Craft of Writing: Organize it ALL! (Part 2)

Hi there, everybody!

I said that I was going to share with you some pages that I have put together for my own bullet journal like notebook. I do not have those pages ready to share yet. The reason is because I am having a rather difficult time winnowing down just what I am going to put on these pages. Having a creative mind is awesome, because you can come up with tons of great ideas. Having a creative mind is difficult, because you can come up with tons of great ideas. It is hard to pick what to focus on.

All of that said, I have decided on a few things. First is that I am going to keep my editing work separate from my organization work. This may sound a little silly considering how other people have organized their stuff. I, however, recognize that I need to keep my editing such that it is more portable than my organizing work. I have a nifty little red steno pad that I use. Each manuscript gets its own tab divider and then I go through and write down all my line edits with page and line number. As I make the changes, I check them off. It is a terribly dull system, but it works well for me.

Secondly, I am going to have all of my language developing notes in their own notebook. That one is something I'm still in the process of dividing up into sections. The wild idea that I should develop languages is something that came to me back when I wrote the very first rough draft of book one. (That would be way back in 6th grade. It was two pages. I still have it. It looks nothing like the final version. I still take it out and look at it from time to time though. Just to remind myself how far I have come.) Scattered through my various notebooks are bits and pieces of this language development stuff I have done. This new notebook is going to be divided up by languages. It is also going to be where I do things like develop the different scripts for the written version of the languages. It is one of those notebooks with grid style pages in it. (If I had realized I could have gotten a composition notebook in this style, I suspect I would have had an easier time learning linear algebra.) This is something that I will be doing on my 'downtime' from other writing projects. It is a long term thing that I am not going to pressure myself to do all right now.

I am going to be setting up pages for plotting out blog posts separate from my novel writing work. This is for two different reasons. First, I have different things I am trying to do with this blog and what I am trying to do with my novels. I need these things separate so that I don't confuse the details. It is less a concern that I will be confusing you, gentle Reader, and more an attempt to keep myself from getting confused. Life is complicated enough with what I have going on right now. All of this organization effort is an attempt to make things less complicated.

It is my hope that next week, I will have the pages for novel development put together. And I think I am going to have my pages for blog post development taken care of by sometime Friday evening, barring any unpleasant surprises. (It is stuff that would have been done last week, except I had a child home sick with a norovirus. These things are horrid and I sincerely hope that you or your loved ones don't have to suffer them. Gastrointestinal misery is not anyone's idea of a good time.)

Craft of Writing: Organize IT ALL!!! (Part 1)

A wise person once told me that to be successful with a large project, it is best to organize it like the storming of Normandy. I have to say, my Grandfather was right when he made that suggestion as I look at just how disorganized I have been over the last year with this blog and my other writing projects. As a result, I am spending the month of January organizing and planning how I am going to approach the rest of the year.

I am a bit late to the party with bullet journaling. That said, I am finding a modified version of this is helping me organize the rest of my life, so I am working out how to implement it in my writing. There is a staggering array of ways to do it and it is pretty easy to get overwhelmed with just all the different facets that you can customize. Just a quick search yielded over one million results. There is some schisms within the bullet journaling community on what the best type of notebooks to use are, how pretty you must make it, and what type of pens are best (among many, many other details).

I narrowed down my search to looking at how others were just dividing up tasks and such for their writing. That also netted me over one million results. (Google, you have a tremendous ability to find ALL THE THINGS. Don't stop being your glorious self!) I looked at the following and have developed something of a working understanding of how the process works.

Bullet Journal for Freelancers & Writers - Belle Cooper (Boho Berry)

Ms. Cooper set up some very nice examples of how she uses her bullet journal for her writing work. I was particularly impressed with how she kept track of all of her deadlines, invoices, and the publication status of her freelance work. It made a lot more sense than my pile of post-it notes and little scraps of paper taped to strategic points on the desk. She also mentioned something called 'sketch notes' which I thought was somewhat interesting. It is basically a combination of written text notes with small sketches associated with them. I like how it engages both aspects of the creative mind: visual and literary.

