This post contains 4 glittery term(s): fkn, hell, shit, shitty.

The key to great writing – #AtoZChallenge

The Key to ALL the things:

We often speak of the key to happiness, or the key to success, or the key to one’s heart, or the key to sanity, or the key to life.

We use the term “key” in this sense as though happiness, success, hearts, sanity, and life are locked away and require something outside ourselves to create availability.

Can you imagine?

A physical object necessary to prize open my own happiness!

Locks and Keys, by non-fiction children’s author and illustrator Gail Gibbons

Ha! Talk about depressing.

About 4,000 years ago, the first mechanical lock, a lock with moving parts inside, was made in Egypt. This first mechanical lock was opened by using a key. Now you could lock your door on the outside, and no one without a key could open it. It was the beginning of locks and keys…

~Gail Gibbons, LOCKS & KEYS

What about a skeleton key?

Instead of carrying a dozen keys, one each for happiness, success, hearts, sanity, and life, what if a single skeleton key existed to open all these things?

What would that item be for you?

Would it be tangible, or symbolic – an actual material object you could place in your pocket? Or an idea, thought-process, or feeling tucked away in the back of your mind?

For me – which means, this is what works for me, but may do absolutely nothing for you! – I have a list of Personal Commandments, the first of which states, “Happy is a Choice”. There are several other items on the list, but this is the one I always keep with me, as a mental totem, because it is the key to my awareness in all things. It reminds me to Do The Work. It whispers to Keep Going, and urges, Don’t Stop Starting. It reprimands, Identify Flaws And Act Accordingly.

“Happy is a Choice” encompasses all these things. It is the one thing I can always fall back on. Because no matter what happens in my life, no matter how shitty things may seem, it is still up to ME to figure out how to get back on my feet.

Sure, Life may knock me down.

And sure, Life may grant me boons.

But how I choose to respond to the roller coaster ride is completely my decision. It’s my responsibility to notice the high points and be grateful for them; it’s my responsibility to climb out of any holes along the way.

It’s not up to anyone else. There’s a reason the phrase “Happiness comes from within” and it has nothing to do with other people. It’s all about YOU.

From the animated film THE SECRET OF NIMH.

My skeleton key is “Happy is a Choice”.

You can open any door if you only have the key.

~THE SECRET OF NIMH

The key to writing:

This little jaunt into positive affirmation and a glass-half-full perspective might seem completely unrelated to writing.

Believe me, it’s not.

A lot of pros will tell you the key to writing a great novel is character, or plot, or dialogue, or setting, but in truth it’s all of these things.

And it’s also, likewise, NONE of these things.

The key to writing a great novel has nothing to do with the keys other people give you. The key to writing a great novel is finding your own skeleton key, placing it in the door, turning the lock, and entering the world you’re trying to create.

All of which is a fancy-pants way of saying this:

The key to writing is writing.

But not just ANY writing: Writing that sets you afire and causes your characters to glow.

Recently I mentioned two doorways – the one that ends the first act, and the one that leads into the final act – and I know I’ll get into that some more a bit later. But it’s worth mentioning that knowing your characters’ strengths and weaknesses is definitely a key to great writing.

Characters are generally shoved through this first doorway. This is the bit where they are pushed off the cliff so you can see what makes them tick.

• THE WIZARD OF OZ – The tornado blows Dorothy into Oz. No turning back now – she’s not in Kansas anymore.


• STAR WARS – The farm where Luke grew up is blown to fkn smithereens, along with his aunt and uncle who raised him. He has no choice but to leave, so he might as well join in the fight against those who murdered his family.


• FROZEN – Elsa accidentally turns her kingdom into Iceland and runs off in a panic, leaving Anna to figure shit out on her own. Anna is no ruler, and she loves her sister to smithereens, so she must follow her sister into the snow-riddled world if there is any hope of restoring order to her fragile life.


