Mirror, Mirror, on the wall... and not a drop to drink
this is how my mind works these days.
Many years ago, I had an accident at work where the original diagnosis was a fractured jaw but the damages were a little more extensive and undiagnosed: a brain stem injury. At the time, I started combining words and cliches. Some of the funniest stuff came out of my mouth. But it wasn't really funny to me. I had spent my life consumed with speaking proper English (thus I now have great difficulty writing authentic dialog or slang in my fiction). Growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, about the only slang I used was "pop" for soda. After moving to the South and realizing all sodas were called Coke ("what kind of coke do you have?"), I began calling it soda.
So my injury really infuriated me, especially since no one in the medical field would take me seriously. I mean, a brain stem injury affecting speech? To this day, I still spit out odd words and cliches such as dead as molasses (dead as a doornail/slow as molasses). Most of the time, I hope, no one catches the little word slip-ups but I get the strangest looks when they're cliches, like the one above.
I've come across a new tool, thanks to Kelly L. Stone, author of Time To Write, called Mirror Gazing. You stare into a mirror, or in my case, a crystal ball, until images start to emerge and begin showing you what you need to know. This week I came up with a new plot twist for my current WIP. A simple enough twist where my MC ends up dating the man who wants her dead, but without gazing into my crystal ball, I would not have thought about that simple plot (at least not any time soon).
...and no, I've not been drinking. For the reasons stated above, the "and not a drop to drink" in my mind is the next logical phrase after "mirror, mirror, on the wall."
Welcome to my world.
But as it stands, yesterday I did it again. An accident at work where I was struggling to remove a very large shelf from the wall. It came out and popped me in the jaw. It popped my head back and jarred my neck so badly I felt it as far down as the sciatic nerve in my leg and the nerve running down my left arm, not to mention shifting my jaw and messing up the TMJ. Luckily, it should take a visit or two to the chiropractor to fix. The swelling has already come down and is barely visible as is the bruise on my chin. These are the facts. I'm not in pain, just a little discomfort. My manager called it in, just to be on the safe side but I refused medical treatment (a trip to the ER), returned to work after holding ice on my chin for 20 minutes or so and continued with my day as though nothing really happened.
I've been accused of exaggerating things to gain attention in my personal life. It's something I definitely do in my creative/writing life but I don't necessarily believe I do that in my personal life. But then again, I am biased. I tend to downplay what's going on in my personal life except when I'm in one of my extreme manic/depressive states and then only with close friends (and in my own mind, too, I guess.) But isn't that what it's like for most of us creative types?
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Maybe I'm really not normal. Maybe that's where I over-exaggerate; that I think I'm normal as I'm bouncing from one extreme to another. If this isn't normal than I don't want to be normal. I'm much more closer to a middle range than the extremes I experienced when I was younger. (Some may argue with that but let me assure you, I really was much more extreme years ago.) It's easier to deal with now that the edges are softer.
But when writing fiction, you have to delve into the extremes, the worst possible scenario, so to speak, or your fiction is lackluster and boring. What is the worst thing that could happen to your characters? Conflict. What's the best outcome? Satisfied ending.
This WIP, is difficult for me for a number of reason. One being that I haven't used myself as the MC, I have a hard time getting into her head. She is a blond, popular girl, loved by her family, a business owner, college graduate, widowed with a four year old son. I am a dark haired, introverted black-sheep of the family, college drop-out, single woman with no children. The only thing we have in common is that we're women. It's a start, right? Somehow, I need to put myself in her shoes whereas I usually base my characters on some aspect of myself. I guess, I myself need to grow, right along with my characters.
A couple things I've noticed this week. Allowing myself to write one chapter a week which usually takes me about four hours on one day off of work, I'm allowing myself to cultivate ideas. While writing my script, I wanted to write everyday but would have writers block for days, weeks or months at a time. It took some kind of event, whether large or small, to happen to kick-start my writing again. One such incident was a day that I was relaxing in the hot tub out side overlooking a magnificent view. My thought was "I need to put a hot tub in my script." Next thing I knew, I was off and running. Finished the script within two months of that thought. So instead of getting frustrated over not writing every day as most of the writing guru's suggest, I give the material time to work itself out in my brain.
