Universe: Unravel
Word Count: 99
Summary: There's the conventional place to hang mistletoe, and then there's Alex's.
“Don’t I get a kiss under the mistletoe?”
________________________________________________________
Friday, 27 December 2013
Short Story: Mistletoe
Rating: 15
Universe: Unravel
Word Count: 99
Summary: There's the conventional place to hang mistletoe, and then there's Alex's.
“Don’t I get a kiss under the mistletoe?”
Universe: Unravel
Word Count: 99
Summary: There's the conventional place to hang mistletoe, and then there's Alex's.
“Don’t I get a kiss under the mistletoe?”
Monday, 23 December 2013
Short Story: Christmas Tree
Rating: 15
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 2,791
Summary: Niko and Kirill go Christmas tree shopping, but end up meeting people Kirill would sooner forget.
“It’s early enough that it shouldn’t be too crowded, but will you be alright?” Niko asked, twisting to look over his shoulder as he lifted his shirt over his head. “I know you’re still a bit.. with... after...”
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 2,791
Summary: Niko and Kirill go Christmas tree shopping, but end up meeting people Kirill would sooner forget.
“It’s early enough that it shouldn’t be too crowded, but will you be alright?” Niko asked, twisting to look over his shoulder as he lifted his shirt over his head. “I know you’re still a bit.. with... after...”
________________________________________________________
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Short Story: Tinsel and Hooks
Rating: PG
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 1,152
Summary: Kirill asks Niko about Christmas decorations, only to find he has none—except it turns out that's no impediment to actually having any, when your lover is a talented mechanic.
Kirill waited until Niko finished hammering the sheet of metal until he tried speaking, and even then it came out more quietly tentative than he’d hoped. “Um, Niko, where do you keep your Christmas decorations?”
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 1,152
Summary: Kirill asks Niko about Christmas decorations, only to find he has none—except it turns out that's no impediment to actually having any, when your lover is a talented mechanic.
Kirill waited until Niko finished hammering the sheet of metal until he tried speaking, and even then it came out more quietly tentative than he’d hoped. “Um, Niko, where do you keep your Christmas decorations?”
________________________________________________________
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Short Story: Lost In Translation
Rating: G
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 340
Summary: A sleepy Kirill would quite like Niko to read to him.
Kirill rolled over and blinked sleepily up at Niko. “What’re you reading?”
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 340
Summary: A sleepy Kirill would quite like Niko to read to him.
Kirill rolled over and blinked sleepily up at Niko. “What’re you reading?”
________________________________________________________
Friday, 6 December 2013
Committing To A Schedule
Or at least trying to...
I'm aware of the fact I've failed to blog consistently for months. In part this has been due to failing to write anything regularly, part due to NaNoWriMo (I acknowledge that only accounts for a month), a small part due to redecorating--I'd intended to start this earlier this week but apparently painting takes forever and wallpapering half a wall takes a whole day--and part due to sheer laziness, because after everything else I'm knackered.
So I'm going to try to commit to a more regular schedule where Tuesdays, which used to be Meet My Desk days until I ran out of desk for you to meet, will be reviews of stationery (and maybe technology and books) and Fridays will be general blogging days, much like this.
It seems an easy enough schedule to stick to, which probably means you can expect resounding failure!
I won NaNoWrimo for my eleventh year with the Unravel AU, this time set nine years on from my Ridiculous Challenge. I might even finish this one outside of November as I realised both how to end it--not usually my strong point--and the existence of some unintended plot points along the way. I also need to finish up the steampunk novella, which is still in desperate need of a name; I'm not sure why I'm having trouble with it as I'm actually on the last section of the whole thing, but there we go. Maybe I should challenge myself to finish it before the end of the year?
In a desperate attempt to write more regularly I'm intending to resume posting at Runaway Tales (one piece already posted, as well as crossposted to my usual place: "One Step Closer")as well as signing up to niee87's annual "I'll Jingle Your Bells" porn ficathon which I wholly recommend joining, especially if you're shy about writing porn. I was nervous last year when I signed up and now look at me.
