The suck monkeys threw poo at my wall
Oct. 17th, 2006 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pjthompsonFortunately, little of it stuck, though I was in quite a mood over it. The suck is still there, I've just gotten over myself and moved on. Having slept on my mood, I woke up with a stiff resolve to make straight that which is crooked and move forward. Already this morning in the shower as the muscles relaxed, new ideas were tickling.
You know, I didn't get much of a honeymoon period on this novel. Usually I have a month or two of giddiness, thinking, "Wowie zowie this is the best thing I've ever written!" before reality sets in and I start thinking it's the worst thing I've ever written, then further reality sets in and I realize it's just what it is, neither great nor awful, and slog onward. This novel isn't going to give me that running giddy start. But that's okay. Brick laying, establishing a sturdy foundation, is at least as important, maybe more so.
One of the things that occurred to me in the shower was that this novel is a fantasy (duh). Therefore, magic can come into play.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jmeadows posted something on this last week, and that post nudged me along as I thought this over. I'm writing an alternate universe steampunk fantasy and although what I like about steampunk is it's fanciful use of real physics, that doesn't mean that magic may not be an element in some of the solutions to my problems.
An element. Whatever magic I use has to be credible, not some waving of wands over lead to make it gold. Even if the magic I use violates some of the laws of this universe's physics, I think the readers need to see the process at work and its interaction with real physics in order to think it plausible and entertaining. Willing suspension of disbelief doesn't work, I don't think, if the solutions to the problems appear to be too easily achieved or too far outside the bounds of reason. So my struggling to make things work is a good thing, ultimately. It will make good foundations, credible foundations.
Random quotes of the day:
The truth is simple:
you do not die
from love.
You only wish
you did.
—Erica Jong, There Is Only One Story
"You have to grow or become the frightening mask of mirth."
—Jim Carrey
And, gosh, he should know.
You know, I didn't get much of a honeymoon period on this novel. Usually I have a month or two of giddiness, thinking, "Wowie zowie this is the best thing I've ever written!" before reality sets in and I start thinking it's the worst thing I've ever written, then further reality sets in and I realize it's just what it is, neither great nor awful, and slog onward. This novel isn't going to give me that running giddy start. But that's okay. Brick laying, establishing a sturdy foundation, is at least as important, maybe more so.
One of the things that occurred to me in the shower was that this novel is a fantasy (duh). Therefore, magic can come into play.
jmeadows posted something on this last week, and that post nudged me along as I thought this over. I'm writing an alternate universe steampunk fantasy and although what I like about steampunk is it's fanciful use of real physics, that doesn't mean that magic may not be an element in some of the solutions to my problems.An element. Whatever magic I use has to be credible, not some waving of wands over lead to make it gold. Even if the magic I use violates some of the laws of this universe's physics, I think the readers need to see the process at work and its interaction with real physics in order to think it plausible and entertaining. Willing suspension of disbelief doesn't work, I don't think, if the solutions to the problems appear to be too easily achieved or too far outside the bounds of reason. So my struggling to make things work is a good thing, ultimately. It will make good foundations, credible foundations.
Random quotes of the day:
The truth is simple:
you do not die
from love.
You only wish
you did.
—Erica Jong, There Is Only One Story
"You have to grow or become the frightening mask of mirth."
—Jim Carrey
And, gosh, he should know.
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Date: 2006-10-17 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-17 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-17 06:19 pm (UTC)It was unpleasant.
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Date: 2006-10-17 06:56 pm (UTC)That was my intent, though not the unpleasant side-effect. :-) My angst is largely gone.
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Date: 2006-10-17 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-17 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-17 07:03 pm (UTC)Which ever it is, the quote? I love it.
Can I steal that one too? :)
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Date: 2006-10-17 07:29 pm (UTC)Can I steal that one too? :)
I posts 'em to be shared in whatever way you see fit. They ain't mine to begin with.
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Date: 2006-10-17 07:32 pm (UTC)I have a rather large quote file myself. I should start throwing them up on my LJ once in a while. A good quote should be shared, not molder on a hard-drive.
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Date: 2006-10-17 09:36 pm (UTC)Yes, share quotes and I'll steal them. :-)
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Date: 2006-10-18 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 06:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 11:53 am (UTC)I was thinking about Jodi's post the other, too, when contemplating my NaNo project. Must remember to have fun, is the major thing I tell myself. That is why I love fantasy, after all, its sense of fun and wonder.
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Date: 2006-10-18 04:40 pm (UTC)And yes, fun and wonder.