Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2008
Neurosis Averted
October 30, 2008
I’ve been flipping out about my story lacking plot. The fact that I’m losing my mind can likely be attributed to having clocked too many hours at work on too little sleep, but it’s compounded by a messy new house and concerns about finances (byproduct of aforementioned messy new house). Nonetheless, this is a novel I started back in March and am now rewriting due to… well, it needed it.
So when you’re about 20K in what looks like it’ll amount to a 60K novel, concerns start to arise. Am I doing this all wrong? Is the plot craptastic? Is the plot decent but I take too long to get to it? Am I confusing plot for story? Is this story going to captivate anyone or am I a brain in a vat and nothing matters?
When you start to edge into solipsism, it’s time to talk to someone else.
Normally, when I write, if I ever show anybody else, it’s as finished a product as I can make it. But my “finished products” rarely crested 30K, and tended to fall around the 10K region. When you’ve hit mid-story at twenty pages, perspectives are a little different.
This is my first excursion into novel-land. I’ve never written for this long without either (a) finishing or (b) getting feedback. I wrote a fic that took me a year to get done, but I posted each chapter as I went (every two weeks, with a hiccough here and there) and got feedback. I’ve been writing since March, and have shown next to nothing to anybody.
Both Mme Harker and Sarah stand in the wings as betas. As do others, but I didn’t want to show any of them rough work for a variety of reasons (and they should count themselves blessed). Plus I’ve been chatting with those two since I started this novel, so they’ve been there for the bulk of my whining.
I finally asked for a glance-over of my first three chapters, for content only. Of course I wanted to hear praise. Who doesn’t? I longed to receive comments along the lines of: “Your writing, c’est magnifique! You possess the writing talent of Bradbury, and will be as famous as Rowling with the longevity of Lucas!”
If you’re going to dream, dream big.
What I anticipated, with 100% honesty, was to hear the following: “You’ve got decent writing, though it certainly needs some thorough line-by editing, and your story is developing far too slowly. No action, no tension, nothing.” In anticipation of this, I told them to stop the second they got bored, and tell me where and, if possible, why.
The responses I received have buoyed my spirits hardcore. I am really grateful for the patience of those two gals, and their willingness to put up with my freaking out and running around in circles. (Carla even twittered about it! I’m still reeling.)
But even if they had come out with what I expected to hear, I still would have been happy. Less happy, certainly. But I would be equipped with the ability to address major plot slowness a quarter into the work instead of at completion. I felt, while outlining, that things were solid. But as the word count progressed and all I had on my HDD amounted to a series of conversations (and a nabbing of a runaway, and a black eye)… well, I began to grow nervous. Nobody was blasting out of docking bay 94 to escape the Imperials, nobody was driving madly in a blue VW Bug dodging flaming tar, nobody was making the old stones of a cathedral speak.
I have been appeased. My initial instincts were correct. The plot is good, and I just need to finish writing the book. But without running it past a beta, I would have been trapped in my own head forever.
Moral of the story: Know when you need to bounce something off someone. Then do it. Could save your story, as well as your sanity.
I have some very wonderful friends. Thank you both!
The Great Divide Within My Office
October 28, 2008
Here is a sterling example of how little I know of finance:
Office Mate: Woah.
ME: What’s up?
OM: The market. By 900 points. And nobody knows why.
ME: I told it to.
OM: Usually with this kind of fluctuation, people know why.
ME: I saw the market, and it was sucking, and I said, “Hey, market. Smarten the fuck up.” And lo.
OM:Must be some sort of insider information.
ME: Well, maybe The Daily Show will tell you why?
OM: I hope so. I hope I don’t have to watch Kramer.
ME: … Is he the guy they had in Iron Man?
It Will Go Downhill From Here
October 28, 2008
Balls to this. I’m going to write about writing. I don’t care that I’m a noob. I don’t care that I’m unpublished. I don’t care that as a result my opinions are worth scant little. I’ve been doing this whole “writing” thing for coming on 16 years now and damn if I don’t feel like I might know a little something about the topic!
Ahem. Sorry about that.
I’m going to start with a brief exhalation on what I’ve spent the past year doing (which has been the first year I’ve finished work since 2004). I’ve got one short story that is shopping around, another that I need to fix the ending of (Mme Harker is correct in that the endin’ needs fixin’), and a novel currently being rewritten (25% complete). If this seems rather paltry bear in mind: one, the novel is beingrewritten, which implies it has been written once, and clocks in at over 60,000 words; and two, I work a very demanding full-time job.
And besides, deciding to be published is a recent thing. Hard to call me on it when I’ve received a grand total of two rejections in my life (and one was very kind).
So that’s just the start of it. This is going to get ugly. You have all been warned.
As Luck Would Have It…
October 27, 2008
At the beginning of this merry October, day one, the weather had the good sense to act like it was October. And I decided I wanted to write a scary story.
I don’t know if I’ve succeeded in making it scary. But I believe I’ve got a decent product on my hands. At least, it’s readable from beginning to end.
And then I see that Kelly–clever, published girl that she is–has posted a notice about this contest that my freshly-finished short works very well for. Fantasy/horror at 1500 words.
So, time to get other eyeballs on this thing to help me make it suck a little less. I highly doubt I’ll win (after all, it’s one winner out of the hordes that will be submitting, so statistically, odds are not in my favor). But, I’m going to give it a shot.
