Man! I love it when stories do this!

Man, I was reading Mistborn tonight, and it was freaking amazing! I’m about 500 pages in, right up close to the end, at the part where the house war finally begins. And MAN!!!! That chapter was so awesome! The fight that Vin gets into…(dangit, can’t give away spoilers!), it just felt so GOOD! Just how Vin finally says to herself that she loves him, that was just AWESOME! (I assure you, my creative writing is of a much better quality than the language I use to express myself on this blog) And right as soon as that happened, I couldn’t put it down! I mean, I was going to go to bed before 1am, but here I am, 2am, and it took me a lot of effort just to pull myself away from that book!

This, I think, is one thing that really makes for good sci fi and fantasy–how you are really drawn into the story and it becomes something really close to you, to the point where you can’t stop reading it, you’re so into it! I guess not every story has to be that way to be good–I read The Left Hand of Darkness recently, and it was good, but I never got sucked into it like I’m getting sucked into Mistborn now. But man, all of the REALLY good books seem to do this to me–The Neverending Story, Ender’s Game, Second Foundation, The Chronicles of Prydain, A Wrinkle in Time, and now Mistborn.

But you know, as an aspiring writer, it can actually be pretty intimidating too. I mean, there is something really powerful about these books which sets them apart from the others. How can you expect to create that yourself when you’re just a beginner? Wouldn’t it be a little pretentious to think that you’re that good? How do you get to be that good?

When I came back from my mission, I got the writing bug again almost a week after I was released. I guess something had really been pent up for those two years, because over the course of the next 8 months, I wrote 69,000 words in that novel alone (not to mention that I started–and, about 4 months later, finished–two short stories). But after I got 69,000 words into this novel, I realized that some of the premises were flawed, things weren’t working out, and that most of those 69,000 words were as boring as heck. If I cut all the fat out, I would probably be reduced to about 30,000 words or less. There were no hard feelings, no shattered hopes and dreams, no crushed self esteem–I figured that it could still work, it would just need a major overhaul, and that it was better to leave it for a little while and come back. It’s been about 15 months now, and I’m not sure when or if I’m coming back, but there are no hard feelings about it.

It’s just…that story didn’t have the same magic to it that these really great sci fi / fantasy books have. Maybe I just needed the practice to do better on the next one. I don’t know. But man, I would really like the novel I’m writing now to have this kind of power to it! This kind of overwhelming significance!

I figure that if I really want to do that, I need to spend more time with my characters–figure out who they are, what is driving them, what their struggles are, what their desires are, and how they grow over the course of this novel. I think I’m more idea driven and story driven than character driven–which isn’t bad, Asimov was much more idea driven than character driven–but I want the characters in this story to be personal and compelling, like they are in Mistborn and the others.

So, I’ll probably spend some time blogging on these characters, throwing out what ideas I have for them so far, and where those ideas came from. Hopefully, by doing that, I’ll be able to think more about them and know what I want to show of them as I continue writing. And I’m open to suggestions, if you guys want to share them.

PS: man, I think my blogging word count exceeded my creative writing word count today! I need to repent of THAT!

500 words EXACTLY

And I did it all in about half an hour before running off to an Arabic speaking appointment.  But that’s not the half of it.

I’ve been feeling these past few weeks that the plot in my story has been advancing very slowly.  I’ve only written maybe 5,000 words in that time, but it seems like everything has been dragging on really slowly.  I haven’t really been bringing in any new ideas to move the story much.

But now, in the scene I’m working in, I decided to start moving on.  At first, I had no idea what this scene would be like.  But then, I just grabbed at something that made sense and ran with it, and other ideas came from that idea for a scene.  And then, more ideas, from that as well.

Then, as I was working on the dialogue in this scene, I started getting really excited about it because the stuff they were speaking about was actually surprising me, and giving me even more ideas for how the story could go!  If I didn’t have a writing appointment right then, I probably would have written for another hour or so, just to run with it!  It was pretty cool!

So, yeah, you could say that I’m still at that stage where I’m always coming up with cool new ideas for the story.  In fact, I really don’t have that much of an outline–just a general idea of what I want to happen up to about the midway point (maybe a little bit after), and then this vague nebulous idea of the huge twist that happens around then.  I have a good idea of the world where this all happens, and a general pattern for each character, but not too much more than that.  The result is that this story surprises me even when I’m in the very act of writing it.  And then I come up with cool ideas, and it gets even more exciting, and I just have a very fun time with the whole thing in general.

