Chaos Managed

It's 12:30ish and I can move from one side of the house to the other... but it leaves me dizzy and short of breath. I hate sinus infections. Call the cell if you need me.

PC's to tiny doll with a spirit trapped inside it: "Don't worry, we'll take care of you like a tiny little vampire baby."

So tired. So sore. Did not sun burn. Sleep now.

Larping, it's cut. ( Read more... )

First of pictures!
Polgara dress
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67292782@N00/2529023927/in/set-72157605295510997/
Iron costumer in progress pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67292782@N00/2529002907/in/set-72157605295510997/

Next the lyrics to Fiddler's Dare

Fiddler's Dare

I danced to the fiddle's tune and nearly won
I danced till my heart raced and breath wouldn't come
Slowly now she begins the reel
My toe merely tapping, rapping my boot heel

The fiddle cries a challenge and my feet say yes
We'll see who will fall first and who plays best
Higher go my feet, faster flies the beat
and the floor seems to warm to the music's heat

My legs are long past aching and the song plays on
My feet are sore and shaking and my breath is gone
Smoke is rising from the floor and her bow
She laughs and she cries "This is slow"

Double time now and my face goes pale
My feet they try but my feet they fail
I falter and recover and try to catch the beat
her fingers fly faster to tangle tired feet

My ankles shake and my calves burn
and it is a lesson I have learned
if you dance for the fiddle with the bright red hair
you shall swiftly learn to rue that dare

~Denise Beucler 2001

I passed 17,000 words... it's looking like a novel.

In honor of the milestone, and because I am feeling chatty right now, and (since all good things should come in threes) I've discovered there are people I have never met who are reading my journal. This boggles my mind but welcome to my corner of chaos! Pull up a squashy sort of armchair and imagine yourself a beverage of your choice. For those of you not so interested in writing processes of a Northern 'Nise feel free to page back in the archives, if you check June of 2004 there is a great rant about me flooding a VIOC. Still with me? Well then....

I have tried all sorts of different methods to writing. When I first started I was a pantser, meaning I didn't plan anything much. I had a character idea (usually a Mary Sue) and I'd set her down in a world (usually something with unicorns, I started writing when I was 10) and go. It didn't usually get very far. In high school I tried the novel idea of figuring out how I would end it when I started the story. I would still start with the beginning though and try to plough through to the end. I wrote longer pieces and actually finished a few short stories.

After more dry years in college I got back to seriously writing in 2004. And I tried pantsing my way to a novels end. It didn't work so well. I got out on the internet (which is wonderful for procrastination in the form of "research") and found outlining! Great! A new way. Flying blind wasn't working, I would stall out between 2-5k. I sat down and outlined... and found that didn't really work for me either because I was still doing it the same way, I was at the start and I tried to work methodically to the end. My brain had decided it did not like straight lines. But low and behold there was yet another way, some crafty writers had a technique that was between both styles. And that gentle readers is what I currently use.

I am outlining a story right now (Lily) and I have one completely outlined and am writing the first draft (Massie). I have found that I have to start with a scene or a phrase that speaks to me (for Massie it was the scene about spandex, Lily was a line that came to me back in Dec). I write that scene until I run out of ideas and then I save that work and open up a whole new file (or notebook page). This is where I free write. I start asking questions and delving to the core of what the story is about and who my characters are. I write little details down like favorite colors, family members, embarrassing moments, etc. I think about what would be the worst sort of thing to do to this person and plot from there.

An example would be Massie's story. Massie is a quiet sarcastic high-school girl who likes being rather invisible. The first thing I knew I needed to do is stick her in a spotlight of some sort. So in chapter one Massie gains a super power. Massie hates to lie and she's bad at it, but now she needs to maintain a secret identity, and that means lying a lot to people she loves. And so on. With that information I can start to come up with scenes, she gets grounded because she stays out to late and can't tell her parents where she is. She has to confront a super villain, etc etc. This is also the time where I decide who my target audience for the novel is and how long it is. YA novels are around 40-60,000 words. I decided I wanted a middle of the road word count and chose 50K for my target number. Then I decided chapter length. I decided that my chapters should probably be about 2,000 words give or take. This makes it an easier read for younger readers and with a little math I found I needed about 25 chapters to reach that word goal. I know this sounds awful and unartistic. Math involved with writing? We have this myth that writing should just flow from the pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and that gold comes out. It might work that way for some people... but it doesn't for me.

