Hitting the Books

So I suddenly had visions of the Capitol Steps singing “A Whole Newt World.” If you’ve never heard the Capitol Steps…well, you’re just a poor deprived individual. Or else you’re from another country where the mad, bad, and socially unacceptable actions of our political system cause more embarassment than interest… Either way, you really should hear them at least once (I’ve heard them live 3-4 times). Don’t worry–they’re equal opportunity insulters.

Um, that was not at all what I was going to post about. But it’s after midnight and I didn’t get a nap today, so my brain is playing pinball.

No, what I was going to discuss was worldbuilding, a favorite pasttime of mine. Paperback Writer had a nice post, which is what got me thinking about it.

(Just an aside–Astrofantasy’s Worldbuilding tutorial is great, but it’s unfinished. Can only do the World Vision. Pout.)

Part of my new attempted schedule is working on my fantasy series daily. In order to do that I really need to get my notes in order–back-filling is a royal pain in the boohickey (or Bumpass. Which is a town here in Virginia. I’m sorry, I don’t think I could ever live in a town called Bumpass.). Since Holly Lisle hasn’t gotten her Worldbuilding Clinic up as an e-book yet (and when she does, I will buy it immediately), I’m having to organize all my thoughts myself. It’s so much easier when a really good author does the hard work of setting up an organization system for you.

I’m going to try to organize myself around Patricia Wrede’s Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions, which is probably the most complete set of questions I’ve ever seen (and I know Wrede is a good writer–I loved the Enchanted Forest series).

The main problem I’ve come up against with her list is that some of the sections overlap, and because the lists are so detailed, figuring out how to find the overlaps can be a bit confusing. Especially if you’re a writer in a hurry to find that one little detail so you don’t lose your wonderful new train of thought.

But if nothing else I do know how to organize, so we’ll see how this turns out.

Anyone have their two cents to add in? How do you keep your worlds organized?

I’m terrible about keeping to self-imposed schedules. I’ll do just fine for a week or so, and then something will crop up here, or something else over there, and before I know it I’m back to bed at 3am and getting up at 6 with the Punkin then being an absolute bear until 2ish when the Punkin and I collapse for our afternoon naps. And of course that’s a wasted 2-3 hour chunk of time, and if I nap then I’m up late again at night. Ach, es ist ein Teufelkreis.

The biggest problem with schedules and my family is we have no set wake-up time (except Sunday morning when we have to be out of the house by 7:15 a.m.) My husband works flex time, so as long as he puts in his 8.5 hours, he’s good to go. Which is why he tends to go into work at 1pm, get home after 9, and neither of us go to bed until 2 or 3 am. A vicious circle.

Okay, so it’s not vicious really. Just annoying. Especially when we try to interact with the rest of the 9-5 world.

But I really, really want to be disciplined enough to write every day. I believe it’s something I’m supposed to do.

So, I’ve attempted another schedule.

This time I got smart (maybe) and used blocks of time based off of a variable wake-up time. So, instead of forcing myself to get up at 8 and start writing at 10am, I can get up whenever I please (or rather, when the Punkin pleases). 2 1/2 hours later I’ll start writing, and write for about 1 1/2 hours, then go on to whatever needs to be done next.

For example: 4 hours from wake-up is lunch, after lunch is playtime, then naptime, etc.

Am I explaining this well? I don’t feel like I am, but ach so.

Granted, it doesn’t leave much room for the muse to strike, for writing until the torrent of ideas no longer flows from my poor head. But I’m hoping that not pegging myself to set times will enable me to finally stick to a schedule, to get some writing in every day. Which will hopefully be more than the fits and starts I’ve been doing.

I’ll let you know how it works.

Top 10 Lists, that is.

Here’s my contribution to the unending supply of lists.

Children’s/YA Books that You Should Keep Reading as an Adult.

In no particular order:

(And before someone gets huffy, I’ll tell you that I’m purposely not putting Tolkien on this list because I don’t consider him a children’s/YA author.)

