theminno

I wanted to rant about a few issues I've been having with my story. (Tangentially, I have decided that, when I need to prattle on about my various projects, or rant about some aspect of writing or some such, that I shall do it here. That way, neither of my journals get neglected! :D Huzzah!)

Issue #1) I need handcuffs. Not the kind you'd get at a fetish shop or anything, either, but real, official police handcuffs. I need to conduct a few experiments for an upcoming scene in my story -- namely, a fight breaks out, and one of my characters is in handcuffs, so what exactly can she do? What can't she do? Can she move in this certain way? Could she pull off that certain stunt? Can she do this without breaking her wrists? And so on. The scene isn't imminent or anything, so the need isn't particularly pressing, I suppose, but I've been trying to work this scene out in my head for a while now, and it'd be nice just to have the added reference.

Issue #2) The opening scene is a flashback; the hero's father is instructing him in the ways of being hero-y. Their discussion is supposed to be thematically significant, especially to the first chapter, and I was wanting to set a sort of melancholy, philosophical mood (which will be shattered when I fast forward to the present and immediately thrust the reader straight into the mayhem of a grudge-filled ninja battle *gleeful cackle* >D), perhaps outlining the differences between revenge and redemption or the importance of forgiveness, empathy, and understanding. Unfortunately, I am not in the most philosophical of moods right now (my brain keeps saying, "Enough thinking and sensitive hippie crap! I want mayhem! Danger! Stuff blowing up!" -- the hazards of watching Die Hard one too many times, I suppose). I want to get to the conflict; the gun battles and sword fights and acrobatic stunts, the bad guys that can phase through matter and carry big scythes, the near death scrapes. Or at least some intense, character-driven scene. There's plenty of those, too. So I'm staring at my laptop, kind of going, "buh..." the whole time, while I write nothing, because I can't make the philosophy come. And even if I could make it come, I can't come up with a reason why the discussion would be happening in the first place. It's a sleepy little village in the northern woods, and it's during the New Peace; there's not enough conflict going on to make a discussion on revenge and redemption either relevant or necessary. I know the talks had to happen, because Jarael was always destined for herodom and his father was aware of it and wanted to prepare him for it, as well as steer him away from making the same mistakes that he did. I just don't know how he managed to slip them in all subtle-like. But he did, 'cause he's crafty. Gah.

Issue number one was more just to let you know than anything (Why you needed to know, I'm not quite sure, but if you asked then there must have been some reason. What? You didn't ask? Oh, sorry then.), but number two, I'd actually like some real honest to goodness advice on. I am stumped. Anybody have some advice? It'll garner you a mention in my "Thank You"s, if nothing else. Not that anybody reads those, anyway. :P

Dude, I swear, I'm the biggest dork of a writer EVAR! I'm working on a storyline, and I find myself adopting the same tactic every time I hit an impasse. And it's not very scientific, professional, or well-thought-out.

"Should this event happen before or after that event?" *flips coin* "Before!"

"Should this happen because of sabotage or outright attack?" *flips coin* "Sabotage it is!"

"Should I use major plot twist #1 or major plot twist #2?" *flips coin* "Looks like number two!"

"Should they head north or south?" *flips coin* "South, I guess!"

Geez. I am such teh lazy author. So much for deep thinking and symbolism.

~The Minno