Chapter 13 is finally "done."

And by "done" I of course mean the first draft is done. There is certainly a point where realism and story-telling must part ways. A city siege, for example, is one of these points. In a genuine siege, there are few "points of interest" in the telling of the siege. You can find this quite easily by reading historical accounts of castle sieges. Mostly it's a lot of waiting out the people inside, a few key moments, and a LOT of repetitive action. When writing a siege, it's the repetitive action which gets the most bogged down. I had characters charging through a defended entrance, racing through twisted streets, and being attacked by soldiers on the rooftops. There are a few major points of interest and several minor ones to latch onto, but the majority of the battle is effectively written "he slashed this one" and "she hacked at this one" over and over again. As realistic as it is to basically be hacking and slashing for hours on end and a few points of interest like a building collapse or a new bonfire billowing, most of the description becomes very repetitive, and in story-telling that will bore the audience.

Part of what made chapter 13 so difficult to write (and eventually chapter 15 too) is picking out how long I can be "realistic" before it's repetitive, and how many points of interest in the battle I can latch onto before it seems to be dragged out. Since it's a battle, you want the stopping point to be the end of the battle, but for a siege, that's not actually the best place to do it (in my opinion). So there was a lot of picking and choosing of what should be included, what can be inferred, and how long do I keep this up before I lose the nature of the story to the reality of a siege?

I think I found a happy medium, and saved myself from going too long. I'll be concentrating instead on the final battle in Chapter 15 which should be much longer, more grueling to write, but also has the benefit of a lot of different things going on to keep the flow nicer. We shall see.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

still here, still writing, finally getting blogger to respond...

I've had the oddest time with Blogger, when I've remembered to update, in that it seems to be... temperamental. Maybe it doesn't like me.

The next-to-last battle scene is a tough slog, mostly in trying to draw it out. I don't know how other authors implement music into their writing, though I suppose it is an ambiance thing mostly, but for me, music has become a "1st draft" if you will.

I discovered far back with the original Jurassic Park soundtrack when I fell asleep listening to it, that my imagination married to a movie score concocted an odd mix. I actually had a nightmare governed by the rhythm and tone of the music. I immediately woke up, put the track on loop and wrote exactly what I "saw" in my mind's eye for every section of the music as it dictated and guided my imagination. I've never looked back since.

The thing is, now after several years of it, I have collected over 400 movie scores, and begun mixing and matching tracks from various movies, cutting and pasting pieces from within some tracks to pieces of other tracks, all to make a new "remix" of sounds to listen to. While sometimes this is for my own enjoyment, the vast majority of the time I am cutting and pasting together sounds as a "rough draft" for my mind to plot out a scene. I then listen to these tracks for a minute or two at a time, closing my eyes and letting the music and my imagination plan out the scene to follow, then I write. It's a nice time-saver for writing as my imagination can repeatedly go over the music and sort out alternatives. And when I actually put pen to paper (as it were) instead of a genuine "first draft," those scenes are more like a 9th rewrite.

In the case of the current scene, this rewrite has yielded wonderful results and visuals that solve many problems I didn't think I could solve with how the drafts were going to go. That said, now I'm at a point where I have to ask if the scene should end or continue with more. It would drastically cut the intended scene, but I feel too much would be unnecessary. Plus, I want the final scene to be far more involving, which may be too difficult to do, if I waste all of my time on this scene. I will have to revisit this option in the rewrite I think.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

and now I have an iPad...

When the iPad first came out, I was intrigued about the possibilities, but I held off. I have learned, especially on very expensive items, to wait and see if I want to still get something enough to make the investment worthwhile. After a lot of looking into the newest features for the iPad2, specifically the apps, I am now fully committed. Partially I wanted an eReader to cut down on the amount of physical book space I have, but the apps allowed me to have what I couldn't have with a traditional laptop: mobile work while at work.

My problem has always been that while I am not home able to write, I'm usually at work unable to do anything because of the breaks. This has compacted design concepts, notes, research, and writing all into a short amount of time each day. I'm sure that other pads can do what the iPad can do, but I went that route and I'm quite happy for it.