Bullet Journal: The (Writer's) Answer to Getting Thing Done - Jenni Myburgh (Jenni Myburgh)

Ms. Myburgh's post on bullet journals is fantastic. It is fantastic for two reasons. First, she gives very clear and concise descriptions of the concept and provides beautiful photos to illustrate them. Second, her examples show how they are truly very flexible tools and can be used for more than just staying on task with a single writing project.

Bullet Journal DOs and DON'Ts - Susanna (Zealous Mom)

Where the other two ladies gave very good advice on how to set up one's bullet journal, Ms. Susanna shares with us just what the experience of using one is like. It really was refreshing to see her very homey take on the topic and I also highly enjoyed how she was not shy about sharing what worked for her and what did not. It was good to see that people do have some difficulty starting out with this and that perfection is not the same thing as progress. And that your bullet journal needs not be Pinterest worthy to be effective.

I am still in the process of developing my lay outs and such for my own bullet journal-esque efforts. I will share more about that next week. I can tell you two things, however, about what I am doing. My first focus is on functionality and what is going to help me be most effective. I am saving artwork and other fun stuff for after I manage to get the whole process I am going to be using figured out. Secondly, I have a binder/folio/soft briefcase that I am using for my blogs and a separate one I am using for my novels. I am not going to limit myself to a tiny notebook that I can stash with my knitting. This is not because I need portability as much as I need something to keep track of everything and I have a whole lot of moving parts to keep track of. More space to work with is better for me. I have enough smaller notebooks I can dedicate to individual elements of things.

I may still be in a position where I must consider if buying stock in 3M and Mead (the people who make Post-It notes, notebooks, and filler paper for binders) is going to be something I should do or possibly get some sort of bulk rate on these things in a few months. But, I may have something more organized and easier to work with than the four inches of paper stacked up on and around the desk right now.

UPDATE

A visual pun, if you will.


Construction
This Website!

I am in the process of making changes to format and a number of other things here. My plan is to have everything completed by the end of the month. I will be moving some material around to make things make more sense. Don't worry, the serial stories and the various themed content is not going anywhere. I am just going to try to reshuffle it so that it is easier for me to work and and for you to navigate.

Please, drop me a note if you have any suggestions or questions.

Thank you for taking the time and being so patient to come along with me on this journey as I muddle through 2017.

Happy New Year everyone. Let's make it a great year despite what ever gets thrown at us, eh?

Lady of the North Ascends (Part XX V)

Serenity was the meaning of her name in the language of the people of the desert, she was anything but serene. Al-Uzza came before Mina with anger in her heart. The high priestess was many years her junior. The milk skinned woman with eyes the color of grass was not of the old people as Al-Uzza was. She was born of the northern reaches and lacked the robust build that Al-Uzza felt was proper to a woman. Even after bearing a child, the high priestess remained of diminuitive stature next to Al-Uzza. The son born to the high priestess of Julara took after his mother, indeed his face was as fair as a girls and lacked the beginnings of manhood even though the lad was entering into his eleventh year.

Al-Uzza was envious, but few around her dared to name that viper wound around her heart. For the woman with the white touched hair and heavy build was one to lash out at the people who challenged her and questioned her, if they were not of higher standing. Al-Uzza was skilled at flattery, however, and did shockingly well by plying her crafty tongue to move from some village witch at the outskirts of the western empire to within the hallowed halls of the main temple of Julara. Al-Uzza somehow maneuvered her way into serving as one of Mina's secretaries.

Mina could never quite recall how Al-Uzza came to be there with her stoney expression of dour disapproval. Still, the older woman was useful in keeping things in order, as she had been for the high priestess before her and perhaps the one before that. Now, Al-Uzza stood in the throne room, her large hands folded into the sleeves of her robes and her perpetual look of malcontent. Mina regarded the older woman thoughtfully. Mina had no illusions that Al-Uzza sought to reach higher than where she stood and would have gladly poisoned Mina to claim her crown if it weren't for the fact that Al-Uzza was unsure what the results of that would have been. It was not how things were when she was a small child. Julara moved through the world with greater force and Al-Uzza did not want to risk the anger of the goddess.

