Hello from the Writing Ogre!

Have a photo of a deeply unsettling ogre. You're welcome.

So those of you who are following me because I write, not because I read, have probably noticed I don't post much about my writing any more. The main reason for this is that I usually say everything I want to say about my writing on my Twitter. So if you're serious in your stalking of me, you might want to go over there.
That being said, I figured I should talk about some of the writing projects I'm working on right now. I am writing much more this year than I have since 2008 (ah, the good old days!??).

Beta version of "Mad As Gods"

This is my 2010 Nanowrimo. It's a sequel to my 2007 Nano, it's quite rough, and it doesn't really know what it's trying to be, who it's trying to star, or what it's trying to say. There's a lot of love and bad jokes (as in stupid) and innuendo (as in sketch) and gratuitous snakes. I'm sharing it slowly with my small core of awesome Nano-ites, and getting super fantastic feedback (as in helpful, not as in "omg this story is perfect in every way" XD). It's always great to know what people like, and more importantly what they do NOT like. Then I can get a sort of idea of what is working and what isn't.
I am also getting to read my friends' Nanos, and giving them feedback. That's also really helpful for me (besides them, of course, lol) because it forces me to look at how their story is working, how they've structured it, etc, and how various bits work and various bits don't work. The benefits of analysis, fellow writers, are legion.

Drafting "Batty, Batty, Bats"
This is one of those projects that is pure sugar and cream. There is nothing not fun about writing this story, but I'm certain that once I finish it, I will never touch it again. It's just not publishable for a lot of reasons, mostly structural. It's kinda like one big character development/psychological exploration. It revolves around one character who has a lot of trauma in his past, and I start with him as a teenager and then go through his 30s or so, just kind of visiting the significant turning points in his life. Almost like a coming of age story, but prolonged and, yeah, very psychological. This description almost makes it sound smart, LOL! But it's mostly hilarious banter and panic attacks and misunderstandings and BAD CHOICES. It's also set in a night-club, so, seriously, what is not fun about that.
This story was/is also a great outlet for all of the stuff I wanted to include in "Mad As Gods," but couldn't, either because of plot constrictions or world constrictions or because I was trying to keep tiny-minor characters from hijacking the story. "BBB" grew from "Mad As Gods" in a lot of weird, unexplainable ways.

Short stories
A couple of friends and I committed to sending each other a new short story every week, or at least an excerpt of something we're working on. There has been a bit of cheating going on, for all of us, I think, but we've all written a lot of stuff we otherwise never would have written. I'm actually struggling with this project right now, because all I want to write is "BBB," but hopefully soon I will get back in gear.

Editing Snazel's stories
I'm also helping a friend edit some short stories that she's going to submit to get into a writing workshop (or somesuch). It's a lot of pressure, lol! I want to be as helpful as I can, which means I'm wayyyy over-analyzing everything, and I have to figure out how to communicate my thoughts on various bits and word choices and such. It's a hard game, but it's also helping my writing-brain figure stuff out, which is fabulous.

Bats are nocturnal, fast, and out of their minds

750words is my new favorite site. I heard about it last year, tried to use it last month, and am finally utilizing it this month. It's basically a blog site, but very simple, private, and is geared for Wrimos and the like. You can earn fun badges if you write 750 words a day for enough days in a row, or if you complete challenges or do other jolly things. It also has search and export functions for your entries, stats, and stats on other people to keep you competitive and all that. Plus, it is soooo satisfying to see the little Xs at the top to show how many days in a row you've done your wordcount. I don't know why it's easier to use this site rather than stare at my Microsoft Word and demand I write 750 words. I mean, it's completely mental. Check it out, tell me what you think. :D

I've started a new story called "Batty Batty Bats." I don't actually know what it's about yet (superheroes, contemp. pantheon, organized crime? Idk!), but it's a lot of fun. Here are three very short excerpts from it:

The first is after the main character Saul gets injured.

A ferocious roaring filled his ears, drowning out that thought, and a deep, rhythmic thud made his bones ache. Was he back at Damien's club? It was like listening to Daft Punk while drunk and hungover and under water.
Screams. Shouts. The roaring ceased--no, was replaced by the roaring of voices. Saul wished they would stop.
They stopped.
Cool, Saul thought. I wish for a pony and a plastic rocket.

The second is an early morning convo between Lyssa and Alex, two randoms.

"Your hair," Lyssa said, unable to control her response.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"It's purple."
"And four people saw Damien come out of your room this morning."
Lyssa considered this. "Fair enough."

And the third is the plot trying to animate itself, but turning into a sideshow to Damien's feature film.

