My Characters Want to be Polyamorous

Not So Safe, my NaNoWriMo novel, was supposed to be a Male/Male love story, with a bit of a triangle. But then I scanned the romance section of the NaNoWriMo forums, and I spotted a Poly Romance thread under the Romance topic. That's all my guys needed to see.

Now, instead of a triangle between Zev, Marc and an as yet-to-be-named high school fling of Marc's, Zev and High School Fling want to agree to a truce. They can share Marc--as long as they can convince him that this is a good idea.

I'm not opposed. But I don't know if Marc will maintain separate relationships with both men, or if the three of them will end up together. Zev and High School Fling will need more than a truce for the latter to work, so I'm thinking the former is more likely. (Plus it leaves the door open for more tension.)

Sigh. So this is what happens when you let your characters boss you around . . .

The NaNoWriMo Blog Chain

Must . . . Control . . . Jealousy

White Collar

No 'Creative Draw of the Day' today--I'm miserably under the weather.

I've been cheering myself up watching White Collar. But my sheer joy in that show is tainted by the fact that someone wrote a piece of fan-fiction for it that is superb.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem for me. I'd be overjoyed. I love good fan fiction. But the piece was in answer to a prompt I was thinking about answering. Now I know I can't top what this author wrote. I am madly jealous.

On the plus side, jealousy isn't always a bad thing. I gained one of my best writing buddies by being madly envious of her work. I sent her a private message letting her know that I despised her for writing something I wished I had written. She took that as a compliment and before long we were real-life friends. So maybe my current bout of writing-envy will lead to another friendship . . .

Creative Draw of the Day: The Ten of Swords

All evidence to the contrary, the Ten of Swords does not represent death by murder--or physical death at all, for that matter. The death here is symbolic. Excruciating, perhaps, as someone is forced to let go of something he's not ready to let go of. But still only symbolic.

But I'm using this card for creative inspiration, not for a reading. So I'm going to allow it to stand for a brutal murder after all.

Swords represent the element Air--and Air represents our minds, our intelligence, our curiousity and our capacity to cut through the crap and get to the heart of the matter. But--no surprise--the blades we use are sharp and dangerous.

The victim of the murder, then, would be someone too smart for his own good. Someone who cut straight through to the heart of a matter--but ended up with more information than he bargained for.

I think I know where I want to go with this idea. I'll get started tomorrow, and try to get it out of my system before NaNoWriMo.

I need Stewie to badger me about my writing . . .

I saw this on Dragonfly Scrolls and couldn't resist sharing it:

NaNoWriMo is Coming!

NaNoWriMo is coming! It starts November 1st. Fifty thousand words in thirty days.

I've participated every year since 2005, but I've never won. I'd like this to be the year. But if I end up with 20,000 words I can use, I'll be a happy loser.

Here's my idea for a story: Zev Moscowitz has a safe, fun crush on Marc Jaffe, his straight boss. But when he learns that Marc had a secret boyfriend back in high school--a boyfriend who's back in town--suddenly the crush doesn't seem so safe . . .

And that's all I've got so far. But I'm ok with that. I'm going to work on the characters in yWriter, but I'm not going to do much else until November. Too much pre-writing works against me. Back in 2006, I outlined a story for NaNoWriMo in excruciating detail. By the time November rolled around, I was sick to death of it. This year, I'll take my chances writing by the seat of my pants!

Edit: I have a working title for this story: Not So Safe. (Ok, I didn't say it was a great title--but knowing me, it's the one I'll stick with.)

The NaNoWriMo Blog Chain

Creative Draw of the Day: Three of Cups

I'm grumpy about this card. Yes, it's a gorgeous, happy picture--but it's taking me to task.

Cups grew up to be the hearts of our modern deck; they represent the element of water, which encompasses all of our emotions. In this case, the emotions have to do with joy, warm-heartedness and friendship as three women come together to dance and celebrate.

Sigh. That's a glaring reminder that I neglect my female characters. Yes, as a female writer, it's tough for me to admit this: I like my guy characters better. Time for me to start listening to the women in my stories so I can figure out what makes each of them tick . . .

