Up · From · Slush

Thanks to both of you for your comments on my hook. Both of you raise a good point about the stories being separate. These initially were two different stories, with Paul's story being a sequel to Joanna's. I put them together to make them into a novel, but I always wondered if I was doing it the right way. After reading my hook and your comments, however, I wonder if it's even necessary to include Jo's section anymore. I had a lot of fun writing her (especially since her story was in first person and won an Honorable Mention in an international contest), but now her story is just a prelude to Paul's. Of course, if I drop her section, I can make some changes to what's left...and I should probably think of a new title...and I'll probably need to put it up on OWW again. (groan) But I think it would be a stronger story in the end, so it would be worth it. Lots to think about here....

but that's what happens when you have Internot problems associated with moving. At least that's working now. I have had a chance to follow Sue's blog and through her the FFF hook contest. It inspired me to try writing a hook for Lennon's Line. Here's what I have so far:

Although Joanna is descended from John Lennon, she wants to study genes, not make music. Her uncle Jack, who controls the estate, won’t pay for her education unless she helps him clone John by traveling through a wormhole to a younger, alternate universe and collecting their ancestor’s DNA. Instead, her own sense of right and wrong compels her to leave warnings for John and save his clone by raising the boy, named Paul, herself, even though doing so will put her permanently at odds with Jack.

Paul, an aspiring actor, is unaware of his heritage, but the truth is revealed when his mother is killed. But was her death truly random, or a part of Jack’s conspiracy to mold Paul into John’s image? The only way Paul has to find out is by playing John so convincingly Jack will confess. To do that, Paul must travel to the other universe and meet John himself. But in one universe, he must face an armed assassin; in the other, threats to his freedom and the one he loves.

Inspiring words,
Fast and flawless in my mind,
Are shit on the screen.

It's hard maintaining two journals, not just one. I have to admit I find them a lower priority than many other things, including my own work. But at least today, despite working late and having to take care of various tasks involved with the move, I made some headway with the outline for Catalyst in the Crucible. I decided to try writing character arcs (as described in Maria's blog here: http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/) instead of a standard outline. Perhaps this is closer to how I picture the story, but I find it easier to get words down with this method. OTOH, the story is closer to what I wrote in the first draft instead of what I have planned for the second. There's still lots of work to be done before I can finally go back to writing in earnest.

I updated my website a couple of days ago, but there were a few pages that didn't get updated properly. I think I have them fixed now. At some point, I should put the main text into a serif font to make it easier to read. This will do for now, though. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://www.sandraulbrich.com/index.html

I'm finally getting around to updating my website. I was getting a little tired of the theme I was using, and there was some material related to Lennon's Line that I wanted to take down. The site's actually going to be smaller after I remove some of the old pages, but I'll be adding pictures to the Oscar (a stuffed whale we like to bring on vacations) page. I won't have much writing-related material to add, unfortunately, but I do have to remember to link to this blog. Now that I have this writing blog, I'm less motivated to update the Passing the Pen page. Maybe I can copy some of my posts over there to make them easier to find. I still have some more work to do on the site, but I'll post a link when it's updated.

Some writing advice I’ve seen on the OWW mailing list says that each scene needs to advance either plot or character development. (There’s also a third thing that a scene can do to earn its place, but I can’t remember what it is right now.) I see that as only a minimum, however; otherwise, you could just as well read a synopsis of the story and have the same experience. For me, a synopsis is like a skeleton. For metaphor’s sake, let’s say it’s a dog skeleton, and you’re a judge being asked to evaluate how well this dog meets (or met) the breed standard. There’s just not enough information in the bones to tell.

