I miss writing fiction. All I have done lately is write paper after paper after paper, the last one keeping me up until 5:30 this morning. I only had a short one today but I am still finding myself short on time. This weekend hopefully I will be able to return to The Conqueror or the found piece, anything but papers. Although I do have one narrative due on Tuesday that I wouldn't mind writing as it's very creative and very personal (on my medical issues).
Anyway, the reason I stopped in quickly before bed (gosh it's already past 1 AM!), is that earlier tonight when I was thinking of songs for a playlist for The Conqueror, I decided which song would be absolutely perfect for the story. I generally try to have a playlist of songs that relate to the narrative, but there is always one that stands above the others and becomes the one song I associate with the piece I'm writing. For Zenith it was The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights," and for The Conqueror I think that song will be "All These Things That I Have Done" by The Killers.
Still working on the rest of the playlist, but I have about 6 songs at the moment. One of them I think is theme song for Matt & Karina, which makes me very happy. The song is "In My Arms" by Plumb and it's sad, but sweet.
Maybe once I manage to pare the playlist for Zenith down a tiny bit more, I'll post it here. Until then, I must sleep and write reports. Hope to be able to get writing & stop back in here soon.
Showing posts with label the conqueror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the conqueror. Show all posts
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The Conqueror, Chapter 12; Writing Out of Order
Total word count: 16,113
Words written today: 1,030
Chapter(s): 12 (written out of order)
That's my count so far today, but I'm going to try to write more later, I just have other things to work on before I move on to chapter 14. Writing out of order can work well, like it did in this situation, but I'm not so keen on it these days. I used to always write out of order, skipping around to write whatever scene interested me that day. At the end of it all, I had these loosely associated points like a scatter plot and I had a hard time trying to find the connections between them and turn it all into a story. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why I never completely finished any novels before Zenith (which I wrote chronologically). With The Conqueror there's more leeway, because the chapters are chronologic, but told from many different perspectives. Chapters 12 and 13 begin a few minutes apart and have some overlap, so writing them in reverse order wasn't such a big deal. Still, when I finished chapter 12 I realized I needed to change something in chapter 13 so that things would make sense, because I had changed the plan as I wrote, something that always happens in my writing. So I try not to do this so often, though there are some days when I really cannot write the chapter I need to and I will jump ahead slightly just to get some words out for the day. I took a chance with it this time, banking on the fact that I could find a solution for chapter 12 later rather than sooner.
And for the record I have absolutely no idea what's happening in chapter 14 and not much else for the rest of the book, either. I really need to sit down and actually plan some of these things out. I haven't needed to do much of that before, so this is pretty rough. I am still mapless in the unknown forest.
Words written today: 1,030
Chapter(s): 12 (written out of order)
That's my count so far today, but I'm going to try to write more later, I just have other things to work on before I move on to chapter 14. Writing out of order can work well, like it did in this situation, but I'm not so keen on it these days. I used to always write out of order, skipping around to write whatever scene interested me that day. At the end of it all, I had these loosely associated points like a scatter plot and I had a hard time trying to find the connections between them and turn it all into a story. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why I never completely finished any novels before Zenith (which I wrote chronologically). With The Conqueror there's more leeway, because the chapters are chronologic, but told from many different perspectives. Chapters 12 and 13 begin a few minutes apart and have some overlap, so writing them in reverse order wasn't such a big deal. Still, when I finished chapter 12 I realized I needed to change something in chapter 13 so that things would make sense, because I had changed the plan as I wrote, something that always happens in my writing. So I try not to do this so often, though there are some days when I really cannot write the chapter I need to and I will jump ahead slightly just to get some words out for the day. I took a chance with it this time, banking on the fact that I could find a solution for chapter 12 later rather than sooner.
And for the record I have absolutely no idea what's happening in chapter 14 and not much else for the rest of the book, either. I really need to sit down and actually plan some of these things out. I haven't needed to do much of that before, so this is pretty rough. I am still mapless in the unknown forest.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Conqueror; Creating Good Characters
Total word count: 15,079
Words written today: 1,005
Chapter(s): 12 & 13 (written in reverse order)
Last night I went to an event with John Green & David Leviathan for the release of their new book Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it was a great experience. I got to hang out with a lot of great people, discuss books and writing, and I got plenty of advice and got to hear from two experienced professional writers. One question that a fan asked was "how do you come up with such great characters, are they people you know or people you wished you knew?" John's answer was that it was a little of both, that when he was younger he would imagine conversations with people in real life that he never had the courage or opportunity to speak to. Sitting there in the audience I had this moment of connection, because I do that too.
I imagine every day "what would have happened if I said this?" or "If they were still here, what would we talk about?" I spend a large portion of my life imagining conversations and not actually having them. That's what I do with my writing, it's a very good way to do the same thing without sounding like a crazy person. And in addition to reimagining people in new ways, we authors put a little of ourselves in each of our characters.