Creative Draw of the Day: Nine of Wands

This is a complicated card. Here's this beat up figure who is bravely--or stubbornly--holding his ground, guarding the wands behind him. Is he wisely preparing for the next attack? Or is he overly defensive, getting himself psyched up to confront a blow that will never come?

Wands are worth guarding. They represent the element of fire, which stands for our courage, our energy, our ambition, our creative spark and our chutzpah. Those are all postitive traits--but all dangerous ones if we misuse them.

Personally, I think this guy has anger issues. That description works for one of my new characters: Scott Edmund. Anger issues fit in well with someone who has aspects of the Emperor: Scott is definitely the leader/authority figure type, but he's also ruthless and too quick to take offense. Now I just have to delve into his past and figure out why he's so damn touchy . . .

Creative Draw of the Day: The Page of Pentacles

Pentacles correspond to Clubs in the modern deck of playing cards: they represent the element earth. (According to some traditions, reality is, mythically speaking, composed of four elements: fire, earth, air and water.) Earth represents--well, earthiness. You know: practicality, pragmatism, wealth, security, artisanship. Pentacles imply all of these.

The page represents a young man or woman--in this case, I'm going with a man. So we have a level-headed but inexperienced young man who's practical and, in all likelihood, a good number cruncher. Perhaps he's fresh out of grad school with a degree in Economics.

Ok, his name will be Ross Edmund. I'm going to make him the younger son of Stephen Edmund for my Roxburg stories. He can clash with both his father and his older brother as he vies for his own position in the family business.

Two Characters fit the bill . . .

Yesterday, I drew The Emperor. I have two new characters in mind who both reflect aspects of that card--a father and son team, in fact, that will be joining my Roxburg stories: Stephen and Scott Edmund. With two such strong, controlling personalities, there should be plenty of tension between them . . .

Creative Draw of the Day: The Emperor

I've studied the Tarot for a while now--I think the cards are a marvelous aid to creative writing. So I've decided to start drawing a card at random each day for inspiration.

I'm using the Universal Waite Tarot Deck. Ok--I have lots of issues with Waite's deck, but it's the closest thing to a standard, so I'm sticking with it.

The Emperor is part of the twenty-two cards that make up the Major Arcana; these cards are also known as 'trumps.' They speak to the big issues in our characters' lives; while the cards of the Minor Arcana speak more to everyday issues.

To me, The Emperor is a benevolent authority figure who estabishes boundaries, gives you rules to follow and expects instant and, generally, unquestioning obedience. Basically a Dom Extraordinaire. On White Collar, Peter Burke has a bit of The Emperor in him in: he sets boundaries for Neal and tries to keep the kid out of trouble. But, unlike The Emperor, Peter has learned to be flexible.

So for me, The Emperor represents a character in authority who doesn't have that kind of flexibility yet. He (or she--I'm all for gender-bending with the Tarot) knows how to keep order and wants the best for everyone in his domain. Unfortunately, he also wants to control every aspect of their lives. His intentions are good, and he usually knows what's best for the people under his thumb, but he's too rigid, controlling and uncompromising.

Hmmm. I have plenty of stories in mind with room for just such a character . . .

Universal Waite Tarot Deck **ISBN: 9780880794961**

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg's theory of the stages of moral development gave me a lot to chew on. I saw the link to this article on Alexandra Sokoloff's blog--she claims a knowledge of Kohlberg's theory is indispensable to writers. She has a point; I can see how this theory can heighten our understanding of our characters. Especially the characters who, for whatever reason, never develop past a certain stage . . .

A Stark Reminder of 9-11: Springsteen's "Empty Sky"

I live near the skyline (on the Jersey side), so I see that empty sky every day. I don't think it will ever look right to me again.

Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die?

On Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed:

How many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who shall live and who shall die; who will die at his appointed time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.

But repentance, prayer, and deeds of loving kindness can alter the severity of the decree!"

~From the Unetanneh Tokef, part of the traditional Rosh HaShanah liturgy

Rosh HaShanah services pack a punch. They're full of hope and wishes for a sweet new year on one hand, but a stark reminder of our mortality on the other. Add challenging passages from the Torah to the mix and you have the recipe for a powerful experience.

The services got me thinking about my issues with Judaism and G-d, about how the heck I'm supposed to carry out "deeds of loving kindness," and about recommitting myself to my writing. I don't have forever, after all. Life is fragile.

