the fat marty sings space opera

Massive re-writes will be happening when this is done, I think. I’m tempted to do them now, but I think the idea is to just get everything down first, then clean it up, so I’m going to stick with that plan of action. The whole asteroid-mining thing needed some scientific consistency. I almost scrapped the concept entirely, but I think they’ll still be doing it, just on the same asteroid for months at a time rather than flitting from one to the next. There are simply a) not enough asteroids for that to continue all that long as a career, and b) not asteroids close enough to one another. The time period is still akin to the gold rush, the scale has just been cut back some.

Of course, none of this helps me find a plot. Lesbian Space Vampires may or may not make an appearance. That was Travis’s contribution to my novel, but I mutated it into Lesbian Space Ninjas, as I’d already mentioned the vampire thing, and I didn’t want to have to wait to tie them in.

In an hour, I’ll be in a movie theater about to watch the finishing sequel to the Matrix. I’ve got my fingers crossed. Critics have panned it, but it could be good anyway, who knows? I’ve invited my friend Alex, who told me yesterday that he’s going to do the nanowrimo thing with me!!! Yes! A partner in crime. And he’s leaning towards space opera, which is simmilar to my genre.

assfucked by writing

Ok, so the second installment is live. I feel like I’ll never do it. Every word was forced. My entire entry. I even started different places, completely new characters, and I don’t know that any of it was good. If this were just a short story, I would force myself to stick with one narrative, but that was getting agonizing. I’m not sure if I can do it. Maybe I’m not cut out for it. I didn’t think it’d be this hard. I hope I can make something interesting happen. Maybe I should just break from the plausible entirely. I think I’d have more fun that way. I do so admire people who’ve done it well…

It’s like I’m trying to write hard SF so far, and I’m not even sure that’s my favorite genre. I’m a much bigger fan of the surreal sci-fi (Noon and Rucker are my favorites), and the humorous pseudo-real (I’m thinking Douglas Adams now). I should really read more for inspiration, but I don’t have time. I think I spent at least 3 hours last night, and tonight it was more like 4 (with some sleeping thrown into the middle of them, so that may not be entirely fair, but STILL).

I am talentless and worthless in ways I didn’t even imagine before starting this exercise. I must endure… no matter the cost to my time or patience. This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Maybe I’m being overly dramatic. Wish me luck; I need your encouragement.

in space, nobody can hear you yell “doh!”

ARG! I’ve just realized that this whole concept of a “sounding cannon” is completely ridiculous in outer space. Now what would you use to survey asteroids before mining them? Radiation? Grrr.

Possible directions I could go… Mir’s father could become a main character… the whole story could be about a massive political secession from earth’s government(s) by those in extra-earth space. Or it could just be a travel story ala gulliver’s travels, from one freaky space station to the next… (I’m thinking space vampires here…)

Whatever the case, I have to describe the mining ships better. Everything needs more exposition, in my opinion. Then again, I probably also need more action.

Letters to a young space-pirate

Well, I just spent another hour deleting spam comments… I hope that mt-blacklist thing gets modified to not require the perl module today… (he’s releasing another version today, but I somehow doubt he’s made that major a reconstruction.) I should just buckle down, and ask my host to install it, but I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t know how to do it myself. (I tried, I swear, but it just didn’t seem to work–I’m not sure what I did wrong.)

Novel writing began last night… he first day’s 1900 words are here: /novel/ I’m hoping that I’ll get more structured and focused as time goes on… I really had no idea what I was writing when I started. (And consequently, I thought the tone was much better, which seems common for me. When I sit down with something in mind, I end up writing pretty plain, but when I have nothing in mind, prose blooms flowery and more interesting.) I also changed the person about halfway through, (first to third) so there is a lot of editing to be done in there dealing with that.

I’ll work on consistency. I hadn’t exactly meant to write a novel about a space miner’s kid, but that’s what ended up coming out so far. Of course I didn’t know it at first, and the passages jump around quite a bit. Transitions? What transitions?

I’ve been thinking about plot all morning. I need to have one… I’m sure it’ll come to me eventually, but will it be too late when it does!?! Of course, it could just be one of those journeys of discovery sorts of things. (New working title: “Letters to a young space-pirate”???)

Yesterday Laura did some research on how you can tell… and we now think Zelda is a male cat. This is weirdly huge news. I mean, it doesn’t change who she–er, he–is, but it also somehow does. Plus, this turns their feisty play/licking into cat homoeroticism. (Or just brotherly love.)

Laura said my plot could be like that discovery. Maybe my main character will turn out to be female like some kind of weird Shakespearean plot twist, or maybe I’ll just figure out halfway through what I’m writing about, and everything will change as a consequence. Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter. Quantity over quality is what matters here, right? 50-thousand words, here I come.

a very novel idea…

I want to do this. I’d be starting three days late, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do… and even three days late is less than 2000 words per day. I could do it. I’d have to skip out on a lot of things. I’d have to make it a priority. But I could still do it. I think I will.

Very tentative title: The Festering Spores of Sollitude

I ran into the link again (I end up meaning to do this every year, well, not THIS year!) when reading a new blog linked from another blog: Leora the sane is going to write one too… and then I remembered this guy rob callahan who I met at a party a few weeks back is also doing it. Apparently Leora went to a kick-off party for people in Minneapolis. There must be a final party at the end too… I’ll look forward to it.

coincidence?

Nate posted on his blog last Friday about his first “physical” experiences since his girlfriend broke up with him (or rather, decided they were “just dating”. Then last night she spends the night for the first time in weeks. Is it crass to ask whether this is mere coincidence?

snowflake city!

This morning was the first true snow. That is to say, the first snow this season to stick on the ground. Yesterday was a beautiful day, and Laura and I spent a couple of hours planting a large bed of tulips in our front yard. Not a moment too soon!

Halloween was a blast. Or rather, the parties on Saturday (the day after Halloween) were a blast. I ended up going back to toys are us to see if the blow-up costumes we’d seen there on Thursday night would be on sale. They were 50% off of 50% off! I wasn’t sure if that was because the cashier rung the 50% in there one time too many, but I wasn’t about to complain. I felt silly enough purchasing the “fat ballerina” costume as it was… turns out though, that this was one of the better Halloween costumes I’ve ever worn. Here are some pictures a friend of mine took at the second party. (I’m in the pink.) You can click “previous” or “next” to see a few more… oh, and the large versions of the pictures (the link is to thumbnails) are quite large… just to warn you.

Laura started her new job today at like 6:30 AM this morning. For some reason that made it harder to get up instead of easier. (I had the whole bed to myself!) It didn’t help that I was up late last night playing a lot of SSX3. (Snowboarding, coincidence?) Our friend Derik got it for Nate for his birthday (which isn’t till the 8th). Derik said it was “wrapped enough” in the clear plastic that those things come in from the stores, and that Nate wasn’t suppose to open it till his birthday. I told Nate this when I gave it to him, and his reply was “I might not be able to wait.” About twenty minutes later I saw him put the disk in the PS2. He played all afternoon, and when I got home, I played for at least 3 hours straight. It is really a fabulous sequel, and the soundtrack kicks ass!