Tuesday, August 17, 2004
So, it was my intention to come back from New England, write the FutureShocks story, start Daughter of Hounds, pause just long enough to write another science-fiction story for the Subterranean Press magazine, then get right back to DoH. If I'd actually done that, I'd be finishing up with the subpress story about now. Instead, I came home, wrote the FutureShocks story, proceeded to dither about it for weeks, then proceeded to dither about The Dry Salvages for a couple weeks more. Which brings us to now. DoH is not even begun, nor is the subpress story, and all the ideas for the novel that were so fresh in my head while we were away have begun to fade. I am, I would suppose, at least three weeks behind schedule.
And, yeah, there was that stuff I said about slowing down, and I am, really, but we'll come back to that in a future entry.
It's time to start writing again. No more excuses. No more procrastination. The Nine Deadly Sins are not my friends. I am a lazy slacker, and it's time to get off my ass and work. I have only three weeks left until Dragon*Con, and by then I need to have the story done for subpress and, hopefully, have made some small beginning with the novel.
Here's the thing with the novel. I can't quite seem to find my way in. This has never really happened before. I can't seem to find the start of things, those first couple thousand words that will become Chapter One or the prologue. I like to start with the prologue. I am a linear writer. I prefer it that way. I can't write bits and pieces and then fit them all together later on. Each sentence leads me to the next. When I've done each sentence properly, then I am allowed to move along to the next. The stories may not be linear, but the writing has to be. I can't do it any other way. When I was writing The Five of Cups in 1992, the beginning was very clear. It was Chapter One. I added the prologue sometime later. The same thing happened with Silk. With Threshold, Chapter One came to me clear as day (though Chance was originally male), and, once again, the prologue came along later on. Actually, a couple or three of them came along later on. Then with Low Red Moon and Murder of Angels, the prologues came to me first, right off. And yes, I like prologues. I have my reasons. There's no rule stating that novels must have prologues, but I have my reasons.
Daughter of Hounds is a tangle in my mind. A swarm of faces. A sea of events. A hurricane of names. And no prologue or Chapter One has yet to present itself. No logical starting place. I think this is, in part, because it wants to be a Large And Complex Novel. Regardless, I have to find that beginning in the next two or three weeks. I have to find that point on Campbell's diagram (wheel) illustrating the heroic adventure; I know it's on the diagram, because the diagram encompasses all stories, and it's never failed me yet.
I am liking Crimson Skies (XBox) very, very much. It's a beautiful game and more involving than I'd expected it to be. I can't resist a good alternate history, especially one with zepplins. Especially ones where you're a sky pirate looting zepplins. I do wish that you had the option of playing Betty instead of Nathan, because I prefer female protagonists in my games, but life goes on.
Last night, the Japanese men's gymnastics team amazed me. The Romanians were very good, and the Americans were better, but the Japanese were on beyond either very good or better. It was a well deserved gold. Oh, and did I mention what hotties those gardas are? If nothing else, the Chinese and Japanese gymnasts are damn fine libido candy. It was also good to see Ian Thorpe take gold in the 200-meter freestyle. Today, we get the Women's Team Final in gymnastics, so that should be cool.
Also, Setsuled has done a new (and very charming) Nar'eth pin-up for Nebari.net (influenced, me thinks, by Rasputina), which I'll try to get up this evening.
Okay. I have to go deal with the Daughter of Hounds contracts, which have been lying neglected on my printer stand for frelling days now. And I have to send a copy of The Dry Salvages ARC to my film agent in LA; I'm pretty sure it's the best movie I've ever written.
1:07 PM
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