Drag Show

Last night I went to a drag show, in my imagination. It was much better than the ones I had actually gone to because it was all my doing. I got to design the theater and adjoining bar. I poured the drinks and played the music. The costumes and makeup were all my doing. The performers were as carefully chosen as their performances. All the guests were invited by me and their behavior strictly scripted. That is not to say there were no surprises however. As I wrote, my characters stepped out of the roles initially created for them and began to have fun on their own. When I was done writing the scene, and read over what was there, I found some of it not worth saving, but much of it better than what I had first envisioned. Some of the things that came out of their mouths were shocking and needed to be censored, but some of them were hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud. My headliner even changed from being Caucasian to African American. Neat trick huh? A character from an earlier chapter came in to join in the fun and to add some twists to the plot. My heroine showed an interesting new facet to her personality and changed her clothes on the spot. Oh subconscious, you are truly wonderful and frightening and I wonder what I would do with all these thoughts if I weren't writing them in a novel.

Muse

I haven't been blogging lately because I wasn't sure anyone was reading them, but I had something so remarkable happen that I just had to tell someone, or not.

I have read recently that Agatha Christie didn't always know who the murderer was until the end of the story. She wrote on several different notebooks that also included recipes and her children's handwriting exercises.

Did you know that Stephen King also makes it up as he goes along? He begins with a "what if?" and goes from there allowing the "muse" to write the story with him. This makes me feel better about my less than prepared writing habits. (Note I didn't say riding habit which is something else altogether).

Recently it came to me out of, if not the blue then perhaps the inner part of my brain that creates independently of my conciseness; to add an entirely new parallel plot. I was simply typing the newest chapter, clear on what I was going to write about and how it would unfold, when I kind of veered off into a place I didn't plan to go at all. I didn't purposely sit and think, maybe this or that should happen, it felt more like I was writing about something that had actually occurred. I was taking dictation from my muse. Glory Hallelujah! I have a muse!

It's getting very exciting now knowing that I have a muse as a writing companion. He or she is very clever and our book is beginning to surprise and delight me.

It is a quote that is trotted out much too often but it feels right here. "I've got a job to do, too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of." Ok, so not that one, but I do think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Meet Up

I belong to the Nashville Writers Meet Up Group. There are Meetup groups for everything all over the country. There is a photography Meetup and singles Meetups and Meetups for people who like sushi. The writers Meetups are free, (I think they all are) and meet at the Borders downtown. I'm fortunate in that the Nashville Writer's Meetup is one of the largest writer's Meetups in the country. Under the Nashville Writer's Meetup is a novelist group, a fiction and a non fiction group, mystery writers group, a science fiction writers group, memoirs, screenplay, and of course songwriters group, a grammar one a "craft of writing", and more.

Everyone is encouraged to bring something they are working on. Copies are handed out to all at the group You read yours aloud with all following along and then everyone provides feedback. I find their critiques worth more to me than gold. I take my copies home, where everyone has added notes and make modifications to my draft. I've been busy since my Saturday afternoon group making some positive changes to my work. It's a great way to preview for laughs too. If any of my humor lines fall flat at least I don't get heckled.

funny paper

My book is a mystery with humor, but what if I'm not feeling humorous?

I'm certain stand up comics don't feel funny every day, nor does Conan or Jay or David but they go out there and do it. How?

What if you're feeling blue? How do you make other people laugh?
I bought a funny book. That made me depressed because she was funnier than me.

I watched a funny show on TV but as soon as it was over, so were the laughs. I need to install a laugh track on my computer.

I wrote all day anyway.

What I noticed was, the more I wrote, the more I liked it.
I cheered myself up.

So is that what comics do? Even though I imagine most of them to be morose or troubled most of the time, the mere act of acting funny makes them BE funny. At least I'm guessing so. I don't know any comics personally.

So here's a joke for you, (is anyone even reading this? I can't think about that, I"ll depress myself.) in time for St Patrick's Day

Mick and Paddy are reading head stones at a nearby cemetery. Mick say "Crikey! There's a bloke here who was 152!"
Paddy says "What's his name ?"
Mick replies "Miles, from London!"

thanks for noticin' me

This is going much too slow. I'm getting bogged down in character research. My problem is that I want all my characters to be "stand alone" people. I want my readers, (please God, let there be readers), to have a vested interest in each one of them.
I have a character who is a reformed "Type A" guy. He has a heart attack and becomes aware of life in a way that he never noticed before He studies Eastern Religions and adopts a Taoist type philosophy of life. What do you know? More research. By the way, the Te of Piglet is very good and an excellent source of Tao. I'm becoming smarter by the day and my book is falling further and further behind. At this rate, my great grandchildren will have to finish it for me. I have no intention of writing the great American novel, far from it, I just want my characters to be interesting.
The answer may lie in me creating characters who have traits and idiosyncrasies that I know more about.
How about one who is a novelist that writes at glacial speeds?

