Karaoke and Impact.

I started following this guy on Twitter. His name is Juan and he does karaoke covers of various rock and metal songs. If that's your thing, I highly recommend checking his stuff out.

One of the songs he covers is Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills. It's a back and forth perspective of their interpretation of Native and government interactions al la conquest and war. Also, one of my favorite songs. :)

Now I mention all of this for a reason (aside from sharing the awesome-ness of a singer); there is a part in a verse that always got me thinking about impact. One of the lines of the song has the original version, as well as a radio edit. The third verse talks about how the soldiers think that "the only good injuns are tame." I've heard the version where the last word of that line is "dead," rather than "tame." I don't know which is the original and which is the edit, but the changing in either case fascinates me.

Which word has more impact? Which version illustrates the point of the work best? Yeah, dead could be argued to be the ultimate in impact. After all, there's nothing with quite as much omph as death. But, in the confines of the piece, is it really the worst thing? To me, at least, it isn't. The usage of tame gives me the idea of domestication and loss of freedom. Taken into consideration with the story the song sings, a much more powerful sentiment than death.

Of course, that may just be my background talking.

I wonder if the songwriter meant to evoke this thought process? Hell, maybe they were only looking for a decent rhyme. I'd like to think that the construction of the verse a little more complicated than that.

No Excuses.

I've fallen out of a lot of good habits. By a lot, I mean nearly every damned one of them.

Writing everyday has fallen by the wayside.

The weekly blog took a bit hit.

Online community participation? Ha!

My attempts at being tidy and organized have imploded and created a rather amazing chaos across the house (think interior design by a category 3 hurricane).

Anything remotely artistic has gathered so much dust that it's not funny.

I can't even remember where my workout clothes have managed to hide, let alone what they look like anymore.

And has anyone seen the dog? We had four, right? Why am I only finding three? (Okay, that last bit about the dogs isn't true, but still.)

It's so easy to let things slip away from you. Especially when it concerns the daily grind of a writing project. Even to the most devoted of writers, when faced with the necessities of daily living, getting that extra hour, or even that extra hundred words, can be a monumental difficulty.

Seeing everything listed helps map out what I need to work on. Posting it for you all to see gives me extra incentive to work harder (NaNo mindset much?).

I have plenty of excuses for my bad habits, my goal is to have none.

:D

Prevent Zombies, Cover Your Mouth.

The running joke amongst my family and friends is that (on most days) I pray for the zombie apocalypse. I sometimes categorize people by their usefulness after the said zombie-fication of society. A few weeks ago, a friend said that she had seen something and immediately thought of me-a semi-automatic shotgun. Naturally, I was flattered. :)

Why do I mention my preoccupation with the undead? Well, I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about the particulars of the spread of a zombie plague. Why the past few days? I've just had a lot of time on my hands due to the fact that someone gave me a nasty cold. Weird, huh?

The manner of transmission is what really irks me: uncovered coughing and sneezing. Seriously? If we can't be bothered to cover our mouths with the common cold, how bad is it going to be with something far more serious? Get into practice now, people. You'll be thankful when you're not coughing up a lung (or your brain isn't being eaten).

*Rant off*

Story Killers.

I recently added the family room gaming console to my Netflix account. It's fun and I don't have to worry about taking DVDs orders when there are a ton of streaming titles available. Of course, it's wreaking havoc with my recommendations, but it's kind of fun in a weird way.

Anyhoo, one of my recommendations (before the havoc) was an indie art house-type film called Valhalla Rising. I had to watch it in two parts. The first reason was because of the sheer amount of very realistic violence and gore, the second was because of a fifteen second (at most) scene of sexual violence. Even now, a few days later, I'm still bothered by the movie. On its artistic merits, I cannot fault; the movie was, well, good. Sure it was artsy and kind of experimental, but it was, technically, good. But I still rated it a " did not like" because of the sexual violence scene. It ruined the whole thing for me. Even though all the disturbing aspects of the movie fit, I cannot and will not abide certain things in my entertainment choices.

Now, playing Devil's Advocate, sometimes a story requires ugliness in order to be told, especially in reference to ugly topics. Bringing things into the light in order to deal with and bring awareness of said ugly thing is good, but waylaying a reader (or movie-watcher) with a disturbing scene strikes me as unfair. Impact is one thing, an ambush is entirely different.