Plot and character are like the bones of a story; they’re the building blocks, the foundation that the story needs to move. But in order to come alive, a story needs much more than plot and character. Setting and description give it the muscle it needs to move. A particular style or POV can make the story distinctive, like a fur coat. Themes and symbols also give deeper meaning to the story. All of these elements work together to create a champion story. It may be necessary to separate them to analyze the story and learn how to write, but ultimately they all have to work together. If one element is lacking, the story as a whole suffers. It may be difficult for the writer to keep all of these things in mind during the writing process; for instance, I might focus more on plot and dialogue during the first draft. But at some point, everything needs to come together so the book can earn a Best in Show--I mean, a sale.

Catalyst in the Crucible Update: I finally got past the block I had for a few days and figured out why Paul does something. Currently I'm on Chapter Seven. I know what happens in the overall story, but I'm not always sure where to place particular scenes. I suppose at this point I could just list them all and then sort them out. Unfortunately, I'm too anal for such a simple solution. (grins)

I'm still stuck in the same places I was last night, so I'm using my outline as a place to ask myself questions and brainstorm. I actually like the second idea I came up with; unfortunately, it is only the second idea, and they say you should discard the first several you generate since they'll be cliches. So I guess it's worth it to keep on brainstorming; no point in writing the scene and then realizing it didn't work or that something else would have been better.

The outline for Catalyst in the Crucible continues to grow, albeit at the usual snail's pace. I'm up to Chapter Five, and I have to figure out how to get my character from NYC to the Midwest. I had a reason in the first draft, but I removed the foreshadowing from Lennon's Line to trim the story.

I also started an outline of the short story I want to write. There's still a lot of worldbuilding to be done, but I'm hoping outlining will help me figure out what to focus on. Of course, I'll want the world to make sense and feel real. It's just a question of how much research does a short story warrant; do I have to do as much as if I was making this a novel? I don't know yet if I would write more stories in this setting.

Last but not least, I changed the name of this journal to something more writer-related. It's my goal to make it out of the slush pile and into print, so perhaps this will inspire me to write more and goof off less. Soon my goof-off time will vanish anyway.

That's what I'm trying to do to myself: learn how to write an outline for a story before writing it. I'm more of an organic writer by nature, which means I tend to create the story as I go along. I know the beginning and end, along with a few points, when I start, but the rest is spontaneous. Unfortunately, what happens is that after I finish the first draft of a story, I look at it, toss it, and start over. I wouldn't say it's time wasted, but maybe I need to spend more time working out the story before I commit it to the computer. But will I be able to change my writing method without losing interest in the story? It's hard to say, but Paul's grief in this story is so compelling I can't tear myself away from it. Remind me not to create any more actors as characters; they're too demanding. (grins)

You'd think that since I already have a first draft of this story that the outline would be easy. But I'm changing a lot of plot elements, so I really am starting over with this story. As usual, putting words down is harder than having my teeth pulled. I'm currently up to Chapter Four; I'd like to get at least one chapter outlined per day, though maybe that's setting the bar too low. Then again, I need time to mull over this latest short story I want to work on as well.

I haven't updated this blog in a while, so I feel I should.

Writing: I finished Draft Three of Lennon's Line (did I mention that last time?), so I'm putting that aside for a while. I'm currently researching a short story and outlining the sequel to Lennon's Line. I'm not an outliner by nature, so this is harder than pulling teeth. Even though I have a first draft of the sequel (called Catalyst in the Crucible for now), I need to toss it and start over. Hopefully with an outline, the second draft will be better and easier to write.

Reading: I read A Game of Thrones on the way back from Vegas. Technically, I only got about halfway through it during the flight and had to finish it afterwards. My biggest question about the book: if winter can last for a decade, how can the people in this setting store enough food to last that long? They don't seem advanced enough for canning, and I'm not sure if canned food can last that long anyway. I wonder if there are mild spots in the winter to allow for a short growing season. We'll see if later books address this question.

My latest novel is Forty Signs of Rain. I just started this morning. Robinson seems quite familiar with D.C., even though I never visited the NSF building. So far it's a quiet opening, although my interest in science and the characters keeps me going. We'll see how it turns out.

