Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 123

Autumning Elsewhere

I managed to sing in the choir concert last night. I think I even got all the notes. I'm not sure how pretty it was, and I definitely wouldn't have been up to singing a solo, but I did get through it all. I would be doing a lot better, but the ragweed levels shot up, and so now on the tail of a cold/cough/whatever, I've got a bad allergy attack. I've decided that my new grand plan in life is to get to the point where I can "autumn" elsewhere, in a place that actually has an autumn and that has lower ragweed levels. It tends to not be so bad when it's cool and damp, so I need to follow the cool and damp. I think I'd be a lot healthier overall if I were away from Dallas for September and October. I think my writing productivity would go up because that kind of weather energizes and inspires me, and I'd get more work done if I were healthy, so it might even end up paying for itself.

We had a day or so of cool, fallish weather, but I'm back to sitting around the house in a tank top and haven't yet put the real comforter back on the bed, and it's almost November. The leaves haven't started turning. At this rate, we may start getting fallish around Thanksgiving.

I wrote the first words of the new book on Friday, the prologue. Today, I'm going to make myself start in earnest. In order to afford to autumn elsewhere, in addition to buying a new house and moving, I need to write like a fiend for the next few months. It's time to get out the Word Count M&Ms.

Getting Started

I got a really good start on plotting the new book yesterday and may even try writing words today. I have the opening planned and know the main story goal. I have a good sense of what the ending will be and what the midpoint should be. Since starting with that much and then winging it from there worked so well in the last book I wrote, I'm tempted to try it again, doing my plotting a little at a time.

I am a little ashamed at how long it took me to remember that I needed to figure out what the goal was. I was trying to plot and coming up with events, then realized that I didn't know what the main character wanted to accomplish and what the main story question was. That was my struggle in writing the previous book in this series. I was midway through when I realized that's what I was missing. I didn't have a good throughline because of that, and it took a lot of rewriting to fix it. It should help that I know it now.

I think I'm going to keep the newspaper articles at the beginning as a way to recap the previous books. It's a device that fits with the story, and it's a good way to remind readers what happened before without having to insert too much of that into the narrative. I'm reading a book now that's a sequel to something I read last year, and I'm having a hard time keeping up with it because I didn't remember all the details of events. The author did eventually weave enough information in to remind me, but it would have been nice to have more of a refresher up front.

Now I just need to get my brain back in order enough to string words together.

Catching-Up Time

I made it through children's choir last night. The kids were actually surprisingly good. I don't know if the more challenging ones were tired and behaving better or if I had that good a lesson so they were engaged rather than acting up, but the usual challenge didn't have to be taken outside and only one other kid had to have a time out in the hall when he got a little overexcited. Now I just have three more sessions this semester. Next week is the Halloween carnival, then the week after that is the children's worship service, then I have two weeks, then Thanksgiving, and then one week before we take a break for the holidays. I can do three lesson plans.

I also found out that instead of getting one of the grad students to fill in on my solo, the choir just did something else, a piece that's familiar enough they were able to just run through it Sunday morning. Which means I still have to sing it, if I ever get my voice back entirely. It turns out that doing this helped the choir director better align some of the pieces he had planned because he was having second thoughts about the piece he had planned for that Sunday. I've got about a month now to get well and get back in shape.

I feel like I let a lot of stuff pile up this week that I should have been doing but couldn't concentrate on. Maybe today I can start getting to it all. I need to write some cover copy and do some work toward all my branding stuff. And brainstorm a book so I can plot it and start writing.

So I guess I'd better get on that, huh?

Revolutions are Hard

Yesterday, I took a look at the synopsis I wrote for what I had then planned as a trilogy of Rebel books, and wow, I went pretty far astray on my plans. I did stick to the planned plot for the first half of book two, but then went on a totally different tangent and ended up in a different place. Meanwhile, I didn't even get to the stuff that I'd planned to get to that needs to happen. Book three may end up being the second half of my planned book 2, which means I might have a four-book trilogy. But then I've heard that it's better to have series with odd numbers of books, so I may need to go to five. I guess I'll have to see how this book shapes up.

Basically, what it comes down to is that it's very hard to have a revolution -- something more than just an uprising. Creating a new country takes more than just the armed revolt. You have to have something in place to run the new country and make it work. And you have to get a lot of people on board, at all levels of society. That's one of the things that was fairly unique about the real American revolution. It involved participation from the landed elites down to ordinary people, all working together. The ordinary people might have had an uprising but probably wouldn't have been able to put together a national government. The elites had the government and the Declaration of Independence but wouldn't have been able to win the revolution without the ordinary people. That kind of cooperation among classes was unlikely in British society at that time.

Now I need to move that kind of thing into the Gilded Age, which had its own kind of class consciousness, even in the real history. There were massive divides between rich and poor then, with the rich people being really, really rich and the poor people being extremely poor. There was social movement possible, though, with some of those very rich people having come from next to nothing. They had a little trouble breaking into the upper crust, in spite of their wealth. So, how bad would it have been if the British class structure were still in place and the upper class had a physical difference -- magic -- that separated them from the rank and file? And that's where the idea for these books came from.

