Thursday, October 30, 2008

I'm just out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level.

In the past few days, I have gained life experience that I had hoped never to have. My heart goes out to my friend and his family.

By some sick twist of fate, everything that has happened has inspired my story. Suddenly all the bumps and plot-holes seem to be smoothing themselves out.

I have an antagonist. Actually, a small group of antagonists. They use fear-mongering to turn the community against the good people, and when everyone is scared and trusting, they attack. Much like Dick Cheney. Also much like things happening here. The good people are locked away, and many are killed. Perhaps they are sent to labor camps. Their children are taken away and given to party families so that their rebellious spirits might be bred out of them, and they might be integrated into the new society. But when Evelyn discovers that she was taken from her parents, she sets off to find them, finding out more along the way about the world that had stolen her away from them. In her quest to find her family, she uncovers an evil plot that could destroy much much more than a pile of books.

On your mark...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Operation Photo Inspiration - Status: IN PROGRESS

I have recovered the tape.

Option 1: I know of someone with a miniDV camcorder. He says it may need a new battery.

Option 2: I could go to the local pawn shop to see if there is a cheap one there. But what can I afford?

Once the footage has been captured, I'll take the stills and hang them around my room for inspiration.

And a-one, a-two, a-one, two, three days...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

For real, now

Well, I have put off and put off cleaning my bedroom, and now the entire downstairs is so congested that I can hardly make it down the steps, so I am really cleaning my bedroom today.

Here's the plan:
Mom comes to pick me up, and we drive to Manchester, so we can get Starbucks for breakfast, since neither of us can move around the house enough to find food.

I come home sated and proceed to sort laundry, throw trash away, charge my cell phone, and make a shopping list.

I leave again for Wal-Mart and food, returning to watch Rabbit-Proof Fence (see how I'm sneaking in a little research time?) as I eat. All the while, the cabinets are being installed.

Finally, once everyone has left, I can start actually doing my laundry, taking breaks to go grocery shopping with Mom, look over my lines for The Bad Seed, or watch an episode of The Daily Show that I missed last night. I envy Rob's TiVo.

I need to be at South Jackson by 6:30 for the Playhouse meeting, and Mom and I are eating sometime before then. Throughout the day, I am working on coaxing a miniDV tape of footage I shot from the cable station so I can pull stills for inspiration... So far, Pete has sent me some neat stills, but they are not the ones I'm looking for, so I hope he'll allow me to borrow the tape. (I really hope he knows where the tape is...)

I almost forgot the most important part! I was looking on a Steampunk interior design blog, and they had an article on hidden doors. Which got me thinking about hidden rooms possibly in Evelyn's adopted home...

2+2 and 2 x 2 and 2 squared comes to 4 days until NaNoWriMo.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Organization can be so...

Today, I must organize my room and my life. I can take this mess no longer!

I have procured Rabbit-Proof Fence, and I have read my books on book banning. I should perhaps sketch an outline before Saturday, but we shall see.

Take 5

Thursday, October 23, 2008

A trip to the library...

...for real, this time. I have a couple books due back on Sunday, but I need to find a reason to get myself out of the house this afternoon, so I'm off to research book banning. I wrote down a list of titles and then promptly misplaced them...

I need to organize my living space before I can organize my book, so the plan for today is as follows:
1. Sort laundry
2. Throw trash in the trash
3. Reorganize my bookshelves
4. As always, memorize more lines for The Bad Seed.

This cat has nine days.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Lordy, Lordy...

I'm pulling my hair out today... I don't know why I'm so anxious, but I need to chill out! Talking to lolasangel helped tremendously, though.

As for the book, I have found a few books at the library about book burning, and Rabbit-Proof Fence is on it's way, thanks to netflix.

I think that's all I can say today.

Countdown from 10...

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What a to-do to die today...

I'm stymied in regards to my plot, so I'm turning again to research for inspiration. After all, reality is stranger than fiction.

