subscribeProductivity! I has it.
Tuesday July 6, 2010
Despite the holiday weekend (ahem, Friday to Monday) and despite a few out-of-town jaunts, I’ve written over 20,000 words in a fresh rewrite of a project I started on Saturday, June 26. I needed something to work on while I’m still sending out / waiting on the most recent completed project and switching gears entirely and working towards another fully-completed, sellable project made perfect sense. Also, with my summer break from work, I finally have the time to simply get this done. It feels so good.
This one is YA fantasy (shocker), with a lot of the elements of a swords-and-horses-and-princesses kind of fantasy, but with a couple of flip-the-genre-on-its-head unconventional twists of plot and character. (Yay for being vague!) At its heart, this is a story about mothers and daughters, fathers and sons; about questioning one’s role in one’s family and the larger world; of others’ expectations versus personal desires; of truth, deceptions, and consequences. (EVEN MORE VAGUE!) Is it better to break out of the shadow of your elders and try to be your own person, strike the consequences, or is it better to surpass your elders’ expectations of you in following the path they’ve set for you? I always find I write stories about finding one’s identity, about reconciling expectations: those of your parents, of others, and of yourself. Granted, it’s fantasy, so I’ve taken some, ahem, magical liberties shall I say, in the extrapolation of these circumstances. But like any interesting fantasy, this story resonates with me (as a writer especially) because it’s ultimately about the journeys of the characters as they try to come into their own, to prove they’re just about grown up — to everyone as well as to themselves.
Also, this story has nothing to do with “destiny” because I happen to think the “destiny” trope has been done [well and poorly] by others and I’ve no interest in exploring it. Besides, I happen to think “expectations” are a lot more annoying, harder to handle, and more interesting as a relatable concept to a reader in a non-fantastical context because we all have them, or others have them for us. Really: which is harder to live with, being destined to do great things, or being expected to do great things? The externality of the pressure of “destiny” is interesting, but it’s remote. Destiny implies a deity or other such remote being/concept with a “plan” (for one or for all), and that can get sticky — and epic. I heart epic, but this story is not epic. (And that’s another thing this all comes down to: what is right for this story.) Here I’d much rather stick to human beings and their relationships.
Like everything I write, it has no title, so I may refer to it here as a lot of things including “this story” and/or “the WiP.” I hate titling things until I must, then even afterward I squirm uncomfortably. (Even titling these blog posts feels odd, which is why so many of them seem like partial sentences or involve language reminiscent of I Can Has Cheezburger.)
Now, back to Scrivener and its loveliness!
The itty bitty kitty in Brooklyn
Monday May 31, 2010
We adopted a three month old shelter kitten! Ah!
The husband is allergic to dogs. When tested as a child, he was allergic to cats, too, but apparently things have changed since he was five. (Surprise! …Or not, really.) Thinking for years we wouldn’t be able to have any adorable pet at all made us both rather sad (I grew up with a dog, and Bryan had always wanted a pet). Then a few weeks ago my friend and I found a van in Williamsburg with a whole bunch of cats and kittens for adoption. Playing with the little kittens absolutely tugged my heartstrings and when I told the husband, he decided we needed to talk about the reality of having him play with kittens to see if he was still allergic and if he wasn’t…
So, the quest to play with kitties was begun. Saturday we went to the local shelter, BARC, and played with half a dozen cats and kittens of a few different ages. A kitty named Rachel, though, stuck out from the start. She is extremely affectionate and unlike some of the cats, actually tolerated the husband’s novice attempts to hold her and pet her. (He had never held a kitty. Never!)
When I proposed changing it, the husband absolutely refused. (I thought it was a bit weird to call her something so human, but, well, then my reasons for that are tremendously complex.) We’re mostly calling her Rachel, but formally we’ve decided she’s Rachel Berry Kitty (a la Glee). Already we’ve started nicknaming her. I’m going to take her to the vet this week for the first time. Exciting! Is it weird to feel happy to be responsible for another life form? (Note: our potted herbs are thriving marvelously, hooray for not having a black thumb!)