Who says snowy days are all that bad? I posted two crits for Sue after the OWW came back online. Even better, I finished going through the third draft of LL. I'm not sure of what the word count was for the second draft; I think it was over 150,000. This draft is about 144,000--maybe a bit high for a first novel, but definitely much better than Day of All Seasons at over 170,000.

It's still not quite ready to submit. I'd like to go over it one more time and incorporate more of my OWW comments, for one thing. There are a couple of chapters I'd like more feedback on, but it's not worth posting them in isolation. Probably the best thing to do is e-mail them to reviewers. I also have to write up the synopsis. That might be worth posting to OWW.

I think I'll take March off from LL. In the meantime, maybe I can work on a short story that's been in my head for a while. And there's always the sequel to LL....

I won't be able to post much until the end of the week. We're in Vegas on vacation (well, I'm on vacation, anyway), and I have to pay for Internet access at the hotel. Boo!

One good thing about being on vacation is having a chance to read. I read two books on Sunday, including Joshua P's The Skewed Throne. I really enjoyed it, even though I could predict what would happen at the end. I should see if he has a journal and drop him a comment.

Although I've been going around to see the Strip, I'm still making some time for writing. I have to pace myself with all the walking I've been doing, so it's a good excuse to take a morning to stay in the hotel and work on my laptop. I'm revising the final chapter of LL; I recovered my lost work and have gone past it. I have downloaded Sue's latest chapter but haven't critted it yet. Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow morning while I still have a connection.

My computer did an automatic upgrade/restart overnight. I could have sworn I saved my most recent work on LL, but it's not there when I open the file. It wasn't much, just a revised opening of the last chapter, but now I have to set the scene all over again. I lost my work on Sue's latest chapter too. At least I hadn't gotten very far on that. Sigh....

I knew I put it off too long.

I tried reserving a room at the Concourse Hotel last night through the online service, but I got a message saying there were no rooms left for Memorial Day weekend. Normally I reserve my room in January without any problems, so I was surprised that they were gone by Feburary. Maybe I should try calling the hotel just to make sure.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to go anyway. By that point, I'll be in my last trimester, probably starting my last month. Who knows how comfortable I'll be or how much moving around I can do? Besides, there's always the chance complications could develop, which would mean I'd have to stay home anyway. But I thought that if I had the room, I could always cancel it if necessary.

I could try one of the overflow hotels, but again, given how huge I'll probably be, it would be even harder on me to go from hotel to hotel instead of keeping to one place as much as possible.

It would make more sense just to stay home this year, but I really love going to WisCon. It's my favorite con, and of course it's in my favorite city. How can I pass up seeing Madison over Memorial Day? Sure, sometimes the weather's lousy, and I'll probaby be able to go in the fall when our college friends have the annual Thanksgiving dinner. But it's not the same.

Well, I probably shouldn't whine about it too much. I'm sure I can get a refund from the con for registration and dessert tickets. But part of me is still hoping I can somehow make it work anyway.

My husband and I went to the bookstore again today, since he wanted to get out of the house, away from the computer and TV. Of course, I brought my laptop along. I didn't get quite as much done as I did yesterday, only about 300 words. This scene is a little tougher than the last one. My character, Paul, is seeing things on a quantum level instead of the normal level we perceive, so I can't use his ordinary senses. Humm, maybe I need to put in a bit more about what he is seeing. And then there's the trick of bringing him back to the "real world" (Yvonne, his girlfriend, inadvertently helps here). Yvonne's been dosed with a sedative, so Paul will attempt to take care of that. Basically, they save each other, the way lovers should.

Reviewing: Ian posted a chapter while I was out, so I reviewed it. I see from Sue's blog that she finished another chapter, so I'm sure she'll post that tomorrow.

