Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 169
March 22, 2012
From Idea To Story - Part 6
Monday, March 5, 2012
I started to write. Actually, I shouldn't call it writing, I should call it another stage of Pre-Book because nothing I get in this time is keepable. What happens is that I reach a point where I think I know enough to start the story, I start writing, I struggle. Nothing is right. It's hugely frustrating.
The problem is that no matter how well I know my characters, I need to write them to really get into them. When I worked on Enemy Embrace, I wrote and rewrote the opening over and over and over until I found my heroine's voice. I'm sort of in a similar situation here with the WIP (Work In Progress). I have the hero's voice down already--I think--but his heroine? Not so much. In my head, she's been quiet, not really sharing much and that doesn't make it easy.
My plan is (was?) to open the story in her POV (Point Of View), but when I wrote on Monday, I wrote in the hero's POV. I'd sat there all weekend trying to write from her perspective and had nothing to show for it. I finally decided to just write who I'm hearing and consider it a chance to get to know him better.
And to see her through his eyes since she's not talking.
I like every word to be perfect. This isn't good since it locks me up a lot while I'm writing, but I still strive to have it right before I type in a sentence. Nothing I got while I wrote was right. Finally, I had to tell myself this was simply another form of Pre-Book and to relax.
I did, however, get the hero and heroine's last names while I was sort of writing. This is a good thing.
I started to write. Actually, I shouldn't call it writing, I should call it another stage of Pre-Book because nothing I get in this time is keepable. What happens is that I reach a point where I think I know enough to start the story, I start writing, I struggle. Nothing is right. It's hugely frustrating.
The problem is that no matter how well I know my characters, I need to write them to really get into them. When I worked on Enemy Embrace, I wrote and rewrote the opening over and over and over until I found my heroine's voice. I'm sort of in a similar situation here with the WIP (Work In Progress). I have the hero's voice down already--I think--but his heroine? Not so much. In my head, she's been quiet, not really sharing much and that doesn't make it easy.
My plan is (was?) to open the story in her POV (Point Of View), but when I wrote on Monday, I wrote in the hero's POV. I'd sat there all weekend trying to write from her perspective and had nothing to show for it. I finally decided to just write who I'm hearing and consider it a chance to get to know him better.
And to see her through his eyes since she's not talking.
I like every word to be perfect. This isn't good since it locks me up a lot while I'm writing, but I still strive to have it right before I type in a sentence. Nothing I got while I wrote was right. Finally, I had to tell myself this was simply another form of Pre-Book and to relax.
I did, however, get the hero and heroine's last names while I was sort of writing. This is a good thing.
March 20, 2012
From Idea To Story - Part 5
This is part 5 series of blogs that will run through how I take an idea and make it into a story. This is my process and it might not work for everyone. It might not even work for me on my next project. The one thing that I've learned is that my process will (and has) changed over the years. Sometimes drastically.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Despite being exhausted after a long and stressful week at work, I knew I wasn't getting to bed anytime soon. If you recall, this is the day that the tornadoes swept through the country and Atlanta was in the sights of a series of storms moving in from Alabama. Nasty storms with a history of tornadoes, hail, and high winds. Storms made me nervous in Minnesota where we generally don't get the violent tornadoes like the ones that go through other areas of the country. And in Minnesota, my house had a basement. The place I'm staying at in Atlanta? No basement.
So I was nervous, anxious and knew it was going to be a good long while before I would be able to sleep. I put the nervous energy to work for me. One of the things I did was begin looking for the hero to the WIP (Work In Progress).
It actually didn't take too long to find a guy that looked like my hero. Kind of. I ignored the kind of whispering through my brain and saved his pictures to my hero file. He's not exactly right, a little voice said. I assured it that I would take a second look at the pictures on Saturday and make a decision after I'd slept.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
It only took a quick look while I was drinking coffee to know the guy I'd found wasn't going to work. The good news, though, was that he was very close to my hero in appearance. I also took another look at the heroine's pictures. I waffled. Again. I decided I would look for women's pictures, too. Maybe I'd find the right model or maybe it would convince me once and for all that I had the right image of my heroine.
