Writing
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Shadowrun Session 1
Belarmina Alvarez is my Latinx Dwarf based in this Chronicle. She has a long and varied back story which I will write up at somepoint, but here is her experience of the first session with the group. Basically I got home and was so pumped with keen that I had to write up what she got up to. It has given me the inspiration to write some fiction based on what happened and here it is. Content notes she is short tempered and whilst this isn’t explicit there are adult themes.
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For Pterry
I was thirteen when I read my first Terry Pratchett novel. It was Good Omens with Neil Gaiman and I loved that book as only a teenager could. I obsessed over Crowley and Aziraphale and it has been a favourite of mine for a long time. After Good Omens came the Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic which were okay but the novel that got me hooked was Wyrd Sisters. As the cauldron bubbled an archaic voice shrieked: “When shall we three meet again?!!” There was a pause. Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: “Well I can do next Tuesday.” Wyrd Sisters Over the years I…
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Outside the Comfort Zone
I wanted to write about reading outside of my comfort zone and it has got a bit weird. Firstly I tried to define what my personal comfort zone is and I couldn’t. If I say fantasy I have to immediately re-qualify it with not all fantasy and I guess that is the thing. Its easier for me to say what I am unlikely to touch which feels negative. For the last few years I’ve binged mainly on Fantasy and SCience Fiction and all kinds of funky subgenres inside. I’ve dabbled with reading paranormal romance and enjoyed some of it but I struggle with some of the established tropes. I guess…
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Guerilla writing
Baby steps. It is how I am attempting to break the ridiculous block I’ve been facing. I am using some new strange and odd methods to trick my brain into being some kind of productive. One way has been to use my phone. I was stuck providing my Dad with tech support the other week . I was at his house for a number of hours before he got home. I couldn’t settle to read, my brain was buzzing and fizzing with the idea I had been kept awake the night before. It was a strong image and I needed to realise into words. I’d started the scene at two in the morning…
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Thoughts on process
I’m not much of a planner – but I need to be. Why because my ideas fizzle out and when it gets hard I lose interest and want to do something else. I’m still getting used to ways I can plan stories but the prep work is kind of daunting and I worry that I won’t be able to come up with something that anyone else would care to read. There is a musical called Sunday in the Park with George which is about the artist George Seurat and his process. There is a song called Move On which basically describes what everyone who is trying to be creative is…
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2014 my year of writing
Lets face it, the only way to get things written is to write. This last year I have not gotten enough done and this needs to change. So this year I’m going to have a go at writing more. January is going to be my idea generating month this means generating a shedload of ideas to develop over the year. I’m also going to blog here more regularly to keep self motivated. I shall be mind mapping, free writing and hopefully explaining a little more about it as I go along mainly this year is about producing writing I am proud of.
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Character pt 2
So my last blog post I was talking about characters and how I have one rattling round in my head that I need to get to know a little better. I’ve done a little bit of work on her since then and I’m trying to work out some depth to her. I’ve set myself the task of writing a conversation between her and an interviewer. The interviewer is unimportant; they are just a means to an end in getting the girl to talk to me. My other ‘rule’ for this is that I am writing from an external point of view. No describing her thoughts, just her actions and speech.…
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Characters
I’m thinking a lot about creating characters at the moment. I feel like there is someone I want to get to know just hovering beyond my perception. There are a couple in fact, I’m hoping to tell their stories soon. My creative process is image based. Sometimes a single image gives me a character and the story grows from that. Often the image and idea spark and off I go. Character is the imperative, I try and give my characters a sense of place and weight. Details that flesh them out and bring them to life. There are many stories out there which fail to work because the characters are…
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Why no nano?
I’m not doing Nanowrimo this year for a number of reasons. First the stress I cannot handle the stress of a new job panto rehearsals and committing to writing nearly 1700 words per day for thirty days. Written like that it doesn’t seem many but at the moment for me it really is. The creative juices that should be flowing are barely rippling in the breeze. I do know a lot of people who are tackling the marathon that is Nano and good luck to every single one of you, may the words flow from your fingers like dandelion heads in the wind. Part of me wishes I could commit,…
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Beginnings and Middles
I’m currently in a bit of a mire. I should be writing, I should be writing lots but I’m not. I’m stuck. The way my life is going is that I have recently started a new job, one that requires me to use more brain in day to day functions than I’ve had to in the past and I simply cannot find the energy spare to write. This is making me anxious. Writing has been as natural as breathing so when the ability to do so is reduced for whatever reason then I get jittery. Life is ridiculously busy, in addition to work there are rehearsals for a pantomime I…