Take that as you will.
So with fingers crossed I'll actually be able to take up posting more regularly, as well as posting more stories. And on the subject of posting and stories, if you have any opinions (and I know everyone does, even if secretly) on how and where you prefer reading online, please please have a quick look over the wordily-titled "How Do You Prefer To Read Fiction Online?" post, vote and add any comments if you wish.
I think that's about it, so hopefully I'll be seeing you again next Tuesday with a review of the Copic atyouSpica pens!
I'm aware of the fact I've failed to blog consistently for months. In part this has been due to failing to write anything regularly, part due to NaNoWriMo (I acknowledge that only accounts for a month), a small part due to redecorating--I'd intended to start this earlier this week but apparently painting takes forever and wallpapering half a wall takes a whole day--and part due to sheer laziness, because after everything else I'm knackered.
So I'm going to try to commit to a more regular schedule where Tuesdays, which used to be Meet My Desk days until I ran out of desk for you to meet, will be reviews of stationery (and maybe technology and books) and Fridays will be general blogging days, much like this.
It seems an easy enough schedule to stick to, which probably means you can expect resounding failure!
I won NaNoWrimo for my eleventh year with the Unravel AU, this time set nine years on from my Ridiculous Challenge. I might even finish this one outside of November as I realised both how to end it--not usually my strong point--and the existence of some unintended plot points along the way. I also need to finish up the steampunk novella, which is still in desperate need of a name; I'm not sure why I'm having trouble with it as I'm actually on the last section of the whole thing, but there we go. Maybe I should challenge myself to finish it before the end of the year?
In a desperate attempt to write more regularly I'm intending to resume posting at Runaway Tales (one piece already posted, as well as crossposted to my usual place: "One Step Closer")as well as signing up to niee87's annual "I'll Jingle Your Bells" porn ficathon which I wholly recommend joining, especially if you're shy about writing porn. I was nervous last year when I signed up and now look at me.
Take that as you will.
So with fingers crossed I'll actually be able to take up posting more regularly, as well as posting more stories. And on the subject of posting and stories, if you have any opinions (and I know everyone does, even if secretly) on how and where you prefer reading online, please please have a quick look over the wordily-titled "How Do You Prefer To Read Fiction Online?" post, vote and add any comments if you wish.
I think that's about it, so hopefully I'll be seeing you again next Tuesday with a review of the Copic atyouSpica pens!
Friday, 29 November 2013
How Do You Prefer To Read Fiction Online?
How do you prefer to read original fiction? It's a bit of a random question, made slightly more so by the fact I was halfway around Tesco when I thought of it--which goes to show just how much of my shopping is done on autopilot.
But the more I thought about it (still shopping on autopilot), the more I found myself curious. I think it was mostly because I was itching to finish up and get home so I could read a short story by a webcomic author I like, but that in turn reminded me that said story is hosted on their SmackJeeves page which has the irritating habit of checking I'm a legal adult too often for my liking--although I suppose having an account might help. (The story is for the very gorgeous m/m webcomic Devoto: Music In Hell, by the way, and the short story is here.)
I'm way over being a legal adult, for the record. I don't even get IDed in stores when buying alcohol any more, which makes me sadder than it ought.
That, in turn, made me think about how Dreamwidth displays stories on mobile devices--as I've been using my Nexus 7 to fact-check existing Unravel AU stories with my NaNoWriMo project--and (by this point at the frozens section) I got to wondering about whether people prefer to read stories on blogs like this, on separate sites like Wordpress, Tumblr, Dreamwidth etc., or on their mobile device separately, where they might be able to carry it around with them to, say, read while loitering by the freezers staring blankly at Christmas frozens.