"Saul! SAUL!"
"Yes?" Saul asked.
"I need MEN!" Damien announced.
"What kind of men?" Saul asked, bemused.
"PRETTY ones!"
Saul stared at him. "Are you intoxicated? It's 9 in the morning!"
"Why wait for alcohol?" Damien waved a hand expansively as he walked toward him. "Silly!"
"I saw him put tequila in his morning coffee," Alex said, popping his head out of the doorway beside Saul.
"Holy-" Saul started.
"Get me men, Saul!" Damien repeated.
Saul looked at the ceiling for patience and divine comprehension. "What kinds?"
"At least one sniper, two marksmen, and maybe a demolitions man, just to be thorough."

Arma virumque cano

There's some Vergil for you. Now you can say, "I read some Vergil today," and sound totally awesome. If you want to sound even more awesome you should know that that means, "I sing of weapons and a man," which, in my opinion, are pretty legit things to be singing about.

I am taking three dead languages this term. It is...wearying, but fascinating. On the fascinating side, I found out there's a graduate program at my school for ancient languages. Should I do it? Idk. But it's a possibility. Anyway, for the last week and a half I have been primarily reading "The Dream of the Rood" in Old English, The Aeneid in Latin, and the Icelandic sagas in Old Norse. Yeah, no big deal, I'm reading Old Norse. *insufferably smug*

I am also reading through my friends' 2010 Nanos, which is hugely entertaining. So between those and ancient poems, I am pretty busy, reading-wise. I'm also working on my first graphic novel of the year, Mad With Wonder, and the LotR read-a-along

I will post a review of I Am Number Four, hopefully soon. Also White Cat.

Writing-wise I am.....well, writing. Which counts for something. I've written a short story already this year, "Annie and the Ocean of Hands" which was all right. I'm also working on Saulos' backstory/futurestory, because it's insanely fun. His life is SO psychotic and lolzy. Uhhhm I'm also thinking about (haha) working on "Drem" some more. I think my main writing goal should be to finish a second draft of "Drem" this year. Blargle.

For any English lit nerds out there, has anyone else noticed how trendy The Tempest is lately? Everyone's reading it. I'm reading it in my lit crit class, and I read it in my Shakespeare class last year, and Advanced Shakespeare is reading it this year, and they're making the movie, and...WUT? I don't even like that play, much. Completely personal opinion. But is anyone else noticing the trendiness?

The Scribe Delivers an Update on Her Progress, or Lack Of

So this year has definitely been a burn-out year for me, in regards to written fiction quotas. What have I even done? I don't know. Pretty much nothing, except for some drabbles, and I vaguely remember 17k being written on something earlier on in the year....*frowns*

Anyway. My bud Snazel challenged Kemendraugh and I to write 52 short stories in a year. So of course, like good little Snaz minions, we accepted, and are FIGHTING. lol. We started on July 1st, so I've submitted 5 stories to them so far. Although, we are allowing for a certain number of the stories we share with each other to be older ones, so I've used up one of my "reruns." But still! I've written 4 shorties in a month! And I kinda like all of them. One is part of my Alice in Wonderland retelling, two are about my Star Wars characters, and one is a weird fantasy-ish bizarre thing. XD The first three were really good for just getting my rusty fiction-writing brain into gear. The latter I kinda love, and I may use to do some world-building and eventually get a longer tale out of, but I'm not sure.

So the moral of the story? Deadlines are good, especially when you've got friends to poke you. It's especially fun because now I get to look forward to short stories from them on Monday and Fridays (my day is Wednesday). So we have collective creative juices at work here! XD And all of it helps to encourage the rest of us. Or so it seems to me.

I'll keep y'all updated on the year-long challenge as we go.

PS- sorry for all the layout changes here...I finally got around to exploring blogger's template designer. Also, welcome to a couple of new followers! ^_^ Let's be friends.

Writing Windows

I like windows beside me when I write, although I can write just about anywhere and have written just about everywhere. But my preferred places to write in my house are in my room beside my window, and at a window in our family room. Some people claim windows are distracting; they prefer to lock themselves in dark rooms so they can concentrate.  However, I feel I need some connection the “real world” when I lock myself in my mind, so that I can remind myself what it’s all for and what it’s all about. I need to see the sky. The natural light doesn’t hurt, either.

There’s not much of a view outside my bedroom window, anyway. My neighbor’s garage takes up a large portion, gray slatted roof and smooth gray paneling. A tree from my back yard can be seen, a young birch: its branches tease the right hand side of the view. Behind the garage are several stands of trees, layering back, presumably, to the horizon (my neighborhood has a lot of trees). If I crane to the left, I can see more of the birch and the green grass of my neighbor’s yard. If I crane to the right, I can see my neighbor’s driveway, crumbling pavement, and a vehicle or two. Above all of this is a patch of sky. In the evening, I can watch the stages of the sunset in it. So, all in all, not much of a view.

