Catching up...

[ostarella]

So, my back injury which was supposed to be healed up in a week or so... hasn't. Oh, it's much better than it was, but I still have a sharp ache when I walk more than a few steps, and bending over, and going up stairs, and lifting (even light boxes). Have been living on Advil, which helps the first couple of hours, but then I can't take it again right away and by the time I can, the aches have taken over. Doesn't seem to bother on the left side, but the right is bad. I noticed that the moment I first stood up after falling, too, and mentioned it to the intake nurse. I'm thinking I didn't land square on my back, but more on the right side, which is the only logical reason for it. I'm thinking if it doesn't clear up in the next couple of days (making it the full '7-10 days'), I may give the doctor a call and see if there might be something else wrong. And if you know how I feel about doctors, you'll know how desperate I am to get rid of this constant ache!

In other news...

Have gotten a good start on the next chapter of Covenant. Have figured out some tie-ins with earlier parts of the story, and how to get the ball rolling for the next 'adventure'. Getting back to the canon parts of the story now, and I'm looking forward to giving them my take. :D

Also have figured out a few sticking points in my newest original story - like why the MC is acting the way she is. It was a heavy sticking point because if I couldn't plausibly explain her motivation, it just came across as stupid. And I hate stupid MCs - particularly of the female variety! But I've really got to get down to the writing now, as it's going to be a bit long and I really want to be able to enter it in a contest that's due the end of the month. But it's been percolating in my head long enough - I think it's going to write itself fairly quickly once I get started. But even if I miss this deadline, I'd rather have a good story and try other avenues for getting it published, than submit a crappy one and just waste the entry fee.

Also considering setting up a new writing blog. I feel a bit inadequate to do so - but then I do know quite a bit about writing and have some opinions that don't require one to be an expert - just observant. I just don't know if I want to add another commitment when I'm already having trouble keeping up with the current ones. :p

Comments

[billy-shriner.livejournal.com]

I sometimes find now that I blog, then link to it in LJ as a post. Then if there's something I want to rant about, unprofessionally, I come over to LJ :-P

I'd let your back heal first anyway. Probably not good sitting in a chair all the time typing/writing.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

I find I'm not sitting as much, actually. I have to get up and walk around until that hurts too much, then I sit until that's uncomfortable, then back to walking around... I do get a lot of little things done during both 'phases' at least :D

[beckyblack]

Ooh, go on, have a go at the blog. I'll Tweet about it, I promise. :D Hey, don't have to go crazy. Do it once a month even to start with.

I know what you mean about when characters starting acting in a certain way and you can't figure out why, but they seem determined. I put that down to there being something that's in your subconscious - which knows far more about everything than your conscious mind can hold, and you just haven't figured out what that is yet.

My favourite case in point - which I expect I've told you before, but it was a valuable lesson for me - back when I was writing Reunion, Madari and Jahni arrive at Frankie's house and instantly Hassan started acting all hostile to them and all this tension sprang up. I was all, "what the hell is going on? Why is this guy being such a dick? Why are they all tense? I never planned for this." I hadn't even thought about the relationship between him and them beyond that Hassan and Wallace would be dubious about having a foreigner in charge. But somehow, that's the way it was coming out and I didn't know why.

Finally I remembered that back when planning Tightrope Walk I'd decided Hassan was of a Turkish family. That never came up in TW, it was just background. I'd practically forgotten it. But my subconscious mind hadn't and when I put this Turkish-American in a room with two Arabs, they all started acting like people whose ethnic groups traditionally can't stand each other, without my conscious mind ever deciding to have that happen.

That really taught me a lesson about trusting my subconscious. If a character or the plot seems to be resisting the path I'm trying to send them down, there's probably a good reason; I just haven't figured out what it is yet.

Hoping your back improves soon!

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

That's very similar to what happened with my MC (for whom I haven't even come up with a name yet!). She makes some decisions - some very strange decisions - and although I understood perfectly well why she made them, I couldn't come up with a valid reason. I just knew they made sense to her based on, well, her being her. So the question was why did it make perfect sense to me? And finally it hit me like an anvil - and added another set of dimensions to another supporting character, as well.

Not meaning to sound mysterious LOL You and Billy will hopefully be reading this over on bunnies in another week or so. (The more I flesh this thing out, the less confident I am of completing it for the competition - but then it comes up again in a few months, and there are a ton of other places I can send it as well.)

[beckyblack]

Cool, looking forward to see it.