Register | Log in | FAQ | Search | Memberlist | Usergroups
Profile | Log in to check your private messages | Blogs |

ARWZ Forum Index
    > Writers' Zone


 
Post new topicReply to topic
View previous topic :: View next topic
Author Message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostHip-deep in another surreal tale...

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:43 pm
Reply with quote

D'uh, the opening line I posted last week has grown into another surreal Urban Noir adventure. I'm scribbling additions or revising at every opportunity, I'm even dreaming dialogue...

I don't do dialogue well at the best of times. Now my six characters are alive and well in the back of my head, wise-cracking and trying to double-guess the plot's progress. D'uh...

Perhaps when I've wrangled *this* story through to a satisfactory conclusion, my mischievous muse will let me work on my 'Hard SF' Convention tales...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostStill going...

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:10 pm
Reply with quote

Still going, and even weirder...

Unless I can figure out where this tale is going, I'm going to be tearing my hair...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostMuse has taken a sickie...

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:07 am
Reply with quote

Well, my writing spree has temporarily halted due a *filthy* cold. The sinus-pains plus antihistamines mean I can't think straight, never mind write even semi-coherently, or make sense of what I've already written...

Time Out...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostStill going...

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:20 am
Reply with quote

After taking a couple of lost-days as 'sickie', my mischievous muse logged-on again...

I have no real idea where this tale is going...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostFunny how inspiration strikes...

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:45 am
Reply with quote

I was teasing out some logical consequences of my stalled plot's back-story when inspiration struck from an unexpected direction-- The room lights glitched.

I was scribbling in spiral-bound notepad so lost nothing from PC re-boot, but wondered what would happen if a 'trip' happened in my tale.

Took serendipitous Googling, some lateral thinking and a couple of Babel-fished e-mails to clarify product details but, yup, I've got the rest of my plot, a title for the tale and a most unexpected happy ending !!

Now I just gotta finish 'Six of Motley'...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
DougGogerty
Moderator


Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 418
Location: Minnesota

Post

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:55 pm
Reply with quote

Are you a real person, or are you completely inside my head? Laughing
This sounds just like the imaginary people running around in my head. Scary!
_________________
Douglas E. Gogerty
-----
Around the Campfire
"No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
-James T. Kirk
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Blog Visit poster's website
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostInvisible Friends...

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:16 pm
Reply with quote

Um, the line between Creativity and Madness may be very fuzzy, especially during a 'writing jag'...

FWIW, I've now typed up the first part's scribblings, edited them to a fair 'flow', filled in the gaps and patched the 'stupids'. I'm still yo-yoing through, picking up the occasional phrase that needs tweaking. There's ~65 kb of text-file in first tranche, ~55 kb in second. Soon, I gotta fire up the laser printer, put the hard-copy into folder pockets, catch my breath and continue the tale.

First, I must research some appropriate sing-along Carols, Clapping Songs and Nursery Rhymes. This will be problematic, as I'm partly tone-deaf. (Which may be a left/right brain thing, as I have no problem spotting variations in machinery noises.) D'uh. Google, here I come...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostTime out.

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:48 am
Reply with quote

Muse has called a time-out.
---

I've typed up my notes to date, edited them into reasonable, but weird tale...

FWIW, as each ~50 kb Notepad text-file runs to ~10,000 words, I've ~20,000.

Good news, I've found the songs I'll need for later plot-twist. Bad news, I've only written a dozen words since Monday, and the 'hold' looks set to continue. Given that level ground feels up-hill, I may be battling the '3-day flu' that laid my spouse low over the weekend...

Um, one of the cooling fans in this Browser_PC has begun making grunching noises. Gotta go.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostUpdate...

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:53 am
Reply with quote

Um, the noise was from one of the case-fans. It resumed running smoothly when thumped. Given the case was intended for a super-hot system, and this is a minimal PC, that fan is non-critical.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostHair-tearing time...

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:10 pm
Reply with quote

Got distracted by an unexpected problem. Turns out one character's given-name translates terribly into Japanese. (Don't ask.) Solution is to give him a middle name. Snag is anything I've tried that sounds okay in English is hilariously dire in translation...

( Google is my linguist ;- )

Spent two days comparing / contrasting name-lists, managed to solve for 5 of 6 characters, am hung on one...

Also still suffering from after-effects of close brush with 3-day 'flu. Cannot expect inspiration while level floors slope uphill...

D'uh, just realised a possible solution is to give character *two* middle names to remove phonetic log-jam caused by one...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostAlways have a back-up plan...

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:27 pm
Reply with quote

Well, after inspiration failed, I spent hours combing name-lists in both languages, but to no avail...

I could not find a suitable middle name --Or names-- for the last character.

Fortunately, I had a cunning back-up plan.

One of the Japanese naming systems uses a suffix to state 'son-of' or 'daughter-of'. This meant I could pick a name without prior constraints...

Phew !!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostAnother tranche, another printer jam...

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:18 pm
Reply with quote

Well, I've now completed the fourth tranche of my current tale and edited it into submission. This covers three days, dawn #07 up to end of #09, and is almost 70 kb textfile. Can't tell you the exact word count because of my habit of leaving one space between text and a ! or ?.

I had just enough laser paper, but the last few sheets fed together, crinkled in the printer. Fortunately, I had a pack of *good* paper tucked away on a shelf...

Now those 25 sides are stuffed into ring-binder pockets, ready for reading in context with tranches 01~~03.

I've also got an idea for a surprise in subsequent chapter. Two of the important characters are staying in a nearby B&B. The feisty lassies expect problems with a flooded road, but not a lightning strike that sends them fleeing in their 'Hello Kitty' pajamas. Cue lots (*) of dialogue when they meet rest of group...

Along the way, I had to scour baby-name lists for a very specific name to enable a pun-- I knew it when I saw it !!
---

(*) I find writing ANY dialogue difficult, and small-talk nigh impossible. Giving the characters something meaningful to discuss reduces the task to hard work...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum





Alternative Reality Web Zine: ISSN# 1559-3037


All materials on these pages (including fiction, poetry, essays, articles, interviews and opinion pieces) are copyrighted to the original authors and may not be reproduced without permission.




View Page Stats
ARWZ topic RSS feed 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group