Thaddeus Nowak's Blog: Thoughts and Observations - Posts Tagged "writing"

I wanted to start of my blog with just a general observation. Nothing too heavy or deep.

Personally, I love hiking and doing things outdoors. I enjoy exploring and traveling, turning off the main roads and onto small side roads, simply because they look more interesting.

I've done that every, even in the Rocky Mountains, finding some very narrow (and sometimes dangerous) side roads that run up the side of a mountain, not knowing where I am going, just waiting to see what's around the next bend.

However, I am most happy when I am creating something. I've always been extremely creative, even as a small child, and I find writing to be one of the best forms of creativity. In my fantasy novels, I have created whole worlds and societies and beliefs and people. It is definitely a wonderful feeling to see it come alive.

I am honored to have been asked to come to Patton Jr. High on the 10th and speak with the students about writing. They plan to give me a tour of the school and have even setup a poster and asked for essays to be written for why they should be able to meet me in person. I'm definitely excited and I'm looking forward to it, but it is also quite different to be on the other side of the table.

This opportunity has meant that I needed to dust off my public speaking hat, something I have done a few times, but not on a regular basis. I may be speaking to as many as 200 students, which is definitely a thrill and so I have been working on my speech and getting ready for the event.

In writing the speech, I realized I was just a touch older than these students when I first got the bug to be a writer. It is a good, but somewhat startling feeling, to realize that I might actually be able to influence the next generation of writers. I had never really considered that when I started writing. Primarily I had been thinking about what I needed to do to make my book a success, not so much the impact of it. Now chance and timing might make this a much more rewarding endeavor than I had originally envisioned.

This is part of the discussion I had with the students at Patton and I thought I would share some of theme here.

One item I mentioned to them is that with my busy life, I find it hard to always find time in front of the keyboard (and I really don't write long handed these days) so I tend to "write" in my head when I have the free time.

Now before people start wondering about what's going on in my head (and you may not want to know), by "writing" in my head, I mean I work out the scenes, think out the consequences of plot twists, consider dialogue for the characters, etc. If I can make use of the time standing in queue to check out at the store or when stuck waiting for the car to be services, so much the better. And working on my book, even if only through a thought experiment is personally rewarding.

When I do get time in front of the computer, all I really need to do is replay the scene I devised in my head and type it out. I don't have to spend the time for typing working out those details. It allows me to make more progress than if I had simply stared at the people ahead of me and wondered "why are they buying those things?"

One of my favorite times to work on my writing in this fashion is when I am out hiking. Today I spent the morning in the woods, along a dirt trail, rain threatening at any moment (and me wishing it would come to clear out some of the humidity). It was early enough that we were the first ones out there this morning and the squirrels scattered through the leaves and branches as we made our way along the twisting path. We chased a couple of toads off, hoping they won't come back to the path to get stepped on, and I knocked down spider webs, sometimes with my face. In all, it was a great morning.

For me, hiking in the woods (and mountains when I get the chance) really sets the mood in my head for writing. Of course, I tend to write fantasy with outdoor scenes, so it is natural that my surroundings echo their way into the backdrop of the story I am working on.

Hopefully other people who like to write can find similar places and uses for time away from the computer that allow them to keep working on their story.

I've made an observation when working on Daughter's Justice (the sequel to Mother's Curse). When writing fiction about royalty, there is a lot more to keep track of.

I am trying to be true to the story and avoid the "crowbar plot twists" Eddie Izzard has joked about in some movies. Which means I want to keep track of the back story and underlying plots that would be impacting the world around the characters. In most of my prior writing, the actions of the main characters have limited scope for the world. In those cases, I could simply make general assumptions about how the country and politics played out and bend them to my needs.

When writing about royalty, or anyone who's actions impact politics at a larger scale, the characters will be interacting (directly or simply causing reactions) with people who have the power to change significant aspects of the country and politics as a whole. However, those secondary characters may not have any direct visibility to the reader.

For Stephenie's story, I found the need to tracks the motivations, timings, and actions of many people who are minor characters in the story, but who's actions and motivations would potentially be seen in how the country is run. It adds another dimension to the writing process. Normally, I would simply make note of these characters. However, since they are "powerful" in the world, their reactions can trigger events that drive the main characters.

My goal is to make the country and politics behave as realistic as possible. Perhaps even thinking about it as a character itself; a character made up of many different individuals.

