Visual Model

One little snippet of advice I picked up at the Writer's Conference in February: know what your characters look like. Even if you don't sit down and describe every facet of their appearance, at the very least the author needs to know the details anyway. It's better to just have that image secured away in mind because you never know when small bits will work their way into the character as you go.

I doubt I am making much sense, but since this is just my personal place for notes on my writing, who cares?

Anyway, last week I was taken aback when I found an actor who seems to personify the physical appearance I'd imagined for Zachary. It was really cool to realize there was someone out there who could "play" Zachary for my own imaginative purposes.

Here are a couple photos of Ben Barnes, who it turns out is playing Prince Caspian in the movie that comes out in May. Guess what movie I'M going to have to see in the theater as soon as possible.

The face is weirdly similar to what I'd always pictured for Zachary. Now picture this guy with all-black eyes. It's him!

Revising Chapter 2

Tonight I worked on it and I think it's a little better. Not as wordy...I tried to make the internal and interactive dialogue stronger and more realistic, and most of all, attempted to continue the tone and sense of urgency that was in Chapter 1 by ending it on a more interesting note.

I can't deny that I'm scared I am not going to be able to make it much further with this story. But I'm really going to do my absolute best to keep going. Keep writing, no matter what happens or if I have a bad spell of doubt or not-writing. I wasn't hopeful that I'd do much of anything on it this weekend, but I feel a little better now because I did at least something tonight. It was important to get chapter 2 in a more solid place in order to move on to chapter 3.

Next?

He's focused on leaving, but things are happening at the complex. They're trying to create another hybrid and failing at cloning. They don't know why. Maybe they should attempt more traditional means of procreation, which will mean bringing Zachary to the mainland to meet Zoe.

His chance for escape?

Or... does Zoe come there? And then the threat hits again...maybe temporarily disabling the base and offering an optimal chance to escape. Could he take a car this time? Throw Dingo's collar off and drive to the harbor, make his way onto a boat?

Hmm. Either way, he's got to go down to the building with the dolphins in it and interact with them soon.

Also...still want the Feem thing in there. How do the dolphins get to the ocean, though? How far IS the ocean? Are there channels they can swim through, or are they trucked there to the ocean for certain exercises?

Lots to think about!

On a personal note, hiking seems to be catching on for me. I like working out to the point of exhaustion, listening to my Chimera mix and thinking. I'll be sad when it's too hot outside. But I;ve got to keep going! Make the gym a priority, if nothing else. Eat less, drink more water. Thin down in time for NJ. I want to feel in control of myself.

Writing is hard. I have some bad habits, and they are so easy to fall back into.

1) I over-describe things sometimes. Don't need to say what the chains on the ceiling fan does. Just say the chains. Period.

2) Narrator's talking, and he doesn't sound natural. Too stilted, too formal. Go for a more normal way of speaking. Read it aloud if you can't figure it out.

3) Work on dialogue. Do people really talk like that?

4) Don't be so WORDY!!!!

5) Are you going off subject? If you think you might be, you probably are. Don't worry so much about telling the backstory, etc. Tell the NOWSTORY.

6) Don't be a pompous ass of a writer. ("Nowstory"? Holy crap. I have my work cut out for me.)

Tonight I revisited chapter 2 even as I was a page or so into chapter 3. I knew something was off about chapter 2, and mentioned it to G & T. G read it and confirmed my worries... it was shifting back towards old Zachary territory again. FUCK! It's so easy to get back into that shitty, boring way of telling this story.

What I have to do is remember the tone and pace of chapter 1, always. I was on to something with that. I can continue it, it will just take a little discipline and vigilance to make it happen.

Back to work.