Story soundtracking: The lurv songs

I took Lani Diane Rich's Making Magic and Discovery courses earlier this year. The idea behind "magic" is that you have a Unique You that you bring to work, that makes it original and special, and you need to fuel it before and throughout your writing process. And you can fuel it by watching favorite shows, making collages, making soundtracks etc.

A lot of the advice from these courses were more like affirmations for me than lessons--I naturally began doing this stuff on my own over my past three decades or writing. But it was nice to have someone put a label on this stuff, and say "It's okay spending time watching your favorite movie again... it's not wasting time!" Or to make me feel like I am NOT procrastinating when I work on my soundtrack.

I've had soundtracks for my stories going back to cassette decks. I used to have a row of these mixtapes under my desk. They don't have to correspond to certain characters, or lyrically correspond, they just need to capture the mood. For example the work I've done for my next book (Henry V) has a lot of hip hop and soul attached to it; whereas this book is more acoustic rock.

Here are some of the love songs from the current book:

The original version of this story was a sweet romance. At the same time I was rediscovering Cyndi Lauper, and the great music she's done since the 80s. So this song is from the original soundtrack.

What if all these fears

That we both buy into

Melt away and disappear?

So is this one. And yes, I even like the Rod Stewart version. This is from Robbie Robertson's first solo album after The Band. (He's half Six Nations Mohawk.)

I wanna come when you call

I'll get to you if I have to crawl

My heroine is Mohawk, and hero is French-Canadian, so here's my Mixed Race Song. (LOVE this song, so pretty.) Dating a white person is a huge deal in some aboriginal communities, cause it can affect the official status of your children, your ability to live on the reserve etc. (Isn't Kevin Michael adorable?)

It don't make any difference to me

What the world thinks about us baby

Cause in my heart I will always believe

That we were meant for each other

I love the music here, so beautiful. I like how she's playing with the idea of "selling out"--putting it in the context of a love song, making it sound positive. Cause to date the white guy my heroine's gonna have to sell out... right? We'll see. ;-)

I'm out on a limb

And I'm giving in

I'm selling out I won't fight you no more

...If you ever need love songs for your soundtracks, man... apply to me. I own SO MANY. 

I'm gonna sit right here and

Tell you all that comes to me

If you have something to say

You should say it right now

Getting Crafty! Studying story structure

So. In May I wrote 62 000 words of my book--I'm aiming for about 80 000. But I had to stop because I just don't know who my antagonist is. It could be my heroine herself, but there are some other possibilities. Just have to figure out which one will be best, create the most Conflict! Ta-da! La-la!

“‘The cat sat on the mat’ is not the beginning of a story, 

but ‘the cat sat on the dog’s mat’ is.” —John Le Carré

I decided to just put it aside for a bit, and study structure. I bought Lani's structure lecture, and I've done all my homework. I'm listening to both the Storywonk podcasts (author Lani Diane Rich and her husband talking about what makes for good storytelling) and the Popcorn Dialogues (Lani and author Jennifer Crusie analyzing films for good storytelling.) I'm watching more of the movies watched on Popcorn Dialogues, and applying the Lani structure to them. Bla bla bla analyze analyze analyze.

I'm also reading a couple books on writing, including my latest fave: The Modern Library's Writer's Workshop, written by a guy ran Columbia U's creative writing program. In his section on revision he has some interesting advice:

Write out a summary of your story. And then keep writing out other summaries, changing the way it's told: "Change the beginning, change the ending, shift points of view and perspectives. Keep each summary short [not more than 3000 words] and try never to devote more than a day's work to any one of them. ...you are testing the possibilities. ...When you are fully satisfied, you will have a map for your second draft."

So that's kind of what I've been doing. Tweaking something, and then trying to retell the story, see if it works better or worse.

He also advises complete rewrites when making new drafts, which another writing teacher advised in another very good book: A Passion for Narrative. This latter guy said that among the students whose work was published or won awards/contests, they were more often the rewriters.

I've always just worked over the first draft, albeit several times. But this time my second draft will be a complete rewrite, and I think that's why I wrote so many words in May. There's an expression my brother shared with me: "Write for the trash can." When you know the first draft is only the primordial soup from which your story will crawl, it doesn't have to be neat, it can be experimental, you can shift POVs, you can cut a character and not go back to erase him, you can just write and let the ideas come at you. You can let your inner pantser pants.