Specifically, I decided the iPad would work for me as a reader, and initially I was interested because I could read pdf files like an eReader file, which I can make my stories into PDFs to review that way. Then the apps for sketching caught my eye (as well as a stylus to double as a pen rather than my finger) which I can use to sketch while at work pressed the issue. When I found a document reader/editor on the iPad apps allowing me to write and edit my stories wherever I go, I was sold fully. Laptops never did it for me, since the power consumption required so much to ground you to one place, especially with the mouse issues. iPad, as I assume all other pads as well, outshine those issues of portability and mouse-clicking for me, allowing me to do quick sketches, minor revisions, and note taking without feeling restricted.

It has become a welcome distraction in that I've had to check and play with it to make sure it does everything I want it to, and even things I wasn't thinking of (like digital magazines you can read). I don't know how others plan to use their pad (all-encompassing of type), but I've found my worklife is a lot more flexible now. I might not write stories on it, but I can work on outlines, conceptual ideas, concept designs, and research without feeling like I need to be at my computer exclusively. I recommend it to anyone sitting on the fence about readers. Which reader is up to you (I went iPad because I have the iTouch and fell in love with that).

David Barentine,
www.wotps.com

Not a lot to add

The long slog continues (and there'll be an even longer slog in two chapters), but I believe I have the right ideas going forward. I've also been working on a few book cover concepts. I can't decide just yet what I want for the overall look. I might do something a little more "artsy." Anyway, still working it.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

time to die (literarily speaking)

Well, it wasn't much today (a few "mon" designs and the lead-in scene to set-up the battle) but it's soon ready. I always get a little unnerved right before a battle, mostly because I want to get it right and work out the details in advance. In this case, I know mostly what I want to do, and figure the rest will come as it's being written. It's sort of an apprehensive writer's block because I know what I'm writing hinges on these scenes so I get "perfectionist" on it rather than on the more important dialogue and exposition scenes. go figure.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

finally I can post

I think my timing is off, but I've had issue getting onto this blog the past two nights. Here's hoping that was just my timing alone.

As expected, some aspects of writing have slowed, though other aspects are starting to ignite. It started with a rather roundabout finding of the "Mon," which is the Japanese heraldry crest/coat-of-arms/etc. In trying to design a few new clothing concepts for the characters (loosely based around Thai and Japanese clothing), I ran across an article about the "Mon," which I never really paid attention to before. When you look at prints on some dresses or shirts, you'll sometimes see a circular picture with a pattern in it. In warfare you see this more often on the flags of the soldiers. That is the mon. It occurred to me that while I'm trying to do a semi-japanese flavored story, such a detail might be good to look into and possibly incorporate. It does mean doing a few design changes but nothing too dramatic thankfully.

The other issue, partially slowing down the progress of the current chapter, came about because of the mon, and also because I decided to take a slight "mental break" from my stories and catch up with my DVR to watch Game of Thrones. While nothing like what I'm writing (it's quite good and I recommend viewing), it gives a nice refresher on courtly manners, so to speak, which had me thinking about what I will need to work on for the rewrites as far as additions. An idea popped in my head for a memory of some kind that would add to the story a bit in a foreshadowing sort of way, but a conversation popped in that took president tonight.

The continuing secondary story is a banter between a princess and a member of her royal guard (for lack of a faster description). I've enjoyed the banter quite a lot and feel that it is something very strong that would draw in the audience. The problem though: it has no genuine resolution as far as the story goes. It's a lot of "play" between them where it's clear they like one another but can't do anything because of their position. The thing is, Cherry Blossoms is meant to be effectively a prequel to the Sphere of Time, and when it ends, the world will continue. So even though the story won't end with a resolution for the characters, there will be a resolution in later volumes. It's a matter I felt needed to be addressed in some way and while I initially thought to put it at the end (and wrote a five-page scene) I instead cropped some parts and put it into chapter 10, because I felt it did a better service to the story in the middle than as an end cap. Somehow, capping off the vampire story with the dialogue I wrote felt like I was trying to appease the audience with this side story. Moving it forward though changes the context of one of the character's future actions and the original intended ending will feel "natural" rather than a forced wrap up.

