I've discovered something that can be kind of interesting if used right.
My play for FYEC is going to involve dragons and people who contemplate suicide. I know that much for certain. However, I making my main character, who attempted suicide multiple times, also fluent in Old Draconic (like Old English for dragons), which brings up the interesting point: will she kill the dragon, negotiate with the dragon, or talk to the dragon in Old Draconic and win it over? (I'm not telling you this. I already know. I've already written that part).
But this proposes an interesting alternative to dragon-slaying.
Yes, yes, I know, fantasy is supposed to teach us that dragons can be beaten. But 'beaten' does not mean 'killed.' 'Beaten' means foiled, quashed, clobbered - not killed.
As the (modified) saying goes, there's more than one way to clobber a dragon. Just some of the ways are more difficult than others. The easy way out is just to kill it (though, considering it's twelve times your size and can breathe fire, might not be that easy); the more difficult way is to talk it out with the dragon; this may be only more difficult because the dragon is older and larger and smarter than you, and a battle of the wits is one of many situations where a Dragon of Old benefits from having a larger brain than you (it means it has plenty of room to think about gold and also clobbering humans).
Of course, talking to the dragon is dumb, according to every movie and fairy tale ever. Who talks to dragons? Who gets along with dragons? WHO CARES ABOUT THE DRAGON'S OPINION?
The dragons care about their opinion, thanks very much.
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Friday, March 22, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Final Weeks
My J-term class ends on Friday. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm excited that we're going to be on break and that spring semester is coming, but I'll be sad to see the excessive amount of time leave.
More relevant, I'm also not sure how I'm going to feel about the final product of the class. If there's one thing I've learned about my own writing process, it's that the editing part is never done. I have a measly seven scenes - I originally had eight, but one got cut before it got typed up - but all of the editing won't help my nerves, in the end. Does the pacing work? Are the characters relatable? Will anyone be able to pronounce Siofra's real name? Am I using too many cliches? Is the timing right? The list goes on.
I know the reason that I'm getting nervous about it, too - more nervous than my other writing. It has nothing to do with my peers accepting it as decent work - that was what I had issue with at the beginning of the course, a long time ago when I only had to write five pages. At this point, the trouble is me accepting it as decent work. When you spend just as much time editing a piece as you do writing it (more time, actually), you tend to worry about it. If this were a longer work, it would be like a child. You want the best for it, but sometimes it gives you hell. A lot of times, actually. Some things you love to go over, other things you fear to even glance at.
Though this is not my longest work - it barely counts as 30 pages, even with the title page, the character list, and the page-happy formatting that a script must follow - it's still causing me a bit of worry. In comparison to some other people in the class, I think I'll do fine, and I don't mind how it's written, but sometimes I wonder how it would turn out if I had done things differently. I could have killed my main character. I could have made the future relationship of two of my characters less ambiguous. I could have made one character more sympathetic to the antagonistic party.
When it comes to it, though, I'm glad I had the chance to do this course. It taught me how not to format a script, and it taught me what to look at and what to ask when going through the editing process.
More relevant, I'm also not sure how I'm going to feel about the final product of the class. If there's one thing I've learned about my own writing process, it's that the editing part is never done. I have a measly seven scenes - I originally had eight, but one got cut before it got typed up - but all of the editing won't help my nerves, in the end. Does the pacing work? Are the characters relatable? Will anyone be able to pronounce Siofra's real name? Am I using too many cliches? Is the timing right? The list goes on.
I know the reason that I'm getting nervous about it, too - more nervous than my other writing. It has nothing to do with my peers accepting it as decent work - that was what I had issue with at the beginning of the course, a long time ago when I only had to write five pages. At this point, the trouble is me accepting it as decent work. When you spend just as much time editing a piece as you do writing it (more time, actually), you tend to worry about it. If this were a longer work, it would be like a child. You want the best for it, but sometimes it gives you hell. A lot of times, actually. Some things you love to go over, other things you fear to even glance at.
Though this is not my longest work - it barely counts as 30 pages, even with the title page, the character list, and the page-happy formatting that a script must follow - it's still causing me a bit of worry. In comparison to some other people in the class, I think I'll do fine, and I don't mind how it's written, but sometimes I wonder how it would turn out if I had done things differently. I could have killed my main character. I could have made the future relationship of two of my characters less ambiguous. I could have made one character more sympathetic to the antagonistic party.