Anyway, I'm happy with my (not even finished!) trash can draft. But now I've got to figure out what's gonna crawl out of it.
   
 

Random Neural Meepings

I wrote a sad-sack catch-you-up post yesterday. I don't think I'll post it.

 Minion sitting on me yesterday when I wrote my sad sack post.


Instead, some random neural firings...

* Enjoying my Storywonk class: Making Magic. (I've linked to the cache cause I think they're updating the page now that the class has begun.) Did I mention this class? Lani Diane Rich gives this and another class called Discovery that are related, and that focus on writing aspects not usually covered in books and courses. I paired up with another Betty and got the classes half price. Making Magic is about filling the inspiration tank before you start writing, so that the whole thing flows, you hit less dry spots. Eg. Having a soundtrack of about 20 songs that represent your characters, setting etc., that you can listen to both when planning the book, and if you stall out while writing it.

So that's what I've been working on this week, on and off. Well, I've always had soundtracks--you may have noticed I listen to a lot of music. ;-) But I hadn't yet collected a lot of music for this one. Just general atmospheric--pow wow music, francophone songs, etc. But now I'm trying to pin stuff down, and at the same time pin down my protagonists. My heroine remains elusive. I hates her.

By the way, Writers' Digest sells their back issues as digital downloads (and print of course). Thought I'd mention that for the writers out there. I had a good issue from the library and didn't want to scan the whole stupid thing--just bought it instead.

* Watched Palm Beach Story. It was entertaining, but terribly plotted. What was Preston Sturges thinking? lol

* I'm finally going to get a cell phone. Can you believe it? I've always told people: The idea that I can be reached at all times horrified me! But only a prepaid one. I'm not that committed yet.

* I'm going off Topomax, so I won't have anything to blame Life on anymore. I'm down from 6 pills to 2 and pretty happy about it. It didn't make a big difference to my headaches, and it's had the worst side effects of anything I've tried. They would have been tolerable if they had a big result on my headaches, but otherwise they stank. The fatigue was terrible. I was taking 4 pills before bed, and 2 during the day. And even before taking the day ones, I was ready to go back to bed after 9 hours of sleep.

...On the bright side, I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I missed that last night when I had a lot on my mind. Most of my life it's taken my an hour min. to fall asleep, and now I've got to re-adapt! Huff. Elavil (which I'm still on) used to put me to sleep, but I guess my body's used to it. However, better that than Rip Van Winkleism.

What I'm really looking forward to is NO MORE PINS AND NEEDLES in my feet! Holy mother of a sainted dog that was driving me out of my frikking mind!!! I couldn't leave my foot in the same position more than 5 minutes without getting the nastiest p&n you can imagine. I'd taken to wearing crocs all the time

because the bumpy soles helped the p&n go away, but I hate wearing sandals all the time, and it didn't prevent them, just made it less severe. (I even got p&n in my knee caps. That is the weirdest feeling.) And what was I going to do in winter? I was planning to order croc liners for my slippers, that's what. But that's still cold. >:-(

* Visited with friend Onthatmidnightstreet, who was in town. One of my few in-life writer friends, so she's that's one reason she's fun to talk to. Also, she's very funny. And we had zee girl talk. Not the goofy frivolous kind, but... well, we try to keep our senses of humor even as we moan about terrible weather conditions (cf. The Brönte Sisters, below.)

* Finally finished the first book of Louise Rennison's new teen series. Her first series--about a British teen who can't dampen her loud personality and just has to learn to appreciate it, and her insane cat, and insane little sister--was brilliant. Funniest thing I'd read in ages. This series has a less eccentric heroine, and there was no plot for the first half of the book, so it was slow. But in the second half she starts finding herself as an artist and the book flew by with the usual Rennison speed. Once again the theme is about accepting one's own oddness, of which I approves.

It takes place at an arts school in Yorkshire, so there's lots of good Yorkshire jokes, including a moody boy named Cain (cause it's the moors, there has to be a moody boy). I don't usually root for the bad boys, but he's hilarious, I hope she ends up with him. He's in a band of course and sings songs like "Shut Up, Mardy Bum" (mardy bum is my favorite new expression), and "Girlfriend in the River, I Know, I Know It's Really Serious."

