How to Make Friends and Keep Enemies

This is how I draw*. Benny is on the left, Caroline on the right.
In case you couldn't tell.

So I mentioned liking the Golden Trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione) in my last post, but didn't really connect it to anything. The point of that was that I kind of see my three main characters -- Caroline, Zeke and Stephen -- forming this sort of bond. What intrigues me about my tio is that Caroline fulfills Hermione's role, not Harry's, but she is definitely the hero of this story (Stephen would be Harry, Zeke, Ron).

When I say Caroline is Hermione, I mean, more along the lines of their initial dynamic -- Harry and Ron are off being best friends, while Hermione is lonely because she's a know-it-all. Zeke and Stephen hit it off really well, because Zeke is very likable, and Stephen is incredibly noble (and stupid about it sometimes). Zeke and Caroline really don't like one another, but share the bond of a common home (not a Hermione/Ron thing, just mentioning it).

So now, I am trying to find a way for them to all become friends. In Harry Potter, they fight a troll and win, Hermione takes the fall for them, and they find out she's not all that bad. I don't know how to do this with Caroline, Stephen and Zeke. Stephen has seen a softer side to Caroline just now, and he was upset when she nearly died, but Zeke and Caroline are a different matter. I'm worried that their years of fighting with one another and hating one another for no real reason, can't be overcome by just Stephen letting her join in the games.

I know I was all excited last post about not knowing what's going to happen, but here I am, worried because I don't know how this will work, and I really want them to be friends. Indeed some of the plot, I sense, will need them to be friends. The real reason they aren't friends now is that Caroline is jealous of Zeke.

Anyways, so I'm writing that.

I'm also finding it amusing that Benny, a character from a seperate novel, is making fun of Caroline and Caroline back at Benny as I write. They have amusing interactions. I wish there was a way to combine their stories, but not really. AH WELL. We solider on.

*This is not how I draw. But its how I draw when I'm feeling lazy/am at work and realize I have no image to go with the post. ;)

Playing with Point of View -- CampNaNoWriMo Day 22 (ish)

I have now started three NaNo's for this month. One was about the characters I posted about below. I am still very much in love with that story, but I think it needs some work in terms of getting it to be... a story. Currently I have a beginning, a vague idea of a middle, and an end. I just need to work on it a little bit because it was reading flat to me.

The next one, was of course, The Book of Gates, my twelve part series following Alane and various other characters. It is, in a word, epic. I have been trying to write it for years. Unfortunately, I seem to be a bit daunted by the idea of twelve books to write in a series. I have decided, for my own sake, that if I were to ever try and publish tBoG (hee, t-bog), I would have to write all 12 books before sending out the first one. Mostly because they are complex in terms of their scope, and some things have not yet been planned, and there are arcs, and mini-arcs and over arching arcs, and I want to make sure they all fit together, and come to a satisfying conclusion, so as to avoid the third book slump that seems to happen with quite a few trilogies, and several series (not that it occurs in the third book, its just it happens in trilogies a lot, so I call it that). Anyways. Its a labor of love, and I think I may have to snowflake it, just to try and get a grasp on what I'm writing towards in the first book.

So then I threw my hands up and went and watched Treasure Planet, which, dudes, seriously underrated film. It came out in an over saturated market, and was marketed towards the wrong crowd, which is why people think its not as great as it is, but having watched it nine years later, I've got to say it was impressive. Anyways, so I watched it with the intent of coming up with a novel idea from it. And I did.

I'm not ripping off Treasure Planet, but the initial spark was -- treasure seekers. In the movie, the characters are motivated by the idea of gold, but this is me, so treasure automatically means knowledge to me. Anyways, I was thinking about motivations, and the need for money, and how Harry Potter works, with a trio and the power of friendship (which is to say, OT3?), and I came up with this orphan character who was left at a Space Port and is therefore always looking for money.