• GRAVITY – After debris knocks Explorer all to hell, Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski are blown away into space, unattached to anything that can return them to safety. Matt’s rocket boosters {or whatever they are called} allow him to carry Ryan back to the now-defunct Explorer, and Ryan has no choice but to hang on to the end of the rope if she has any hope of surviving.


• THE HUNGER GAMES {film} – Katniss and Peeta, as District 12’s tributes, are forced to leave their home via train and enter the opulent world of the Capitol.

I’m having a difficult time applying this to my own work-in-progress, THE GREENE. I already know my own personal weak points, and I have a lot of practice in pulling myself up by my bootstraps, adopting a chin-up attitude, and remembering “You gotta get up, and Try-Try-Try“.

That’s awesome when it comes to my own mental well-being.

But now I have to consider the mental well-being of the people in my imaginary world.

What are THEIR skeleton keys?

What makes them “GO”?

What moves them to tears and pushes them to continue on through adversity?

What resources do they have to draw upon which will spur them into the fire and over the cliff?

Do they have mantras? Totems? Endless supplies of cheer? Coca-Cola?

This is where I am at right now.

I need to know my characters a bit better. I have arrived at the first doorway. It’s time to throw my characters over a cliff so I can learn how they will climb back up.

• What doorways are you working on – both personally and in your writing?


• Do you have the key to great writing?


• Do your characters have the key to making it through the second act?

Visit My April AtoZ 2014 Posse to see who I’m making time for this month.

Or stop by my post The Great and Powerful AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal to see a list of all my AtoZ entries for 2014.

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This post contains 5 glittery term(s): bitch, bullshit, fucks, shit, WTF.

Hey so hi! – #AtoZChallenge

What do I mean by, “Hey so hi!”?

Simple.

This is my funny way of admitting that I am seriously behind on this blogging challenge. Acknowledging that I fell off the wagon. Paying tribute to my lack of presence. Letting you know I know you know I suck.

And I thought maybe a few words about that might be in order.

Hey so hi!

Greetings from the backside! How are things over there in Future Land? I hear that staying the course is a healthy alternative to straying into the weeds and playing in the rough. I won’t even pretend that I’m enjoying it back here where the wild things are. It’s a mess.

However, there are some neat-o postcard thoughts I’d like to share.

I did it!

For instance, while you were trucking along with the challenge, I quit smoking. Yep! Been just over a week now since I’ve had a cigarette. So, you know, I’m not going to get all sad I’m hanging in the rear when I’ve got THAT going for me!

I also spent the weekend with my sister and did some creative outlet kinds of things, also known in my world as scrapbooking. Or, what I honestly like to call “crap” booking since my layouts generally resemble shit, when compared to the gorgeous output of my fellow scrappers.

I always enjoy spending time with my sis and catching up on things, because she is the only one who “gets” me. She validates my childhood memories, which my mom tries to IN-validate on a regular basis. Mom tends to rewrite history in very strange ways, so it’s very important that my sister and I compare notes.

I used a kit to put together my scrapbook stuff, because I’m not overly imaginative most of the time. However, I don’t always follow the directions. And by “don’t always” of course I mean “almost never” because the instructions call for ugly things that I hate. So I will put the squares exactly where they are supposed to go, and measure most of the boxes accurately, but then add decorations and whatnot as I see fit. I seldom like their wording, which I know you find shocking, so I tend to make up my own phrases. When they want me to use a stamp that says something like “Wise beyond your years” I like to use something more funny like “Bowties are cool” because my family relates more to Doctor Who than to phrases about being smart.

SMART! *snort* AS IF!

I would like to say something smart here, like that it’s okay to take a break and disappear from life. But that wouldn’t be very responsible of me. And also, it might get you in trouble if you, unlike me, have deadlines. So, yeah. Don’t take a break unless you have a good reason and be sure to let people know where you are.

Disappearing isn’t good. And missing deadlines can get you fired if you have one of those job things. I’m a bad, bad example of good blogging and writing habits. I’m like a walking list of what NOT to do.

National Sibling Day can suck it!

April 10. And for realz. No fucks were given.