I decided I am going to really observe Cain and base my Heathcliff on him.

...Cain hit the microphone. He kicked the stand. He pointed at people. He even kicked Bob's special speaker with "Wizard" written on it. Bob went and stood by it with a broom.

At the end, Cain came forward and said huskily, "That's it, leave us alone."

...And then they all went off fighting.

Amazing.

From the book's glossary: The Brönte Sisters - Em, Chazza and Anne. ... They wrote Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and loads of other stuff about terrible weather conditions and moaning.  dunderwhelp - A polite Yorkshire way of saying: "You are an absolute disgrace of a person. Look at your knees."


* Connie Willis won the Hugo award. Her 11th. She won the Nebula earlier this year, and the Hugo is the fan voted one (these are the two top sci fi fantasy awards.) She's a history nut, but also a total sci fi geek, completely versed in the classics. When I went to Worldcon (the big convention, which was luckily held in Montreal one year) a photographer (and Neil Gaiman-Amanda Palmer buddy) was taking photos of science fiction fantasy fans. And she presented herself at his booth! She's lovely.

My hubby made me get a picture with her, cause I would have been too shy to ask without him. You see the stunned look on my face? (My t-shirt is from my brother, it says: Chewie is my Co-pilot.)

From the Guardian:

Connie Willis's gripping portrait of London during the Blitz has won the American author a remarkable 11th Hugo award.

Willis's two-volume time travel sequence, Blackout and All Clear, was voted winner of science fiction's most prestigious prize by members of the World Science Fiction Society. With 10 Hugos already to her name, Willis beat a female-heavy shortlist which also featured Lois McMaster Bujold, Mira Grant and NK Jemesin, with British author Ian McDonald the only male writer in the running. Her win means the Hugo best novel prize has now been won by a female writer 16 times in 57 years.

Opening with a quote from TS Eliot's Four Quartets, "History is now and England", Willis traces the stories of a group of time-travelling historians from Oxford. Polly goes to London, to evaluate the lives of shopgirls during the Blitz, Mike to Dunkirk, Merope to the countryside to observe evacuees. Armed with their future knowledge of when and where bombs will fall, they should be entirely safe – but then, one by one, they discover they are unable to travel back to the future. "It's hard to know what to praise more," wrote the Washington Post about Blackout. "Every detail rings true. Still, all of Willis's knowledge is subsumed in her bravura storytelling: Blackout is, by turns, witty, suspenseful, harrowing and occasionally comic to the point of slapstick." In May this year, the novels also won Willis her seventh Nebula award.

"I consider you all my family," she told the convention of science fiction authors and fans. "You have welcomed me into your hearts from the time when I was very young and you have been nothing but kind and accepting and supportive of me through my entire career and my life. I can't think of a better place to have spent my life and I am so happy about this."

Discovering discovery writing

It's interesting when you see something you do in your own writing process, and then someone else puts a label on it. Here's a course given by Lani Diane Rich/Lucy March (the writer who started the Betty-o-land community I'm part of):

Discovery Writing

How often have you gotten a critique back, or given one out, in which the advice was to cut the first three chapters? There's a reason for this phenomenon. There is a phase in writing called Discovery, in which the writer becomes familiar with their work, their world, their characters, their story.

As a result, they end up writing work that isn't quite right for the book, weighing early chapters down with infodump, backstory, and inconsistent characterization. By honoring your Discovery process, and setting aside time to write with abandon scenes and vignettes that won't be part of the book, you end up strengthening the book in the end.

In the Discovery Writing class, Lani will lead you through the writing techniques that will help you get to know your characters, find your voice for this story, settle your POV, and write your provisional opening scene, all while building a strong foundation so that when you're ready to start writing for the book, you can open with a bang.

If I wasn't having to watch my pennies I'd take the course, or at least the related one in September. But it's too late for me anyway, because I'm deep in this phase now. But I've never heard anyone articulate it--I wonder if she and her husband (who does a lot of the Storywonk instructionals with her) plan to write a writing "how to" book specifically focused on it. Wouldn't be surprised. 

