As you may or may not know, I am doing an personal experiment with this story. I am trying to write at least the first five chapters 'by the seat of my pants,' otherwise known as 'pantsing.' I am a HUGE fan of organizing and creating a skeleton to work from. But, as my writing to date shows, it is possible to organize your thoughts so much that on paper they are confusing, or worse, boring.
I have been writing this story on and off for a year, according to the blog date entries, and have only gotten through chapter four. Why? Did I follow the rules of religious writing that say to force yourself to write everyday, and the story will come? Yes and no. I tried that. My husband, Brant, is a follower of this idea, and tries hard to write something most days. And for him it works. For me... I am just not that kind of person. I really... REALLY don't like being forced to do something, and the work tends to come out as, well, crap.
I write when the urge takes me, like when I have a really good idea on how to continue. How do I find motivation, that spark that makes me want to write? I simply utilize the tools at my disposal that I love to use: those things that make me happy. Recently, those have been my husband, my work, my MST3K, and even my dreams.
Most of you that have read my first chapter know that I got the inspiration by watching the MST3K movie "Werewolf." I just thought 'I can write a better story than that,' and started hammering away at the keyboard as the movie progressed. By the time it was finished, I had my first chapter. It had flaws, and apparently spacial anomalies. But it was interesting enough for the editors (The Magic City Writers group) to want to read more.
The second chapter was written while I was in a bubble bath. Well, dictated. I was totally relaxed, and sort of day-dreaming, listening to music, when I started thinking about my story. Then I turned on a recorder (yes, I had one nearby, I planned it that way) and started talking it out. Again, the work was rough but pretty good. The third chapter was written just after watching another MST3K called 'Space Mutiny.' Basically, it relaxed me so I forgot about my looming deadline and just wrote the darned thing.
This fourth chapter I wrote in pieces, not in whole as the other three. I had no idea where to take the story, now that it could go in several directions. So I split up characters basically into pairs and had them talking to each other. I used some of the problems Brant has talked to me about with the computer software he uses at work to mock up a reason why the computer is not cooperating with Ran when he needs it too. I used my work to allow the two doctors to converse with each other on how to prove a gene is one thought to be extinguished from our gene pool long ago. And I again used my husband to ask what he thought of my infection ideas, which came to me in a dream the night before. The end result: a new chapter in (really) about 3 hours of work... spread out over a few days. Brant said at the last meeting that the work in this chapter was very high quality, and only had minor editing notes about rephrasing confusing sentences (something I am prone to).
Bottom line, the 'trying to write something everyday' can work for many writers. But for those that just can't seem to do it, like me, try surrounding yourself with stuff that motivates you, and be prepared to write when any inspiration hits you.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Meet the Character -- Dr. Cian
Name: Dr. Zared Cian
Age: 59 Sex: M
Family: Son (Chance, 31)
Infection: Immune / OFAR 'hunter' gene
Zared Cian is a doctor for one reason: a stable income for himself and his son. Fortunately for those under his care, he is naturally gifted at his job. A smoker for years, he is almost always trying to light up. He is often foiled in his attempts by Dr. Ophie. He is affable and hard working, but a little more self-centered than the average doctor. Dr. Cian's speciality is genetic abnormalities. So when the FLI set up its first agency in the state of Alabama, he was called upon to make sure that the lycanthropes were properly identified, both by type and infectivity.
We don't know much about his past, but he must have had one because he has a son older than many of the others in the book. Zared talks about his son a lot, but not much else concerning his personal life. His role in the story is as the pathology lab director. He does genotyping for those wanting to join the FLI in Alabama, as they are required to have the OFAR 'hunter' gene. He also determines which strain of Hensen's disease patients have, as well as their level of infectiousness (or how long they have been infected). He job sometimes also requires him to determine the type of lycanthrope and their 'age' (how long they have been infected) that may have injured or killed a patient/victim. Grim, but someone has to do it. When he can, he aids Dr. Ophie with the patients in the clinic, but he usually stays behind the scenes.
His first name, Zared, is a derivation of the Hebrew 'Jerod,' meaning verdant or of strange descent. Dr. Cian is an African American of the Jewish faith. I really don't know why I decided to do this, other than as a small nod to Sammy David Jr., but I am sure it will come out in the wash eventually. A close relative of a name in the dead sea scrolls is "Yar-rod" which means perpetual leader, something Zared feels like he always is.
The name Cian (pronounced "Kee-an") is Gaelic for ancient, which speaks to his age. 59 isn't ancient, but he is older than his counterparts in the book. Because he is older, he feels that he must be a leader to them, although he doesn't really want to be a leader. If he had his way, he would just be allowed to do his job, and leave the leadership to ALF and Dr. Ophie.
Age: 59 Sex: M
Family: Son (Chance, 31)
Infection: Immune / OFAR 'hunter' gene
Zared Cian is a doctor for one reason: a stable income for himself and his son. Fortunately for those under his care, he is naturally gifted at his job. A smoker for years, he is almost always trying to light up. He is often foiled in his attempts by Dr. Ophie. He is affable and hard working, but a little more self-centered than the average doctor. Dr. Cian's speciality is genetic abnormalities. So when the FLI set up its first agency in the state of Alabama, he was called upon to make sure that the lycanthropes were properly identified, both by type and infectivity.
We don't know much about his past, but he must have had one because he has a son older than many of the others in the book. Zared talks about his son a lot, but not much else concerning his personal life. His role in the story is as the pathology lab director. He does genotyping for those wanting to join the FLI in Alabama, as they are required to have the OFAR 'hunter' gene. He also determines which strain of Hensen's disease patients have, as well as their level of infectiousness (or how long they have been infected). He job sometimes also requires him to determine the type of lycanthrope and their 'age' (how long they have been infected) that may have injured or killed a patient/victim. Grim, but someone has to do it. When he can, he aids Dr. Ophie with the patients in the clinic, but he usually stays behind the scenes.
His first name, Zared, is a derivation of the Hebrew 'Jerod,' meaning verdant or of strange descent. Dr. Cian is an African American of the Jewish faith. I really don't know why I decided to do this, other than as a small nod to Sammy David Jr., but I am sure it will come out in the wash eventually. A close relative of a name in the dead sea scrolls is "Yar-rod" which means perpetual leader, something Zared feels like he always is.
The name Cian (pronounced "Kee-an") is Gaelic for ancient, which speaks to his age. 59 isn't ancient, but he is older than his counterparts in the book. Because he is older, he feels that he must be a leader to them, although he doesn't really want to be a leader. If he had his way, he would just be allowed to do his job, and leave the leadership to ALF and Dr. Ophie.
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