Aug 312011
 

Tonight, at some ungodly hour that I can only assume will ensure I sleep well en route, I'm hopping a plane and kiting myself off to Europe.

This is very exciting, not least because do you know what Europe has? Europe has supermarkets! Europe has POWER POINTS! I have never been so lackadaisacal about trip preparations before, and it's squarely because I don't have to pack for every single eventuality which may or may not become life-threatening if I forget something and have to go without.

Okay, so I'm looking forward to other aspects of the trip, aside from having access to electricity, but really? ELECTRICITY. Oh, and a roof over my head while I'm sleeping. UNHEARD OF.

Ciao, peoples!

 Posted by at 2:41 pm
Aug 312011
 

Thanks for dropping by!

The blog is currently mostly unattended, while I spend a bit of time traipsing around the not-all-that-wilds of Europe and the urban-wilds of America. So if you leave a comment, it may take longer than normal to be moderated or for me to respond.

If you need to contact me for any reason, send me an email, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

 Posted by at 1:17 pm
Aug 222011
 
scrivenerlogo

Over the weekend, I moved the current draft of the faerie novel back into Scrivener.

I loved Scrivener almost from the moment I first purchased it. The corkboard feature alone pretty much sells it for me, especially with my preference for writing without an outline, stopping half-way through in a panic because none of it makes sense, rearranging scenes in a whole new pattern that makes only slightly more sense than before, forging ahead again, retreating, wandering off sideways, pausing for some world history, and so on. But about a year ago, I had to give up using it because I needed to be able to work on my manuscript anywhere, including cross-platform. I knew Scrivener for Windows was in the pipeline, but I also needed to work on computers on which I had no administration rights, and I couldn't rely on SfW releasing a portable version. So back into MS Word I trudged.1

But last week I discovered that the current version of Scrivener syncs with simplenote, or with an external folder.

I have to admit, my first inclination was to shout at the whole internet: WHICH OF YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS, AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?

My second was to embark on an attempt to convert the pterosaur to the wonders of this software, even though he will have no earthly use for it in all his days. (He was very patient, and ooh'ed and aah'ed over the prettiness of the corkboard. I think mainly because he could see that was the best way to placate me and therefore escape.)

The worst thing is, I have the sneaking suspicion that this current version was released about a week or so after I moved back to Word. All this last year, labouring in Word, without a corkboard, when I didn't need to!

That'll teach me to read the release notes.2

  1. Actually, I don't hate MS Word. I kind of like it, if I'm going to be honest. But it does like to get in your way a little bit, and every install requires me to ruthlessly and rigorously train it out of autocorrecting and autosuggesting and generally being a nuisance. But I do hate outlining in it. Hate, loathe, stab it with a fork. []
  2. In my defence, they always pop up at me when I'm trying to do something else. []
Aug 152011
 
DSC00118

Tonight I saw a cyclist hit by a car.

It was gloaming, and it had been raining so the sky was that louring, looming colour and the streets were glistening, throwing up just enough glare from headlights and streetlights to confuse the vision without actually illuminating anything.

One moment the cyclist was coasting through the roundabout; then the car tried to occupy the same space, at speed. There was a thump, the car slammed to a halt, and everybody froze.

There were pedestrians everywhere, and none of us moved. We all just stared at the car, trying to make sense of the noise, that thud meant the car had hit something but there was nothing visible to be hit. Because the poor cyclist was all but under the car's wheels.

While I waited for the ambulance to arrive, I learnt that her name was Joanne, and that she wanted to sit up.

There are risks in everything, even in silence. Especially in silence.

 Posted by at 7:35 pm
Aug 042011
 
shydamselflyicon

The other day I stumbled across a link, something along the lines of 25 ways to torment your characters, and in idly perusing this list I realised that one of the reasons I'm struggling with momentum on the faerie novel is because the characters' wants, needs and fears have evolved as part of the plot but I hadn't kept up. I need to check what's changed and what hasn't, and whether that leads to new plot.

And do you know what this means? This means I'm trudging (once again) through the dreaded Middle of the Book. Figuring shit out in the dark, with no idea how I'm going to get where I need to, or whether that's even where I still need to arrive.

And that's okay. I'm practiced at this, I know how to write a book without knowing the path.

What's not okay is that this time I wrote a synopsis. Isn't that the whole point of planning in advance? I trudged and slugged through months of trying to plan this novel in advance — one of my least favourite writing activities — specifically so I wouldn't have to feel lost in the middle and OUTLINERS, YOU LIED TO ME.

So, okay, it wasn't the world's most comprehensive synopsis. But I still maintain that's not the point.

And also, where the hell do I fit all this worldbuilding that dropped into my head while watching a show about Darwin's orchids? Huh?