See the sidebar there? Scroll down a bit. Right below the followers part, where there's a bass player from a really rad band.
That's a SocialVibe widget. I set it up to support the work of To Write Love on Her Arms. They are an amazing organization that helps spread awareness and provide hope and help to people struggling with addiction, self-harm, depression, and suicide.
If you've never read it, please check out the TWLOHA story. It's powerful stuff... actually one of the big inspirations for Music Lessons.
Then if you want, play with it a bit to help earn some points and support for them! It's a great way to procrastinate when you could be working on your novel. I mean, if you're gonna procrastinate, do it for a good cause, right? ;)
That is all. Thanks for listening to my PSA.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Subplottage.
So I think I'm getting sick. That doesn 't bode well for the first week of NaNoWriMo!
Then again... maybe it does. At least it's an excuse to stay in and write write write! Except right now I'm a little too braindead to even try a drabble or an exercise. So I'm going to write a stream-of-consciousness blog post instead. (Lucky you.) There won't be much time for that when November rolls around!
Anyway... I think I'm just about ready. Just took a few minutes to read the draft of the original "Music Lessons" short story as I left it. And... dude. After about 6 months away from it, I can see why it needs a novel-length overhaul. As it is... plot (if you want to call it that) is choppy, characters that should be important walk on and off the set with barely an introduction, and just as it starts to really go somewhere and connect... it's done.
I've got my work cut out for me.
But it's also cool because I can see areas where I can fluff and expand. For one thing, the first draft had this subplot of my shy, lovable, hopelessly clumsy and nerdy Neil having a crush on a girl... who happens to like his twin brother. It was cute at the time, but the first time my writing class ran it through the critique circle, they said it detracted from the main storyline. Here I am, writing about three kids who lost their mom and one of them teetering closer and closer to suicidal depression... and I'm going off on high school love drama.
So, in the revision, I ditched it. Lynee (the crush) got a brief shout out as (the brother) Jon's girlfriend (all sibling rivalry begone!), but she was glossed over and summed up in a flashback or two so I could allot more pages to the "real story." bye bye, silly subplot!
In the second class critique, we all wanted it back. :) It was a cute breath of fresh air in a dark story, and a little bit of reassurance that -- messed up as their lives were -- these were teenagers with otherwise normal lives.
Which makes me think about subplot... they can give a sort of normalcy and realism to the plot. Something as simple and pointless as a little teenage puppy love brought out a different side to my characters. Neil seems more innocent and sort of pathetic, which makes him stand out all the more when he finally does something brave. And he learns that his school issues are small compared to the disguised turmoil in his family and the pain and depression his sister's going through.
Oh, look at me. Rambling on like you know this story in my head. Sorry. :)
All that to say... I'm looking forward to reviving the minor characters, especially since I'm trying to take a more YA-friendly angle. I want to flesh out their Dad more (who was kind of interesting, but also got glossed over) and I want to add a little more drama between Neil, Jon, and Lynee. I want them to be real high school kids with homework and hormones and all that good stuff. At least in NaNo month, you can call it a word count boost!
Now... here is the cheerleader/helpful advice/double-dog-dare-you part!
If you get stuck in your novel, toss in a subplot that might be mundane in comparison to the big, important, exciting things going on in your "real plot." Let your character develop an unrequited crush or something. Or if you get really stuck... send your MC grocery shopping.
What? That worked for me last year. You'd be amazed what happens at the grocery store. :)
Only 2 more days! Except for my little short story drafts, I, uh... still don't have an outline. Maybe I should do something about that. :/
Then again... maybe it does. At least it's an excuse to stay in and write write write! Except right now I'm a little too braindead to even try a drabble or an exercise. So I'm going to write a stream-of-consciousness blog post instead. (Lucky you.) There won't be much time for that when November rolls around!
Anyway... I think I'm just about ready. Just took a few minutes to read the draft of the original "Music Lessons" short story as I left it. And... dude. After about 6 months away from it, I can see why it needs a novel-length overhaul. As it is... plot (if you want to call it that) is choppy, characters that should be important walk on and off the set with barely an introduction, and just as it starts to really go somewhere and connect... it's done.