I suppose, though, that I shouldn’t just run with every idea that pops into my head first.  I need to think about it (and, what with so may interruptions from writing, I definitely have enough time to do that).  The other thing is that I need to keep a good idea of what is going on in the story globally.  If all the stuff that’s happened in the last 20 pages from where I left off isn’t present in my mind, there is going to be a disconnect.  I don’t want to be so focused on one particular page that I lose the sense of what it’s like to read the story as a whole.

Other than that…am I missing anything?  I’m just an amateur at this, and though this isn’t my first novel attempt, if I’m successful it will be the first one that I finish.  Any suggestions that will save me headaches, trouble, and my personal sense of self worth in the future?

Favorite Overclocked Remixes

So, Drek and I were having a chat the other day online, and we started sharing favorite songs from this website called ocremix. It’s a really awesome site for free fan-made arrangements and remixes of video game music, and it’s really cool because so much of the music comes from REALLY old games–I mean, games that me and my friends grew up playing! In some ways, they have the same appeal to video gamers as soundtracks from movies and musicals have to other people–it can really bring you back to the game, bring back memories and good times…it’s just generally very awesome. And even if you haven’t played the game before, the music is still usually of such a good quality that it’s fun to listen anyways. I mean, most of the music I listen to on OCR is not from games that I’ve actually played, but I still like it anyways.

So, without any delay, here is my top ten:

  • 10: Bluelightning (Mega Man 3) by Disco Dan. I found this one just yesterday, and I’ve been listening to it ever since! I especially love the beat and the subtle yet awesome sound of the electronic organ!
  • 9: The Dark World (Crystal Abyss Mix) (Final Fantasy III) by Ubik. This one is a little bit dark, but I like how the soft melody and the harp transposes over the electronic beats. It just seems to give this feeling of yearning for something. Also, I have some good memories of this, because I listened to it constantly during my first playthrough of FF Tactics.
  • 8: Guile’s Mile Long…yeah (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) by Trenthian. (let me know if the link doesn’t work) I really like this one, because it seems to really give the sense of someone on a quest, and how that quest is such a struggle.
  • 7: Clash at the Mountains (Zelda: Link’s Awakening) by Zircon. Zircon is just such an awesome remixer on the OCR website. He’s got a lot of good stuff. This one is just a way cool electronic interpretation of the classic Zelda theme! It really energizes me to just get up and do something!
  • 6: JENOVA Celestial (Final Fantasy VII) by bLiNd. bLiNd is another really amazing remixer in the OCR community! I think that his techno is some of the best on the site. He contributed a lot to the recent Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream project, and this has got to be my favorite remix from that album (and I have copies of all four cds in my car). The JENOVA theme is one of the best pieces of music from Final Fantasy VII, and this is imo an excellent interpretation of it.
  • 5: Before Time (Jurassic Park) by Daniel Baranowsky. I love the guitar on this one! Also, just how everything seems to be so well balanced. This is one of the first songs that I discovered on the OCR site, and I still really like it!
  • 4: Thirty-Plus Mix (Tetris) by R3FORG3D. Man, this is some really hard techno! It zones you out from everything and just hits you over and over again like an electric surge to your brain! Just makes me want to move!
  • 3: Dream of Zeal (Chrono Trigger) by bLiNd. The time circuits song from Chrono Trigger just took me to another world when I first heard it! I remember playing Chrono Trigger and getting to the part right before you go to the magical world in the sky, when you travel forwards in time to the ancient age, and the whole world is nothing but an icy wasteland. You think to yourself, “hey, what’s going on here?” and then you find this really strange looking ancient building, which opens up a conduit and takes you up above the clouds to the magical floating kingdom of Zeal, and you just think “whoa!” for, like, the next five minutes! And this song was definitely a big part of that! This is the best interpretation of time circuits that I found on the OCR site, and I definitely believe that it does it justice!
  • 2: Flying Heaven (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) by Zircon. Another impressive one by Zircon! This has got to be one of the best martial arts-ish songs that I’ve heard, on or off of OCR! Man, it really makes me want to get up and do some jujitsu! And I really like the whole Eastern feel to it!
  • 1: White Skies (club mix) (Final Fantasy X) by bLiNd. This one has got to be my favorite. I think that the defining characteristic of good techno is that it gets you really excited and calms you down at the same time. The result is music that zones you out and lets you focus intensely on the task that’s right in front of you–and if you don’t have anything in particular to do, it just makes you want to move and dance without caring about what’s going on around you. Awesome stuff! And this has got to be one of the best techno pieces on the OCR site. Man, good job! This is AWESOME!