The hero didn't prove too difficult to find. That's not to say I found him immediately, but I've had searches that have lasted forever and I'm happy to report that I found the right guy within a relatively short period of time. For the record, he's not that similar to the original, Friday night man, but there's a sort of similarity.
I resumed the heroine search. I had tab after tab after tab filled with modeling agencies. I opened up even more tabs with models I wanted to take a closer look at. Most of them weren't right. My heroine is fairly young and I was able to eliminate some because they looked too old. Then there were the models that looked as if they were thirteen. I crossed them off the list, too.
Finally, I had four or five models I wanted of whom I wanted to see more pictures. One of the models' names was Lauren something or other. When I did a search of the modeling database, a Lauren came up that wasn't the one I was looking for, but she looked like my heroine. Potentially.
As I went through the photos and culled out the models I wanted a closer look at, a certain pattern began to develop. They all looked very similar to the original model that I was waffling over. That made me confident that I knew what my heroine looked like, it would simply be a matter of finding the one that really fit.
After more study and consideration, the final choice came down to the original model and the Lauren model that I wasn't looking for, but found anyway. It took tabbing through their pictures a few times and putting them next to the picture of the hero, but I finally knew I had my heroine.
It was the Lauren that I found accidentally.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Despite being exhausted after a long and stressful week at work, I knew I wasn't getting to bed anytime soon. If you recall, this is the day that the tornadoes swept through the country and Atlanta was in the sights of a series of storms moving in from Alabama. Nasty storms with a history of tornadoes, hail, and high winds. Storms made me nervous in Minnesota where we generally don't get the violent tornadoes like the ones that go through other areas of the country. And in Minnesota, my house had a basement. The place I'm staying at in Atlanta? No basement.
So I was nervous, anxious and knew it was going to be a good long while before I would be able to sleep. I put the nervous energy to work for me. One of the things I did was begin looking for the hero to the WIP (Work In Progress).
It actually didn't take too long to find a guy that looked like my hero. Kind of. I ignored the kind of whispering through my brain and saved his pictures to my hero file. He's not exactly right, a little voice said. I assured it that I would take a second look at the pictures on Saturday and make a decision after I'd slept.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
It only took a quick look while I was drinking coffee to know the guy I'd found wasn't going to work. The good news, though, was that he was very close to my hero in appearance. I also took another look at the heroine's pictures. I waffled. Again. I decided I would look for women's pictures, too. Maybe I'd find the right model or maybe it would convince me once and for all that I had the right image of my heroine.
The hero didn't prove too difficult to find. That's not to say I found him immediately, but I've had searches that have lasted forever and I'm happy to report that I found the right guy within a relatively short period of time. For the record, he's not that similar to the original, Friday night man, but there's a sort of similarity.
I resumed the heroine search. I had tab after tab after tab filled with modeling agencies. I opened up even more tabs with models I wanted to take a closer look at. Most of them weren't right. My heroine is fairly young and I was able to eliminate some because they looked too old. Then there were the models that looked as if they were thirteen. I crossed them off the list, too.
Finally, I had four or five models I wanted of whom I wanted to see more pictures. One of the models' names was Lauren something or other. When I did a search of the modeling database, a Lauren came up that wasn't the one I was looking for, but she looked like my heroine. Potentially.
As I went through the photos and culled out the models I wanted a closer look at, a certain pattern began to develop. They all looked very similar to the original model that I was waffling over. That made me confident that I knew what my heroine looked like, it would simply be a matter of finding the one that really fit.
After more study and consideration, the final choice came down to the original model and the Lauren model that I wasn't looking for, but found anyway. It took tabbing through their pictures a few times and putting them next to the picture of the hero, but I finally knew I had my heroine.
It was the Lauren that I found accidentally.
March 19, 2012
March 18, 2012
Storms In Africa
As the International Space Station flew over Africa, it recorded a bunch of storms. In the sky, you can see the Milky Way, making this video awesome in two perspectives--Earth and Space.