1. The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Susan Cooper. My college buddies and I loved this series so much that we based our only (pout) trip to the British Isles on the locations in these books (mainly Mevagissey/Trewissick and Cader Idris). And I bought a really cool all-in-one version in Oxford

2. Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read these probably once a year at least, and unlike the folks over here, I never thought Laura treated Almanzo badly. I just figured she didn’t have clue how to act. But Farmer Boy is definitely my favorite. Probably all that food.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis. No need for explanation. My dad read these to me long before I could read them myself–they’re probably the #1 reason I love fantasy so much.

4. The Princess and the Goblin/The Princess and Curdie, George MacDonald. Lewis considered MacDonald one of his biggest influences. I just think the stories are cute.

5. Watership Down, Richard Adams. Didn’t much care for Fiver, or Hazel really. But Bigwig is top bunny in my book

6. A Wrinkle in Time/A Wind in the Door/A Swiftly Tilting Planet/Many Waters, Madeline L’Engle. The first two mainly because I heart Calvin (I have a thing for red-headed heroes–comes from my Trixie Belden days), and I was so Meg growing up (minus the braces and the math–for me it was English and history). Waters is an interesting take on Noah and the Flood.

7. The Ordinary Princess, M.M. Kaye. Wonderful story, great illustrations. It was only recently that I realized Kaye was the same author who wrote The Far Pavillions and Shadow of the Moon (which is one of the most gruesome “romances” I’ve read)

8. Anything by Marguerite Henry. Especially The Album of Horses. I can remember checking and rechecking and rerechecking that one from my elementary school library. Found it at a library booksale last year. The Punkin likes looking at the “doggies” already

9. Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell. I love survival stories, and this is one of the best, though a sad one.

10. Ramona series, Beverly Cleary. I’m not real big into Beverly Cleary’s other books, but I can read and reread Ramona. Don’t know why. Perhaps it’s that imagination of hers that just won’t stop…

And because I just couldn’t leave it out…

1. Night of the Twisters, Ivy Ruckman. This one has an emotional attachment. The Sequoyah award is Oklahoma’s version of the Newbery. Because I read all 12ish books on the nominee list in ’84-’85, I got to go see the winning author, Ivy Ruckman, and got an autographed copy of this book. Beyond that, it’s just a really good story.

So, which childhood favorites do you still read?

Argghhhh! After trucking along so nicely with my novel rewrite, suddenly I’ve hit a brick wall. Happened as soon as I got an opening that read fairly well (but nowhere near well enough to leave alone). Now I can’t seem to get anywhere on this book–not characters, not slicing and dicing (cutting and rewriting), not nothing. Double Argh.

It was so nice, those few heady months that I could actually say, “This book is done.” Now it’s just one more project I’m trying to juggle. Again.

I could go work on my other WIP for a while. Actually, I somewhat promised myself I’d finish it this year (I’ve got it stuck in my head that my fantasy is much more likely to snag an agent than my little historical romance.). But it’s such a totally different genre/mindset that I’m afraid I won’t get back to my poor Yankee for eons if I switch gears.

Then there’s my small home business, American Punkin (clothes and screenprinting), which is starting up again. Another pull on my attention.

And now there’s a new baby quilt to make, so the sewing machine is also whispering to me.

Anyone have a cloning machine I borrow for a few weeks? I’ve just too many projects for one little mind to handle.

By way of Paperback Writer:

A Random Adventure Generator. Mainly for role-playing games, but could be useful for fantasy writers needing a creative jolt.

I played with it for a few minutes. Could be another great way to waste lots of time.

This claim from the same website also caught my attention. Supposedly you can make all sorts of cool digital art without needing to know how to draw.

“If this concept is totally new to you, all you need to know is that software like DAZ Studio (which is free) will let you load in a specially prepared 3D figure, change its features, posture, size, shape, clothing, colours, and more – then render a fantastic image in a variety of styles! All you need is the imagination to create unique images of your own. The tutorials included with the software, and others on this site and across the ‘net, will get you up to the standard to create professional looking results in a very short time.”

I’ll let you know if it works. If it does, it could be reallllly useful for my fantasy world.