We also briefly did a collective WTF with regard to this new and crazy thing you guys tried to slip past us called National Sibling Day . We are in agreement that you only just now made that shit up. Don’t even bother commenting that it’s been around for years, because I know you’re full of crap. Nope – zzzt – just hush. It’s not gonna work. You’re a liar and can’t be trusted.

Hey so hi, Blog!

Sorry I have neglected you. Mommy is home. Don’t jump on me. I’m allergic to your fur and bullshit.

Hey so hi, AtoZ!

I will be adding posts here like a mad woman throughout April. I want to finish on time with everyone else.

Hey so hi, Interwebz!

I can’t honestly say I’ve missed you, Twitter and Facebook. But I will make an effort to stop back in, now that I’m here. Just don’t be a bitch about it, okay?

Hey so hi, Book!

You and I have seen some rough times, haven’t we? Heh! But after that three-hour conversation with my son, wherein I explained all the plot points and the map as he enthusiastically continued asking questions, I am ready to leap back in. I will see you tonight. {*ooo-la-la! A secret rendezvous*}

Hey so hi, Readers!

I am still making an effort to stop by all your blogs. I’m slowly but surely going to say hello to each of you individually. Don’t give up on me. Hang in there.

And… how have YOU all been?

Visit My April AtoZ 2014 Posse to see who I’m making time for this month.

Or stop by my post The Great and Powerful AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal to see a list of all my AtoZ entries for 2014.

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This post contains 4 glittery term(s): bitch, damn, fkn, shitty.

Going Places – #AtoZChallenge

My characters are going places.

They are going all over the damn map.

Which is funny, since I don’t really have a damn map drawn up for them yet. And keeping them straight direction-wise has been a real bitch.

There are multiple ways to keep track of your characters’ wanderings:

1. A digital spreadsheet

This is a great plan, and I can see how it would come in handy, typing in all those directions and instructions and whatnot.

But I’m a very visual person – meaning I’m not very good at picturing things in my head. It’s one of the reasons I dread playing chess – I can’t see far enough ahead to build any real strategy.

So while a spreadsheet is a great way for me to record my characters’ progress, and an easy way to refer back when I’m confused or need to double-check my notes, I don’t think it would be the most effective way to help me as I’m actually in the process of writing and trying to remember, “Is this bitch moving east or west?”

Which is a question I have actually asked myself.

2. Index cards

This is maybe closer to what I’m looking for.

However, I already have an index card system in place for my outline, each card representing a separate beat, and all of them heavy with notes to keep my plot straight. Not sure I want to risk mixing things up.

I happen to be the world’s biggest klutz and have actually dropped my plot cards multiple times. I didn’t think to number them till the third time I got them all tangled up.

I’m a bit slow to learn.

So more cards = BAD PLAN.

3. Color-coded sticky-notes

This system could work. It’s what I’m using for now.

The color-coding part of the equation is of vast importance to me, because the world in which my characters live is loosely based on the color wheel, as such:

Emandine starts out up north, deep within the Red Desert, where magic has just about dried up and the folks depend upon whatever old pieces of technology have managed to hold out since the last Great War. When her mute niece, Dotanna, runs away with her friend, a talking ape named Anson, Emandine has to follow her east, into the plains of Orangeville and on toward the yellow Sunflower Fields, where a witch named Panetone resides. From there Emandine moves toward the center of the world, to The City, where she stops at Miss Molly’s.

Down south, in the heart of the Greene, where magic still thrives, Medaskal is struggling to stay hidden. After he is visited by an old friend and lover, who imparts some critical information on the Wizard’s whereabouts, Medaskal takes off westward toward the Blue watery lands, and then into the Purple Mists, with his assistant, Kephas, and a Tarot Cat named Diffel as his guide. An exchange with the witch Delarosa sends them to Miss Molly’s, where Medaskal joins forces with Emandine.

The Greene: a very basic map of sorts. And by “basic” of course I mean “shitty”.

There is a lot of movement happening here and just about everyone is going places. I can’t keep it straight in my mind, so being able to see where everyone is versus where they are headed is crucial.

