I've only got a couple days of school left. In fact, classes are pretty much over. I've just got 2 exams to study for and one paper to write. That's pretty good considering some people have at least five tests left before they're out of here. In the downtime, I'm working on some projects including Riff and sorting through my new laptop. Oh yes, the 50gig Dell that's been putting along for the last two years finally had to be euphanized. I'm not so sure I like Vista. I can't find the search function and randomly, bits of files and sometimes entire folders seem to be missing. I don't know what's going on. But it has a printer that comes with a scanner, so more drawings to come. Oh yeah, and apparently I have pnemonia. Good times.
1. Riff
Still crammed into chapter two, not entirely finished with chapter one because I haven't started writing the fifth storyline yet, starting to dribble over into chapter three. I'm not so sure writing something this out of order is safe, especially since I don't really know what's going on. Oh, I have an outline, but it changes with every sentence I write, so in that sense, it's more of an anti-outline because it's the one solid plotline that I know WILL NOT resemble the actual book.
My characters are getting into much more trouble than they were supposed to. That's the good thing about letting an idea simmer a few months before pounding it out. More wicked ideas forms. A lot of those times it happens spontaniously, but often it comes to be when I'm in bed trying to fall asleep (of course the one time when there is no pen and paper in reach).
I don't think I've mentioned how much of an epiphany I've had on this book. It's always bothered me that I don't really know why I'm writing this book. They tell you you must have a point -- a theme, a moral, a metaphor, SOMETHING -- at least in adult fiction. I won't get into that debate now, but the thing is, sometimes you can be writing something with a point (all the things mentioned above) and not realize it, but the sooner you do, the sooner you can start to incorporate those motifs in the rest of the writing. Well I'm two chapters in and I finally realized what this book is ABOUT. I always knew the plotline, but not what was underneath. I know now that it is about identity and what it means to be human. It's also a little bit of metawriting.
This helped me when I had to reshape Matthew a little bit. Writers group said he didn't have enough flaw in the first chapter, none really. I think that was the point, to make him seem completely confident in his element and throw him in hot water later. But I do understand a reader needs to relate to a character. So I shaped his flaws around the context of humanity -- being human as opposed to being angelic or demonic. Just wait. You'll see.
2. Flat 48 Book
I've got 10 chapters written. I turned them into my INS prof for a grade. I'll use this as a nice draft. There are still many stories to tell, but this is a nice 27 page taste of the adventure.
3. Filming
Not false hope this time. A mockumentary is in the works. But more on that later.
4. Writing Conference
I do want to mention the Fantasy Matters Writing Conference in Minneapolis. A handful of published authors came and spoke about writing and publishing. Jack Zipes and Neil Gaiman came to speak about why fantasy does matter. I went to a debate (er, I mean discussion...) on Stardust, a pannel on publishing, and a reading by an author. Neil was really cool because he prepared a speech but then found out that he was expected to read something, which he thought was neat, so he read us the beginning to The Graveyard Book, which isn't finished yet, but sounds fantastic. He did happily summarize the speech he had planned to give, answered questions, and signed autographs. It was nice he was there at this time because Beowulf opened that weekend, so he must have been exhausted from going to premiers in both American and the UK. I did see Beowulf in 3D at the imax, and it was intense. In other news, Minneapolis is cold, has confusing roads, and hides away its bookshops. That is all.
me and Neil Gaiman