I'm always a writer. I'm always thinking about writing, thinking about one project or another or coming up with new ideas. When I sit down to write, I review the last few pages or the entire project and then just continue. I've tried every form of writing, from writing everyday, a specific number of words, to a weekly word count goal, to writing when the muse strikes. This seems to be the best way for me. A weekly goal of one chapter is enough to keep me interested in the project and enough time for the muse to strike. This works for me for this project. Next project, next month, next idea may and probably will be a different pace.
The other thing I've noticed recently is that things seem to be much clearer to me. As I've mentioned in my last Blog, I've been watching the entire series of Babylon 5. Usually I just watch it. This time though I'm picking up all the little details that I've missed. The underlying messages are quite clear. (They really need to aire B5 again during this election year and economic downturn. Hopefully someone would at least unconsciously get the message and do something different.) But it's not just B5. I'm reading a book I've read several times already and the messages are coming through loud and clear, much more clearer than ever before. It seems as though my mind was muddied before and now I'm thinking clearly. But it's helping in my personal life and in my writing.
My belief in the whole 2012 thing is that we human beings are about to take a huge evolutionary step ahead. Maybe this clear-headedness is a step in that direction. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Clear-headedness before I start forgetting everything.
So, I guess, it's time to get at it. I hope to get at least one chapter written today if not two. Did get my chapter written last week and I'm pleased with how things are shaping up.
I'm starting ROW80 in the middle of a cycle to get in practice for the next cycle. So I welcome my new ROW80 friends and look forward to getting to know you.
May the Muse be with you.....
Many years ago, I had an accident at work where the original diagnosis was a fractured jaw but the damages were a little more extensive and undiagnosed: a brain stem injury. At the time, I started combining words and cliches. Some of the funniest stuff came out of my mouth. But it wasn't really funny to me. I had spent my life consumed with speaking proper English (thus I now have great difficulty writing authentic dialog or slang in my fiction). Growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, about the only slang I used was "pop" for soda. After moving to the South and realizing all sodas were called Coke ("what kind of coke do you have?"), I began calling it soda.
So my injury really infuriated me, especially since no one in the medical field would take me seriously. I mean, a brain stem injury affecting speech? To this day, I still spit out odd words and cliches such as dead as molasses (dead as a doornail/slow as molasses). Most of the time, I hope, no one catches the little word slip-ups but I get the strangest looks when they're cliches, like the one above.
I've come across a new tool, thanks to Kelly L. Stone, author of Time To Write, called Mirror Gazing. You stare into a mirror, or in my case, a crystal ball, until images start to emerge and begin showing you what you need to know. This week I came up with a new plot twist for my current WIP. A simple enough twist where my MC ends up dating the man who wants her dead, but without gazing into my crystal ball, I would not have thought about that simple plot (at least not any time soon).
...and no, I've not been drinking. For the reasons stated above, the "and not a drop to drink" in my mind is the next logical phrase after "mirror, mirror, on the wall."
Welcome to my world.
But as it stands, yesterday I did it again. An accident at work where I was struggling to remove a very large shelf from the wall. It came out and popped me in the jaw. It popped my head back and jarred my neck so badly I felt it as far down as the sciatic nerve in my leg and the nerve running down my left arm, not to mention shifting my jaw and messing up the TMJ. Luckily, it should take a visit or two to the chiropractor to fix. The swelling has already come down and is barely visible as is the bruise on my chin. These are the facts. I'm not in pain, just a little discomfort. My manager called it in, just to be on the safe side but I refused medical treatment (a trip to the ER), returned to work after holding ice on my chin for 20 minutes or so and continued with my day as though nothing really happened.
I've been accused of exaggerating things to gain attention in my personal life. It's something I definitely do in my creative/writing life but I don't necessarily believe I do that in my personal life. But then again, I am biased. I tend to downplay what's going on in my personal life except when I'm in one of my extreme manic/depressive states and then only with close friends (and in my own mind, too, I guess.) But isn't that what it's like for most of us creative types?
