Another year gone and its time to look back on the blog’s past. This is my second full year of blogging and I have to say that it’s been just as fun and informative as last year. There are a few things I’ve noticed, and a plan for future blog entries but let’s get right to the important part.
Thanks to everyone who’s been reading and commenting on my blog. I really appreciate it. I know most of you have many other blogs you can and do read, but I appreciate that you are still reading mine and providing feedback. I read all the comments and e-mails and do my best to reply in some fashion. So thanks for the stimulating conversation.
And now the numbers for this blog:
First Blog of 2009: Scattershot Narrative – The Right Stuff
Last Blog of 2009 (other than this one): History is a Game – Assassin’s Creed
Total Number of Blogs – 110
Total Number of Comments on MySpace - 502
Topics with the fewest comments (2)
20 topics total
Topics with the most comments
- A despicable hero – Lord Foul’s Bane (8 comments)
- The Department of Redundancy Department – Self editing for Fiction Writers (8 Comments)
- Macguffins Gone Wild – The Maltese Falcon Novel (6 comments)
- Not So Great Expectations – Great Expectations (6 comments)
- Rome if you Want to – Rome (7 comments)
- The War that Inspired a Story – 1812: The War that Forged a Nation (6 comments)
- Threads of a Story – Anansi Boys (6 Comments)
In general the number of comments has gone down this year. My high point last year was 12 comments. In addition the topics with the highest comments happened in the months from January to April. After that no other topic cracked 5 comments until the blog on “Anansi Boys”.
Now I believe that most of this has to do with the stagnation of MySpace. I’ve noticed less and less traffic in general around there and that is where the majority of my comments have come from. On the flip side, I joined Facebook and linked my blog to it. I don’t have regular readers over there yet, but I have received comments, so that’s a good sign.
On the flip side all of my topics gathered some kind of comment this year, and that was usually followed by a reply from me. So the lowest number of comments was always 2. And the total of 2 comment blogs tells me that I lost readers or my blogs aren’t as engaging as the first round.
Looks like I’m going to need to approach blogging in a different way if MySpace continues its decline. But I have a plan that I’ll share in January.
I did some series of blogs this year. This included a comparison of three anime titles that were similar Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and Trigun. Then I did a case for and against Mystery Science Theater 3000. I tackled the revisits of Star Trek the Motion Picture and Star Wars A New Hope. Then there was my series dealing with NaNoWriMo. I had some fun with these series, but the comments were kinda light. So tell me if you enjoyed this type of thing, or not.
If you have any topics about storytelling that you’d like to see me tackle, feel free to suggest and I’ll do my best to work it in this year. Or if there were any topics that you found less interesting, feel free to tell me as well. This blog should be a fun and interesting read, that’s my goal.
Thanks again for reading and commenting, and making this year another great one for my blog. Have a great 2010!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
History is a game – Assassin’s Creed
First “God of War” and it’s sequel took Greek mythology and turned it into a bad ass adventure game with lots of blood, monsters, sex and a Ragnarok storyline (if you’ll let me mix my mythologies). The game was fun to play and the storyline was a great mix, something a talented writer had to think out and execute, and still keep in mind game play and entertainment.
Then I stumbled into “Assassin’s Creed” a game that takes history and turns it into something fascinating and interactive. The game itself takes place during the third Crusade when King Richard of England was facing Saladin with The Holy Land as the prize. With key locales in Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem, the art department worked overtime to create vivid locations, populate them with period accurate characters and costumes and give everything a lived in feel that immerses the player in the medieval world.
You play as an assassin dedicated to a sect of killers that works outside of politics. Their goal is preserve the Holy Land for everyone, not to conquer it. This allows the player to tackle both sides of the war, Christian or Muslim – both become targets. The game forces the player to use stealth, information gathering and deadly fighting skills in combination. You find the target, get close to them and then take them out, before the whole town takes you out. The game was a blast to play, even if it did get a bit repetitive here and there. The atmosphere provided by the graphics, sound effects and music were top notch.
