Saturday, December 18, 2010
100 Page Hump
I am sitting high atop the 100 page hump. Another 700 words or so and I will be at page 101. I can feel some of that tingly good writing juice slowly defrosting my fingertips. I'm sorta super excited.
Critical Mass
(Taken from Room to Write by Bonni Goldberg)
Prompt: Turn your internal critical voice into a character. What is its gender? How does it look? How does it smell? Who are its favorite writers and why?
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"Most of the methods of training the conscious side of the writer--the craftsman and the critic in him--are actually hostile to the good of the artist's side; and the converse of this proposition is likewise true. But it is possible to train both sides of the character to work in harmony; and the first step in that education is to consider that you must teach yourself not as though you were one person, but two." ~~ Dorothea Brande
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My inner voice is female. I imagine she is reminiscent of old Hollywood and picture her in a sparkling gown atop a piano with a glass of whiskey at her side. When I hear her voice, it is a bit smoky, raspy, but poised, always pointing out what I first assume is irrelevant but actually ends up meaning the most to me. She has a cigarette wand, much like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, although I often think it is more for show than actual use.
She has sleepy eyes, the kind that were so seductive in 1930's Hollywood. She's a golden blonde with short hair in the traditional deep set fingerwaves set close to the head. Now that I think about it, I think she has become Tallulah Bankhead's image in my subconscious. She is mostly quiet, choosing to nip casual remarks at my writing, but the kind of remarks that make you question every word before and every word after. She is always serious, her facial expressions rarely changing, unless a scandalous quip or reference brings a smirk to her face. She makes no excuses for what she says or how she feels. Often there is the scent of delicate perfume wafting around her, mingling with the smell of cigarette smoke and stale liquor. She often looks sad or lonely but she is neither. And the only time she is quiet is when writer's block has a stranglehold on my internal pen. Then she chooses to luxuriate in expensive gowns and mink coats, effortlessly sipping at the glass of scotch at her side, an all knowing expression behind her eyes. It's almost as if she is happy by my silence, but there is some anxiety in her gaze, as if she is silently cheering me on, waiting for the next line to dissect and scrutinize.
Her favorite author would be VC Andrews, a woman who lived a quiet life but wrote about such dark and twisted events with a poise and flow that totally enveloped you in that character's world.
Prompt: Turn your internal critical voice into a character. What is its gender? How does it look? How does it smell? Who are its favorite writers and why?
********************************
"Most of the methods of training the conscious side of the writer--the craftsman and the critic in him--are actually hostile to the good of the artist's side; and the converse of this proposition is likewise true. But it is possible to train both sides of the character to work in harmony; and the first step in that education is to consider that you must teach yourself not as though you were one person, but two." ~~ Dorothea Brande
********************************
My inner voice is female. I imagine she is reminiscent of old Hollywood and picture her in a sparkling gown atop a piano with a glass of whiskey at her side. When I hear her voice, it is a bit smoky, raspy, but poised, always pointing out what I first assume is irrelevant but actually ends up meaning the most to me. She has a cigarette wand, much like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, although I often think it is more for show than actual use.
She has sleepy eyes, the kind that were so seductive in 1930's Hollywood. She's a golden blonde with short hair in the traditional deep set fingerwaves set close to the head. Now that I think about it, I think she has become Tallulah Bankhead's image in my subconscious. She is mostly quiet, choosing to nip casual remarks at my writing, but the kind of remarks that make you question every word before and every word after. She is always serious, her facial expressions rarely changing, unless a scandalous quip or reference brings a smirk to her face. She makes no excuses for what she says or how she feels. Often there is the scent of delicate perfume wafting around her, mingling with the smell of cigarette smoke and stale liquor. She often looks sad or lonely but she is neither. And the only time she is quiet is when writer's block has a stranglehold on my internal pen. Then she chooses to luxuriate in expensive gowns and mink coats, effortlessly sipping at the glass of scotch at her side, an all knowing expression behind her eyes. It's almost as if she is happy by my silence, but there is some anxiety in her gaze, as if she is silently cheering me on, waiting for the next line to dissect and scrutinize.
Her favorite author would be VC Andrews, a woman who lived a quiet life but wrote about such dark and twisted events with a poise and flow that totally enveloped you in that character's world.
Good Afternoon
Peek-a-boo!
Spent the day being lazy. Christian spent the night with my mom, Heather took Destiny with her to spend the weekend with friends, and Joe is at work. I have the house all to myself faced with the decision to keep watching the same Christmas shows I've seen a hundred times before, or actually get some writing done. As I'm typing up this blog post, I'm watching Ralphie in Christmas Story sitting down at the radio after his father displays the leg lamp in the window facing the street. As soon as this post is published, I swear I'm shutting the television down and getting my journal out for notes on Chapter Ten.
