Figuring Stuff Out
It's impossible (and possibly wrong) to write in a vacuum. Life happens around you, and you react in response to those events. What you know, what you remember, and how you interpret your place in the scheme of things evolves. Unless you're crazy, in which case nothing short of a miracle will alter your perspective.
Writing is a balancing act, internal on one side of the seesaw and external on the other, and I'm constantly seeking an equilibrium. One week I'm bummed to learn that an idea I've developed will soon see the bookstores as the latest Stephen King. The next week sees my muse working and working and working to pull me toward the keyboard so she can reveal brave new worlds.
I'm blessed to see lots of posts on my F-list about writing. Today's comes from justinar, and my response to her question/predicament lends strength to my own muse--which means I'm back to work on the new book.
What happened to me yesterday was the type of brainstorming/revelation usually reserved for the endorphin rush that comes post exercise. Who knew driving around Ann Arbor and Saline in the rain was so good for the creative mind, but apparently some bit of news or random trawling caught my attention and the muse ran with it and developed a SFnal justification for the "supernatural" doings within Sacrifices. Now I've got a foundation for bringing the dead back to life that's a little bit Mary Shelly and a little bit Schrödinger. I think the chain all started with the segment about prosthetics on 60 Minutes this past weekend. Not sure how my mind works, but somehow I made it from there to quantum physics.
I'm still struggling with the best way to begin the book; I'm really bogged down by that. But a co-worker asked my opinion about the best approach to completing a writing-related project. They wanted to know how much I held to the note taped above the monitor in my cubicle. It says, "Get the story written, then get it right."
So, I'm figuring stuff out, I'm holding to a personal deadline that's fast approaching, and yesterday's mental gymnastics addresses the villainous half of the story equation. I'm hopeful I'll produce a balanced story now, and that the muse establishes some forward momentum in the next few days.
Writing is a balancing act, internal on one side of the seesaw and external on the other, and I'm constantly seeking an equilibrium. One week I'm bummed to learn that an idea I've developed will soon see the bookstores as the latest Stephen King. The next week sees my muse working and working and working to pull me toward the keyboard so she can reveal brave new worlds.
I'm blessed to see lots of posts on my F-list about writing. Today's comes from justinar, and my response to her question/predicament lends strength to my own muse--which means I'm back to work on the new book.
What happened to me yesterday was the type of brainstorming/revelation usually reserved for the endorphin rush that comes post exercise. Who knew driving around Ann Arbor and Saline in the rain was so good for the creative mind, but apparently some bit of news or random trawling caught my attention and the muse ran with it and developed a SFnal justification for the "supernatural" doings within Sacrifices. Now I've got a foundation for bringing the dead back to life that's a little bit Mary Shelly and a little bit Schrödinger. I think the chain all started with the segment about prosthetics on 60 Minutes this past weekend. Not sure how my mind works, but somehow I made it from there to quantum physics.
I'm still struggling with the best way to begin the book; I'm really bogged down by that. But a co-worker asked my opinion about the best approach to completing a writing-related project. They wanted to know how much I held to the note taped above the monitor in my cubicle. It says, "Get the story written, then get it right."
So, I'm figuring stuff out, I'm holding to a personal deadline that's fast approaching, and yesterday's mental gymnastics addresses the villainous half of the story equation. I'm hopeful I'll produce a balanced story now, and that the muse establishes some forward momentum in the next few days.