Lena Corazon

Flights of Fancy

Month: May 2011

ROW80: Motoring Along

May 29, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Another Sunday, another ROW80 check-in!  I’m currently lamenting the weather for this year’s Memorial Day Weekend: blue skies, sun… and winds up to 45 MPH.  We’ve been under a severe wind advisory for days now, and it’s such a downer, because the weather would be perfect for the beach otherwise.  As it is, I have to stay shut up inside because the wind is wreaking havoc with my allergies.

But let’s talk writing!  I finally broke through the block that was holding me back with that coronation scene (well, to be honest, I abandoned it, though it’s mostly finished) and sketched out the next four scenes.  I’m working with the wide paintbrush at the moment (or, to return to last Wednesday’s analogy, my machete) and aiming for getting the main points of each scene onto paper: dialogue, action and movement, and other “big” developments.  I’ve found that working on the finer points, like sensory details and description, take more time than I actually want to spend, so I am going to set those aside and fill in the blanks when I return for edits.

The current manuscript stands at 15,529 words, which means that I’ve written something like 5,000 words since Wednesday.  I’m really over-the-moon with this, though I know my output will probably slow down over the next couple of weeks, between the final papers I will have to grade, and the traveling I will be doing to my parents’ place and back.

However, I have the first “Act” of the book outlined.  It will be 5 chapters long, and traces the beginning of Liandre’s journey from the comfort and safety of the “Ordinary World” to the start of her adventure in Peridion.  As I move forward, I am going to have to give plenty of thought to the development of Liandre as a character.  She is going to have a lot of hard truths to adjust to — the truth of her parentage, being forced to abandon everything that she knows and loves in order to return to the land of her birth — and I want to make sure that she responds to these changes in a way that feels realistic.

But those are concerns for another day!  I will spend this Sunday grading (blech) and luxuriating in the wonderful feeling of reaching 15k.  And, er, I’m not going to think about the new story idea that won’t leave me alone… or the fact that I’ve given it a title, and a cast of characters, or the fact that I know exactly who the murderer is going to be.  We’ll see how strong my willpower is, lol.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone!

ROW80: Back in the Saddle

May 25, 2011 / / 6 Comments

Whew, it’s been a busy week with a ton of stuff going on in my non-writing life. I missed Sunday’s check-in, sadly, but I am back for the midweek report!

First, the happenings of real life. I delivered a 45 minute guest lecture last Thursday about my MA research, and it was received really, really well. I have been informed that I am (1) ready to teach my own course (always exciting to hear) and that (2) my MA project is clearly coming together.

I spent the weekend doing a mad rush of grading and prepping for the second guest lecture I am giving (tonight, in fact). I also met with my advisor, who had many lovely things to say about the progress I’ve made with my thesis. Sunday and Monday were spent thesisizing, and I am happy to report that I wrote over 2600 words, bringing up to a total of 12,000 words. I’m nowhere near done yet, sadly, but I have the summer to finish up and pull things together. If I give myself a nightly word limit, the way I do for my fiction, I think I’ll be able to pull this off. 😀

Now, onto writing. Between the stress of school and work and just being bloody tired last week, I found myself in a bit of a rough patch with Peacock. I was flailing about for direction with this coronation scene that I wrote, and while I’ve managed to tidy it up a bit and get it back on track, I know I’m going to have to come back through later on and shorten it up. I’m just not certain that everything that’s currently in there is necessary… but I am challenging myself to wait until the 1st draft is done (or almost done) to start major rewrites and edits.

At any rate, I have broken the 10,000 word mark (never thought I’d actually do that!), and I now stand at 10,222 words. Judging from my wee graph, I almost made my goal of writing 2100 words/week.

Daily word counts

Wordcount graph
Powered by WritersDB.com

Looks like I’m about 500 words short, but given everything that’s been going on, I’m not about to berate myself.  So yay me!

Moving forward, I’ll be hoping to make my way out of the expository stuff by the weekend.  I’m utilizing Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” (summarized quite nicely here by Eliza W.).  The simplified version, in twelve steps, looks like this:

  1. The Ordinary World
  2. Call to Adventure
  3. Refusal of the Call
  4. Meeting the Mentor
  5. Crossing the First Threshold
  6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies
  7. Approach
  8. The Supreme Ordeal
  9. Reward
  10. The Road Back
  11. Resurrection
  12. Return with the ‘Elixir’

Right now I’m toiling within the “Ordinary World,” which I have realized is actually anything but ordinary.  Rather, it’s in the midst of major change — the death of Liandre’s father, King Roland, the coronation of her brother, Prince Edric, and a whole set of new pressures and challenges.