Fresh Carrots

Since the plot bunnies for my new urban fantasy stories aren't cooperating, I've decided to check up on some old bunnies. I've been ignoring them for a while, so they're probably starving for attention. I suspect they'll respond well to fresh carrots.

Huh. No wonder all those books on writing advise you to keep every story idea you've had and every scrap of a story you've written on hand! Never can tell when you'll need to fall back on them . . .

Re-Introduction: Ready for Arkham

Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane

 If you've visited this site before, you'll notice a little change in title: yes, this blog is now named after the Arkham Asylum. And, yeah, that's Cillian Murphy playing my favorite inmate--Jonathan Crane--in Batman Begins. I love that straight-jacket screen cap.  It represents how I feel about my writing at the moment: it's driving me crazy.

It's going to get better, right? A few days of frustration don't mean the plot bunnies won't start biting soon, right? RIGHT?!

Oy.

Ok, no more outbursts. I don't want to scare the plot bunnies away.

A Shortcut To Stronger Writing

Here's another good article on writing: Writerisms and other Sins: A Writer’s Shortcut to Stronger Writing by C. J. Cherryh. Enjoy!

Writing Viruses?!

Here's another fun article I found via Notebook in Hand. Does your writing suffer from Yoda Effect? Or maybe Description Overload? Find out by reading Nathan Bransford's exploration of writing diseases over at The Huffington Post. . .

Love yWriter! Now about my story . . .

I adore yWriter! I love having all my chapers, scenes, notes, character backgrounds and character pictures on one easy program. (Well, relatively easy. I had to play around a little before I figured out what I was doing.)

Since I've installed it, I've been writing up a storm for my new urban fantasy blog--a blog that will feature a series of interconnected short stories, flash fiction, and drabbles. But I have one problem: my first story for said blog may contain an excess of cuteness. (Yes, I've been known to do cute. But this one may be over the top.)

It's a story about a pair of Siamese cats who are too intelligent for their own good. It's hard to write about two smart felines without straying into a cute territory! And a little cuteness is ok--I'd just like to make sure that my readers' blood sugar won't skyrocket.

Sigh. Back to editing . . .

Edit: The blog and the story are up! The story is called Sanctuary; you can find it on my Smokeless Fire blog.

Goodbye Index Cards, Hello yWriter!

While there's something to be said for neatly organized index cards detailing characters, scenes and chapters, there's even more to be said for having all that information stored on your laptop in one handy program. To that end, I finally installed yWriter, a free word processing program desinged for writers.

So far, I'm impressed! I'm using it for a brand-new series of stories--my urban fantasy sans vampire series, in fact. So at the moment I'm playing around with pictures for the characters and places to put stats. I'll start working on scenes next. If all continues to go well, I'll be saying thank you and goodbye to my index cards.

Finding a Title

I found this (rather hilarious) article on choosing a title via a link on Notebook in Hand:

The Theory and Practice of Titles by B.W. Clough

Enjoy!

Give a character a secret . . .

My weekly roleplaying group has been using rules based on the Over the Edge system for our latest game. One of the rules I really like involves character creation: each character needs a secret--a secret that should come back to haunt them as the game plays out.

How is this working out gamewise? Not all our secrets have come to light and, of those that have, not all were earth shattering. But the revealing of one character's secret had an intense impact on the game while the secret of another character turned out to be a clever red herring in the overall plot.

Of course, the writer of a story, as opposed to the dungeon master of a game, has much more control over how integral to the plot the characters' secrets turn out to be. So I think I'm going to add 'secret' to my character sheet. Some characters will have big secrets, some will have small secrets--but a secret of some sort should add some spice to each of them and will open up new plot possibilities for me.

