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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
Only a few more days to go . . .I actually hit 100 pages on Sunday night, but intend to keep going to see how far I can get before midnight on April 30. (As of last night, I was at 105 pages.) I think the final version (after editing) will be somewhere around 120 pages. Probably slightly less, but around that.Most of the week has been spent filling in the gaps I had left during the previous three weeks. There are some nice pieces of character development and relationship building that got worked into those sections. In general, I'm fairly pleased with it.On the other hand, there are a few key sequences that I'm not sure how to handle yet. I'm also concerned that I might be trying to introduce too many elements for only a two-hour pilot. I'm hoping the muse will perk up with some ideas, but we'll see how that goes . . .
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
I'm pleased to report that I'm pretty much on schedule.
As of last night, I'm at 70 pages—dead-on where I should be at this point. I suspect, however, that this week is going to be very tough going . . .The story has taken some interesting turns, but still remains very true to the original Emerald Flight story and concept. I'm also feeling a little smug that I figured out how to write my way out of a corner that I had accidentally written myself into the first week.Not a whole lot more to report this week, other than relieved that I was able to catch up after losing several days last week. I already know that I'll need to be some restructuring, resequencing of a few events, and a handful of other edits before I'll let anyone's eyes but my own see this.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
Holding steady at 47 pages . . .That's slightly behind where I should be, but at this point I'm not overly concerned about catching up. A bad cold had kept me from writing for 3 days . . . and I know better than to write when under the influence of cold medication. Been there, done that . . . cringed for days afterward.One of the most interesting things I'm discovering as I'm structuring this script, as it's intended for to be a two-hour pilot for a television, is what I'm deciding to explore and what I'm leaving out or only leaving as hints. To draw a comparison, it's more Battlestar Galactica than Star Trek. I had not originally intended it that way, but I can see how it might be a more effective way to kick off a potential series than trying to do a completely self-contained episode and then try to expand from there.I guess we'll see how this next week progresses . . .Oh, another item on the "plus" column: I've gotten much further than I did last year! :)
Monday, April 7, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
Slow and steady wins the race . . . or so they say.At the end of the first week, I'm at 26 pages. That's a little behind where I wanted to be, but just right about where I need to be. So, all told, it's been a productive week. I can't say that the muse has been entirely cooperative, but we're managing . . . mostly . . .For those who are interested, I decided to write the Emerald Flight story as a two-hour pilot for a television series. It's interesting to note some of the changes I've decided to make in terms of the flow of the story when developing it as a script instead of a novel.
Unlike last year's NaNoWriMo effort, the muse is jumping all over the place this time, wanting to write this scene here and that scene there. As long as I end up with 100 pages at the end of April, I guess it really doesn't matter. And I can always fill in the gaps later.
See you next week . . .
Monday, March 31, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
Yes, faithful readers (all three of you :) ), it's time once again for Script Frenzy. Brought to you by the folks you organize NaNoWriMo, it's the chance to terrorize your muse by writing a script of any kind—screenplay, stage play, teleplay, anything.(For those of you who followed along last year, I'm going to treat that attempt as a practice run disrupted by a plethora of real-life events. Pay no attention to the bound muse stowed behind the curtain.)The goal is 100 pages by the end of April.The math breaks down like this: 3.34 pages per day needed to meet that goal. My personal goal: a minimum of 4 pages per day. That's a definitely achievable goal if the muse cooperates.What's my story concept for this event? As of this moment, I have no freaking idea . . .If you wish, you can watch the progress here.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
"Everyone thinks writers must know more about the inside of the human head, but they are wrong. They know less, that's why they write: trying to find out what everyone takes for granted."
Margaret Atwood
One of the most challenging tasks a writer faces when telling a story is getting into the heads of all of the characters involved. I've heard many writers claim (myself included) that every character in our stories contains at least some small fragment of ourselves within it—no matter how ignoble, debased, heroic, gullible, naive, stalwart, whatever. Although we try to individualize our characters, we remain limited by our own experiences and perspectives.There's a game a lot of writers play. I do this myself at times. As part of people-watching (particularly when bored to distraction), I wonder to myself, "What's his story?", "Where did she get that pink hat?", "Why did she choose that tattoo?", and so on. In my head, I make up the stories of these people's lives, trying to determine what brought them to this time and place. Do I know for certain? Would I ever dare ask them? No. But it's an interesting and pleasant way to exercise one's creative energies.A variation on the game is to think out what the a likely story is and then to derive one that is far less than obvious explanation, but not one that is so fantastic as to be unbelievable. It's a way of thinking a bit outside the usual track. Rather than "He wears that sweatshirt because it's his favorite team", it becomes, "He wears that sweatshirt because that's where the long-lost love of his life went and it's the other way he can remember her." From that single conjecture, I can weave an entire story about who he is, who she was, what she might have looked like, what their relationship was like, and how it ended.These little snippets can often help me fill in gaps in existing stories I'm working on. It can also help me further develop existing characters by casting them into these new roles. Even small incidents can provide a great deal of insight into a character.There is a reason so many writers are also people-watchers by nature. We have only our eyes through which to examine the world. Trying to see it through someone else's eyes (no matter how fictional) can open it up in ways we might not have expected.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Posted by
SFWriter13
In the context of a friend's references to Digital Natives in her blog, I got to thinking about the recreational pursuits of members of that generation. Online gaming is a big part of the digital revolution. I think there is little argument over the pervasive influence that MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft have had on the recreational landscape. Certainly, there has been much press over their purported detrimental influences on people of all ages. While I cannot entirely dismiss some of the claims, it does seem that many of the positive effects have been either overlooked or given little notice.I'm not a World of Warcraft player myself. I find City of Heroes a more interesting premise, but to each their own. So, my points here will be based here on my experiences with that game, but I don't believe I'm too far off the mark in reference to many of the others.- Mathematics: both simple and intermediate. How many experience points do I need to make it to the next level? If I add this enhancement, by what percentage does it increase my powers over this one?
- Economics: supply and demand, buying and selling of goods and services. The addition of the auction and consignment system for buying and selling items provides a tangible insight into real-world economic forces.
- Logic and Strategic Thinking: These enemies have these kinds of powers. If I attack them this way, what will happen? If I use these other powers, what will happen? What's the best way to deploy my team members? Should we split up or stay as a group?
- Teamwork: City of Heroes in particular is structured in such a way that you will succeed more quickly--and be more likely to succeed on challenging missions--if you work as part of a larger team. Part of the challenge can also be finding the optimal combination of characters and powers to achieve your objective. (Refer back to Logic and Strategic Thinking.)
- Social Skills: Unless you participate in these games as a solo player--which is possible, but seems to me would greatly diminish the overall enjoyment of the game--you constantly interact with other players, both in and out of character. As such, most of the social forces you encounter outside also come into the play. The chief difference is that it's a whole lot easier to walk away from people who don't like.
- Creativity: The basis of these games involves creating a character with a particular appearance and attributes. The level to which this can be expanded is usually limited only by the player's imagination. The games also provide tools that give players a virtual playground of options. City of Heroes, for example, has an absolutely amazing design center for characters, including not only basic body appearance, but costume elements as well. For those drawn by visual design, many, many hours can be lost in playing "dress up" with your characters. For those of us with less visual talents, it's possible to create complex stories for your characters, stories that can often be played out and expanded within the game.
I offer these chiefly as points of discussion and items for further thought. And, I guess, a note to parents that your kids just might be learning something useful during all those hours online.
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