Oh, after Christmas I'm getting a haircut. I think I want to go a couple inches shorter and let my bangs grow out, because as my son says, I look weird with bangs ... haha
Spent the day being lazy. Christian spent the night with my mom, Heather took Destiny with her to spend the weekend with friends, and Joe is at work. I have the house all to myself faced with the decision to keep watching the same Christmas shows I've seen a hundred times before, or actually get some writing done. As I'm typing up this blog post, I'm watching Ralphie in Christmas Story sitting down at the radio after his father displays the leg lamp in the window facing the street. As soon as this post is published, I swear I'm shutting the television down and getting my journal out for notes on Chapter Ten.
Oh, after Christmas I'm getting a haircut. I think I want to go a couple inches shorter and let my bangs grow out, because as my son says, I look weird with bangs ... haha
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Introducing ... Gennadi Kozlov
It's no secret (or perhaps it should be) that I am totally and completely in love with Evgeni Malkin. Yeah, I know, he's not exactly the best looking guy to take up a Penguins roster spot, but he's my hockey crush. You might have guessed he is the inspiration behind NOPB in the first place. I wanted to write a story with a hockey backdrop and thus the birth of Gennadi Kozlov (Gennadi because it is similar to Malkin's nickname, Geno and Kozlov for the reason I loved hockey to begin with so many years ago, Viktor Kozlov)
Side note: You can't tell out there in the interwebs, but all these Russian names have that red squiggly line underneath them as if they are spelled incorrectly and it is driving my inner writer insane.
Anyways, I did a character interview for Gennadi as well, trying not to let the influence for his character come screaming out. Also, as a Pens fan it killed me that Gennadi has to be a Bruin but I think it was important to keep that theme of the story where she runs from one extreme (the far east coast) to an opposite extreme (the far west coast) and back again. Perhaps in the third installment, Tallulah will be faced with a job offer in Pittsburgh and with Kozlov retired, maybe they will find themselves in my wish-it-were-mine hometown.
Introducing ... Evgeni Malkin as Gennadi Kozlov
And my weak Paint.Net skills to showcase my favorite self-created couple ....
Side note: You can't tell out there in the interwebs, but all these Russian names have that red squiggly line underneath them as if they are spelled incorrectly and it is driving my inner writer insane.
Anyways, I did a character interview for Gennadi as well, trying not to let the influence for his character come screaming out. Also, as a Pens fan it killed me that Gennadi has to be a Bruin but I think it was important to keep that theme of the story where she runs from one extreme (the far east coast) to an opposite extreme (the far west coast) and back again. Perhaps in the third installment, Tallulah will be faced with a job offer in Pittsburgh and with Kozlov retired, maybe they will find themselves in my wish-it-were-mine hometown.
Introducing ... Evgeni Malkin as Gennadi Kozlov
And my weak Paint.Net skills to showcase my favorite self-created couple ....
Introducing .... Doctor Tallulah Elizabeth Madison Kozlov
I'm sure that every writer has a different process for imagining their characters. My way is to do a character interview with them. It's a lengthy process that has very personal, deep questions mixed with fun, intrinsically useless questions. It helps me get a feel for who the character is, what makes the character laugh, what makes the character smile, what kind of secondary character would make a good best friend for this primary character.
I also need visual assistance too. Not that I don't already have a picture in my head of what the character looks like. I start out with generic details like hair color, eye color, height and weight. Then I do some Googling until I come up with a photograph that instantly screams that characters name.
When I first started the NOPB story with Tallulah I had a rough idea of what I was looking for. She would be tall, curvy, very dark haired, strong and smart but a little internally insecure. My first thought was Sara Ramirez from Grey's Anatomy, but that seemed too mirrored of the character, especially since Tallulah is a doctor.
I found this photograph and I just knew, when I saw it, that she was Tallulah. Not exactly, but mostly, and it would be a great visual aid.
Her real life name is Christina Schmidt and she was an actress on Degrassi several years ago, but now seems to be a plus sized model. But I saw this picture and I thought her image was much the same as I envisioned Tallulah. She is beautiful, but not "Hollywood" either. She looks very strong and sure of herself, but there is still enough youth and innocence in her eyes to imagine she isn't quite as sure of herself as she should be.
So there you have it, Doctor Tallulah Elizabeth Madison Kozlov.
If you had to visually assign a Googled photo to one of your favorite main characters who would it be and why?
I also need visual assistance too. Not that I don't already have a picture in my head of what the character looks like. I start out with generic details like hair color, eye color, height and weight. Then I do some Googling until I come up with a photograph that instantly screams that characters name.
When I first started the NOPB story with Tallulah I had a rough idea of what I was looking for. She would be tall, curvy, very dark haired, strong and smart but a little internally insecure. My first thought was Sara Ramirez from Grey's Anatomy, but that seemed too mirrored of the character, especially since Tallulah is a doctor.