When it comes to it, though, I'm glad I had the chance to do this course. It taught me how not to format a script, and it taught me what to look at and what to ask when going through the editing process.
Friday, January 4, 2013
2013!
Well, so far into 2013, I have not done very well in any of my resolutions. Though I am moving more than I might have during school, I still do not feel like I am moving around enough. I am still on break and I will be until Sunday; I also have a feeling that on Sunday, when I get back to school, I will start remembering what I said I would do and I will start acting on it. Though I have done some knitting, I have been mostly working on a commission that is due when I get back (or a few days after), and it is not big enough to be called a 'huge project.' As for my writing, I have only written one page of anything so far. I need to work on that.
Right now, stuff is just not very interesting. I have been knitting. I have been reading a little bit. I have gone on long walks and tried out new drinks at Starbucks. I saw Les Miserables, the movie (I have a love/hate relationship with the movie; I adore the show, but I truly wish that Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe each could have had a better balance between singing and acting. Hugh Jackman could act but struggled with voice; Russell Crowe was mostly good with singing at the cost of his acting). Mostly, however, my activities during the holiday have consisted of sleeping late, watching junky TV, and knitting and crocheting a lot. I saw a few friends and hung out with my boyfriend a bit, and did a college panel at my high school about the application process (for the upperclassman parents who were terrified about their child's college stuff).
So, fair readers, what have you been doing?
Right now, stuff is just not very interesting. I have been knitting. I have been reading a little bit. I have gone on long walks and tried out new drinks at Starbucks. I saw Les Miserables, the movie (I have a love/hate relationship with the movie; I adore the show, but I truly wish that Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe each could have had a better balance between singing and acting. Hugh Jackman could act but struggled with voice; Russell Crowe was mostly good with singing at the cost of his acting). Mostly, however, my activities during the holiday have consisted of sleeping late, watching junky TV, and knitting and crocheting a lot. I saw a few friends and hung out with my boyfriend a bit, and did a college panel at my high school about the application process (for the upperclassman parents who were terrified about their child's college stuff).
So, fair readers, what have you been doing?
Sunday, December 30, 2012
resolutions of the new year
As 2012 rushes to its close, the time of resolving to do stuff next year is nigh. I have thought for all of five minutes about what I shall resolve to do in 2013 (maybe less than that), and I have concluded that I shall do the following things:
1. I will work out more. I'm going to Maccu Piccu in May; I need all the exercise I can get.
2. I will complete some big knitting or crocheting project. Why not?
3. I will finish writing as many of my current novels as possible. There are at least half a dozen lying around without endings (and one without two scenes). I will finish and type those in 2013.
That is my rather short list that I will probably add to at some point.
But the main topic here is that of the journey of the resolution. I mean, you cannot expect to write half a dozen novels (or end them, rather), without learning something. You can't go to the gym every day without pushing your endurance, even a little bit. I've always had issues with going to the gym because I'm always scared that people will laugh at my extensive inability to properly use the machines. But I've realized that nobody at the gym gives a crap about what you're doing there, as long as it doesn't interfere with what they're doing there. That in itself is a bit of a journey.
So, dear readers, of which there are probably very few, what sort of resolution journeys will you be embarking on in two days?
1. I will work out more. I'm going to Maccu Piccu in May; I need all the exercise I can get.
2. I will complete some big knitting or crocheting project. Why not?
3. I will finish writing as many of my current novels as possible. There are at least half a dozen lying around without endings (and one without two scenes). I will finish and type those in 2013.
That is my rather short list that I will probably add to at some point.
But the main topic here is that of the journey of the resolution. I mean, you cannot expect to write half a dozen novels (or end them, rather), without learning something. You can't go to the gym every day without pushing your endurance, even a little bit. I've always had issues with going to the gym because I'm always scared that people will laugh at my extensive inability to properly use the machines. But I've realized that nobody at the gym gives a crap about what you're doing there, as long as it doesn't interfere with what they're doing there. That in itself is a bit of a journey.
So, dear readers, of which there are probably very few, what sort of resolution journeys will you be embarking on in two days?
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