The above is written on a sticky note, sitting beside my right elbow as I type this post. It's a flaw I found in my WIP during the re-write of chapter 22. Chapter twenty-friggin-two, people. This book only has 31 chapters. I'm almost done for petesakes. And now this.
And the sticky note? It taunts me.
Sure, Major is not the MC. Thank goodness for small favors. But he's a major secondary character. He needs to be consistent. (Don't they all.)
I was complaining about this yesterday morning to my daughter via FB chat. I believe my exact words were 'I don wanna go back and fix all that'. Her first answer was 'then don't'. To which I replied, 'I gotta'. And she, being the lovely spawn of all things good within me, said something to the affect of 'then get to work', cracked a whip and told me she'd talk to me later.
Easier said than done. Going back to fix all the places where he has dialogue seems like a gigantic mound of steaming manure I have to shovel through. And before I can even do that, I have to figure out which Major is the right Major. Is he all deferential and proper, or is he a snarky bastard? Or does he only get deferential when his feelings are hurt, and otherwise he's cheeky? And there's another bit to consider that I can't talk about here because it would be a massive spoiler, but I have to take it into account when determining his voice.
:headdeskheaddeskheaddesk:
Anyone who thinks or says that writing is easy should be horse whipped - with a real horse.
On the upside, I discovered this inconsistency before I was finished enough to send this WIP out into the world. Now I just need to decide whether I'm going to stop everything to fix all that, or finish with these last few chapters before I set myself to shoveling.
I'm thinking forge ahead. That's my general rule when faced with something like this - make a note and forge onward.
Which is why that stupid sticky note is sitting next to my elbow...
Taunting me.
Anything taunting you these days, or is it smooth sailing where you are?
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Bird Geek: Harpy Eagle
As some of you may know, I'm a self-proclaimed bird geek. I feed the birds, watch the birds, and take pictures of them whenever I can. I also tend to stop during my channel surfing on any program that might be about birds. Last night on PBS, I saw a Nature program on the Harpy Eagle. OMG. They were magnificent.
First off, they're HUGE. To give you an idea, here's a picture I borrowed from the blog Bill of the Birds: **Image Deleted**
And that's not even a big one. The female on the show last night flew past a man and her wingspan had to be close to 7 feet. She blotted him out entirely. Wow.
Anyway, near the end of the show, there was this one shot of the immature male, where he looked directly at the camera, that will stay with me a while. Hauntingly beautiful. In fact, I think he needs a story of his own. I could totally imagine him shape-shifting into a man and sweeping some lucky gal off her feet. If I wrote paranormal romance, I would totally do that. Since I don't, feel free to snatch the idea and make it your own.
Inspiration comes in so many funny ways. Anything odd inspire you lately?
First off, they're HUGE. To give you an idea, here's a picture I borrowed from the blog Bill of the Birds: **Image Deleted**
And that's not even a big one. The female on the show last night flew past a man and her wingspan had to be close to 7 feet. She blotted him out entirely. Wow.
Anyway, near the end of the show, there was this one shot of the immature male, where he looked directly at the camera, that will stay with me a while. Hauntingly beautiful. In fact, I think he needs a story of his own. I could totally imagine him shape-shifting into a man and sweeping some lucky gal off her feet. If I wrote paranormal romance, I would totally do that. Since I don't, feel free to snatch the idea and make it your own.
Inspiration comes in so many funny ways. Anything odd inspire you lately?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Just Get It On Paper
Surfing around the web recently, I've seen a lot of people talking about NaNo - lamenting their progress, discussing the merits of prologues, wondering how they should begin...
It's NaNo, folks. The idea here isn't to get 50K perfect words on the page. It's to write. Just write. Get those words on the paper and worry about them after.
Everything else... all that stuff I put up there in the first paragraph? It's just things we throw in the road ahead of ourselves. Stumbling blocks and distractions. Sound and fury signifying something or other.
Just get it on paper. That's all you need to do this month. Word after word after word. Sure, those words all have to work together to make some kind of sense. Otherwise, you could type 'I hate myself' 16668 times and be done with it. But those words do not need to be perfect.
If what's in your head is a prologue, write the damn thing. Next month, you can decide whether it's necessary or whether it can be absorbed into the other chapters.
Started in the wrong place? Take a friggin' machete and chop your way to the right path. You can work it out in December. (Or January, or February... whenever you're finished and ready to red-ink that puppy up.)
Seriously, folks, let it go. This is the perfect time to just write for the joy of putting words on paper. The headaches (or the joys) of editing will come at you in a few weeks. Now? Not so much.
And yeah, I know I'm not doing NaNo this year. But I know what it's like. And I'm telling you right now...
Just get it on paper and quit getting in your own way. When you hit 12/1 with 50+K added to your WIP, you'll thank yourself.
You can thank me later by sending chocolate. ;o)
It's NaNo, folks. The idea here isn't to get 50K perfect words on the page. It's to write. Just write. Get those words on the paper and worry about them after.
