Research & Development

   This is my first blog post from my new smart phone so I apologize if the errors are more rampant than normal.
   Haven't made much progress.  Partially due to health issues and partially due to straying outside of my research zone.  From the prologue to the end of C7 the book stayed in the area I had initially looked into.  Now that I have moved past it I find myself stuck until I learn the new one.
   One of the surprises for me in this go round at writing is the large amounts of research I have had to do.  Before I just sat down and wrote.  The world was a fictional one purely dreamed up in my imagination.  I didn't need to do research (I stupidly thought at the time.) if I made it all up.  Now having started this project and going into it with the mindset of 'research good' I may chafe at the delay some times, but I like the depth it gives my story.  Sometimes I find myself doing hours of research simply for a line or two.  But it seems that making sure you have that line or two sounding right or simply being accurate is the difference between your book reading like an amateurs first draft and having it read like a real novel.
   A little research can go a long way.  Not to mention in this age of information people can, and will, find any and all mistakes and will be happy to broadcast them to everyone else.  An hour getting your shit straight can save you a lot of headaches later.
  I have also dipped my toes into a technique that I may keep.  When I found myself at a research stand still I became frustrated with it.  I still wanted to write damn it.  Some writers can skip around their creation lah-de-dah when they get stuck and just come back later.  I am not one of those.
   I have found however  that I may be able to skip books.  I have been chomping at the bit to get to the second book.  Story wise that's where I want to be.  So as an experiment I went ahead and wrote the prologue for the second book to my current project.  I may keep at it because while the first book is still my primary goal and focus of my efforts, there really isn't anything story wise that's going develop that I can't keep track of.  AND it will give me a head start for when the first one is done and I can shift my focus to the next project.  Finally got to introduce a character I have been really looking forward to, and can't waitto do so regularly.

The fine line between weird and just plain nuts...

     This morning I sat here in front of my laptop organizing files and folders for the book I'm writing and other future projects and found myself working on character bios.  Some current, some to-be.  One of them is the mother of the protagonist in my current project.
     Her name is Norma.
     I have given a lot of thought to this character because while she won't spend much actual time in the series (At least as far as I have planned so far.) her presence will be felt quite a bit.  Norma is not a nice person.  In fact one might describe her as a raging cunt.  I don't normally like to use that word but if the shoe fits.  Through her cruelty and neglect she has inflicted things on the main character that will reverberate through out the series for quite awhile.  So far her character has solely existed only in my mind.  I've dredged up some pretty nasty things that she is going to do.  And for some reason beginning to fill out that character sheet I actually found myself experiencing a genuine emotion toward the character
     Hate.
     Or to be more precise, anger.  Taking that step toward making the character "real" made me think of every nightmarish thing I am going to have her inflict on Dean and I truly began to hate the bitch.
     The moment I realized what was going on I had to stop and reflect on the oddity of it.  Here is someone who does not never has, nor ever will, exist.  A thing of pure thought that I created, doing things that I have her doing and I despise her for it.  So here's the thing... did I just take a step closer to insanity or does that mean I am on the right track?  I've read of other authors becoming emotionally attached to certain characters, or at the very least claiming so, and personally doubted the validity of such a thing.  I mean having genuine emotions for something purely fictional seems a bit daft.  Can you really feel for something that doesn't exist?
     I think the answer is yes.  Using the 'Dresden Files' as an example I have become attached to the people Jim Butcher has brought to life.  The emotions I experience while reading them are not any less true because they don't actually exist.  So why wouldn't I feel something like that for the ones I create?  I want you the reader to feel what I feel when I read the works of others.  To laugh when they laugh, cry when they cry, love when they love.
     I feel like something happened to me at that moment.  It was one of those times that you look back on later and say, "That's when it changed.  From then on I was altered."
     I think I just became a real writer.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

     FINALLY finished off chapter seven.  So far I have probably struggled with that chapter more than any other thus far.  I have to give credit to a couple a different sources for it.  One is a guy I work with who with a simple idea got me to pump out nearly a page.  The other is a long-time friend who got my creative juices flowing simply by letting me talk.  It really is a lot of fun to simply jabber about what I'm doing.  Talking shop with another writer or even someone who is creating something of their own can inspire like no other.
     It was also nice to be able to throw ideas and concepts that I have been keeping from my other guinea pigs (I mean beta-readers.) simply because I don't want to ruin anything and I need their feedback unbiased. Telling my buddy everything was kind of an experiment that ended up being a rousing success.
     The high I got talking his ear off about it sustained me through a pretty rough week.  Ended up with an ear and a tooth infection that left me pretty hopped up on some groovy pain killers.  Which I normally would have enjoyed (The pain killer part, not the infection.) except it made writing anything more than a little difficult.  Kinda hard to jot stuff down when the words keep moving.
     Never turn down any source of potential inspiration.  I'm not saying show off what your doing to everyone you can, that's how ideas get stolen, but don't spurn telling someone just because they don't seem like the "ideal" candidate.  The non-reader buddy you talk to may hit you with an idea or concept that would never have occurred to you otherwise.  The guy I work with just made an offhand comment and I got around a page out of it.  And when you haven't written jack shit in over two weeks a page is a lot.
     Also follow your favorite authors or writers online.  I follow several on Twitter and have gotten words of encouragement from some.  Recently Kevin Hearne (Author of the Iron Druid Chronicles, which I can't recommend enough.) posted some words of encouragement about word count and when I thanked him I actually heard back.  If I ever make it in this business I plan to take a page out of Mr. Hearne's book and actually respond to my followers.  Anything I could do to help a fellow newb like his simple words helped me would be passing on a kindness that has far reaching effects.
     I would like to thank Mr. Hearne not only for writing some hilarious and entertaining books but for remembering the little guy and setting an example of what an author should be.