I wrote the ending of Faradris last night, 1,494 words from the villain’s point-of-view. I’m reasonably happy with it, and it gave me some ideas to shoot for. The real ending may turn out completely differently, and I kind of hope so, but this gave me a chance to see some weaknesses in my plan and to see some things to focus on while I work on the rough draft. Now I’ve just got to do some quick setting profiles and/or maps and I’m all set.

It’s harder in Fantasy than in any other genre, I think, to avoid the feeling of deus ex machina in the ending. I mean, the magic has to happen, you know? And I don’t really believe characters should be totally self-reliant, proving their mettle by how much butt they can kick. I find that sort of autonomy unrealistic and not very admirable. Fantasy is a metaphor for real life, and at least in my experience, in real life we do often have to rely on others, and that often takes more inner strength than trying to do things in our own power. It’s human nature: we want the credit, we want to prove we can do it, that we didn’t need anyone else. Even more difficult is being totally reliant on God. . . . Nobody wants to do that. I think characters who keep trudging on when hope is lost, relying on others and on a Power ouside their own, expresses a far deeper truth than, “Believe in yourself! You can do it!”

The difficulty is bringing those other, often magical elements into the story’s climax without giving the impression of a God-In-a-Box. I’m not sure I’m able to do that adequately.

On a related note, I’ve been struggling with this question: In a Fantasy story, what is the difference between magic and miracles? Does magic in a tale preclude the co-existence of the miraculous?

I answered the story questions that needed answering after the last question I answered was answered. I think I’m nearly ready to write the first draft. The only problem I’m having with my outline at this point is that I don’t feel like the ending is very strong; I want to have a defining image, and nothing I’ve already got strikes me as being powerful enough.

Something tells me that I need to look at the conflict in question through the villain’s eyes, to see what the villain would do, the lengths they would go to in order to win, and that I’ll find my defining image there. That’s a toughie for me. Even after receiving pointed remarks personally from Holly Lisle in one of her Q&A emails, I’m having trouble with this whole “get into your villain’s head” issue. Holly doesn’t know, I am all sunshine and bunnies! (Well, except to people who think they can be rude to me because I’m short. For them, NO MERCY.)

I may need to write my ending first. Usually, things come clear when I write at least a sketch of my ending. Maybe I’ll write it from the villain’s point-of-view this time? That way, not only do I have the villain’s perspective, but it won’t be the same scene I actually write in the end so I won’t feel like I’ve told the story already. Now there’s an idea . . .

Ecto doesn’t seem to want to use Wordpress tags, and Technorati tags are of no use to me whatsoever, so I guess I’ll stick with using the WP admin cp until a better alternative surfaces.

Today’s Booking Through Thursday:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

I haven’t noticed a difference. I’m heading into a phase where I’m reading a lot more fiction than non-fiction, but I think that may be out of necessity rather than a seasonal adjustment. I’ve read so many history books for research that I’m just plain tired of them for now (I’m sure this is temporary), and it’s been so long since I read a lot of fiction, that I’m starving for some entertainment. I suppose, if anything, in Spring I tend to want to read shorter books in general, but since I’m tackling my To-Be-Read pile I don’t think I can be choosy. I’m going to finish up Orphans of Chaos next, which is of moderate length, but after that I’m reading Spirit Gate, since Shadow Gate is out now. After that it’s Talyn so I can read Hawkspar when it comes out. Then, I think, Hood so I can read Scarlet, which I’m reading for the What’s In a Name Challenge (see a pattern here?) So whatever I may wish, I’m not looking at a slim, streamlined reading list for Spring.

(I’m testing out ecto with this post, so please pardon any screwed-up-ness that might occur as a result.)

I think I need some new writing music. My iTunes Writing Playlist tells me that I have 11+ hours of music, but I still need more. The problem, I think, is that too much of my playlist is made up of movie soundtracks from films that strongly resonate with me.

