Just finished editing what I wrote last night; very glad I waited as it was a mess. Just as I did with my Pine Bluff short, I’m going to extend this story a little. I won’t insult anyone this time by claiming that it’ll likely be “only 1200-1500 words!” I’ve learned my lesson. It will be what it will be.
Although I’m calling this Part One, the real start is here; I’ll edit that post and call it ‘Part 0.’
I’m honestly curious as to where this one will go!
I’ve typed out a little short about who’s in the cocoon in Abandoned Factory and that person’s appearance into their world, but it sucks and needs editing. And, late on a Friday night, that’s not happening.
I give myself a C- for today’s assignment. Expect more in the AM.
“Can’t you just say, ‘the end?’ one of the pharmacists I work with asked. The man’s idea of ‘writing’ is a doctor’s illegible scribbles onto a pad, so I value his opinion not at all. Still, I did need to wrap this up and try to keep at my daily installments of creative writing.
I’d only the vision of Fausta walking the evil woman out the door. Until I started typing that out just after dinner, only then did the rest of the scene unfold into my mind. I hope everyone enjoyed this micro-story!
I wonder where we’re off too, tomorrow!
I realized that in serializing this story, I have begun to leave each post on a cliff-hanger. Very bad form: if that becomes a habit, my novels will suffer to the point of death.
So, this time, in our flashback, we flashback further, then flash-forward. Hey: it’s Valentine’s Day: I should be flashing somebody!
Aside: this ‘little’ sub writing exercise is already north of 2300 words… what did I say about 1500…? I so need to get these folks out of town! I wonder if the cocoon in Abandoned Factory has hatched…
Busy day at work; tired.
Had to forage for dinner.
Dry and itchy from the winter weather.
Wife suggested we just watch something.
…
In other words, I was given every opportunity to not write something today. As tomorrow is the beginning of Lent, color me unsurprised at the temptation to give up.
Okay. Maybe 1200-1500. And the check’s in the mail. I swear.
I suspected this would happen: my small writing exercise would trigger something that goes on longer. I’m hoping – hoping! – that this is only going to be 1000-1200 words, total. That’s all I’ve seen as yet.
This, originally, was a scene from my second novel, Echoes of Family Lost. However, because of my writing style (start in the middle, use flashbacks for details) this just didn’t fit. And worse, it allowed me to start writing exposition rather than dialog. It’s a failing of mine but at least I know it’s there.
The gist of this is that Lily Barrett, her friend Fausta, and their guide, Orloff, are on their way from the Republic of Texas towards East Tennessee, to find someone very important to her. The badlands of post-Breakup America are a rough place, but charitas may be found in unexpected places.
See? That’s me, talking again. I’ll shut up now.
Not knowing much, well, anything, about international copyrights, this could best be called fanfiction. The main character here, Nike, plays a not-insignificant role in my forthcoming novel, Defiant.
This story takes place in a world created by Yoshitoshi ABe nearly twenty years ago. It yielded an anime that – while dated – is one of the most powerful and compelling stories I’ve ever experienced. For a non-Christian, ABe had an amazingly Catholic vision.
And yes: I do know who’s in the cocoon.
Looked over some notes from a project that never worked out: “Crosses & Doublecrosses.” It was to be a political-espionage thriller. I stopped writing the story after about a page and switched to notes. After ten pages of notes, I realized that 1) this was work, not fun, and 2) I’m not cut out for this sort of story – at least, not right now.
It was to be the back-story of what happened in Texas during the Breakup. The main character was Sylvia Fernandez, a lawyer who comes to work for Clive Barrett and his state terror organization I modeled on the Checka. Clive Barrett is the father of the heroine of my first two novels, T4L and EFL.
Below the fold is one of the introductory scenes. Looking at my notes, I’d forgotten that I’d cross-populated this part of the story with a character from my visual novel, OTChi Kocchi (reviewed here). I was younger then.
Going back to leap forward: from the end of “Echoes of Family Lost”, when a certain character declares his love for another (are there not Spoiler Tags in WordPress?), we find ourselves ten years in the future, on the beach, but around the dinner table just a few minutes before.
machciv 