I'm one of those irritating people who loves asking obscure questions, so I really do appreciate and love answers. Basically, I'd love to hear from you. If I've not listed a way that you use / prefer, please tell me. Whether it makes an immediate difference to how I post is another matter--I'm notoriously lazy, I'm afraid--but I'm definitely interested to find out and it probably will help me (and maybe other people, who knows?) decide how to approach things in the future.
Also, if you have any opinions on colour schemes for online fiction, I'd find those interesting too. Black text on white background? White text on black background? Something that's neither of those on something else that's neither of those? It's more for personal curiosity, but again it might come in handy somewhere down the line.
Only slightly tangentially I might have some more stories done eventually, for that minority that reads them; yesterday I clocked over 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo and menial chores around the house may have helped me figure out how to finish the story. That and a challenge to write more in general may actually yield online fiction...
At some point.
But the more I thought about it (still shopping on autopilot), the more I found myself curious. I think it was mostly because I was itching to finish up and get home so I could read a short story by a webcomic author I like, but that in turn reminded me that said story is hosted on their SmackJeeves page which has the irritating habit of checking I'm a legal adult too often for my liking--although I suppose having an account might help. (The story is for the very gorgeous m/m webcomic Devoto: Music In Hell, by the way, and the short story is here.)
I'm way over being a legal adult, for the record. I don't even get IDed in stores when buying alcohol any more, which makes me sadder than it ought.
That, in turn, made me think about how Dreamwidth displays stories on mobile devices--as I've been using my Nexus 7 to fact-check existing Unravel AU stories with my NaNoWriMo project--and (by this point at the frozens section) I got to wondering about whether people prefer to read stories on blogs like this, on separate sites like Wordpress, Tumblr, Dreamwidth etc., or on their mobile device separately, where they might be able to carry it around with them to, say, read while loitering by the freezers staring blankly at Christmas frozens.
I'm one of those irritating people who loves asking obscure questions, so I really do appreciate and love answers. Basically, I'd love to hear from you. If I've not listed a way that you use / prefer, please tell me. Whether it makes an immediate difference to how I post is another matter--I'm notoriously lazy, I'm afraid--but I'm definitely interested to find out and it probably will help me (and maybe other people, who knows?) decide how to approach things in the future.
Also, if you have any opinions on colour schemes for online fiction, I'd find those interesting too. Black text on white background? White text on black background? Something that's neither of those on something else that's neither of those? It's more for personal curiosity, but again it might come in handy somewhere down the line.
Only slightly tangentially I might have some more stories done eventually, for that minority that reads them; yesterday I clocked over 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo and menial chores around the house may have helped me figure out how to finish the story. That and a challenge to write more in general may actually yield online fiction...
At some point.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Meet My Desk: Celty
You thought I'd run out of these, hadn't you?
You'd be right. I had.
However! My little technological family expanded recently, so I'd like to introduce you all to my new Windows Surface tablet, Celty.
Celty was originally called Shizuo, mostly due to the fact that I'm unsure if it comes under the heading of laptop or tablet--most larger technical items are male, small ones like Lydia and Lucy are (surprise surprise) female. But after using her for a while, I've concluded that she's female, thus necessitating a name change. (I'll admit here that I couldn't actually tell you why she's female, she just... feels it, so female she now is. Hey, I never claimed to be entirely sane, did I? ...did I?)
As to why 'Celty', well... that's quite a hard one to explain, but let's just say she makes an admirable headless horsewoman, she's silent to run (but no occasional neighing or hoofsteps unless I start modifying the sounds) and she's very fast for typing on. She can certainly stand up for herself, as can the tablet as it has one built in (hey, I never claimed to be a pun master). Whether she emanates a shadowy substance... well, perhaps that depends on your opinion of Microsoft.
It's been an interesting experience trying to get the hang of Windows 8.1 RT, especially since it's already quite different to the version of Windows RT that comes preinstalled but I'm starting to get used to it now... I think.
