August 17, 2012
One of the things I like most about vacations is coming home. There's something about seeing our little house with its white picket fence after some time away that makes me feel content. Inside the boys have their own beds, and I have mine and nevermind all that, there's a stable fucking internet connection. But I loved our short time in Burnaby/Vancouver and Parksville/Victoria (speaking of Victoria, HOMGLOVE).
September 26, 2011
I know, I know – I don’t do writing advice. So this isn’t advice, it’s a suggestion. (See how I can split hairs? It’s a minor passion of mine.)
In two scenarios (I can think of off the top of my head), it’s really useful/fun/interesting/workcrastination to write a (as in, not THE) query synopsis for your novel. I say “a” because I’m not actually telling you to stop what you’re doing and work on perfecting something that arguably uses a different hemisphere of your brain. But when (a) you’re writing from the hip but want a clean first draft or when (b) you’ve written a first draft or are far enough along to realize your story began in the wrong place – writing the blurb can rid the clutter of minutia from your mind and let you see the straight line as far as where your story *must* go. Maintaining logic flow sometimes requires taking the straight shot, as opposed to the scenic route.
This is also particularly eye-opening if you’re not sure precisely what genre you’re writing. Seeing where the story *must* go can be the difference between … well, any two genres. You might find that it’s a character story, as opposed to one driven by plot.
I realize I’m making it seem simpler than it might be by saying “where the story *must* go”, but I can only speak from experience (which is why writing advice isn’t altogether useful, at least not broadly). When I think about situation/prompt a, my muse responds with an obligatory b. No matter whether I’ve tried steering it another direction or not, I think you can hear when the characters aren’t responding. (Yes, I’m kinda dryheaving over that phrase – or rather what it *sounds* like I’m saying. But once again. I’m not pretending to have aural hallucinations. I mean that I can identify that this is not how this character would reply.)
And who wants more visual inspiration from/for my current wip?! You do?! Well then!
(See my model?! She’s Jen-the-twin!! Go congratulate her on giving birth to my newest nephew-son!!)
And, finally, if you can tell me where I got the title, you win!
Note: Winning is a state of being and so does not entail the receiving of anything exterior or temporal. I respect you far too much for that.