Here’s what I mean: While I’m writing a scene of conflict between the elves and humans of Searoyal, suddenly “Concerning Hobbits” will begin to play, and all I can see are Frodo and the gang skipping around and dancing with Rosie Cotton. Or while I’m writing a touching scene between two characters who have yearned for each other since they met, “Hedwig’s Theme” filters through my headphones, and an owl flies in and drops a Hogwarts Letter on the heroine’s lap. Not exactly romantic.

I can listen to some movie soundtracks while I write. Stargate and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon work especially well. I think it depends on how thematic the music is, how strongly it evokes the images from the film. If I instantly start seeing pictures from the movie in my head, it gets confusing. Not exclusively related to soundtracks is the effect of the mood and tone of the music. Music that is rather dark or somber doesn’t seem to affect my happy scenes, but music that’s too joyful can stop a dark scene in its tracks.

I’ve heard Transformers has a pretty good soundtrack for listening-while-you-write. I think music from historical dramas like Elizabeth in general would be good. I can listen to music with lyrics; I’m fairly good at tuning the words out. World music—especially from the British Isles—seems to work phenomenally. Johan gave me some Babylon 5 music recently so hopefully that’ll work out.

I’ve been taking care of some housekeeping that has long needed doing around here (basically my apartment is too small for all the stuff I’ve crammed into it), so I haven’t had much time to post or write. Fortunately though, the answers to story problems have been coming to me, albeit slowly and at random. Not the ideal situation, but you take what you can get.

I’d been deliberating over one particular character who never seemed to fit in, and a couple of nights ago I figured I’d better do some freewriting on him. I did, but only ended up with more questions, albeit more pertinent ones. Tired (and sick), I let it go for the time being.

Lying awake in the middle of last night, it dawned on me what had to happen, how another character would react to certain actions by this character (party of the first part), what she (party of the second part) wanted and how it would conflict with the desires of the party of the first part, and I figured it out. Mostly. I do find it peculiar that all along I sensed the first character’s arc didn’t fit in somehow, but found out exactly why and how weeks later.

He’s a dead man walking.

A quick Booking Through Thursday:

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

If I can get the gist from the context, I may make a mental note to look it up later, and then forget about it forever, most likely. Occasionally, though, I run across a word that just can’t figure out, and it those cases it’ll drive me crackers until I get up and find it in a dictionary. On extremely rare occasions, even the dictionary is no help. While reading Psychic Dictatorship in America (an exposé of the I AM Activity cult written in the 1930s) I pondered and pondered the phrase “precipitated dinners”. I mean, it either means they ate really fast, or the dinners were going to be “rained down from the heavens” or something. Considering the subject matter, I’m voting for the latter. Even looking it up online, I only found more references to Psychic Dictatorship in America.

I know a couple of different people who even as teenagers kept dictionaries next to their beds. I always thought this was a good idea, but never managed to get into the habit.

About two years ago I had an unhappy realization about a boyfriend who passed away when we were both teenagers. Because of some things that happened and some regrets I felt, I never adequately mourned him. Though he’d loved me ardently and self-sacrificially, I’d refused to admit that I loved him. After I played with his feelings long enough, he broke off our relationship, as he should have, and I never saw him again.

I realized I’d been selfish, and foolish, and wasted his love, and about twelve years after the fact I mourned him afresh. I hid myself away and grieved for him for months. To the confusion of my family, I sat in the dark and stared out at the rain on the lake, and scenes from the past played over in my head for the first time in more than a decade, and he lived again in each memory.

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken is the story of one man’s passionate love for his wife, their journey together toward faith in Christ, and his grief at her untimely passing. It’s a record in letters of his friendship with C.S. Lewis. It’s the search for eternity, the search embarked upon by all people, whether pagan, humanist or cradle-Christians; the search for joy and divinely-appointed meaning in a world that often seems meaningless.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m here drinking a cup of black tea with too much cream (nice, admittedly) and recovering from a tiring weekend. I thought I’d just post an update on the writing.