I may change my mind in the rewrite but I'm glad I wrote the scene one way or another.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

Back to writing

I did take yesterday as a "writing day-off," mostly as a mental break from my day job. Today at least, I started work on the concept design for the cover of Cherry Blossoms (might be a bit morbid), and made up for some lost time.

The final 3 chapters are now underway for the first draft. I've been trying to establish in this draft the more "creepy" aspects of the story right now rather than making sure to do so in the rewrites. Already as I've been doing the first draft, I've thought of additions that need to be done (as is often the case). A lot of these details I've been writing out already. The big problem now is trying to up the creepy factor quickly before a rather gory nighttime fight. This will take a lot longer to do than the other chapters so far.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

Pre-mother's Day

In keeping with the tradition of a mother's day dinner on any other day than mother's day, I was actually quite worried when I found out the family was going to gather for dinner today, selfishly because I didn't want to lose another day's work (valid or no). All told though, I managed 12 pages of text, and might have been able to do more if my brain hadn't reached a stopping point. I simply needed to just take a break and by the time that happened, there was very little time left before I'd have to sleep.

Cherry Blossoms is getting into the final throes, so to speak. The next few pages of this chapter will be a pre-cursor to a much more drawn-out and elaborate chapter meant to only be a battle. Then a dialogue chapter and the final battle. Then a wrap-up. All told, I'm looking at 4 more chapters before the 1st draft is done. I need to go over my notes once more for the two battle chapters, but I think I can manage it relatively fast. Those always take a lot longer to do. Usually, I try to make sure that the first draft of those chapters is so thorough it almost reads like a second or third draft. We'll see how that pans out.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

Thor, an odd way to spend Mother's Day

Traditionally, or at least in recent decades, it seems Mother's Day has become the stuff of restaurant dinners and flowers, lavish gifting and jewelry, rather than doing things with your mom that lead to a fun time all around. A while back my family realized that celebrating Mother's Day on Mother's Day was actually far more hassle than enjoyment. There are incredibly long wait times for restaurants, everyone's in a mad dash to find some "perfect gift" and generally the world seems to become just a little bit more angry as everyone tries to make things "just right" and realize that the plan isn't going according to plan. As a result, usually we will take our mom out to a restaurant two days before or after Mother's Day, and also go somewhere "non-traditional" to just enjoy the night since we tend to have fun as a group going out anyway. It relieves a lot of the stress, the intention to focus and thank mom is maintained, and we tend to have a lot more fun overall.

In this case, my mom accompanied myself, my brother, and my brother's girlfriend to watch Thor. (Yes, non-traditional, and yes we came home laughing and having a great time) Since my day started very early and I've only been able to be home for about 30 minutes now, what would have been writing time must be a "day-off" if for no other reason than I am about to fall asleep from the rather long day. Still, it was a day spent on designing new dresses for use in Cherry Blossoms and with regards to Thor, it was another chance to sit back, engross myself in a story, and try to discern what I liked, what I didn't, and why those things worked/didn't work. It's something I do with movies as I find that while I prefer longer stories that books offer, the natural short-story aspect of movies have flaws, drawbacks, and strengths to glean and draw from if you choose to look at each as an examination to learn from. And while I'll try to remove any "spoilers," I do think there is something to observe and take care about in writing and omitting in future works.

In the case of Thor, it is overall a good movie and a good story, at least in my opinion. It suffers, unfortunately from being too short for what it tries to do, and too muddled with aspects of what it has. I rarely picked up a Thor comic (it just never struck a chord with me) so I took this movie as an opportunity to sell me on the idea, fully knowing that some aspects of the movie would not be the same as the comic mythos.