And when I started writing it, you know the strangest thing happened. 1. Caroline, my main character, decided to be written in present tense. 2. She decided that she was telling the story, and so it had to be first person.

Most people say first person is an easy tense to write in. I could not agree any less. I hate writing in first person. Mostly because I end up starting a lot of sentences with "I did this" and I find it incredibly difficult to vary my sentence structures in first person. Third feels more natural to me -- I have written in third person limited for most of my novels.

But I was thinking about this, and how my last novel was third-limited to one person -- another first for me, usually I jump around in about five people's heads (oh yes, I am terribly good at finding four people I want to write with, and then discovering I need a fifth voice) -- and it was incredibly interesting to see what it forced the characters to do. So with this in mind, I decided to let Caroline have her way. Who knew, maybe first person, present tense would work for me.

The beginning is rough. I always try and start with some sort of action -- whether it be speech, or something important about to happen -- because it means I have to keep going. If I start with description, I'm bogging myself down in unnecessary backstory. Action requires my pen (fingers, I usually type) to move. In this novel what ended up happening was a lot of "I ran. I looked around. I slid on my knees towards. ect." I hated it. I wanted to get out of it so badly. Often I would find myself trying things like "She did this," before realizing I was referring to Caroline, and having to delete it. I also have many, many problems with the tense. I have written "said" instead of "says" so many times, I am shocked when I manage to type "says" first.

But something funny happened around 7,000 words. I stopped noticing. I got into the story. I found Caroline's voice, while slightly annoying, and things began to happen.

I've got to say, there are some brilliant bits to writing in first person, present tense. For example -- I know as much as Caroline about what's going to happen and I DON'T NEED TO KNOW! I usually write towards something, it helps, and with third person, past, you have to know where you are going so you can have the write thoughts cross character's minds. With first person, present, you can guess where you're going, but the story can accommodate all sorts of things, and you feel much more connected to the character.

No, I am not in love with first person present, I don't think I'll stick with it forever. But for this story, which is teetering between sci-fi and fantasy, where I don't know what the end is going to be, its perfect.

Anyways, I'm 11,000 words in, and I have 9 days to finish this novel. Oh, would you look at that? Another 9 day novel?

Except it won't be. I don't have the pressure to finish the novel like I did with 9 day, just to get to 50,000 words. :D

OH AND CHECK OUT FIREBIRD ON BLOGGER. We're mirroring it on blogger and on LiveJournal because Josh doesn't have the same experience on LJ as me. I prefer LJ, to be honest. BUT IT WILL BE UP ON BOTH SO CHECK IT OUT.

In Defense of Passion (Harry Potter 7.2 Midnight Showing)

We are told as children to sit still, hold our tongues, listen to our elders. And we do. By the time we've entered school, the rule of 'behave yourself' has gotten written into our social dialogues. If you're loud, if you say things in a different way, if you are different you get called out on it -- an ostracized if you push it too far, or become popular if you fall within a strict concept of "cool".

Oh, am I revealing I was a nerd in middle school/high school -- totally. I was a COMPLETE NERD (what do you mean was? I am still a nerd, I get excited over having scientists contact information at my command, not that I would use it, but do you see?). Let me be honest, though, my school was not the typical high school you see in Hollywood, it was too big. I was not downtrodden and reviled, I do not have high school flashbacks of awful times. Indeed my time in middle and high school was remarkably smooth, for all you hear about how terrible it is from other nerds.

Anyways, the point is, the rules tells us to stay cool, calm and collected -- homogenous with the rest of your peers lest you break away and become that ostracized person who eats dirt with worms down the bottom of the garden.

This makes having a passion about something hard. Passion is loud, noisy and it makes you give away so much of yourself you're afraid you're never going to give it back (this does not always happen). Passion is squashed down in us as children -- for a reason -- and from then on, you can be labeled as 'weird' for liking something passionately. That's why Trekkies are labeled as weird -- they are willing to break the bounds of propriety that are imposed by society to dress up in costumes and deeply care about something (and my impulse to say 'sometimes a little too much' is a symptom of this point).