But let’s get back to the story or a minute. I explained the main action of the game, but there is a framing element that provides the game with two important features. This framing story is a 180 from the Crusades – it’s science fiction. You start the game in the near future. Your character is a test subject for a large corporation. He is required to link up to a machine that uses genetic memory to plunge his mind back into past lives. These past lives are etched into his DNA and provide him with the persona of the assassin during the Crusades. Ok, maybe it’s more like science fantasy, but it’s an interesting idea.
Since the time traveler isn’t physically going back into time, it is only a persona traveling along engrained memories, this explains how the assassin can “die” but return to the memory at a certain spot (save point). It also allows the writers to mix history up a little bit. According to the game, the history books are based on perceptions of those who are in power. But the true memories are in the character’s DNA. So who’s to say that a group of Assassin’s wasn’t manipulating events in the past, and made sure that their involvement was never known.
During the game, the player jumps from this future state, learning a little about why he was picked and what the corporation is after, to engaging the dangers of the Crusades. Links between both stories become clearer and clearer and leads to revelations on both stories.
The other reason for the future storyline becomes clear at the end of the game. The Medieval storyline is concluded with a solid climax, but the future storyline ends in a cliff hanger. There may be further need for other memories in the future, so the main character is kept on hand – just in case. This can lead perfectly into a sequel. Guess what “Assassin’s Creed 2” is already out in stores in time for the holidays. This time the memories seem to occur during the times of the Venetian trade empire. A very interesting cut scene is available to view showing the square of San Marco as well as the canals of Venice (not to mention some new weapons and sneaking techniques).
Clever game writers were able to do two things here. They could create a game based on a rich time in Western history. The Crusades provide them with plenty of opportunities for intrigue, combat and colorful settings (even if they seemed to borrow from Ridley Scott’s take on the Crusades in “Kingdom of Heaven”). But they also had a framing story that allowed them to tweak with history in a believable way (at least for the game’s world) but provided the perfect outlet for sequels.
Have you played “Assassin’s Creed”? What did you think of the two storylines and their effectiveness? Is this the type of thing that can only be pulled off in a game, or could this have been done in a book or movie? Ever read a historical fiction that tamped with history? Did it work?
Then I stumbled into “Assassin’s Creed” a game that takes history and turns it into something fascinating and interactive. The game itself takes place during the third Crusade when King Richard of England was facing Saladin with The Holy Land as the prize. With key locales in Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem, the art department worked overtime to create vivid locations, populate them with period accurate characters and costumes and give everything a lived in feel that immerses the player in the medieval world.
You play as an assassin dedicated to a sect of killers that works outside of politics. Their goal is preserve the Holy Land for everyone, not to conquer it. This allows the player to tackle both sides of the war, Christian or Muslim – both become targets. The game forces the player to use stealth, information gathering and deadly fighting skills in combination. You find the target, get close to them and then take them out, before the whole town takes you out. The game was a blast to play, even if it did get a bit repetitive here and there. The atmosphere provided by the graphics, sound effects and music were top notch.
But let’s get back to the story or a minute. I explained the main action of the game, but there is a framing element that provides the game with two important features. This framing story is a 180 from the Crusades – it’s science fiction. You start the game in the near future. Your character is a test subject for a large corporation. He is required to link up to a machine that uses genetic memory to plunge his mind back into past lives. These past lives are etched into his DNA and provide him with the persona of the assassin during the Crusades. Ok, maybe it’s more like science fantasy, but it’s an interesting idea.
Since the time traveler isn’t physically going back into time, it is only a persona traveling along engrained memories, this explains how the assassin can “die” but return to the memory at a certain spot (save point). It also allows the writers to mix history up a little bit. According to the game, the history books are based on perceptions of those who are in power. But the true memories are in the character’s DNA. So who’s to say that a group of Assassin’s wasn’t manipulating events in the past, and made sure that their involvement was never known.
During the game, the player jumps from this future state, learning a little about why he was picked and what the corporation is after, to engaging the dangers of the Crusades. Links between both stories become clearer and clearer and leads to revelations on both stories.
