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Sabriel, Skyfall, Equilibrium, and Fountain Pens

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So tonight, instead of translating my Old English passage, as I should have been doing (or having any sort of life, really), I decided to read my favorite book, Sabriel by Garth Nix. This was probably the book that made me love books forever. Before this book, I loved reading. After this book, there’s absolutely no description for my love of the written word. Reading this book at 20, I’m not sure how I managed to read it at 12 or 13, or however old I was (perhaps even younger, I don’t remember the exact age) and fall so deeply in love with it. Out of all of the books I’ve ever read, these are the most genius characters, and the world that I somehow relate to. I remember thinking to myself “I could live in this world and feel completely at home, because I understand it.” (I know, go read the description for the book, then begin to understand how dark and twisty I truly am.)

Anyway, I don’t like reading and then writing because I think it alters my style towards whatever I’ve been reading, but there are certain things that I came across tonight in Sabriel that gave me (as Oprah would say) “Aha” moments towards Skyfall and Equilibrium.

For instance, in Skyfall, I’ve been trying to find a way to bring Charlie’s previous combat training and elements of the violence he’s faced in the past into it, when suddenly I thought “Well duh, he has twin swords.” And then I decided that perhaps these came from the sea, to fit into another (secret) plot point, but then I realized that was a tad Lady-of-the-Lake-y, and that Equilibrium is the one that deals with more of the King Arthur-esque style. But I guess the point is that I was thinking about it and actively solving problems, because 99% of my time, I think, is spent wishing I could write these worlds in my head, but I’m either too picky to put it down on paper (something I need to fix) or I have gotten to the point where everything is just too complicated to simply sort out, and therefore the EUREKA! moments are very rare. 

I’m also adjusting to the fact that I have two books in my head now, instead of one. I thought one for three years was awful, and now suddenly I have a second set of people in my head, and I’m trying to figure that out, yet not cross it with Skyfall. I also feel a bit like I’m cheating on Charlie and Olivia, since I’m putting them aside to spend all of November with Aric, Alienor, Caelon and Gemma. (And now I sound like even more of a crazy person). But Equilibrium (which I somehow came up with a title that PERFECTLY encapsulates the entire plot so far, I’m in awe…) is something that I can write quickly, or try to, without being so concerned that all of my work for the past three years will be bogged down by quantity, over quality. I think Skyfall will always be my baby, my perfectly crafted masterpiece where every jigsaw will eventually fit into place, which sometimes I even marvel at how my brain somehow thought of these things, because I doubt I could figure it out again if it wasn’t already so.

Also, while creeping on Garth Nix’s website for the  millionth time, it has made me want a Waterman’s fountain pen even more. Yes, they’re expensive. Oh, but I could write in my notebook like Garth, and my handwriting would be absolutely beautiful. And I could have an ink bottle and sort of feel like Jane Austen when I have to refill my pen. Maybe? I know, I know. Perhaps a simple pen from Office Max could do, but I think it just displays yet another part of my strange personality that I’m actually considering shelling out for a $100+ pen, or asking for it for Christmas. But if I ask for it for Christmas, I can’t use it during NaNoWriMo to write Equilibrium. Do I really need it? No. Do I want it? Yes. Just look at it.

On another note, although it does annoy me that the new James Bond film shares my book title, and that I’ll probably eventually have to change that although it was called Skyfall before I knew about the Bond Movie (around 2010) I do love the Adele song, it somehow fits my book as well.

The World Is Not Enough (Or Too Much…)

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No, I’m not talking about James Bond, yet again. But I already mentioned Skyfall (which, I’ll probably have to re-name my book but it’s Skyfall to me, so for now, it’s staying that way…) so I thought I’d just go with it.

I haven’t had a chance to write anything because my summer classes are completely overwhelming me. I’m amazed at how much my professor expects us to get done each week and I don’t know how I would have handled three, so I’m glad I only ended up in one.

I did write a lot the other night, though. I was so proud of myself. Instead of typing it out like I usually do, I wrote it in my little blue notebook. Maybe I’m trying to channel Garth Nix… but no, I did not use a fountain pen. I actually really liked it, I’ve heard that actually writing out the first draft is best, because staring at a blank computer screen isn’t great for inspiration. I wasn’t concentrating on word count, I was just thinking about what I was writing and putting it down on the page.

I do need to type it all out so I know how long it actually is, though. And in case I somehow manage to lose the little blue notebook, which, knowing me, may happen. And then I would probably bawl my eyes out because the entirety of everything I’ve written in that book exists only there, and I’d lose all of those scenes forever because I don’t think I could re-create them as well as I first wrote them.