At the moment, I plan on combining steps 2-4 together: Liandre will meet her mentor in Chapter 3, but when her mentor tries to tell her the truth of her lineage, the princess will refuse to listen.  This will set off a whole set of conflicts that will result in the call being reissued, only this time in a way that Liandre cannot ignore.  From there, it will be time for Liandre to journey across Peridion and over the sea to the country of Vao Artan, a realm she once believed was little more than legend and fantasy.

When it comes to my writing process, I rather feel like I am trying to forge a path through a jungle with nothing but a machete in hand — slashing and hacking wildly to form the beginnings of a road.  I cut through about a quarter of a mile before pausing, pulling out a smaller set of garden shears, and back-tracking to pretty things up a bit.  Once I’m satisfied with my work I can pick up the machete and force my way through the jungle a bit further.  Right now I feel like I’ve done enough manicuring with my shears; I want nothing more than to push ahead and set my heroine onto her path towards adventure.

ROW80 Check-in, and Thinky Thoughts about POV

May 18, 2011 / / 2 Comments

Time for my mid-week ROW80 check-in!  Surprisingly, I managed to exceed my expectations over the past few days in terms of word count.  To review:

  • Sunday, 300 words in the form of an old legend, to be told at the funeral rites in Scene 2.
  • Monday, another 300 words, this time wrapping up the funeral, which had been hanging for a few days.
  • Tuesday, roughly 1000 words, trying to forge my way through a coronation scene that is proving to be a bit difficult (possibly because I have a very, very vague idea of what should happen.  Once I refine my expectations, the writing should flow a bit more easily).

Not sure how much time I’ll have to write today, as I need to double-down on my grading and prepare for a meeting with my thesis advisor.  I’m also giving a guest lecture in the undergraduate course that I’m TA’ing tomorrow… and that has been giving me nightmares for the past few days.  :/  At any rate, I seem to be on track to meet my goal of 2100 words by Sunday, so I can feel proud about that.

I’ve been giving some thought over the past couple of days to the pros and cons of including multiple perspectives in my story.  At the moment, Path to the Peacock Throne is told in 3rd-person Limited POV.  We see the world and learn everything from Liandre’s point of view, which means that, as readers, we have the same blinders that she does.  Lately, though, I’ve been wondering what it would be like if I switched perspectives in different scenes, or different chapters, rather similar to the way that George R.R. Martin or Joe Abercrombie do in many of their books.  Part of me imagines that seeing the world out of her brother’s eyes, or even from the perspective of the story’s villain, would give me a different “slant” on what has happened… but I’m not sure if that slant would be a good one.

Have any of you dealt with the debate over multiple perspectives?  What were the criteria that made you choose one way or the other?

Thanks, all, and have a lovely rest of the week.  Hump-day is here, and the weekend is beckoning!

ROW 80 Check-in: And So It Begins

May 15, 2011 / / 7 Comments

A Round of Words in 80 Days, the 80 day writing challenge, is half-way through Round 2, and I’ve decided to leap on in.  I stumbled upon the writing challenge through some circuitous blog reading last week, and given that I am trying to finally be serious about my writing, I felt the time was right to give it a try.

So here I am, pledging that I will write an average of 300 words/day.  That adds up to 2100 words/week, which is on the low end of the spectrum, but given everything that will be happening over the next few weeks (grading, thesisizing, 2 guest lectures, final exams, etc.), it’s definitely a practical decision.

Honestly, I’ve been doing surprisingly well in terms of word count.  I started tracking my progress last week, and this is what I have to show:

Daily word counts

Wordcount graph
Powered by WritersDB.com

It’s not too shabby, if I say so myself.  I started tracking on Friday, May 6th with my first 1000 word scene.  By the following Friday, May 13th, I hit 7000 words.  I’m not quite sure where all of this energy and excitement is coming from, and frankly, I’m not about to ask.  This is the most I’ve written since I entered my writing slump almost two years ago, and I am incredibly grateful that the art of writing, of imagining, and of creating has returned (knock on wood).

There is, however, much work to be done before I can emerge from the other end of chapter one, including:

  • Brainstorming the culture and history of Peridion, particularly surrounding the role of magic within the world.  The disappearance of magic a few centuries prior to the tale’s beginning (captured here in a mini “codex” excerpt) is pivotal to the actions of my current villain, the royal mage Leopold, and also helps to explain the mysterious circumstances around Liandre’s origins and heritage.  I’ve got a vague sense of what’s gone on, but I will need to solidify what’s happened over the coming weeks.
  • Scribbling the tales and legends that are considered important in the world of Peridion.  What are the stories that every person, commoner and noble alike, seem to know?  Why are they important?  What messages or themes are prevalent, and what can they tell us about the overall psyche and culture of Peridion?
  • Thinking more about birds, and Liandre’s eventual introduction into the world of Vao Artan.  I will be reading Daphne du Maurier’s short story, “The Birds,” and also watching the Hitchcock film based on her tale for a bit of inspiration.  I’ll most likely be posting about it as well, so look for that in the coming week.

