I am spending the weekend with my beloved, so there probably won't be any updates to Sidious until midweek.
In the meantime - I would like to sing you a song. But since I can't post voice recordings, I guess I will just wave..... Damnit!
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Friday 28 August 2009
Sunday 23 August 2009
More Sidious
The first of the 'revenge' chapters is up - it turns out I am breaking the story in to two different parts. The first is Harry carrying out his plan to change the past, and the second is his budding romance.
And if you had told me six months ago I would actually be writing a love story (albeit a love story with quite a lot of horrible, bloody deaths in it), I might have thought you were mad :)
Anyway - "Crime And Retribution" has been posted.
(And now I have a slight problem... I have two ways to end the next chapter, and I can't decide which is best. Still - I am around 3000 words from having to decide just yet, so I guess I can sleep on it :)
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
And if you had told me six months ago I would actually be writing a love story (albeit a love story with quite a lot of horrible, bloody deaths in it), I might have thought you were mad :)
Anyway - "Crime And Retribution" has been posted.
(And now I have a slight problem... I have two ways to end the next chapter, and I can't decide which is best. Still - I am around 3000 words from having to decide just yet, so I guess I can sleep on it :)
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Tuesday 18 August 2009
Sometimes it just feels right
Generally when I plan to write stories, I write the plots out in Narrative form. That is I tell a summary of the story from start to finish, without regard to chapters.
Consequently, when I actually start writing, there is a lot of "filler" to write. Not random stuff that has no relevance, but expanding of the narrative plot.
For example the narrative plot might read "Hermione talks to Harry about the night before, then they go down to breakfast".
Now I could write "Hermione sat down to Harry and asked him about the night before. After a brief discussion, they went down to breakfast together", but that's DULL! Really, really boring.
So instead I start writing in the bits that are missing. So you get this...
Hermione sat down on the sofa, and looked across at Harry.
"How's it going?" She asked. He shrugged "Did you have a good time last night?"
"Well - I had an odd dream about two otters and a sea-lion, but aside from that it was mostly okay" He grinned as she frowned at him.
"You know what I mean Jim - how did it go with Flitwick?"
"Pretty much okay"......
And so on. Most of what I write (as filler) is made up on the spot, without giving it much thought before hand.
Which is where I come to the title of the post - I have just finished a scene in "Sidious" where Harry and Luna are discussing what's going to happen on Back To School day in Diagon Alley. It wasn't one I planned out before (very occasionally I will write complete plans of scenes, but that is usually reserved for fights and large scale battles, because you would not believe how easy it is to kill someone and then having them fighting two scenes later) and I just started writing.
In most cases like this, I get about three or four paragraphs in, and it just clicks - I know how to end it, and then I just steer the story in that direction. And when I reach the end, I know I have because it feels right - it feels like that should be the end.
The thing is - I can't explain WHY it feels right. It just does. The closest analogy I can think of is Colin Mathews talking about when to sell and when not to in Press Gang - you just get this feeling that this is the moment, and everything has fallen in to place.
Does anyone else get like this? Or is it just me?
Consequently, when I actually start writing, there is a lot of "filler" to write. Not random stuff that has no relevance, but expanding of the narrative plot.
For example the narrative plot might read "Hermione talks to Harry about the night before, then they go down to breakfast".
Now I could write "Hermione sat down to Harry and asked him about the night before. After a brief discussion, they went down to breakfast together", but that's DULL! Really, really boring.
So instead I start writing in the bits that are missing. So you get this...
Hermione sat down on the sofa, and looked across at Harry.
"How's it going?" She asked. He shrugged "Did you have a good time last night?"
"Well - I had an odd dream about two otters and a sea-lion, but aside from that it was mostly okay" He grinned as she frowned at him.
"You know what I mean Jim - how did it go with Flitwick?"
"Pretty much okay"......
And so on. Most of what I write (as filler) is made up on the spot, without giving it much thought before hand.