Everything else... all that stuff I put up there in the first paragraph? It's just things we throw in the road ahead of ourselves. Stumbling blocks and distractions. Sound and fury signifying something or other.
Just get it on paper. That's all you need to do this month. Word after word after word. Sure, those words all have to work together to make some kind of sense. Otherwise, you could type 'I hate myself' 16668 times and be done with it. But those words do not need to be perfect.
If what's in your head is a prologue, write the damn thing. Next month, you can decide whether it's necessary or whether it can be absorbed into the other chapters.
Started in the wrong place? Take a friggin' machete and chop your way to the right path. You can work it out in December. (Or January, or February... whenever you're finished and ready to red-ink that puppy up.)
Seriously, folks, let it go. This is the perfect time to just write for the joy of putting words on paper. The headaches (or the joys) of editing will come at you in a few weeks. Now? Not so much.
And yeah, I know I'm not doing NaNo this year. But I know what it's like. And I'm telling you right now...
Just get it on paper and quit getting in your own way. When you hit 12/1 with 50+K added to your WIP, you'll thank yourself.
You can thank me later by sending chocolate. ;o)
Monday, November 7, 2011
What to Blog About
What to post... what to post....
Well, if I didn't think it was proprietary, I'd post the email my daughter got from her business professor. It went out to the whole class, explaining to them certain key points of the English language they may not have been aware of. Like -its- is possessive and -it's- is a contraction. -Their- is possessive, and -there- shows place. Little stuff like that. Daughter forwarded it to me because she thought I'd get a kick out of it, and she was so right. We were both amazed that the prof even needed to send that to a group of college students.
I thought about writing a post lamenting the fact that no matter how many squares of toilet paper I scroll out from the roll, only the first square rips off easily. Seriously, what is with that? What can anyone do with one square of toilet paper? (All references to Elaine of Seinfeld and her 'spare a square' episode aside.)
I considered bitching about the time change, but I bitched about that in the Spring. Nothing's really changed since then.
I started to write a poem the other day about hope being like a teddy bear whose all worn with the stuffing falling out but one that we can't let go of. But my poetry days are behind me. Maybe I'll turn that thought into a blog post one of these days. Meanwhile, the idea is sitting on a sticky note stuck to the corner of my desk.
Of course, I could always gripe about my state of being carless. Poor Callie Cavalier had a coronary on Friday. Her fuel pump is shot and she needs a transplant. Unfortunately my mechanic was out of town and the dealer had to order up a donor heart. So, from Friday until tomorrow morning (I hope morning) I'm sans vehicle. You never know how much you need your car until it's gone. Today, I'll be walking to the bank, the post office and maybe the grocery store (unless I can hitch a ride or overcome my cheapness to have them delivery my groceries.)
On the bright side, the car died now and not in two weeks when I pick the kid up for Thanksgiving break. Having fuel pump problems on the freeway would suck.
I had a great idea for a short story the other night and totally forgot it by morning. Happy day for me, I just remembered the premise, so now I can go type it into my ideas file.
In other news, I made my goal of 4K words yesterday. I'm pretty tired today, but still pretty proud of myself, too. If I can keep this momentum, I'll have these last 11 chapters busted out in no time. =o)
How are things going in your life today? Got any news? Anything to crow about? Anything to bitch about? Have at it in the comments.
Well, if I didn't think it was proprietary, I'd post the email my daughter got from her business professor. It went out to the whole class, explaining to them certain key points of the English language they may not have been aware of. Like -its- is possessive and -it's- is a contraction. -Their- is possessive, and -there- shows place. Little stuff like that. Daughter forwarded it to me because she thought I'd get a kick out of it, and she was so right. We were both amazed that the prof even needed to send that to a group of college students.
I thought about writing a post lamenting the fact that no matter how many squares of toilet paper I scroll out from the roll, only the first square rips off easily. Seriously, what is with that? What can anyone do with one square of toilet paper? (All references to Elaine of Seinfeld and her 'spare a square' episode aside.)
I considered bitching about the time change, but I bitched about that in the Spring. Nothing's really changed since then.
I started to write a poem the other day about hope being like a teddy bear whose all worn with the stuffing falling out but one that we can't let go of. But my poetry days are behind me. Maybe I'll turn that thought into a blog post one of these days. Meanwhile, the idea is sitting on a sticky note stuck to the corner of my desk.
Of course, I could always gripe about my state of being carless. Poor Callie Cavalier had a coronary on Friday. Her fuel pump is shot and she needs a transplant. Unfortunately my mechanic was out of town and the dealer had to order up a donor heart. So, from Friday until tomorrow morning (I hope morning) I'm sans vehicle. You never know how much you need your car until it's gone. Today, I'll be walking to the bank, the post office and maybe the grocery store (unless I can hitch a ride or overcome my cheapness to have them delivery my groceries.)
On the bright side, the car died now and not in two weeks when I pick the kid up for Thanksgiving break. Having fuel pump problems on the freeway would suck.
