You Have My Permission: Breaking Through Boundaries

Image snagged from Internet by Denny S. Bryce

Ender's Game author Orson Scott Card has a new book called The Lost Gate. He talks about its origin in an article, Mapping Worlds in The Lost Gate, in the January TOR newsletter.

What hit home for me was Card's willingness to hang with the story idea no matter how long it took him to flesh it out. In this case thirty years. Of course he's written other books, successful books, while he gave himself permission to dream, create, 'map', and finally write the book he wanted in the world he wanted to create it. This article made me happy.

As a young writer (in terms of years writing fiction, not my age:) and as of now, an unpublished writer, believing in my choices is as challenging as polishing the 85,000 plus words of my current WIP.

I hit a wall with the book (writer's block some call it - I prefer to say no-story-in-the-middle:). I read somewhere that a way to get back on track is to start another project to get the creative juices flowing, and yeah, good thought. Well, I have a new idea and I'm very excited about it and the research I'm doing to help me build the world. But as mentioned, the new project or the soon-to-be-WIP-in-waiting is also an opportunity to fix the current WIP.  And the plan is working. 

So, I'm in world building mode and comfortable staying digging until I know this new world, understand how it works, why it works, and learn all I can about the 'science' I can use to shape a believable, but fictional, environment in which to tell this story. That's the deal with the new WIP.  This is also the step I didn't take with the current WIP - so I'm doing a little of that, but mostly, making choices about what's good, what's bad, what's surprising, what's not. 

So what's my point for today's blog - as the title says - give yourself permission to create. Break the rules, change the game, go as far as you want to go and beyond. That first idea as crazy as it may feel, you should play with, and if you fall in love with a story, it might be because it's a good one, and worth the work and the wait.

Special Note: You'll see on his website that Mr. Card suffered a mild stroke on January 1, 2011 - here's wishing him a speedy recovery.

Happy New Year's Day and My Emotional Characters

Photo by Denny S. Bryce - "I Love a View"

Happy New Year's Day!!! I swore I was going to start the year blogging so here goes.

I read somewhere that a good blog, or a good topic to blog about is when you can answer the question - guess what I learned today? Well, today, I learned a few things - but I'll stay focused on the one about feelings and writing fiction.

Working with different critique partners and also   feedback from a class and a writing contest I entered recently (but didn't final in and yeah, it happens:) I noticed a pattern in the comments - well, several, but one stuck out.

I kept reading the word 'feelings' or sentences like 'add more feelings'. What does your character feel? And yeah, I saw it, too. It's not an easy fix, mind you. So,  I've been reading and found a couple of sources I wanted to share.

I don't have answers yet. Which is what I learned today. So I'm on a journey to find 'feelings', and make certain I create emotional characters and put them into emotional situations and 'listen' to them, and make certain their feelings make it on the page.

Oh yes, those sources that are helping me on my journey are: Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain and this one not so easy - Season 1 DVD for Fringe - and any of the commentaries, especially Evolution: The Genesis of Fringe.

Fringe and Firefly Merged - In a Very Good Way

I am absolutely in love with Fringe. Yep, another TV show that has all of the elements of some of my favorites - instantly reminds me of "Farscape", but also "Altered States" (movie), "Firefly" the TV Show, and a bit of Buffy and Angel, but not so much. The characters are more deeply written...and definitely adult.

I've also found a wealth of other obsessive fans online. By the way, I wasn't a fan two weeks ago, but a friend of mine, Sierra, kept asking me if I were watching it. She said it was good. So I happened upon an episode by accident called "Marionette" - and bam! Hooked. I owned Season 1 but had never watched it, and broke it out and the next thing you know, I'm caught up and anxiously awaiting the next episode (Season 3-10).

In Marionette - I only caught the ending, and had to find it and watch the whole damn thing to know why two actors sitting in a dark, backyard played out such a deeply emotional scene, full of layers upon layers of angst without touching melodrama even once, and I didn't have to know what caused it, I saw it on their faces, heard it in their voices, and knew it from the lines written for them. Good stuff.

Anyway, the next episode airing January 21 is called "Firefly" (and by the way a Whedon is a writer on the show)...Check out this vid...




So yeah, I'm plugging a TV show. But a very good one.

Okay, now I'm back to writing...

Do You Like Your Main Character?

Photo by Denny S. Bryce

It's Christmas Eve and for those who celebrate - Merry Christmas! For those who don't Happy Holidays!

