I love working on villains as I’m sure most writers do… They are so much more interesting to develop than the good guys, and I think I like creating characters that. They can be ruthless killers, crooked politicians, the clinically insane, a schoolyard bully (I went to school with one that would pick her nose and then try to smush her boogers on you), or a megalomaniac bent on destroying the world and repopulating it with his fearsome robotic slaves. I’ve always had such fun working on background stories and personality traits for those kinds of characters – but heroes on the other hand… it’s the so-called good ones that have always given me trouble.

When I am creating a hero or heroine, I obviously don’t want them to be perfect, because well, that’s boring, however while striving for what I like to call the “opposite of perfection”, they end up less than satisfactory. If too many things are wrong with them (maybe they are blind, deaf orphans living in a Communist country with a lisp and a peg leg?), they can be a difficult character for a reader to believe exists, let alone relate to.

For that reason I have a hard time fleshing them out, and giving them appropriate “flaws” that don’t make them sound like a walking, talking cliché. You know the kind; the brooding young hero that lost both of his parents in a war, his home village ravaged by the enemy, and now he is traveling to find himself - trying to ignore his past even though it haunts him, follows him, hangs over him and every word he says… Hm, that doesn’t sound to bad actually. Perhaps not as interesting as a story about a peg-legged orphan might be, but cliché and all it could maybe make a decent short story? No, no, I kid.

didn’t quite make it…

I came around a little less than 10,000 words short of my month’s goal for nanowrimo. I’m not disappointed though (well not too much), I think this is the most I have written since I started working on this novel!

It was hard at first, but whenever I was having trouble, I would just tell myself “I’ll just write 500 words and I’ll take a break”. And I’d end up with almost 2000. It was difficult of course, but somehow I managed to write 43,598 words that way. Yay me

Note to self: Self, take a well-deserved break for December, then you can go back to setting those monthly goals for that novel of yours.

Oh, and work on those school applications that you’ve been putting off to write fiction, damnit… Actually I think that should be your December goal. Get all the essays and such out of the way so the paperwork can be sent off before the new year, you lazy git!

behind schedule

Blah.

I so do not want to be at work today. I am about 5000 words behind in my nano…ing… Not that I ever thought I could complete the 50 000 word requirement in the alloted thirty days, but I’m still proud of myself that I’ve come this far. It was a good motivator for me to have a set number of words to write each day. I think I’ll have to try to keep this pace up after the contest is over. At that rate, my book might be done by 2009. Now that’s an exciting thought.

it begins at midnight

A rather uneventful Halloween this year. Not many kids came to our door, although I did see some pretty interesting and cute costumes. One man dressed up as a football player was carrying around his toddler that was dressed up as a football. Too cute. There was however, this one kid dressed up as a terrorist (no joke, I even asked him to be sure!). He had a fake mustache, plastic machine gun, hand grenade, machete and all. And his mom smiled and looked on as I gave him his candy. Wow.

Only a few more hours until nanowrimo starts! Apparently some people that partake in this contest will stay up past midnight to get a bit of a head start on those 50000 words. But not I. I shall be snuggled under my blankets sound asleep by then. These days I have to get up between 5:30 and 6am just so I can fit in the time for a workout, my evenings are busy enough after work as it is. Somehow I’ll have to find a way to make time for this writing thing too…

getting started.. for real this time

I think I’m doing well, considering the fact that this time last year I didn’t even bother to try this whole novel-writing thing. So far, I’ve written up most of my main character’s details, her family’s and a few of the antagonists that may (or may not – some are TBD) appear in my novel. Still need to work on some of the more minor charaacters however…

Though I did jot down some ideas for a couple chapters later in the book. Let’s hope I can keep up the momentum.

getting started

Sign-ups start this evening. And so does the prep work for my first novel. Or, perhaps novella, should I decide to keep it to 50,000 words only. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, though.

Later today I’m going to work on my main character and, if I have time, her family. All sorts of random background info, appearance, interests/hobbies, likes and dislikes, personality, quirks and so on. Need to get some breakfast in me and run a couple errands and then I will get started.

procrastination & preparation

It’s almost October, which means it’s almost November… which means I need to start preparing for NanoWriMo. I wanted to try it last year, but I ended up procrastinating a ton, and then a bunch of work stuff (two jobs will do that to you) burnt me out before I even got a chance to get going. I didn’t really have a direction for my story though, and just kinda started writing. Boy was that frustrating(!) a mistake.

Now that I know I have more free evenings this time around I think I’m going to try working on developing my plot and characters, and all my ideas and such beforehand, so I can at least have something to work with come November. I’d better make a schedule so I don’t forget. Hm, maybe next week will be characters.

the flower shop

Based loosely off a dream I had last night (or this morning, I can’t be sure). Unfinished, for now.