I'd also like to take the course to toss her and her hubs some support! I'll do the next best thing and encourage everyone else to take her courses, cause I suspect she's a very good teacher. Her blog writing is very clear and inspiring.

I really experienced the Discovery concept when working on my next novel, because for my last few Nanowrimos that's what I did--instead of trying to write actual work, I just wrote nonpublishable faux writing. "Discovery writing." It was fantastic, I got tons of ideas, discovered my characters, cut some, added, understood the tone I wanted, etc.--all the stuff she talks about.


Which is why for this book I've been contemplating writing a very very rough first draft, and not even writing the book all the way through. Just writing the first third of the book maybe, and then stopping. See what that generates, what ideas it gives me, and then starting fresh. 

I wanted to know more about the Discovery idea so I looked for a Storywonk podcast on the topic and found this one. Lani and Alistair argue that watching TV shows and movies and reading is part of filling your personal creativity tank and figuring out your personal style in this stage, which confirms this is the stage I'm in right now. 

I've mostly been resisting TV series recommendations from other people, and just rolling around in the stuff I feel the need to watch, whether it's rewatching a Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors, or a Marx Brothers movie or Bringing Up Baby. And I'm reading 7 books at once, plus JJJ's Hungry Ghosts, plus I'll be starting another graphic novel soon. The creative side of my brain is very hyperactive right now. So I'm pretty sold on this novel discovery idea. No idea when it'll stop though! Ack! Some other things (good things) have derailed my attention at the moment.


Les films:

Les books: These first ones were chosen for non-mynovel reasons. By the way, my French Practicing is coming along well. My written French still needs work, but my spoken is really coming back to me--I was tested recently and to my relief it went well. ;-)

The ones I've since started relate in some way to me discovering/soak up/reflecting upon sense of humor and tone for my novel. Rich just re-released two books and I wanted to finally try her out.

About the various employees/owners of an English language paper in Rome. Just started but I like the characters right away. I like books with various characters/storylines. Communities. Very well written.

Total random pick up at the library. About a family with a complete evil mother, whom the father finally leaves, and how he starts a new life away from her. Sort of pedestrian but the characters are charming.

The new Rennison! Hard to top the Georgia character cause she was the classic dumb narrator, but it's good so far. No cat character alas, but there is a nasty big owl, and freaky child characters who just may rival Georgia's little sister (this time it's twin boys). And her Yorkshire setting is fantastic--the kind of setting where the setting is a character. But a comedy character!








       

The Betty-sized Hole in My Soul?

I don't think I've mentioned my stovetop method for Big Decision Making. If I'm wondering about big things like "should we get a house" "should I return to school" I imagine taking out a pot, making up a House Dish, and setting it to cook. Sometimes I'm actively working on it--adding ingredients, stirring--and other times it's sitting on a backburner, just simmering. Once in awhile I take off the lid to see if it's ready, or if it needs more time. If I let big decisions take their own sweet cooking time, I don't regret them. (I can only think of one example where a dish was ready, I ignored its readiness, and it burned.) Here's a story about one of those decisions.

THE CHURCH BURNER
In 1997 I wasn't renominated to the Board of Directors of our wee church. I was the only young person on it (23) and one of the only women. I was disappointed cause I loved doing it, but I decided it just meant I was not the vision the deacons and elders had for the church. (To this day Fernando's convinced it's because he had breakfast with one of the deacons and told him that we loved the Howard Stern show--which we did. lol.)

I know I was still attending a bit in 1997, but it was just because the people were absolutely wonderful. Warm, generous, kind, beautiful people. But I was no longer learning. It was like reaching the end of your university degree where you start getting bored. And since I didn't agree with most Christians' beliefs about homosexuality, abortion, women ministers and so forth, I couldn't be authentic. I could love people, care, joke, and listen; but I couldn't talk about my real ideas.

So with no bitterness I moved on. I had long intellectual conversations with my buddies, and I decided that would be good enough until one day either some kind of church, or small group, would enter my life again. I'd know it when I saw it. In the meantime there's really only two people two whom I fully express my spiritual beliefs, and that's my friend Maewitch, and my dad. My dad is a very intelligent and open-minded Christian so I don't even feel like I'm missing challenging Christian conversations in my life; what I've been looking to replace is a community of like-minded, spiritual, growth-oriented people, to support each other, share ideas with, care about.


