After what came before…

For today, a couple of unrelated thoughts based on my previous post.  If you need to, you can go back and read it. I’ll wait – the Internet is patient.

My first thought is that comic book format creates interesting challenges to pacing.  At the request of the person I am writing for, I’m trying to avoid too many words per panel.  I’m also trying to avoid too many panels per page.  Otherwise, you know, they get really small and cramped.

Unfortunately, the original plan also included not having too many pages of story as well.  And the way I’m working now, it takes five pages to move the story an inch.  I suppose economy of storytelling is an issue in any media.  Brevity, wit.  It’s a fun, but occasionally frustrating challenge.

My other thought was about the classification and demystification of magic that I ranted about in my previous post.  Particularly as it pertains to my work-not-so-much-in-progress, The Illusionist’s House. 

I’m thinking the solution may be to go ahead and let the people in the story try to classify magic.  Maybe even let them think they’ve succeeded.  And then have them be wrong.  Let them learn that some things defy pigeonholes.

The limits of what can be known is becoming a theme for the story anyway.

Post Mutant Magic Syndrome

First, as I write this it’s the last day of 2010.  So Happy New Year to all my readers.  Second, this may turn into a rant. Hey, I’m sure I’m the first blogger that’s ever happened to.

The weeks surrounding the holidays have thrown me a little off track, so I haven’t really been keeping up on either my blogging or my writing.  As a result, The Illusionist's House has hit something of a stall.  I have also taken on another writing project, a (theoretically) short web-comic script for a sister-in-law.

Looking back on my work-in-progress, I see it suffers from a modern condition that I have chosen to call, for want of some other equally stupid name, Post Mutant Magic Syndrome.

Long-time readers will probably have gotten the impression that I like superheroes.  They would be right.  One of the interesting traits of the genre is that superpowers are frequently (though not always) well defined.  Readers like the heroes with clearly defined limits – it cuts down on the Deus ex Machina endings you get if a hero can pull any power out of his hat. 

Marvel Comic’s mutants are a good example – the usually only have one or two very specific powers.  This one has wings, that one can walk through walls.

Now the fantasy genre relies heavily on magic and magic, as a general rule, defies easy definition and classification.  Only not so much, any more. 

I’ve been reading a collection of werewolf short stories but current popular urban fantasy authors.  As is the modern trend in dark fantasy, there is more than one thing out there going bump in the night.  In a world of demons and vampires, a werewolf can actually be the good guy.  And who doesn’t like to see werewolves and vampires at war?

This leads to more definition for the supernatural element. I’m okay with different stories defining the monsters differently – these werewolves turn into wolves, those turn into wolfmen.  I’m a big fan of doing what serves the story.  But some of these worlds are becoming so populated with magical beings that rigid scientific principles of taxonomy are starting to apply.  I recently read a story by an author I really like where the hero (a vampire-hunting werewolf) paused to explain the difference between the powers of witches and wizards.

It’s starting to take some of the magic out of things.  I mean, these stories still work for me on the level in which I enjoy superheroes, but the trade-off is a level of mystery.

Which brings us back to my current work in progress, which hinges on defining the limits on illusion magic as distinct from several other forms.  I’m writing what I’m ranting against and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

One year later…

This blog is one year old today.  I’ve been doing this, even if not quite as regularly as I should, for a year now.

It was easy in the early days.  I’ve spent a lot of creative thought on the subject of creative thought.  At the beginning, I had a vast pool of ideas to from which to pull.  Ideas about the writing process, about plot structure and satisfying stories, about creativity and imagination.

And I didn’t have to worry about repeating myself.

So now I need to stop and think about what this blog will be for the next year.

For the moment, the writing project I started in November still continues, but at a slower pace than I might like.  I think if I had signed up for Nanowrimo I’d have a higher word count.  The impossible question is whether I’d be happier with the story.

My writing style is not particularly dense.  I like stories that read quickly.  But I’m trying to write a little less sparsely this time.  To make sure that I get all the value out of each scene.  To make sure my first-person narrator takes time to contemplate the meaning of the events happening around him.