Most of the work on Searoyal has been going on in my head lately. Fortunately, I’ve come up with some background for Avrillon, a Royal Herald, that needs typing out, and the elvish culture has been taking further shape in my mind.

I also have a much, much clearer picture of my main character for the first novel, Faradris, who she is and what her driving forces are, crucial for any main character. I’ve been reading in an older special issue of The Writer magazine about yearning and the role it plays in story: providing that initial epiphany that connects the reader to the story and gives it a soul. For some time now I’ve known Fara’s compelling need, but yearning is something deeper, I believe; it’s the thing that pushes her, and is closer to her soul-level response to her compelling need rather than the need itself, if that makes any sense. Not only that, but a realization about the setting and her place in it (she is a country girl who is conveyed unwillingly into the great island city-state) melded together, along with a memory of a book by Drea Leed on 16th century Flemish workingwoman’s dress, and I now can see her in my mind’s eye with clarity (that is, if I had the skill I could sketch her.) I know this is a key element in my ability to progress in story-planning.

I still don’t have a clear picture of my male principal character, Castien. I may have to do more freewriting on him before he’s ready. Fortunately, he can be started without. Fara is the one who was holding me back. I can’t help but wonder if Castien is not the right male principal, but only time and more writing will tell.

The thing that’s sort of a mixed blessing is that while considering these questions of yearning, I figured out the deepest motivation for the hero of Trouvere (I told you he was back) and it finally gelled. I can’t do anything on that book right now, and I’m not even exactly sure how to take notes on what I discovered, but I feel like I may be able to look at it soon without wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I’m still entering my book collection into LibraryThing. Working through the manga right now, and it ain’t pretty.

So I recently had a birthday, and I also had a tax refund. I bought some books!

Cygnet by Patricia A. McKillip.

This book collects two previous novels into one volume, The Sorceress and the Cygnet, and The Cygnet and the Firebird. McKillip can take the simplest and most conventional fantasy premise and weave it into a brilliant tapestry of colour and sensation. I’m not totally sure, but I believe this may be one of her tales inspired by the Russian Firebird legend.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.

This novel purports to tell the “real” story of Alice in Wonderland, or more correctly, Alyss Heart, a Wonderland Princess. It looks like an exciting story that takes off from the original tale and makes a big departure from it in the process. In fact, it hardly sounds like the same story at all. The guy at the checkout flipped when I brought it up; he said it was so good he was rushing through it to get to the sequel (Which is the opposite of what I’d do if I really liked it, but to each their own.)

Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold.

I grabbed this because it sounded familiar, and I had this hope that it might be the first Vorkosigan novel. It wasn’t, but it’s one possible starting point for the series. In my typical fashion, I held off reading it until I found the real first book, Shards of Honor. The back cover copy on these books is amusing in a way that’s reminiscent of Jane Austen, which is made even more amusing by virtue of the fact that they’re space opera. This is the first book in Miles Vorkosigan’s second career. I’ve never really read space opera before, but I love how the cover announces its genre with a giant, exploding purple spacecraft.

Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold.

This book contains the first novel in the Vorkosigan Saga, Shards of Honor (as well as Barrayar, next in chronology but written much later with books in-between) and I’m glad I finally realized that since the original novel is very out of print and my choices were either an overpriced paperback or a hardback that was more than I wanted to pay at present. This series suffers from some of the ugliest covers, this one being extremely ugly (it looks much worse in person) which is too bad because from everything I’ve heard, it’s great. It looks like these two stories are about the parents of Bujold’s hero, Miles Vorkosigan.

Hannah’s Art of Home by Hannah Keeley.