TWO WEEKS AGO
Flash forward to two weeks ago. Fernando's sister was visiting. She was telling me about a church she finally found that she LOVES, and it's very near where I live, so I was intrigued. I thought... hmm... maybe this is a sign... (cause all these years I've had my little feelers out, ready for a sign.)

But then she said their service is Sunday in the morning, and I thought, no. Emphatically no. There is no way that the church that I Am Meant To Be With will involve mornings. I'm not even being silly here.

But then she said they were starting up an evening service. Oh hmm interesting. She was very enthusiastic about the minister, about the people.

Then she mentioned the name of the church, which included the word "baptist pentecostal"* and I remembered the reason why I don't want to be a part of any mainstream church, unless it's one of these nice liberally ones that's into gay marriage. (Which is not to say that I judge Penguin--she's not against gay marriage.)

So no, not the sign I was looking for, after all.

After Penguin left, little thoughts were bouncing around in my head.

Fernando had been playing Warcraft all this time. I told him my thought about her church, and how it had almost seemed like a sign, but no.

He said: "It seems to me that The Betties are the church you've been looking for."

And I said: "You just read my mind."


WHAT A SNEAKY POT!
And like all decisions when you properly follow the stovetop method, it hardly felt like a decision at all. I had chosen the church without choosing a church. Let us review the requirements...

TIME: They're on the internet so I can "talk" to them whenever I want, and in any case a surprising number are up all night like myself (plus some are in the UK and Australia etc.)

DOCTRINE: There are a lot of Betties, so there may be Betties who don't believe in gay marriage; but the subset who blog a lot, and whom I therefore interact with the most, are generally a liberal, anti-racist, pro-LGBT, feminist gang.

GROWTH: Besides the occasional Christianish-type, there are lots of atheists, agnostics, witches, buddhists, and so on.  This is the mix I like. Most people I know are atheists so I like this better balance of beliefs, it's how I add to my core beliefs. I've read Siddhartha, Walden and Ayn Rand because of friends, and in future will be reading an oracle deck, a buddhist book, and a Starhawk title because of Betties. (Okay the Starhawk is from old friend Maewitch, but she introduced me to Jennifer Crusie, so she's my Alpha Betty.)

AUTHENTICITY: Betties have strong opinions, but they create safe zones where you can have a breakdown, be snarky, be shmoopy, talk about sex, express your fears, talk about mental illness, rant about what angers you, get offended, apologize, and send out "fairy god betty vibes" when someone's life takes a nosedive. Things get real, real fast. And then they usually get silly.

GOALS: The general cut and thrust of conversation--beyond the daily bread--is about trying to be good people, finding our ways through life, helping each other out, and spiritual growth, however that's defined in each person's life.

OTHER Since the Betties originated in the fandom of Jennifer Crusie and Lani Diane Rich (Lucy March) there's a preponderance of writers and readers, which makes it a particularly well-suited community for me. There's a LOT more worship for bacon than a nice vegan girl like myself can take (facepalm) almost every last Betty owns a rescued cat or dog. Finally, snarky humor is allowed--thankfully cause it's written in my DNA. And if you offend someone, there's room for apologies. There's also a patented word for dispensing unwanted advice "assvice" which is good, cause it's another bad habit of mine. But giving each other assvice is a general Betty trait, so at least I'm with my peeps.

There's also a maturity level that you just don't get in all communities, off or online, which is why I've never been able to bring myself to join a vegan community. There are many vegan individuals who I lurv; but I've been part of a fundamentalist church once in my life, and I won't go there again, not for the rightest of causes. The Betties are not fundamentalists. They are first and foremost compassionate--towards people, animals, and the planet. And experienced enough to have learned that drawing the balance between those three, while still protecting one's own life balance, is always going to be a flawed and humbling journey.

And so... Miss Mabel is officially removing one pot from the stove. This baby is cooked! (Mmmm babies. Better than bacon.)

 

______________

* Oops - correction added May 26th, after I saw my sister-in-law again. I'd forgotten what kind of church it was when I wrote this. Oh those Christian churches... they all look alike to me. ;-)