This means that I am reviewing scenes and revisiting scenes.  In contrast, my typical page-count producing Nano style involves always jumping ahead to the next scene to keep up my interest and to build word count.

The thing is, way I’m not doing it might still produce better odds of getting a finished piece.  I’ve got four published novels on my resume and I’m still learning.

And that’s what keeps it fun.

Don’t Abuse the Muse

Writers and poets and other artists should, I suppose, be very nice to their muses. Right now I want to smack mine upside the head.

So here I am, on the bus.  I downloaded that old Nanowrimo piece that I discussed in my last blog entry onto the halfling laptop a few days ago and I’m ready to start revising.

On my way to the bus stop this new idea spring loads into my head. It has characters, a narrative voice, an opening sequence, even a tentative title, The Illusionist’s House. All I have to do is write it down. The old Nano piece still doesn’t have a title, a year later.

So do I practice discipline and work on the piece I have committed to doing (if only in my last blog entry) or follow the advice I gave a few posts back and respect the mysteries of my brain? A classic writer’s dilemma.

If I had a firm deadline for the old piece, if I had a contract waiting, I’d do the professional thing and concentrate on it. I might take the time to jot down notes on the new piece while it remains fresh and inspiring.

But since I am at liberty, I will follow the muse, even if she can be difficult at times.

Unintentionally Deliberate

Way back in the long ago, I used to take Tai Chi classes. The instructor liked to talk about doing Tai Chi with intention. The idea being that anyone could just go through the motions, but they wouldn’t really be doing anything beneficial – just making empty gestures. To do it right required focus and breathing and, well, intention.

The word intention also means purpose, or goal. There is a difference, for example, in writing something for the fun of it and writing something you hope to publish.

All of which makes me wonder – when did a just-for-fun, one-month, knock-off script writing project become something I’d be revising and editing half a year later? I still have no expectations of it ever being published or produced. But I still want it done right.

Ars gratia artis. (Art for art’s sake. Also known as I’m going to finish this, damn it and I’m going to get this right, damn it.) I guess the work can become it’s own intention.

So now I’ve got the script done. For my next move, I’m re-writing an old Nanowrimo project with new intentions. I don’t know yet if I am aiming for something that can be published or just something I can learn from and blog about.

But chasing word  count for Nano last year gave me a good foundation from which to start. So now I intend to polish it up and do it right.

Stick with me and we’ll see what it becomes.

National Novel Writing Month

For those who might be unaware, November is National Novel Writing Month. All across the US (and possibly beyond) people take the Nanowrimo challenge to write 50,000 words in one month. There is no prize beyond bragging rights, but it’s fun.

There’s even  a website (Google Nanowrimo to find it – I’d provide the link but I don’t have Internet here on the bus) where you can enter and update your word count, post sample pages, and discuss the experience on user forums. It’s hosted by the same folks who did the scriptwriting challenge I took last April.

I love Nanowrimo. But I’m not doing it this year.

First, I’ve done it more than once – I know that I can. My first novel, Fever Jenny, grew from a Nanowrimo project.

But I haven’t liked my results from the last few Novembers. I can get the word count, but the stories don’t add up. I find myself forcing the story ahead to reach the exciting, easy-to-write, high word count scenes, absolutely killing any sense of pacing. I find myself collecting large unfinished pieces with no promise of resolution.

And I find myself not doing the follow-up work when November ends.

So this is my plan for this November. First, I’m going to finish that dratted April project (which I should be able to do in about a week, if I actually commit myself to doing the work). Then I’m going to take the half-finished story from last November (which actually only reached about 48,000 words) and fill in the missing pieces, so that it’s done right. And maybe even finish it.

But I’m not going to obsess over the word count.

So November is still my month for challenging myself. For writing and learning from the doing of it. 

Oh, and I’ll keep with the blogging, too, so you know how I’m doing.