To Dream, Perchance to Come Up With a Plausible Flippin' Conflict!

I thought I was set: cool premise, interesting characters, a heroine, a couple of heroes, a villain. Bwahahahaha! I have a story! Then I read Kristen Lamb's post: Little Darlings &; Why They Must Die...For Real. http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/little-darlings-why-they-must-die-for-real-2/

My bright bulb of a brain dimmed a bit. I had lots of cool things, sure, sure I did, but no flipping conflict! Oh, yeah, maybe: gee-I like him-but I also-like him, conflict. Which isn't conflict at all, it's being conflicted, and sure won't carry a story and especially not written like that. I was just like one of the people who, when asked what their story's about, goes on and on about mythology and she knows this but doesn't know that and he thinks this but is really a werewolf and an angel -- see, see how cool that is? No.

So, I went back to the beginning. Of creation. Seriously. The mythology that I'm using for my premise and basing my characters on has many, many conflicts. Reading through the myths, I thought about how I could keep their core, yet turn them on their side. I started asking what-ifs.

I love what-ifs.

What if heroine's attracted to hero (also another guy).
What if they both attend the same extraordinary boarding school -- proximity.
And, what if she finds out he's the one responsible for her parents' death AND the only way to possibly avenge her parents' death, is with a weapon -- an ancient artifact, that only she can wield.
And what if said artifact has been stolen by a Mad Genius.
And what if she has to work with hero to retrieve artifact in order to save the world.

Here you are Madame, your bucket of conflict coming right up.
I don't know that I've ever come up with the conflict before I was finished with the first chapter -- I know! I would write not knowing what would happen. I've left lots open, so I'll still have the freshness as I write -- like how in the hell am I going to get the hero out of this mess.

Thank you muses. And thank you Kristen Lamb.

Have you serendipitously read or saw something that shifted your view point?

Hot Rock

http://store.samhainpublishing.com/carolina-pearl-p-6160.html

Every once in a while my life becomes crazy. Busy crazy. I'll have three books I'm reading -- usually two in print and one audio -- one book I'm brainstorming, and one I'm editing. And did I mention baseball? Traveling baseball. And a full time job. And a husband. So, sometimes, I want a beginning, a middle, and a/n (happy) ending with less of a time commitment.

I want it now. All now. And, by golly, I got it with this fantastic gem of a novella by Sela Carsen, "Carolina Pearl." Werewolves, ghosts, legends, and a bastard son. Yes, please and thank you!

I started to write out a synopsis of this delightful book, but realized, I hate writing synopsis and the one attached to the link is great.

Sela Carsen's, Carolina Pearl is an interactive book, seriously. I was either laughing out loud, or fanning myself. Everything plays out perfectly, nothing's rushed -- hard thing to do in under 60 pages -- The sexual tension (and release) between Blair and Conn is spot on. And on. Sorry. Sela packs a full story in this compact container and it lacks nothing.

Read this novella -- and then read her other ones too. Really.

Royalty Schmoyalty -- I'm Queen!

Ahem, Her Majesty, Queen Amy Pippa Kennedy Fossenton of Bloomingtonford!

Yes, that's me. Destined to be queen -- I knew it. And now I'm vindicated. Except, except I would rather be a princess. I mean, Princess Pippa does have a ring to it, yes? Although she sounds like a precosious 4 year old and not a rascally 52 year old. Dang.

Here's the thing:in fiction, princesses get to have the adventures, queens get to be wicked and set the rules -- sounds way too much like real life.

See, when I could have been a princess, I didn't realize the excellent adventures I could have. I was limited by my own young, uninformed brain. Now, that I've lived life and understand all that is open to princesses, I'm not deemed princess material -- I'd like a do over.

That's not going to happen. So I can't have princess adventures, alright, well, I set the rules (remember?) so I can totally bend them -- don't want to be a dowager before I see that I could have been having these other adventures as queen, but didn't see it until I had become olderish...sheesh.

It could have become a viscious circle, but now it's a Crown. A bright shiny crown. Anytime is the right time for adventures. Adventures aren't just for princesses, they're for queens too. Even wicked ones.

What's your new adventure going to be?

Sunshine, Lollipops, and Bludgeoning Everywhere...

"What are we watching?" my husband asks.
"The Killing," I say.
He gives me the look, yeah, that one, and says, "You know, for someone who's all bunnies and rainbows you tend to go to the dark side...a lot. Why do you like this stuff?"