Oh, and if this blog post seems a touch disjointed, it’d be because I haven’t slept in 24 hours. My body decided last night would be an ode to consciousness.
Get Out The Vote
October 27, 2008
Old Crow Medicine Show
October 17, 2008
Old Crow Medicine Show – I Hear Them All (link)
I was originally going to put up Wagon Wheel, but I couldn’t refuse a song that reference Wovoka. I don’t know who can.
Blends well with: Two Gallants, Vetiver
Desmond and the Tutus
October 10, 2008
Nightmare Revisited (Mostly a Nightmare)
October 6, 2008
So, in case you haven’t heard, Disney decided that the covers already out there for Nightmare Before Christmas would be a great way to make some money. But instead of using those covers, they hunted down their own.
I love this damn movie. And not recently. I loved it when it was in theaters and I was but a wee child. I was spooky from a young age.
I’ll give you a quick rundown.
Pretty straight-faced playthrough, nothing too wild or out there. I didn’t get the feel for the cover artist, just more Nightmare stuff. Still, not bad. Listenable.
Not technically revisiting, is it? This is all ground he’s ploughed before. Cheating. Let’s move on.
This Is Halloween (Marylin Manson)
This is an old cover. If you haven’t heard it by now, you lose at the internet. Still, it’s solid. Say what you will about Marylin Manson, he knows what songs to cover. Another solid version of this is offered up by Panic at the Disco.
Jack’s Lament (All American Rejects)
Now, understand, this is my favorite song of the movie. I absolutely adore it. So when I hear that whiny voice streak through my eardrum, I wail inside. I got 20 seconds into this song before I had to turn it off, and only 4 seconds of that was comprised of vocals. Next.
Docter Finkelstein/In the Forest (Amina)
Thus far, the instrumentals are two-for-two on being good, and this one takes a step outside of what Nightmare originally laid out for it. I think this one’s quite well done. Loving the theramin.
Ugh. So, instrumentals are winning, but vocal bits are just… not clearing it. Her vocals are not quite emotive enough to handle the wonder that is supposed to be coursing through this song. She sings “What’s this?” but it sounds like she really couldn’t care less about what anything is.
I never in my life thought I’d write these words, but Fallout Boy did it better. You have failed. Next.
Town Meeting Song (The Polphonic Spree)
Let me just get this out of the way: I love The Polyphonic Spree. And their absolutely inspired cover of Nirvana’s Lithium made me very curious to hear this. I’m really enjoying this one. It’s not what I expected, but it’s doing it’s thing and taking me along with it. Best of the vocal songs so far. My only real complaint is that it needs to pick up the pace.
Jack and Sally Montage (The Vitamin String Quartet)
Another instrumental. Rather meh. Doesn’t entice, doesn’t push away. It’s just there, four people on string instruments playing some music that stays just this side of spooky.
Jack’s Obsession (Sparklehorse)
I didn’t know you could ruin this song this badly. After all, it’s a bit more obscure, and doesn’t draw as much love or notice as the others. I thought this would slip under the radar of suck. I was wrong.
It’s Korn. I don’t think I have to say any more. I started laughing at this cover not ten seconds in. I’d much rather be listening to She Wants Revenge, and even I’m able to recognize that SWR didn’t do that amazing of a cover.
Making Christmas (Rise Against)
Not horrible, but the vocals just do not work for this song.
I’ve started down this dark path, and I will finish. Not rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail will stop me from this crap. But good God, what have I condemned myself to?
More instrumental. More delicious things-not-sucking. Seriously, I could take half those singers to school on how you do these songs, and I’m barely passable. This track is great, really divergent from the original, displaying the Yoshida Brothers for what they are, but still keeps that kick of what the song once was.
Oogie Boogie’s Song (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
So, wow. First, whatever made Disney decide to pick up these two is beyond me, but for once, God bless ‘em for making a good call. This was a wonderful cover, even if you don’t like two guitars playing maniacally side-by-side (which really, if you don’t, what’s your problem?). Gabriela’s standard percussion-style strumming and Rodrigo’s sharp picking make for an amazing cover here.
When I first saw who was singing this, I muttered “Goddamnit.” She has a solid voice, but it’s so typical, putting the lead singer of Evanescence on this kind of project. Still. She did a very solid job, and I really can’t complain. It doesn’t compete with Fiona Apple’s version at all. I think the two bring their own things to the table, and shouldn’t have to fight for the lead.
Meh.
First of all… what? The Hey-There-Delilah assholes covering Nightmare Before Christmas music? And… wow. This… isn’t terrible. Crap. Have my standards fallen so low that this is good, or is it good on its own?
The first few measures of standard uhn-tiss made me concerned. Largely, not bad, but not incredible. Feels like that’s become the mantra of this CD (alongside “singers can’t sing”).
Finale/Reprise (Shiny Toy Guns)
And welcome to why I’m here. Hearing this is a terrible tease. It makes me want to hear them cover the whole album. I can only imagine how they’d kick ass at What’s This, Sally’s Song (though I’d wager Carah would swing it better than Sisley). Ah, well. Damn.
Cheating.
Maybe we go through a lot of suck, but this is prettymuch the best way to wrap up this CD.
In the end? I’d say don’t buy it, just download the good tracks.