Unfortunately, the libraries around here have only very outdated books on genetic theory (as in, books that are older than I am), so in order to read more on personality genes, I'd have to order a few titles, and since I have no money... The library does have a few books on the history of book banning, including one that looks particularly interesting and relevant to my story: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain.

Therefore, my to-do list today:
~ DO LAUNDRY! (or else I'll be smelly for the remainder of this week)
~ A trip to the library...
~ Wal-Mart (I know it's an evil corporation, but I need to restock on bottled water, seeing as we have no kitchen at the moment)
~ Learn another speech or two for The Bad Seed. I have nearly all of my lines memorized, but I am having trouble remembering the telephone calls and the scenes with my father. By the end of this week, I should be entirely off-book.

Hopefully by tomorrow, I will have developed an intricate plot with all the necessary social and psychological elements, but we shall see.

Eleven days 'til the eleventh month...

Monday, October 20, 2008

A little character development...

Since I continue to be jobless, I should spend my time regularly working on my story, yes?

My goals for today:

1. Write an outline of Book One. (There may be only enough material for a one book, but I guess that will become clearer to me as I work out an outline.)

2. Draw out a character outline for Evelyn and Nayeem. I know there's a lot I haven't worked out yet, but I need to get all of my ideas onto one piece of paper.

More later.

In the 12 days to NaNo, my sweetheart gave to me an oversized mug for my coffee.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

A very merry half-birthday...

I have given up caffeine, and the decision may drive me mad. I'm cranky, I'm tired, and I'm anxious. I need a coke or a coffee. Or perhaps chocolate. But no matter...


In less than two weeks, I will begin writing the story that has been burning in my mind for over a year:

1. I will keep my expectations reasonable and strive for the best I can write, but not perfection.

2. I will attempt to keep my living environment relatively organized, my diet relatively balanced, and my schedule relatively routine.

3. I will consider writing my "job," in the absence of another, and will therefore maintain regular hours.

4. I will not only meet my word count; I will also finish my story.

13 days, and counting

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Finally, a breakthrough!

Thanks to Wrimogirl, I feel much more secure with my plot for this year.

The basic gist of the story:

Evelyn lives in a world where a conservative group (maybe a town council?) has been banning books. It started out as censorship of books with excessive violence or sexuality, and became the founding principles of the town, restricting anything that is not "pre-approved" as safe, factual, and, ultimately, simple. Anyone working against the council's decisions may be jailed or, in severe cases, put to death. Evelyn's parents went underground years ago to protect her, placing her with a foster family when she was only a baby, and now that Evelyn is older, she finds that she is different from the other kids at school and in the town. She finds a note from her parents as she's cleaning and sets out to find them, in the process learning more about who she is and what her family has been working toward. Her foster parents are severely punished when she is lost or maybe because the council finds banned books in the house, and Evelyn can no longer go home. She meets a boy named Nayeem who also escaped when his parents were taken.

There are two major ideas that I want to examine with the book (or books--I haven't figured out if it will lend itself to a short series or if I will only have one...):

1. The dangers of censorship
2. Can personality be inherited? I'd like Evelyn to show qualities of her family, even having grown up away from them. Her creativity and quest for knowledge should come more from her family than any other figures in her life. That way, as she meets members of her family, she can see aspects of herself in everyone, thus feeling more and more like she has found where she belongs. That sounds really schlocky, but...yeah.

Please forgive the poor grammer, misspellings, or otherwise poor writing skills found in this entry. It is intended for brainstorming purposes only.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Already October?

I still have to work out kinks in the plot, but I'm excited about this November. If I happen to be moving then, it will be especially nice to have writing to ease the transition, tying one place seamlessly to the other. As for now, I'm trying to take life one day at a time, accepting the glories and challenges of each individual moment in time.

The time is right to write the musical. It's burning a hole in my brain. What better time to write Baker's Dozen than this October?

Assuming a musical is about 100 pages, I should aim for 3-4 pages each day. I may not update every day, but I will certainly try to check in once a week. How's Wednesday for everyone?