So, to complete this series, I need to progress things to the point that they're able to have a successful revolution and put together a government that might actually work. The fun thing about alternate history is that I can fix some of the things that went "wrong" with our history.

I have more brainstorming and plotting to do today before I attempt to go deal with children's choir. I may go to adult choir rehearsal to listen, but singing is still out of the question.

Woefully Underprepared

I got well enough yesterday to actually manage some sitting and thinking. I made a list of things that could or should happen in this next book, and a few scenes started to come to mind. I'm feeling a bit better today, though I had a rather rough night, so I'm hoping to do more brainstorming work this afternoon. My pattern seems to go that I need to go lie down and rest a bit after breakfast, then feel well enough to get up and do something, then need to rest again, then have a few hours of feeling pretty good, and then later at night I feel really tired and that's when the coughing kicks in.

During this afternoon's up-and-at-'em phase, I'm hoping to make a run to Target and Kroger because I was woefully underprepared for illness. I was out of most of the cold/flu medication I usually keep on hand, and I didn't have much good "sick" food handy. Fortunately, I'd made a vat of vegetable soup a few weeks ago and had some in the freezer, but I didn't have any chicken soup or ingredients for chicken soup. I have this weird thing of not being able to eat canned chicken noodle soup, mostly because that's what they usually give you in recovery after day surgery as the test for whether you'll be able to keep anything down. Supposedly, it's gentle on the stomach enough to be given on an empty stomach. But I tend to have a delayed reaction to anesthesia, so let's just say that after they've decided I'm fine and send me home, things get unpleasant in the car, and that's now what I associate with canned chicken noodle soup. Now I can only manage to eat the kind that's dry that you mix with water, or else I do a mix of chicken broth and chicken stock (I find that soup made with just broth is too weak, but with just stock it's too strong) and throw some fine noodles and frozen peas and carrots in, maybe some bits of chicken breast if I have any handy. I also ran out of multivitamins, which I probably need to make up for not having much appetite right now.

My aim for this week is to get well enough to sing in this weekend's choir concert. We're doing a Schubert mass, and I've put a lot of work into learning it. I'd hate to miss yet another singing thing because of this illness. At the moment, I can talk for a little while without coughing, but singing is out of the question.

But brainstorming is going to happen today. I have a book to plot.

Sick Day

Wouldn't you know, after all the work I put into learning that solo, I came down with a killer virus so that I woke up Saturday morning with no voice at all, and it only got worse from there. I spent Saturday drinking fluids and trying everything I could to get better, but it was a lost cause. I spent yesterday in bed watching history documentaries on cable because I just didn't feel up to sitting up. Today my throat doesn't hurt as much, and I can talk without pain, but I'm utterly weak. I took my laptop to bed and am making use of my bedroom TV.

I've decided to give myself a sick day, since the main thing on my to-do list was sitting and thinking, and I don't really feel like doing either. If I get ideas or get some brainstorming done, that'll be a bonus.

Now I'm watching the Harry Potter movies on cable. It's that kind of day.

One Project Done, Starting the Next One

I got the book finished and off for formatting, so today's to-do list involves working on some cover copy and then brainstorming the next book. Yes, my to-do list for today is pretty much "sit and think." I love this part of working on a book.

In the meantime, I'm trying to fight off a very inconveniently timed cold and/or allergy attack. I have to sing a lot of high notes on Sunday, so I don't dare lose my voice. Lots of liquids and vitamin C and allergy drugs will be involved the next couple of days. It's a good thing all I have to do is sit and think.

And it's the perfect day for it, as it's nice and rainy. They said last night that the rain would be gone by noon, but it's still really gray, which is okay by me.

The other thing I need to think about today is taking a fall vacation. I kind of want to repeat last year's trip, but then there's something to be said for trying something new. The place I went last year was just what I want, but I've often found that trying to repeat something that was wonderful can end up being disappointing. Maybe the trick is to not try to repeat it but rather try to turn it into something new and different. You can go to the same place but go about it in a different way. This is a relatively low-stress kind of trip with a nice immersion in nature.

Proofreading and Singing

I have four more chapters to proofread by reading out loud. I only did a couple yesterday because I could feel my voice straining, and I had choir in the evening. I've got the solo in this Sunday's piece, and it's really challenging, with a lot of very high wailing, so I didn't want to wear out my voice before rehearsal. I'm taking it slow in the reading because of this, with frequent breaks. That's why it's taken me so long. Maybe in the future I should avoid the conjunction of a choir solo and the read-aloud proofread phase.

At least I learned I won't have to do that solo as a solo for the early service, so I won't be singing As at 8:30 in the morning while wrangling kindergarteners, who are also singing in the early service.

I really need to make a habit of practicing my upper range. Singing second soprano in choir means I usually don't sing those notes, and then I get rusty. When I first started working on this piece, I was straining a bit, and now those notes come easily.