A valid question. And a true statement. I'm not dark...but, I love dark. Really, really dark. Don't get me wrong, I read and watch funny and light too. Yet sometimes, I don't just want the protagonist to be brooding, I want them broken. One of my favorite series features a serial killer as the protagonist.

Yeah. Dark. Maybe if a person's all rainbows, she needs some gore to even it all out.

You'd think with all that dark-love, I'd be writing it too...well, you'd be wrong. I've tried, and everytime I tried to write dark, some character cracked a joke, or smirked, or kvetched. Seriously. My characters would rather die laughing, than snear as they kill someone.

I used to try to fight it, hadn't I learned not to fight the me that is me? I keep re-learning that lesson. So, now I know, I write light. And that's okay. It's a balance, right?

Please tell me you have opposites in your personality too. And then tell me what they are.

Tracker Jacker

There is something in me that hates keeping track. I'm part of a writing loop group -- which is, suprisingly, nothing like a loup garou -- we keep track of each day we meet our writing goals, once we hit 100 days in a row there is great rejoicing in the land and such.

I have never hit 100 days -- I'm sure I've done it, but I won't keep track. Can't keep track -- I've tried calenders using stickers, and smiley faces, and well, I've tried those two things...and I can't keep track. When I try to keep track I stop writing.

So, I've decided to embrace it. Which is what I do when I can't get rid of an annoying thing about myself, or others -- I embrace it. I seem to write more consistently when I don't keep track (kind of like a diet, when I say I'm going on a diet, I crave the donuts!)

It's almost as if I have to trick myself into things. If I don't think about writing, or having to keep track of writing -- I write. The minute I set up a schedule and put times on a calender, I may as well turn on the TV and veg. 'Cause, nothing's getting done.

I can trick myself into getting an inordinant amount of stuff done. If I don't schedule them or prepare for them, I just do them. Sounds ridiculously easy. And it is. I trick myself into exercising by staying in my PJs and not thinking about it -- sometimes the preparation for something makes my brain think it's actually done it. Stupid brain.

What do you trick yourself into doing?

Span(gles) of Attention

I joke about having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) a lot, yet I know it's not a deficit at all -- in fact, it's the opposite, more of a plethora of attention. And I'd prefer it to be called a theory rather than a disorder, but, I suppose chaos theory would be too much, right?

So, here I am with Attention Plethora disorder, thinking about all my interests which are legion. I write, not always well, but I like to consider myself a "writer," I garden, I make jewelry, I sew (sort of). My interests are varied. Ah, Varied Attention Plethora Disorder.

I'm thinking lots of creative (and I hate to lump myself in with that moniker, only because I would never say, "I'm a creative type." But, what are you gonna do?)folk have lots of other creative interests and maybe get waylaid by them.

Sometimes I dream of having all my interests surrounding me in a tangable way. I could leave out all my notes on what I'm writing, I could have all my beads and wire and detritus of collagable materials out, I could line up all my seeds and sketch a pattern for my garden...

As it stands, my interests get in the way of each other, vying for my attention. If I decide to leave one for the other, I first have to pack-up all signs of one and then unpack what I need for the other. Half my day is spent with this. That's not a part of my disorder -- that's my husband's disorder:all is good and right with the world when I don't see crap all over. Kind of a mouthful, but I try to help him with it by not leaving crap all over. He tries to help me with mine by saying, "Can't you concentrate on one thing at a time?"

Err, no.

I'm still left with:

Varied
Attention
Plethora
Interest
Disorder

VAPID...Oh, that's why I look like I'm staring off into space without a though in my head. D'oh!

What are your varied interests and how do you balance them?

The Joy...osity of Made-Up Word

Don't get me wrong, I love a well crafted sentence. I can't always write one, but I love 'em. I also love words, especially solid words used correctly. Maybe that's why I find such joy in mis-using words on purpose and/or simply making them up to suit my purpose. A rebel without a...clause, parenthetical, even.

I have one friend (yes, I do), sometimes our coversation is so full of made-up or inappropriately added 'ly' words, that I'm sure outsiders listening in would exclaim to their own brains, "holy crap those two are dumber than I...er, me, no, wait, I."

I know I've posted about this before, yet, it's so dear to me I felt the needliest need to do it again. So, here is my list, always growing:

farly ie: he threw the ball farly
mosterest
bestest
foreverest
joyosity -- I may have stolen this from Louise Rennison, author extrordinaire of: The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson YA series. Sorry
needliest
fiter-fighter ie: The fiter-fighter fought the fire.

Well, you get the picture.

Which things do you love to do the wrong way?