Nearly done with Jack In The Green. Just the last chapter to finish.
Then again, it's been "just the last chapter to finish" for coming up to a week now. Momentum died a little at 50,000 words.
I'm just tired, and this hasn't been a good month for personal reasons.
On the plus side, I wrote fast and I think i wrote well, and I already have the idea for the sequel, The Queen of the May. Not sure if I'll hold off and write that next year, or say the hell with it and do it now.
Time will tell, I suppose.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
in between the micro wrimo and the pico wrimo
so yeah, it's NaNoWriMo.
As is now traditional, I'm writing. Aja and I came up with the idea for a supernatural romance novel called Jack In The Green. It's about the Green Man, and I think it will be pretty good. Started it yesterday, hit the 5000 work mark at about midnight last night. Looking good.
As is now traditional, I'm writing. Aja and I came up with the idea for a supernatural romance novel called Jack In The Green. It's about the Green Man, and I think it will be pretty good. Started it yesterday, hit the 5000 work mark at about midnight last night. Looking good.
Monday, October 13, 2008
long time...
every now and then, life gets between you and your writing. I've still been writing, I just haven't been blogging about it. Did some stories I really liked lately but also had some dry patches.
Next month, I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo. I'm not expecting greatness, but if it gives me the carcass of a novel in a month, I can skin and dress it after that. It's going to be based on an idea Aja and I had ages ago, a fantasy romance about the Green Man.
I wrote a lot of the outline today, I think it could be pretty good.
Next month, I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo. I'm not expecting greatness, but if it gives me the carcass of a novel in a month, I can skin and dress it after that. It's going to be based on an idea Aja and I had ages ago, a fantasy romance about the Green Man.
I wrote a lot of the outline today, I think it could be pretty good.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
gods, new and old, small and large
doing a series of short stories that deal with the gifts of the gods. After I wrote the first one, Aja said she wanted to see others about the gifts being wasted. I like that as an idea and I want to combine it with the idea that there should be no such thing as an entirely positive gift from the gods. There's a Cranberries album (I think) called Equally Cursed and Blessed, and I think that in narrative form these two aspects should be the same thing. A god only gives you misfortune to see how you rise above it. A god only gives you power to see how you waste it.
that's because gods are bastards
that's because gods are us.
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport.
that's because gods are bastards
that's because gods are us.
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport.
Friday, September 12, 2008
scary things
wrote another story, one that Aja said was "awesome and scary"
and now I'm thinking about scary things.
I've never been good at writing truly frightening stories, or at least not stories that I find truly frightening, because the things that actually frighten me are things I don't want to think about. However, when I do try to frighten I have a couple of simple rules.
Monsters aren't scary. Big strong demons that kill aren't scary.
What's scary is what people are willing to do if they don't think anyone's watching or they don't care if anyone's watching, or if they like it when people watch. What's scary is seeing something horrifying, truly disgusting, the kind of thing that is called "inhuman", and understanding that the person who did it was genetically almost exactly like you, was raised in a household fairly close to your own, in a culture fairly close to your own. The most disturbing thing is when the monstrosity comes from someone entirely, completely human.
Because that's the ultimate fear. Both of the ultimate fears.
The first fear is that someone you have always known and always trusted could turn on you and do these terrible things to you.
The second fear is that you could turn on those you love and do these things.
The first is a reflection of the second, and its scary because civilized feelings are learned. Underneath them is an animal who has evolved cruelty and creativity as survival traits.
Zombies and vampires aren't scary because they're monsters. They're scary because they were human. Werewolves aren't scary because they're wolves, they're scary because they were men.
The most terrifying thing we have ever experienced is a human being with the inhibitions turned off.
You wake up in the middle of the night to the sight and smell of blood. Something is dead in here, and there's a killer in the room. Is it more scary if you're next, or if the killer is you?
That's where good scary stories should be. Not the terror from outside, but the voice in the back of your mind.
and now I'm thinking about scary things.
I've never been good at writing truly frightening stories, or at least not stories that I find truly frightening, because the things that actually frighten me are things I don't want to think about. However, when I do try to frighten I have a couple of simple rules.
Monsters aren't scary. Big strong demons that kill aren't scary.
What's scary is what people are willing to do if they don't think anyone's watching or they don't care if anyone's watching, or if they like it when people watch. What's scary is seeing something horrifying, truly disgusting, the kind of thing that is called "inhuman", and understanding that the person who did it was genetically almost exactly like you, was raised in a household fairly close to your own, in a culture fairly close to your own. The most disturbing thing is when the monstrosity comes from someone entirely, completely human.