Our family room window looks over the street. There’s a lot more distractions to be had from this one, as I can watch passersby (who are frequent, because we live down the street from a park), passing cars, my neighbors, my neighbors’ pets, etc. Across the street there’s a yellow lab; one of the boys plays with it outside a lot. Then my dog barks, and runs upstairs and puts his front paws on the windowsill to watch. I yell at my dog, and eventually get back to work. This window faces south, so I usually miss both the sunrise and the sunset. All in all I like this window better, as sometimes I get ideas for descriptions from it, even if it’s more distracting.

So, what do you think? Windows or not? View? No view?

Motivations

[Sorry if this is cheesy. Just a post I've had rolling around in my mind for a while.]

Why do I write? Why do I spend so many hours of my life writing, editing what I’ve written, planning what I should write in future? I’ve heard a lot of reasons for a person to write, and I think all of them come into my own personal reasons to a degree.

Some people do it only when they have to: for school, for work, for correspondence. They write papers, reports, emails, only from necessity; as soon as they’re finished, they put down their pen with relief.

Some people do it simply for the enjoyment: they like being the master of their many worlds, creating people and places, deciding what should happen and when; or being master of their argument, laying forth the facts and persuasions as seems good to them. They like losing control and letting their worlds grow into beasts that demand their time and resources and soul. They can write a hundred pages a day and not get enough.

Some people write for attention. They ask themselves, what would be the weirdest way to deliver a poem; how can I get the biggest rush out of a story or the most outcry from an essay or manifesto? They write for the praise and the ridicule and the interviews and the critics and the fans.

Some people write because they have something they must communicate, out of want or need. They are driven by their dire conviction that as many people as possible must hear what they have to say. This isn’t, necessarily, out of an arrogant presumption that they know better than everyone else. Sometimes it is a purely altruistic thought: they truly believe they are writing for the benefit and knowledge of others.

I can’t say I’m completely free from any of these reasons. I think, perhaps, I possess a little of each. But most of all, first and foremost, I write because I must. I have to write; it is a demand from my innermost self. It is my outlet, my communication to myself, my creative bend, my hobby, my life. If I didn’t write, my self would be contained and never escape. My thoughts, my dreams, my worlds, my friends, my creatures, come out in my writing. Because they have to. Because I have to. It is my mission, set by myself, in some place and time outside of myself. And that is why I write.

"Titus, it is your DENSITY!"

I am a literary failure at the moment. :D

I have been writing. Some. A little. Well, okay, mostly papers and crap for school. But I HAVE been working on The Stranger, a tad, although obviously still not done with the next episode. So much for every Friday, but I did pretty good for a while.

The truth is, I barely have time for LIFE, much less blogging and reading and writing and watching the Office (the power of that last one, alas, must not be underestimated. I have become one of Them).

The point of this post is mostly to say I AM alive and still love writing just have issues with 17 credits and work.

The other point of this post is a book-gush. Nyeh. I received Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake for my birthday (the 27th) and have read, wow, a whole 33 pages! This is admirable taking into account the whole time issue, mentioned above. But wow, the book is DENSE! Definitely gives me flashbacks to Charles Williams, just for sheer density.

I scribbled down a few notes as I was reading, mostly characters, cuz there are a LOT of them with strange names. I don't like any of the characters yet, amusingly enough, although judgment on Steerpike is pending and, as I said, I'm not that far in. But the awesomeness! The first paragraph is GOLD: "a certain ponderous architectural quality", "arose like a mutilated finger from among the fists of knuckled masonry and pointed blasphemously at heaven". The main word of the book so far seems to be "ritual."

I realize this is nothing even close to a review; I'm mostly just proclaiming my STRONG GOOD FEELINGS for the book so far. :D

Over and out.

head spinning couldn't find my way round

Nanowrimo 2008 Mug

You wanna know what that is? That is awesome slapping you in the face.
I. Want.
:P

Also, check out Wordle.net for hours of entertainment (not even joking).

And, for all you left-handers out there (oh wait...:P), here's a neat article: Fountain Pens for Southpaws

Another writing survey

1. Your genre(s)?
Fantasy, mostly, or a weird mix of normal with sci-fi and fantasy. I've TRIED writing normal stuff, and I got the weirdest story ever. So. I've given up on normal for now.

2. How many books have you completed?
Technically....well.....2? I really don't know what Tasliri counts as-holy cow something huge just fell past my window...um...freaky?

3. How many books are you working on right now?
LOL I just did a post on this earlier so I won't list them all again.

4. Are you a linear or chunk writer?
Linear. My brain is too organized for chunk writing, although I do attempt it once in a while.

5. The POV you're most partial to?
3rd limited or omniscient. 1st is fun because you really get in their head, but then you're stuck with the one character.