I was thinking about this the other day because I had this exchange with my brother:

Me: So you'll be home Wednesday?

Jasper: Yeah.

Me: Just in time for Harry Potter!

Jasper: Uh sure.

Me: So you're not planning on going to a midnight showing?

Jasper: What's the point, you already know what's going to happen.

Why would you want to go to something you already know the end of? Why wouldn't you? I grew up with Harry (as in, I was about his age when it started and was around his age each time the next book came out. He was my peer). I was Harry crazy -- I reread the books, have a compendium of random trivia around Harry. I am a loud fan, a crazy fan, someone who went to midnight book releases and was SO EXCITED about being in London for the seventh book. I have forced people to come with me to see movies, and book releases but I would have happily gone by myself.

The point is, I am passionate about Harry Potter -- and that's why I want to go to a movie I know the end of (though, ugh, there were moments of annoyance). Its about expressing that passion -- and having other people with you who do the same!

Harry Potter is the reason I am still friends with Sammie (I went to middle school with Sammie, we bonded over it. She is my Harry Potter Best Friend). Harry Potter has brought me closer to Matt and as a result, Maddie (friends from school). We share this connection because of a deep love for these books, these characters -- this story.

And that's something worth being passionate about.

I own all the paper backs, all but 1 of the British versions 

(I have two of some of them) and all but 7 of the 

American hardbacks (7 went missing after I 

bought it -- UPSET). 

Anyways, I'm not as upset about the end of the Harry Potter movies as I thought I would be. I think its mostly because, in re-reading I've found I love them just as much as I did when I started them. There is so much in them that you can learn from. True, re-reading creates a different feeling, and there are parts that didn't bother me as a child, but are annoying now, but there is also so much good in them. 

As Dumbledore says: "Of course it is happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" Harry will always be real to me. 

Thank you J. K. Rowling. Just... thank you. 

LIFE, its so difficult

I was gonna take a picture of my phone or my desk in some way to prove I actually have a job, but then I couldn't because my phone died. In the most annoying way possible. I have to bike home and I was listening to Bossypants by Tina Fey and really enjoying it and now I shall have to bike home with nothing in my ears!!! #firstworldproblems (other first world problems: I have started to add hashtags to normal posts other places then twitter).Well anyways, I will post a picture eventually.

I think I've kind of found a groove with this blog and know how I want to use it. So now, instead of articulating it, as good practice, I'm going to pretend I didn't know and just keep doing whatever the hell I want. In my own life: I've got a job as a receptionist at NOVA, which has brought out the super nerd in me. I was putting in information off of business cards on Tuesday and I typed "Elizabeth Lo" and Elizabeth freaking Loftus showed up. SERIOUSLY. Then I went around looking for other people I knew, and DUDE THEY WERE ALL IN THE DATABASE. Yes, I am a nerd for being excited about this. Its not like I'm about to call one of them and be like "Give me a job." but I might fangirl at some of these scientists... I'm such a bio nerd.

Anyways, so life has been going on. I've been working for three whole days. I have been struggling with Neil, Leta, Erik and Jane (Oh, Madeline still exists, but in a future book, maybe it will be book 2 for August's Camp).

This is the point where I pull out my strategies for fleshing out characters. The first one is to go to TVtropes and click on random and find something I know, before going and looking for a trope that I love and want to incorporate. The second is to take the Mary Sue Litmus Test.

I have decided to share with you, the tropes that are associated with my four main characters, as well as their Mary Sue Scores (and why the got them).

Neil:

Was your character's name... Taken from a character from another fandom that you like? Yes, Neil is taken from Humon's webcomic Neils, which is hard to link because its on her deviantart page.

