Bethanie's Brain

The Flat-Iron This synopsis stuff is hard work. Not that I expected it to be easy, mind. But yes, I’m still at it. I did a bit of homework on what a ‘real’ (to be submitted to somebody) synopsis should be, and what I did last week is not nearly as done as I thought it was. But – shockingly – I think it’s actually going pretty well. It was a hectic weekend, so I wasn’t able to devote a lot of time to it – not as much as I wanted to by any means, but enough that I managed to have another Revelation. Er, no, the Axe did not get happy and whack another hapless character from the plot (lucky characters). It wasn’t really a Plot Revelation so much as it was a Process Revelation. See, I’m always struggling with the Big Picture. All my life, I’ve been climbing things – trees, mountains, cliffs, icefalls – in an attempt to gain some perspective. And my lack of perspective (or inability to gain any) when it comes to fiction is, I think, the main cause of the ginormous bowls of plot spaghe...

Synopsis. Since I still felt like shit last night, that was my Revision Hell project. Try to come up with a synopsis of the story. To help keep me on track, yanno, and give me The Big Picture so I wouldn't get all dazed and confused by the details. Plus, I needed something I could stick bits of the hacked out character into. (My, that sounds sort of gruesome, if you think about it...) Well. Three failed attempts later (I kept coming up with back-of-the-book blurbs - not helpful), I finally got... something. I don't know that I can call it a synopsis, because honestly, I haven't done my homework on how to write a decent synopsis, but I think it'll do what I need it to do for now. *sigh* At least, I'm feeling better today. That really IS something. .

Must keep it sharp, doncha know... So yesterday was something of a bust for Revision Hell, because - of course, story of my life whenever I start a writing project - I got sick. Again. By the time the kids were in bed, all I wanted to do was go to bed myself. I did manage to chop out the several chapters that were in the axed character's POV, so I got the manuscript down to 64K. Then I pasted in a couple of scenes for one of the characters who will be shouldering part of the story in his place, so I'm up to 65K. And then I called it a night, because my throat was sore, I had bodyaches, and my head was starting to feel distinctly balloon-like. I'm still not feeling that great, so it's good it's a work-at-home day. If I really start feeling bad, I can lay on the couch and I won't be infecting co-workers with whatever-the-fuck this is. :-p Anyway, the plan for this evening is to work out what other scenes I'm going to need to make up for the axed POV and, i...

Day One of Revision Hell went surprisingly well. I am shocked, in fact, at how well. Not only did I wield the Plot Spaghetti/Bullshit Pruning Axe with a ruthlessness I had no idea I possessed, but I had A Revelation. A sad revelation, but a revelation nonetheless. But let me start at the beginning. First, I discovered that I had already lopped off the last two-thirds of Novel #1 back in January when I had the original realization that the story was too big for one book. Yay! I was down to 86K already - yahoo! Then, as I was thinking about the story (whilst making spaghetti for supper - how ironic is that ?), some little bits of story drifted into some bits of things I've learned about writing in the last 6 months, there was a gentle collision and then BANG! - the Revelation exploded into my brain. A major character has to be cut. Ouch. Double ouch, 'cuz he's one of my favorites. One of my darlings, in fact. And now I'm embarrassed, because I can't remember who ...

Revision Hell, That Is So Joely's hosting Revision Hell between now and July 31st... well, not "hosting" per se... but... well... yanno, it was her idea! So I'm nominating her as Hell's Hostess. :-D Here are my personal Circles of Novel Hell: Polish ('til it shines like the top of the Chrysler Building...) Circle I Limbo Add Details, Emotion and Other Pretty Things Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind Villian Boot Camp Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow Cardboard Cut-Out Characters Circle IV Rolling Weights I'll-Finish-It-Later Scenes Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled River Styx Character Arcs That Don't Circle VI Buried for Eternity River Phlegyas Pruning Dead Limbs Circle VII Burning Sands Plot Spaghetti Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement Plot Holes Circle IX Frozen in Ice Design your own hell The Goal: Revise something. For me that'll be Novel #1. Why? Well, mostly because I can hardly make it worse. Eh-heh. OK, I know, I k...

So I'm reading this book: Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World . It's fascinating, and somewhere in there is a discussion about the Mongol religion -- part of which involves a diety of sorts called the Eternal Blue Sky . Cool, thinks I. I mention to one of our postdocs, who happens to be from Mongolia, that I'm reading this book. We proceed to have this long discussion about the Mongol invasion and how everywhere she's worked over the years - Afganistan, Pakistan, Russia, Egypt - people still remember how their homeland was conquered by Genghis Kahn (or, as she says, Chingis Kahn). And then she goes back to her cube, and I finish submitting the paper she came to ask me about in the first place. Then I email her to let her know and she emails back and says something to the effect of 'now we just have to pray to the Blue Sky Father (or the God) that it gets accepted'. Now that may be a literal translation of the Christian 'God' or it may be ...

Fruit First, the fruit: check it out - I HAVE PLUMS!!!! There are a bunch more getting close on the tree and evidence on the ground under the tree that a bunch more got ripe recently (the squirrels beat us to 'em ... damn squirrels). Hopefully, the ones I picked will ripen a bit more by themselves, otherwise we might be having a pucker-fest instead of a snack... Fauna Second, the fauna: The South has no shortage of Bugs of Gigantic Proportion. Found this lovely early one morning - thankfully dead - on my doorstep. My ancient camera is not capable of the sort of close-up that would really give you nightmares, but you could see every last one of the thing's eyes. He/She had one HECK of an abdomen (or thorax or whatever that bulbous, brownish bit is...). I think it died because it came too close to the house -- an unintended consequence of having to spay the foundation for ants. This is why I don't like using pesticides. You never know what you're going to kill, and I...

I know. It's been an age in blog-time since I've put up a real post and I have a list - a long list - of obligations I have not fulfilled. But I have my reasons for blowing everybody off. I do! First, I had a birthday party to orchestrate. It was a smashing success, even if I did question my sanity (repeatedly) for have nine - NINE - 6-year-olds in my house at one time and then stuffing them full of sugar. I mean, there was a spontaneous robot parade, fercrissake. But. Nothing got broken, there weren't too many tears shed, and there were no (permanent) injuries. And it was fun (in its own special way)! Second, Ms. Baby insisted on bringing home more microscopic (and illness-causing) friends. So there was vomiting. And diarrhea. Oh, and then there was a case of sun poisoning (The Husband brought the sunscreen with him on the boat, but didn't use it - brilliant). Think subcutaneous blisters. It was fucking gross. 'Nuff said. Third, ... well, shit. I've f...

OK, check it out, y'all - Joely's got a huge GIVEAWAY going! There are free books to be had and a $10 gift certificate to Drollerie Press , and all you have to do is post a comment on her blog between now and June 15, which is this coming Sunday, so don't delay - go check it out now!! .