Wednesday, March 6, 2019

March IWSG



Wednesday, March 6. The dream: Spend a quiet day blogging and writing while the kids are at school and the husband is out of town. Enjoy the snow as it falls gently to the ground and the sound of sweet purring cats snoozing in their beds. 

The reality: Scratch cornea trying to pull out damaged contact. Locate granny glasses. Listen to child tell me they can't go to school because their ankle hurts. Call doctor. Realize basement toilet has a leak and carpet pad in room next door is soaked. Call plumber. Need to finish blog. Needs more humor. Need to save Dove from kitten. Noche's fangs are in her butt, again.

Why isn't husband here when chaos breaks loose? Why is it so freaking cold and snowy when I have to take my hobbling kid out? ARGGHH!

Welcome to another installment of the IWSG, led by Alex Cavannaugh and co-hosted by Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard! 

This month's optional question: Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero (protagonist) or the villain (antagonist)? And why?

I started writing in first person many years ago and now I can't stop. So, I usually end up writing from the main character's point of view, and my main characters tend to be more heroic than villainous.

After a long hiatus, I've forced myself to get back into writing fiction. I've given the advice that if a writer is stuck, one way to get through is to write anything, no matter how horrid, just to get the creative juices flowing. Spew forth and clean up the mess in later edits. Looks like this:




via GIPHY



So far, that process has been working and I've got about 90 pages of new stuff. Absolute raw sewage. I'll fix it later. I'm not going to even think about the word count and I know this thing is going to bloat like nobody's business.



fat_cat

I should have stopped at 90K!  Image: Gerard Van Der Leun


Before leaving the writing chair, having an idea of what the next scene should be about is key. First, it gives me something to brainstorm about while washing dishes or taking a shower. Second, it stops me from sitting in front of a blank screen thinking, "Hmmmmmm. I have no idea what to do now." For me, getting started is more than half the battle.




via GIPHY



I also took the unprecedented step of writing while my children were in the house! Once I even kept typing with one of them sitting right next to me, doing the "Mom...Mom...Mom" chant.

But back to perspective. This MC doesn't see himself as a hero. In fact, he's made some awful choices, which derailed his life. He feels like of villain of circumstances and is striving for redemption.

To get back into the habit of writing daily (or close to it), I've been slapping down things that happen and dialogue, following a loose outline and making almost as many notes as prose. In later drafts, I'll focus on inner dialogue, feelings, and something which is going to be a challenge: writing a character suffering from bipolar disorder. Should be interesting.




Have you written a character with a mental disorder? How's your Wednesday going?