Because that's the ultimate fear. Both of the ultimate fears.
The first fear is that someone you have always known and always trusted could turn on you and do these terrible things to you.
The second fear is that you could turn on those you love and do these things.
The first is a reflection of the second, and its scary because civilized feelings are learned. Underneath them is an animal who has evolved cruelty and creativity as survival traits.
Zombies and vampires aren't scary because they're monsters. They're scary because they were human. Werewolves aren't scary because they're wolves, they're scary because they were men.
The most terrifying thing we have ever experienced is a human being with the inhibitions turned off.
You wake up in the middle of the night to the sight and smell of blood. Something is dead in here, and there's a killer in the room. Is it more scary if you're next, or if the killer is you?
That's where good scary stories should be. Not the terror from outside, but the voice in the back of your mind.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
writer's block... of course.
and wouldn't you know that as soon as I've started blogging about this I get writer's block?
it often happens and it's one of the most annoying facets of writing. There's a lot in writing you have to work at and put time into, but very little that you can force. This is especially true of flash fiction, where every word is a limited commodity. Ideas have to be strong, clear, and expressible, and when you're not sure of the central concept, this is tough to write.
This doesn't mean that nothing can be done while you're blocked. When the ideas aren't flowing, you can still edit, review what you've written, send submissions out, blog uselessly about how much writer's block sucks, and otherwise keep the juices flowing until the ideas come back. This stuff helps with the creative process, because it's thinking about ideas without having to strain at thinking about ideas.
Which doesn't make it suck any less when you hit the wall and can't see where to go.
it often happens and it's one of the most annoying facets of writing. There's a lot in writing you have to work at and put time into, but very little that you can force. This is especially true of flash fiction, where every word is a limited commodity. Ideas have to be strong, clear, and expressible, and when you're not sure of the central concept, this is tough to write.
This doesn't mean that nothing can be done while you're blocked. When the ideas aren't flowing, you can still edit, review what you've written, send submissions out, blog uselessly about how much writer's block sucks, and otherwise keep the juices flowing until the ideas come back. This stuff helps with the creative process, because it's thinking about ideas without having to strain at thinking about ideas.
Which doesn't make it suck any less when you hit the wall and can't see where to go.
Monday, September 8, 2008
slogspot
wrote two more stories. One last night and one today at work.
The one last night was a bit of a mess, more ideas than a full story, and the ending sucked, but the concept was good. maybe I just need to go back to basics on it and take the parts I liked about the idea from a new side.
The one today worked, and was neat. It was inspired by reading Warren Ellis babble about haptic technology (tech that lets the sese of touch be synthesized, I'm probably not explaining it well). Aja (my wife, for those who don't know) says she liked it. She has a fondness for my stories that involve relationships.
The second one, "Heartbroken", is pretty much complete. I'm probably going to give it a spit-shine, then send it somewhere. That's a tradition I should get into: each friday, gather up what I wrote during the week and send it on its merry way. The more I keep at it, the more chance of something getting published.
The one last night was a bit of a mess, more ideas than a full story, and the ending sucked, but the concept was good. maybe I just need to go back to basics on it and take the parts I liked about the idea from a new side.
The one today worked, and was neat. It was inspired by reading Warren Ellis babble about haptic technology (tech that lets the sese of touch be synthesized, I'm probably not explaining it well). Aja (my wife, for those who don't know) says she liked it. She has a fondness for my stories that involve relationships.
The second one, "Heartbroken", is pretty much complete. I'm probably going to give it a spit-shine, then send it somewhere. That's a tradition I should get into: each friday, gather up what I wrote during the week and send it on its merry way. The more I keep at it, the more chance of something getting published.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
New site, new weblog, same old Ian
I'm setting this up to be my writing blog for the new site, a record of what I'm writing, what I'm having published, or just general thoughts about writing.
So I should probably introduce myself. You probably know at least some of this. There are far too many websites on the Internet as it is, so you're probably only reading this if you
1) know me
2) read a story by me
3) saw me ranting or babbling about something or other somewhere else
or
4) got directed here by mistake.
I'm hoping to integrate this site with the currently-under-construction http://www.irennie.com which should have the answers to some of this, but let me give the quick version here in case you came across this by accident.
My name is Ian Rennie, I'm an Englishman who is (depending on exactly when you read this) either sucking the last few breaths out of the dog-end of his twenties or stepping into the fresh light of his thirties and wondering what happened to being young. The evidence of that last sentence to the contrary, I'm a writer.