4. Cartography creation programs.

I haven’t found one I like – by which I mean to say I don’t understand how they work and new things are scary so I haven’t really given them a chance and my sticky notes are working just fine thank you very much.

*deep breath*

I will probably need to check out these nifty map-making apps, as my novel nears completion and my characters continue going places. So if any of you are experienced in this type of thing, I’m not too proud to beg:

HALP.

I’m curious:

How do you keep up with your people? Or do they not travel much? That is something I may need to consider in my next project – making everyone stand still and do all the journeying in their minds.

Because maps are fkn hard and I’m not exactly an experienced orienteering geek.

Did I ever tell you about the time I was wearing night-vision goggles and I almost fell off a cliff? And how I only narrowly avoided such death thanks to a severe bout of claustrophobia that saw me tear the goggles from my face – at which point I noticed I happened to be standing at the edge of a precipice?

THAT REALLY HAPPENED, YOU GUYS.

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This post contains 4 glittery term(s): damn, fuck, fucking, shitty.

The End is Nigh – #AtoZChallenge #ROW80

What do you mean, “The end is nigh”?

It seems ironic to speak now of the end of things. We are only just starting the first FULL week of both the AtoZ Challenge and Camp NaNoWriMo .

And yesterday was the beginning of Round 2 for participants of A Round of Words in 80 Days {#ROW80}.

To say “The End is Nigh” seems like rushing things a bit, given our proximity to the start line. But it’s something we all need to think about, both writers and non-writers alike.

Especially when we’re so far behind.

Who ME? Behind?

With AtoZ I am a couple days off schedule. By which I mean to say, I’m a WEEK off schedule, because I had meant to catch up over this last weekend. But really, then, I’m TWO weeks behind, because I’d meant to start off a week ahead.

With Camp NaNoWriMo — um, yeah. I haven’t even added a single damn word to my work-in-progress. Which sucks, obvs. Because I have mad enthusiasm for the project, and serious plans, and lots of ideas.

Just, you know, I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Oh, and I missed Insecure Writers Support Group {#IWSG} last Wednesday, too. You know, while we’re on the subject of shitty fails.

At least I’m not completely behind {yet} with #ROW80. Yesterday we were urged to state our quarterly goals. Which is a great place to jump into talking about my novel.

Here’s the thing.

“REPENT: THE END IS EXTREMELY FUCKING NIGH” — image still from the excellent zombie film 28 DAYS LATER.

You really need to begin with the end in mind.

That’s what I mean when I say unto thee, “The end is nigh.”

Sure, the phrase actually means to imply that we are coming up on the conclusion, those magical words, “The End”.

I get that.

I’m taking a bit of artistic license here.

GO WITH ME.

LOCK it up.

James Scott Bell , in his writing guide PLOT & STRUCTURE, says you really only need four specific items when putting together a plot.

I’ve developed a simple set of foundational principles called the LOCK system.

LOCK stands for Lead , Objective , Confrontation , and Knockout .

An interesting and compelling main character , with an intense desire either to get something or to get away from something , must overcome opposition in such a way that the story’s questions arrive at a satisfying resolution and leave a lasting impression .

Bell also points out,

A weak ending can ruin an otherwise wonderful book.

A strong ending can redeem an otherwise mediocre book.

In order to reach that knockout finale, try this:

1. Draft multiple alternate endings.

2. Write the back cover summary of the book, and then answer the questions:

…Can the main character escape and/or win?

…Will the main character overcome the opposite and triumph?

…How is the main character going to resolve all the issues?

…What happens to everyone else?

3. Consider what sort of feeling you want the reader to take away from the story.

Whether you are a plotter, a pantser, or a tweener, you should have some idea of where you are headed.

You’re the only one who can tell us.

What about those goals?

1. First and foremost, I need to get a fix on how I want my book to end. Especially since it’s the first in a series. Currently I only have the most vague of impressions, some scenes I know will take place, some deaths and sacrifices, and an important discovery. The rest is all a bit murky. That’s not a good thing. Remember: The end is nigh.