"Al-Uzza," Mina said, "governor Bastizia's lady has been murdered." The lines of Al-Uzza's frown deepened. "I am sending you north. They have need of your pragmatic mind and guidance. The maidens of the villages have need of a mother to give them direction." The old priestess's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. Mina turned her attention back to the letter in her left hand. "In addition to strengthening Bastizia's household against the influence of outsiders, I expect you to learn who it was that killed Lady Zia and why. The resources of the Silent Sisters in the shadows are naturally going to be available to you. Bastizia's letter suggests there is some sort of unrest against the daughters of Our Lady and they who have pledged themselves to her outside of our orders."

Al-Uzza's expression slowly moved from suspicion to grim realization that she truly was being sent away to the edge of the empire. "I expect a missive answering these questions, Lady Al-Uzza," Mina continued and Al-Uzza looked surprised. Mina looked up from Bastizia's letter. "You are surprised?" Mina said dryly, "A secretary is not needed in the north. Of all who have been in my service, you have been the most efficient. When I lay ill, it was you that directed the water priestesses to come to me. You are deserving of elevation. And your steady hand is needed there. Thus, do I send you, Lady Al-Uzza. Governor Bastizia may not choose to wed you immediately but to observe a time of mourning for your sister. Do not let him forget his duty."

Al-Uzza shifted, uncomfortable with the idea of being yoked to a man. In all her time in service to Julara, she aptly avoided contact with men and what she felt were their filthy mannerisms. "Your celibcy is not at risk," Mina said, somehow knowing what the woman who was nearly her birth mother's age was thinking, "Governor Bastizia is a man of some age. He is near to your own, actually, and more interested in the running of his territory than anything equating a love match. Zia bore him his heir. After this, he had little more to do with her beyond official capacity." Al-Uzza let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.>

"Your Imperial Majesty," Al-Uzza said, restraining the urge to spit with disgust at stating the words, "Is it possible that the child was involved in the mother's demise?" Mina tipped her head slightly to the left. She looked at Al-Uzza thoughtfully. It was a question that came to Mina's mind as well, but not knowing what the dynamic between mother and child was, she had no way to speculate upon it. "It is possible, Majesty, that the child has grown rebellious or perhaps succumbed to the influence of the barbarians," Al-Uzza said when the silence had grown uncomfortable.

"This is a question, Lady Al-Uzza, that you must divine the answer to," Mina said. The priestess opened her mouth to give an appropriately obsequious response when the Empress continued. "Do not call the people of the north barbarians. Name them outsiders. Name them interlopers or malcontents. Name them enemies. They are a civilized people," Mina added in a tone of stern warning, "Their gods may be different from ours but they are devout in their own way." Al-Uzza straightened and her look of sour disapproval returned. "Their ways are not our own but they are not beasts," Mina warned Al-Uzza, "Many of them live with us in the north. Their distant kinsmen offer them insult even as it is offered to us. I will not have these people dishonored because of their great-cousin's foolishness."

Al-Uzza bowed to Mina in a silent gesture of repentance. "Go and prepare yourself, Lady Al-Uzza. Your caravan leaves in three days. I shall assign one to serve at your right hand. With you shall be traveling a son of Ashur of the brothers militant. Keep him as your confidant as you move through the north. He shall have a sand mirror to speak with his brothers here in the imperial city. I expect a party of soldiers will ride with you as well for the safety of yourself," Mina said, silently questioning of the intuitive choice of Al-Uzza was wise.

"Blessings of Our Lady be upon you, your Imperial Majesty," Al-Uzza murmured before she moved to depart, inwardly wishing that Julara strike down Mina before her eyes. As the newly appointed Lady Al-Uzza left her presence, Mina watched her with a feeling of discomfort in her bones. One of the water priestesses stood off to the side with a small tray in her hands. As Al-Uzza walked past the priestess in blue, the younger priestess bobbed a small bow. Al-Uzza seemed to preen as she disappeared through the doors into the antechamber. The healer walked through the throne room and approached Mina with her tray.