But then, everyone says they're a writer. What it tends to mean is "I think I'm creative and I had an idea for a sitcom once" or "there are thirty pages of a novel on a folder on my computer I haven't opened since 2005". There's a scene in the movie Orange County where someone pitches the TV show they're writing at a party: "It's ostensibly about vampires, but really it's a metaphor for the break up of post world war one Germany. Only, you know, funny". That's writers.
So I should be more specific. I write primarily science fiction. I've written short stories, comics, and novels. Thus far only the short stories have been published. I'm working on that. I've been really into flash fiction this year, ultra-short stories of around five hundred words or less. I think I've written about fifty this year, which isn't bad. Of these, I've had five published on http://www.365tomorrows.com and submitted others elsewhere. I also write novels, in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and young adult fatasy. I'm putting together ideas for a fantasy romance novel called Jack In The Green.
I'm putting this journal together in part as a mnemonic so I can keep track of what I've been writing and where I've been sending it. I'm putting together the website for pretty much the same reason. This will also help me nag myself into submitting a story a week to at least one publication. The worst that will happen is rejection letters. That and drunk rants about the talentless bastards who get published when I don't, and how they're not fit to pay my bar tab, etc, etc. I'll try to keep those to a minimum. A minimum of zero.
I also want to talk about writing.
Until this year I hadn't had anything at all published, and I primarily write for myself and my wife's amusement. I electronically published a graphic novel a few years back, but that didn't really count as I made no money off it and did it really just to tell the story. That said, I've always wanted to be able to support myself by writing, and so this year I'm going to try and actually get properly published. I've made a start with short stories, and now I'm going to step into the slightly scarier field of shopping around for an agent and a publisher and all that jazz. I'm going to try and write up what luck I have, if any, here.
Anyway, this has probably gone on long enough for a first post. Hopefully I'll update soon, unless the inevitable happens and I entirely fail to update this journal, leaving it as yet another headstone in the blogging graveyard, buried under pure white unused potential.
Always end on a happy note, that's what I say.
So I should probably introduce myself. You probably know at least some of this. There are far too many websites on the Internet as it is, so you're probably only reading this if you
1) know me
2) read a story by me
3) saw me ranting or babbling about something or other somewhere else
or
4) got directed here by mistake.
I'm hoping to integrate this site with the currently-under-construction http://www.irennie.com which should have the answers to some of this, but let me give the quick version here in case you came across this by accident.
My name is Ian Rennie, I'm an Englishman who is (depending on exactly when you read this) either sucking the last few breaths out of the dog-end of his twenties or stepping into the fresh light of his thirties and wondering what happened to being young. The evidence of that last sentence to the contrary, I'm a writer.
But then, everyone says they're a writer. What it tends to mean is "I think I'm creative and I had an idea for a sitcom once" or "there are thirty pages of a novel on a folder on my computer I haven't opened since 2005". There's a scene in the movie Orange County where someone pitches the TV show they're writing at a party: "It's ostensibly about vampires, but really it's a metaphor for the break up of post world war one Germany. Only, you know, funny". That's writers.
So I should be more specific. I write primarily science fiction. I've written short stories, comics, and novels. Thus far only the short stories have been published. I'm working on that. I've been really into flash fiction this year, ultra-short stories of around five hundred words or less. I think I've written about fifty this year, which isn't bad. Of these, I've had five published on http://www.365tomorrows.com and submitted others elsewhere. I also write novels, in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and young adult fatasy. I'm putting together ideas for a fantasy romance novel called Jack In The Green.
I'm putting this journal together in part as a mnemonic so I can keep track of what I've been writing and where I've been sending it. I'm putting together the website for pretty much the same reason. This will also help me nag myself into submitting a story a week to at least one publication. The worst that will happen is rejection letters. That and drunk rants about the talentless bastards who get published when I don't, and how they're not fit to pay my bar tab, etc, etc. I'll try to keep those to a minimum. A minimum of zero.
I also want to talk about writing.
Until this year I hadn't had anything at all published, and I primarily write for myself and my wife's amusement. I electronically published a graphic novel a few years back, but that didn't really count as I made no money off it and did it really just to tell the story. That said, I've always wanted to be able to support myself by writing, and so this year I'm going to try and actually get properly published. I've made a start with short stories, and now I'm going to step into the slightly scarier field of shopping around for an agent and a publisher and all that jazz. I'm going to try and write up what luck I have, if any, here.
Anyway, this has probably gone on long enough for a first post. Hopefully I'll update soon, unless the inevitable happens and I entirely fail to update this journal, leaving it as yet another headstone in the blogging graveyard, buried under pure white unused potential.
Always end on a happy note, that's what I say.
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