2. During the month of April, I plan to complete my rewrite of Act 1, regardless of word count, although I do have myself signed up to hit 36k words for Camp NaNoWriMo. Whatever happens, happens.


3. For the duration of Round 2 of #ROW80, which runs through the month of June, I plan to complete Act 2, up to and including the midpoint.


4. Throughout the months of July, August, and September, I plan to complete the rest of Act 2, or what I like to refer to as Act 3, since I work from a 4-Act structure … but I digress . *wink*


5. I would like to hit “The End” before 2014 wraps up, but we’ll see how that goes.

Visit My April AtoZ 2014 Posse to see who I’m making time for this month.

Or stop by my post The Great and Powerful AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal to see a list of all my AtoZ entries for 2014.

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Camp NaNoWriMo

Next week I will start two challenges.

I have already written about the AtoZ Challenge , which begins on Tuesday, 1 April, 2014. So that’s one, OBVS.

The other challenge is Camp NaNoWriMo , which also begins on 1 April.

I kind of got roped into it by my writing partner, Rachel .

She didn’t have to twist my arm very hard, to be fair.

What is Camp NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.

Camp NaNoWriMo is the “off season” of the NaNoWriMo program that runs every November, during which writers are urged to write a 50k-word novel within a month. The summer version is much more lax – writers may set their own word count goals, and may work on any project they wish, regardless of genre.

Additionally, while the November event strictly states that projects must not be a piece begun prior to the 1 November start-date, the summer event indicates that anything goes.

Honestly, I cheated during November, signing up on the forum as a NaNo Rebel , because I did not begin a fresh project. Rather, I carried on with a piece I had begun during NaNoWriMo the year prior.

Whatever. No one gave me shit for it, but even if they had, I wouldn’t care. The point of the challenge is not in any way related to how I am doing in comparison to other writers.

The point is to push myself to write, and that is what I did.

What am I working on?

Regardless of the fact that I succeeded in furthering my novel, I failed to reach my word count goal last November – I fell shy at about 36k words, I think. Since then I have added more, but still have not hit the 50k mark. I’m close, though – so close! Since I am “allowed” to bring anything to the table, my current work-in-progress is what shall receive my best efforts.

My novel called The Greene, although originally it was entitled Greene Market and the story I first had in mind fit that title better. However, it has moved an entirely different direction than I anticipated, and actually its current title doesn’t exactly fit, either. Since I have already struggled in properly naming my characters , naming the story is a battle for a different month.

Perhaps by the next camp session in June?

What genre is my novel?

The Greene is fantasy, complete with a badass dragon and a feisty mermaid and a freaky crop of wild, man-eating unicorns. There are witches, a wizard, ogres, and talking animals {a cat and an ape, specifically}. There are hybrid creatures called wingeds which are birdlike pixies.

It is a hero’s journey and a battle between good and evil, nature and science, magic and technology.

I have almost reached the midpoint and I am very excited about the direction it’s heading, even if it wasn’t what I had in mind when I first sat down to write it.

It is told in third person from duel points of view.

The first main character is Emandine, a lovely older woman who is caring for her mysteriously mute niece, Dotanna, out in the Red Deserts. A series of events pushes them to hit the road in search of The Wizard for answers.

The second main character is Medaskal, a somewhat retired mercenary-cum-marketer running a stall in the underground Greene Market. He has a couple unexpected visitors, and soon thereafter he, too, goes in search of The Wizard – not for answers, but for murder.

Hay problema?

SAVE THE CAT! by Blake Snyder — Although the subtitle reads “The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need”, don’t be fooled — this is a great writing guide for novelists and screenwriters alike. TRUST.

Yes, there is a problem.

Just then when I said I reached the midpoint? Yeah, about that… I knew something was missing so I went back over my notes from my favorite writing guide, Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! And I realized I was missing an extremely important inciting incident – a “no turning back” – a crossing of the threshold – a point of no return.