The other reason for the future storyline becomes clear at the end of the game. The Medieval storyline is concluded with a solid climax, but the future storyline ends in a cliff hanger. There may be further need for other memories in the future, so the main character is kept on hand – just in case. This can lead perfectly into a sequel. Guess what “Assassin’s Creed 2” is already out in stores in time for the holidays. This time the memories seem to occur during the times of the Venetian trade empire. A very interesting cut scene is available to view showing the square of San Marco as well as the canals of Venice (not to mention some new weapons and sneaking techniques).
Clever game writers were able to do two things here. They could create a game based on a rich time in Western history. The Crusades provide them with plenty of opportunities for intrigue, combat and colorful settings (even if they seemed to borrow from Ridley Scott’s take on the Crusades in “Kingdom of Heaven”). But they also had a framing story that allowed them to tweak with history in a believable way (at least for the game’s world) but provided the perfect outlet for sequels.
Have you played “Assassin’s Creed”? What did you think of the two storylines and their effectiveness? Is this the type of thing that can only be pulled off in a game, or could this have been done in a book or movie? Ever read a historical fiction that tamped with history? Did it work?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Is it Modern - Peace
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we went to see “Peace” by Aristophanes. I’d seen an ancient Greek tragedy done before “Oedipus Rex” but never an ancient Greek comedy. I knew a little from some quick research, that Aristophanes stuff was on the bawdy side and in your face kinda comedy. And truthfully my taste in comedy tends more toward wordplay and irony, not so much with the fart jokes.
I also had the suspicion that the production was going to be on the modern side of things. Now, I’m no fan of modern art, and performance art always leaves me cold. I’m even iffy about updating Shakespeare plays without a good reason to do so. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but most of the time I just end up feeling like it was done to shake up the visuals and not really to make the play more acceptable to a modern audience.
When we arrived at the theater things became more suspicious. The seating was arranged like an ancient Greek or Roman theater, facing toward the entrance of the Getty Villa. So you had a kind of makeshift stage in front. But what disturbed me was the fact that a mound of trash was in the middle of the theater and a set of silver yoga balls piled against the door of the Getty. Suddenly I had visions of a Christmas episode of “South Park” where minimalist composer Philip Glass worked on the Christmas pageant. Would this be nothing but people dressed in black sweaters spouting verse and doing interpretive dance?
All this changed when a man dressed as a Mexican mariachi walked out with a blue foam finger on his arm that was emblazoned with the Dodger’s logo on it. He began to speak in a very serious tone of voice about how we all must keep our cell phones off, and how we could laugh but must keep the noise level down for the neighbors. His little reminders dropped more and more humor, but delivered as deadpan as possible. But in the end the audience chuckles seemed to pass on down to him and he cracked a little. The absurd combination was the perfect intro to what was to be a very interesting show.
The approach was modernized, and yet completely fantasy at the same time. The basic plot of “Peace” goes something like this. An Athenian farmer is sick of war, so he jumps onto his dung beetle and flies up to heaven to confront the Gods. When he gets there he finds the Gods have all left except for Hermes. Hermes tells the farmer that the God of War is cooking up more trouble for mankind. Not only that but the evil god has locked away peace in a cave and blockaded it with boulders. The farmer goes the cave, gets some help from other Greeks and together they release Peace from her prison. Some of the Greeks who stand to profit by war voice their opposition, but they are silenced. The whole thing ends with Peace bringing joy to Greece, a marriage ceremony and a celebration.
What’s interesting are the bits of humor that this production kept in. The dung beetle for instance. In the original version the farmer needs to feed the poor beast, so he has his slaves collect dung and turn it into cakes. Pretty much the same thing happens here, except fudge-cicles are involved, and the dung beetle is shaped like a Volkswagen bug and is referred to as a hybrid because it runs on methane. Ancient Greek comedies often had characters wandering around with huge phalluses strapped to them and used for comedic purposes. We got the same thing here, with balloon phalluses being used and popped. This lead to a rowdy musical number about masturbation: with accompaniment provided by a string trio.
Then there was the exclusively modern stuff like the interview with Aristophanes on a radio show, or the annoyed neighbor coming down from the audience with her little dog in her purse, or the entire Marx brothers routine involving a statue of the Goddess of Peace, pulled right from the interior of the Getty (don’t worry, it was only a foam recreation).