Distractions

I'm getting distracted by being in a new place. My characters are behaving differently because my brain is. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I wonder if I should wait more and let my consciousness relax in its new environ, or just continue to write and let my characters take on a different flavor?
I've decided on the latter. Since this is a first draft anyway, and rewrites are inevitable, I shall allow my imagination to color my characters with the new crayons in my box.
I noticed too,when I kept a blog of my Ireland travels, that I was feeling differently about ordinary things. When everything around me was new, even the simple process of making myself a cup of tea felt different . It would stand to reason then, that something as complex as creating fictional places, people and events out of nothing but the neurons and synapses of my brain would take on new and different dimensions.
Getting away from the daily routine was far more than an opportunity to relax and learn about new places, it is also a way for my mind to grow and expand in ways I was not even aware of. Now that I am in New Mexico and everything looks and feels vastly different than in Tennessee or Florida, my entire creative processes feel a bit different .
Of course there are thousands of examples of people who wrote wonderful, insightful, imaginative pieces without ever traveling more than a few miles from their home, but if I don't embrace the idea of moving about as way to juice up my creative process, then how in the world could I write it off on my taxes?

perspective and characters

In writing the crime scene I realized something. The reason I don't like what I've written is because I don't like crime scenes. Every other mystery novel or television show spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the crime scene. Its all about the detectives and entourage attempting to look for clues and scrape DNA or fingerprints off of tree bark or a slice of bologna or what not. Its not my thing. I don't watch that on TV or read about it in books, so what in the world am I doing trying to write about it? I did. I wrote the crime scene but didn't like any part of it. The only part I liked in the chapter was the part about the spectators looking on. There is a murder though. I have to write about it or else my characters won't be able to do all things I have them doing.
I lamented all this to Charlie.
We discussed it all.Where I was going with my novel and what I was trying to say with it. Why I was writing this novel this way. Why I think it is important and relevant. I'm not writing just to be writing. Of course I want to entertain; but I have something to say and I want to say it in a unique way.
So Charlie says "write the scene from the perspective of the spectators you enjoyed writing."
Of course!!!!! Perfect solution. Exactly how I want to write it. Sometimes it really helps to talk over your novel with someone who encourages you to work upside down and backwards.

background and research

I had no idea I'd be doing this much research. Its really fun and I'm learning a lot but it certainly slows down the writing process. For instance.
I'm making one character, a detective half Cuban and half Jewish. Well, in order to do that I have to research Cuban and Jewish cultures. He likes to read Sherlock Holmes beginning any investigation to see if he can find sleuthing techniques that will help him, so I'm reading lots of Sherlock Holmes. And that's only part of one character and not even a main character!
To carry on with just this one character, I've decided it would be fun if he had to mediate arguments between his two grandmothers, one Jewish one Cuban of course. So Charlie suggests they could argue baseball, Sandy Koufax vs Jose Canseco. More research.
Then there are the food and holidays and all types of situations that can be funny but require I research first. Then I still need to find a way to make that humorous and interesting. Nothing to do with the plot, of course, but just to paint interesting characters that my readers, (please God let there be readers) would enjoy knowing.
So, did you know that after the revolution in 1959 it was the first time Cuba had been independent since 1511? I'm not using that in the book but I thought it was interesting and wanted to put it somewhere.

Sticks and Stones

What is in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. Quite true Mr Shakespeare but names come with preconceptions. In my book do I want the name to fit the type or is it more interesting to give names that go against type? Should I be less predictable or will that make the characters less believable? The names should be interesting yet not wierd. Character names are really critical to a story and I find myself agonizing over them as much as plot and dialogue. Place names are a big deal too. My choice of name for the complex where many of the retired set are living came to me easily. Its in S W Florida so I named it Shell Harbor but everyone just calls it the "Shell". I had to make sure there wasn't actually a place there named that and surprisingly, there was not. I wonder why? It's a great name eh? I've "painted" it a pastel coral color of course. I need a name for a gay bar too. Same story? Why yes as a matter of fact.
One name came easy. My heroine is named Maggie. I've decided all heroines in all my stories will be named Maggie. Its my homage to the one of the sweetest souls it has ever been my privilege to know. A kind, loving, caring heart that wanted nothing more than a pet on her head or a rub of her belly. And besides, Maggie is just the perfect name.

So, having named 4 children and countless pets, I'm back to coming up with names, but at least these guys can't complain if they don't like them.

Market

I went to one of my writer's groups tonight. This one was for fiction writers. There was a lot of talent at the table with lots of good honest critique and feedback. The best part of the night? They laughed at all my funny lines. I also heard that, "I'm appealing to a huge untapped market!" I feel like I'm on the right track and am quite encouraged. There's nothing to stop me now but me.
One good tip I got, "pent up sexual tension gets old after a while." I was briefly unnerved until I realized they were talking about my heroine and not me. Another good tip, "even though this is written in first person, not to use too many "I's" or "me's." That will be a challenge. Perhaps I can refer to myself as "we" from time to time, like the Queen of England.
I've got new found energy for my book. I like these meetings, they are symbiotic and healthy for people who spend too much time in front of their word processors. Of course, as Hemingway could attest to,so does the occasional trip to the pub.

Duality

I have been on twin tracks recently. My original novel, the comedy/mystery has taken a back seat to my other novel, one set in famine era Ireland. After this week, I am setting that one aside for a couple of weeks to come back to the comedy. I am down in Florida, where the story takes place, so I'm researching locations anyway. Also, with the bleakness of winter, the Ireland story is affecting my mood. I need to do some funny again. My Irish characters can wait a bit. After 150 years, what's another few weeks?
So, when we last left our heroine, she was just getting her first glimpse of the first corpse. What's depressing about that, right?