Matt, one of my characters in The Conqueror isn't much like me, he's a detective and thinks everything through and I'm a lunatic writer who does things on impulse, but there is this one little part of me that became a part of him. Matt, like myself, is the farthest thing from a morning person. There is a section in chapter 13 where I bring this up and I think it's a part that makes him more real for the reader. Being bleary-eyed in the morning is not a tragic flaw, but it is a flaw, and it makes him more believable and relatable and I like that.
Words written today: 1,005
Chapter(s): 12 & 13 (written in reverse order)
Last night I went to an event with John Green & David Leviathan for the release of their new book Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it was a great experience. I got to hang out with a lot of great people, discuss books and writing, and I got plenty of advice and got to hear from two experienced professional writers. One question that a fan asked was "how do you come up with such great characters, are they people you know or people you wished you knew?" John's answer was that it was a little of both, that when he was younger he would imagine conversations with people in real life that he never had the courage or opportunity to speak to. Sitting there in the audience I had this moment of connection, because I do that too.
I imagine every day "what would have happened if I said this?" or "If they were still here, what would we talk about?" I spend a large portion of my life imagining conversations and not actually having them. That's what I do with my writing, it's a very good way to do the same thing without sounding like a crazy person. And in addition to reimagining people in new ways, we authors put a little of ourselves in each of our characters.
Matt, one of my characters in The Conqueror isn't much like me, he's a detective and thinks everything through and I'm a lunatic writer who does things on impulse, but there is this one little part of me that became a part of him. Matt, like myself, is the farthest thing from a morning person. There is a section in chapter 13 where I bring this up and I think it's a part that makes him more real for the reader. Being bleary-eyed in the morning is not a tragic flaw, but it is a flaw, and it makes him more believable and relatable and I like that.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Conqueror; Organization is a Battle
Total word count: 13,729
Words written today: 0
Yup, zero words written today, I know. Same for yesterday. My reason for yesterday is that I had a paper & a presentation to prepare for my Colonial Literature class and I had gotten home late from work/school. My excuse today is that I spent my hour off writing this post on the marketing behind the new Twilight book instead of working on my novel. Why? Because I'm not sure where to go next.
Which brings me to my topic: organization. Not all of the work that goes into a novel is writing. Sometimes you need to stop, take a moment, and figure things out. I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head, build up from the last 6 years since I dreamed up this novel, and I don't know where half of them go anymore. There is a huge hole in my narrative, some of these plots no longer exist, some need to be taken out to spare the world. So tonight instead of writing I went down into The Archives, which is the name I have for this semi-organized mess in my room where I keep all my writing things. I have finished copies, rough drafts, edits, & random loose scraps with notes that make no sense anymore. Tonight I went through, found everything that related to The Conqueror and refreshed my memory on everything. Also in my room I have a bulletin board with all the major plot points from the original idea still up there from 4ish years ago. It makes me wince to look at some times. I took all the scraps & I typed them up into two doc files on my laptop, for characters & misc ideas. I also have a paper from earlier tonight covered in questions about where am I going or notes on what things I definitely need to work towards.
I haven't figured out much, but it's a work in process. Hopefully this weekend and next Monday (no school!) I can do more work on these. For right now, I need to work on the outline for my research project in Ethics, and tomorrow is devoted to a literary review of all my sources for Comm Theory. College is not all parties, my friends.
EDIT: I finished my outline fairly quickly & had about 12 minutes before bedtime. I still don't know what's going to happen next (it's less a matter of what will be in the chapter as which chapter is next, narrator-wise) but I didn't want to spend a lot of time figuring it out, so I put in a blank chapter and moved past it. This was a chapter I had almost forgotten until I went through The Archives, but one I think needs to say. So I wrote 224 words before midnight & before I got word blocked.
Help: What is the word for when someone goes "aargh?" Like out of frustration? There is a word for it. It is a word I can't think of. Please to be helping me with it.
Total word count: 13,953
Words written today: 224
Words written today: 0
Yup, zero words written today, I know. Same for yesterday. My reason for yesterday is that I had a paper & a presentation to prepare for my Colonial Literature class and I had gotten home late from work/school. My excuse today is that I spent my hour off writing this post on the marketing behind the new Twilight book instead of working on my novel. Why? Because I'm not sure where to go next.
Which brings me to my topic: organization. Not all of the work that goes into a novel is writing. Sometimes you need to stop, take a moment, and figure things out. I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head, build up from the last 6 years since I dreamed up this novel, and I don't know where half of them go anymore. There is a huge hole in my narrative, some of these plots no longer exist, some need to be taken out to spare the world. So tonight instead of writing I went down into The Archives, which is the name I have for this semi-organized mess in my room where I keep all my writing things. I have finished copies, rough drafts, edits, & random loose scraps with notes that make no sense anymore. Tonight I went through, found everything that related to The Conqueror and refreshed my memory on everything. Also in my room I have a bulletin board with all the major plot points from the original idea still up there from 4ish years ago. It makes me wince to look at some times. I took all the scraps & I typed them up into two doc files on my laptop, for characters & misc ideas. I also have a paper from earlier tonight covered in questions about where am I going or notes on what things I definitely need to work towards.
