Wednesday, October 24, 2012

7 words (more or less)

No, not those words.  Besides, Carlin's list is outdated. Now you can say most of them on television.

NaNoWriMo is on the horizon, and I'm getting in good shape for it. 1910 words written tonight.

I finished off a chapter I left off on last night, leaving me a scant 7 words short of 45K.  Oh sure, I could have pushed out 7 more words, but that would have given me a perfectly even number, and that always looks fishy.

All my writing tonight was from a new viewpoint.  It was interesting to get into the head space of a character unlike any of the others I've written in this book.

I suppose that doesn't say much, but seeing as I have a single viewpoint except for the odd vignette chapter it was a good exercise.  I can't give away much more without big massive spoilers.  I've come to understand that you don't spoil best selling books on your blog, it makes people cranky and they let you know in the comments. :P

Exploring new characters is one of the reasons I started writing when I was a kid.   They let me be something, someone that I wasn't, and to go places that were too fantastic or simply too far away to visit for real as a child.  Basically the same reason most people read, watch TV, and play video games.

I was also the geeky know-it-all in school. That bespectacled kid that annoyed other students and eventually teachers once it wasn't "cute" any more (I know, shocking right?).

It's a bit of "chicken vs. egg" when it comes to whether I read a lot and became an ostracized know-it-all from what I'd read, or whether I read so much because I'd been ostracized for being a know-it-all.  Either way, I've loved to read and have been a voracious reader for as long as I can recall.  When I'd read through everything we had as a child and couldn't get my hands on something new to read fast enough I'd write.

I needed to write tonight with some of the car/people trouble I've had this past week coming to a head.  Needless to say I've learned that doing the right thing and being a decent human being doesn't guarantee that you will receive the same in return.  Of course, I'll likely just continue right on doing the right thing and being decent.  It's a fault I suppose, a lapse in my ability to adapt and adjust.

Actually, I'm finding that writing is one of my best escapes of late, it's my peace and quiet (with loud music), and I think it's a healthy hobby.

See, I used to play video games pretty heavily.  MMOs. Primarily World of Warcraft, which I played excessively from Beta (early 2004) to last November (almost 8 years!).

That's when NaNoWriMo and my strong desire to get off my butt and actually DO this writing thing instead of just talking about it and throwing around "big plot ideas" helped me kick the habit.

I still game, I've played through Mass Effect 3 most recently, and Diablo 3 and I'm looking forward to Assassin's Creed 3 (which I will have to wait to play).  I don't think gaming is evil or reprehensible, or unhealthy (when done in moderation, like all things).  I simply don't let it take my writing time.  I'm less grumpy when I write, and tonight that's exactly what I needed.

I want to be a professional, published writer.  Like many other aspiring writers I want to see my name on the jacket of a book in a bookstore, and to know that someone out there actually READS these stories I want to tell.  That takes a lot of work, which I'm more than prepared to put in.

So I leave you, my faithful readers with the best piece of writing advice I've ever heard:

"Don't talk about it; write" - Ray Bradbury

I'm doing my best Ray. Though I am guilty of blogging about it, which technically isn't talking about it, I hope he'll forgive me.

- Grimm

P.S. #HLandS is rocking Round 3 over at Kat Ellis' Blog (YA), Dee's Blog (MG), and Fizzygrrl's Blog (Adult) where some of the submissions have already received Agent Requests!  I'm absolutely loving it and wishing my Draft was in a ready state to participate.

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