Exercise - Hero

Take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes to write about your hero.

Pantser vs. Plotter

A pantser is someone who writes by the seat of their pants, without a written outline.

A plotter is someone who has a written, nearly complete outline of major and usually minor plot point.

THere are varying degrees of both and everything in between and NO wrong way to write

Assignment 6

Describe, with as much detail and information you can the setting surrounding your story. (outer space - nebula galaxy - is fine, if that is all you know) Due Tuesday.

How I write --

I was recently asked to describe how I write -- so I thought I'd share my jumbled answer here.
----
I'm more pantser than plotter, but I adjust things for me. I hate lines, so I don't usually work within them. I start with an idea, usually a snippet of a scene with a couple of characters in it. While I'm writing the idea down, I write down any thing and everything that comes to mind. Usually on unlined paper all over the place, I'll put into the 30 day outline spread sheet later. I write without editing, whereever the characters and story take me. I do usually know how the story is going to end and one or two of the major events that will take place, but I not a whole lot beyond that. WHen I get stuck, I get out my wipe board and markers and will plot either from where I am to where I need to be or the reverse. Or I'll do a spider-brainstorm thing on it. My wipe board usually looks like a huge mess of colors. I'll write using the plot points I've come up with and continue on from there. I use the wipe board for sorting my characters personalities and backgrounds. About once a week or once every two weeks I'll input the information in the outline or personnel folders or both.

Where Ideas Come From

So, I was watching "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Andrew Lloyd Weber, and there is a scene where Jesus is led before Caifus (spelling bad today) and he is led away and in passing he sees Judas and he takes a minute and puts a hand on his chest and in that instant forgives him.

My idea... two brothers, they are young, twins, or possibly best friends, one is taken away by the police he is crying, reaching for his brother. The other one stays put until his brother is out of sight. The two grow up to be men, one has the "All-American" type childhood, the other has more scars and pain than even he knows what to do. One has guilt "blood on my hands" his whole life is driven to be worthy, to erase the blood from his hands, the other has resentment not at the brother, but the family or system or situation that caused the rift.


Ideas come from many different places and in the weirdest times. Like the middle of a movie, the shower, or during a boring car ride, or while listening to music. Write them down immediately. Write down everything that comes to mind, and what you were doing or listening to when the idea struck. The story of Jesus and Judas may have nothing to do with what will happen in the course of character and plot development, but then again, it might.

Later, we'll brainstorm these ideas.

Quote of the Day

Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck -- but, most of all, endurance. -- James Baldwin

Assignment 5

In preparation for Assignment 6, I want to know what you think setting is. How do YOU define it. What things or people would you consider as setting? What would you consider not part of setting?

Assignment 4

Several names really stand out for me along with impressions of when or where their from. I will limit myself to two, though.

Nari
23 - 26 years old,
Blue-Black hair, thick, shoulder-blade length
Bronze/Lt tan skin
Dark Eyes
warrior princess, a past that she is ashamed of, poor, street rat

Kayne
28 - 30
Lt. Brown hair, cropped
Green eyes that become blue when his emotions are strong
White, slightly bronze
Ideal looks, rich, "right side of the street"
Chief, warrior background