The show was funny, rude, and of course carried a message about the trouble of getting peace delivered to our world. There was nothing subtle about the message, but from what I’ve read about Aristophanes, he never did anything subtle at all. In the end, I had a very good time, not all the humor landed (lots of low humor here folks) but things moved quickly enough that if one set up didn’t work, chances are the next one would. It was a fun 90 minutes of entertainment at a beautiful location. I’ve never been to the Getty Villa at night and with all the smoke in the air because of the recent fires, the red moon actually added to the surreal feel of the show.
In a way all the mad cap antics and mixing of styles worked fine for the play. Its basic plot is nothing but a fairy tale in the first place. So once you accept that a farmer can fly a dung beetle up to heaven, you don’t really mind that he’s a pot farmer, or that his son is obsessed with Michael Jackson, or that the God of War is annoyed that the “White Devils” are being lead by “a skinny black guy”. For the most part the humor reminded me of “South Park” – no holds barred, offensive to everyone and still really damn funny.
Most writers will tell you that comedy is harder than drama. And I think staging a Greek comedy in its pure form must be more difficult than staging something like “Oedipus Rex”. Some form of adaptation must be made, because most viewers aren’t going to know their Cleon from their Pericles. But throw in humor about Rush Limbaugh or Barak Obama, and you’ll get chuckles out of most people.
Ever see a Greek comedy or tragedy? Was it modernized? Was it still effective either way? When tackling a historical figure or event, how much modernization should the writer allow him or herself?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wrap Up 2008 – NaNoWriMo
Well I was able to finish my novel. That means I get to write a nifty wrap up blog about my NaNoWriMo experience. I’ll try to keep this short, for those of you who aren’t too excited about my NaNoWriMo ramblings.
My biggest fear was not having enough time to write the entire novel, what with one less weekend this year. I knew that I was going to have to write at least one day ahead at some point to make it work out, and I did that in on the 21st and 22nd. I just added 1,500 words to my total needed on those two days and I was able to get that jump. It was a good thing too, because this month proved to be a bit tougher than I anticipated. There were surprise visits on my writing night, as well as work interfering with my schedule. I still finished a couple days early but it was a bit of a challenge to pull it off.
One of the things I noticed was that NaNo encourages you to meet and interact with other writers participating in the contest. But at the same time, writing is such a solitary act. There were several meetings with writers in my area, and while I did want to go, I wasn’t sure how much writing would actually get done (and that is even if I had a laptop with WiFi). Writing really requires me to go deep into this place inside and the less interruptions I have the better. I think that writing in a group just wouldn’t work for me. On the flip side I got to find a few other writers in my area, so maybe I can connect with them outside the contest and meet to talk about our work and techniques.
How do I feel about the first draft? The way I usually do about all my first drafts. I’m not entirely pleased with it. I feel that I was character heavy in the first half and plot heavy in the second half. I think that I ended up back loading a ton of exposition in the last two chapters (something that seems to happen a bit with these horror novels). I think the characters of Adrienne and Rachel are greatly improved compared to their old versions. I think that the inclusion of the mysterious older character was a big help to the story. I was able to write the ending as I envisioned it, but I’m curious to see if it actually works with the story as is. I think my description was much stronger in the first half than in the second half. I’m going to have to look up some synonyms for “frost”, “cold”, “ice” and “frozen”.
What’s next? After I finish a novel, I usually take a break from writing. I’ll read more, play videogames a bit, just take a week or two off from writing. Doesn’t mean I won’t research (something I’m planning on doing, dealing with the sci-fi novel I wrote over the summer). I think my next focus will be that sci-fi novel, give it another pass and see if I can tighten it up a bit, maybe work it into something solid. As for “Forever Cold”, I’m thinking of revisiting it over the summer for a second draft. This will include me reading it in one go, marking it up (and getting rid of my repetitions), seeing what works and what doesn’t, and re-fitting it around a bit. I think the core story is solid and will work out but, but I’m curious to see how long this turns out – story or novella?
