12.22.2009

Schizophrenia!

Alright, I took the advice of multiple people on this one. It fits rather well, so I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and switch between the points of views of two main characters in my Gestalt novel. For about the first hundred pages or so it will be told from Aimee’s point of view, then switch to Kay’s, then back to Aimee and so on until I’ve finished. This way I can get all perspectives from the protagonists and the antagonists—and also hopefully make the reader struggle within themselves just like the characters about who’s side to take. It also helps me pull in the antagonist the way I want him to be pulled in.

Not to say this hasn’t proven to be a freaking massive undertaking. Writing in first person is something I've never done before, but now having to tackle two completely different mindsets may make me Schizophrenic!!

I’ve found in the first chapter or so that I’ve been writing from Kay’s viewpoint that it’s hard to find her voice while still maintaining the over-all tone of the story. Aimee is the smart ass and sardonic of the two, but Kay so far is beginning to take on the same traits as Aimee and I am not certain if I like it or not—or if it will make them seem too similar. Kay’s story is a little more on the dark side. She’s fucked up beyond all repair when she first arrives. Moving her story along without making her into a whiny emo bitch is going to be hard.

Somehow I have to find a happy medium between the stir of emotions in Kay and her usual bubbly nature.

Maybe I will take a short break in the next few days to do some character sketches and gather thoughts.

Wish me luck . . .

Happy Holidays all!

Cheers!

~Hoshi

12.14.2009

I’m Awake at 6 O’Clock in the Morning . . . Again.

This seems to be becoming a habit for me. I have so many ideas to sort out that my brain kicks into overdrive and I wind up tossing and turning in bed (keeping my fiancĂ© awake) for two hours before I get back up and come back to the computer to hash out another few lines. I guess it’s a good thing my other roommate, Chris, doesn’t sleep much either. Been able to rebound ideas off him a lot.

Since my previous post I have been ravaging the gray matter trapped inside my thick skull for every idea I have ever had concerning my novel-in-progress, Gestalt. Considering its genre is one of those “Girl gets thrust into another world and has to find her way home” novels, I have to find many ways to make mine stand out. Not just for the hopes of having my characters eventually published, but for myself as well. Mainly for myself . . . Ok, completely for myself. Forget the publishers.

So far, I think I am succeeding with the assistance of my muse, Fannin (yes, I named him), some really fantastic new music I’ve found (including the new 30 seconds to mars album) and lots and lots of coffee. There are a few twists and turns that will happen that I am really rather proud of.

For me, the hardest part has been starting over completely. I had a good hundred pages written on it before I threw my hands up in the air and didn’t touch it for three years. Now all of the sudden I seem to be doing my own personal NaNoWriMo a month late. It used to take me months to write a hundred pages of ANYTHING before. I’ve done 100+ in about two and a half weeks. I realize now that I made the right choice for this specific novel when I decided to write it in first person. It’s something I have never done with a novel concept before and due to the massive nature of this specific one (and it’s equally massive cast) it may prove more useful to just throw it down the way the main character sees it all.

The only down side is that I can’t do a whole lot of build up outside of her point of view regarding what’s being plotted outside of her experiences. This is something that’s been keeping me up over the past couple days, anyway. I’m about 115 pages or so in and I still have no clue as to how I will be introducing the main Antagonist. It’s driving me INSANE! I know who he is, I know what his story is, I know why he is the Antagonist and what drives him to oppose my heroine and her posse . . . but I haven’t found his (or his cronies) curtain call yet . There’s only so much basic adversity I can throw at my main character without putting a face to the hardships.

Rant over. Maybe now I can stop beating myself up and actually get something more accomplished.

Oh, one last thing: To those of you wondering, Ethereal Heart is on the back burner . . . probably for a while. Looking around all of the book shops, online reviews, television, etc. has made me want to CTRL + Z the whole damned story. I am all vampired out, even looking at my own writing is pissing me off. I love Ari and Valantis and Oakley and Myra and everyone else, I just need to move the hell on for a while.

Cheers!

~Hoshi