The biggest surprise has been, of all things, how easy it is to type with the on-screen keyboard, I wasn't expecting to be able to reach the kind of speeds I do although I'm not sure how it'd be to use with longer nails. Probably a little problematic, like Lydia the Nexus. However, the touch keyboard is nice too, albeit a little odd--and yet I'm not sure how it is, because it's only like typing on the screen, but I suspect I keep expecting it to feel like an actual, physical keyboard like Sixteen's, rather than for it to be flat.
I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, but I think it's already been a pretty good meeting so far.
Even if I have already discovered my new procrastination fuel in the form of Taptiles.
Still, can't be all work, can it?
You'd be right. I had.
However! My little technological family expanded recently, so I'd like to introduce you all to my new Windows Surface tablet, Celty.
Celty was originally called Shizuo, mostly due to the fact that I'm unsure if it comes under the heading of laptop or tablet--most larger technical items are male, small ones like Lydia and Lucy are (surprise surprise) female. But after using her for a while, I've concluded that she's female, thus necessitating a name change. (I'll admit here that I couldn't actually tell you why she's female, she just... feels it, so female she now is. Hey, I never claimed to be entirely sane, did I? ...did I?)
I recommend DRRR!!, even if you're not normally a fan of anime.
As to why 'Celty', well... that's quite a hard one to explain, but let's just say she makes an admirable headless horsewoman, she's silent to run (but no occasional neighing or hoofsteps unless I start modifying the sounds) and she's very fast for typing on. She can certainly stand up for herself, as can the tablet as it has one built in (hey, I never claimed to be a pun master). Whether she emanates a shadowy substance... well, perhaps that depends on your opinion of Microsoft.
It's been an interesting experience trying to get the hang of Windows 8.1 RT, especially since it's already quite different to the version of Windows RT that comes preinstalled but I'm starting to get used to it now... I think.
The biggest surprise has been, of all things, how easy it is to type with the on-screen keyboard, I wasn't expecting to be able to reach the kind of speeds I do although I'm not sure how it'd be to use with longer nails. Probably a little problematic, like Lydia the Nexus. However, the touch keyboard is nice too, albeit a little odd--and yet I'm not sure how it is, because it's only like typing on the screen, but I suspect I keep expecting it to feel like an actual, physical keyboard like Sixteen's, rather than for it to be flat.
I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, but I think it's already been a pretty good meeting so far.
Even if I have already discovered my new procrastination fuel in the form of Taptiles.
Still, can't be all work, can it?
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
I Had An Epiphany (but don't worry, I cleaned up afterwards)
I did say that I expected to get over my disappointment in myself and my story. It just took a little longer than I expected.
Well, no, that's not entirely the case. It's still there, chewing away at my heart. But I remembered something important.
I'm not intending to show anyone this story so that feeling can sod right off. Following on from one of the posts I linked to before, it's my story and I'll write what I damn well like, even if it is atrocious. I can always edit later, I can pretty it up and fix the awkward phrasing.
But I can't do any of that if I don't finish it.
And on that note, since no one else is going to see it, I realised something else--I don't have to censor myself as much as I have. I'm not sure why I was, honestly. Some peculiar in-built sense of... decorum? Gods only know. But it's quite liberating to know I can now go back to some earlier scenes and make them smuttier.
Or, as I referred to it on Twitter earlier, "racier" (a sure sign I'm getting old).
What brought about this little revelation, other than moping around and whinging for a couple of days? Nothing complicated, just that after changing my icon I wanted a new background for my Twitter page, so I decided to make a more relevant one using my main character, Kirill. After I'd finished working on it and loaded it, I thought he looked lonely, so I reworked it to include Niko, Kir's love interest. Working on that and thinking about their relationship gave me the kick up the arse I needed to miss writing them.
Bit of an odd thing to drag me to my senses, I guess. Well, it was that and the sex scenes I won't be able to write if I don't get cracking, because it turns out that Niko has taken quite a liking to Kir...
