Randy Pausch died a few days ago. I admit I’d never heard of him, or this lecture, until then, but really, you should watch it. It runs about an hour and fifteen minutes. Fantastic, powerful stuff.
I’m not so good with romantic things, I don’t think. I’m a happily married woman (most of the time), but when it comes to my stories I don’t think I’m very good at it. Maybe I’m okay at writing family dynamics, and maybe I just need to sit down and make myself write a love story. I like romance and the sad and the sweet.
Entertainment Weekly has a photo essay on the “Top 25 Most Romantic Gestures in Film“, that I thought was pretty good. Just have to learn to say with words what sometimes seems easier with pictures. Love is often silent.
Slightly off topic, my friend Autumn wrote a really good entry on Inner Demons you ought to give a read.
For me, one of the most interesting things in being a writer is exploring what makes people tick. What sort of things happened in their past that makes them what they are at this point? Bad guys, or good guys, they are that way for a reason.
One thing I’ve noticed in my stories is I’m apparently a big believer in one person making a difference. Not just in the world, but in a person. I can give someone the worst, most evil background I can think of, but if one person comes into their lives at some crucial point, who loves them regardless, that can totally turn them around, despite everything.
Maybe that just means I’m an optimist.
I almost always have way more background for my characters then I can ever really use. As I’ve mentioned before I’m a big fan of the 100 Questions for Characters. It may not be totally vital to know what a characters favorite food is, but then again, it may become something of a running joke. Like one of my characters fondness for peanut butter. One of the ways his family shows they care is by bringing him jars (in this world you can’t just run to the store for it). It’s a small thing, but it has a point.
And it doesn’t always have to be some major, earth-shattering event that makes a person. Maybe they got embarrassed in front of their classmates in school. Or took money out of their parents purse. Maybe they saw something bad, and didn’t stop it or report it. All those little things add up to make a person what they are. And learning those things is one of my favorite things about being a writer.
My good friend Paul wrote a really good and really interesting article (essay?) on plot bunnies that all of you should go read. I promise better entries then just links, later on this week, but for now I just had to share this:
Okay, technically I guess this doesn’t have much to do with writing, but it’s awesome and an attempt to do something different. Plus it’s Joss Whedon. Just click it…
I almost forgot to post today. Woops. Well, read this article. Kurt Vonnegut was a brilliant man:
15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will
I haven’t been working a log on Norman’s story. For one thing I’ve been messing a bit with his background, trying to get a feel for the man he’s become in long years of working away from his family. Everyone else in the family is close, but because of his job he can only come home and see them maybe once a year or so.
The other thing is, in messing with the background another character has shown up. Someone whose important to Norman and Norman is important to him. Unfortunately for both of them this character is also a teenager at the time this story takes place. So, that makes things complicated.
The other reason why I’m dragging my feet is because I already started writing this once, and I liked what I had so far, but I stopped because I knew I didn’t know enough about Norman at this point in his life. Yesterday I wrote a great little argument and I know where it fits in, I just have rewrite the first chapter, and I keep putting it off. Arguments can be a lot of fun to write, especially when one of the particpants is a teenager lacking the brain to mouth filter.
So, thats my goal for today. Bite the bullet and rework what I’ve got. A lot of it can probably be used as is. Yup, just have to do it. *goes*
Last night I went to a writing group I found on meetup.com. Actually I found it via the Nanowrimo forums. At any rate I wanted to take a post and talk about how great finding local writing groups can be. Sometimes it’s a nanowrimo group that meets all year long. Other times it’s a critique group, like this one mostly is. Writing can be a pretty lonely profession, so I find that meeting with other people can be a source of inspiration and encouragement.
I know for me, when it comes to National Novel Writing Month I really need the encouragement and support of other writers. The nanowrimo chat room especially has been great for that. But, it’s also good to meet with people in real life. When we lived in North Carolina I went to a monthly writer’s group (The Cat Vacuumers…isn’t that a fantastic name?) that was always a great place to come together.
If you can’t find a local group, consider starting one. Either through your local library or something like meetup. You might be surprised at some of the people harboring secret or not-so secret writers dreams. It’s something good for both you and the people you meet.
Saw this posted on Lifehacker.com today:
Ira Glass on Getting Creative Work Done
Anyone whose creative and struggling with it should really watch this. He talks most about that gap between knowing what you want to achieve and being able to achieve it. And how yes, it can take years, but you just have to keep trying. Only this is Ira Glass, so he explains it much better then me.
I think most creative people have these sort of days. Days where you’d rather vacuum up all the debris from the gerbil cage then face a paragraph (and I like my gerbils, they just tend to get bedding everywhere). You want to sit down and write, but oh look the laundry needs to be put away.
Not that I’m advocating totally neglecting your housework. It’s just easy to look for anything to do besides face the page. The internet is the other great distraction. For me, I frequently have a game of Spider Solitaire running in the background.
The hardest thing is just to do it. But, I think usually, once you do get going, once you do sit down and start putting words to page, then it becomes a little easier. And I just pulled up Spider Solitare instead of finishing out this entry. So… I’m gonna wrap this up, go put the laundry away and then sit down and write. My next First Line story won’t write itself.