I've got my work cut out for me.
But it's also cool because I can see areas where I can fluff and expand. For one thing, the first draft had this subplot of my shy, lovable, hopelessly clumsy and nerdy Neil having a crush on a girl... who happens to like his twin brother. It was cute at the time, but the first time my writing class ran it through the critique circle, they said it detracted from the main storyline. Here I am, writing about three kids who lost their mom and one of them teetering closer and closer to suicidal depression... and I'm going off on high school love drama.
So, in the revision, I ditched it. Lynee (the crush) got a brief shout out as (the brother) Jon's girlfriend (all sibling rivalry begone!), but she was glossed over and summed up in a flashback or two so I could allot more pages to the "real story." bye bye, silly subplot!
In the second class critique, we all wanted it back. :) It was a cute breath of fresh air in a dark story, and a little bit of reassurance that -- messed up as their lives were -- these were teenagers with otherwise normal lives.
Which makes me think about subplot... they can give a sort of normalcy and realism to the plot. Something as simple and pointless as a little teenage puppy love brought out a different side to my characters. Neil seems more innocent and sort of pathetic, which makes him stand out all the more when he finally does something brave. And he learns that his school issues are small compared to the disguised turmoil in his family and the pain and depression his sister's going through.
Oh, look at me. Rambling on like you know this story in my head. Sorry. :)
All that to say... I'm looking forward to reviving the minor characters, especially since I'm trying to take a more YA-friendly angle. I want to flesh out their Dad more (who was kind of interesting, but also got glossed over) and I want to add a little more drama between Neil, Jon, and Lynee. I want them to be real high school kids with homework and hormones and all that good stuff. At least in NaNo month, you can call it a word count boost!
Now... here is the cheerleader/helpful advice/double-dog-dare-you part!
If you get stuck in your novel, toss in a subplot that might be mundane in comparison to the big, important, exciting things going on in your "real plot." Let your character develop an unrequited crush or something. Or if you get really stuck... send your MC grocery shopping.
What? That worked for me last year. You'd be amazed what happens at the grocery store. :)
Only 2 more days! Except for my little short story drafts, I, uh... still don't have an outline. Maybe I should do something about that. :/
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Prompt Time! Song Meme Exercise
Huzzah! NaNo Forum Prompt/Excercise time!
~Put your mp3 player, iPod, iTunes, media player, etc. on shuffle.
~Write for as long as one song lasts about something pertaining to that song (how you feel, how the lyrics create a story, etc.)
~STOP WHEN THE SONG ENDS
~Only do five songs to start off. Time runs fast!
This was fun! I did a few of these... but here's the last one. It's the only one that vaguely relates to Music Lessons, and actually, I liked it the most. (It helps that the song was only 7.5 minutes. :)) Mostly the way I wrote it... with a few minor edits I couldn't resist.
U2 - Moment of Surrender
“I was speeding on a subway / Through the stations of the cross / Every eye looking every other way / Counting down ‘til the pain would stop”
The world sped by, mile after mile, until it looked like it was moving and I was the one sitting still. I adjusted my rearview mirror, and dared to glance out the side window. Nothing but trees, trees blurring by. The ones further off seemed to slow until they ran backward. But I pushed on. The sun was setting in front of me.
I was driving on a deserted, open highway, back to my new home... if you want to call a little dorm home. But at this point, it felt more welcoming.
They say you can’t go back. And it’s true. I was returning to college after my first trip back to my small town, where everyone knows everyone else's business, but somehow manages to not know or recognize you, or even manage to care.
I turned the radio up a little bit, trying to lose myself in the music the way Shanna and I did just a few years ago. Part of me wished I could go back. Another part was glad to have that time behind me.
Things haven’t been the same since the night I found her at home, drugged up on a drug cocktail, trying to leave the cruel world that stole her mom -- our mom -- and took her innocence and youth as another casualty. It got better in some ways... she was still in counseling, but didn’t suffer from the suicidal thoughts or addictions now. She was working on her cosmetology license and even talking about college. She was beautiful and healthy.
She was alive. And she had hope.
I wish things had turned out so well for me.