I could put a LOT more up here, and I’m sure that if I thought on it a lot harder I’d say to myself “no, wait! Number 8 should be this remix, not this one!” or “what about this really cool one? I really like this one! Which number should it be?” But I hold by my choice for number one; that one has got to be my favorite piece on the OCR site, hands down. bLiNd just makes awesome music!

272 words

It will have to do for tonight. I really should get some sleep.

I’ve got three tests this week: Book of Mormon, Political Science 357, and Philosophy 202. I’m not anticipating any unpleasant surprises, but I will have to study fairly hard over the next few days. However, this is good, because it will leave more time next week for the two Quark meetings (on Tuesday and Saturday).

I’m at a critical juncture in the novel and I think I need to reread the last 50 pages in order to figure out exactly how to tell what happens in the next 50 pages of the story. I’ll probably do that between classes, while hanging out at the LRC.

Drek and I were chatting today on gchat about OCR and the awesome free music they put out. We decided to blog on our top pics from the website. His post is already up, but I need a little more time to put mine up.

Book of Mormon test tomorrow. Should be a breeze. Wish me luck with the others.

Call for readers

Hey, if I know you from real life (ie from Quark or we’re friends in person in some other way) and you want to read what I’ve got so far, shoot me an email or a comment on this post, and I’ll send you what I’ve got!  The Lost Colony is currently at about 36,600 words, and if you’ve got the stomach for it, I’d love for you to read it and just give me your general impressions so far!  I’m not going to be making any major revisions yet, but I really do love sharing what I write with people, so if you would like a copy, by all means I’ll send you one!

In fact, I probably am a little bit too eager to share my stories.  I remember sharing The Clearest Vision with a few casual friends and acquaintances before I edited it to tone down the more controversial stuff.  It made things slightly weird in those relationships.  Yeah.  I definitely wasn’t expecting the two page letter questioning my priesthood worthiness (but then again, that was more psycho on her part than on mine).

Hence, it’s probably safer to ask for people to come to me than for me to go out to everybody I know.  So yeah, if you want a copy, and you’re a good enough friend that I know you won’t do something stupid like plagiarize me, let me know!  I would be very interested to get some initial impressions!

717 words

Today, around midnight, I just had this urge to escape reality and jump into my novel. That, so far, has proven to be the most effective way to escape the strange sense of procrastination that keeps me from writing when I can. I stopped caring about sleep and just dove in. Now, I’m 717 words in, and the story is progressing very nicely. Yay!

Also, I decided to change the font from Courier New to Times New Roman.  The idea was that I’d write the novel in the format of the manuscript that I’d actually send out to get published, and the publishers I’ve submitted too all have Courier as the required font.  However, from talking with some of the members of the writing group in last week’s meeting, and also with Locke (the leading editor of The Leading Edge), I figure it’s better to write in Times New Roman.  This is because 1) it’s easier to read, 2) TLE prefers Times New Roman, and 3) some of the writing group members (Xen!) really have a thing against Courier new.  So meh.  It reduces my page count from about 170 to about 130, but I can handle the blow to my ego.

Thank goodness we got an extra hour of sleep this weekend! I can tell you I’ve already spent it!

288 words…

…and I’m so freaking tired that I’m going to bed NOW.

At least I wrote something today!

Um, yeah…only 66 words tonight…

But at least I wrote SOMETHING.  Around 10:30 at night, I went and visited my old roommate Steve who’s a film major.  He was trying to finish a screenplay and get it in before midnight, so I decided to come and write with him in the same room.  So then, got home, took a shower, had a bowl of cereal, called my parents while in the car on the way…and finally sat myself down writing at about 11:15.  And then he sent in the screenplay at 11:45, and we ended up just hanging out and talking about stuff: life, girls, school, work, feelings and emotions, spiritual impressions, marriage, regrets, finances, Israel and the illegal settlements, Yasir Arafat and Black September (ok, I did most of the talking there–but at least I kept it short!  And Steve WAS interested, otherwise I wouldn’t have talked about it!), classes in the coming semester, pirating illegal music, the singularity, the possibility of space travel in the Millenium…basically, all kinds of stuff.  Man, friends are really awesome!

So, I’ve been thinking about the goals that I’ve set.  Back when Aneeka inspired me to actually give this novel idea a shot, she said that I should set goals.  I reviewed that conversation tonight, and was thinking about it.  I’ve got a 500 word per night goal…but I don’t always keep it.  Usually, I can just tag how many words I miss onto the next day, so if I miss one day, I’ll make it up by doing 1,000 the next.  Or 1,500 if I miss two days in a row.  But anything longer than that, and I just end up never making the goal at all.