Anyway, isn't the point to have fun, above anything else? I'm not going to let someone else spoil or take away my fun--especially not when in the future it gets to involve some light bondage and ridiculously cute conversations smack in the middle of sex...
*fans self*
If you'll excuse me, I've got a project to finish.
Well, no, that's not entirely the case. It's still there, chewing away at my heart. But I remembered something important.
I'm not intending to show anyone this story so that feeling can sod right off. Following on from one of the posts I linked to before, it's my story and I'll write what I damn well like, even if it is atrocious. I can always edit later, I can pretty it up and fix the awkward phrasing.
But I can't do any of that if I don't finish it.
And on that note, since no one else is going to see it, I realised something else--I don't have to censor myself as much as I have. I'm not sure why I was, honestly. Some peculiar in-built sense of... decorum? Gods only know. But it's quite liberating to know I can now go back to some earlier scenes and make them smuttier.
Or, as I referred to it on Twitter earlier, "racier" (a sure sign I'm getting old).
What brought about this little revelation, other than moping around and whinging for a couple of days? Nothing complicated, just that after changing my icon I wanted a new background for my Twitter page, so I decided to make a more relevant one using my main character, Kirill. After I'd finished working on it and loaded it, I thought he looked lonely, so I reworked it to include Niko, Kir's love interest. Working on that and thinking about their relationship gave me the kick up the arse I needed to miss writing them.
Bit of an odd thing to drag me to my senses, I guess. Well, it was that and the sex scenes I won't be able to write if I don't get cracking, because it turns out that Niko has taken quite a liking to Kir...
Anyway, isn't the point to have fun, above anything else? I'm not going to let someone else spoil or take away my fun--especially not when in the future it gets to involve some light bondage and ridiculously cute conversations smack in the middle of sex...
*fans self*
If you'll excuse me, I've got a project to finish.
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Don't Let Accusatory 'Advice' Put You Off, Editing Exists For A Reason
On Friday, having reached my unofficial word count target for the day, I was faffing around (yes that is a technical term) on Twitter when out of idle curiosity I clicked on one of the many 'advice for writers' tweets that crop up on my timeline. I mean, it's always good to learn, right?
Except it wasn't advice, per se. The general tone of it was more along the lines of "if you do this, then you are an appalling writer and should stop bothering everyone right now".
I looked at that post. And then I looked at my WIP, which for a few different reasons--most notably that chunks of it were quite hard to write and sometimes writing anything is better than writing nothing--has a few examples of that post in it, and my first and overwhelming thought was: "so I'm wasting my time writing this shit. I should never be allowed near a keyboard again."
I stared at the WIP that until then I'd actually enjoyed working on and was quite looking forward to writing two characters meeting for the first time, and I stared at it for a bit longer... and then I closed it, watched most of an episode of Being Human (the one where Annie and George rescue Mitchell from the funeral parlour, if you're interested*) and went to bed feeling like I should spend the next day trying to find something else to do for a hobby.
Considering that I have the attention span of a mayfly I'd hoped, just a little, that when I woke up the next morning I'd have forgotten how I felt and could get on with writing. Except that I couldn't. I prodded the keys for a bit and thought, "stop wasting your time," and opened Chrome instead. After all, I've done NaNoWriMo for ten years now and I've never finished any of those, so what's one more unfinished piece of shite that won't ever see the light of day?
While I was faffing (still a technical term) on Twitter I saw two tweets linking to blog posts come up in quick succession. One was Clare Davidson's Writing Without Compromise which, although not directly relating to how I felt, is a fantastic post about how sticking to what you want to write is much better for your sanity than trying to write what you think someone else expects of you. The other was one of Steve Poling's excellent advice posts (the one that caught my eye was about Cardboard Cutout characters), which mix in humour and anecdotes with their food for thought. More importantly, his advice is never accusatory or makes you feel worthless; if anything, it inspires you to try new ideas or things you might not have thought of.