March 15, 2012
From Idea To Story - Part 4
This is part 4 series of blogs that will run through how I take an idea and make it into a story. This is my process and it might not work for everyone. It might not even work for me on my next project. The one thing that I've learned is that my process will (and has) changed over the years. Sometimes drastically.
The Week of February 26, 2012
If you read Tuesday's blog, you know I spent the week waffling back and forth on whether or not I'd found the right image of my heroine. That's not all I was doing during the week.
Information began flowing in about my characters. Well, flow might be too strong a word since I haven't written anything new in more than six months. I haven't even thought anything new or creative in this time. I was too stressed about moving 1100 miles from Minneapolis to Atlanta to think about anything but what I had to do. It's not easy to kick the imagination back into gear, but at least now it's coming in faster than a trickle--which is where it had been until now.
I made notes during lunch at work. Lots of background information about the hero. He's a 700+ year old vampire so he has a bit of past to learn about. He'd been betrayed by people he trusted. That was going to play into the story...somehow.
The heroine is still something of an enigma to me. The information she offered mainly has to do with the situation going on now. This isn't a bad thing because someone needs to tell me the story, but I would like to know more about her background than she's giving me. Small things have come through, but not much.
Also during this week, I played different versions of the first scene. I think I know where I'm opening, but there are so many possibilities within that scenario. This is one of the fun things about Pre-Book (That's what I call this preparatory time before I start writing), testing out the options, discarding the ones that don't work and homing in on the one that will ultimately be the one I actually start writing. That doesn't mean it's the right opening--a lot of times I end up writing half a dozen different opening scenes--but it does mean it's one I haven't rejected before even trying it.
Pre-Book also means research. Some of the hero's background was stuff I'd read about before, but it had been long enough that I needed to refresh my memory. Some of it was new.
Since these characters are part of my Blood Feud World (Titles already set here are: Blood Feud, Demon Kissed, Shadow's Caress, and Enemy Embrace), most of the world building has already been done. I just needed to look at the hero and heroine and see how they fit into the world. I'm still working on some of this--the do they know the characters from the other stories part remains in flux.
The Week of February 26, 2012
If you read Tuesday's blog, you know I spent the week waffling back and forth on whether or not I'd found the right image of my heroine. That's not all I was doing during the week.
Information began flowing in about my characters. Well, flow might be too strong a word since I haven't written anything new in more than six months. I haven't even thought anything new or creative in this time. I was too stressed about moving 1100 miles from Minneapolis to Atlanta to think about anything but what I had to do. It's not easy to kick the imagination back into gear, but at least now it's coming in faster than a trickle--which is where it had been until now.
I made notes during lunch at work. Lots of background information about the hero. He's a 700+ year old vampire so he has a bit of past to learn about. He'd been betrayed by people he trusted. That was going to play into the story...somehow.
The heroine is still something of an enigma to me. The information she offered mainly has to do with the situation going on now. This isn't a bad thing because someone needs to tell me the story, but I would like to know more about her background than she's giving me. Small things have come through, but not much.
Also during this week, I played different versions of the first scene. I think I know where I'm opening, but there are so many possibilities within that scenario. This is one of the fun things about Pre-Book (That's what I call this preparatory time before I start writing), testing out the options, discarding the ones that don't work and homing in on the one that will ultimately be the one I actually start writing. That doesn't mean it's the right opening--a lot of times I end up writing half a dozen different opening scenes--but it does mean it's one I haven't rejected before even trying it.
Pre-Book also means research. Some of the hero's background was stuff I'd read about before, but it had been long enough that I needed to refresh my memory. Some of it was new.
Since these characters are part of my Blood Feud World (Titles already set here are: Blood Feud, Demon Kissed, Shadow's Caress, and Enemy Embrace), most of the world building has already been done. I just needed to look at the hero and heroine and see how they fit into the world. I'm still working on some of this--the do they know the characters from the other stories part remains in flux.
March 13, 2012
From Idea To Story - Part 3
This is part 3 series of blogs that will run through how I take an idea and make it into a story. This is my process and it might not work for everyone. It might not even work for me on my next project. The one thing that I've learned is that my process will (and has) changed over the years. Sometimes drastically.
