The mood is set...they've had a couple of drinks...they're attracted to each other...they're both single...they're both more than of age...I'm ready to write the first sex scene.
Wait, maybe I'll have a drink first..yeah, that's it...I need to set the mood for myself..maybe play a little Johnny Mathis...light some candles...
Actually, this book is a comedy so it would stand to reason the sex scenes be comical as well. Which is fortunate for me because, as they say, write what you know.
Hey, anyone got a cigarette?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
chess board
I've had to leave my story on simmer for a bit while I did some moving around of my own. Since doing so, I've decided my characters would move with me. That way I could write about the locale I was living in. Having to do that has changed my story around too. I shall now have to discard large portions of already written material and rethink plot lines.
I realize that this is what I have done in my own life. I move to a new place, new job, always taking my children along with me, of course. Doing so, I not only changed the "plot" in my own life, but in theirs as well.
Of course my children were not one dimensional characters in an outline, but young people trying to decide who they were and what they would grow to be and how they fit into life.
As it turns out, they became fabulous adults. Maybe because of the moving around or in spite of it. I think maybe a mixture of both.
I can move my characters around like pieces on a chess board and there they will be, just as they are now, forever. When I moved my children around, they made the experience uniquely their own. They were able to make where they were, secondary to who they were.
This book, it turns out, is teaching me much more about real life than the fictional one I am creating.
I realize that this is what I have done in my own life. I move to a new place, new job, always taking my children along with me, of course. Doing so, I not only changed the "plot" in my own life, but in theirs as well.
Of course my children were not one dimensional characters in an outline, but young people trying to decide who they were and what they would grow to be and how they fit into life.
As it turns out, they became fabulous adults. Maybe because of the moving around or in spite of it. I think maybe a mixture of both.
I can move my characters around like pieces on a chess board and there they will be, just as they are now, forever. When I moved my children around, they made the experience uniquely their own. They were able to make where they were, secondary to who they were.
This book, it turns out, is teaching me much more about real life than the fictional one I am creating.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Experts
I need some advice. Not just on the technicalities of writing, I've got my son Charlie for that. It's that I don't want to write about anything until I consult with the experts in the field. I imagine a reader, (please God, let me have readers) turning to page, say, 107 and saying, "She doesn't know what the hell she's talking about! There are only 7 continents, not 12!" Or something like that.
I can write about hurricanes because I've lived through lots of those. I can write about being 52 because I've been 52. I can continue to write about things I already know about, but that would bore me.
I want to learn new things and write about them.
For some, I consult friends. As a matter of fact, I've chosen some characters based on the fact that I already know people like that. They can then feed me their histories that I can ascribe to my characters. My friend Steve, for instance, has a lifelong career as radio DJ. I also worked in radio for a short time. Voila! I write a character who is a DJ and use that to help the plot along. That may be a bit of the tail wagging the dog, but it's working for me. I'm finding ways to make people and events I'm already familiar with to use as plot devices.
Since I don't have that many friends, I'm going to have to go out and pick the brains of total strangers. I'm very extroverted and therefore don't mind at all doing that. In fact, I think I may be oblivious, most times, to my lack of social restraint. But there are many writers, I would imagine, who are not as comfortable blindsiding innocent bystanders with questions. I'm always in awe of those who will overcome what is personally difficult and challenging to advance their art.
So now, off I go to track down a bungling murderer to get some advice.
Anyone know of any?
I can write about hurricanes because I've lived through lots of those. I can write about being 52 because I've been 52. I can continue to write about things I already know about, but that would bore me.
I want to learn new things and write about them.
For some, I consult friends. As a matter of fact, I've chosen some characters based on the fact that I already know people like that. They can then feed me their histories that I can ascribe to my characters. My friend Steve, for instance, has a lifelong career as radio DJ. I also worked in radio for a short time. Voila! I write a character who is a DJ and use that to help the plot along. That may be a bit of the tail wagging the dog, but it's working for me. I'm finding ways to make people and events I'm already familiar with to use as plot devices.
Since I don't have that many friends, I'm going to have to go out and pick the brains of total strangers. I'm very extroverted and therefore don't mind at all doing that. In fact, I think I may be oblivious, most times, to my lack of social restraint. But there are many writers, I would imagine, who are not as comfortable blindsiding innocent bystanders with questions. I'm always in awe of those who will overcome what is personally difficult and challenging to advance their art.
So now, off I go to track down a bungling murderer to get some advice.
Anyone know of any?
Friday, July 3, 2009
When the Kat's Away
I didn't get to write yesterday. I left my characters without supervision. Are they lonely when I'm gone? Do they not know what to do? I am their brain, controlling their actions after all. I imagine them all confused, bumping into walls, not knowing where to go or what to do next. Yes, I am anthropomorphizing my characters because to me, they have become real. What does that mean? Do all authors feel that way about their characters? I hope it means I will write them well and not that I'm just a little crazy.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mr. Meanie
I'm writing a character who is foul mouthed and crude. I'm having no trouble at all writing this character. Anyone who knows me would think that a character like that would be difficult to write, but nope, it was easy. The vulgarities and crudities came racing off my keyboard faster than I could type them.
If you know me personally, then you know this is a complete one- eighty from my personality. I swear when I'm in traffic sometimes, or if someone has really got me riled up, but I'm pretty tame in the swearing department and completely MIA in the racial, ethnic, social slur department.
So why can I do it here? Where is it coming from?
I'm thinking perhaps it works like this. I hear these things in the "real world" and I don't think I'm absorbing it. It seems it's just going in one ear and out the other. But apparently not. There must be a part of my brain that it all went into. Maybe I just finally opened the door and it all came spilling out like junk in an overstuffed closet.
If that's the case, I advise everyone to sit and write dialogue for a really creepy person and let the junk coming spilling out of your brain closet. It's fun and pretty cathartic.
If you know me personally, then you know this is a complete one- eighty from my personality. I swear when I'm in traffic sometimes, or if someone has really got me riled up, but I'm pretty tame in the swearing department and completely MIA in the racial, ethnic, social slur department.
So why can I do it here? Where is it coming from?
I'm thinking perhaps it works like this. I hear these things in the "real world" and I don't think I'm absorbing it. It seems it's just going in one ear and out the other. But apparently not. There must be a part of my brain that it all went into. Maybe I just finally opened the door and it all came spilling out like junk in an overstuffed closet.
If that's the case, I advise everyone to sit and write dialogue for a really creepy person and let the junk coming spilling out of your brain closet. It's fun and pretty cathartic.
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