Getting In the Mood

"You ask me to have lunch, tell me you slept with Elaine, and then say you're not in the mood for details. Now you listen to me. I want details and I want them right now. I don't have a job, I have no place to go, you're not in the mood? Well you get in the mood!"

Anyone who knows me might tell you I'm obsessed with Seinfeld, so there you go. A great quote. I want to know who DOESN'T think that show is brilliant so I can punch them in the face. 

Back to the story, however, because I do have a point.

     
     "Trish, why don't you come over and sit with me for a minute. I need some attention."


     "Eh, I don't feel like it. I'm watching reruns of Buffy and eating Oreos."


     "I like Oreos. Bring them with you. Please. You've been ignoring me for nearly three days."


 I sigh and roll my eyes, trying to push away the immediate rush of annoyance flooding my veins. Why can't I just do it when I'm in the mood? Still, I did promise to be there, and all that other jazz. I suppose this is technically one of the duties I took on when I created this monster. I brush the crumbs off my lips, push the dogs out of my way, and climb off the couch. 


      "Fine. I'll give you an hour."


      "I'd be happy with twenty minutes."


So I give in, agree to just one hour of my time. Before long, the time passes without me realizing it - getting into the mood is surprisingly easy. All I had to do was let it wash over me, feel it, immerse myself in it...and it feels so good I never want to stop, never want to wait three whole days in between again.

Gotcha.


The above is a conversation between me and my WIP, whom I have been neglecting, poor baby. My trip out of town killed my mojo. I'm having trouble getting into the mood to write. Like getting into the mood for other things, sometimes all it takes is just to close my eyes and give it five or ten minutes. Usually, if the story (or the other person) is enthralling, the mood quickly follows the simple act of engaging.


So here I go to engage with my WIP. I might have to coax my characters out of hiding, and I might throw out every word I write this evening, but at least the juices will be flowing again. Wink.

Putting the Villain in Her Place

I haven't posted in a while. My fingers are itching to write, but my new plot isn't quite ready to come out of my head and onto paper just yet. I'm hoping it will be soon. It could be any minute now.

In the meantime, I wanted to spew some thoughts on writing villains. My villain for this book is fully formed, even more so than the main characters. I know what she wants, why she's the way that she is, and exactly what she's up to. I confess: I sort of love her. Her name is Lydia and she's strong.

But could she be too strong?

Even before really getting started (I've written the first chapter plus some), Lydia is threatening to take over. There are two POV's for the novel and one of them is hers. One of them HAS to be hers. She's demanded to tell her story. And it's a good story, so I agree with her. Still...

Is there a danger in knowing her so well? Lydia is the book's paranormal element, she has lived since 19CE and my main story takes place in the present. That's thousands of years of history. I know her MUCH better than my 17 almost 18-year-old protagonist.

I talked out some issues with a fellow writer the other day and said, "I know I'm not ready to write it yet, because at this point all I can see is Lydia winning." Which means either my MC or love interest will have to die.

Who knows? Maybe one of them will die. I just can't say yet. But if I decide to go that route, it won't be because Lydia forced my hand. It will be because that's the way MY book ends. So stick it, two thousand year-old Greek Oracle.

What are your thoughts on villains? How much should your readers understand? Does knowing too much about them, or making them too sympathetic cause problems for the plot? I'm very curious as to your thoughts, because the novel I've finished editing has a ubiquitous group as the bad guys. They are quite scary, but not terribly complex. Lydia is complex, cunning, and freaky strong.

Help me deal with her.

Exiting the First Draft Haze

What follows in my attempt at a light-hearted, not wallowing in self pity post.

I completed a MS a few weeks ago. It rode me hard, wouldn’t let me alone, and pestered me until I finished. It took me around thirty days to write the 65,000 words. Below is a list of things I stopped doing while navigating the brain haze of a new manuscript.

1 – Wearing shoes besides Chuck Taylor’s. (See photo evidence of adorable heels I wore on Wednesday.)

2 – Blow drying my hair. (What? I’m not the only one who puts their hair in a ponytail after a shower and calls it good for two days, right? RIGHT?!?)

3 – Fixing my hair. (See above.)

4 – Talking to my mother. (Who sent me an angry text message containing the word ‘pissed.’ Rough stuff from Mom.)

5 – Going to church. (I went last week and people hugged me profusely like they thought I came back from the dead.)

6 – Taking even my usual fleeting interest in my dayjob. (Which means I am so far behind on my meager monthly offering. I barely made it in January.)

7 – Shaving my legs. (That might be TMI. At least I shaved my armpits.)

8 – Cooking. (Or eating anything remotely healthy.)

9 – Sleeping more than 5 hours a night.

10 – Walking my dogs. (Or playing with my dogs. Or doing more than occasionally rubbing their belly’s while working out a plot point.)

11 - Watching the 20+ hours of TV now waiting on my DVR. (I am not kidding. The only thing I’ve been watching is American Idol, and just because getting behind isn’t an option.)

That said, now I am on to revisions. I usually like to take at least a month before I begin, let the MS sit and marinate, then return to work on edits. This story will not let me do that. The intense pressure has lifted, but instead of disappearing it gave way to a constant throb. It’s not gone. I am about halfway through a rewrite of some plot/character issues. I’ll try and take another 2 weeks off after this one before I start another, more nitpicky revision.

I, like all authors, do several revisions before I put down a story. Notice I didn’t say finish a story, because they aren’t ever really finished. The first pass goes fast, depending on how many holes need to be plugged after the first draft. The second one focuses more on grammar, word choice, and sentence structure. Also, getting rid of those pesky words like ‘that, seem(s)(ed), and anything ending in –ly. Passive voice. Dialogue that doesn’t work. The third (hopefully) cleans up what the first two miss.

What are your editing processes like, writer friends? Longer than mine? Shorter? Just different? What do you forgot to do when you are deep in a first draft?

PS. For more great thoughts on editing/revising, check out Elisabeth Black’s similar post.