Something that crops up on my Twitter timeline now and again is the paraphrased quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent". Stupidly, I gave that article consent and I suspect it'll probably be a while before I can look at my WIP and my plan and not feel the urge to cry.
Don't make the mistake I did. Different approaches are for different people and if you find 'advice' that's more interested in making you feel bad than inspiring you to improve, ignore it. Mentally tell the author exactly what you think of them. Close the page. Just don't give it permission to put you off. Even if, like me, you write for fun not profit, because the characters in your head are restless and writing calms them down, and the finished result isn't ever likely to be seen by anyone...
Everyone can improve, yes, but there is a reason editing exists. Write as badly as you want in your first draft, so long as you write--you can't improve on nonexistence. And don't hurt yourself reading anything that rubbishes your work and takes away your enjoyment of writing for a smidge of advice.
You're worth a lot more than that.
_______________________________________________
* Favourite quote: "Who wants some of my chair?!" as said by George, brandishing one at a vampire. Perhaps that's what I should've yelled at that post and just got on with writing, eh?
Except it wasn't advice, per se. The general tone of it was more along the lines of "if you do this, then you are an appalling writer and should stop bothering everyone right now".
I looked at that post. And then I looked at my WIP, which for a few different reasons--most notably that chunks of it were quite hard to write and sometimes writing anything is better than writing nothing--has a few examples of that post in it, and my first and overwhelming thought was: "so I'm wasting my time writing this shit. I should never be allowed near a keyboard again."
I stared at the WIP that until then I'd actually enjoyed working on and was quite looking forward to writing two characters meeting for the first time, and I stared at it for a bit longer... and then I closed it, watched most of an episode of Being Human (the one where Annie and George rescue Mitchell from the funeral parlour, if you're interested*) and went to bed feeling like I should spend the next day trying to find something else to do for a hobby.
Considering that I have the attention span of a mayfly I'd hoped, just a little, that when I woke up the next morning I'd have forgotten how I felt and could get on with writing. Except that I couldn't. I prodded the keys for a bit and thought, "stop wasting your time," and opened Chrome instead. After all, I've done NaNoWriMo for ten years now and I've never finished any of those, so what's one more unfinished piece of shite that won't ever see the light of day?
While I was faffing (still a technical term) on Twitter I saw two tweets linking to blog posts come up in quick succession. One was Clare Davidson's Writing Without Compromise which, although not directly relating to how I felt, is a fantastic post about how sticking to what you want to write is much better for your sanity than trying to write what you think someone else expects of you. The other was one of Steve Poling's excellent advice posts (the one that caught my eye was about Cardboard Cutout characters), which mix in humour and anecdotes with their food for thought. More importantly, his advice is never accusatory or makes you feel worthless; if anything, it inspires you to try new ideas or things you might not have thought of.
Something that crops up on my Twitter timeline now and again is the paraphrased quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent". Stupidly, I gave that article consent and I suspect it'll probably be a while before I can look at my WIP and my plan and not feel the urge to cry.
Don't make the mistake I did. Different approaches are for different people and if you find 'advice' that's more interested in making you feel bad than inspiring you to improve, ignore it. Mentally tell the author exactly what you think of them. Close the page. Just don't give it permission to put you off. Even if, like me, you write for fun not profit, because the characters in your head are restless and writing calms them down, and the finished result isn't ever likely to be seen by anyone...
Everyone can improve, yes, but there is a reason editing exists. Write as badly as you want in your first draft, so long as you write--you can't improve on nonexistence. And don't hurt yourself reading anything that rubbishes your work and takes away your enjoyment of writing for a smidge of advice.
You're worth a lot more than that.
_______________________________________________
* Favourite quote: "Who wants some of my chair?!" as said by George, brandishing one at a vampire. Perhaps that's what I should've yelled at that post and just got on with writing, eh?
Thursday, 15 August 2013
I'm Due That Kick, Consider It A Present
Last week I talked about how we're all allowed to write crap, and in fact writing crap is preferable to writing nothing.