That’s about all, at least for the moment.  I am battling a migraine, so this post is neither as long nor as informative as I’d like… but there’s always next check-in.  With that, I am off to pop some aspirin… and to try and scribble a few more ideas for this funeral scene that I am trying to write.

May 11, 2011

On the Loss of Magic in the Kingdom of Peridion
— From Peridion: The Dark Ages

By 1015, the last traces of magic faded from Peridion. Gone were the days of the old sorcerer-kings, the armies of mage-warriors, and the research of the wizened technomancers; the old ways had disappeared never to return.

There are few explanations for the disappearance of magic from the realm. Some say that a great sin was committed by the sons and daughters of the magic-wielders — strange research into dark and forbidden territory, brought on by hubris and a lust for power — and in punishment, the gods themselves revoked their blessing. Others claim that the gods were jealous of the heights to which men vaulted themselves, and so sought to end their dominion out of jealousy and envy. And there are still those who believe that it was the indiscretion of women in the Old Age that brought about this calamity, for the records tell us of witches, enchantresses and sorceresses more wicked than the last, wielding their power to ensnare even the most pious of men.

There can be little doubt, however, of the vast repercussions of such a change upon Peridion society. For a kingdom founded on the use of magic, its loss precipitated a period of great instability and internal strife — the Dark Ages. Without magic, its people had to relearn the use of their hands and labor; without magic, its would-be rulers could only depend upon the strength given by steel and blade. The once-mighty Peridion, jewel of the west, was reduced to little more than warring tribes and factions. Brother turned against brother, son against father, and the carnage that was wrought was catastrophic.

plundering the archives

May 10, 2011 / / Comments Off on plundering the archives

Ever since I was young, I’ve been a bit of a pack-rat.  It’s not bad enough to get me nominated for an episode of Hoarders, but I am unbelievably nostalgic.  I can’t help myself — memories are important to me, and tangible reminders of people I’ve known, places I’ve been, and experiences that I’ve had are even better.

My parents, however, have forced me to clean out my childhood bedroom, but where they see “junk” and “clutter,” I see the priceless artifacts of my life (cleaning out the bedroom sometimes resembles an archaeological dig, but that’s another story altogether).

A few months ago I was persuaded (read: forced) to wade through the mayhem and pack things up for storage in the garage.  I found the typical things — elementary school report cards, yearbooks, loose photographs, old presents and souvenirs, letters and postcards from old friends.  What I didn’t expect to stumble upon was my cache of old writing notebooks, all organized in chronological order from oldest (5th grade!) to the most recent (junior year of college).  Given that I’ve written almost exclusively on my laptop for the past four or five years, the sight of spiral-bound notebooks filled with my scrawls and scribbles was a little shocking.  Even more exciting, though, was the treasure trove of ideas I had discovered.

Don’t get me wrong — some of those ideas were utter tripe, and I’d be very, very happy if they were never seen or heard of again (the silly 6th grade urge to write a story about global warming and an electric car-driving geophysicist who saves the planet, however, is a gem).  Other ideas were a great deal better, and sort of exciting — musings on systems of magic, snippets of pretend prophecies, lists of my favorite names and meanings.  Reading through my old work is like undertaking a historical study of my imagination, an archive of old characters, plots, stray scenes and sentences.   I can pinpoint the books I must have been reading at the time, the movies I was watching, and the other elements of inspiration from which I drew.

Such an archive is invaluable to me, partly because I am fascinated with the progression and development of my ideas over the years, and also because I love seeing what’s remained the same.  “Forever Always,” a hilarious bad story about two high school students who realize they are reincarnated sorcerers from another era, carries within it my fascination with love that endures across time, with magical rivalries, and with speculative fiction.  (I am pretty certain that I was  drawing from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon at the time, along with the Roswell High books by Melinda Metz.  The combination never fails to amuse me.)

The archive also becomes incredibly useful in what I am able to plunder and steal. The idea of introducing a character with troubled dreams in “Path to the Peacock Throne” came straight from my short myth, “The Scepter and Sword.”  The concept for the “Seven Sisters,” the legendary founders of Vao Artan, stemmed from an unfinished drabble called “The Mark,” about six women who were god-chosen to save their world from some horrible evil.

Some ideas might be trash, but sometimes it’s good trash.   So don’t go Hoarders-crazy, but keep an eye on your old, discarded darlings.  Tuck them away and keep them somewhere safe (and don’t let your parents talk you into throwing them out, no matter what).  You never know which one you just might need.

