Yeesh, september was an ugly month, three overtimes in four weeks really sapped my interest in writing anything. It's over, though, and I'm back...
I did do a thorough read through of Imperfect Hope, draft 1, and marked up some inconsistencies (okay, a lot). What leapt out at me was that my writing errors had a lot to do with the fuzzy history before and after sha'te valley in my IFGS D'oril world, and the years leading up to "present time" in imperfect hope. I hope to correct those errors with a couple of strategies...
One, as I work through IH again, I will allow myself to sidetrack and fill out background information as needed to make the storyline more consistent. For example, background history on the Baron of Bruils, a minor player in IH so far, but whose actions some 15 years past has a great deal to do with the chink in the confederacies security that the empire is exploiting. Going from an unspecified scandal to actually going back and writing the events as a story in itself will give me more food for thought, and unblock other aspects of the storyline.
Two, I'm going open up another story to work on that takes place well before Sha'te that will help me define the confederacy and empire and the as yet unmentioned (here) island kingdoms to the south. I found that, in reading IH through, I obviously made some assumptions about what the readers knew that just isn't explained well enough. By writing out these precursor tales, I'll have a better background to write from as I do the rewrite in Imperfect Hope.
Another light bulb moment came a couple of weeks back when I was wool gathering, and remembered the old saying, "Write what you know". I 'know' the sha'te era front and back, and I've been creating a lot of the Imperfect Hope era on the fly. Thus, I'm going to allow myself (I know, starting to sound undisciplined) to write about stuff from the IFGS timeline when I feel like it, or when I need a break from IH. I've no idea what may come out of it, but the goal here is to get back to "having fun".
ALong the lines of having fun, I started fiddling about with a story from the SHa'te era, or rather one that begins toward the end of that time, and bridges the gap from then to now. I'll post a blurb from it at the end, something to lighten up the political downer that follows...
Back to the mundane, then. I hate political season with a passion. Hate ads (Oh, I'm sorry, did I mean partisan campaign ads?), foolish wing-nut amendments and issues, and those anonymous campaign phone calls. It is clear that the politicians only (capital letters again, ONLY) concern is getting elected or reelected. The other side is wrong, and since they're wrong, we hate them, and you should too. It's made all the worse since I'm listed as an independent, both parties feel the need to tell me how to think. Knowing how the government works from the inside (at least within the FAA), I know that 99.9% of what the politicians are telling us they'll do is pure bunk, couldn't do what they promise if they owned all branches of the government. All I expect from this, and any other election, is that:
1) My taxes will go up, somebody out there resents (hates) me for my relative success and wants me to pay.
2) My services (or services to people who are really in need) will go down, somebody will figure out a way to scam the system and drain resources from those who really need it (which leads to number one again).
3) Whoever is in power will tell me it is the other parties fault.
4) Whoever is not in power will tell me that if they were in power, things would be better.
5) Left wing and Right wing nut-jobs control both parties, and they have no interest in listening to a moderate.
6) Tivo everything, and skip the ads and maybe I'll maintain my sanity.
Lest any of my readers think I'm hiding my head in the sand and ignoring issues, I'd like to suggest otherwise. I read a lot about the issues affecting us, from all sides of the debate. I make up my own mind on those issues, and refuse to allow either party tell me that, since I support/oppose a particular issue, all of my beliefs must then line up with (or against) umpteen-thousand other issues, and therefore I must vote for them. I don't let a political party tell me what to think...
Unlike too many of the people I work with, or know.
<Sigh>
Anyway, I'll be glad when it's over again.
That's it for now. Keep those cards and letters coming, introduce yourself, or otherwise make your presence known.
TTFN,
Jim
Oh, a blurb...
"That's the last of the cargo, ser" Captain Lanso Malring tugged on
his thin beard and eyed the wagon-sized pile of crates, barrels and
sacks stacked up on the end of the stone pier, then acknowledged the
bosun with a wave. The offloading had taken far longer than anyone had
expected, but at least they'd finished before the brunt of the
approaching squall hit. His vessel sat on the leeward side of the stone
causeway, only partially shielded from the building waves, even now
spray was crashing across the pier, driven by the erratic gusts. He turned to the red haired man standing beside him and asked if there was anything else they could do for him before they shoved off. A
minute passed with no response from the passenger, and the captain
wondered again why anyone would take the job offered by the coastal
league to tend the isolated lighthouse, but then revised his opinion, if anyone
would take such a job, it would be someone as enigmatic as this person.