Which is where I come to the title of the post - I have just finished a scene in "Sidious" where Harry and Luna are discussing what's going to happen on Back To School day in Diagon Alley. It wasn't one I planned out before (very occasionally I will write complete plans of scenes, but that is usually reserved for fights and large scale battles, because you would not believe how easy it is to kill someone and then having them fighting two scenes later) and I just started writing.
In most cases like this, I get about three or four paragraphs in, and it just clicks - I know how to end it, and then I just steer the story in that direction. And when I reach the end, I know I have because it feels right - it feels like that should be the end.
The thing is - I can't explain WHY it feels right. It just does. The closest analogy I can think of is Colin Mathews talking about when to sell and when not to in Press Gang - you just get this feeling that this is the moment, and everything has fallen in to place.
Does anyone else get like this? Or is it just me?
More Original HP Fiction
Annoyingly, I have figured out the best way to write "Break Of Day" - but it involves setting it sixty years in the future, and having almost no HP characters in it.
So, whether I'll get it started or written, I don't know, because only one of the two sites permits original HP fiction..... So I guess we'll see.
So, whether I'll get it started or written, I don't know, because only one of the two sites permits original HP fiction..... So I guess we'll see.
The Dark Lord Sidious : Posted
Woohoo! I have posted the Prologue and First Chapter of Sidious on the two main sites. I even contemplated breaking my near 17 month boycott of Fanfiction.net, but in the end I decided that after the events of M22-08 are still annoying, and even though I use "xoxox" rather than "-----", there is still the chance they'll remove that variation as well, and my scenes will start to merge again.
Anyway - setting aside my opinions of FFN, the first chapter is posted, which is good. Whether people like it or not, we'll see soon enough. And whether I've broken any site-rules will also become apparent.
There should be another chapter before the end of the week - I am doing two chapters ahead rather than one, because it's proving somewhat harder to write than I originally thought.
As for the other stories - A New Dawn : Enemies is having problems - the start of the third part is already tending towards being a lot like the last two, and quite a lot like The Silent Trio (in certain ways), so I'm going to take a slight pause and continue with Sidious, which will hopefully give me an idea of how to write it better.
And I spent my lunch re-reading the start of The Western Sky, and once I am done with that, I might be able to get back to it, and write "Shadows Of The Past" can start again.
And now, it is time for bed.
Anyway - setting aside my opinions of FFN, the first chapter is posted, which is good. Whether people like it or not, we'll see soon enough. And whether I've broken any site-rules will also become apparent.
There should be another chapter before the end of the week - I am doing two chapters ahead rather than one, because it's proving somewhat harder to write than I originally thought.
As for the other stories - A New Dawn : Enemies is having problems - the start of the third part is already tending towards being a lot like the last two, and quite a lot like The Silent Trio (in certain ways), so I'm going to take a slight pause and continue with Sidious, which will hopefully give me an idea of how to write it better.
And I spent my lunch re-reading the start of The Western Sky, and once I am done with that, I might be able to get back to it, and write "Shadows Of The Past" can start again.
And now, it is time for bed.
Monday 10 August 2009
Dark Lord Sidious
I have finally started HP and The Dark Lord Sidious, and the first chapter was a bit of a bugger. But now I've got in to the main plot, it is going slightly easier.
I suspect - when I get to posting it (see later) it might confuse people at the start. But to be honest, that is kind of the idea.
My plan for posting is to do the first two chapters, then post the prologue and chapter one, so I'll always be one chapter ahead while writing.
On a side note - this is my first post from my shiny new phone, so I might be lacking tags (until I can figure out how to do them!)
I suspect - when I get to posting it (see later) it might confuse people at the start. But to be honest, that is kind of the idea.
My plan for posting is to do the first two chapters, then post the prologue and chapter one, so I'll always be one chapter ahead while writing.
On a side note - this is my first post from my shiny new phone, so I might be lacking tags (until I can figure out how to do them!)
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