I found this photograph and I just knew, when I saw it, that she was Tallulah. Not exactly, but mostly, and it would be a great visual aid.
Her real life name is Christina Schmidt and she was an actress on Degrassi several years ago, but now seems to be a plus sized model. But I saw this picture and I thought her image was much the same as I envisioned Tallulah. She is beautiful, but not "Hollywood" either. She looks very strong and sure of herself, but there is still enough youth and innocence in her eyes to imagine she isn't quite as sure of herself as she should be.
So there you have it, Doctor Tallulah Elizabeth Madison Kozlov.
If you had to visually assign a Googled photo to one of your favorite main characters who would it be and why?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
SCREAMING
Right now, I want to scream 349 expletives at a familial relation. She has me completely and utterly annoyed. Perhaps because my team lost tonight. Perhaps because she grates on my nerves like a kitchen knife on a major artery. The woman is almost 40. Does she seriously need to play high school games? I feel like I'm on the verge of combusting (is that even a word?).
Tomorrow, when she comes to pick up the baby, I will hold my tongue. Unless she says one thing out of the way. And then the fight will begin and I know we will both say things we can't take back, but honestly, it wouldn't bother me if I never saw/heard/dealt with her again. Yeah, I know. Not very holiday spirit of me, but I don't really care.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Since I have to get up with the baby at 6am, I should get to bed.
Tomorrow, when she comes to pick up the baby, I will hold my tongue. Unless she says one thing out of the way. And then the fight will begin and I know we will both say things we can't take back, but honestly, it wouldn't bother me if I never saw/heard/dealt with her again. Yeah, I know. Not very holiday spirit of me, but I don't really care.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Since I have to get up with the baby at 6am, I should get to bed.
Monday, December 13, 2010
*Happy Dances* and Other Internet Actions Depicted Within Asterisks
Today, I do a *happy dance* and *rugby tackle* anyone around, and possibly *blow kisses* to unsuspecting strangers who pass in front of my kitchen window, probably still recalling my post about heaving stray cats, but I think that's another blog post on another blog from long ago.
What makes me do actions depicted within asterisks? Well, today I finished Chapter Nine of Penalty Killer. I don't have any notes for a Chapter ten, but I'm on the abyss of 100 pages, which really makes me feel incredible. I have a generic idea of where Chapter Ten goes, but I don't quite have the details hammered out. This draft is so much more detailed than the first draft so I'm feeling like I'm writing a completely different story even though I'm not.
My plan to write an entire day will be a little bit impeded tomorrow since a.) Christian has a two hour snow delay for school and b.) we have house guests and bitter family drama ... you know the kind you only see on daytime soaps and think to yourself, this stuff doesn't really happen and it's so stupid. Well, it is stupid, but it does indeed happen.
I'm hoping we can put our collective brain powers together and figure something more permanent out in the light of a new day.
Oh, and keep your fingers crossed for no snow on Monday and Tuesday. I have been wanting to catch a Penguins game with my mom since the season started and finally, a game will be on tv in our area, but I refuse to drive in the snow on back country roads, especially in the darkness of late night so I need some cosmically collective good vibes sent my way.
What makes me do actions depicted within asterisks? Well, today I finished Chapter Nine of Penalty Killer. I don't have any notes for a Chapter ten, but I'm on the abyss of 100 pages, which really makes me feel incredible. I have a generic idea of where Chapter Ten goes, but I don't quite have the details hammered out. This draft is so much more detailed than the first draft so I'm feeling like I'm writing a completely different story even though I'm not.
My plan to write an entire day will be a little bit impeded tomorrow since a.) Christian has a two hour snow delay for school and b.) we have house guests and bitter family drama ... you know the kind you only see on daytime soaps and think to yourself, this stuff doesn't really happen and it's so stupid. Well, it is stupid, but it does indeed happen.
I'm hoping we can put our collective brain powers together and figure something more permanent out in the light of a new day.
Oh, and keep your fingers crossed for no snow on Monday and Tuesday. I have been wanting to catch a Penguins game with my mom since the season started and finally, a game will be on tv in our area, but I refuse to drive in the snow on back country roads, especially in the darkness of late night so I need some cosmically collective good vibes sent my way.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Busy Saturday
Today, Christian and I woke up late, but my excuse is that I didn't get to bed until 4am anyways, so technically, I got just the right amount of sleep. Anyway, I had planned on procrastinating the Christmas shopping that needs to be done, with a plethora of excuses that includes such classics as "I only have a few more people to buy for", and "I'll wait for a less rainy/snowy/cold day of the week". Since this is the Midwest, a less snowy/rainy/cold day of the week in December isn't likely.