Locus: I finished reading the February issue today, the year-in-review one. They talked briefly about the rise of the paranormal romance and the kick-butt heroine. I do enjoy reading about strong, self-assured women, and some of the Luna books are pretty good. (Frex, Catherine Asaro.) OTOH, I've read enough vampire/werewolf books to realize that I'm not really interested in pack politics. And romance in books generally isn't like love in real life, at least not what I've experienced. But that deserves a separate blog entry to be written at another time.

I really must go to Barnes and Noble more often. I went there today with my laptop after running some errands. After enjoying a spinach-and-feta stuffed pretzel and a chocolate cake. I got down to writing (OK, with occasional breaks for games). In less than two hours, I wrote a complete scene and started another one--nearly 650 words. Why can't I have days like this more often?

The bad news is that I removed all the new bits I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. I didn't think it was working; it didn't seem believable. After sweating over it for a while on Thursday, I finally got a clue to the new direction. At least I don't have much more to do; once I finish this most recent scene, I'll have the penultimate chapter done (though it will need some polish before I send it out). Then I just have to go over the final chapter, and the third draft of Lennon's Line is done! Well, I should go back to the end of Part One and see if I want to add some conflict between Jo and George there. Maybe that can wait until we return from Vegas in a couple of weeks.

It's always hard for me to balance writing with the rest of my other activities. Working, household chores, spending time with my husband...and of course critting. There are days I spend more time critting than writing. That's what I get for being so "conscientious and diligent." When I get telltales, I want to clear my crits ASAP, even if that means doing them first and writing last. Unfortunately, by the time I do get around to writing, my brain is often shut down for the night. I shouldn't complain about critting; I do crit voluntarily, to help other people and to learn more about the craft of writing. But I need to learn to make my writing more of a priority.

Anyway, I'm going to start tonight by not finishing a crit. I have the line edits done for Ian's latest chapter, but I need a fresh brain for overall comments. Hopefully I can finish that one tomorrow night and do Sue's then. In the meantime, I should return to Lennon's Line and eke some more words out.

Gee, I don't blog for a few days, and I nearly forget my password.
That's not a good sign.

I haven't blogged lately because I've been trying to write. Sometimes when it's late, I have to choose between writing and blogging, so I have to give writing priority. It also depends on how tired I am.

I write slowly, and it doesn't help that I multi-task while I write. I'll have a game (currently my favorite is Text Twist) in one window while I keep tabs on my forums in another. I'll write a few lines before flipping to something else. It would probably be easier if I had more "prewriting" done before I sat down to the computer, but oftentimes I'm too busy during the day to think about my current scene. And sometimes when I do get to think about writing, it's about something unrelated. But despite all that, I do manage to put words down on the page. I wrote over 200 last night and 250 tonight. It could be better, but at least I'm approaching the end of the current scene. I think I should set myself a target date to finish the third draft of Lennon's Line. (For anyone not familar with this story from OWW, it's a science fiction novel about John Lennon's fictional descendants, one of whom is his clone. While other members of John's family battle over the clone's fate, Paul, the clone, travels to a parallel universe to meet John.) It would be nice to finish before my husband and I go to Las Vegas in mid-February.

I did do some thinking about other work beside Lennon's Line. I have another story in mind about aliens. I think I may base them on frogs; the different stages of the life cycle will help me set up something about their psychology that I want to explore. Maybe instead of goofing off online, I should be doing more research. A woman has to have some fun, though.

First lines are always hard to create, so I suppose I should skip it for now.

Anyway, I'm Sandra Ulbrich Almazan. I'm 36 and live near Chicago. I'm an assistant scientist (in other words, a lab tech) by day and a science fiction/fantasy writer by night. I've written several books, all of them unpublished so far. I have sold one short story to a dragon-themed anthology due to be published next year.

I currently maintain another blog on Blogger, but I hope that by also keeping a journal here, I can connect with more writers. I'm a member of OWW, so I hope to contact some of them through this journal. I also plan to discuss some writing-specific topics here.

There's lots more to say, but I think I'll keep this chapter short.

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