Whatever you want to call it.

Doesn’t matter what you call it, because it wasn’t there.

So now I have to rewrite my entire first act. Chapters 1 and 2 are probably okay, but the rest of Act 1 {Chapters 3 through 5} definitely needs an overhaul.

Which means Chapters 6 through 10 will have to be rewritten as well.

But one crisis at a time, you guys.

I will be delving further into this whole mess throughout the month of April.

What is my Camp NaNoWriMo goal?

I am hoping to add 36k words during the month of April, which comes to 1200 words per day. Before this past November, that self-assigned goal would seem lofty {even as compared to NaNoWriMo’s goal of 1667 words per day}.

However, I now know I can hit this number easily, once I get my butt planted in the chair.

The hard part for me isn’t the writing so much as the GETTING TO the writing.

Taking into account that I will be doing a massive amount of rewriting, I am not going to beat myself up if I don’t meet my goal. I hope to end the month of April with at least 80k words. I feel like this is entirely doable. But I will also accept all further motion and progress as a definite WIN.

But why TWO challenges?

While this is a fair question, it isn’t strictly accurate that I am participating in two separate challenges.

Yes, the AtoZ Challenge is happening concurrent with Camp NaNoWriMo.

But they are not mutually exclusive. I see the blogging challenge {AtoZ} as a way to enhance and report on my writing challenge {Camp NaNo}. I will be working on my novel, and then blogging about it, in an alphabetically-themed process. When possible I might even include excerpts or examples from my own work on my blog. I chose my theme for the AtoZ Challenge to go hand-in-hand with my novel.

And really, if you want to get down to it, since I like to set goals periodically and report on them weekly via A Round of Words in 80 Days {#ROW80}, you could go so far as to say I’m participating in THREE challenges throughout April {Round 2 runs April 7 through June 25}.

Furthermore, I still plan to write a paragraph-or-two detailing my writing issues for the Insecure Writers Support Group {#IWSG} on the first Wednesday of the month, which brings me up to FOUR challenges.

The number is irrelevant.

I can participate in, and report to, as many challenges as I like, and so long as they overlap, it doesn’t matter. The only challenge I’m really, truly engaged in is the challenge within myself:

Just show up.

Sit down.

Plant your ass.

Do the work.

Write the words.

Don’t stop starting.

These phrases, along with all the challenges, are just various ways of reminding myself that I am a writer, and that writers write. There is a big difference between knowing it and KNOWING it. Sometimes I need a little bit of help. That’s what all this fuss is about.

Me, helping myself.

• Are you participating in any blogging or writing challenges?


• Do you ever engage in multiple challenges simultaneously?


• Which challenge makes you feel most productive and self-satisfied?

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Epiphanies {Part 2}

I had a couple epiphanies.

I had two specific unexpected insights a couple weeks ago – something Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project might refer to as A Secret of Adulthood .

The first of my Epiphanies was discussed last week.

The second of my epiphanies was equally powerful.

With regard to my daughter’s game, Minecraft, as I said – it never occurred to me that there was more than one mode of play. There is a part of the game I have never seen, an entire story of which I know nothing.

There are heroes and monsters and forests and adventures; perhaps heartache and perhaps growth; perhaps even death.

As many hours as my child has spent on this game, I find it mind-boggling to realize I truly know nothing about it.

People, like games, have different modes.

Like a prism. And only one side may show at a time, but that doesn’t make the other parts any less present.

When I asked my daughter why she never played on “Game Mode”, she responded that it was too scary.

Apparently you have to build houses and gather equipment in a specific time frame, before night falls and the zombies come to kill you. Well that makes sense; I don’t do well with that sort of game myself.

It was shocking to learn my daughter’s fear.

She was afraid of something I didn’t even know existed.

This person I would swear I know down to the minutest detail has sides of which I can never fully be aware. She is nine. She has entered what is referred to as the “tween” stage – between child and teenager. No longer a baby-kins, but not yet a young adult. A tiny person with ideas and fears and expectations of her own… even though these concepts are not yet fully developed.