With a sigh, Mina motioned the healer forward. She took the tiny glass vial off of the tray and unstoppered it. As she quaffed the tincture, Mina restrained an urge to grimace at the bitter taste. The sense of heaviness that slowly blossomed in her chased away the throbbing pain behind her eyes. Mina closed her eyes with a sigh. "Most Serene Lady," the healer murmured, "You must rest. Shall I summon someone to help you to your chambers?" Mina opened her eyes and looked at the concerned expression on the woman who couldn't have been a day older than herself.

"Yes," Mina sighed, deciding that her discomfort earlier had to be due to the ache that seemed to grow stronger the longer she was up and moving. The healer bobbed a bow and scurried off to fetch a strong servant. Mina leaned her head against the back of her throne. "Mother, why must I hurt so?" she sighed. Something of a cool, damp breath of air blew through the chamber, smelling of sweet water, and brused against Mina's face. The sensation of cool hands settling on her shoulders came with it and the distinct feeling that her recovery would be finished soon came over her. "I am so tired," Mina sighed.

"Then I shall bear you to your rest," Sorenan said as he walked through the throne room. Mina opened her eyes and looked at him. He approached her. Where others bowed before her, Sorenan simply walked forward. Mina gave him a wan smile for his boldness. Unable to find the focus to voice her question why he was back so soon from the discussion with the high council, she closed her eyes. Sorenan stooped and picked his lover up. Mina set her head against his shoulder and was fast asleep long before they had reached her chamber.

Craft of Writing: Coincidental Inspiration.

I was at the grocery store today. As I whipped through there picking up stuff to make dinner, I came upon a display of Halloween decorations. The sight brought me to an abrupt halt. It wasn't the usual coffins or skeletons (though a skeleton was involved). There was nothing cartoonish about it at all, actually.

It was a gibbet with a skeleton inside. To be more accurate, it was the box that hung off of a gibbet when a prisoner was hung in chains. They were at times locked into these cages that were just large enough for their body to be in alive, left to die of dehydration, exposure, and from wild animals gnawing upon them. At other times, the corpse of a person who had been hung or similarly executed was placed within the cage and affixed to is so that they remained upright as the limbs eventually rotted off. Gibbeting is a method of execution that serves two purposes. One is to prolong the agony of the one who is placed in their confinement alive. Two is to remind the living about the steep penalty for the crimes that the condemned was convicted of committing.

I thought about buying one. I seriously considered it. As I thought about this, it struck me that would there be ethical discussion about such a grisly mode of execution between the religious communities of the Seven Kingdoms? What of the people who were confined and had nourishment and aid smuggled to them in the dark of night? How long would they hang in chains? What became of the bodies when the period ended.

I have done some reading about the topic and how it was handled in history. Some of the details are rather repulsive. Others, while fascinating, are disturbing because it shows that we are neither as genteel as we wish to present ourselves or as humane. Contemplating methods of execution is not a pleasant thing, to be perfectly honest, and it reveals some of the worst elements of human ingenuity. As much as I find myself repulsed by it, however, I recognize that there are things that we shouldn't turn away from.

Some authors feel that their writing is to entertain. Others feel that their writing is a vehicle to discuss and consider the human condition. There are a great many writers who do both. Of the three, I have to say I find the final group to be the most compelling. I try to write to that goal. Socrates is reputed to have said during his trial (the charges were corrupting the youth of Athens) 'the unexamined life is not worth living.' Perhaps we should amend this to say 'the unexamined life is not worth writing' and take on the mantle of studying what it means to be human and what makes us so through our work?

This is what came to mind as I considered the gibbet cages I saw in the grocery store.

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Random knowledge: Poetry

Some poetry techniques are not used much anymore. Some of them are actually quite fitting for the fantasy world that I'm writing in. Here's a brief survey of them. I have not composed any exampled because I am still figuring out the techniques.

Bob and Wheel: This is seen in Chaucer's work in his satire piece where in he parodies Sir Thopas

Ballads: This is seen a lot in the secular music that has come down to us from antiquity.

We're all familiar with Iambic Pentameter.

For the Stag's sake, let me just link to the list of different poetry forms.

http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php

I hope to incorporate poetry more into my work. I'm not entirely sure how I will do it, but it will happen.