Sunday Night - February 26, 2012
I always like pictures of my characters when I write and I went searching as soon as the names were set. The hero's personality had come through loud and clear and I had a pretty good idea of what he looked like. I figured he was going to be hard to find, so I started looking for the heroine first.
This might have been an error in judgment since I didn't have a good grasp on her appearance or personality at this point. Still, I figured I'd know her when I saw her. I started out thinking she had some red in her hair. A search through auburn and redheaded models didn't turn up anyone who clicked. I expanded my search to other hair colors.
It wasn't quick, but I found a model that I thought was my heroine. I began a search for more pictures of her and put them all in a file for this book.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Doubt started to creep in. Was this model really what my heroine looked like? When I got home from work, I opened the picture file again and went through every shot. I waffled.
Waffling isn't good. Waffling means it probably isn't the heroine.
I continued to waffle for the rest of the week. I liked her and she was perfect. Really. Only I found myself wanting to email my friends and ask them for their opinion. That really didn't bode well.
Sunday Night - February 26, 2012
I always like pictures of my characters when I write and I went searching as soon as the names were set. The hero's personality had come through loud and clear and I had a pretty good idea of what he looked like. I figured he was going to be hard to find, so I started looking for the heroine first.
This might have been an error in judgment since I didn't have a good grasp on her appearance or personality at this point. Still, I figured I'd know her when I saw her. I started out thinking she had some red in her hair. A search through auburn and redheaded models didn't turn up anyone who clicked. I expanded my search to other hair colors.
It wasn't quick, but I found a model that I thought was my heroine. I began a search for more pictures of her and put them all in a file for this book.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Doubt started to creep in. Was this model really what my heroine looked like? When I got home from work, I opened the picture file again and went through every shot. I waffled.
Waffling isn't good. Waffling means it probably isn't the heroine.
I continued to waffle for the rest of the week. I liked her and she was perfect. Really. Only I found myself wanting to email my friends and ask them for their opinion. That really didn't bode well.
March 11, 2012
Well, Let's Go Find Out!
I know I've shared a lot of space-related videos lately--what can I say? I'm a space geek--but I hope you'll bear with me for another. This one is a little long, but it talks about Kepler 22B, the planet that was found around a star very similar to our sun and orbiting at a distance that makes it possible for there to be life here. There's a lot, though, that astronomers don't know yet about the planet. This video talks about what they do know.
March 8, 2012
From Idea To Story - Part 2
On Tuesday, I began a series of blogs that will run through how I take an idea and make it into a story. This is my process and it might not work for everyone. It might not even work for me on my next project. The one thing that I've learned is that my process will (and has) changed over the years. Sometimes drastically.
Names: Sunday Feb 26, 2012
People who've followed my blog for a while know my characters pick their own names. I never get a choice, and if I don't like it, they still get their way. I had one hero a few years ago tell me his name and when I tried to encourage him to choose another, he said, Just use this one until we pick a different one. The next thing you know, the name stuck. His heroine's name is the one and only time they've allowed me to pick. It was torturous and I quickly regretted ever complaining about the name thing.
These two taught me my lesson. Now when I don't like it, I just grimace and go Really? Then I say, okay, whatever.
The name for the hero in the new idea showed up in my head with little fanfare. No announcements. No hints. I suddenly just knew. Ivar. I wasn't even sure it was a real name. And yes, I did grimace. Ivar? Really? Whatever. I looked it up and lo and behold, it is a real name. He was adamant on the spelling from the beginning. I argued because the spelling Ivor made more sense for his nationality, but of course, he won.
The heroine's name came a few hours later. Phoenix. I grimaced again because this is on the trendy side. I did another Really? Wouldn't you rather have a different name? They're very stubborn. So I have a hero with a name I don't like and a heroine with a name that's too trendy for my tastes. Okay. Whatever.
Names: Sunday Feb 26, 2012
People who've followed my blog for a while know my characters pick their own names. I never get a choice, and if I don't like it, they still get their way. I had one hero a few years ago tell me his name and when I tried to encourage him to choose another, he said, Just use this one until we pick a different one. The next thing you know, the name stuck. His heroine's name is the one and only time they've allowed me to pick. It was torturous and I quickly regretted ever complaining about the name thing.
