I wrote 1K today! *happy dance* The only problem is that the scene I wrote is something that took place ten years prior to the book. lol How's that for irony? I finally manage to write something and it's not even anything I can get real wordcount points for. *sigh* But regardless, I think that writing this scene is helping me work out some kinks in my MC for WIP#3.
She had a very earth-shattering event happen to her ten years ago and it's helping me get a handle on her psyche to get it all written out. It's one thing to say, "When she was eighteen years old, such and such happened. Blah blah blah." It's another thing to actually write it out and discover firsthand (okay, first person) the details of what happened. I learn who my MC was back then and how much of a contrast that is to who she is now.
Oh, and the songs that were on repeat during the writing of this?
Olafur Arnalds: 1440 and Raein
I think you can listen to Raein here. Click on Day 2 to listen to it. And you can even download it! I sure did! ;-) It even gives you directions on how to. And the low-res version sure sounds good enough for me. I guess my ears aren't discerning enough.
Anyway, Raein is an incredibly beautiful, incredibly sad song IMO and thus, perfectly suited for this scene. Well, I just had to post my success, what little there is to be had for today. I don't get to update a word count meter, but oh well. I'll take what I can get I guess. :)
*edit* Strike that, 1800 words not a mere 1000. Bam, said the lady (yes, that is Nathan Fillion verbage there)!
About Me
I'm a third year pharmacy student and aspiring writer.
Procrastination and holding out on the reader
It's been entirely too long since I've actually posted a "real" blog. That goes for any progress in writing or really, anything of interest. I mean, the cat .gif and video are perfectly entertaining and still make me laugh every time... but the blog has been sparse as of late. I wish I could say it's been because I've been hard at work on school matters or at least getting some writing done. Such is not the case. :( I will give myself forty lashes for that, don't worry. While I could ramble on for a long time about how frustrated I am with 3 WIPs, I actually HAVE something in particular to talk about today...
I just finished Robert Ludlum's The Matarese Circle a couple nights ago (freaking finally!) and I noticed something that happens every once in a while in books. It's a device that always gets on my nerves as a reader... but not necessarily in a bad way. The device? Say the MC has some dialogue with someone who's finally bringing the plot threads and story together. It's a book-making moment. The identity of the villain is revealed. The place a hostage was taken. Something vitally important. And what does the author do? In Ludlum's case (I'm paraphrasing here). "Bray asked the identity of the man in the picture." / "She told him."
My reaction to these devices? Every single time, without fail: "WTF?!?!?! TELL ME!!!! I don't care if she told him. I'm the one that needs to know here! Hello! Faithfully been reading for like 500 pages!"
See, my problem is I'm pretty historically inaccurate at guessing the secret in any story. CSI? I think I've guessed right maybe 2 episodes out of hundreds. My track record with books isn't much better. Now, in The Matarese Circle's case I actually knew who was in the picture. But he'd done the same thing before in the book.
The thing is, this is a very valid plot device... one that never occurs to me when I'm writing. I'd keep typing on thinking, "Well, golly gee, I wish there was a way for my MC to know this piece of information, but then the audience will know too!"
I guess my question is this: If you write, have you ever thought of incorporating (or actually done it) this "holding out on the reader" thing. Or, if you read, what's your reaction to this type of thing? Does it make you frustrated? Or do you like it?
Oh, and do you know of any real name for this? It's not a cliffhanger. It's not misdirection. It's just... not telling. Anywho... I guess I should get back to studying now, though my motivation to do so is pitifully low. *trudges off*
I just finished Robert Ludlum's The Matarese Circle a couple nights ago (freaking finally!) and I noticed something that happens every once in a while in books. It's a device that always gets on my nerves as a reader... but not necessarily in a bad way. The device? Say the MC has some dialogue with someone who's finally bringing the plot threads and story together. It's a book-making moment. The identity of the villain is revealed. The place a hostage was taken. Something vitally important. And what does the author do? In Ludlum's case (I'm paraphrasing here). "Bray asked the identity of the man in the picture." / "She told him."
My reaction to these devices? Every single time, without fail: "WTF?!?!?! TELL ME!!!! I don't care if she told him. I'm the one that needs to know here! Hello! Faithfully been reading for like 500 pages!"