So, I’ve been thinking that I should approach this writing with two goals: the first is to write 500 words per night, and the second goal is just to sit down each day and at least write something–even if it’s only a sentence or two.  That way, I’m still doing what I’ve been doing, but if I can sit down for even ten minutes, I can at least feel like I’ve accomplished something.  Also, if I can really get into the habit of writing daily, then that alone will probably do a lot to help me move from a hobby writer to a semi-professional one (about as semi as you can get…).  We’ll see.

Thank God for Political Science!

Man, I am SO happy that I’m a Political Science major!  I can’t say it enough!  I will NEVER have to worry about looking back and saying “man, why didn’t I major in Political Science?” That right there is a mightily compelling reason!  But there are a lot more reasons as well!  A LOT.  For one, the stuff that I’m studying here for Political Science is REALLY giving me a lot of good ideas for writing fiction!  Man, the Middle East is such a complicated area of the world, with so many conflicts and such diverse cultures, religions, and ethnicities…there is no shortage of questions to ask and stuff to explore!  And Science Fiction (and fiction in general) is one very valid and interesting way to explore it!  I mean, take any aspect of the Middle East, and say “what if we do this to it?” Put it in a sci fi setting, and you’ve got the potential for an amazing story!  Or take the problems that we’re struggling with in the region, isolate them, and write a fictional world where the characters struggle with those same problems.  Add in some imaginative stuff, some awesome technology, compelling, well-written characters, and all that, and you’ve got something EXTREMELY relevant to the real world!  Even more so because it’s fiction, because if it’s written well, you’ve put it in a setting where people can look at the problem without being so burdened by their silly and irrational prejudices!  But besides that, just from studying something like Political Science, I’ve tapped into an AMAZING source of ideas and inspiration for my own writing!  Even if I just wanted to write fiction for the sake of writing fiction (and honestly, I really think that almost any other approach is going to backfire–ESPECIALLY the dogmatic approach), by studying Political Science, I’ve opened a fountain of ideas in embryo that are just screaming to be born!  MAN!  I am SO happy that God put me in a place where I could study Political Science!!!

There was an amazing lecture today at the BYU Kennedy Center.  Reza Aslan, author of No God But God, gave an excellent lecture on Iran and US-Iranian relations.  Just in case you don’t know, relations between us and them are…well, let’s just say that they’re pretty freaking bad.

<political rant>

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE pray that we don’t start bombing them!  Just when you thought the US couldn’t shoot itself in the foot any more (because the freaking Neocons have been doing a @#$@! good job of that since Sept 11th–either they’re EXTREMELY stupid, or, for all intents and purposes, they are traitors to this incredibly wonderful country we call the USA), Dick Cheney and his neocon goonies start sounding the war drums.  Right now, just about every missile in the Middle East (and we have troops in EVERY COUNTRY bordering Iran) is pointed at some target inside the sovereign Islamic Republic of Iran.  Not good…definitely not good!

But I learned a little bit today WHY it’s not good…and the reason was very surprising!  If we launch airstrikes against Iran (and we almost certainly won’t do a ground invasion–not because the Neocons aren’t stupid enough to make that blunder, but because our military simply doesn’t have the capability to do it!), it will play right into the hands of the extremists and tyrannous clerics who rule (under, may I add, upwards of a 90% popular disapproval rating)!  In fact, according to Mr. Aslan, EVERYTHING we have done in that region FOR THE LAST THIRTY YEARS HAS PLAYED INTO THE HANDS OF OUR ENEMIES!!!  It’s been an unrelenting disaster!  Reza Aslan made a very compelling argument that if we were to end sanctions, recant regime change as the stated policy of the United States, and do everything to open up that country to the rest of the world (“we should be prying it open with a crowbar,” he said), the horrible, cruel, autocratic clerics wouldn’t have a leg to stand on!  It would be like China–you look at it now, and it is DEFINITELY not a communist country!  I mean, in name it is, and it’s not yet a democracy, but it’s a far cry from what we saw under Chairman Mao–that spawn of Satan himself!

And the big difference is that Iran ALREADY HAS almost everything a liberal democracy needs!  It has a thriving civil society, with all kinds of NGO’s, Foundations, Institutions, etc, it has a rising middle class, it has a constitution with legislative, judicial, and executive branches, it has regular elections…it’s just that all that power rests with a handful of tyrannical clerics!  And the only way that tyrants stay in power (according to Mr. Aslan) is by isolating their people!  Man, if we would just OPEN UP to that country–I mean, if they weren’t so scared of us, it would be a LOT harder for Ahmedinejad and his cronies to get people to support the Iranian nuclear program!  I mean, the average Iranian cares a lot more about the economy than their nation’s foreign policy!  That’s the only reason they elected Ahmedinejad in the first place–and the reason why he’s so unpopular back home right now!  Everything we’ve been doing in the history of our dealings with the Islamic Republic of Iran has either helped our enemies or hurt our own interests, and it’s HIGH TIME we had some change!

