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
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
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
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
Sunday, May 15, 2011
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
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
David Barentine
www.wotps.com
Saturday, May 14, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
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
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
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