My Character Sheet

I love filling out character sheets. I write them on big index cards that I keep handy and alphabetized, so I can always go back and check a character's eye color or DOB. The sheet I'm using now includes all the stuff I like to keep track of, plus the long-standing Dungeons & Dragons abilities to give me an idea of my characters' strengths and weaknesses:

IDENTITY

Name: [including nicknames]
Actor I would cast in the part: [I love 'casting' my characters.]
Gender:
Enneagram Type:
Sexual Orientation:
Religion:
Race: [this can be broad, as in 'human' or 'orc,' or more narrow, as in 'human: Native American.']
Nationality:
DOB:
Height:
Weight:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:

ABILITIES [Usually range from 1 to 18]

Strength:
Dexterity:     
Constitution: 
Intelligence:  
Wisdom:        
Charisma:    

HISTORY

Family Connections:
Education Level:
Alma Mater:
Profession:
Special Skills:
Languages Spoken:
Secret: See this post.

NOTES

[Anything not covered above]

This character sheet is working for me at the moment--but I'm sure I'll keep adjusting it!

Begone, vamps!

Angel and Spike

I'm putting together a character list for an urban fantasy story. I've decided that no vampires need apply.

Yes, I read and enjoy vampire stories. And I'm a hardcore Buffy fan. But I've never had a real feel for these walking cadavers. Besides, I have issues with the whole blood diet. How un-kosher is that?

I also have a problem with most vampire-human love stories. There's usually quite an age-difference involved. Why would someone who is hundreds of years old want to date someone in their twenties, let alone a teenager? (Sorry, Buffy, but as much as I like you with both Angel and Spike, I can't help but dwell on this question . . .)

Vampire-vampire romances have more potential. (Ahem. Yes, I've been known to read a bit of Angel-Spike fan fiction.) And exploring the motivations behind those who willingly become vampires--that sounds intriguing. But I don't think I could do the characters justice. At heart, I don't want to get inside a vampire's head. In fact, I tried one roleplay as a vampire recently and it was a disaster. When it comes to playing a vamp--please forgive the pun--I suck.

So I'll have to turn away any and all vampire characters who try to force their way into my brain. That shouldn't be hard. After all, I'll be busy negotiating with psychics and shifters and ritualistic magicians . . .

Book Rec: Writer's Guide to Character Traits

This book provides profiles of different personality types, such as the Adventurer, the Conformist, the Creator, the Flamboyant and the Manipulator. It also covers stuff like criminal styles and the traits associated with psychological disorders.

Profiles like this can lead to lazy and stereotypical characterization--but only, I think, if the writer in question is lazy. I'm not slavishly following these profiles, but I'm finding them helpful. I've got a character brewing right now who owes a good deal to both the Adventurer and the Manipulator . . .

Lymyaael's Rants on Fantasy Writing

These rants are well worth a look. Lymyaael covers everything from back stories to dragons to teenage runaways to gay stereotpyes to final battles--and why not every fantasy novel has to end with one. Fun, insightful stuff!

(Some of these rants are also listed here. I plan on checking both links periodically.)

I stumbled on these rants via the Notebook in Hand forums; a lovely place for artists of all types. Enjoy!

Throughout All Time

Author: J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Contemporary; flash fiction
Warnings: None
Feedback: Welcome!
Summary: One man's wry and grudging observations on the Mourner's Kaddish.


Throughout All Time by J. Rosemary Moss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

~oOo~

"Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba . . .”

I mouthed the words along with the cantor and the other mourners. Assuming the guy leading services was a real cantor. Probably not; he was more likely a competent congregant. This synagogue was too poor to afford a full time hazzan.

“b’alma di v’ra, kir’utei,”

I hadn’t been here in years. I hadn’t even come when my father died. I didn’t sit shiva for him either; I was too angry. My wife was appalled—Eileen’s a nice Catholic girl who understands the power of ritual. But I was adamant. I despised the man while he was alive, so I refused to go through the motions of mourning his death.

Introduction

I'm unemployed this summer--what better time to focus on my writing? I'll be posting my stories on different sites, depending on whether they're urban fantasy, fantasy or, um, erotic fiction. I write that last genre under a different name. (Yes, I'm blushing! But eventually I'll find the courage to share that name here.)

Meanwhile, I wanted a place to post about my struggles with writing: the way my stomach twists when I can't find the right phrase and the way I cringe when I read my attempts at description. But I want to share my triumphs too, plus some drabbles, flash fiction pieces and short stories that don't fit the genres of my other sites.

I love comments, so please let me know what you think. I can take criticism--although I find it most helpful  when it's polite and constructive. I promise to be polite in return.

Thanks for stopping by--enjoy your stay!