I haven't figured out much, but it's a work in process. Hopefully this weekend and next Monday (no school!) I can do more work on these. For right now, I need to work on the outline for my research project in Ethics, and tomorrow is devoted to a literary review of all my sources for Comm Theory. College is not all parties, my friends.
EDIT: I finished my outline fairly quickly & had about 12 minutes before bedtime. I still don't know what's going to happen next (it's less a matter of what will be in the chapter as which chapter is next, narrator-wise) but I didn't want to spend a lot of time figuring it out, so I put in a blank chapter and moved past it. This was a chapter I had almost forgotten until I went through The Archives, but one I think needs to say. So I wrote 224 words before midnight & before I got word blocked.
Help: What is the word for when someone goes "aargh?" Like out of frustration? There is a word for it. It is a word I can't think of. Please to be helping me with it.
Total word count: 13,953
Words written today: 224
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Conqueror, Chapter 11; My Novels are Ambitious
Total word count: 13,231
Words written today: 2,005 (almost makes up for yesterday!)
Talking with my best friends today, it has been pointed out to me that my novels are big, ambitious, and have a broad scope. I both agree and disagree with those. I don't necessarily think that my novels are big, but they certainly have a large cast, with multiple narrators (or at least The Conqueror does). There is no definite hero or main character, there is a cast of primary and secondary characters. And yes, it has a broad scope, but these aren't worlds hanging in the balance. The issues would still be there, whether or not my characters were involved in them. In Zenith, Rob was merely a catalyst for something bigger than himself, but the situation predated him. In The Conqueror the characters are involved in the resistance effort, but the narrators, for the most part, are not the ones doing the fighting. They are related to the people who are, or in love with them, or tied to them in ways they can't quite explain. These are the people who are hurt outside the field, not by bullets, but by worry and loss, the people whose lives change and can't do anything about it. It's about them and it's about more than them. So, yes, I have a broader scope than other YA novels.
But are they ambitious? I'm not so sure. I'm not saying that I don't hope to accomplish something with my novels, because that would be me lying to you. I do want to do something. I don't think for a second that I could stop a war or end racism or keep the world turning, but I do hope that maybe, just for a second, you'll think about these things. Think about what you're doing and how you're doing it and what message that sends. I write about wars and diversity and friends and family and love and loss because these are a part of our lives. That's not grandiose, as one person said, and I don't think it's ambitious, either. These are things we live through every day, and maybe it's on a bigger scale, but that doesn't make it any different. I just want you to look at the bigger picture, see yourself as something far more infinite than you could imagine. Maybe that's ambitious, but it's possible. That's what I write about.
I won't always leave quotes, but I just found this one via sheismargo's tumblr:
Words written today: 2,005 (almost makes up for yesterday!)
Talking with my best friends today, it has been pointed out to me that my novels are big, ambitious, and have a broad scope. I both agree and disagree with those. I don't necessarily think that my novels are big, but they certainly have a large cast, with multiple narrators (or at least The Conqueror does). There is no definite hero or main character, there is a cast of primary and secondary characters. And yes, it has a broad scope, but these aren't worlds hanging in the balance. The issues would still be there, whether or not my characters were involved in them. In Zenith, Rob was merely a catalyst for something bigger than himself, but the situation predated him. In The Conqueror the characters are involved in the resistance effort, but the narrators, for the most part, are not the ones doing the fighting. They are related to the people who are, or in love with them, or tied to them in ways they can't quite explain. These are the people who are hurt outside the field, not by bullets, but by worry and loss, the people whose lives change and can't do anything about it. It's about them and it's about more than them. So, yes, I have a broader scope than other YA novels.
But are they ambitious? I'm not so sure. I'm not saying that I don't hope to accomplish something with my novels, because that would be me lying to you. I do want to do something. I don't think for a second that I could stop a war or end racism or keep the world turning, but I do hope that maybe, just for a second, you'll think about these things. Think about what you're doing and how you're doing it and what message that sends. I write about wars and diversity and friends and family and love and loss because these are a part of our lives. That's not grandiose, as one person said, and I don't think it's ambitious, either. These are things we live through every day, and maybe it's on a bigger scale, but that doesn't make it any different. I just want you to look at the bigger picture, see yourself as something far more infinite than you could imagine. Maybe that's ambitious, but it's possible. That's what I write about.