This is a book that tells you how to keep house according to your personality, and it includes a personality quiz. I did not, contrary to popular belief, buy it just so I could take the quiz! I can take quizzes online. *offended sniff* I got it because it’s highly recommended and I like the idea of a housekeeping regime geared to one’s individual character (lots better than trying to force oneself to keep house like somebody else!) The cool thing is, I expected a thin little volume and it turned out to be fairly thick, a good thing in a housekeeping manual, where you want helpful information, not pure fluff.

Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion and Great Houses by Lucy Worsley.

I had to get at least one history book. This is an in-depth look at the life of one man during the Cavalier period, a Cavalier (supporter of King Charles I) himself, “William Cavendish, a champion of poetry, music, horses, women and architecture”. This is just the sort of historical minutae I adore, and I’ve always found myself sympathetic to Charles I. I’ve recently started learning about this period of history, and I find the personalities and political goings-on fascinating. Author Lucy Worsley is the chief curator of Britain’s Historic Royal Palaces.

Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi-Corps by J. Gregory Keyes.

Since we’re almost finished watching Babylon 5 for the second time, I’m preparing for the withdrawals by starting to read the novels. The cool thing about the B5 novels is that most of them are considered canon by J. Michael Straczynski (the series creator). This one goes into the origins of Psi-Corps, and if the cover can be believed, Bester is a principal character. Bester is one of those characters I hate, and yet smile every time he comes on-screen because I know I’m going to be entertained. Walter Koenig (Star Trek’s Chekov) is just that great an actor.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley.

This was Robin McKinley’s first novel. Beauty and the Beast, along with Sleeping Beauty, is one of my favourite fairy tales. I think I like the idea of a young woman seeing not only beyond the gruff, frightening exterior of the Beast, but beyond the walls of anger and hurt that must surround the better parts of his soul. I’m looking forward to reading this one, as I enjoyed Spindle’s End, another retold fairy tale by McKinley.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

I bought this because I wanted to try a Connie Willis novel before jumping into her short story and novella collection (see below). I figured as a Hugo and Nebula winner (and Mythopoeic, I believe) it was a good place to start reading this author I’ve heard so many positive things about. This is a time-travel story: a history student from 2048 is transported to the Middle Ages on the eve of the Black Plague.

The Winds of Marble Arch by Connie Willis.

A collection of Connie Willis’s short stories and novellas. I was really surprised at the size of this volume, about the size of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so it was definitely worth the money if Willis is as good as I’ve heard. This is my first Subterranean Press edition! I don’t have to be jealous of others who own them anymore!

Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living by Robert Arbor.

A book on French lifestyle, written by “a Frenchman transplanted to New York City”. I’m always looking for ways to live more authentically, I suppose you could call it (though that sounds kinda pop-psychology to me), and although I realize the French lifestyle talked about in this type of book is probably the ideal and not precisely reality, it’s certainly inspiring. This book too was larger than I expected; I’m so happy to have low expectations, hehe. The first chapter of this book is about breakfast! I’m not a big breakfast eater, but happily, neither are the French; my favourite breakfast, toasted slices of baguette with butter and sometimes jam, happens to be the typical French breakfast. I don’t get to have that often enough.

On the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson.

I have no idea what this is about. The full title (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. And the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree.) just sounded funny. It’s the first volume in the Wingfeather Saga, and the inside is beautifully designed, with a hand-sketched map, black-and-white illustrations, a feather ornament for scene breaks, and (sometimes humourous) footnotes. I can’t resist a really cleverly designed book, nohow.

I managed to write 905 words of world-building for Searoyal last night, if you count the stuff I typed in from my notes the other day. Not really spectacular, and I need a lot more words if I’m going to meet my goals for the Writers’ Challenge at Dreaming in Ink, but hey, it’s something.

Fairy tales don’t teach children that monsters exist.
Children already know that monsters exist.
Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be killed.
– G. K. Chesterton

This tremendous quote was in an email Holly Lisle received from a mailing list subscriber, and I couldn’t resist posting it (especially as it’s Inklings-related).