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Maybe I'm really not normal. Maybe that's where I over-exaggerate; that I think I'm normal as I'm bouncing from one extreme to another. If this isn't normal than I don't want to be normal. I'm much more closer to a middle range than the extremes I experienced when I was younger. (Some may argue with that but let me assure you, I really was much more extreme years ago.) It's easier to deal with now that the edges are softer.
But when writing fiction, you have to delve into the extremes, the worst possible scenario, so to speak, or your fiction is lackluster and boring. What is the worst thing that could happen to your characters? Conflict. What's the best outcome? Satisfied ending.
This WIP, is difficult for me for a number of reason. One being that I haven't used myself as the MC, I have a hard time getting into her head. She is a blond, popular girl, loved by her family, a business owner, college graduate, widowed with a four year old son. I am a dark haired, introverted black-sheep of the family, college drop-out, single woman with no children. The only thing we have in common is that we're women. It's a start, right? Somehow, I need to put myself in her shoes whereas I usually base my characters on some aspect of myself. I guess, I myself need to grow, right along with my characters.
A couple things I've noticed this week. Allowing myself to write one chapter a week which usually takes me about four hours on one day off of work, I'm allowing myself to cultivate ideas. While writing my script, I wanted to write everyday but would have writers block for days, weeks or months at a time. It took some kind of event, whether large or small, to happen to kick-start my writing again. One such incident was a day that I was relaxing in the hot tub out side overlooking a magnificent view. My thought was "I need to put a hot tub in my script." Next thing I knew, I was off and running. Finished the script within two months of that thought. So instead of getting frustrated over not writing every day as most of the writing guru's suggest, I give the material time to work itself out in my brain.
I'm always a writer. I'm always thinking about writing, thinking about one project or another or coming up with new ideas. When I sit down to write, I review the last few pages or the entire project and then just continue. I've tried every form of writing, from writing everyday, a specific number of words, to a weekly word count goal, to writing when the muse strikes. This seems to be the best way for me. A weekly goal of one chapter is enough to keep me interested in the project and enough time for the muse to strike. This works for me for this project. Next project, next month, next idea may and probably will be a different pace.
The other thing I've noticed recently is that things seem to be much clearer to me. As I've mentioned in my last Blog, I've been watching the entire series of Babylon 5. Usually I just watch it. This time though I'm picking up all the little details that I've missed. The underlying messages are quite clear. (They really need to aire B5 again during this election year and economic downturn. Hopefully someone would at least unconsciously get the message and do something different.) But it's not just B5. I'm reading a book I've read several times already and the messages are coming through loud and clear, much more clearer than ever before. It seems as though my mind was muddied before and now I'm thinking clearly. But it's helping in my personal life and in my writing.
My belief in the whole 2012 thing is that we human beings are about to take a huge evolutionary step ahead. Maybe this clear-headedness is a step in that direction. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Clear-headedness before I start forgetting everything.
So, I guess, it's time to get at it. I hope to get at least one chapter written today if not two. Did get my chapter written last week and I'm pleased with how things are shaping up.
I'm starting ROW80 in the middle of a cycle to get in practice for the next cycle. So I welcome my new ROW80 friends and look forward to getting to know you.
May the Muse be with you.....
Does it have to be a mirror? I find empty space is a great projection screen
Hope things pick up for you...
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It can be anything that works for you.
I'd never heard of it before. Just started using it and it's working great.
Good Luck to you...
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Sounds like you're off to a great start! Glad you joined us!
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Shawn you got me there - no, not with your tale of brainstem knocks, but with the bit about not being able to get into the head of your MC because she's not you.
Snap! (No, not your chin again).
I'm short, brunette and introverted, and chose to write my current MC as a blonde, younger, verbally-distinguished psychologist. Normally I have stayed away from pretty blondes as I find them cliched, but taking on this persona for my MC, it's had me also struggling to get into her head and portray her realistically also.
Thanks for spotting my own challenge, also.
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