I'm beginning to realise anew that the most truly horrifically powerful scenes are ones where the point of view character is undisturbed by events. And that contrasting reactions to similar (to the reader's mind) situations is an excellent way of exploring a protagonist's moral code and exposing the path for growth.

In related news: Return to ( Read more... )

I’ve realised one of the reasons why I’m usually disappointed when I consult a thesaurus looking for whatever that word is that I’m really looking for-what I’m usually looking for is much closer to a word association dictionary than anything else.

For example, at the moment, I’m working on a paragraph that begins: It was like kissing a squid.I ( Read more... )

Feels like we've been here before, doesn't it?

This, however, is a significantly prouder moment. This is 25,000 words edited. Not super-shiny-zomg-hand-me-that-booker-prize edited, but... good second draft edited. Plenty of gaps, plenty of omissions, but really not much in the way of anything actually incorrect or out of line with what's ( Read more... )

See above.

Inner Editor, are you following? Good.

Edit: Also, why do I keep writing stuff that makes tenses completely impossible? e.g. I resisted the urge to interrogate SEER all the way down to the platform, but only because the me with no inkling of a future without Simone had continued to pepper me with trivial questions about his day ( Read more... )

Of course the major problem with having pushed through a patch of easy bits is that on the other side of them lie hard bits ( Read more... )

Haha! Three cheers for perseverance ( Read more... )

I'm reaching the hard stuff. Or at least, the stuff that makes me think "who wrote this crap?!" even though I have no idea how to rewrite ( Read more... )

All right, Mr. Muse, sir. I've dropped Cloud Castles for the moment, I'm working on Return to Sender. Ouch! OUCH! Geeez, gimme a break, here, I'm typing, I'm typing!

I've written a different bit in as the prologue, and it's gorgeous. The clumsy introduction has been one of the shudder points for me, and it's totally awesome to have it out of ( Read more... )

Some people find the blank page intimidating. A whole empty white page, staring at you, with nothing on it but possibility.

Not me.

I have a short attention span, but as long as I prevent myself from alt-tabbing away from a blank page for long enough, it ends up with writing on it. Lots of writing.

( My problem is the imperfectly filled page. (tl;dr) )

Wrote a letter to the future, asking for directions
It came back to me 'return to sender'
There I go… am I here yet? Am I?
There’s got to be more to this.
     -- Billie Myers, Am I Here Yet?

So. Return to Sender's exploded in my mind again. I'd prefer to keep working on Cloud Castles before it goes stale, but the muse goes where he will. * ( Read more... )