Once I have a length and a general sense of what will happen I start outlining. I write out Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc etc each on a different line inside Word. Then I go back to the scenes I had already written and figure out where they go. Sometimes it is the first chapter, often times it isn't. Then I start filling in things from the free write. Sometimes I put in my ending first and work backwards (she wins the battle against X, how does she do that?). I write out paragraphs, scraps of dialogue, what mood I want to evoke, what needs to happen. I get it out on paper, and it's clumsy, the words might be misspelled and I might not have names for everyone yet. Sometimes I don't write out the details. A couple of the chapters in the current outline simply say "Fight scene, make it good, no pressure." If a scene flows, I write it out. If it doesn't I highlight what needs to happen and move on. What I have ended up with in the past is about 2,000 words of raw story with an end and all the main plot points. It reads like a bad cliff notes version but that's ok. Here is the other secret to writing... it's ok to write bad. It's a rough draft. Over use a word, misspell it, type it's instead of its, go for it! Let the dialogue be stilted, and action brief and under described. I give you permission. The key here is that this is a first draft, very very very few (I would say none but someone will find an example somewhere) first drafts are ready to publish. You need to apply butt to chair, fingers to keyboard and write down the story. Don't stop. Forget a name referenced in the first chapter? Write xx and what you need to add in and keep going. Realize you need to add a scene? Use red font or another xx and note what you need to add and keep going. (Yes I am aware that this is the point where I reach howling hypocrisy because I haven't passed the first draft stage.)

Now that you have a complete manuscript in front of you that is hopefully near your word count goal (or over) you can edit. Remember all those xx's? Hit control F and find them all again and add in the missing info. Add in the scenes you decided you needed later and fix any of the notes you left yourself in the manuscript. Then stick it in a file and go write something else, or read something. Give it some time and let it age. Then sharpen the machete and start killing your darlings. Fix the grammar and spelling, fix the dialogue and hack out the scenes that don't work. Heck some writers recommend ditching the entire manuscript and starting the story over from scratch. Writing well is like playing piano well, practice is what makes it happen. I will note that I have not scrapped my entire manuscript yet for a complete rewrite. I lack that courage... but mine would probably improve if I did. Well see when I get to this step.

For me personally I doubt the second draft will be publishable. I think the third or fourth draft is where I will finally have enough practice to know Massie's thought and words inside and out. When I dream about her I'll know I am ready I think. :-) But in the mean time I'm still plugging towards half way to the end. But I'm getting closer.

Lots of things have been on my mind. And not a lot I want to share here. If you want to know ask me online or in person. I think I am rather stuck inside my own head right now. Things will change soon, but till then I am stuck in a muddy middle spot and will probably not be posting.

Today is a day of introspection. Febuary had some very large highs and some deep lows. I had some conversations last night that brought some introspection and left me with the desire to reach out to those in my life and say I love you. I have the best friends in the world and we don't always agree or get along but I do love you all. I suppose if there was any use for an extra day in four years a day to just love all around me is probably a pretty ok use for it.

Here is the deal people.

To those who are under sensitive, please remember the human element. To those are oversensitive, please step back and remember this is a game. Since that covers pretty much everybody can we all remember that we are friends and that NERO is filled with wonderful people. OOG I would rather have any NERO person at my back then my own family. For all the fights and bickering and silly cliches I trust you guys (which if you don't know me that well is a pretty damn profound thing) and I consider you my family (only better). Can we all please remember that?
Love
'Nise peacemaker

To Do
Load car
Remember Fudge
Feed and Water Cats

IF YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine ... You're on my list, so I want to know you better!

BE HONEST! COPY FROM HERE THEN SEND DIRECTLY TO ME IN A REPLY. THEN REPOST THE EMPTY QUESTIONS.

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