The greatest issues that sprung to mind for me though were Thor's friends and the Destroyer. Again, this is a dissection of the movie, not a dissertation on the comic. It's important to note that Marvel is trying very hard to do something never before attempted: link several movie characters together into an "all-star" movie cast. Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America will join Black Widow and Hawkeye (of the confirmed list) in the Avengers movie. At the ending of this movies, Marvel has included segments after the credits to clue you in on the grander scheme of this arcing storyline. Thor is no different, though comic fans will likely be the only ones to get the clue given at the end, whereas new viewers will just raise an eyebrow and wonder.

This all being said, Thor as a movie comes across less as a stand-alone movie as it does a bridge to set-up Avengers even more. This is not entirely a bad thing, though it does serve in some ways as an injustice to the Thor Character. Iron Man, Hulk, and even Captain America (since it will mostly happen in WW2), all stand on their own, with Iron Man 2 starting to lean on the Avengers movie more than standing on its own. Thor has the same issue Iron Man 2 does of leaning on Avengers, and this might actually be the crux of the problem (though in Thor it is more of a background issue and never truly interferes and interacts the same way Iron Man 2 did).

Thor's major flaw is in too many characters and not enough time to develop them fully. I argued this point with my brother that Thor is accompanied by 4 friends and his half-brother Loki in this film, and the film would do better without the friends in prominent roles. The friends are important in the Thor universe, but in this film, they are a burden and truly given only partial service at best. Because of the short-story nature of a film, the time it takes to develop a character means that for every major character added, more time is needed to establish them, their motivations, and whatever arc they as a character have. It's the arc that makes a character stand out and be memorable. In this case, all 4 friends have no arc, development, or time to be more than just 4 actors to fill up the screen. I further submit that because the movie is meant to build up Thor, these 4 characters suffer even more by effectively being fodder for the bad guys until Thor can come to the rescue. It demeans the characters to be little more than distractions than fully-formed characters. Had they been introduced but mainly kept to the background, the characters would have retained some air of mystery and intrigue and this story-telling flaw would have gone unnoticed.

This issue extends also to the character of The Destroyer. Admittedly, there's little character to develop. However, because the actual story is somewhat complicated and filled with twists, by the time the Destroyer gets screen time, the epic battle that should accompany the build up is rather quickly (and lamely) ended. The Destroyer battle similarly showcases why the 4 friends shouldn't be in this movie as they are poorly used and seem shoehorned in rather than any sort of strength to the plot. When the final battle is set to take place, these 4 friends are further fodder by not even being involved. Because of the attempt to have those friends in it, what should have been a moral dilemma and a choice of conscience gets parceled treatment and lacks the emotional punch that leaves the audience satisfied.

What does this mean for me? It's a reminder that personally I welcome. I often want to have a large cast of characters, but if I am unwilling to put in the time to develop them so that the audience likes them, they are better served removed. Every page of text I use on fodder characters is another page I could use to make the story stronger. It is one of the advantages of a book that you can have as much time as needed to tell your story, but it is also the mark of a good story that you can avoid padding it out if you think more like a short-story in keeping things just a little bit simpler so everyone can follow what is going on. I don't believe I do very simple plots, but I like to think that I keep the issues simply told so that everyone knows what's going on. The more intricate the plot (as Thor truly is) the more simplified elements of the story need to be so that no one is lost. While I admit that there is a great feeling returning to a story (book or movie) and seeing new elements you hadn't noticed the first time around (12 Monkeys and Dark City spring to mind) those should be subtle, there for someone to notice if they want but not focused on all at once.

