Relative Dimension

Aaaand it looks like I'm also going to be a NaNo Rebel this year, because I want to get this whole ReBoot Alternate Timeline thing off my to-do list sometime in my life.

So, for a long time I've had two different fantasy stories on the shelf: one is a straight-up, undiluted High Fantasy drawing from Celtic, Norse, Finnish, and even a touch of Hindu mythology (we'll call this World A), and the other is more YA kid-finds-a-door-to-another-world a la Oz or Narnia (World B), and significantly more fairy tale than A.

World A is way, waaaay more fleshed-out, but I'm not in love with the characters. They're been through a dozen revamps and name changes and they're just seem to be there out of sentimentality than anything. I've run into problems with the lead character being an elf, and how does one write an elf when they're supposed to be mysterious and badass and shit (and also accidentally making the three core leads being children of various royalty, which I'm not sure I like).

World B is skeletal, but with far more interesting characters who already have the beginnings of a backstory, and fish-out-of-water scenario that helps when introducing a completely new world.

The solution? Transplant the good/usable stuff from World A into World B (plus some stuff that was originally for World C before it became steampunk). It's kind of like watching tiny galaxies collide. If only I didn't have, like 50 pages of notes to go through.

I guess it's about time to start thinking about NaNoWriMo again...

I decided it wasn't too late to do Camp Nano, I picked my oldest story (kind of) and decided to make it the worst piece of Roget's Syndrome purple prose and unnecessary wish fulfillment with as much gratuitous sex and violence I could manage, wrote the opening paragraphs, and then lost 700 words of work because Microsoft Word 2003 fucking sucks.

Writing again! Yay!

It's looking very much like there's going to be an Ouroboros: Part II -- in other words, season five. It was just sort of a fancy at first, but now there's enough stuff I want to do that can't be covered in the current storyarc and, well, why the hell not? Life doesn't need to stop after Megabyte.

Hell, it's even possible I could have an outline ready by June. I hammered out the first version of the last one in three weeks, after all, and I'm kind of on a roll here.

To the story lab!

Holy shit, it's been three weeks and what do I have to show for it? Not a hell of a lot, that's what. I put together a 20-PAGE OUTLINE in three weeks last October. Maybe January's just not when I should be writing? Should I go knit something until the flowers come up and I can't see the lichen anymore?

Flowers, that's what I need. Get a move on, daffodils!

"Why are you preparing? You're always preparing! Just go!"

May be a Spaceballs quote, but pretty applicable to me and my writing. : /

I've been sort of training myself to write every day, every time I get the chance, and keep moving forward no matter how bad it is, 'cause I can fix that in editing. And it's working. My scenes are horribly short and awkwardly written, but I'm ahead of the schedule I set for myself. I doubt I'm making NaNo quota, but when I finish this, I should totally do like a NaNo boot camp thing. This will be my third year, and third time's the charm, right?

Also, all the writing distracts me from the goddamn water pressure problems we're having. Hooray for escapism!

Also known as "Writing Practice".

Ingredients:

old characters and storylines, preferably designed in your teen years
10-15 of college lit classes
a bag of Sam&Rob's Mixed Mythological Figures
equal parts sense and wish fulfillment
as much wisdom as possible
a pen and paper or computer

Update characters' names, if preferred, but try to keep them recognizable. If no detailed outline exists, or is unsuitable, go back to pre-outline source material and flesh out. Stir in Mixed Mythological Figures and let it simmer. Add ham and cheese, as much as you like. Don't be afraid to make it really cheesy. Hammer it all out without stopping to edit. Read and laugh heartily. Reuse any learned discipline for future writing.

Serves: 1