New Project: The House on Sandwich Notch Lane
I figured I'd sit down with Diana Gabaldon's new book for the week. The thing is a monster! I could use all my free time this week and still not finish it. To my surprise, I find myself wanting to write, needing to write even. So off to write I do.
What am I going to start on? Put my full attention to my play, Protocol J-25, which I finally feel able to write? Or Jehovah's Hitlist, a story I conceived of 7 years ago and still have not gotten around to (and with Runester's interest, feel I at least have an audience to write for). Perhaps I should turn back to the Third World, feeling more confident than ever to do that world justice. Or maybe Global Warming in the Garden of Eden, a title I've loved from the moment I thought of it. That title deserves a story.
So I clicked on the new story tag to review the ideas I've posted, see if I've put anything down for Jehovah's Hitlist since its last false start. I've pretty much decided to go with that one when I see the post whining about how I had a wonderful dream for a YA novel (YA being a genre I've never considered writing in). I read the post and remember, vaguely, how amazing the dream was. I want to write that dream. I hadn't thought of a title, so clearly it can't be written...
The House on Sandwich Notch Lane.
Okay, so I guess it can be written. Clearly my mind is ready to write this one. Sandwitch Notch is a road in New Hampshire's lakes region that Jen loves for its name. This caused a tumble of ideas, where the children are from, why they're staying there, etc.
I'm taking some risks, I realize having written the first few paragraphs. Both children are half-Indian (India Indian), meaning the primary two characters are ethnic. You may think it doesn't make a difference, but it does, at a subconscious level. See a lot of stories told from a non-ethnic viewpoint when BOTH characters are ethnic? No. Usually one of them will be white as some kind of unspoken signal flag saying that we won't be focusing on a culture you don't understand, reader, so don't be scared away. Secondly, I'm not easing up on my vocabulary as much as the genre dictates. That'll be a problem later, I'm sure, but the only way to keep a muscle in shape is to exercise it. When I started reading comics, they used big words and bolded them, so kids would know to look them up in the dictionary. I learned so many words that way. Somewhere, it was decided that we could make more money if we didn't make people work so hard at reading.
Good thing I'm not in this for the money. (For all that posturing, I'm not overdoing it. I'm not writing for adults, but I'm not scared of three-syllable words either.)
Okay, I need to eat and write more. See ya.
What am I going to start on? Put my full attention to my play, Protocol J-25, which I finally feel able to write? Or Jehovah's Hitlist, a story I conceived of 7 years ago and still have not gotten around to (and with Runester's interest, feel I at least have an audience to write for). Perhaps I should turn back to the Third World, feeling more confident than ever to do that world justice. Or maybe Global Warming in the Garden of Eden, a title I've loved from the moment I thought of it. That title deserves a story.
So I clicked on the new story tag to review the ideas I've posted, see if I've put anything down for Jehovah's Hitlist since its last false start. I've pretty much decided to go with that one when I see the post whining about how I had a wonderful dream for a YA novel (YA being a genre I've never considered writing in). I read the post and remember, vaguely, how amazing the dream was. I want to write that dream. I hadn't thought of a title, so clearly it can't be written...
The House on Sandwich Notch Lane.
Okay, so I guess it can be written. Clearly my mind is ready to write this one. Sandwitch Notch is a road in New Hampshire's lakes region that Jen loves for its name. This caused a tumble of ideas, where the children are from, why they're staying there, etc.
I'm taking some risks, I realize having written the first few paragraphs. Both children are half-Indian (India Indian), meaning the primary two characters are ethnic. You may think it doesn't make a difference, but it does, at a subconscious level. See a lot of stories told from a non-ethnic viewpoint when BOTH characters are ethnic? No. Usually one of them will be white as some kind of unspoken signal flag saying that we won't be focusing on a culture you don't understand, reader, so don't be scared away. Secondly, I'm not easing up on my vocabulary as much as the genre dictates. That'll be a problem later, I'm sure, but the only way to keep a muscle in shape is to exercise it. When I started reading comics, they used big words and bolded them, so kids would know to look them up in the dictionary. I learned so many words that way. Somewhere, it was decided that we could make more money if we didn't make people work so hard at reading.
Good thing I'm not in this for the money. (For all that posturing, I'm not overdoing it. I'm not writing for adults, but I'm not scared of three-syllable words either.)
Okay, I need to eat and write more. See ya.