A mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam

I never realized how much a plot, even when it's all structured and figured out, can change while writing. Poli Sci originally focused a lot more on the Urchins and their whole underground world. Originally, the whole build to the climax had stuff going on with them and the government and it was all very neat; right now, that bulk of that subplot's been abandoned.

It's funny, because it wasn't really a conscious decision, so much as one that just came up mid-writing. Adelaide's character comes through in her voice; we don't need to see her running around being a leader of a group of nameless characters to boot. It's clutter. I'm confident now that I've got a strong plot-hole free plot that's interesting. Well, I mean it's interesting for me to write, so hopefully that translate to being interesting to read.

I've got a title for my presentation now,and have started to put it together. The actual powerpoint's little more than images and some reminders of things I should mention at some point, so once it's assembled, it's a matter of practicing the timing on said presentation. I've got some really cool stuff in there related to world building (why yes, I did draw a map of the country) and am looking into incorporating some sort of visual reference for what my writitng process actually looks like.

I know I definitely want to talk about the weird stuff that happens with the actual writing: the random recurring things, the plot fixes, the subplot drops, the fact that sometimes you plot something too dark and it kicks you in the stomach to write. They're the things I didn't expect to happen and, when they did, I needed to remind myself that I could (well ... can ... I'm still writing, technically) edit later. I also want to talk about how no matter how confident you can are in your plot and characters, when it actually comes time to write, there's still a chance you do it with an internal vote of no-confidence.

Were it not for Simone being willing to listen to me prattle on, a free copy of the aforementioned "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and "Blood" by the Middle East, I would be having a much bigger panic attack than I am.

Writing through writer's block is not only really really difficult, but it's nerve-wracking to boot. There's a fear that, because you feel off your game, your writing's off it's game. No matter how many times I construct and reconstruct sentences, hell, even whole paragraphs, there's a real anxiety to it. At this point, I've tried to suppress my inner editor a bit so I can at least finish getting my plot outline turned into plot. I've got mid-March into mid-April to edit, but at the same time, I don't want to set myself up with entire sections that need to be completely scrapped (if that's at all avoidable).

I'm doing another influences post, because otherwise I'm going to post a rant about things that are getting under my skin at the moment. They're unrelated to this afternoon, which was awesome and actually very productive (once Simone and I realized that we needed not to talk about art direction in video games).

(  'I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave.' - The Things They Carried, page 172 )

I figured it might be interesting to go into some of the writers who've influenced me, directly or not. This is a sort of essay, so I'll hide it behind a cut.

( Rod Serling )

The quote is totally irrelevant, but the icon isn't. Today, after years of searching, I finally bought my 1940s Remington Typewriter. I found it in this tiny secondhand shop down in Bethany Beach, DE for forty bucks and after assuring myself that (a) it worked, (b) I could get ribbons for the thing, and (c) I was going to kick myself in the ass until the end of time if I didn't get it, I bit the bullet. I'm thrilled; I've always wanted a Remington. It's door number three with writer's block, in addition to being a very cool desk item.

Unfortunately, I can't take it in the house and try it right away as my dad isn't actually aware that I bought it, and would be less than thrilled to hear. Both he and my mom remember typing school papers on typewriters (though not Remingtons) and were glad to see them fall by the wayside. Whereas mom's attitude was "well, you've wanted it for so long, you might as well buy it now," dad will have a canary.

Still, YAY typewriter!

On a slightly more WISE-related note, I'm about to type up my (hopefully final) plans for my project to Mr. Murphy and then get back to working on Poli Sci, The except was officially received by the zine, so we'll see how that goes.

[ETA: According to what I've looked up, the typewriter dates from between May 1938 and April 1941. It was one of the last models before production stopped for the duration of WWII. Among its fans were Tennessee Williams and Roy Rogers. Given that, according to Fabbs, I basically am Maggie the Cat incarnate, I think it's pretty cool.]

Weird writing quirks:

-It's easier to write when I'm not home. Over the summer, I had originally planned to go down to the Barnes and Noble in Union Square and hang out in the cafe and write once a week. A whole mess of things happened that prevented that, including but not limited to the fact that my mom was (and is) deeply uncomfortable with me going into Manhattan alone. I can't really say I blame her; I mean, she's my mom. She's going to be leery about that, especially when she was working in New Jersey.

Obviously with what's happened, I've had to learn to adjust and work around the issue. I've picked up other ways to work around writer's block, and stolen some from other writers (thanks, Cat!). Still, much easier to write when I'm not where I spend the majority of my time.

-I switch between writing the old fashioned way and keyboarding, usually when I hit a bump with one medium or the other. I have two usual notebooks for it, though one is technically a sketchbook. Why two? Because I constantly misplace one. How I manage this in my house is beyond me; it's the world's least useful talent.

-If I write in a notebook, I avoid black ink or pencil.

-I like having visual references; I remember stumbling on pictures of Lodz, Poland and being like "Yes, that is EXACTLY what my city looks like." Simone is actually doing her AP Art concentration on stuff from Poli Sci and putting together the picture reference packet for her was the easiest thing I've done.

-I always have music on when I write. I'm not a kid who's ever done well with silence (or nap time or boredom, but those are different stories), so music's pretty much essential. I feel sort of odd about it, as it makes me feel like Stephenie Meyer, which for many many reasons, is a comparison I don't want to make.

My experience with academic writing in the past week:

->Write honest eloquent paper that you are proud of, or at least as proud as you can get about an academic paper: be told you interpreted the work wrong and that your expressed views are small minded.

->Write crappy BS paper about topic that you only care about in relation to preparing for the AP; put no effort forth; barely remember to use commas and spellcheck; ignore your failure to draw a meaningful conclusion: be lavished with praise.

Sometimes, irony is not my friend.

If you want to scare someone, and I mean really deeply freak them out, write about things that aren't far out of the realm of possibility. Write about things that have happened in other countries happening here in the US. That's what'll fester: not creepy images or buckets of blood or superflus.