My goal of course is to keep a lot of that complexity from the actual story, focusing on the main characters and their actions. However, having the richer back story I hope will allow me to paint a more engaging picture of the world.

Wow, wasn't it just Monday?

Well, Monday's kind of suck most of the time, perhaps I should wonder where Tuesday went.

It is amazing how busy someone can get and still not manage to get enough done.

First off, I've added a couple of dates to my KC Ren Fest schedule. In addition to today, I will be there tomorrow (23 Sep 2012) and Sunday 7 Oct 2012. If you're in the area, come out and we and can talk. I'll even sign a copy of Mother's Curse for you (booth 531).


Back to my missing week. This last week felt so busy and I was mostly trying to catch up. The weekend prior I was on holiday and that shifted everything around. Of course, I can't complain about being on holiday and I really had a great weekend. We didn't go too far, just took a trip out to St. Louis Friday night and got in some hiking on Saturday and Sunday, then drove back on Monday.

This was me at Hawn State park:


On Saturday, we hiked 10.5 miles on the Pickle Creak and Whispering Pine trails. Then on Sunday, we put in 7.5 miles between Castlewood and Hawn state parks.

Also had to stop by REI. That store is as bad as a book store for us. Definitely will not leave without buying something.


The weather wasn't great for photos (cloud filled skies), so you won't see much from us. However, it was perfect for hiking. Not too hot and a little bit of drizzle dropping from the sky to make things interesting (note, I do like hiking in a light rain).

Here is what the sky looked like most of the time:



On the writing front, I did not get much on paper, but during the 6 - 7 hours on the trails, I was able to mentally flesh out more plot details of the book after the one I am currently working on.

For me, that is the one greatest part of hiking. We were well away from most people (only seeing a few others on the trails at Hawn) and just enveloped by the peacefulness of the trail. Stress just melts away and you can relax outside of your daily life. It gave me lots of time to think and simply enjoy the day.

Now that I am back in front of my computer, I need to get back to putting words down on paper. Another exhilarating pass time that I don't think I can ever get enough of.


Well, now, off to Fest....huzzah!

Autumn has to be my favorite season. I am not exactly sure what attracts me to it so much, but the crisp air and dramatic changes in nature strike a cord in me. The changes in the environment somehow give me energy.

Yes, it is a season that signifies the start of decay, as the tree and plants shut down for the winter. But even still, a cool rainy autumn day somehow wakes me up and motivates me to be outside and do things. Perhaps there is some instinctual need for me to gather up supplies for the winter. I'm not entirely sure.

There is also a definite nostalgia that bubbles up. For me, the local Renaissance Faire has always been in September and October and I've been going for more years than I can count. Sometimes to participate, sometimes just to be a patron. These last few years I have been helping my brother and sister-in-law out with a booth they have. So I have actually spent more time at faire than I used to, but since I have been working there, I've seen a little less than I used to. This year I have been selling copies of my book, Mother's Curse, there and doing quite well. For anyone who bought a copy, let me know what you think!

Autumn has also been a time when we would take trips and I've spent a few years chasing the fall color, which can be hard to actually time just right unless you are willing to drive across a few states, and sometimes, not even then.

These are a couple of old shots from back in 2001 on a trip to Wisconsin, when I as still using a film camera instead of a digital one. A couple months out when we planned the trip, we had expected to be in the middle of the fall color. Unfortunately, the weather was such that the trees stayed green a bit later that year. However, the trip was still a lot of fun and we've been back a couple times since (not chasing color) as my mother's family is from the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan).




The other great thing about fall is it makes me want to curl up with a good book and spend the day reading (I know, that counters the going outside drive, but I am conflicted, what can I say). Of course, I've been working on Daughter's Justice and still have a bit more writing to do on that book. So lately, I've not had the time to read as much as I would like.


As a bit of other news, today we have thunderstorms in the area and so it is a great day (I'm meant to live on the west coast I think). I probably will not make it to Faire today. However, I plan to go out tomorrow, which will be the last day of Faire for the 2012 season in KC.

On 10 Nov 2012, I am, doing a book signing at The Art Box in Atchison Ks (http://theartistboxllc.com/). I'll be posting more details on my site.

Definitely come out and see me tomorrow at Faire (http://www.kcrenfest.com/) or in Atchison on the 10th!