I won't always leave quotes, but I just found this one via sheismargo's tumblr:
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Conqueror, Chapter 10; The Unmarked Trail
Overall word count: 11,269
Words written today: 107
Oh look, I've made it to day two! That's good. However, I fear I may be far too exhausted to write much tonight. Actually, I know I am. I'm heading to bed early tonight. All of tomorrow is dedicated to writing and laundry.
I've found that there comes I time in every novel when suddenly you look around and realize you have absolutely no idea where to go anymore. You had a set of directions, or a map, but they only led you so far in your journey. The second page was missing, or an area was torn off by accident. Maybe you got lost, maybe you just hadn't planned this far, whatever the case, you're not sure where you're going. During Zenith this came somewhere around chapter 27, but it seems to be coming far sooner in The Conqueror, in chapter 10. I know what I'm doing for this chapter, and I know what I'm doing for the next one. After that? After that it's a loose array of random plot points and no clear pattern anywhere. The points I have are nonessential or free-floating and I'm not sure what to do with them. I have an end in mind, but no idea how to get there.
The Unmarked Trail is not all bad, though. Maybe you're not sure which road to take, but that just gives you the freedom to take any road. So when you reach this point, take chances, push your way through the brush and make your own way. If your only goal is to make it out of the forest, then you can go in any direction and still be okay.
This reminds me of a quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which I will leave you with:
Words written today: 107
Oh look, I've made it to day two! That's good. However, I fear I may be far too exhausted to write much tonight. Actually, I know I am. I'm heading to bed early tonight. All of tomorrow is dedicated to writing and laundry.
I've found that there comes I time in every novel when suddenly you look around and realize you have absolutely no idea where to go anymore. You had a set of directions, or a map, but they only led you so far in your journey. The second page was missing, or an area was torn off by accident. Maybe you got lost, maybe you just hadn't planned this far, whatever the case, you're not sure where you're going. During Zenith this came somewhere around chapter 27, but it seems to be coming far sooner in The Conqueror, in chapter 10. I know what I'm doing for this chapter, and I know what I'm doing for the next one. After that? After that it's a loose array of random plot points and no clear pattern anywhere. The points I have are nonessential or free-floating and I'm not sure what to do with them. I have an end in mind, but no idea how to get there.
The Unmarked Trail is not all bad, though. Maybe you're not sure which road to take, but that just gives you the freedom to take any road. So when you reach this point, take chances, push your way through the brush and make your own way. If your only goal is to make it out of the forest, then you can go in any direction and still be okay.
This reminds me of a quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which I will leave you with:
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked.
Where do you want to go? was his response.
I don't know, Alice answered.
Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Conqueror, Chapter 9
Overall word count: 11162
Words written today: 625
Fridays are always hit or miss writing days for me, generally because I tend to write more late at night and I don't have that option on Fridays. I work at 6:30 on Saturday mornings, so a reasonable bedtime the night before is a must. Today I managed 625 words which is not fantastic, but far better than anything else this week. I went three days without writing a word, partially because of the crazy amount of schoolwork I had to complete (6 pages of papers just last night) and partially because I've been having a really rotten week. And by really rotten I mean "exceptionally exhausting" and "terribly trying" and other such alliterations. Getting back to writing, accomplishing something, felt good, like visiting and old friend or watching a favourite movie. (Which I also did tonight by introducing my best friend to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, but that's beside the point)
In those 625 words I finished the 9th chapter of The Conqueror and introduced one of my favourite characters, William. He's a bit crazy, usually drinking, and generally hilarious. He used to work in the palace, before the Overthrow, and now he works for the resistance. If you've read my novel Zenith, or heard me talk about it, you might be thinking that he's very similar to Fagan/Gramps, and in some ways he is, but in many others he's very different. Still, I think those two would get along rather well, especially over a good meal.
Words written today: 625
Fridays are always hit or miss writing days for me, generally because I tend to write more late at night and I don't have that option on Fridays. I work at 6:30 on Saturday mornings, so a reasonable bedtime the night before is a must. Today I managed 625 words which is not fantastic, but far better than anything else this week. I went three days without writing a word, partially because of the crazy amount of schoolwork I had to complete (6 pages of papers just last night) and partially because I've been having a really rotten week. And by really rotten I mean "exceptionally exhausting" and "terribly trying" and other such alliterations. Getting back to writing, accomplishing something, felt good, like visiting and old friend or watching a favourite movie. (Which I also did tonight by introducing my best friend to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, but that's beside the point)
In those 625 words I finished the 9th chapter of The Conqueror and introduced one of my favourite characters, William. He's a bit crazy, usually drinking, and generally hilarious. He used to work in the palace, before the Overthrow, and now he works for the resistance. If you've read my novel Zenith, or heard me talk about it, you might be thinking that he's very similar to Fagan/Gramps, and in some ways he is, but in many others he's very different. Still, I think those two would get along rather well, especially over a good meal.
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