I drove on, and as I did, I tried to hold back a tear that had threatened to escape since I pulled out of the driveway.
I wanted to believe all was right, but something set it off in me. The realization that most of us never notice the heartbreaking pain that everyone carries. Her pain. My pain. Even those closest to us couldn't see it.
I wondered how a world could be so beautiful and so heartless at the same time...
Oh noes! What’s going on ? :(
An epilogue of sorts. Probably TMI at this point. Still not sure what I’m going for with this, but it’s a start... and I don’t need to think about the ending now!
~Put your mp3 player, iPod, iTunes, media player, etc. on shuffle.
~Write for as long as one song lasts about something pertaining to that song (how you feel, how the lyrics create a story, etc.)
~STOP WHEN THE SONG ENDS
~Only do five songs to start off. Time runs fast!
This was fun! I did a few of these... but here's the last one. It's the only one that vaguely relates to Music Lessons, and actually, I liked it the most. (It helps that the song was only 7.5 minutes. :)) Mostly the way I wrote it... with a few minor edits I couldn't resist.
U2 - Moment of Surrender
“I was speeding on a subway / Through the stations of the cross / Every eye looking every other way / Counting down ‘til the pain would stop”
The world sped by, mile after mile, until it looked like it was moving and I was the one sitting still. I adjusted my rearview mirror, and dared to glance out the side window. Nothing but trees, trees blurring by. The ones further off seemed to slow until they ran backward. But I pushed on. The sun was setting in front of me.
I was driving on a deserted, open highway, back to my new home... if you want to call a little dorm home. But at this point, it felt more welcoming.
They say you can’t go back. And it’s true. I was returning to college after my first trip back to my small town, where everyone knows everyone else's business, but somehow manages to not know or recognize you, or even manage to care.
I turned the radio up a little bit, trying to lose myself in the music the way Shanna and I did just a few years ago. Part of me wished I could go back. Another part was glad to have that time behind me.
Things haven’t been the same since the night I found her at home, drugged up on a drug cocktail, trying to leave the cruel world that stole her mom -- our mom -- and took her innocence and youth as another casualty. It got better in some ways... she was still in counseling, but didn’t suffer from the suicidal thoughts or addictions now. She was working on her cosmetology license and even talking about college. She was beautiful and healthy.
She was alive. And she had hope.
I wish things had turned out so well for me.
I drove on, and as I did, I tried to hold back a tear that had threatened to escape since I pulled out of the driveway.
I wanted to believe all was right, but something set it off in me. The realization that most of us never notice the heartbreaking pain that everyone carries. Her pain. My pain. Even those closest to us couldn't see it.
I wondered how a world could be so beautiful and so heartless at the same time...
Oh noes! What’s going on ? :(
An epilogue of sorts. Probably TMI at this point. Still not sure what I’m going for with this, but it’s a start... and I don’t need to think about the ending now!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
NaNoWriMo Q&A
In the weeks leading up to NaNoWriMo, lots of writing blogs are offering some motivation and thoughts. This post from Write Anything is a neat expression of why NaNo isn't a waste of time and why even the bad novels that come out of it are worth every minute. She also gives 7 questions at the end to get you thinking about what you're writing and how you're writing it.
Anyway, here are my answers that I left in a comment. Kind of gave me some perspective, especially on the value of this crazy writing adventure. What are yours?
1. Do you have an idea for your NaNoWriMo project? Yep! Taking a short story I wrote earlier this year for a class and completely re-writing it to novel length. The feedback class consensus was that it was a good story that needed to be a novel, and this is the motivation I need to work on it!
2. What instrument will you be writing your novel on? My kickin' new Macbook. It's our first NaNo together. Write or Die and an old fashioned spiral notebook when I get blocked.
3. Where will you likely be writing most of your story? Probably at home, in my room. I want to try to do some lunch break writing at work/Panera/coffee shops though, and my novel will start at a friend's house while I cat-sit for her this weekend. Kind of looking forward to the quiet place to get a jump start on my novel!
4. When will you likely write your story? At night. Laaaate at night. By the time I get home from work, that's the only writing window I have most of the week.
