procrastination

June 5, 2008 at 10:35 pm (creative writing) (, , , , , , )

It's the cats' fault.

I promised myself that I’d write a thousand words before sleeping. And then the cats were being so cute, sleeping on my black sweater.

I really do know better than this. It’s 11:30 at night, and I haven’t broken 52k. Bad kitties…

Quick photoshop sketch– took about an hour total, and would have been less if my cats had stayed asleep. Don’t let overwhelmingly cute cats happen to you. … Or blogging about them, for that matter…

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writer’s conference

June 5, 2008 at 3:58 pm (goals) (, , , , , , , , , , )

I don’t usually talk about myself on this blog… it often makes me feel uncomfortable, and who really needs to hear another person ramble on about themselves? The constant story-thoughts for the story that no one else is reading is certainly bad enough, right? ;)

That said, I came across something interesting today: the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association Writer’s Conference.

Friends and readers probably don’t know anything about me but my literary aspirations (and my age), so I’ll elaborate. My name is Eliza to anyone I’ve met beyond the age of fifteen, Beth to my family and people who knew me as a frizzy-haired child. I have a classic case of ADHD which has taken me most of my life to learn how to disguise, work at a video game testing company, and though I live in Spokane, Washington now, I grew up in various towns around Seattle. Most of my family lives there. My parents may again be living in Seattle within a few weeks, depending on how an interview for a really great job goes (feel free to pray for my dad, if any of you are so inclined– things have been a little tight).

I read about that writer’s conference… and I thought… I could go there. My book’s not ready for submission yet, but I could still network. I could learn how to navigate next year’s con, so that I know what’s going on when I go with a purpose. I could talk about craft (and learn not to grind my teeth down when people start touting what I consider ’stupid’ rules). And, this is the most interesting note, I could go with a finished rewrite if I pushed myself to go a little faster. I’d have until July 17th. That’s a little over a month to write 40,000 words.

… I did it for NaNoWriMo. I can do it again.

If anyone planning to go reads this, I’ll see you in Seattle.

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the role of a villain

June 5, 2008 at 9:12 am (creative writing) (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , )

A post partially inspired by listening to Tarja (formally of the band ‘Nightwish’– I adore gothic/classical crossovers in music) on the drive home from work yesterday. This month so far has done exactly what I intended it to do, completely re-examining my plot from the antagonist’s perspective. Sometime between the tracks ‘Poison’ and ‘Damned and Divine’ it occurred to me that everything would be better if the ‘romance’ between the villain and the heroine was genuine, not a set up at all, on both sides.

First off, if I do this it would mean that I’m missing a good part of the story focusing on the heroine. I would have to display their relationship as aside while dealing with a bigger problem. I’d have to come up with another plot to thread in with the two I’ve already got going. But it makes the story stronger, it makes the ending even more powerful, and it gives me the chance to really focus on some of the important characters that I’ve neglected.

Villains, I’ve discovered, subscribe to the principal that hate is not the opposite of love; that’s indifference. Give the audience good reason to love your villain, and it’s easier to twist. His betrayal of the protagonists is also his betrayal of the audience.

..

Also, I’ll be starting my first weekly ‘Villain Month’ showcase on Saturday, linking to everyone’s projects!

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