Life in progress

Tag Archives: life


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H is for … Horoscopes

Have you ever read a description of the characteristics of someone with your own star sign and said, “That’s ME!”? I have. I actually stood in a book store Astrology aisle for about half an hour, reading a book off the shelf with my mouth agape. At least I think I did – I remember distinctly being avoided by the other patrons of the store. Maybe they thought I’d bite them. According to this book I was reading, I might have. I enjoy doing things for the shock value, just like the book said.

Just imagine what kinds of quirks can be found for fictional characters from of one of these sometimes amazing, almost psychic books. Though it might not be a good idea to take every single characteristic from an astrological sign and use them all, a few here and there don’t hurt.

From http://zodiac-signs-astrology.com/zodiac-signs/aquarius.htm

Aquarius personality is very independent, any attempt to hold them down or restrict them will cause them, to flee. They need to be free to be on their own. Independence is not just desired by Aquarius, it is essential to their well being.

That would be me to a tee. So if I was to write myself into a fictional situation, my character would have a hard time accepting help, for example.

Do you know your character’s birthday? If so, have you checked with the zodiac to see what sort of person they are? If not, you might want to – or even pick a birthday for them even if it’s never mentioned in your story. One way or another, go buy an astrology book or find a website that describes YOU! If it does, it’s probably accurate for your characters too.

Click here: http://lindaghillfiction.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/h-is-for-harry-the-horrible/ for my demonstration of what it looks like when you include horoscope characteristics into your fiction!


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G is for … Greatness

Ah, the dream. I write, I edit, I send my baby out to agents and publishers who will surely snap it up and make it an instant bestseller, and that’s when the fame and fortune starts rolling in.

Suddenly I can’t walk down the street without someone approaching me to ask for and autograph. Actors are calling me at my unlisted number to beg for a juicy part in the upcoming movie based on my book. Life is grand.

But wait. Is it? Is it really?

You want me to do what? Travel around the country doing book-store appearances? Living out of a hotel? Interviews on public television? And… public readings? I can’t read in front of an audience! I was happy sitting in my room behind my computer, half in the can with a bottle of wine! Quick! Somebody grab me my Haagen-Dazs and a spoon. I’m going to hide in the closet!

Is this you? Or is it just me? Because seriously, as much as the money would be nice, it’s not as though I can quit my job and go on the road. My kids are my job – they’re not quittable. I’ve never wanted fame. And I’m sure I’m not the most introverted person on the planet who chose to sit and write books. But does it necessarily have to be part of the package when a novel gets noticed?

I found this on Facebook this morning:

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and it really rings true.

It’s a lot to think about. Are you ready?

 

 
Admittedly, today’s fiction has nothing to do with today’s topic; it’s a day I wouldn’t have otherwise written anything over there. So here it is, the continuation of the A-Z Fiction Story: http://lindaghillfiction.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/g-is-for-great-balls/ Enjoy!


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F is for … Finding Characters

Characters are everywhere. Inspiration can be found for them in both the most obvious places and, at times, from the most unexpected.

Take for example when I was searching for inspiration for my Short Story course: I sat in the food court at the mall, alone, eating my Chinese noodles with chopsticks, (I wonder if I’m a character in someone else’s story?) and I people-watched. I do this as often as I can.

While I was slurping up my noodles, I noticed a thirty-something man, casually dressed, walking with an elderly lady on his arm. The woman was just about ready for a walker, but if she’s anything like my own mother, she probably wasn’t ready to admit it. Plot and conflict came to me instantaneously. All I had to do was look at the man and figure out what his problem might be. He became a guy with a career and a weird fetish. His elderly mother could no longer take care of herself so he was faced with the decision of either living his life the way he wanted to, or looking after his mother. At that moment the short story, “On Loyalty” was born, for which I received a mark of A+.

Settings, for me, are the light bulb that rarely flashes inspiration but when it does, it’s usually brilliant – not me, the light bulb. The main characters in my novel came from an abandoned bicycle (who left it there and where were they going?) and a burned out railroad station (a mad magician takes his kidnap victims there to experiment on making them disappear). I put the two together and ended up with a 214K word novel. The mad magician turned into a good guy, but here you can see where I got the idea from. The train station makes an appearance in the story – fixed up and turned into a night club.

Characters can be found in the strangest places. I think even non-writers get ideas for people they see – it’s part of what we do as human beings when we notice the way people are dressed and listen to the way they talk. Yes, it’s slightly judgmental, but whether or not we comment on it, our brains connect situations from past experience to what we are seeing – like it or not.

