Emrys Foundation

Another shout to all our upstate and semi-local members. You may well be planning to head downtown tomorrow and watch the fireworks, and if so, good for you. Not my cup of tea, but have at it.

However, if you're free during the day, do not sleep on Hillbilly Day in Seneca, Mountain Rest. Starts at 9am, and in true hillbilly fashion, bring your own chair. They do this every 4th of July. Arts and crafts, bluegrass music, quilt raffle. They'll have BBQ and peanuts. Dude... clogging. You can always drive the forty minutes back to town in time to watch Greenville light up the sky.

https://mountainrestcommunityclub.com/hillbilly-day

Mountain Rest Community Club P.O. Box 24 Mountain Rest, S.C. Located on Verner Mill Rd. near the Junction of Hwys 28 and 107

FYI for all my local peeps - Independence Day weekend brings events around the state. Today, July 2nd:

Boat parade then evening fireworks launched from Spence Island and Dreher Island State Park to choreographed music airing on local radio
Columbia
Lake Murray

Fort Jackson Independence Day Fireworks Celebration
Fireworks, live music, kids zone with carnival rides and crafts tents, food/beverages, food trucks, beer and wine - general public welcome
Columbia
Fort Jackson

SolFest RollFest
Live music, bike-powered stage, kids bike rodeo, artisans, bounce house, food and drink vendors - guests asked to bring their own containers for drinks
Columbia

America's 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run
Medals and refreshments at the finish line, costumes encouraged, strollers welcome - benefits Operation Active Kids
Anderson

(Continued from yesterday)

As I strongly suspected, the paragraphs introducing the art book (also the working title of this WIP - "The Art Book") failed to write themselves. I almost failed to write them myself - I let the day get away from me and didn't get to write until last night, and I wasn't very productive. When I was younger I mostly wrote at night, but as I've aged I've found I do my best, and most, work in the morning. That good old coffee and keyboard combo.

Except that isn't accurate this go-round. I'm actually going old school and writing the first draft longhand, something I haven't done since the first word processing machines came out in the 90s. I know writers who swear by longhand for all first drafts, but it's usually because of some crunchy mumbo-jumbo like, "The art flows from hand to paper," or, "The connection is more visceral from hand writing than typing," or some other moonstone nonsense that makes me doubt their basic life choices. But handwriting does hit different than keyboarding for some good, tangible, observable reasons.

It forces, me at least, to slow down. When I screw up and line through something, or a lot of somethings, I can still see what I wrote before, unless I've struck it out with great fury and determination, which is a possibility: "The world must never know I wrote that!"

With a computer when you delete something it just vanishes. You can't refer back to it. Plus, longhand, I can correct using copyediting marks, which I find comfortingly old school. In reality my computer probably has a way of doing that too, but I'll never know.

I can draw arrows and inserts and make notes in the margins like, "Callback to this later," or, "Tonal shift too much?" I can end a scene and skip ahead to the next scene if I'm rolling strong without doing the segue stuff that might make me lose momentum.

Next up I'll talk keyboard.

(Continued July 5th. Other posts may appear but not in this thread.)

Pictured below - terrifying.

(Continued from yesterday)

So what I decided to do is begin with a blanket statement about infidelity and work that into the "natural" beginning of the story by way of a good old fashioned Rashomon (sort of) approach by the three main characters - MMC, MFC, and antagonist. In this novel two people act as the protagonist, like, the Byrde parents in Ozark.

This is not the sort of thing I normally write.

I'm a big believer in letting the action and dialogue drive the plot and to minimize description and overt character development. I think character development should come through what they do, as opposed to what they think, or remember, or feel, or any of that squishy stuff. Lets say you want to make the point that your assassin character misses her dad. You can write a few paragraphs about all the fun they had eating ice cream at the zoo, or shooting cans with crossbows, all of which I will skim (or skip), or you can have Ms. Assassin keep a picture of her dad clipped to her visor. She taps it for luck before she gets out of the car and taps it again when the hunt is over. Easy, done, two sentences.

The next thing I have to write for the novel is a paragraph or two about the Macguffin, in this case an art book. Not something I'm looking forward to because it's outside my comfort zone as a writer. Alas, must be done. Then either dropped in or worked into the narrative, so more fun ahead.

I've been avoiding it by working on a listicle. They don't pay particularly well and I've never sold one - that sort of writing doesn't appeal to me, but it doesn't repel me either - butI think I can do it. I can absolutely ape the style of this particular site (Listverse). Tonally it's similar to what I do here, but with an emphasis on humor and education. Humorous essays are my first love.

But my Macguffin - sometimes "McGuffin" - ain't just going to write itself (Life Pro Tip - nothing is just going to write itself), so I will do that after lunch.

(Continued tomorrow)

I've been writing a novel. I've written long form before and the process I've always used is to start at the beginning (the story's natural beginning), then proceed scene by scene to the end. I have a number of plot points that I know will occur, and if I feel like the narrative is wandering, I proceed to the next plot point - Fred shoots Joe, or whatever - as quickly as is reasonable. I don't outline, or write character biographies. Some people do and that's great - you do you. There's no wrong way to write a novel except not to do it. No one is reading, or buying, what you've "written in your head." Besides, what's written in your head never comes out as good as your head assures you it will.

But my normal method of writing long form has abandoned me. I tried, but all narratives are different, and the always faithful method of starting at the story's natural beginning (In this case, an offer between the two main characters at a corner table in a dark coffee shop) won't work. Unless the readers knows the backstories of the MMC and MFC it will come off as extremely unlikely. Stupid, even.

I may have told you this before, but a reader will accept a LOT as a premise. Anything goes on the first page of a novel. Aliens, werewolves, lottery win, sinkhole swallows Manhattan - maybe an alien werewolf winning the lottery as he falls into a sinkhole in Manhattan - it doesn't matter as long as you introduce it right away. So, you may (reasonably) ask, why not begin with your outlandish deal struck between our two coffee drinkers, then fill in the backstory from there? Happens all the time.

Yes, smarty-pants, it does. And the only defense I have in this case is that I've tried and it Just. Doesn't. Work. There's too much of it. Dropping chunks in later destroys the narrative flow (Mostly. It's complicated. There's a natural opening for a flashback in one place, but it's just one spot, and I need much more). I'm well into the process, though. About 70 pages. Update tomorrow.