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October 30, 2003

jane yolen on NPR

Jane Yolen was on the Diane Rehm show this morning, and I didn't even realize that was who I was listening to until the end of the program.

Lately I've been contemplating artists ("artist" meaning "one who professes and practices an imaginative art") who demonstrate unique logic. I know we all live in our own realities, but I think some people live in them more than others.

Anyway, it's just on my mind.

I expect to get writing done Friday night and probably Sunday. The new take on the story is fun because I suddenly have to ask one of my characters what the hell he was thinking. And he's not exactly...chatty.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:26 AM

October 26, 2003

hooks revisited

I'm a cynic when I talk, a romantic when I sing, and a bit of both when I write.

Heh.

Connected the bits for chapter one. Relatively satisfied with my hooks. On to chapter two.

There's some stuff I wrote into chapter one that I'm very pleased with insofar as hinting to themes that will appear later on in the story. I dig that stuff when I read it, so I figure I'll dig it even more when I write it.

One thing I've been muddling over has been gender roles. I am not a girly girl. There were points in my adolescence where I rebelled violently again everything feminine. No pink, no make-up, no fancy shoes. And come to think of it, I still don't like pink. Or make-up. Or fancy shoes. Gimme sweaters, jeans, and sandals, and I'm happy.

Anyway, I'm babbling. Hurray for chocolate!

Posted by sdshaver at 09:24 PM

October 22, 2003

the larder of ill omen

Steph: Oh my god. I just realized on one of my maps from the 1980s I labeled an area "LAND OF BROODING EVIL". LOL

Bryan: HEE!

Steph: Welcome to LAND OF BROODING EVIL! Would you like to take a photo with your cab driver?

Bryan: Will it be an evil photo?

Steph: Yes! But we only take french currency, cuz it's the only evil kind we like.

Bryan: Now, is that French French? Or Quebecois French?

Steph: Which is more evil?

Bryan: Definitely Quebecois.

Bryan: It's not only evil, it's pretentious.

And it's all true.

Four pages done, chapter one finished. On to chapter two.

Posted by sdshaver at 03:01 PM

October 20, 2003

creativity

I created a sketchblog.

It's not because I believe my art is particularly good. It's not. I know I can draw recognizable things. That's about it. I can't do dynamic poses, I can't do backgrounds, and I have no understanding of anatomy, proportion, shading, and color.

That said, I still draw.

Someone recently gave me a sketchbook and wanted to see what I'd do with it. And for all that I don't really like 99% of my art, I'm slowly coping with the knowledge that some people do, despite its flaws.

But...I dunno. The drawing has been around since before the writing. I think sometimes if I ever acquire any degree of success in the fiction-writing field I may try to work my way into the graphic novel arena. I can't stand most superhero comics, but I enjoy the non-standard stuff (Watchmen, Sandman, Invisibles, Preacher, anything by Warren Ellis).

It just seems that if I'm going to faithfully document writing from page one to page three hundred, the drawings have to go in there somewhere. I storyboard chapters, after all, though I doubt I'll ever post any of those. They probably wouldn't make sense to anyone but me (think lots of stick figures and scribbles).

So, to make a long story short: I have a sketchblog, now. Cuz I like to drawr!

Posted by sdshaver at 02:55 PM

October 13, 2003

jodo

I remember when I was younger that I thought I'd pursue martial arts so I could write more believable fight scenes. Now I realize that, by pursuing martial arts, I am only finding it all the more difficult to write believable fight scenes because I agonize over every FREAKIN' sentence.

But what I really probably need to do is go watch some jodo/jojutsu somewhere, or find a video of the same. Because I have no idea if what Myr just did to her father is even technically possible.

I suppose I could always experiment....

I mowed down fairyland today. Or, at least, that's what I was thinking as I ran my mulcher-mower over the backyard. Little bugs, moths, and various garden critters went flying as I ran over their homes. There were tiny purple flowers, and tiny white flowers, and tiny yellow flowers, and it wouldn't have surprised me one bit to see a pixie sitting on the chain link fence, mourning the death of his homeland.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:27 AM

October 07, 2003

meanwhile, at the barricade

I'm terrified to read the big fat George R.R. Martin fantasy series he's been writing the past couple of years because I know it's going to be fantastic, and I'm going to be utterly despondent over its fantasticness.

Or, y'know, not. Sometimes reading really good fiction has the exact opposite effect.

Whoo. I thought I was climbing my way out of hell, but then I made the mistake of looking back over my shoulder, and now I'm stuck on the path again. Next weekend (not this weekend), I swear I'm gonna lock myself in my office and tell Eurydice to shove it.

I've got five chapters and eight characters screaming for blood, and it's gonna be Bastille Day in my brain if I don't do something.

Posted by sdshaver at 04:25 PM