Preview: Path to the Peacock Throne, Scene 1

May 8, 2011 / / 2 Comments

I’ve finally started drafting an opening to my tale that reflects the latest changes in plot, and I thought I’d post it up to share.  It is, course, pretty rough; I’ve cleaned it up just enough to keep myself from going crazy, but I don’t want to get too bogged down with edits.

I’m trying not to get too attached to the scene (once I’ve written the first draft of the book, I know I’ll have to slash and hack and murder my precious babies), but I think I can confidently say that I like this.  Without further ado, here is Chapter 1, Scene 1: “The Dream.”

Title: “Path to the Peacock Throne,” Scene 1: “The Dream”
Word Count: ~3350 words
Summary: Liandre, princess of Peridion, grapples with strange nightmares, clashes with the royal wizard, and has a few quiet moments with her beloved older brother before the funeral rites for their father, King Roland, begin.
Warnings: None
Notes: The inspiration for Liandre’s dress can be seen here.


It was the most perfect of days, one that invoked all of the senses. The ear was overcome by the roar of powerful ocean waves, and both nose and tongue by the salty tang of the sea breeze. The body luxuriated in the warmth of the sun’s rays, and the eye delighted in the enchanting sight of a dozen sea birds turning and diving like a team of trained aerial acrobats.

The child felt all of this, standing on the promontory that soared high above the shore. She was little more than three or four, a cherub-cheeked girl with laughing violet eyes and a head of dark curls. She spun happily, bare toes digging into the grassy earth, arms reaching for the sky. Her laughter was sweet and warm, the perfect counter against the birds’ shrill cries.

“Would you like me to show you how to call the birds, Princess?” The child looked up to see a woman’s smiling face; in her outstretched hand she held a plain wooden flute, smoothly polished and gleaming in the afternoon light. The child nodded in excitement and the woman sat down beside her and gathered her to her lap.

“Hold it here, gosling,” she whispered, arranging the girl’s fingers on the holes. “And now blow.”

Suddenly there was music and the rustle of wings — dozens of tiny birds dancing upon the wind, their flight timed with the song’s tempo. The child’s excitement and glee were practically tangible, the power that she invoked humming through her tiny body. She played the song again and again, all the while blind to the danger that lurked, hovering just beyond, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

It was a faceless darkness that encroached upon them. It came slowly at first, tendrils of smoke that insinuated itself like wispy threads across the brilliant blue sky. Anyone watching would have failed to see that anything was amiss; as the smoke grew, spreading with increasing speed and mounting malice, it was obvious that something was very wrong. It was too late to stop it. The darkness silenced the precious birds, blocked out the sun’s rays, eclipsed the woman’s loving face. The child stood in the midst of this swirling abyss, the final survivor against a foe she could never hope to understand. When the void finally closed upon her it swallowed everything — even her screams. Continue reading

Rolling with the Punches

May 7, 2011 / / Comments Off on Rolling with the Punches

Coming from academia, I’m no stranger to the twists and turns of the writing process.  My current scholarly project has suffered from no shortage of detours.  I realized last fall, for example, that my initial concept had been turned on its head.  Instead of working on a project about the ritual of the white wedding, using etiquette books as my case study, I realized that what I had on my hands was the exact opposite: a study of etiquette books, using the wedding as my case study (more on that madness can be found here).

I won’t lie — I threw a bit of a tantrum when I reached this happened (there’s nothing like watching a formerly established research plan go up like a puff of smoke to make one incredibly cranky) — but it was clear that I had two choices in front of me.  I could go back to the drawing board and redo the project to follow the original path that I had anticipated, or I could be a bit adventurous and try something new.  I chose the latter, as it was also the most practical choice (telling my thesis advisor that I needed to throw out 2 years worth of work definitely wasn’t an option), and I haven’t regretted it.

So when Path to the Peacock Throne took an unexpected left turn, I did the only thing that a resigned passenger can do: sit back, buckle up, and brace myself for sudden bumps in the road.

Granted, I’m ultimately the one in charge of my work, but both my scholarly research and my experiences with fiction have taught me that sometimes it’s okay to pursue an unexpected idea, no matter how strange or off-course it might be.  In this case, I think my “off-roading” just might pay off.

Path to the Peacock Throne began as the coming of age tale of Liandre Hallivere, the reluctant heir to the throne of Vao Artan.  One of the problems I kept running into was trying to figure out the source of her reluctance.  I didn’t want to justify it with the explanation of ‘adolescent angst’ or ‘teenage rebellion.’  Either of those could have worked (particularly for a YA audience), but they just felt too worn-out, too tired and lazy.  My solution draws on another trope (the “kidnapped princess” trope), but I actually think it’s fitting for a tale based on Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces” arc.  The current plot, then, looks something like this:

Continue reading

May 2011
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

© 2024 Lena Corazon

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox

Join other followers: