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| Finns det livet är aldrig for sent. (Where there is life, it is never too late.) Lyric, in Swedish, from Flickan och Kråkan (the girl and the crow), by Timbuktu. A song about a girl running desperately for help to save an injured crow. Somehow in my 3rd language, one I barely know, lyrics hit a bit harder. I think that extra focus really brings it home. I also think that some of my own stories need that same focus--as I go for a new revision that there is emotional resonance to the story. I didn't really feel it, and so I didn't put it on the page, but the story was there. Only a few of my readers caught on... |
I've added a new entry to my book, "Thoughts of a Mad Man"  : "Emotional Control: Be careful with this one." One word mantras can help you filter your awareness so that you can get different things done. |
| Whole cloth rewrites of old stories have bedeviled me. I left out important bits. How could I forget to write that Aunt Myrrha says, "Love you" (even though Sigrun should be too far away to hear it, without the help of her 'Imaginary friends') as Sigrun is ordered to hide from the rambunctious humanoid neighbors. And how can I skip the entire bit of the broom sparring session--that introduces the "Chekov's gun" of the weapon's grade pitchfork just sitting in the kitchen. Worse than having a gun that doesn't go off is having a gun go off that was never put in the setting. But the biggest thing I am learning is that it's fairly easy to identify and hammer these things in. Basically the reason I don't like to plot or redo something is that I don't like to play chess with it--get it all right in the sequential way. Instead, I enjoy that flow of consciousness. The primary value of the rewrite is that many of the things I forgot are better left out. Secondary is that other things crop up. And if you already have a successful run through you can readily pick up the missing bits. So breathe easily and just retell your story if that's what you're doing. Rest assured that the other copy still has all the details you need, and that you can tinker at length. |
| I've added a new entry to my book, "Thoughts of a Mad Man" : "Emotional Control: Negotiation with Overwhelm" Sort of First aid for a freak out. When the pressure mounts and it should be obvious what to do, but it just... somehow, isn't. |
| I've added a new entry to my book, "Thoughts of a Mad Man" : "Emotional Control: Emotional Vocabulary" |
| So I'm getting into some really fun times in my rewrite, making a totally altered scene in the same slot. I'm a little confuzzled however, since my character is a little kid (Eleven). She's destined to be the 'emotionally intelligent' one, but she's been the victim of a lot of benevolent gaslighting. (You know, calling her legitimate visions 'imaginary friends' so that she doesn't piss off the neighbors.*) And I'm thinking that the parts where the kid is accurately describing the feelings of the adults might be too much. Or it might not. I mean, she's telling me stuff I didn't know and I might have to adjust it. E.G.Her voice had the growl of anger but the vibe in my belly was one of fear. My fuzzy head told me I was safe with the pixies, and Myrrha–she couldn't stand knowing I had been out of her reach. I wished someone could teach her how to live with that kind of fear–the kind that you couldn't fend off with a sword. Anyhow, so I'm wondering if that's too much precocious or, if it is exactly the kind of thought that a kid would have in that situation? I mean if she were the kind that could read the room. Not being all that good at reading the room it's hard to tell. *I just realized where this storyline came from... |
| Added a new entry to my blog: This one fuses writing technique with self help. Literally turning your experiences into grist for the writing mill at the same time that you gain perspective. https://www.Writing.Com/authors/jotokai/blog "Emotional Control/writing/Memoir" |
Hook or Pass? Opening a chapter For your consideration: the start of a chapter, of a scene. POV: eleven year old apprentice swords-girl who decided to wander about in the cursed woods (unarmed) thanks to the advice of spirits her guardians don't want her talking to. Believing she completed her mission with her "imaginary friends" Sigrun is lost. I tiptoed beneath the looming trees along the lonely road, ducking beneath the thorny brambles. The helpless crunch of stray leaves beneath my feet echoed in that hollow space as we blew aimlessly about in the night. In the dim, rusted light of the false moon, the surviving brown and orange leaves clung precariously to their home. The stars above abandoned me behind dark, angry clouds, and the wheel tracks wandering from Wilt's Bridge had been all but swallowed up in the wild. Struggling to guess which way to go, I pulled at my thin white shirt. Vainly searching for armor–for shelter and warmth against the night–I clawed at the material. Tell me friends: Read on or Pass? |
Hey Joto-Kai   , your query has jumped into my brain like a gnarling earworm. if this is to be your opening how about a little more hook. "The forest waited for Elara, its ancient roots stirring with each new footstep. In its shadowed heart, where the air thrummed with moss and dark memory, a hidden path shimmered into being, summoned by her presence. Elara, bound to the woods by a tie deeper than blood, felt them claim her at last. She stepped forward, the trees bowing in quiet reverence, as she began a journey destined to weave her fate with the soul of the wild." What's ya think? |
Joey's Ready for the Hunt  - What do I think? What do I think... I personally think it's awesome. Inspiration is always good. |
| Joto-Kai - To borrow from an old interview with George Orwell back in 1929... "I like that you were inspired use what you will and deposit the rest in the nearest dust bin." |
 I'm so unbelievable... unbelievably...  [I want to say harsh things about my intelligence, and that's only going to further drive me into confusion. So, suffice to say, it's unbelievable that I haven't been awake to this.] I've been trying to write out my rewrites without loading into my mind the stuff of the scenes. Predictably, having ambushed my brain, it's been typing "No comment." So I think the next step is to develop an interview that will get me started each time. |
| I've added a new entry to my book, "Thoughts of a Mad Man" : "Emotional Control: Pulling out of a skid" |
| Eggcorns are misheard phrases that make good sense. My favorite is "spread like wildflowers." Supposed to be "spread like wildfire." But really, it's a different metaphor. It implies something both slower and more beneficial. If you pass around real smiles they spread. It isn't like wildfire, and it isn't insidious like something viral--it plants a seed that has to grow, and take root before it can spread. So, kindness spreads like wildflowers. We need this eggcorn to spread-- To Spread Like Wildflowers |
| I've added a new entry to my book, "Thoughts of a Mad Man" : "Emotional Control: Six Second Response" Raven  |
| So I've revised my little girl heroine's attitude. Turns out that if Sigrun has that much faith at the beginning--and it's not totally misguided--that signals the story is over close the book. It also turns out that if she really should have that much faith, and she doesn't, well that's a perfect way to start a story. In this case, part of her story is to find out that everyone who loves her gives her pushback because they know that being chosen by the angels is a bed of rosebushes--it smells sweet but it's bloody awful trying to get any rest. |
| I've added a new entry to my book, "Thoughts of a Mad Man" : "Emotional Control: a first trick to learn." |
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