5. What is your daily word count goal? 2,000-ish is good, but I try not to be too rigid. Last year, I won NaNoWriMo even with spurts of non-productive writing weeks. Word count varies day to day.
6. Have you participated in past NaNoWriMo’s? How many years have you won? Yep... this is my third year. first year was a 15K fail, but last year I won! Totally intend to win this year too. :)
7. What do you think about NaNoWriMo in general? A waste of time? Or beneficial? Unless you're already an productive, disciplined writer with an excellent work ethic that can turn out beautiful work without an arbitrary deadline hanging over your head... it's super beneficial. And if you are all that, it probably is beneficial to help you stop taking yourself so seriously. ;)
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that is a creature of procrastinating and perfectionist habits when it comes to writing. If no one is expecting me to turn it in, I tend to put it off. I like that at least for one month of the year, writing a novel draft feels as important as any other work, since so many others are writing along with me. And with such a big goal in such a small time, I have permission to write badly, with the hope that something worth keeping will emerge.
So yeah. I love it! Winning last year got me excited about writing fiction again. Sure, it was a pretty bad novel, but it gave me some good characters to work with (one of them with a major role in this year's story), and it inspired me to take a Creative Writing class and start writing again. I recommend anyone who has ever entertained the idea of writing a novel give it a try -- whether you think you can write or not! The results may surprise you!
Anyway, here are my answers that I left in a comment. Kind of gave me some perspective, especially on the value of this crazy writing adventure. What are yours?
1. Do you have an idea for your NaNoWriMo project? Yep! Taking a short story I wrote earlier this year for a class and completely re-writing it to novel length. The feedback class consensus was that it was a good story that needed to be a novel, and this is the motivation I need to work on it!
2. What instrument will you be writing your novel on? My kickin' new Macbook. It's our first NaNo together. Write or Die and an old fashioned spiral notebook when I get blocked.
3. Where will you likely be writing most of your story? Probably at home, in my room. I want to try to do some lunch break writing at work/Panera/coffee shops though, and my novel will start at a friend's house while I cat-sit for her this weekend. Kind of looking forward to the quiet place to get a jump start on my novel!
4. When will you likely write your story? At night. Laaaate at night. By the time I get home from work, that's the only writing window I have most of the week.
5. What is your daily word count goal? 2,000-ish is good, but I try not to be too rigid. Last year, I won NaNoWriMo even with spurts of non-productive writing weeks. Word count varies day to day.
6. Have you participated in past NaNoWriMo’s? How many years have you won? Yep... this is my third year. first year was a 15K fail, but last year I won! Totally intend to win this year too. :)
7. What do you think about NaNoWriMo in general? A waste of time? Or beneficial? Unless you're already an productive, disciplined writer with an excellent work ethic that can turn out beautiful work without an arbitrary deadline hanging over your head... it's super beneficial. And if you are all that, it probably is beneficial to help you stop taking yourself so seriously. ;)
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that is a creature of procrastinating and perfectionist habits when it comes to writing. If no one is expecting me to turn it in, I tend to put it off. I like that at least for one month of the year, writing a novel draft feels as important as any other work, since so many others are writing along with me. And with such a big goal in such a small time, I have permission to write badly, with the hope that something worth keeping will emerge.
So yeah. I love it! Winning last year got me excited about writing fiction again. Sure, it was a pretty bad novel, but it gave me some good characters to work with (one of them with a major role in this year's story), and it inspired me to take a Creative Writing class and start writing again. I recommend anyone who has ever entertained the idea of writing a novel give it a try -- whether you think you can write or not! The results may surprise you!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The 2009 Soundtrack
Music is a huge part of my story. I mean, duh, look at the title. It's about a couple of musician kids. Shanna is a very skilled musician, and a good part of the relationship with her brother is built on her teaching him to play guitar.
It's also a quasi-scientific fact that art begets art, and most writers can't function without a good dose of appropriate music. So, every year for NaNoWriMo, I make what I call "The Soundtrack."
"The Soundtrack" tends to have a theme, with songs that fit the theme of the story and help spur the writing along and set the mood. It also tends to evolve with time, with songs adding and dropping as the story changes.
