Old vs. New

The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood said the following on page 93 that got me thinking.

And sometimes, when I see my students reaching back through the misty years (to the stuff they wrote in college, usually), I want to grab their hands and beg them to stop. Retrieving an old subject, one that still haunts you, will work only if you begin afresh without looking back. Otherwise, you will waste energy troubleshooting some other writer's work--because you are no longer that writer.

So on April 18th, I looked at my list of stories in first draft stage.

• Zy's Novel
• Strix beginning story
• Canterbury murder mystery
• Acadiana Medieval Faire 2008 Educators' Guide
• Underneath the Colored Lights
• Zy's vacation story
• The Chosen
• Strix: Forget the Sun
• Evil Jack: For Worse
• Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Turbo

Just four items were not begun in the 1990s. Of those four, two are fanfiction (that I won't work on without finishing more original stuff) and one is non-fiction. And fiction is what I'm having issues with.

This realization fought badly with my "must-finish-the-story" drive. I had at some point gone back and edited fanfiction created at the same time or earlier. That's okay, that's what my fanfiction projects are for--trying out techniques that aren't ready for original fiction. Some how this continuous rewriting got moved to the original fiction. So why is my "must-finish-the-story" drive being triggered? Why did the idea of setting aside stuff I can't do anything more with--especially after I finished it a decade ago--make part of me throw an inner tantrum?

Zy's Novel doesn't count: it was never finished at any point I worked on it. Zy's vacation short story likewise doesn't count. Rewriting "The Case of the Hideous Medallion" started it, but now it has a new crime and place in that universe's timeline.

Strix doesn't count because I'm reworking the universe and changing formats to a webcomic if I ever find an artist.

"The Chosen" counts. I finished that novel and it was bad. Not horrible idea bad, but a-first-attempt-hide-it-under-the-bed bad. Yes, I could keep it on the list to completely rewrite it, but the rewrite never grasped hold of my brain with new characters and new situations like Strix did. Time to put it away.

"Underneath the Colored Lights" I feel more conflicted about. I finished the story, loved the imagery and characters, should be a strong regional piece and sellable, but it flopped in the beta reading stage. At that point, you are supposed to rewrite. But have I waited too long? Am I better off filing it away as a good practice attempt? Can I afford to?

I'm looking at the "Need to Submit" List, which I should change to the "Need to Retire" List. If I throw everything into the filing cabinet, what will be left to mail out in June? Okay so I'm going to let those three go out and earn rejections in June.

And to deal with the ambivalance over "Underneath the Colored Lights," here it is, published through Google Docs. Read it and answer the poll. I'll give the poll a month while I go file "The Chosen" away.

Possible topics

Commuting hell
Finding time to write vs. everything else
School
Freelance gigs
Blogging
Taking time off

Leave a comment if you have a suggestion for a topic.

Current strategy and using the lunch hour wisely

I made myself a contract. The idea of rewarding myself with something else to write didn't originate with me. I got it from Holly Lisle. At this point, I'm willing to try anything to get my ass into the gear I think it should be. It didn't use to be like this. I used to be able to write whenever I had a free second.

Now I can't even use my lunch hour wisely. My brain doesn't want to work on writing--except that seems to be the story of my brain at all times during the day. But today I'm not listening to the lazy part of me, I'm going to write.

And it works. So why do I have to force myself to the page. I feel like such a failure when I must do that. It would make sense if I stared at a blank sheet for the entire time. "Ah! I'm blocked, that's the reason for the reluctance." Nope, story starts flowing just fine. So what the hell is up with the reluctance?

Will return to this topic with an answer hopefully.

How Do You Really Do It? Project

Introduction:

Let me preface this whole thing with one statement--I am a writer. Too many writing books assume the reader is just starting out and needs advice on everything. Creating a novel advice may come up, but what I'm interested in is trying to integrate all my metaphorical hats onto my head: the writer's hat, the state worker's hat, the homeowner's hat, the girlfriend's hat, the hobby/business owner's hat; all the hats the other books assume you have already packed into hat boxes and stored in the attic. I like to hope the writers of those other books have messed up hats too, just carefully edited from view.

It's not easy being a writer. Once you think you have one thing figured out, it changes. Like thinking up titles. How hard should it be to come up with a title? Usually, I can't come up with one good one, so my current novel is still being called "Zy's Novel." For this project, I first came up with "How Do You Really Do It?" followed by "Trying to Live as a Writer" and then "Living the Writing Life." Now that I'm starting it in Discipline Under Fire, I think that makes a zappy title. I finished my first story on paper at age eleven, and it hasn't gotten any easier. I'm hoping that by chronicaling my struggles, the zen of a writing life will become easier.

Regardless, you're invited along.

Contract

I, Kindra Coates, pledge to complete the following:

a). five-minutes free writing practice session everyday.
b). once scene out of Zy's Novel.

Once the scene from Zy's Novel is completed (no matter how long that takes) work on one scene from Strix as a reward.

Kindra L. Coates
03-22-2007

A changeling story

Modern setting. A boy discovers he is actually fae and sets off with his best friend to find his fae parents.

Alien Worksheet

It's not complete yet. I want to get stuff on alien societies and language (the next two chapters in Aliens and Alien Societies by Stanley Schmidt) before filling out. But this is what I have so far. The stuff in italics is to remind me of points from the book.

Blank Alien
Name of their home system star:
Class of star:
Mass of star:
Luminosity of star:
Insolation homeworld receives:
Name of homeworld:
Distance of homeworld from star:
Period of revolution (local year length):
That time in IGA Standard years:
Axial tilt:
Length of day (local time):
That tine in IGA Standard time:
Length of months (local days):
The time in IGA Standard month:
Short description of the seasons:
Ecology of homeworld: Who eats what
Biology of alien:
Unicellular or Multicellular?
Size: Remember the Square-Cube Law
Maximum of species:
Mininmum of species:
Respiration:
Eating:
Getting Around or Not (limb design):
Body shape: Evolution selects body shapes that are well suited to the way an organism lives.
Structural support: Endoskeleton or exoskeleton, what holds the organism up?
Growth: How does the organism mature (exoskeleton and complete metamorphosis issues)?
Reproduction:
Warm-blooded or cold-blooded: Internal mechanism for keeping warm or dependent on environment?
Senses: How does sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch work?
Frills: Extras an organism can have but doesn’t have to.
Self-Modification: Genetic manipulation, cybernetics, etc.

Germ of an Idea

Out of all the ghost reading I did yesterday, this story is still sticking to my mind. http://www.torontoghosts.org/transport/qew1.htm

I don't know if I want to do anything with it yet.