I'll get back to actually writing tomorrow.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

making up for time lost

So I started off my day with 2 pages done for Chapter 10, since yesterday I was unable to do more (and frankly I was happy to get anything done). Today, I did 15. I like to think it was to make up for the day prior, but in truth, it was more because I was able to get into a rhythm several times today and able to keep my focus solely on the book. Remarkably, I almost finished Chapter 11 today as well, but I've really run out of "daylight" so to speak. (realistically I need to get sleep because of an early morning tomorrow)

Also somewhere along the way I had it in my head this book was 18 chapters long. It won't be. It's actually 17 chapters (counting Chapter 0), so I'm actually almost to the end of the first draft. This is insane to me, both in how fast it's coming together and how short the story will actually be (even after it is rewritten). I honestly never thought I could write a complete story that was around 200 pages, but it looks like this book will possibly hit that and only just barely. Even if I try to pad it out, and really work on trying to add more scenes, 200 seems to be the threshold for this story, and not necessarily because there isn't enough to write more. The overall story is simply just too straightforward and not a lot of twists and turns. And to be honest, I'm sort of liking that aspect.

For every other story I've written, there has been a much broader goal in mind, with far more twists and a lot of mystery about what is exactly happening. In this case though, virtually everything will be solved inside this book, and not filled in later in following books. Even Blood Talon, which is very straightforward, the reasons behind the story will be further explained in a separate book (and even referenced in Cherry Blossoms).

Cherry Blossoms is one of those stories that, on it's own seems to be truly its own story. And yet, it's actually a lot more like (in movie terms) Back to the Future 2, a story that helps bridge the gap between points A and C. It's really just a short story to expand upon one world in the impending overarching story, to establish that world and several characters in it. Even so, it's proving to be quite an enjoyable experience.

So either I'm becoming a good enough storyteller to make even the straightforward ones fun, or it's dumb luck. I'm going with the dumb luck until I can prove otherwise. and since I refuse to try and prove anything, dumb luck will reign supreme.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

On days like these...

There's something to be said for a day filled with likable distractions. There's also something to be said about getting the creative juices purposefully flowing. I had been listening to an interview Kevin Polluck did with Demitri Martin, wherein Demitri said he felt that the closer you get to realizing your dreams, the easier it is to look for an escape of some kind. You feel like you're about to "turn the corner" so to speak and start looking for ways to avoid that fateful step. In my case that would be trying to get published and talking myself out of doing the groundwork for publication because doing other things would be "easier" even if it wasn't what I wanted in my heart.

I don't know if I've turned any corners but usually on days like this, I would just throw up my hands and say "Today is a 'day-off.'" And then I just use the day as an excuse to not write. So I did my best to get something written, even if it was just two pages. That's two less to write at least. And then I remembered that I have this blog I'm trying to make into a routine. I wanted to use time as an excuse but here I am, writing a rather small blog.

Perhaps that's really the root of writer's block. It's less an ability to write, as it is an attempt to do something else that's easier. So I guess the question will truly become: is thinking about self-publishing avoiding the slog of trying to get traditionally published, or is it the best option? That's something to consider.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

Chapter 9 "in the can"

I usually don't like to put a whole lot of detail into my outlines. It's quite vague and generalized, but Cherry Blossoms had to have some rigidity to it. Normally I let the vagueness keep the overall ideas in my head and let the characters play. It can get a bit hectic as the writing will usually discover new paths and new story lines to effectively trouble the path, but I like to, and want to, maintain a lot of motion in what I write. I have always felt that if you make your key marks in the story too rigid, your characters and plot can feel shoe-horned in. Characters make decisions that don't necessarily gel with the way the story has been going, rather than letting the story and key points shift to fit where the characters would "naturally" choose. This changes the endings dramatically at times, but I find usually for the better.

When I started writing Blood Talon, I knew what I wanted in the ending. It would be ship to ship, and I had the climax crystal clear in my mind. However, two chapters before this battle was to take place, I realized I had the wrong characters going onto the wrong ships. I couldn't make the story work the way I had originally envisioned the battle because I would end up killing characters I didn't want killed. So I reworked the ending, because the characters were actually on the right ships, my ending was wrong. My ending had the right idea, but it didn't take into account how the story would unfold.