I also--foolishly in hindsight--said that if I hadn't written 5,000 words or more in a week, said people were free to hunt me down and give me a kick. (Please don't kick me too hard.)
I wrote around 1,200 words, and then started replaying Dragon Age 2. I have edited several lines several times however (yes I know...), and at least did make a couple of things a bit clearer. My main character is not in the best situation ever at this point in the story and my brain, my fingers or my heart (I'm not sure which, it might be all three) is/are rebelling at what is going to happen.
Kirill's life is about to become difficult and although things will get better afterwards, I'm stuck at my last line: "Everything was as it should be." Something in my head illogically insists that if I leave it there, the bad stuff won't happen. Of course, if I leave it there the good stuff won't happen either and my main character will be trapped in an awful limbo, believing something terrible has happened to the man he's fallen in love with without anything ever being proved or disproved.
Which, I think we can all agree, is a Bad Thing.
And, although I have no direct evidence to show for it, I'm starting to feel more confident in the relationship between Kirill and Niko. An important part to my characters for me--although it may sound a bit odd--is how they interact in my head when I'm not thinking much about them; for instance, Alex and Milos have a near-constant stream of bickering that occasionally leads to sex that crops up at the strangest times. For quite a while I'd had absolutely nothing from Kirill and Niko, which was concerning. And then I accidentally wrote fluffy almost-smut based on nothing more than a scene prompt and realised that actually they do get along. And then an actual sex-scene occurred in my head--I've not gotten around to writing it down yet--and suddenly I'm feeling a lot happier about the whole thing.
But at least my Dragon Age replay has been going quite well... In some ways I can consider it research, because at some point last year I started hearing my character Alex's voice as Gideon Emery's (the voice of Fenris). Make it slightly softer and more Midlands-English and it's a perfect fit for him, so I'm topping up my memories.
See? It's not all bad.
(As an aside, I'm 30 today. So at least for today I hope I have an excuse for not writing!)
I also--foolishly in hindsight--said that if I hadn't written 5,000 words or more in a week, said people were free to hunt me down and give me a kick. (Please don't kick me too hard.)
I wrote around 1,200 words, and then started replaying Dragon Age 2. I have edited several lines several times however (yes I know...), and at least did make a couple of things a bit clearer. My main character is not in the best situation ever at this point in the story and my brain, my fingers or my heart (I'm not sure which, it might be all three) is/are rebelling at what is going to happen.
Kirill's life is about to become difficult and although things will get better afterwards, I'm stuck at my last line: "Everything was as it should be." Something in my head illogically insists that if I leave it there, the bad stuff won't happen. Of course, if I leave it there the good stuff won't happen either and my main character will be trapped in an awful limbo, believing something terrible has happened to the man he's fallen in love with without anything ever being proved or disproved.
Which, I think we can all agree, is a Bad Thing.
And, although I have no direct evidence to show for it, I'm starting to feel more confident in the relationship between Kirill and Niko. An important part to my characters for me--although it may sound a bit odd--is how they interact in my head when I'm not thinking much about them; for instance, Alex and Milos have a near-constant stream of bickering that occasionally leads to sex that crops up at the strangest times. For quite a while I'd had absolutely nothing from Kirill and Niko, which was concerning. And then I accidentally wrote fluffy almost-smut based on nothing more than a scene prompt and realised that actually they do get along. And then an actual sex-scene occurred in my head--I've not gotten around to writing it down yet--and suddenly I'm feeling a lot happier about the whole thing.
But at least my Dragon Age replay has been going quite well... In some ways I can consider it research, because at some point last year I started hearing my character Alex's voice as Gideon Emery's (the voice of Fenris). Make it slightly softer and more Midlands-English and it's a perfect fit for him, so I'm topping up my memories.
See? It's not all bad.
(As an aside, I'm 30 today. So at least for today I hope I have an excuse for not writing!)
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