These two taught me my lesson. Now when I don't like it, I just grimace and go Really? Then I say, okay, whatever.
The name for the hero in the new idea showed up in my head with little fanfare. No announcements. No hints. I suddenly just knew. Ivar. I wasn't even sure it was a real name. And yes, I did grimace. Ivar? Really? Whatever. I looked it up and lo and behold, it is a real name. He was adamant on the spelling from the beginning. I argued because the spelling Ivor made more sense for his nationality, but of course, he won.
The heroine's name came a few hours later. Phoenix. I grimaced again because this is on the trendy side. I did another Really? Wouldn't you rather have a different name? They're very stubborn. So I have a hero with a name I don't like and a heroine with a name that's too trendy for my tastes. Okay. Whatever.
March 6, 2012
From Idea To Story - Part 1
I thought there might be some interest in running through how a story comes together for me, and since I've just started building a new novella, I can start from the beginning.
The Idea: Saturday Morning Feb 25, 2012
I'm not sure I've ever gotten an idea the same way twice, but this idea came to me via a dream. I've had other ideas come in this way, but I've never written any of the others. This wasn't a paranormal dream--it had a regular human hero and heroine--but I knew the setup wasn't one I wanted to write. At least not as a regular, contemporary romance.
In my dream there was a fairly large age difference involved along with a couple of other elements that didn't appeal to me, and if I'm going to spend the time it's going to take to write a story, I need to like it.
I woke an hour before the alarm went off and spent that time in bed, trying to convert it to my Blood Feud world. The hero fell into place pretty easily--a vampire with a few years under his belt. The heroine proved more difficult. To keep the dynamics from the dream, I thought, maybe she's the daughter of one of the big shots in the vampire hunters, but I'm not a huge fan of human/paranormal creature pairings. I've written them because that's what the characters told me they were, but I much prefer matching power with power.
Idea Discussion: Saturday Night, Feb 25, 2012
A friend and I were already slated to chat via instant messaging, but this wasn't on the agenda. Still, she wrote an entire book based on one of her dreams, so of course, I shared mine and mentioned that I didn't like having a human heroine, but I wasn't sure how else to work it. It's while we were brainstorming that she mentioned something that will work perfectly, make the heroine paranormal, and keep the original dynamic of the dream.
We also discussed the bad guy because you know I'm going to have one of those. This took more back and forth before we hit on an idea that worked.
The Idea: Saturday Morning Feb 25, 2012
I'm not sure I've ever gotten an idea the same way twice, but this idea came to me via a dream. I've had other ideas come in this way, but I've never written any of the others. This wasn't a paranormal dream--it had a regular human hero and heroine--but I knew the setup wasn't one I wanted to write. At least not as a regular, contemporary romance.
In my dream there was a fairly large age difference involved along with a couple of other elements that didn't appeal to me, and if I'm going to spend the time it's going to take to write a story, I need to like it.
I woke an hour before the alarm went off and spent that time in bed, trying to convert it to my Blood Feud world. The hero fell into place pretty easily--a vampire with a few years under his belt. The heroine proved more difficult. To keep the dynamics from the dream, I thought, maybe she's the daughter of one of the big shots in the vampire hunters, but I'm not a huge fan of human/paranormal creature pairings. I've written them because that's what the characters told me they were, but I much prefer matching power with power.
Idea Discussion: Saturday Night, Feb 25, 2012
A friend and I were already slated to chat via instant messaging, but this wasn't on the agenda. Still, she wrote an entire book based on one of her dreams, so of course, I shared mine and mentioned that I didn't like having a human heroine, but I wasn't sure how else to work it. It's while we were brainstorming that she mentioned something that will work perfectly, make the heroine paranormal, and keep the original dynamic of the dream.
We also discussed the bad guy because you know I'm going to have one of those. This took more back and forth before we hit on an idea that worked.
March 4, 2012
Leap Year
I found this video interesting about whys and whats about Leap Year.