Do authority figures not punish your character when they probably would have punished his or her peers under the same circumstances? Neil and Jane get away with a lot, at first because they're rising stars, and then because they've got a dead end case that have made them less then noticeable by higher ups.

Is your character unusually accomplished for his/her age, time period, place, occupation, and/or social status? In something that is extremely desirable and/or useful in the story's universe? Neil and Jane are both in their early 20s, and have both received awards for their service... not lately though. They both work as Agents, which is a desirable position to be in.

Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? Click one box for every language. Neil can speak Spanish fluently as well as English.

Total: 10

Neil is The Hero of the story, main protagonist Charmer, with a smile that gets him through most doors (especially to women's doors). He has a cheery, almost Determinator quality about him when it comes to the case file. He is the Cowboy Cop to Jane's By the Book Cop, but they work well together, and are basically, Heterosexual Life Partners.

Leta:

Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? Leta is a skilled hacker. Neil and Jane have a few conversations about how brilliant she is.

Are other characters extremely impressed or astonished at your character's skills and/or virtues? When Neil and Jane meet Leta for the first time, Jane and Neil have a similar reaction of 'But you're in a wheelchair'.

On the subject of your character and his/her family... Was your character orphaned, abandoned, kicked out, or at least raised by a family/person that was not his/her own family? Yes, yes, yes, Leta's mother was awful and her father wants nothing to do with her, because he has a new family. Doesn't mean Leta's upset by it. Indeed, she seems not to care much. Probably a reaction to Erik's epic over response to it.

Is your character physically disabled, and has nothing to make up for it? She used to have mechanized legs, but getting kicked out of the game meant that they came for the legs, and she was left with... nothing at first, but then Eric went a bit mad and insisted on getting her a wheelchair.

Total: 5

Leta is a Genius Cripple, being unable to move her legs, but being The Smart Guy. She tends to be Erik's Morality Chain, though to a less extreme extent -- certainly Erik would not work with Neil without Leta around. Nor would he be above killing people in the Agency without Leta. Despite her Missing Mom, Leta has never had major issues with her parents. Her father knows about her, but has asked to not be contacted as his life has changed since Leta was born. Her mother left when she was 14. Neither seemed to have had a major imprint on her Manic Pixie Dream Girl personality towards Erik.

Erik:

Any ordinary name spelled or changed so that it's more unusual? Erik is an actual spelling of the name Eric, but I would normally have spelled it Eric. His mother was feeling poetical, as she was with Leta's name.

Is your character described, illustrated, and/or shown as exceptionally beautiful, cute, or handsome? Do you find your character attractive enough to date him/her? Mmmmm, Erik is half Native American, half white. He's very, very, pretty. (he also doesn't share a father with Leta, thought I should point that out).

Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? Along with Leta, its admitted they are the best hackers.

On the subject of your character and his/her family... Was your character orphaned, abandoned, kicked out, or at least raised by a family/person that was not his/her own family? His father never knew he existed, and when Erik showed up to introduce himself, he found his father refused to believe it. Then his mother left him, basically to look after Leta, when he was 18. He never quite recovered.

Has your character ever been honestly selfish, petty, lazy, shallow, or pointlessly cruel? He made an Agent that was after him and Leta go into the office and almost shoot his partner because it was "More fun" that way.

Total: 9

Erik has strong Big Brother Instincts towards Leta, but despite this he is a little bit of a Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk. He is The Lancer to Neil's Hero, and the two have a Ryu And Ken relationship. He's something of a Well Intentioned Extremist when it comes to the Agency and those who work for it (part of why he and Neil don't get along). Leta is his Moe. He has severe Parental Abandonment issues due to never knowing his father (his father doesn't know he even exists) and his mother's struggle with drug addiction which took her in and out of his life often.

Jane:

Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? In order to become an Agent, you need to be fluent in two languages. Jane can speak Japanese perfectly, having been a nerd as a child and watched a ton of anime.

Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? Is he/she famous/reknowned for it? She's known as the best shot in Boston. She's a remarkable sharpshooter, and its why Neil trusts her to have his back.

Does your character ever single-handedly take out more armed forces (EG, security guards, soldiers) than you can count on one hand using his/her kick-butt skills? The reason Neil trusts Jane is because of this. Also, she scared him a little by doing it.

Total: 5

Jane is a Kindhearted Cat Lover. She has a serious, long term relationship with her boyfriend Kevin. She is a Girl With Guns and knows how to use them (everyone in the Agency agrees she is the best shot in Boston). She's an Action Girl with a sense of the Lady Of War variety. She has a bit of Jeanne D'Archetype about her, due to her perseverance and desire to do what is right.


Good way to waste time!

Anyways, going to read some now. HARRY POTTER RE-READ. I'm live tweeting it. :)

In the Interlude

A lot of books on writing suggest you put a manuscript to bed for a little while before beginning to edit. This gives you a little distance from the work, and the first blush of love you feel for any novel you've written, fades giving you the ability to 'kill your darlings' as it were.

I used to think this was hogwash -- shouldn't you know exactly what happened in your novel in order to go back and edit as soon as possible? As I've grown into the writer I am now, I find though, that I come to things with fresh eyes if I just give a little time for the novel to breathe. New ideas occur to me, I watch a new show and discover something that I want to add into my novel. Its a calming period, when I can think about what I have written and how to make it better.

I am in the waiting period, letting EoaW (I wrote out the title recently and realized to my horror that there was an 'a' in the title) settle into what it will become in my mind. There are things that have to change about it, I know, but for now I am letting it rest.

But just because I'm letting something rest doesn't mean I don't have a million other ideas. Two things have happened since I finished my novel that are related to this: one, I attempted to plot the next five books after Pawn and I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Pawn is troubling to me because I don't know exactly where its going. The unfortunate thing about knowing how tropes work is that I know the expected path for a story like Pawn, and know that you can only deviate from it somewhat without violating the agreement with the reader -- to tell a story that is different yet the same in exchange for their willing suspension of disbelief. But I don't like the expected path, and to be honest the whole thinking about the whole series has made me slightly disappointed that it appears to have a moral.

This leads to a niggling, scary thought, that I am going to have to re-write a large portion of the backstory, and probably the majority of the story. While I know that this probably will be the result, I don't think I can handle re-writing the story right now. I'm in the middle of editing EoaW and I need that energy for the editing process.

Anyways, so that has me a little stumped. I think though, that the second thing that happened has opened up something for me.

The Hunger Games was given to me by a resident last night and I read it in one giant gulp. I don't remember the last time I read something new like this. I mean, I read The Dark Jewels trilogy like this, and Harry Potter, but even for authors I love, it usually takes me a couple of days to get through a book -- partly because of a decreased attention span and partly because -- well I get ideas and head over to word to start writing.

I suppose the last new book I read like this was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and that was almost five years ago now (ignoring the Harry Potter books, because those were expected). Part of this is due to being in college, and finding less and less time to read, and part of this is the fact that it doesn't happen often me me.

The Hunger Games was another wonderful example of pacing done right. It had captivating characters and the narration -- wow the narration was done brilliantly. You are swept alone in Katniss's world, and feel the same confusion about characters, the same little loves and joys as her. It was extremely well done. But I don't want to spoil it right now. I have to read the next two books and see what happens and then I'll probably do a giant recap post.

Anyways, if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend it. At least the first book.

Anyways, The Hunger Games made Alane pop up again. Probably because I have twelve books to fill with her, but almost anything can happen in Alane's books, I just have to create a sequence and follow my larger plot driven arcs. The point being, the idea of an arena, fighting, lead me to the beginning of Alane's story -- something I had been trying to find for a long time.

So, in the interlude between finishing and editing, I am going to keep on writing... its all I know how to do.