Here... and Now...

it is a good thing you aren't here right now...

you would see my messy hair from rushing this morning...

the note smeared on my left hand as a reminder to bring a book to a coworker (forgotten again by the way)...

my nails for some reason are still hosting a bright blue polish beneath the nude professional overlay...

my barely charged cellphone Barry the Blackberry (who is quite whiny of late)...

non-mascara-d eyes that scream for eye make-up love...

leggings that really are not the same black as the lovely tunic on top (darn fading cotton)...

but most of all you would see the expression of utter craziness on my face...

You see right here and now I am sinking/diving/careening/wrecking/jumping/crashing into 'StoryLand'. I did not realize that the Hook bringing me back would also come with its on crashing ball as well. Did I order the insane dreams with crazy characters as well? I really need to check my dream card statements!

I actually dreamed one of my MCs was holding the word "DIVULGE" and chasing me down the freeway...not sure I want to even try to decipher that one.

But I did notice one thing during my "Great Word Escape" last night. The MC was screaming while she ran:

Not my name.

Not HELP!

Not "I'm gonna get you my pretty!"

But the single word: NOW.

She screamed it over and over again. I actually woke up with the word on my lips. Okay that is weird. All day I have ran Divulge and Now through my head. What do I divulge? What is the urgency? Why don't I understand?

Have you ever done this? Woke up from a dream and KNOW there is a message, there on the tip of your consciousness it waits for you...

If you were here you would see me ponder a dream that beckons me to act on something...and you would laugh as I walk to the freezer grab an orange TwinPop popsicle, pull back the wrapper and with utter sincerity scream:

NOW... WHAT?

Have a Nonsensical & Terrifical Tuesday...

Patience: Scene changes & arguing with a character

It is Sunday everyone. We (Bama) beat LSU yesterday so my morning was blissful at wake up. Beautiful day, no clouds, nice breeze, leaves falling and November is gorgeous in the South. Perfect day, right?

Fast forward to late afternoon.

I had worked on my manuscript this morning, reading my current pages and tweaking a few scenes. Content with the progress and needing to take my husband lunch (he had to go into the office today) I decided to scoot by the mall. I do so, discover an adorable outfit within my budget, see hubbie for a moment then head back to the house quite happy with the outing.

After spending some quality time with iTunes I stop to listen to a new selection. You see this is my inherent problem and solution all balled up into one. Music is essential when I write. I love to listen to music that applies to the scenes I am working on. I tend to write visually whenever music plays. This can be wonderful and it can be confusing. A simple scene that is not meant to turn heated between characters might if the sound system is carrying the right/wrong tune. Thus leading to magic or deletion.

So here I am just listening to some music that reminds me of a scene I worked on this morning and then it happens. My character's voice rises above the song. It seems she thinks that scene just did not feel right, aggravating as it is, I think it over. At first I quickly dismiss the thought and find myself arguing with her in my head. Then I discover that it might need to be considered. She is right. Yep. I open the file, turn the song down a little to more background audio and find myself three hours later having completely rewritten the scene and having to piece a few chronological changes together.

I cursed, grumbled and typed. It is amazing how allowing the idea of a new layout affects the scene. Humor found its way into a tight situation and does so without being campy. I can almost feel the smugness of the character.

My style of writing is one that tries my patience but seems to teach me every time I let the story flow. There are many occasions where I resist the impulse to change something just because I am stubborn or because I feel I know better than the character. More often than not the end result is much better when I just relax, trust my characters and let my fingers walk.

So again, patience is a virtue. Don't we all know that one? I just wonder if the author of that line ever thought about patience being applied when an imaginary person you created is arguing with you...