So, we bundled up on this upper 30/lower 40 degree day and valiantly decided to get the shopping done. I had three people to buy for; my mother, my stepfather, and my brother. Getting to the mall wasn't a bad trip. It took a little longer than usual, but we made it without trouble. Went to Kohl's, looking for mother type gifts and stood in line for a little over 15 minutes for one purchase. Got back out to the car, fought for a new parking space at another store, and clawed our way inside.
This store was quite a bit more crowded and busy, with far less polite people, but we got all our shopping done. We came home, I fixed breakfast for lunch and then we wrapped presents. Christian had several gifts of his own to wrap from the Secret Santa Shop at school. We watched The Santa Clause on ABC Family as I waited for my game to come on (Go Penguins!). Um, why does Santa deliver presents to all these children and their parents never notice? We then decided to try out some homemade chocolate chip cookies, you know, because we want to get it right for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Anyway, at 7pm I watched the Penguins take on the Sabres. Good game. Lots of emotion, lots of goals, lots of scraps-that-could-have-been-good-fights-if-only. The Pens win 5-2 in Buffalo and extend their winning streak to 12 games in a row, as well as Crosby's point getting streak to something like 19 games in a row. Would be awesome if we could get another eight wins in a row to beat the 1993 Penguins record of 19 wins in a row.
Oh, but if I go off on a Penguins/hockey tangent we might be here all night, so I'll just move right along.
Christian and I watched the mini-marathon of Ghost Adventures, one of his favorite shows. We tried to scare Joe when he came home, hiding in the dark, but of course he had to be all manly and try to scare us instead.
All in all, it was a wonderful day!
So, we bundled up on this upper 30/lower 40 degree day and valiantly decided to get the shopping done. I had three people to buy for; my mother, my stepfather, and my brother. Getting to the mall wasn't a bad trip. It took a little longer than usual, but we made it without trouble. Went to Kohl's, looking for mother type gifts and stood in line for a little over 15 minutes for one purchase. Got back out to the car, fought for a new parking space at another store, and clawed our way inside.
This store was quite a bit more crowded and busy, with far less polite people, but we got all our shopping done. We came home, I fixed breakfast for lunch and then we wrapped presents. Christian had several gifts of his own to wrap from the Secret Santa Shop at school. We watched The Santa Clause on ABC Family as I waited for my game to come on (Go Penguins!). Um, why does Santa deliver presents to all these children and their parents never notice? We then decided to try out some homemade chocolate chip cookies, you know, because we want to get it right for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Anyway, at 7pm I watched the Penguins take on the Sabres. Good game. Lots of emotion, lots of goals, lots of scraps-that-could-have-been-good-fights-if-only. The Pens win 5-2 in Buffalo and extend their winning streak to 12 games in a row, as well as Crosby's point getting streak to something like 19 games in a row. Would be awesome if we could get another eight wins in a row to beat the 1993 Penguins record of 19 wins in a row.
Oh, but if I go off on a Penguins/hockey tangent we might be here all night, so I'll just move right along.
Christian and I watched the mini-marathon of Ghost Adventures, one of his favorite shows. We tried to scare Joe when he came home, hiding in the dark, but of course he had to be all manly and try to scare us instead.
All in all, it was a wonderful day!
Penalty Killer Update
Worked on Chapter Nine today, well, kinda currently working on Chapter Nine. Wrote eight full pages today that I feel really good about. I'm at page 95, lingering on the cusp of a page 96. I think once I get over the 100 page bump, things will pick back up again.
I'm hoping to get a little writing done tomorrow and spend the day working on my writing Monday.
I'm hoping to get a little writing done tomorrow and spend the day working on my writing Monday.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
My Writing
Perhaps I need to buckle down, disconnect from the web, and seriously set my mind to work. I cannot sit down at this computer with my PK document open. I feel bad when I look at it and I swear I've never had writer's block this bad before. I actually never have writer's block. There are always plots, schemes and character voices running around in my thoughts. My usual problem is putting too much time into my stories and neglecting my real life world. I don't know what this funk is or how to get out of it but maybe I need to spend a day working on prompts.
When I go to bed, I lay in bed thinking of these brilliant scenes or dialogue exchanges but the thought of getting out of bed to write them is intimidating. And in the morning when I wake up, all that motivation is gone. It's like my mind shuts down when I open the document.
Today, the only writing I've done is the notes I took for Chapter Nine. I wonder if I need to put Tallulah and Gennadi away for a while, and focus on something else. Maybe it isn't the writing itself. Maybe it's the story.
When I go to bed, I lay in bed thinking of these brilliant scenes or dialogue exchanges but the thought of getting out of bed to write them is intimidating. And in the morning when I wake up, all that motivation is gone. It's like my mind shuts down when I open the document.
Today, the only writing I've done is the notes I took for Chapter Nine. I wonder if I need to put Tallulah and Gennadi away for a while, and focus on something else. Maybe it isn't the writing itself. Maybe it's the story.
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