For now, I'm pretty happy with what I've got for Music Lessons and have been actually listening to it quite a bit on my work commute. Tonight, I changed some songs (yet again) so I actually haven't listened to this version... but I think the additions will work.
1) Anberlin - Paperthin Hymn // Never Take Friendship Personal
2) The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out // The Queen is Dead
3) The Fray - You Found Me // The Fray
4) Needtobreathe - Streets Of Gold // The Heat
5) Copeland - Chin Up // Dressed Up & In Line
6) Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees // The Bends
7) Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit // Meteora
8) Skillet - The Last Night // Comatose
9) Imogen Heap - Clear The Area // Speak For Yourself
10) U2 - Stay (Faraway, So Close!) // Zooropa
11) Jon Foreman - I Am Still Running // Winter EP
12) Alanis Morissette - You Learn // Jagged Little Pill
13) Switchfoot - Dare You To Move // The Beautiful Letdown
14) Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day // Minutes to Midnight
15) Imogen Heap - Wait It Out // Ellipse
16) U2 - Walk On // All That You Can't Leave Behind
17) Death Cab for Cutie - All Is Full Of Love // The Stability EP
18) Coldplay - Fix You // X&Y
19) Anberlin - The Unwinding Cable Car // Cities
20) Radiohead - Videotape // In Rainbows
(I forbid you to laugh at my double inclusion of Linkin Park. They are my guilty pleasure and the songs fit. So there. ;))
Other albums that I think will get a lot of spinning this month:
It's also a quasi-scientific fact that art begets art, and most writers can't function without a good dose of appropriate music. So, every year for NaNoWriMo, I make what I call "The Soundtrack."
"The Soundtrack" tends to have a theme, with songs that fit the theme of the story and help spur the writing along and set the mood. It also tends to evolve with time, with songs adding and dropping as the story changes.
For now, I'm pretty happy with what I've got for Music Lessons and have been actually listening to it quite a bit on my work commute. Tonight, I changed some songs (yet again) so I actually haven't listened to this version... but I think the additions will work.
1) Anberlin - Paperthin Hymn // Never Take Friendship Personal
2) The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out // The Queen is Dead
3) The Fray - You Found Me // The Fray
4) Needtobreathe - Streets Of Gold // The Heat
5) Copeland - Chin Up // Dressed Up & In Line
6) Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees // The Bends
7) Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit // Meteora
8) Skillet - The Last Night // Comatose
9) Imogen Heap - Clear The Area // Speak For Yourself
10) U2 - Stay (Faraway, So Close!) // Zooropa
11) Jon Foreman - I Am Still Running // Winter EP
12) Alanis Morissette - You Learn // Jagged Little Pill
13) Switchfoot - Dare You To Move // The Beautiful Letdown
14) Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day // Minutes to Midnight
15) Imogen Heap - Wait It Out // Ellipse
16) U2 - Walk On // All That You Can't Leave Behind
17) Death Cab for Cutie - All Is Full Of Love // The Stability EP
18) Coldplay - Fix You // X&Y
19) Anberlin - The Unwinding Cable Car // Cities
20) Radiohead - Videotape // In Rainbows
(I forbid you to laugh at my double inclusion of Linkin Park. They are my guilty pleasure and the songs fit. So there. ;))
Other albums that I think will get a lot of spinning this month:
- Anberlin - Cities (quite possibly my favorite album ever, most of the lyrics fit really well.
- The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (I picture this being Neil and Shanna's favorite to play loud with the windows down.)
- Radiohead - The Bends (I don't know why, but 90's alt-rock seems to put me in the mood. And Thom Yorke and co are such happy rays of sunshine, right? ;))
- Sigur Ros - Takk... (has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but always takes me to my artsy happy place. I don't know what the heck he's saying, and I don't care. It's so dang beautiful. :))
Well, hello.
So, here it is... one week away from yet another year of NaNoWriMo. My guess is, if you're here, it's probably because you're a fellow participant or because you saw a link at my main blog. And chances are, you have some vague interest in this year's noveling endeavor.