Well that’s about all I’ve got for this year’s NaNoWriMo. It was exhilarating to participate in and I got a finished first draft out of it. Thanks to all of you who provided encouragement and good wishes. All writers need this, and I for one appreciate it.
How do you feel after completing a first draft? Do you usually take a break or do you dive into something new? Do you have any specific questions about NaNoWriMo that I can answer?
Monday, November 23, 2009
First Draft Blues – NaNoWriMo
Just wanted to post a quick blog this week. Things got a little tough last week with work intruding on my writing time and other interruptions. But I accomplished my goal of getting ahead of the scheduled word count (mostly because the week of Thanksgiving is going to be crazy). Still things haven’t gone all that smoothly.
I got the first draft blues, something that happens every time I work on long fiction. It usually hits after the halfway point and I attribute it to a couple things: story fatigue and self-doubt. Self-doubt is self explanatory, but story fatigue is a little stranger. Basically I get tired of telling the same story. I want it done so I can work on something else (usually some new-fangled idea that popped into my head while writing this one). Story fatigue is sign that the fire to write the story is growing dim – it also means I need to wrap this puppy up.
The self-doubt portion of the First Draft Blues is the whole “this story is crap, what was I thinking” mantra that pops up. It occurs after you run into a few hard patches in story – places that you found really difficult to write. You begin to wonder if you’ve written yourself into a hole. You begin to think back on what you’ve written and feel that it’s horrible. You question the need to even finish this turd.
I think this happens to most writers, and the only solution is to power forward and finish writing. In a way that’s what makes NaNoWriMo a great tool. You’ve got a self imposed deadline, you’ve got to meet it with a quota of words, so no matter what you end up writing it’s completed – and that’s the key. The first draft is supposed to be bad. The second draft is where you sit down, read the puppy and find all the great bits that are inside. You pick up the themes and tie them together. You weave the story tighter, cut out all the fat, and add muscle where it’s needed. The second draft is closer to the story the way it should be told.
Stephen King has a great analogy of writing. The first draft is just cracking off the huge piece of marble that will be the story. It’s lumpy and misshapen, but the basics are there. The next passes will reveal the statue underneath. And that is where the real story is made.
So the first draft, blues and all, is important because the completed idea is done. It’s the first step and you can’t have a completed version without the first draft. It just takes some additional will power to say “Hey this draft stinks. No worries, I’ll check it out in a month or two and see all the great stuff it does have. I don’t fear the red pen.”
So for now, I’ve got to forget the blues, forget the other “amazing” story idea I just got (or write an outline for it), stop whining in my blogs about hating the first draft – and just write it in time for the end date. I did it last year and I can do it again.
Ever get the first draft blues? Ever hit story fatigue? What do you do to fight these monsters? Do you never have any of the issues above?
I got the first draft blues, something that happens every time I work on long fiction. It usually hits after the halfway point and I attribute it to a couple things: story fatigue and self-doubt. Self-doubt is self explanatory, but story fatigue is a little stranger. Basically I get tired of telling the same story. I want it done so I can work on something else (usually some new-fangled idea that popped into my head while writing this one). Story fatigue is sign that the fire to write the story is growing dim – it also means I need to wrap this puppy up.
The self-doubt portion of the First Draft Blues is the whole “this story is crap, what was I thinking” mantra that pops up. It occurs after you run into a few hard patches in story – places that you found really difficult to write. You begin to wonder if you’ve written yourself into a hole. You begin to think back on what you’ve written and feel that it’s horrible. You question the need to even finish this turd.
I think this happens to most writers, and the only solution is to power forward and finish writing. In a way that’s what makes NaNoWriMo a great tool. You’ve got a self imposed deadline, you’ve got to meet it with a quota of words, so no matter what you end up writing it’s completed – and that’s the key. The first draft is supposed to be bad. The second draft is where you sit down, read the puppy and find all the great bits that are inside. You pick up the themes and tie them together. You weave the story tighter, cut out all the fat, and add muscle where it’s needed. The second draft is closer to the story the way it should be told.