My daughter, this being I carried inside my body and nurtured and loved and grew and birthed and fed and clothed and educated and entertained and offered to the world, is a virtual stranger to me, when all her secrets and modes and facets are taken into account.

And if this is true of my own spawn, it is surely true of those with whom I have not spent as much time.

We can only know a person based on the sides they choose to present.

“The Silence and the Scream”

- You see nothing but what I allow you to see, and my scream goes forever unheard.

And if they keep parts of themselves hidden, whether on purpose or without thought {as with my daughter’s admitted fear of “Game Mode”}, we will never know.

Somehow, today, that places everyone I know in a different light.

It’s as though I’d been walking the tunnel with only a candle to light the way, and suddenly, a switch was flipped, so that now I see a little more clearly than I did before. And the people standing in front of me, so one-dimensional before, have been rendered from coals into diamonds. Multi-faceted and shiny and secretive and full of life and with so much more to offer than I ever thought possible.

My mom has a saying that I never really understood until now:

“People are just people, you know?”

I always took this to mean that people have flaws and we should just accept and forgive them because that’s just the crappy way things are.

Now, I think maybe she meant something else entirely. Maybe she meant that people are crazy, unpredictable beings who all have nothing and everything in common, and you can’t know everything there is to know about them, so you might as well take the parts you DO know, and make the best of it, assuming good things exist on the bits you can’t see.

People are just people, you know?

They aren’t all good or all bad. They are just these strange, oddly-shaped individuals with lumps and bumps that go every which way. And no matter how much you love someone, you can never know everything about them.

With regard to my daughter…

…we have lots of years ahead to get to know each other. I look forward to the time we spend together. The biggest joy a mother can receive is when her child allows a peek inside her heart. Abbie lets me in quite easily right now. I know this could change over the coming years, so I’m just going to appreciate the hell out of these moments.

And if she wants to keep playing on “creative mode“, building and deleting and making art-for-art’s sake, well that’s just fine by me. I plan to keep engaging in my hobby, too {scrapbooking}. There is no reason for either of us to switch to “game mode” if we aren’t ready and willing. No reason to give up our hobbies to concentrate on our passions, and no reasons to treat our passions in as light a fashion as we treat our hobbies. No reason to show all our sides when the sides we currently reveal to each other work so well.

With regard to my mom…

…we probably need to get our collective asses in gear. We aren’t young. I’m facing the tragic age of *FORTY* not too far off, which places my mom at almost {le gasp!} *SIXTY*. Neither of us is in perfect health.

And we aren’t currently on speaking terms, mostly by my own choice.

I keep viewing my mom through one single lens. One facet of the gem that she is. One side of the prism.

I think she views me the same way. And neither of us much likes what we see. We sit on opposite sides of the table politically and religiously, which means our morals and virtues are on extreme ends of the spectrum. This makes it hard to come together peacefully. We feel defensive of our perspectives, knowing before the other speaks that we will be judged, and harshly.

For myself, and for my kids, and for my sister and her family, I have got to find a way to see past all this. I need to find a part of my mom that doesn’t tick me off. And I hope she is interested in finding a part of me that doesn’t rile her up. I guess a phone call and visit is imminent in the near future. I broke it; it’s up to me to figure out how to fix it.

Epiphanies are easy.

Family is hard.

• Are you ever shocked at the things you learn about and from other people?


• How do you bridge the gap when controversy tears your family apart?


• What does the phrase “People are just people” mean to you?

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Names are the Things

A follow-up to last week:

I complained lately that my characters hated their names .

Since then they have chosen names and I am pleased.

I think they are, too.

Several people have asked my method in picking out names.

I thought I’d share herein.

Step 1: Who is it?

I am almost at the midpoint of my Work in Progress {WIP}, so by now I have gotten to know my characters fairly well. Obviously. I would be in bigger trouble than merely choosing names if this were not the case.

So the first thing I did was brainstorm different one-word characteristics that describe each person.