Well, welcome cyber-traveler! :)
This blog is mostly a development place for my 2009 NaNoWriMo project, Music Lessons. Basically, it is -- or at least I hope it'll be! -- a YA novel based on a short story I wrote for a creative writing class this year about a family coping with the loss of their mother. (More details/synopsis and such will probably come!) I've been meaning to expand that little piece into something that can contain all the relationships and layers of story that were happening in my head and the first drafts, but well... sometimes I procrastinate. And sometimes it takes an arbitrary, stupid goal like writing 50,000 words in a month to push me into the task.
Ummm.... yes. Hey, I did it last year. I can do it again! :D
So, expect this to be a place to dump planning stuff, character profiles, ideas and perhaps the occasional excerpt. This is my totally self-indulgent place to open up about the thing I'm writing for anyone who might care. For more general thoughts on writing, NaNo, and life in general, please visit my other blog, Divinest Sense.
If you read this far... well, thanks! Guess you are interested, huh? :) Here's an excerpt from the original short story. I can honestly say that this was one of my favorite scenes, because in these short paragraphs, I think I saw my main characters Neil and Shanna most clearly. I just hope I can capture the heart of this scene in my rewrite this month!
******
Do the right thing? He wasn’t sure what that meant anymore. He wanted to ask, but he was too busy remembering the last time he saw her truly happy.
It was a year ago, her senior year of high school, and even though she had been asked to the prom by at least two different boys, Shanna skipped it and took Neil to his first concert. He had just started taking an interest in music, and she was thrilled to have someone in her family that would even entertain the idea of spending three hours packed in a smoky downtown bar listening to loud bands with her.
That night, she swayed and sang, and her love was contagious. He felt alive too, anonymous, but intimately connected to these sweaty, crazy, beautiful strangers. When they left, the smell of alcohol and smoke that permeated the place lingered with them. They drove home under a starry sky, the windows down all the way, the wind whipping her hair like a storm. The only sound was the wind, a tape by The Smiths blasting on her stereo, and her pretty voice singing along.
And he realized that she did smile a lot these days, but it never seemed as real as that night. He hadn’t seen her face light up like that since.
Well, welcome cyber-traveler! :)
This blog is mostly a development place for my 2009 NaNoWriMo project, Music Lessons. Basically, it is -- or at least I hope it'll be! -- a YA novel based on a short story I wrote for a creative writing class this year about a family coping with the loss of their mother. (More details/synopsis and such will probably come!) I've been meaning to expand that little piece into something that can contain all the relationships and layers of story that were happening in my head and the first drafts, but well... sometimes I procrastinate. And sometimes it takes an arbitrary, stupid goal like writing 50,000 words in a month to push me into the task.
Ummm.... yes. Hey, I did it last year. I can do it again! :D
So, expect this to be a place to dump planning stuff, character profiles, ideas and perhaps the occasional excerpt. This is my totally self-indulgent place to open up about the thing I'm writing for anyone who might care. For more general thoughts on writing, NaNo, and life in general, please visit my other blog, Divinest Sense.
If you read this far... well, thanks! Guess you are interested, huh? :) Here's an excerpt from the original short story. I can honestly say that this was one of my favorite scenes, because in these short paragraphs, I think I saw my main characters Neil and Shanna most clearly. I just hope I can capture the heart of this scene in my rewrite this month!
******
Do the right thing? He wasn’t sure what that meant anymore. He wanted to ask, but he was too busy remembering the last time he saw her truly happy.
It was a year ago, her senior year of high school, and even though she had been asked to the prom by at least two different boys, Shanna skipped it and took Neil to his first concert. He had just started taking an interest in music, and she was thrilled to have someone in her family that would even entertain the idea of spending three hours packed in a smoky downtown bar listening to loud bands with her.
That night, she swayed and sang, and her love was contagious. He felt alive too, anonymous, but intimately connected to these sweaty, crazy, beautiful strangers. When they left, the smell of alcohol and smoke that permeated the place lingered with them. They drove home under a starry sky, the windows down all the way, the wind whipping her hair like a storm. The only sound was the wind, a tape by The Smiths blasting on her stereo, and her pretty voice singing along.
And he realized that she did smile a lot these days, but it never seemed as real as that night. He hadn’t seen her face light up like that since.
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