Meanwhile, I think I'm at the point where I'm going to force myself to call a halt to the developmental research reading for the next Rebel book. I may do specific research that may be needed once I have a better sense of where I'm going with it, but this is research to get ideas. I did have a synopsis for this book, from back when I was working on the proposal for the first one, but the second one went way off-plan, which had such a ripple effect that what I had planned for book 3 is now no longer viable. There are some things I may be able to salvage, but the structure is going to have to change significantly.

This weekend, when I'm not singing, I plan to do some major brainstorming sessions, and I'd like to start drafting next week. And then I can start the research reading for the next book. Ideas for that are already popping into my head.

Worldbuilding: Society

I'm continuing a series of writing posts on worldbuilding. Last time, I talked about geography. Now it's time to talk about the people who inhabit the world, since they'll probably have a lot to do with the way your story shapes up. People can be very influenced by the place in which they live. That can have something to do with climate -- you get very different cultures at the equator than you do in harsh northern areas -- or location -- more remote areas are likely to be more homogeneous, while places that are easy to get to will probably end up being more diverse. That diversity doesn't always come without struggle and opposition. If you look at patterns in immigration in port cities in our world, you see initial opposition to newcomers, who at first keep to themselves in enclaves. Gradually, their children assimilate, and the greater culture begins to adopt some of their culture (food, arts, etc.). They become part of the greater culture, which is then resistant to the next wave of newcomers.

What kind of people live in your story setting? Think about their daily lives -- what are their homes like, what foods do they eat, what do they do for fun, what are some of the key industries that might employ them, what kind of arts do they pursue? One tricky area that tends to get left out in fiction is the matter of faith. Most human cultures have had some kind of belief system that explains their origins and the world around them. These belief systems may grow and strengthen, get replaced by something else, morph into something else, or fade away. Even a society that has become more secular has generally made a choice to turn away from old beliefs, and there are people who still hold onto them. Most legal systems have developed from religious laws, and a lot of cultural rules and attitudes have their roots in religious beliefs. Many of the arts were first used as expressions of faith. You get a richer world if you at least consider the question instead of creating a world where this doesn't even come up. You could get a very different society by imagining an old religion with a very different set of beliefs and tracing how those beliefs affect laws and culture. That could change traditional gender roles and views of morality.

Are the people in this area conquerors or the conquered? There are nations that tend to be the aggressors and those that tend to get overrun, either because of their geographic location with no natural barriers or defenses or because of their tendency not to put up a fight. Is the conquered nation currently under occupation or control, or are they autonomous again after being liberated by someone else? History of conquering or being conquered will affect the psyche of a nation and possibly the attitudes of the people living there, as well as their view of outsiders, violence, and the need for a military.

How does the economy work? What is traded? What is produced? Is there currency, or is it a barter economy? Is there any kind of economic control by the government, or is it a free-for-all? What's the distribution of wealth? How do people feel about the distribution of wealth? Is there a class system, and how flexible is it? Can someone move up just by amassing wealth and status, or is birth a major factor? If there is a rigid class system based on birth, how did the upper-class families attain their status, and when?

And is any of this changing, on the verge of changing, or subject to change if outside forces (like events in your story) act on this part of your world? Is someone -- either your hero or your villain -- trying to change it? How stable or precarious is your society? Is it strong enough to survive a disaster, or will it all fall apart if one thing happens? Is there some similar or contrasting society nearby that may affect this society -- enemies that might invade, enemies this society might invade, allies, potential allies? Where does this culture fit into the overall world? Is it better or worse than other cultures?

History is a great place to look for ideas of how a society might develop and what can tear it apart.

Once you've developed all these things about your world, it's time to think about how you'll show them in your story, and that will be the next topic.

Getting Serious

It's time to get serious, so I moved back into my office instead of sitting on the sofa, like I have all summer. Well, it's not entirely about being serious. I've got a crick in my neck from the way I was sitting on the sofa to read from the computer while proofreading, so I've moved to a location that allows me to sit with better posture. I cleaned out the office a little to get the new phone/Internet stuff installed, but I need to get it a little more set up for proper work.

Because boy, am I going to have some proper work to do. I think I know what the next project after the next Rebel Mechanics book will be because one of the candidates popped up last night to develop itself. I now know more about the heroine and I really want to write her. I'll do a brief brain dump today to get that information down, then get back to my proofreading and research reading. I think having three projects in various phases of development might make my brain explode.

Speaking of projects, it looks like the new Enchanted, Inc. book will be released December 13. The audio version may come a couple of weeks later. It's not absolutely set in stone, but considering that I'll have a final draft this week ready for formatting and I saw the first pass at the cover art yesterday, that should be on target. There may also be something else around that time, so stay tuned …

Then I'll be able to switch gears (get it?) and get down to some serious Rebel work, and then I can also start brainstorming more about that other project.

And somewhere along the way, I need to clean and organize my house and do a purge because I really hope to sell this place, find another, and move early next year (though I also need to write a lot of books for that so I can afford the kind of place I want and be able to fix it up properly).