Assignment 3

The large room takes up nearly a third of the entire apartment. Sunlight, filtered by snow, and wind enter through the large windows void of curtains or blinds, bouncing off the eggshell white walls. Multiple cultures and eccentric beliefs are represented by the Jade and Teak Japanese wall hanging next the door warding off evil, the framed cross-stitched portrait of dragon stitching a septagram. A calender comparing men to weather reports and their unbelieibility hangs along side the portrait of an elf with an owl and moon in the background, framing a large wooden desk cramped with a flat screen monitor decorated with sticky-notes and pictures surrounded by speakers, CD's, the statue of a pewter wizard holding a crystal ball, photos of a young red-headed girl that will one day accept an leading actress oscar, an empty bottle of blackcherry flavored water sits next to toy figures of Legolas from the Lord of the Rings movies which stand in front of a 5X7 pictures titled storyteller. A large purple dragon looks down from atop his perch on a stack of books, the Synonym Finder, a dictionary, and a medical reference book among them, from the other side of the desk amid papers, printer, a recipe box, beaded braclet, a vase of brillent red silk roses covered with a thin film of dust. BBQ chips and the remainder of a container of chip dip sit on the table, the sharpness of which can still be felt on the tongue. Floss, fabric, CD's, zipdisks hover alongside a tin of fairy cards, a copy of Shakespeares hamlet, and a nearly empty Rainforest Cafe mug holding now cold, tea. The scent of which lingers in the air. THe room is a large rectangle, but decorated to represent a circle. A small tv and dvd player sit atop a small light oak colored corner unit with DVD's stacked in it's cabinets and on top of it, next to the tv. A wallhanging of cross-stiched birds and birdhouses sewn into green and tan calico hang over the old Magnovox. The wood unit, smooth to the touch, butts up against a pair of dented, black tall bookshelves covered with books, some sitting neatly in rows, some laying on top of the rows of books or in front of the books. Books covering history, science fiction, writing, fantasy, romance and its many subgenres, are intermixed wtih books on mythology, baby names, Native Americans, Atlases, Shakespeare, and Harry Potter. A steel gray, plastic speakers sit atop each bookshelf. Books and candle holders take up the remaining space on top of the bookcases. A tall black bottle of Unicorn Ale, once filled with Elven Mist covered in a thin film of dust, looks right at home next to iron courting candle, in front of the mixed, piles of fantasy, mystery, science fiction, and paranormal romance books. A tall, light oak wooden stero cabinet seperates the pair of bookcases, brased by scrapbooks, photoalbums, and National Geographic magazines. An inherited stero sits at the base of the cabinet, surrounded by rows and stacks of CD's. Behind the solid wood cabinets lay more magazines, books, papers, and notes. The bookcases wrap around to the wooden mission style futon covered with a blue, leaf covered fabric. A pair of black and white prints of a deserted city street hang above the futon, partially covered with files, partial stories, candles, and CD's. A tall lamp at the other end sits between the video stand, a basket overflowing with cross-stitch patterns, floss, fabric, completed and partially completed projects, and the futon. An pub stytle sits between stacks of movies, the window and the door. Above it on the wall is another striking photo of the young girl next to a black and white print of a stone table and benches in a circular stand of trees. Two empty, snowmen cookie cars complete the eccentric look. The peaceful silence is broken by the background the sounds of the movie "The Princess Bride" are interrupted by babytalk and active imaginations.

Writer's Block

It's the worse feeling in the world. The voices in your head are still and quiet. You sit and stare at a blank page, not knowing how to begin, where to go. Or worse, you have three lines on the page and can go absolutely no farther. And in the back of your mind you ask yourself what if I can never write again? What if I'm a fraud? Writer's block can be the scariest thing in the world for a writer. At the height of creativity you believe it'll never happen to you. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

WHen it me hit this past month, it was unexpected and I was unprepared for it. I sat there staring at my screen. It read "Chapter 4" and

Loden glanced at Wolf and Ash.

Hurry Felan! Our help is needed.

Where to?

Loden scanned the ground, and saw a flash of orange-red flame and red scales hidden beneath the green of the trees. “There!” He shouted, pointing.

“Doesn’t sound good Loden!” Ash called out.

“Not in the slightest.

And there I sat. Staring. Music didn't help. Changing the music didn't help. Movies didn't help. School didn't help. I couldn't work on a different project. I couldn't do anything. Then I took out my wipe board from behind the door where it was buried. Cleaned it off and asked myself a loaded question.

"What needs to happen in this chapter?"

My thought process went something like this... (this was written out on the board somewhat randomly and then connected with arrows)

Caelan's (heroine) POV NOT Loden (Hero)

Trap
- elf
- dragon
- "Stupid Riders"

Loden doesn't believe Caelan is the one he seeks

Loden/Ash/Wolf good arial fighters suck on the ground

Wolf is gravely injured
- Caelan saves him
- Wolf to Loden "It is mortal brother"
- Caelan "Bloody fool."

With that I could start writing again. Those few notes, the most important of which was realizing whose point of view (POV) I was telling the story from, got me through the first 10 pages of chapter 4.

So when I got stuck again, I turned to my wipe board, erased everything and started again. Starting from where I left off and where I needed to be.

It went something like this:

Healing pools (at one end) and Loden and Caelan alone (at the other end) and then filled in between.

Caelan recovers

Loden/Caelan introductions

Deathmark discussion

She refuses to remove it, thinks he's elitist, arrogant, egotistical "Loden, a skilled fighter doesn't equal good blood or a heart"

She needs to go to the Eastern Oracle

Battle at 'Trollic' Bridge


Loden doesn't want to leave with the mark on, not safe without Ash/Wolf. Loden doesn't think he deserves the mark, thinks she stubborn

Ash/Wolf go home - needed there

Romantic BBM -- She removes the mark and leaves

Liam wants redemption "Am I not redeemable?"

Will this help me move on... possibly. It may take another round on the wipe board for some transitions, but a good movie and music or a bubble bath and a good book might work too.

To write or not to write

“If you want to write fiction, the best thing you can do is take two aspirins, lie down in a dark room, and wait for the feeling to pass. If it persists, you probably ought to write a novel.”
--Lawrence Block, Writing the Novel From Plot to Print