Writing Day No Go

Today's Friday - my favourite writing day. I get the kids up and out to school, I typically do one session at a daycare and am back at my MeStation at 9am to do a blog post, FB check and jump into my WIP.

Today I just feel too crappy. I got the kids up and out and was back in bed by 830. Woke up at 130. Forced myself to get showered and then climbed back ON the bed, not in it, where I'm cuddling with my pup and watching the Jays' third game.

I'm mad that I'm missing my productive day but there's no deadline for my WIP so a day won't matter in the long run. Maybe my creative centre is in my sinuses? Blocked and paining. Nothing worthwhile coming out of my head today.

N

Much About Nothing

I started this blog entry first thing this morning. That's my routine on writing days, first a blog entry to get me warmed up, then whatever I'm working on. Oh wait, no first is Facebook, then blog entry, then Facebook, then WIP, then Facebook for a bit... you get the picture. Toss in there several trips to the kitchen to refill my diet Coke glass, find a snack, let the dog out, turn on the water for the cats... And speaking of cats, the fat one jumps up, jumps down, jumps up, jumps down all day. She's cute though, and she talks to me with mews so how can I resist?

Perhaps there are multiple reasons why I'm not always productive?

This am though, the blog entry was a big white blank page. I didn't know what to put. I thought I'd try to compare the arts of writing and drawing to the arts of sports in light of the recent Olympics and I was going to tie them together with Churchill's famous answer "Then what are we fighting for?" to the suggestion of cutting funding for arts for the war effort but even that wound up a dead end because apparently he didn't even say that. So I gave up on the blog entry and went back to my WIP (well, Facebook first, if I'm honest) and I actually had a good day and got a lot done.

Happy Monday!

N

Bullying... the whys.

I've been giving workshops at the local libraries about writing and one of my 'tips' is 'Avoid Crowds and Caricatures'. The first part is easy - don't have too many characters in the story. Keep to the necessary ones. The second one is tougher - don't have characters that are in there just as a device for something to happen. No one is solely defined by his best moments or her worst actions. The reasons behind the actions need to be consistent and realistic with the character. No one outside of Disney is bad just to be bad, or good just to be good, there are always motives for actions, and the motives define the character. Taking away the motives and explaining only actions leaves the character flat and unnatural.

This is relevant because my current story has a bully in it. A big mean intimidating dimwitted bully. Everyone either knows or remembers someone like that - right? It would be easy - and believable - for him to be just that. But he'd be a caricature, an easy cop out.

So now I have to do some digging. What makes a bully a bully? Why do they do it? I know there's the easy 'bullied at home, bully at school' but maybe that's too easy too - and not always the case. Should make for some interesting research.

N