Do you ever consciously do it? Do you sometimes make up stories for people you see? And if you’re a writer, what is the weirdest place you’ve found a character for a story?

For the corresponding short fiction on the subject of finding characters, click here: http://lindaghillfiction.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/f-is-for-friends-will-be-friends/


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Random is as Random Does

I love days like this: 6:40pm and I’m still in my pyjamas. I spent most of this glorious day working on my manuscript, refusing to be distracted. I’m flying through it – twenty-three pages in seven hours! At this rate I should be finished by Christmas of 2018. 😛

For anyone who has been reading the story that is developing on my fiction blog through the A-Z Challenge, please note that I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I have no idea where the story is going. In fact, I didn’t even realize there would be a story when I started it. My intention was to write twenty-six short pieces. So if it suddenly veers off in a completely unexpected direction, (with or without squirrels–thanks Paul) that will probably be me either having had a very bad day or winning the lottery. Preferably the latter.

In the interest of keeping this post completely random, here’s some weird snow:

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Photo taken late last week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s warmed up considerably since then (10 degrees today – time to get the shorts out!) so this little squirrel snow-fort is probably gone already.

And last but not least, we had great success with this weekend’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday, picking up a few new participants. Go here: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-514/ and check the comments to make sure you didn’t miss any!

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday (or Monday, depending where in the world you are).

Cheers!


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Just Do It! – Stream of Consciousness Saturday (Do/Don’t)

Just do it. Such simple advice – so why is it so difficult to follow sometimes? I can have a million things I have to do, but when faced with them, I’ll often say, well, maybe I’ll just have a cup of tea first. Or maybe I’ll check my stats, or do this sudoku, or the worse one of all, maybe I’ll just have a bite to eat. Then before I know it, the day has run out and I’ve done nothing but gained weight and the satisfaction of having completed a puzzle.

It’s like the dream I was having last night. I was trying to go somewhere in a hurry, but every time I started to run, my rhythm somehow went off and I veered off into a circle. Don’t ask me how this makes any sense, but I can tell you it was extremely frustrating. At one point I even tried to sing a song, in order to run to the beat of it, but my feet just wouldn’t cooperate with my head. In the end I didn’t make it to where I needed to go.

Just like real life.

Why, oh why do we procrastinate? I’ll think about it while I boil the kettle.

 

This post is part of SoCS. Find this week’s prompt here: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-514/ and join in!

 

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The Rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people will come and read your post! The way to ping back, is to just copy and paste the URL of my post somewhere on your post. Then your URL will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. For example, in your post you can copy and past the following: “This post is part of SoCS: (https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-514/)” The most recent comments will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!


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D is for … Detail

I’ve bemoaned, before, the difficulty I’m having in trying to cut down the length of my manuscript whilst keeping the important little details intact – and at the same time making it readable.  In a much broader sense than the idiom perhaps implies, the devil is in the details.

From http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/devil+is+in+the+detail.html – “When people say that the devil in the detail, they mean that small things in plans and schemes that are often overlooked can cause serious problems later on.”

After letting my ex read the beginning of my novel a couple of weeks ago, I know now that my problems are indeed serious. When we were together he was not only my sounding board, he was the one I wrote to impress, and impress him I did with the details I put into my stories. He told me that they were what drew him in, placed him in the story so that he could feel as though it was going on around him. Two weeks ago, however, the first criticism he gave me was, “Where’s the detail?” I knew I was screwed.

While you might want to scream at me, “He’s your ex, Linda! Of course he’s going to criticize!”, I know he wants me to succeed – and I’m sure it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that if I make millions off this book he won’t have to pay child support. Heh.

So what is detail, and how am I to know the extent to which I should go to add it? I personally don’t like to read a book where every nook and cranny is described; every piece of clothing, or each hair that is blown out of place. I think the most important details are the ones that stimulate the senses.  They say the sense of smell brings the most vivid memories to mind, yet ironically it’s the one I most often forget, and have to insert into a scene after it’s written.

For me, the most efficient way to add detail is to eliminate the passive voice. Just one example and I’ll leave it there – the rest I’ll save for my fiction post.

It was hot and smelly in the kitchen.

vs

The steamy kitchen reeked of wet cat. What were they cooking?

The detail adds to the word count. And yet which would you rather spend time reading?

We’ve discussed it here in the past and the general consensus seemed to be that most people would rather read a longer well-written book than a shorter one that sucked. I agree. It’s why I read Stephen King.