Stephen King has a great analogy of writing. The first draft is just cracking off the huge piece of marble that will be the story. It’s lumpy and misshapen, but the basics are there. The next passes will reveal the statue underneath. And that is where the real story is made.
So the first draft, blues and all, is important because the completed idea is done. It’s the first step and you can’t have a completed version without the first draft. It just takes some additional will power to say “Hey this draft stinks. No worries, I’ll check it out in a month or two and see all the great stuff it does have. I don’t fear the red pen.”
So for now, I’ve got to forget the blues, forget the other “amazing” story idea I just got (or write an outline for it), stop whining in my blogs about hating the first draft – and just write it in time for the end date. I did it last year and I can do it again.
Ever get the first draft blues? Ever hit story fatigue? What do you do to fight these monsters? Do you never have any of the issues above?
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Recycling is for everyone: even writers – NaNoWriMo
I mentioned in my last blog that I ended up using my old story “The Grey Man” as the basis of the story I’m working on for NaNoWriMo. Is this cheating? Doesn’t this mean that I can copy and paste the material that I did write into the contest and boost my word count. Well, I could, but I didn’t.
First off, that draft was written about four years ago, and my style and skills have improved since then (just reading some of my older work brings a shudder to my body even if I smile at some of the good stuff). The original version had a prologue that was very redundant. It was the first to go in the new version. I wrote an entirely new chapter to open the story. Initially I didn’t show you Adrienne’s revenge. I was more interested in her adjustment back into life. But looking at the story now, I felt that showing the reader what she had to do and how cold she became was an important base. It also gave me the opportunity to show a bit of foreshadowing, which is always fun.
Next, I removed all the police material. While Adrienne’s father was a detective, and knew people on the force, I kept them in the periphery. In fact I took the character of the detective from the first draft and turned him into the older mentor police chief in this new version. The original chief was pretty cookie cutter, while the detective was a more rounded character. So I took the more rounded character and put him in the key role. Sadly his partner Kasumi had her part cut considerably. She’ll show up as a side character, maybe have two scenes at the most.
Adrienne’s childhood friend Rachel also received a make over. In the original draft she was supposed to be a successful business woman, but behaved like a wet blanket and was a total pushover. Just reviewing her dialogue made me embarrassed. No way could this woman run her own business. My parents have run their own business for years and it takes assertiveness and guts. Rachel still needed to run the business, its part of her story with Adrienne. So she got a rewrite and I think she’s a much more interesting character. She’s tough but understanding. Hopefully the reader will get the strong connection between the women without all the fawning and pathetic dialogue from the original draft (shudder).
I also rethought the supernatural element of the story. I don’t want to say to much about it, but in the original draft it was actually pretty pedestrian in the execution. This time I added a new element that makes will make this a bit more complicated for Adrienne to resolve and hopefully more interesting to read about.
In addition I created a bit of a subplot involving another of my long existing characters. He’ll pop in to deliver some “Book of Thoth” type information, but with his usual deadly spin. That element just came to me last night and I think it will add to the tone of the book.
With all the changes there is no way I could cut and paste the puppy together. I’m re-writing from scratch. The only element I lifted was a poem and I even edited out a few lines from that (because they referred to the old version of the supernatural element). The poem was really a space saver. I’m not a poet, but I want to come up with something a bit more acceptable than what I have now. But the idea is there and I captured it well enough in the original to keep it without many changes.
So basically my recycling is just that, recycling. I’m taking an idea that I had, rethinking it, reworking it and rewriting it. The initial idea is solid. It just needed four years to find all the right parts and maybe four years of writing experience to improve it.
Have any of you writers ever read your older work and said, “Wow, what was I thinking?” Did you ever start writing something and had a neat side idea pop into your head? Were you able to work it into the story or did you take into a new story idea?
First off, that draft was written about four years ago, and my style and skills have improved since then (just reading some of my older work brings a shudder to my body even if I smile at some of the good stuff). The original version had a prologue that was very redundant. It was the first to go in the new version. I wrote an entirely new chapter to open the story. Initially I didn’t show you Adrienne’s revenge. I was more interested in her adjustment back into life. But looking at the story now, I felt that showing the reader what she had to do and how cold she became was an important base. It also gave me the opportunity to show a bit of foreshadowing, which is always fun.
