4 things: NaNo, musings on writing, holiday stuff, and dogs

1. ( NaNo Word Count )

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2. I finished chapter 9 of "Lemonade" last night, but I want to look it over again today for the really blindingly obvious stupid parts that I try to edit out before posting the rough versions here on lj. (I always miss some, of course, and I am incredibly grateful to anyone who points out what I'm not seeing.)

I also figured out why I've been blocked on "Guardian" and on "Beauty" -- it was structural problems in both cases. See, in "Guardian," the last scene I wrote was going in the wrong direction (character and situation based, rather than plot based), and I knew somewhere in the back of my head that the story was going too far off track, but it took me until yesterday to realize why it was off track. I will be fixing that soonish.

With "Beauty," on the other hand, I knew where some of the trouble was -- see, it's turned into the story of a dysfunctional family as much as anything else -- so I had to go back and fix the relationship between Grace and Hope, and between the princesses and their parents -- which I did yesterday. Then I realized that the reason I'd been stuck on what to write next was that I wanted to write it from Grace's POV, but that was impossible because it's Hope's decision that will resolve the current plot impasse.

"Beauty" is a multiple-POV story, but in a different vein from "Guardian." See, in "Guardian," I'm switching POVs because my characters are in different places dealing with different pieces of the overarching plot. In "Beauty," it's all one linear plot thread, but I switch POVs based on which character is currently making the choices that drive that plot along. So I started with Iris, the fairy godmother who loses her temper and screws up. Then it was Grace, then Ricky (who goes and does something stupid), then Grace again to show the results of Ricky's screw up and how she deals with them, then Ricky to realize and explain his mistake, then Grace for the initial reaction and a somewhat subconscious choice to shoulder the decision off onto Hope's shoulders, and now Hope to actually make that choice. I think, once Hope chooses (and I know what she's going to choose -- there's really no other choice she can make, given the characters and the situation) I'll switch back to Grace for the conclusion... partly because I seem to be using Grace for reaction shots, but mostly because "Beauty" is, ultimately, her story.

( I do like the mechanics of story creation )

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3. On Tuesday evening, I leave work at 6pm. My mom arrives at my place at 6:30ish, I dump my bag into the car, and we head down to Madison, NJ. I will be at my parents' house Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then Vicky will drive me back to Ithaca on Saturday morning so I can be at work by noon. Ardis (Dad's stepmother) and my Aunt Cara (Mom's sister) will also be in Madison, so perhaps I should wrap their Christmas presents and bring them down with me? Anyway, Wednesday is also Aunt Cara's birthday, so I bought her a card and a thing of local organic flavored chapstick as a mini-present. I also bought a hysterical political Christmas card to send to my Uncle Bill (one of Mom's brothers), because I know he'll love it, and a pretty birthday card for Grandma Doris (Mom's mother), whose birthday is a week from today.

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4. I think I forgot to say earlier, but as of a couple weeks ago, my parents have a new dog. Her name is Dot (Mom's decided to call her Dottie, but I refuse, on principle, to call a dog demented without meeting her first and verifying her personality) and she's about half the size of Gigi. She's some sort of terrier mix, about 4 years old, and was spayed recently after weaning a litter of puppies. They're having some trouble negotiating Dot's introduction to their house, but by and large they seem to be getting along all right.

It's weird to say "my parents' dog" instead of "my dog," but I don't live in Madison anymore, and Dot is not by any stretch of the imagination 'my' dog. Gigi was my dog. When I have the money to afford one, the dog I take home will be my dog. But my parents' pets are no longer mine.

Funny, that. It's not like I had much contact with Gigi in her last years, but she was my childhood dog, and therefore was and always will be one of 'my' dogs.

I still miss her. It doesn't ache anymore, but I suspect it will be a little disconcerting to visit Madison and see a different dog in that house.

4 things: NaNo, musings on writing, holiday stuff, and dogs

1. ( NaNo Word Count )

---------------------------------------------

2. I finished chapter 9 of "Lemonade" last night, but I want to look it over again today for the really blindingly obvious stupid parts that I try to edit out before posting the rough versions here on lj. (I always miss some, of course, and I am incredibly grateful to anyone who points out what I'm not seeing.)

I also figured out why I've been blocked on "Guardian" and on "Beauty" -- it was structural problems in both cases. See, in "Guardian," the last scene I wrote was going in the wrong direction (character and situation based, rather than plot based), and I knew somewhere in the back of my head that the story was going too far off track, but it took me until yesterday to realize why it was off track. I will be fixing that soonish.

With "Beauty," on the other hand, I knew where some of the trouble was -- see, it's turned into the story of a dysfunctional family as much as anything else -- so I had to go back and fix the relationship between Grace and Hope, and between the princesses and their parents -- which I did yesterday. Then I realized that the reason I'd been stuck on what to write next was that I wanted to write it from Grace's POV, but that was impossible because it's Hope's decision that will resolve the current plot impasse.

"Beauty" is a multiple-POV story, but in a different vein from "Guardian." See, in "Guardian," I'm switching POVs because my characters are in different places dealing with different pieces of the overarching plot. In "Beauty," it's all one linear plot thread, but I switch POVs based on which character is currently making the choices that drive that plot along. So I started with Iris, the fairy godmother who loses her temper and screws up. Then it was Grace, then Ricky (who goes and does something stupid), then Grace again to show the results of Ricky's screw up and how she deals with them, then Ricky to realize and explain his mistake, then Grace for the initial reaction and a somewhat subconscious choice to shoulder the decision off onto Hope's shoulders, and now Hope to actually make that choice. I think, once Hope chooses (and I know what she's going to choose -- there's really no other choice she can make, given the characters and the situation) I'll switch back to Grace for the conclusion... partly because I seem to be using Grace for reaction shots, but mostly because "Beauty" is, ultimately, her story.

( I do like the mechanics of story creation )

---------------------------------------------

3. On Tuesday evening, I leave work at 6pm. My mom arrives at my place at 6:30ish, I dump my bag into the car, and we head down to Madison, NJ. I will be at my parents' house Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then Vicky will drive me back to Ithaca on Saturday morning so I can be at work by noon. Ardis (Dad's stepmother) and my Aunt Cara (Mom's sister) will also be in Madison, so perhaps I should wrap their Christmas presents and bring them down with me? Anyway, Wednesday is also Aunt Cara's birthday, so I bought her a card and a thing of local organic flavored chapstick as a mini-present. I also bought a hysterical political Christmas card to send to my Uncle Bill (one of Mom's brothers), because I know he'll love it, and a pretty birthday card for Grandma Doris (Mom's mother), whose birthday is a week from today.

---------------------------------------------

4. I think I forgot to say earlier, but as of a couple weeks ago, my parents have a new dog. Her name is Dot (Mom's decided to call her Dottie, but I refuse, on principle, to call a dog demented without meeting her first and verifying her personality) and she's about half the size of Gigi. She's some sort of terrier mix, about 4 years old, and was spayed recently after weaning a litter of puppies. They're having some trouble negotiating Dot's introduction to their house, but by and large they seem to be getting along all right.

It's weird to say "my parents' dog" instead of "my dog," but I don't live in Madison anymore, and Dot is not by any stretch of the imagination 'my' dog. Gigi was my dog. When I have the money to afford one, the dog I take home will be my dog. But my parents' pets are no longer mine.

Funny, that. It's not like I had much contact with Gigi in her last years, but she was my childhood dog, and therefore was and always will be one of 'my' dogs.

I still miss her. It doesn't ache anymore, but I suspect it will be a little disconcerting to visit Madison and see a different dog in that house.