6. The theme that keeps cropping up in your books?
Hmm....really attractive main characters? Blarg. Also snark, happy endings, and I realized today that somehow TWO of my big projects have vampires in them. ???? I hate vampires. So I don't even get it. BUT they're not important parts of the story. And they don't glitter. So I can live with myself.

7. How many days a week do you write?
Seven in November. :P I blog almost every day, but "real" writing happens twice a week, usually.

8. What time of day do you get your best writing done?
Evening.

9. Who are your mentors?
CHRIS BATY! :P No just kidding he's just inspiration. Mrs. Nissila I counted on a lot in high school. Gaia's a lot of help, but not really a mentor?

10. Who are your favorite authors to read? (different from mentors)
Oh here we go: Tolkien, Fyodor Dostoevsky, CS Lewis, Jane Austen, Timothy Zahn, Michael Stackpole, Diana Wynne Jones, Hilari Bell, Terry Pratchett, Cornelia Funke, Elizabeth Pope, Jasper Fforde, Ursula K Leguin, William Shakespeare, Kevin Crossley-Holland, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

PS-I added a blogroll on the right with my fave writing blogs.

What's in YOUR writing kit?

YOU try typing "Pierrfindelsson" twenty-seven times, and see if YOU don't hate all Elvenkind at the end.
One more episode finished!

And now, for fun, something I found on someone else's writing blog.

What's in your writing kit?
1. My laptop, Shinra. Every writer needs a computer, either their own, borrowed, or stolen. AlphaSmarts are for noobs.
2. Notebook: these vary depending on how ah feel when I get a new one. My first writing notebook was a huge green spiral, the second one was a huge sparkly green composition one, and now it's a nice unlined moleskin.
3. Unlimited supply of Papermate pens. :P Pencils are for noobs.
4. Vincent, my hot-rod-red Zune.
5. Earbuds.
6. No Plot? No Problem! Because it pwns.
7. MLA handbook: for editing only.
8. Copious amounts of chocolate.
9. Copious amounts of root beer.
10. Post-it notes for scrawling random ideas onto.

You'll understand what I mean when I say there's no way we're gonna give up!

I decided to reward myself for finishing my Scriptures paper by posting a blog. :D I love rambling about writing.

So, what am I up to, writing-wise? For now I have two more research papers for school, as well as a mildly creative piece for Lit.

For May I think I've firmly decided on writing my "Missing Door" plot. I'm gathering other plot-bunnies by the cartload, but I won't talk about those just now. I'm a little disturbed by how many sequels I could write. Like, I have two different sequel ideas for "Furies", a potential one for Tasliri (haha which I haven't even FINISHED yet, bleh), and at least one sequel for the jano (this one is almost completely formed in my mind).

Old projects status: Episode CCXII probably will never get looked at again. I didn't do my usual "let's spontaneously create a million continuity errors as I write!" thing so it's basically how I want it except for basic spelling and grammar errors, which I don't care enough about to go and properly fix. I think my next editing project will be finishing off Hell Hath No Furies, because it's in pretty good shape as it's in, and I'd just like to put that one to rest. The Jano is as good as it's going to get for now. Someday I'd like to go and add a lot more to it, because it's rather short, especially the end.

Tasliri.....is my curse. It has so many problems as of now I'm not sure when, or if ever, it'll be done. I'd like to, though. I really would. I owe it to Zarcael, if no one else. :P Cirx is BEGGING for his own story, too. *SIGH*

Besides big projects, I want to get in the habit of writing like a "sketch" each day. Just a short-short story, or a short descriptive/expository piece, just to keep me writing somewhat creatively every day, because I feel like my skills (the little I have :D) have been slipping lately.

How much time do I have for all this? ABSOLUTELY ZERO! Nada. Zip. Negative. I live in a dimension of negative-time. It's awesome.

You: lighten up. You: big trouble. You: get in the car.

I haven't had time for any fiction, writing or editing, lately because I've got PAPERS! Wheee school. Basically we have one due a week from now till Doomsday. "My son, in doing this you have brought about a chain reaction that could bring about the next Apocalypse!!"
What I've never understood about that quote, is when was the FIRST Apocalypse? Did I miss it? Dang I wanted to take pictures....

Anyway so yeah, papers. My philosophy one is painfully coming along (think blood. Lots of blood.). My art paper is most likely going to be on Michaelangelo, cuz he's on the list and I like him. Scriptures is going to be Chrysostom, Aquinas, and Luther on some as-yet-unknown topic. I thrive on NOT knowing what I'm doing. Lit is going to be on Milton, and whether we should read him or not. I'm a Milton supporter. I support. *nods* Andddd let's see what's left....Science. Yeah. Science is going to be on evolution. At least that one I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. w00t.

So yeah. Should be a fun month.