What I’d love to know today is, what kinds of detail do you enjoy? Do you want to know what every character looks like or would you rather use your own imagination? Do you want to know what they’re wearing down to the designer, or is a pair of starched jeans enough to tell you that they go to way too much trouble with their laundry?

 

After you’ve commented, please visit my fiction blog for today’s A-Z installment, to see what I’ve done to demonstrate today’s topic! Find it here: http://lindaghillfiction.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/d-is-for-devil-in-the-details/

Thanks!

 


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One-Liner Wednesday – A Pelican

pelican

Seize the moment.


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B is for … Blogging and the Writer

It’s the on-again, off-again, great blogging debate: why do writers have blogs? In my own experience, my reasoning has evolved, and in a very satisfying way.

At the same time I discovered WordPress, I was told that if I wanted to write and get my name ‘out there,’ I should start a blog. The scariest part was deciding to use my real name; then came deciding what to actually write about. While that particular choice hasn’t evolved much, what I have found as the biggest surprise, is the community here. I got my name out all right – but I hardly have publishers knocking on my door.

There are many different reasons for a writer to blog. My personal favourites are; to build an audience for that eventual bestseller; to keep in the practice of writing, especially while editing; and the best one of all: to have easy access and a (good) excuse to procrastinate, rather than edit the above-mentioned eventual bestseller.

I suppose if I do ever get off my butt and start sending out queries to magazines and the like, I may be able to use this blog as a sample of my work. We all have to start somewhere, and it’s really the age-old question – what do you put on a resume when you have no previous experience? Well, here’s my experience right here. But again, am I just using the blog to procrastinate?

One way or another, the very best part of this whole blogging experience is the wonderful people here on WordPress. Even if I never make it to the bestseller lists, I will always have this great community of people who are as dedicated to writing (and art and photography) as I am.  If I’ve gained anything, it’s the valuable insight and fantastic friendships – and I’m meeting more people every day. What could be better?

It would be interesting to know if your reasons for blogging are the same now as they were when you started.  Are you as surprised as I am at the support you’ve gained here? I know without it, I may just have fizzled out by now – both as a blogger and as a novelist with an erstwhile eventual bestseller.

For the short fiction that goes with this post, please visit my fiction blog here: B is for … Bob the Blogger.

 

 


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The Simplest Things

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click on the photo to see the detail

It’s funny how the simplest, and sometimes the ugliest, things can be made beautiful by nature.

The frost along the edge of these dried leaves captured my attention this morning while I was outside with Alex, waiting for the school bus.

Speaking of Alex and going to school, I thought he would be staying at home today. Yesterday he came home with a little itch on his wrist. No biggie. I couldn’t see anything, and he seemed to forget about it as he got involved in things to do. Then before bed it began to itch again. I encouraged him to ignore it and just go to sleep but he wouldn’t stop scratching. He was miserable.

After listening to him whine in bed for about half an hour, I went back upstairs to see him. He was covered, head to toe, in a red, angry-looking rash. There were bumps and actual weals on his legs, some of which were five inches across. It was horrible! I gave him an anti-histamine and let him sleep on the couch where it was a little cooler.

This morning, when he woke up, he’d forgotten about it. All that was left of the rash was the scratches he inflicted on himself with his fingernails.

The cause, as well as I can theorize, was stress caused by the simple little itch he had on his wrist – which was also gone this morning.

Funny how the simplest things can take on a life of their own, when given a touch of something extra, isn’t it?


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A is for … About

“I’m writing a novel,” I say, with trepidation.

“Really?” they reply. “What’s it about?”

“Well, it’s about a girl who leaves home and meets a magician.”

“Oh. That sounds … nice.”

“But his family has this deep dark secret.”

(Best case scenario.) Their eyebrows lift a notch. “That sounds intriguing!”

(What usually happens because I lost them after the word ‘magician.’) “What? I was paying attention to something else.”

Explaining what your story is about can be the most difficult thing. From what I’ve discovered by experience, it’s even harder than writing a blurb – because at least with a blurb, if someone is going to bother reading it, they’ve probably committed themselves mentally to paying attention to at least two sentences – one more than you’ve got to grab them with in conversation.

Trying to explain what I do, off the top of my head, is never easy. I don’t have a natural gift for talking about myself. That’s why I write. And so I’m thinking that this may be one of the major reasons that it’s not a good idea to talk about being an author at all.

Before I do, however, publish my novel, I’ll be sure to write myself a sentence which I will recite verbatim whenever anyone asks.

For the short fiction that goes with this post, please visit my fiction blog here: A is for … Aarin, the Topless Pirate.