And yeah, I'm in the holiday spirit. That means I'm finally settling in to get some work done on the book. The endless project or so it seems. Especially since NaNoWriMo ended. It's been hard to keep up the pattern I established last month - not only with daily writing, but just daily attention paid to the act of writing. Be it revising, organizing, researching, November was a big month for Denny the writer. But after the success of NaNoWriMo - I went into a writer's slump. Not so much from not being able to write new copy - but from the aspect of wanting to sit down and focus on the damn book.

It's almost time for New Year's resolutions. The Catch-22 of annual traditions. Damned if you do - and damned if you don't. Yes, even the don't part implies you've already conceded defeat  - so yep, damned if you don't.

But year in, year out, I've become more and more gun-shy about resolutions. Except this year, I want to take the risk and make the commitment. I'm going to start with the commitment to my passion - writing. Going for it every day - even if it's only fifty words a day or 30 minutes of silence in front of the computer - it will be done. (I'm going to start with today for that because I have two weeks off and I might as well fill them with fun). Then, it has to do with health and well-being. That's hard. Bad habits are difficult to let go. But I'm going to have to start some where with that one. Next has to do with some personal business I'll keep to myself for now (even a blog has to have mystery, right?).

Finally, back to my blog title - the main character? Do you like her (or him)? Did that blog title refer to writing fiction or the main character in your life -- you? I mean - that's what resolutions are all about? How much do you like yourself and what are you willing to do to keep 'you' happy - or keep your main character interesting to your readers - or at least a like-able character.

Crossing the line a wee bit, but it's my blog:)!

Ask yourself, what are your protagonist's New Year's Resolutions?

Might be a fun way to jump start your character and find some new conflict for your story.

NaNoWriMo Victory Dance Can Now Commence!!!!

 OH YES, BABY!

I've been trying to finish NaNoWriMo for five damn years. Now I can claim the prize (and I grabbed as many as possible!)

Final number? 50,016 (I got over 50k, okay?) Wasn't trying to knock it out of the park!

Thanksgiving, NaNoWriMo, Golden Heart - I Need Sleep!

Photo of James Marsters (Spike) taken by Denny S. Bryce at his concert in London, 2004.

I read today that Joss Whedon is making a fuss about the new Buffy movie he is not involved in. It brought back all of my Whedon love and disdain in one big rush. His shows are the reason - seriously - that I'm writing fiction today. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (mostly) re-ignited my long, love affair with vampires, dating back to the first time I saw a Dracula movie in which he sensuously bit the neck of a lovely woman while she rived (is that a word?) in her bed (yeah, I was six, but still, I thought it was hot).

I didn't love Buffy the character as much as I loved the people surrounding her. I thought her bland and very young and fickle. It bugged me to no end how she mistreated vampires (Spike, in particular). The best episodes always included a vampire/slayer paradox (episodes like Beneath Me, Amends - brilliant, Angel, Something Blue)...

Anyway, my fellow Whedon-ites, what's your take on this new movie? Gonna give it a chance, or dump it before it airs because of its lack of respect for Whedon (by not putting him at the helm)?

NaNoWriMo - I may just win this sucker this year - I've got more than 42,000 words and counting!

Golden Heart - it's going to be tight...I may send it in knowing it's not ready - a good idea or what do you think?

Thanksgiving! - A great weekend, but I ate too damn much. Also, shopped on Black Friday. It wasn't pretty - fun, but not pretty...:)

What Did I Learn Today? I'm An Introvert...

Photo taken by Denny S. Bryce on a flight...

I haven't blogged in a while and I feel bad about it. I really do. But what I learned today is that I work obsessively and sometimes you've got to raise you head from the computer in order to give your life balance. I've been preaching about balance lately. And like I've said, when you keep harping on something you can bet you are the main culprit of the issue you're going on and on about.

NaNoWriMo is part of the reason for my introspection. The other is I was reading about introverts and extroverts - trying to infuse more conflict in my WIP - I discovered (or decided) I must be an introvert.  Here's the scoop...(taken from another source)

Personality Traits - introverted, Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life”. Introvert likes reading, writing, music, drawing, tinkering, playing video games, watching movies and plays, and using computers. Is not necessarily a loner, very selective about their friends.


An introvert is likely to enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people, though he or she may enjoy interactions with close friends. Trust is usually an issue of significance: a virtue of utmost importance to an introvert choosing a worthy companion. They prefer to concentrate on a single activity at a time and like to observe situations before they participate, especially observed in developing children and adolescents.


What are you?

Word count on NaNoWrimo...a bit low at 14669 - but that's from last night. I should hit 20,000 by tomorrow AM - if not more!