In other news, the writing has been going swimmingly. I’ve written almost 8,000 words these last four days despite the kitty’s distracting adorableness. On the query front, I haven’t actually sent any new ones out in an age, so I’m going to get on that this week. In the meantime, though, I’m so happy to be writing this well and this much lately. Despite the increased hours for the day job, I’ve still managed to eek out a respectable word count per day (which can always be better, of course), so I’m immensely satisfied with that. I love the feeling of falling asleep with the story on my mind, thinking about what I’ll write next as I’m strolling to the subway or shopping for groceries. Having my mind so well occupied does wonders for me. The husband claims I am a happier creature to live with when I am thriving creatively and I think he’s right.
It’s That Time of Year Again!
Thursday November 5, 2009
NaNoWriMo time, of course!
(I did see Christmas decorations at Duane Reade, though, so I do suppose it’s also that time of year, but the NaNo time of year is far more important.)
This morning I am at 18,955 words. I sprinted through the first few days and now I am in the midst of a tough scene, which has me stalled. Must push through! Several factors have helped me with my word count thus far: the first is that I conceived this story in its current form in 2007 and haven’t had the excuse, chance, or energy to do more than outline it in all that time. I’m working off of an outline but I’ve also held scenes in all of their vivid, visual clarity in my head for far longer than I really ought to have. I have a strangely visual memory when it comes to imaginary things. (Like, when I recount the plot of a novel to someone, I actually imagine the strings of images my brain put together and rebuild the story from those images.) I’m a weird duck.
The next factor is I was diagnosed with a case of bronchitis last Friday, October 30th, so by the time midnight between October 31st and November 1st rolled around, I was at home coughing up a lung and bored. So I started writing. (Getting two thousand words before bed was… exhilarating.) I spent all of Sunday writing (my friend and I even attempted to squeeze in at the Manhattan Write-in but it was stuffed full of people, so we went to an adorable little tea shop instead with the laptops.) Monday I took off from work and sat around, hacking and writing in tandem. Tuesday I was in the midst of an incredible scene. Then another, then another. Thus… 18,955 words. I had told myself I’d hit 20,000 yesterday but the Yankees decided they were going to absolutely kill the Phillies and I was torn the whole time between writing and rooting for the Phillies — yes I am a New Yorker but sometimes it’s no fun to root for the winning team! — and so I sort of stalled. That and I found I was prematurely digging into the meat of the story that I really need to wait on, so I actually need to backtrack and rewrite a little, then resume the forward momentum. That can be the hardest part of NaNoWriMo for me: I write fastest and best when I write compelling, exciting, integral scenes, and while I try to always write that way, it doesn’t happen like that in a first draft. No matter how well I outline there are still boring little bits (to me) that I slog through. I’m also a perfectionist, so first drafts drive me a little crazy there, too. I hesitate over a sentence if it’s not, well, good enough. But NaNo at least gives me the freedom to say, “Yes, it’s not good enough, just keep going and get it all out!” There’s really literary abandon in that, and I love it.
It’s exciting times, November. Can’t wait to get back to it.
February Accomplishments
Sunday March 1, 2009
Because of all of the sudden wedding planning I had to really focus upon in February, I spent a lot more time reading than writing. As a result, I didn’t complete my word goal of 25,000 words this month. I’m not too mad; I am planning a wedding after all!
Writing Accomplishments
22,985 new words in the draft I started in January.
Total words in draft at end of February: 78,003
Reading Accomplishments
Watchmen — story by Alan Moore & illustrations by Dave Gibbons
Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Raises Hell by Carrie Vaughn
Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole
Dream Warrior by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher, illustrations by Ardian Syaf
The Tales of the Otori trilogy by Lian Hearn
- Across the Nightingale Floor
- Grass for his Pillow
- Brilliance of the Moon
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