He'd offered little more than the occasional grunt or nod of assent
during the entire 3 day journey from Port Whiterock...
I did do a thorough read through of Imperfect Hope, draft 1, and marked up some inconsistencies (okay, a lot). What leapt out at me was that my writing errors had a lot to do with the fuzzy history before and after sha'te valley in my IFGS D'oril world, and the years leading up to "present time" in imperfect hope. I hope to correct those errors with a couple of strategies...
One, as I work through IH again, I will allow myself to sidetrack and fill out background information as needed to make the storyline more consistent. For example, background history on the Baron of Bruils, a minor player in IH so far, but whose actions some 15 years past has a great deal to do with the chink in the confederacies security that the empire is exploiting. Going from an unspecified scandal to actually going back and writing the events as a story in itself will give me more food for thought, and unblock other aspects of the storyline.
Two, I'm going open up another story to work on that takes place well before Sha'te that will help me define the confederacy and empire and the as yet unmentioned (here) island kingdoms to the south. I found that, in reading IH through, I obviously made some assumptions about what the readers knew that just isn't explained well enough. By writing out these precursor tales, I'll have a better background to write from as I do the rewrite in Imperfect Hope.
Another light bulb moment came a couple of weeks back when I was wool gathering, and remembered the old saying, "Write what you know". I 'know' the sha'te era front and back, and I've been creating a lot of the Imperfect Hope era on the fly. Thus, I'm going to allow myself (I know, starting to sound undisciplined) to write about stuff from the IFGS timeline when I feel like it, or when I need a break from IH. I've no idea what may come out of it, but the goal here is to get back to "having fun".
ALong the lines of having fun, I started fiddling about with a story from the SHa'te era, or rather one that begins toward the end of that time, and bridges the gap from then to now. I'll post a blurb from it at the end, something to lighten up the political downer that follows...
Back to the mundane, then. I hate political season with a passion. Hate ads (Oh, I'm sorry, did I mean partisan campaign ads?), foolish wing-nut amendments and issues, and those anonymous campaign phone calls. It is clear that the politicians only (capital letters again, ONLY) concern is getting elected or reelected. The other side is wrong, and since they're wrong, we hate them, and you should too. It's made all the worse since I'm listed as an independent, both parties feel the need to tell me how to think. Knowing how the government works from the inside (at least within the FAA), I know that 99.9% of what the politicians are telling us they'll do is pure bunk, couldn't do what they promise if they owned all branches of the government. All I expect from this, and any other election, is that:
1) My taxes will go up, somebody out there resents (hates) me for my relative success and wants me to pay.
2) My services (or services to people who are really in need) will go down, somebody will figure out a way to scam the system and drain resources from those who really need it (which leads to number one again).
3) Whoever is in power will tell me it is the other parties fault.
4) Whoever is not in power will tell me that if they were in power, things would be better.
5) Left wing and Right wing nut-jobs control both parties, and they have no interest in listening to a moderate.
6) Tivo everything, and skip the ads and maybe I'll maintain my sanity.
Lest any of my readers think I'm hiding my head in the sand and ignoring issues, I'd like to suggest otherwise. I read a lot about the issues affecting us, from all sides of the debate. I make up my own mind on those issues, and refuse to allow either party tell me that, since I support/oppose a particular issue, all of my beliefs must then line up with (or against) umpteen-thousand other issues, and therefore I must vote for them. I don't let a political party tell me what to think...
Unlike too many of the people I work with, or know.
<Sigh>
Anyway, I'll be glad when it's over again.
That's it for now. Keep those cards and letters coming, introduce yourself, or otherwise make your presence known.
TTFN,
Jim
Oh, a blurb...
"That's the last of the cargo, ser" Captain Lanso Malring tugged on
his thin beard and eyed the wagon-sized pile of crates, barrels and
sacks stacked up on the end of the stone pier, then acknowledged the
bosun with a wave. The offloading had taken far longer than anyone had
expected, but at least they'd finished before the brunt of the
approaching squall hit. His vessel sat on the leeward side of the stone
causeway, only partially shielded from the building waves, even now
spray was crashing across the pier, driven by the erratic gusts. He turned to the red haired man standing beside him and asked if there was anything else they could do for him before they shoved off. A
minute passed with no response from the passenger, and the captain
wondered again why anyone would take the job offered by the coastal
league to tend the isolated lighthouse, but then revised his opinion, if anyone
would take such a job, it would be someone as enigmatic as this person.
He'd offered little more than the occasional grunt or nod of assent
during the entire 3 day journey from Port Whiterock...