Next, I removed all the police material. While Adrienne’s father was a detective, and knew people on the force, I kept them in the periphery. In fact I took the character of the detective from the first draft and turned him into the older mentor police chief in this new version. The original chief was pretty cookie cutter, while the detective was a more rounded character. So I took the more rounded character and put him in the key role. Sadly his partner Kasumi had her part cut considerably. She’ll show up as a side character, maybe have two scenes at the most.
Adrienne’s childhood friend Rachel also received a make over. In the original draft she was supposed to be a successful business woman, but behaved like a wet blanket and was a total pushover. Just reviewing her dialogue made me embarrassed. No way could this woman run her own business. My parents have run their own business for years and it takes assertiveness and guts. Rachel still needed to run the business, its part of her story with Adrienne. So she got a rewrite and I think she’s a much more interesting character. She’s tough but understanding. Hopefully the reader will get the strong connection between the women without all the fawning and pathetic dialogue from the original draft (shudder).
I also rethought the supernatural element of the story. I don’t want to say to much about it, but in the original draft it was actually pretty pedestrian in the execution. This time I added a new element that makes will make this a bit more complicated for Adrienne to resolve and hopefully more interesting to read about.
In addition I created a bit of a subplot involving another of my long existing characters. He’ll pop in to deliver some “Book of Thoth” type information, but with his usual deadly spin. That element just came to me last night and I think it will add to the tone of the book.
With all the changes there is no way I could cut and paste the puppy together. I’m re-writing from scratch. The only element I lifted was a poem and I even edited out a few lines from that (because they referred to the old version of the supernatural element). The poem was really a space saver. I’m not a poet, but I want to come up with something a bit more acceptable than what I have now. But the idea is there and I captured it well enough in the original to keep it without many changes.
So basically my recycling is just that, recycling. I’m taking an idea that I had, rethinking it, reworking it and rewriting it. The initial idea is solid. It just needed four years to find all the right parts and maybe four years of writing experience to improve it.
Have any of you writers ever read your older work and said, “Wow, what was I thinking?” Did you ever start writing something and had a neat side idea pop into your head? Were you able to work it into the story or did you take into a new story idea?
Sunday, November 8, 2009
What to Write: Part 2 – NaNoWriMo
I already had something that was inspired by Lovecraft, a set of stories I came up with in the 90’s that I’ve been tooling with and refining for years. I came up with a great outline of the stories and world about three years ago and I’ve been writing novels and short stories in that world off and on for a while now. Now it was time to dive back in.
Last year my NaNo journey was more planned out. I knew I wanted to write a supernatural thriller and was actually plotting it out before I started writing. This time, all I had was a vague outline of stories that needed to be written out. Last year’s NaNo novel “Pierced” falls in there. As I looked over the outline one story popped out.
About four years ago I started a novel tentatively called “The Grey Man”. I was finally going to delve into a character I’d created back in the 90’s, named Adrienne West. Miss West has been bouncing around for years and some of you may have read a strange short story where she found herself in a bizarre dream world. Anyway, I’ve wanted to flesh out her story for a while and four years ago I gave it a try. The beginning was pretty solid, however I fell into one of my traps. I got obsessed with perfecting details as I wrote the first draft.
I had some police characters in the story, detectives assigned to solve a series of mysterious murders. These detectives would end up crossing paths with Adrienne and be torn between feeling she was a suspect or a witness. The problem was, whenever I got to these detectives I would obsess over police procedure in that type of situation. And since I’m not a detective, I had to make it up. And since I was making it up, I knew it was wrong. It really started to bug me, because they were becoming more and more a part of the plot and they were slowing me down more and more. I never finished writing the novel because the detectives stopped me cold.
Now I have a solution. Drop the whole subplot with the detectives. They didn’t really add anything, since the reader already knew how Adrienne was involved. There was no suspense really, just wondering when the detectives would piece it together. Instead of bouncing back and forth between the detectives and Adrienne I would stick with my main character. She was more interesting anyway. I might have the detectives appear in a scene or two, but they will no longer drive a parallel story.