Anyway, getting back to the post title, I feel like the scope of the world of my book is getting out of control. At first, I assumed there would be three books. The first one I have all planned out, and the beginning, end, and various middle pieces are all written, I just need to fill in the holes. Except that recently, pieces that I thought were going to be part of the second book have been pushing their way into the first because I realize they make more sense there.

Then I realize everything that needs to happen and it’s just… outrageous. The number of characters that I have to deal with is equally daunting, but they’re all important to the plot. They even leave me room to write individual books about each of them because the story is so complex. I guess that’s good though, because I won’t be stuck, but it’s getting difficult for me to keep track of things in my brain. I wish there was an easier way to do it, but I really want to lay out every single scene in a row on the floor and look it over, and then be able to move the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle if necessary.

I can’t tell if it’s getting easier or harder to put the narrative together as I write more!

Character Hunting on Tumblr

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Yes, you heard me. Character hunting. I know that sounds extremely strange, but some of  my best inspiration comes from Tumblr. Why? Sometimes I’ll be mindlessly scrolling through my dashboard full of pictures, when suddenly, I see a picture of a random person and I think “Oh my god! That looks just like [insert character name here]!” and then I just have to reblog it. This has happened so many times, in fact, that I now have an entire page dedicated to my characters (and other inspirational images) via Tumblr to make it easier for myself. Here are examples for the main characters, Charlie and Olivia:

I also really like scrolling through that page and just looking at everything I have that reminds me of people, places, objects, etc., in my book. It’s kind of like my own little secret world is actually coming to life before my eyes. I say secret because with the manuscript unpublished, I’m the only one that really knows what it looks like. But you can get a feel for how the book is going to be, and what the characters are like by scrolling through it. A few of my close friends have read part of the manuscript so far, and then I’ve directed them to the page on Tumblr afterwards, and they say that it really is neat to see after they’ve read it because they get to see what might be to come, etc. I think it’s very good for description, so that I remember to be descriptive enough so that people don’t have to look through my pictures, but they can if they’d like to.

Everyone tried to get me to jump on the whole Pintrest train, but my Tumblr is already set up sort of that way, and I just feel like it would be redundant to do both.

I’ve noticed that when “tagging” photos of my characters, I tend to tag pictures that not only remind me of them physically, but of their personality as well. While organizing them today I also had a realization that with Paul, I tagged two photos at completely different times, and then looked at them today, and the guys in the photos could actually be the same person. He might be a model, and I have no idea who he is, so it very well may actually be the same person, I have no idea. It could just be two people who look very much alike:

But that is quite funny and reassuring for me to see that in my head, the characters are so steadfast that this happened.

Now, I should probably stop procrastinating and actually start writing.

In other news, I purchased my domain name! Yay! In the process of buying it I also discovered that my name with two “L”‘s, aka Lilly Paradis, is a French lingerie company, so let’s hope my readers don’t get me confused with them… definitely not the same industry.

In other, other news, yesterday I realized that my manuscript that I started three years ago has the same name as the new James Bond film, so that may sadly have to be changed, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Daniel Craig is definitely not in my book. Although he might make an interesting Peter! (But you’ll have to read to find out who that is…)

Inspiration

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It’s been a while. Needless to say, when I started this blog, I meant to use it as an outlet to help my creative juices flow because I’ve been so helplessly stuck with my novel for the past two years. I’ll write a 1,000 word piece of it every two weeks or so, but they’re always random chunks and they don’t always fit into the book the way I plan for them to, or they don’t fit at all. When I sit there and I’ve written something that I later decide I absolutely HATE, it tends to make me also hate my book, because I wonder if I’ll ever finish it.

A lot of the time I get frustrated because inspiration ALWAYS strikes when it’s the least opportune. I’ll be in bed, lying there trying to sleep, and all of the sudden, a scene runs through my mind. Tired me always thinks: Perfect! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I’ll remember it in the morning…” And then I never remember. I know that I thought of something, but I haven’t the faintest clue what it was. Sometimes, in my sleepy stupor I manage to fumble for my phone and type out a few words or sentences of what I was thinking about to help remind myself, but usually all I wake up to are several misspelled words that spark absolutely nothing in my memory.

Other times, I’ll be out running errands, or in the middle of class, or brushing my teeth when I realize something amazing. Yet again, it somehow manages to flee from my brain just in time for me to find paper and a pencil, or rush over to my computer to jot it down.

How do you keep track of your ideas? Where and when do you think best?