</political rant>

Ok, I’d better calm down (note to self–breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out).  But MAN!  You see why I’m so happy that I’m a Poli Sci major!  And the cool thing is that this stuff really has some potential for some good stories!  I mean, just about every time I learn something new about the Middle East, I think to myself “Oooh, that would be really awesome to put into the story I’m writing!” It’s gotten to the point where there’s just too much stuff to cram into one novel!  Fortunately, I can write others.  But man!

I mean, I felt like my eyes were totally opened today!  Up until this point, I’ve seen Iran as this scary, totalitarian nation led by a crazy, maniacal leader, bent on the destruction of all that is good and holy in the world.  Even when I’m rational enough to realize that that’s probably not all true, the idea has been lurking in the back of my paradigm.  But this lecture painted the picture of a completely different country!  A civilized, rational, highly cultural, and essentially peaceful people who are working, despite the interference of the United States, to free themselves from the rule of a few bad men!  Man, this lecture made me want to study Farsi and travel to Iran, for heaven’s sakes!  I might just do it!  I just might!

At the very least, I’m going to read this guy’s book and subscribe to just about every raw news RSS feed that I can (AP, NPR, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, Agence-France, etc–basically, the ones that Drudge links to) so that I can have a heads up on what’s REALLY going on in this wonderful world!  I mean, I just learned from Mr. Aslan that representatives from EVERY MUSLIM SECT got together a few months ago to sign a document calling on the Christian world to help improve relations and fight extremist fundamentalism in both religions!  I mean, imagine the press we’d be hearing if all of the Christians sects did something like that!  It’s unprecedented!  I don’t even think it would even happen!  And yet…where was that in the mainstream media?  Buried somewhere.  Time to start digging it up.

Man, I am SO GLAD that I’m a Political Science major!!!

1,100 words and a very fun Nanowrimo writing party!

I’ve been wanting to organize some more informal get togethers with Quark.  I heard from Gamila that it’s really the informal get togethers that Aneeka threw together back in the day that got the ball rolling with the writing group.  Of course, when I was talking online with Drek about this and venting / bouncing ideas off of him, his response was “doesn’t informal mean that it isn’t planned?” Well…maybe…

So, today was the first day of Nanowrimo, and Drek and his wife Kyla were kind enough to host a sort of “informal” (but planned) writing party.  It was a lot of fun!  We basically all got into the same room and wrote in our stories together–while listening to music, snacking on food, sharing our wordcounts, playing with the cat, etc.  After long days and lots of studies, it was very relaxing and a lot of fun!

I gave Danke and Onlera a ride to Drek’s house, which is pretty far away from campus.  It was really just the five of us, but I think we all had a good time.  Onlera hasn’t really made it out to too many meetings before, but she seemed excited about it now.  And Danke has been showing up to almost every meeting, but hasn’t yet submitted anything.  I think that’s about to change, though.  As writing group leader, I’ve taken it upon myself to help everyone overcome the shyness and lack of self-confidence that seems to prevail among aspiring writers (holy cow!  It is easier to write 50,000 words in a single sitting than it is to convince Aneeka that her novel is not the worst story in existence!  Even with empirical proof!) 😉

I was a little bit surprised that I only got 1,100 words in two hours.  400 of those were from something that I realized I needed to insert in a certain place, in order to give the novel a little bit more direction and build up the tension earlier.  Basically, Ian and Aaron consult with each other on what they should do, after they make it to the capitol city, and they figure out that the coalition rescue fleet will arrive in about nine months, so they decide that their highest priority is to find out what hit them and do what they can to disable it before the fleet arrives and gets hit.  Other than that, just continuing the scene I’m at right now–at the feast where Ian realizes that by local law, he won all of the bandit women as slaves when he killed their husbands in self-defense, and he makes the extremely unusual decision to free them.  More cultural awkwardnesses and misunderstandings!  How fun!

So, basically, the writing party was a TON of fun and I’d love to do it again!  I don’t know if I’ll be able to host parties here at the FLSR, since there really isn’t a space that’s empty and relatively quiet for 2 full hours.  I’ll see what I can do, though.