LOGIC AND THE DIVINE

So I keep promising a guest post from Kara Thrace (of BSG stardom) in my Character Post series but I just can't get anything out in her voice. Then I was in the shower and  6 and Baltar spoke to me. And I was all 'holy shiz! YOU GUYS ARE RIGHT! IN COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAYS!!!'

For those of you that don't know (and shame on you!) 6 and Baltar are two very central characters in the Battlestar Galactica series (remake). 6 is a believer in the Divine Hand in all events. Baltar is a scientist, very logical and through out most of the series believes that this God (or Gods) business is absolute rubbish. How are they at all related to you guys?

Well, I will tell you.They mirror the writer psyche.


There are some writers who are very seat of their pants. They wait for their muse to come down from on high and guide their writerly hand and thoughts to produce fantastic, amazing and mesmerizing works of art. And there are others who are very much logicians. They need a plan. They need outlines and notes and structure and a very clearly stated and proven path that works before they can write.

The thing is, you can't work with just 6 or just Baltar. You need both to save the baby (your story) and to make the prophecy* (again, your story) come true. Balance in writing, like in all things in life, is necessary. You need (as my creative writing professor would say) both the madman (and 6 is definitely a little crazy) and the architect (or scientist, in this case) to bring forth and save the baby that is the key to saving humanity.

*6 is a divine messenger from God, sent to Baltar to fulfill a prophecy - part of which is bringing about the birth of a baby that is the answer to pretty much everything. To know more, get thee to SyFy and watch Battlestar Galactica.

THE SNOWPOCALYPSE CONTINUES

So far the snowpocalypse has not disappointed. We've gotten eighteen inches of snow! It's like a freakin' playground outside - WE CAN WALK DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET WITHOUT FEAR. The BFFLs and I trekked through the storm to absorb all it's silvery beauty and pretend that we were off to find the Promised Land (i.e. Kogan Plaza which was gorgeous). We threw snow, jumped in snow and generally frolicked in the cold weather. Also - I built a boobilicious, pregnant snow woman. She, if I may say so myself, will attract all the lonely snow men with her luscious curves and come hither smile.

I also found out that I live right next to the lamp post that leads to the magical world of Narnia (see tweet here).

Also (yes, I use 'also' a lot - see, I did it again) I've been invited to vlog with a couple of writerly friends and it looks like fun but I don't know and really, I just need you all's advice. Because I have no clue and I'm thinking about podcasting once a month because, honestly? Who wants to hear my voice and see my face every week? Not even me.

Kara Thrace will be guest posting tomorrow (or so the plan goes) and if you don't know who that is you've been living in a dark, dark hole and really, I don't want to speak to you. Google her. Right. Now. Until tomorrow.

Also - pictures of the amazing and awe inspiring snowpocalypse will be up tomorrow.

Moving Forward, Stopping Time

Yesterday I went to bed thinking that my head would implode. There was just too much going on and not enough of it was about The Pawn (my work in progress) so I pretty much felt like a gigantic failure. The scene chart that I am writing to help me navigate the book was supposed to be done last night. I got to scene 158 out of an approximate 200. I was on 138 when I decided to finish it up and had to delete a bunch of scenes when I realized they were no longer feasible on Saturday. Last night, however, instead of writing more scenes and organizing my thoughts I decided to finish up the last season of Battlestar Galactica.

Can we say amazing? I finished it a few hours ago and I could not have asked for a better ending. The last few episodes introduced so many things and I was like 'There is no way they'll be able to wrap everything up.' But they did! In the most amazing way possible. There were no loose ends and every main character was taken care of with a suitable ending. And now that I've wrapped up that little bit of my life I might be able to focus on finishing this scene chart and pounding out a few chapters.

I've decided to put everything else that is going on in my not so exciting life so that I can focus on writing. (Note: nothing goes on in my life at this point, so I'm not really stopping anything.) Getting this book done by the end of August before I start my creative writing class in the fall is very important to me so that I can spend the fall semester editing it, deciding what needs to be added to it as a whole, what I should never have put in, etc. Then I'll be able to send it out to a few beta readers (I've already got one volunteer!) and then, depending on their responses, I'll be able to start querying like a mad woman. :)

And while the editing/betaing/etc is going on, I will (hopefully) start on my next project, The Mark.