The only issue now is that I feel like I’ve lopped off half the original story idea. Will that make this new version too short, a dreaded novella in length (not much market for that length of story)? Or will Adrienne be able to carry the full story to a complete length by herself. We’ll have to see , but that’s what I’m going with. I do have some additional details that I can add in, things that I hadn’t really considered four years ago, but now feel like they fit. And of course I can add that extra Lovecraftian touch.
So what is the story about? Here’s a back cover for you.
As desert winds howl like banshees around Adrienne West as she faces a deranged murderer. She’s hunted him for three years and today, she’s going to end the chase. Her revenge, which should have quenched the fury within her, only starts something new.
Adrienne returns to the city of Ten Bay hoping to start her life up where she left off. But everything’s moved on. Friends are gone or seem to find her too changed. Worse the visions that guided her hunt have not stopped. They continue to plague her with new terrors. One in particular, a brutal thing with icy breath and frozen fangs, seeks her out in her dreams. When the first frozen body is found, Adrienne begins to be very afraid of what she has become and whether she will remain Forever Cold.
For you writers out there, do you find yourself digging up your older stories and looking for ideas or inspiration? Ever let the details derail you on a first draft?
Last year my NaNo journey was more planned out. I knew I wanted to write a supernatural thriller and was actually plotting it out before I started writing. This time, all I had was a vague outline of stories that needed to be written out. Last year’s NaNo novel “Pierced” falls in there. As I looked over the outline one story popped out.
About four years ago I started a novel tentatively called “The Grey Man”. I was finally going to delve into a character I’d created back in the 90’s, named Adrienne West. Miss West has been bouncing around for years and some of you may have read a strange short story where she found herself in a bizarre dream world. Anyway, I’ve wanted to flesh out her story for a while and four years ago I gave it a try. The beginning was pretty solid, however I fell into one of my traps. I got obsessed with perfecting details as I wrote the first draft.
I had some police characters in the story, detectives assigned to solve a series of mysterious murders. These detectives would end up crossing paths with Adrienne and be torn between feeling she was a suspect or a witness. The problem was, whenever I got to these detectives I would obsess over police procedure in that type of situation. And since I’m not a detective, I had to make it up. And since I was making it up, I knew it was wrong. It really started to bug me, because they were becoming more and more a part of the plot and they were slowing me down more and more. I never finished writing the novel because the detectives stopped me cold.
Now I have a solution. Drop the whole subplot with the detectives. They didn’t really add anything, since the reader already knew how Adrienne was involved. There was no suspense really, just wondering when the detectives would piece it together. Instead of bouncing back and forth between the detectives and Adrienne I would stick with my main character. She was more interesting anyway. I might have the detectives appear in a scene or two, but they will no longer drive a parallel story.
The only issue now is that I feel like I’ve lopped off half the original story idea. Will that make this new version too short, a dreaded novella in length (not much market for that length of story)? Or will Adrienne be able to carry the full story to a complete length by herself. We’ll have to see , but that’s what I’m going with. I do have some additional details that I can add in, things that I hadn’t really considered four years ago, but now feel like they fit. And of course I can add that extra Lovecraftian touch.
So what is the story about? Here’s a back cover for you.
As desert winds howl like banshees around Adrienne West as she faces a deranged murderer. She’s hunted him for three years and today, she’s going to end the chase. Her revenge, which should have quenched the fury within her, only starts something new.
Adrienne returns to the city of Ten Bay hoping to start her life up where she left off. But everything’s moved on. Friends are gone or seem to find her too changed. Worse the visions that guided her hunt have not stopped. They continue to plague her with new terrors. One in particular, a brutal thing with icy breath and frozen fangs, seeks her out in her dreams. When the first frozen body is found, Adrienne begins to be very afraid of what she has become and whether she will remain Forever Cold.
For you writers out there, do you find yourself digging up your older stories and looking for ideas or inspiration? Ever let the details derail you on a first draft?
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