Here was my thought process behind the four characters giving me such a hard time.

Not-Edvin wasn’t difficult. He is a somewhat retired mercenary-cum-potions master with a penchant toward hybrid beasts. Not-Ed has been in hiding for some time, but in his day he was quite the scrapper. Dark-skinned and scarred, rugged and handsome, he is hardened with a soft inside. This made me think of a dog – a mutt – a mongrel – a cur. Not a bad guy per se … but not immediately lovable, either.

Not-Tipp was a bit more of a challenge, since his character started out pretty annoying to me. I absolutely could NOT get him right. Now that I’m further in, he has grown on me, and I have figured out his place a bit better. He is a young man and serves as Not-Ed’s sidekick / protégé. Very naïve and hopeful, he sees the best in people and is easily misled; likewise, he is intuitively wise in seeing the best path when it comes to personal dealings. Not-Ed becomes quite fond of Not-Tipp, and indeed, Not-Tipp eventually becomes the rock of the party.

Not-Polly is someone we at first trust, but who eventually betrays our confidence. She is the Judas we never see coming. All I can think when I picture her is RED. She isn’t young and sexy; she is middle-aged and kindly, and as Emandine’s closest friend, her betrayal is all the more shocking and hurtful.

Not-Pandora is actually young and sexy and wrapped in red, so our first impression is that she is a naughty creature bent on destruction. But this isn’t the case. She embodies the phrase “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”. Or, more appropriately perhaps, “I’m not bad; I’m just drawn that way”. Eventually she provides a source of hope and redemption.

Step 2: Pick one word.

• Not-Ed: mongrel.


• Not-Tipp: rock.


• Not-Polly: Judas.


• Not-Pandora: Pandora.

Step 3: Look it up.

There are several etymology sites – that is, word origin – available online. I am lazy. I went straight to Wikipedia. Some might argue that Wikipedia isn’t a reliable source of information, and while that may or may not be true in the grand scheme of things, I wasn’t on a fact-finding mission.

I was looking for a specific word that would *POP* and sound just right. When I skim material in this fashion, I don’t ever know precisely what it is I’m looking for.

But I sure know it when I see it!

Not-Ed became Medaskal.

Actually, for about five seconds he became Askal, which apparently translates to “street dog” and would have been perfect. Except that another character already has a name that begins with an “A” and I don’t like when that happens. Askal is too close to Anson. I would get confused in writing, and I have to think readers might get confused, as well. Plus, someone had suggested his name should definitely begin with an “M” which sounded right to me. So I combined Ed and Mongrel and Askal: Medaskal. He tells me I have done well and that this is, indeed, his name. The process works.

Not-Tipp became Kephas.

This fits so well, I can’t believe I ever DIDN’T know his name. He thanks me profusely for such a strong name, since he is such a weak boy. In his own eyes, at any rate. His name is more true than he knows.

Not-Polly became Kerioth. And studying about her name origin makes me more mad at her than I already was. Her name SOUNDS caring, but I know otherwise. Back-stabbing bitch. She is smiling at me all smug in having a name which fits her so well.

Not-Pandora became Sinevas.

She was the most fun to study, because Pandora in many old cultures was known as “first woman” much like Eve or, preceding her, Lilith. And while in many stories she is depicted as a temptress {as in Christianity, wherein she made Adam bite the apple}, in most cases she represents hope and redemption for mankind. I like that her name bares both aspects of good and evil, like a yin-yang, because this truly embodies her spirit. Sinevas is bowing to me for having discovered who she really is.

Everyone is happy.

Having spent hours researching possibilities, I am now able to move on to more pressing matters. Like, for example, placing my head in a blender since I have to start all over. Okay, not “ALL” over. But I do have several scenes to rewrite and some characters to move about into better positions. And, of course, I have the tedious, administrative task of doing a “find & replace” for all those not-names.

Glory!

Writing is hard.

• What is your process for naming characters?


• Do you ever have difficulty in settling on character names?


• How do you deal with unruly characters?

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