The range of issues people have when it comes to their entertainment is as varied the target demographic themselves. In my own house, one of my family members will not tolerate irreverent humor in any form (think Monty Python); another can't stand any denigration of marriage or monogamy; and still another can't stand anything that challenges masculine identity (again, think Monty Python).

Personal preferences in entertainment isn't a bad thing (unless it's against the fellas in my Monty Python). I think that it's an aspect that some writers aren't prepared for sometimes. Sometimes you will write about something that irks a person, group, hell, maybe even an entire country. Not everyone will love your work and that's okay.

Coming Up For Air...

Ack!

It's been over a month since a posting. For that I am truly sorry. The craziness of my life has gotten the better of me for the better of that month.

On the plus, the time was fantastically inspiring on personal and creative levels. I got to meet amazing people, learn amazing stories, participate in amazing things (and I know I'm using 'amazing' a lot, but it really was). And while I've only written and plotted a little on the projects I'm currently on, I think I have a very good reserve of inspiration going. :)

So, again, huge apologies for the unintentional ignoring!

Take care and Happy Turkey Day!

Unbelievable!

I suppose I wouldn't be much of a writer if I didn't have an overactive imagination. A few weeks ago I went off on a tangent about a recent local business drama had the possibility of being international trade espionage. But my flair for the dramatic doesn't always serve me well. Yesterday I received a text from my Aunt concerning an visit to the ER by my Uncle. It was late when she sent the text saying everything was fine and that they'd call later. While I waited for that call, I received another text. This time from my baby brother saying that there had been an accident at his workplace. So while stressing out about the ER text, I'm stressing about the accident text, and my mind is going to dual worst-case scenarios. Ultimately I was proved to be stressed out for nothing; ER text ended up being hyper-extended tendons from coaching soccer, and accident text was a thankfully trauma-free operator error that didn't involve my baby brother (it did involve a 34 ton piece of machinery that somehow ended up on its roof, which confuses me still).

Looking back at some of the things that were running through my head made me wonder why the worst-possible scenario is where I immediately went.

I had a conversation awhile back that centered on readers and suspension-of-disbelief issues; some readers tended to lose interest in a story if a character was treated "too nice" by the author. Not that anyone can accuse me of being even nice to my characters (let alone too nice), but the idea fascinates me.

Personally, I don't mind if a character has a nearly insurmountable task ahead of them. If they didn't, there wouldn't be much of a reason to be interested in the story. Frodo having a Mt. Doom lava vent running under his cute lil hobbit house wouldn't have been all that dramatic. Oh, get rid of the ring? Sure. *Plunk* That was easy! Danger, conflict, and drama are vital. But when the author (or screenwriter) is needlessly stacking the odds against a single character, I find that just as distracting as the "too nice" angle. But, to be fair, deus ex machina-type stuff gives me hives.

I suppose, like with anything else, it comes down to personal preferences. One reader's view of kid gloves is another reader's view of chainmail sharksuit hand protectors. Or really itchy wool mittens, those are bad, too. :)

Fun and Games

About a month ago my partner-in-crime and I were asked to come up with a storyline for a game. This is a rather interesting endeavor to undertake. I mean, I like games, I play games, and games definitely require stories. But there's something about writing for a different medium that scares and intrigues a gal.

There is so much possibility in the things one could do and see in the world that is created. Having the things that you see in your mind translated to a visual representation is a heady thought. Collaborating with a group of people, all with different skill sets, ideas, and tasks is something I haven't done. The mere thought of the result of the efforts gives me goosebumps.

The past few week I've been wracking my brain as to how to go about this thing. A few ideas have been kicked around and well-received, but the framework is sorely lacking. But how are the ideas that are being developed going to work? Will they work? Etc. Then I realized, I'm getting WAY too ahead of myself with the things I'm obsessing about. I don't have to worry about anything but the story; remove the end result from the equation and just write. After all, programming is not my forte and not something I have to worry about. :D

So my plan is to hammer out some intro-level storyline and cannon (crosses fingers) for everyone to work with. A story to serve as reference or just a jumping-off point for additional ideas.

And guess which month gets allotted for it? Ah, November, how I've missed thee. :)