See, my problem is I'm pretty historically inaccurate at guessing the secret in any story. CSI? I think I've guessed right maybe 2 episodes out of hundreds. My track record with books isn't much better. Now, in The Matarese Circle's case I actually knew who was in the picture. But he'd done the same thing before in the book.
The thing is, this is a very valid plot device... one that never occurs to me when I'm writing. I'd keep typing on thinking, "Well, golly gee, I wish there was a way for my MC to know this piece of information, but then the audience will know too!"
I guess my question is this: If you write, have you ever thought of incorporating (or actually done it) this "holding out on the reader" thing. Or, if you read, what's your reaction to this type of thing? Does it make you frustrated? Or do you like it?
Oh, and do you know of any real name for this? It's not a cliffhanger. It's not misdirection. It's just... not telling. Anywho... I guess I should get back to studying now, though my motivation to do so is pitifully low. *trudges off*
The muse has released me... I think
I've never been in quite a situation like this. Three completely separate works-in-progress. I think my muse has finally realized that. She had a chokehold on my creativity for the past several weeks, demanding I figure out the main plot of WIP#3. I sort of did. Not all of the details, but I got more figured out than I had known before.
The problem was, the narrative wasn't writing itself. Nowhere near as well as Angie's voice in WIP#2 (aka Reaper). So is it destined to be written third person? Who knows. I'll take that as it comes. What's interesting to me now is that Alex's world is starting to come back to me, likely thanks to BBC's Being Human. Filled with beautiful accents that I adore and a tortured vampire that could beat Edward's ass any day. And in his character, I saw a little bit of Kade. I'd forgotten how much I missed writing him! Ever since I finished the VERY rough draft of Untitled 1, I've been pretty much removed from their world. I'd written about 7.5K in Untitled 2 of Alex's world, making that story WIP#1.
Confused? Let me recap:
- WIP#1 is Alex's world complete with murder, intrigue, vampires and werewolves.
- WIP#2 is Angie's world complete with angels, demons, rogues, and a battle over Sin City
- WIP #3 is Sam's world complete with a chaos-wielding assassin, deception, and a high school sweetheart who thought Sam died ten years ago when she went missing...
The problem is, all three of these things are immensely interesting to me and I want to write all of them. Could I be one of those people capable of writing multiple stories at once? Do I have writing ADD? Who knows. Maybe this is the solution... rotating between WIPs. Regardless, I'm taking advantage of the reprieve the muse has alotted me. If she'll let me work on Alex and crew, then what am I waiting for, hm? Off to see what writing I can get done today. And studying. Argh.
And yes, I have tweaked this template. Made it a little more colorful. Played with fonts, etc. Would help if I knew more html, but I'm happy with what I have so far. :)
The problem was, the narrative wasn't writing itself. Nowhere near as well as Angie's voice in WIP#2 (aka Reaper). So is it destined to be written third person? Who knows. I'll take that as it comes. What's interesting to me now is that Alex's world is starting to come back to me, likely thanks to BBC's Being Human. Filled with beautiful accents that I adore and a tortured vampire that could beat Edward's ass any day. And in his character, I saw a little bit of Kade. I'd forgotten how much I missed writing him! Ever since I finished the VERY rough draft of Untitled 1, I've been pretty much removed from their world. I'd written about 7.5K in Untitled 2 of Alex's world, making that story WIP#1.
Confused? Let me recap:
- WIP#1 is Alex's world complete with murder, intrigue, vampires and werewolves.
- WIP#2 is Angie's world complete with angels, demons, rogues, and a battle over Sin City
- WIP #3 is Sam's world complete with a chaos-wielding assassin, deception, and a high school sweetheart who thought Sam died ten years ago when she went missing...
The problem is, all three of these things are immensely interesting to me and I want to write all of them. Could I be one of those people capable of writing multiple stories at once? Do I have writing ADD? Who knows. Maybe this is the solution... rotating between WIPs. Regardless, I'm taking advantage of the reprieve the muse has alotted me. If she'll let me work on Alex and crew, then what am I waiting for, hm? Off to see what writing I can get done today. And studying. Argh.
And yes, I have tweaked this template. Made it a little more colorful. Played with fonts, etc. Would help if I knew more html, but I'm happy with what I have so far. :)
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