The Flower Shop
Everything she felt was pain. Crying uncontrollably, she held out her arms, reaching for something, anything to take her away from the agony she was experiencing. She couldn’t escape the sounds, the smell, the sights around her. Red and green, blue and yellow and silver mixed together as the world cried with her. The loud, wretched noises shook the air around her. And she was terrified, unmoving.

She was growing weaker, falling limp as she was being drawn into a pool of glowing green. Voices whispered her name, mocked her, laughing at her fruitless attempts to escape.

A gloved hand reaced for hers. Grasping it tightly, she somehow managed to surface from underneath the heavy emerald sea. A smile,  a strand of shining hair brushed her cheek. The simple gesture gave her a new resolve, and with slender fingers, she reached behind her head for the ribbon that sat at the top of her braid, and the beautiful stone that resided in it.

Despite the friendly smile that beamed upon her, despite the delicate hair that shone with the reflection of the green below, pale pink lips parted into a silent scream.

It was gone.

* * * * * * *

A young woman jolted upright in her bed. Her heart was pounding and she was shaking from head to toe. Green eyes blinked in the semi-darkness.

She turned to her dresser. In the shadows she could see her ribbon and it’s precious cargo was still there.

It was only a dream. Only a dream…

Heaving a rather uncomfortable sigh of relief, she climbed out of bed, tiptoeing across the cold floor towards her window. She pulled the curtains aside, revealing a beautiful garden below, and a hint of sunlight that managed to slip through the cracks in the grey clouds that loomed above.

A trace of a smile formed on her face as she turned away from the window. No matter if it rained, it was going to be a lovely day. She reached for the robe she had left on her chair, and slipped it on over her nightgown. She of thought of the gardening she must do, the flowers she must pick, which ones she would cut and sell, and of all the the people she might meet as she went down the stairs into the kitchen, where she could smell the beginnings of her mother making breakfast.

She had a good feeling about today.

procrastination at it’s finest

I know this may sound impossible, but I think I’ve been procrastinating about procrastinating. Yes, you heard me – or “saw” in this case. I haven’t written anything in days (well, that’s not completely true, a couple father’s day cards, a shopping list or two…) and I just can’t seem to motivate myself to work on my book or even this blog. I created this thing so that I could jot down random thoughts and whatnot when I didn’t feel like writing, and yet here I am, putting it off. Or I was. I’m writing now, aren’t I?

Anyway, a few random things that are completely unrelated to my WiP lest I forget:

• Taro icecream is amazing! Did you know “taros” are actually yams? I had some last night after a tasty Thai dinner. It’s bright purple in colour and has a bit of a sweet, coconutty flavour to it. I must learn how to make this from scratch at home. And then possibly sell it, if I don’t decide to keep it all for myself. Hm. And then I could create other interesting veggie flavours like sweet pepper, or carrotstick. Hmm.
• On another food-related note, I made my first cheesecake ever yesterday. I had some supervision, of course, but it was surprisingly easy. It took maybe twenty minutes to put everything together and then cover it and shove it into the fridge. That will be our Father’s Day Dessert tonight. I think I’ll take pictures… it will be a momentous occassion should it taste not half-bad.
• What is with the fascination cats have with bags? Be it plastic, paper or otherwise, whenever there is an open bag left on the ground (nevermind if something might actually be inside it) my cats will be sure to dive right in and make themselves at home. My Dad’s presents were almost ruined this way – my one cat enjoys chewing on the corner of big books…
• My cats also love to curl up or play in the sink. With the water running. One of them even tried to jump into the shower with me… an odd story, to be sure. One that I may recount later. Maybe. If I’m not procrastinating again.

last night, i had a dream

I was in front of the mirror in my bathroom, having a conversation with myself. Well, my reflection really. I don’t exactly remember what I was speaking about, but that wasn’t as significant as the fact that when I finished talking, my reflection told me I had better write everything down before I forgot. It was eerie, but at the same time my dream self wasn’t too bothered by it. Of course, by the time I woke up I had already forgotten what I was talking about in my dream, and there was nothing I could do to get myself to recall any of it. It bothered me for a little while, but then I forgot about that too. Except for the part about not wanting to forget.

The point of this story is not that I have a really bad memory (although that is very true), but that I decided I should get back into the habit of making writing down my daily musings – and there are many. Okay, so maybe it has a little bit to do with my memory… At any rate the things I’m thinking need to be written down, and I don’t like wasting paper unless I’m drawing. But that’s another story in itself.