Short break... and then...

Started writing back stories that I may or may not use in the book at some point, or only infer to it. It's been hard to make inferences when I don't even have the subject quite straight in my head. So, in writing it all out, I not only get the kinks worked out, but also it solidifies things so that I don't forget what the facts are and have inconsistencies. So that I don't say, "Old so and so, who is from the south land..." when the reader looks up in puzzlement and says, "But I thought old so and so was from the north land."
Which often happens when one's short term memory take a small vacation. Or runs away completely... to which I have to call it back with much cajoling and many treats.
I finally got my hands on the latest Harry Potter book, Deathly Hallows, but my son spotted it and is now plowing neatly through it. He's quite the reader when he gets interested in something.
Anyway, back to backstories, I realize that in finally working out the back stories, I will have to rewrite the first chapter. But I think it will all be worth it.
Strangely enough, I've come to love the process of writing and story crafting, and not just be champing for the finish.

Whew... need a break.

Having the opposite problem for now, doing too much. I'm feeling rather drained, mentally. Added 45 pages to my manuscript, which puts it at 63319 words. This was not a NaNoWriMo novel, it is a series of fragmented scenes that need to be properly knitted together. So, it isn't word count I'm all that concerned with, but making a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Because this was begun such a long time ago, before I really knew how to knit a story together, it was not created with the methods I use with new stories every year at NaNoWriMo. I did wonder at one point why I didn't write new stories at any other time of the year, and that is due to not having enough time or energy to do more than I'm doing now. I have so much on my plate, right now, writing-wise, and the real life monster has been gnawing at my ankles again.
My son is almost ready to graduate high school, and he took a course for spring semester at the local community college that requires him to go to class for three hours in the morning, twice a week. On top of finishing his high school requirements. He's also looking to get his driver's license, which requires jumping through more hoops for insurance and such. And we're down to one car, and I hope that in his navigating the morning commute that nothing happens to him or the car... because otherwise he'll be having to take public transit.
*pauses for a moment*
I'm a worry wort at times, but life experience has shown that Murphy's Law is alive and well. Ah well. I resign myself to such a fate as this life has seen fit to provide. :)

Slogging on, and occasional dancing.

Right now, the progress on this book is quite satisfactory. I've made great progress by changing the beginning of the Fall from Azren confronting his meddlesome cousin, to the point of view of a young woodcutter's son whom Azren encounters several years earlier, and the information this youth had that would ultimately change the destiny of the entire country. From this innocent bystander's POV, the reader is better introduced to Azren's ways and character, and sets up the story's main plot. I'd say the next chapter will have Azren confronting his cousin, who is a member of the Council, and the disaster that happens afterward, that goes in Azren's favor. While it does create hardship for the main character, he is propelled into his mission in such a way that there is no turning back. And yes, while his best friend, former Patrol partner Atero (Frenet's husband) hunts him down, and another disaster causes tragedy and irretrievable setbacks for Azren, it also causes him to gain another strategic advantage. The Trade Route is destroyed by a severe earthquake, and so are parts of the boundary walls. This weakens Anyat's economy and causes further unrest among its citizens. Which plays into Azren's hands.
This took me years to work out, and it's all finally coming together. The jigsaw pieces are starting to form a clear picture. And so I am inspired once again.

A case of the winds... of change. ;)

Having made some changes in how I navigate around the net, I've started this blog to post thoughts and what kind of progress I've made with my manuscripts. And anything else I can think of in a stream of consciousness sort of format. If you want to call it that... and so grammar and what not goes out the window when the right side of my brain takes over.

I had an interesting dream last night, I dreamed, or dreamt, that I was hanging around with some fellows from Mirage, a publishing company. They were not necessarily good at publishing, but instead were better at drawing and writing stories, similar to what I do, only they have done so with more degree of success. Yet the message I got was that our capabilities were generally the same.
One of the men who worked there, who had long, blond hair and dark plastic rimmed glasses like from the 50's and 60's, was arranging a shelf in their store, (it looked like a grocery store, interestingly enough) which carried all the products they have licensed, and even produced a CD of the music they liked to listen to while working. I really wanted one of those CDs, but when I asked the guy to help me, he started getting into a snit about something, and started weeping. He said he was overloaded, wasn't cut out to stock shelves, and his workload was backed up. He wasn't cut out for administrative work.
Another guy, who looked a lot like Steve Murphy, came over and listened to his grievances. He kept trying to convince him to keep going, because he was doing good work. The fellow in the long hair and glasses kept shaking his head, and then I woke up asking him the question,"What is your forte? What do you excel in? That is where your worth lies. The rest is just a job. Don't let it eat you up."
Hm. Interesting thought to begin the day...

I have been discussing my book Fall of the Onyx with my kids, (which I'm revising and arranging the content for the final time before retyping the manuscript, the next revision will be editing for spelling, etc) and in the telling sometimes one can work out plot snags. I should do that more often. Talk into a tape recorder, or something. I have a couple lying around... I should be using them. This book is complicated. But I have so much to tell, and there's probably about 4 subplots going. One is a flashback, the other are from different characters' P.O.V. You know, that "meanwhile, back at the ranch" sort of things a majority of novels have.
Since my short term memory is not the best, it's a bit difficult to remember who was doing what before the next thing happens, so in telling the story in synopsis in an audio form, it helps give my memory a jump start and get back into the cadence of the story. I think it also helps when you haven't been working on the book for a bit, and when it's hard to get going on it, and regain momentum and enthusiasm.
Plus having a 3 ring binder with plenty of colored tabs and such for notations and page markers.
I need to get a laptop holder, and a portable, adjustable side table so that I'm not hunched over when it comes time to revise the manuscript on the computer. I've getting hunchbacked, and this isn't helping matters any.