Today, I finished Chapter 9 of Cherry Blossoms, and when I had it in my head, the scene played out with an initial burst into crowded streets, then the characters popping their heads up over the crowds. I was going to have multiple characters involved and a lot of running around. When it came to actually writing it, I stuck with only two, the chaser and the chased. It simply made more sense. I'd actually envisioned this chase years ago at the inception of this story, though not nearly for as long nor as involved. The actual writing also had to be tapered for the reader, compared to what I envisioned. To my mind's eye, the chase could last fifteen minutes in a movie, however in writing it the descriptions become quite repetitive. Trying to maintain a quick "pace" in storytelling to match the pace of the two men meant cutting down on descriptions, leaving my list of word choices very short. As a result, what seemed like a good idea visually, didn't translate as well on the page without making drastic changes to my writing style.

The actual chase was shortened from it's intended ten pages to five, with a lot thrown out because, as I was writing it, it was clear that anyone trying to do the things I envisioned would be so tired they'd not last half-way into the intended scene. Some realism was needed and less of a "movie reality" that would seem "cool," but highly unrealistic.

I'm mostly pleased with it. I say that mainly because I know when I get to the rewrite, I will go over the scenes with a hammer and what is there now will not look the same later. Still, the groundwork I am happy with. And it allows me to move on to the climax. This was like in those old cartoons where a small snowball is set on the edge of a hill, then rolls down it constantly getting bigger and bigger. Parts 1 and 2 were packing the snowball up and setting it onto the top of the hill. Chapter 9 gave it the initial push towards the bottom.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

Starting to get interesting...

There's a feeling I've noticed when I write, when the tedium just disappears, the back and forth looking at notes and outlines is mostly forgotten, and the characters "come alive." I remember a long time ago hearing some authors talking about their characters doing things they didn't expect. In my ignorance when first trying to write, I couldn't understand the idea concept. After all, why would the author not know what their own creations were going to say.

I don't remember the first time it really hit me, but I've always found joy when it hits. Usually it's in conversations, and my joy is in discovering the characters that are hiding in my head, just waiting to be discovered. But there are occasions when it happens for the more descriptive/action parts.

Today, my writing began with a rather rough slog through a dialogue scene, mostly because I knew immediately following, the story was going to take a turn and start to, in effect, speed up. Normally, that sort of scene is a logistical nightmare, but in this instance, seven pages sped by, the first half-of the remainder of this chapter. I say first half because I did get to a point where I was not only finally distracted from writing, but also felt that I could actually stop and enjoy the distractions. The pace had changed to a new dynamic and the second half of the scene could be played out tomorrow when I put fingers to keyboard.

The best I can say though, and writers know the feeling, I'm enjoying what I'm writing. It sounds odd to say, after all if I'm trying to make a career as an author I should (in theory) love what I write, but there are those times in a story where you either aren't sure how the scene will play out or you have a section that you know you need to do but you really don't want to bring up, and writing feels like work rather than play. In those times, the excitement drains and it's easy to get writer's block. I'm instead quite happy and anxious, in fact, to continue the story. As dark as I know it will get, and as dark as I'm making it out to be now, I'm enjoying the story that's being told. To me, that means the story will be enjoyed by those reading it too.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

And so ends "Part 2"

I already know that the rewrite of Cherry Blossoms will extend page numbers dramatically, but for the moment, Chapter 8 (and by extension Part 2 of the story) ends on page 100. Sort of a nice number to land on unintentionally. From here, the relative ease of writing will turn into more of a slog, since the predominant aspect of the book has been dialogue rather than descriptions. Part 3 will be 9 chapters of effectively action sequences and long, drawn-out descriptions, returning to what I'm really good at.

Admittedly I believe I'm good at dialogue too, but I'm biased on that.

Part 2 ended today with 3 pages written. That might not seem like much, but if you can do it right, you can change all tone in the story on a dime from "mystery" to "hell's about to tear loose." We'll see if that pans out. I am looking forward to it, but I know it will be a bit of a pain once I get into it.

I'd write more, but I'm stuck watching CNN right now. Sort of a different red-letter day. Hard to concentrate on writing at the moment (though I got those three pages done).

David Barentine
www.wotps.com