I had a great idea for a short story the other night and totally forgot it by morning. Happy day for me, I just remembered the premise, so now I can go type it into my ideas file.
In other news, I made my goal of 4K words yesterday. I'm pretty tired today, but still pretty proud of myself, too. If I can keep this momentum, I'll have these last 11 chapters busted out in no time. =o)
How are things going in your life today? Got any news? Anything to crow about? Anything to bitch about? Have at it in the comments.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
My Shelves
The Paranormal Book Club is having a Facebook contest where you send in pictures of your bookshelves and win stuff. I'm not entering but it did give me an idea for this blog post...
My bookshelves are everywhere. I went around the house taking pics just now and ended up with ten pictures. And that's not even counting the two shelving units in the bedroom because Hubs is still sleeping*.
Too be fair, I do run an online used books store. I have over 2K books listed for sale right now through Amazon. (And before anyone gets their undies in a bunch, book sales feed my book buying habit. Without that money, I wouldn't be able to buy all the new books I buy.) The above picture shows books K-T. Yeah, my shelves are alphabetical by author's last initial, but not within the letter - so you might see King before Kellerman on that first shelving unit. I'm anal, but not that anal.
Pics of just my keepers would be five shelves - three out here and two in the bedroom.
Still, no matter if they're my forever books or just passing through on the way to someone else, they're mine and I love having them all around me. If I didn't think I'd break the spines, I'd pile them on the bed and roll around in them.
What about you? What do your shelves look like? Are they strictly for books or do you have other stuff jammed in there, too? (Pay no attention to my Prospector Pete Santa - he's not a Christmas decoration. He's too cute for just one season.)
* He's up, so here's a shot of one of my bedroom shelves...
Yep, it's jammed full. I love the fact that this house has tons of built-ins, but I really do need more shelves.
My bookshelves are everywhere. I went around the house taking pics just now and ended up with ten pictures. And that's not even counting the two shelving units in the bedroom because Hubs is still sleeping*.
Too be fair, I do run an online used books store. I have over 2K books listed for sale right now through Amazon. (And before anyone gets their undies in a bunch, book sales feed my book buying habit. Without that money, I wouldn't be able to buy all the new books I buy.) The above picture shows books K-T. Yeah, my shelves are alphabetical by author's last initial, but not within the letter - so you might see King before Kellerman on that first shelving unit. I'm anal, but not that anal.
Pics of just my keepers would be five shelves - three out here and two in the bedroom.
Still, no matter if they're my forever books or just passing through on the way to someone else, they're mine and I love having them all around me. If I didn't think I'd break the spines, I'd pile them on the bed and roll around in them.
What about you? What do your shelves look like? Are they strictly for books or do you have other stuff jammed in there, too? (Pay no attention to my Prospector Pete Santa - he's not a Christmas decoration. He's too cute for just one season.)
* He's up, so here's a shot of one of my bedroom shelves...
Yep, it's jammed full. I love the fact that this house has tons of built-ins, but I really do need more shelves.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Confuzzled
This morning I was reading along and saw boobeinglate as a hashtag.
To be perfectly honest, the first thing my whacked out brain did was transpose the i and the e, making it look like boobie nglate - whatever the hell that means.
Once I put the letters back in their correct order, I couldn't figure out why someone would say 'boob ein glate'. Is it German? Is it dirty? WTF? Toss that option.
Then I went to boobe in glate. Still a major WTF moment.
Sure Twitter makes the world smush everything together and not speak in full sentences, but let's all take a moment to make sure we're not creating more confusion... like the world needs that.
(btw, if you have Twitter and would like to follow me, the link is over there on the right. Or leave a comment with your Twitter ID and I'll follow you.)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Not Enough Coffee in the World Today
Anyway, it's 5am. The neighbor kid is already out shoveling the driveway they never even use. I swear to god if he wakes my husband up, I'm going to flick him in the ears. And there isn't even enough snow yet to bother with. We're under a blizzard warning, sure, but it's not here yet. Go back to bed, son. Seriously.
Scraaaape. Tap. Scraaaape. Tap. I may kill him even if he doesn't wake the Hubs.
So yeah, blizzard warning. 4-8" of blowing white stuff. I can't wait until we can afford for Hubs to retire so we can get the hell out of this cold place. I don't mind a little snow. Really I don't. But after growing up in Michigan and going to college on the sunny shores of Lake Superior, I'm so over it. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I never had to leave the house, but I smoke and the landlady has forbidden it inside.
There's an upside there, but I'm in the middle of a vent - and there are no upsides.
And I can't do NaNo this year. I mean, I could, but I promised myself I was going to finish this rewrite before I started anything new. Since I'm only in the middle of chapter 18 out of 31 chapters, I can't write new words now. :pout: A friend and I are planning on doing NaNo next month, but it's just not the same.
I think I need another cup of coffee. Maybe another pot of coffee. Time will tell. Now, though, since I'm wide awake, I probably should get some writing done.
Got anything to vent about? Go for it. As long as you're not specifically nasty about me or any other human-type life forms, it's all good.
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