a few words before it's over

UPDATE: I browsed this blog only to find my thoughts about music and about finishing Halo QUITE a time ago. ouch. I've been postponing finishing for quite a heap of justified and unjustified reasons for such a long time it hurts now just to think about it.

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what is over?
no, not the blog - although it has shown positive signs of dying over the past few months. I am sorry for that.
I was kind of distracted from writing the story (named Copper Moon) this blog was set up for in the first place.
first I started to write another piece (named Halo), got on with it quite well - well, at least it has been the good case for a couple of weeks, but I'm kind of stuck now. to be honest I have been stuck with Halo for a good couple of month now.
I have written some 5,2k words and the story is about to end within a few pages. according to the original idea, there are only 3 scenes left.

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the problem is that Halo is more like a vignette. a vignette of 5,200 words? - I hear the roar and/or laughter from the virtual distance.

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I have to face it: the story has no real story. it's rather like a description of someone's mental and physical breakdown. no real plot. no real evolution of the main character. Halo kinda lacks all these. it does give hints and suggestions, some of the passages are quite likeable and realistic, some others need some revision, some passages fit into the story quite well, some others seem to fit a much larger story instead.
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I think I just have to force myself to finish it (= write those final 3 scenes) and decide later on about the manuscript. UPDATE: I have already added 1K+ characters to Halo today. Who-hoo.
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1. any opinions?
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and finally, thoughtful Rick has asked me not to let music take the place of writing. heh, if only he knew I took up singing :)))
he will know now, and there's nothing wrong with it. I sing in a women's choir, we do religious and folk songs, and the like.
but I think I quite accept his thoughts about finding it hard to escape music in this modern era of ours. some people even go further into claiming that 'they refuse to be in silence' - now that is so very sad. these people do not allow their inner voice be heard by themselves. either b/c there is none... or b/c those frighten/tire/bore themselves...
I'm all into music, and with a few exceptions, I like all sorts of it from ancient pagan chantings to folk songs, from Mozart to System of a Down to ambient...
but sometimes it takes silence to get your thoughts heard.
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so, what is over?
why, 2009 of course.

2. How was your writing year of 2009?

The Full Moon at 2 September.

There has been a lot going on lately... or is it just that I'm more tired... ?

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This is a post about one of the homework we were given in the writers' group.

-to be continued-

feeling the moon

I found that somehow the Full Moon has an influence over me.

I'm more sensitive, inspiration seem to just come... I don't mean it makes me a better writer at all, but the flow is higher - and does it make me a werewolf?

do any of you experience anything similar?

not so good news-or are they?

summer's here and the kids are at home.
I have next to nothing in the inspiration department so all I can do is frown at my own non-compliance of my wow to keep on writing.
sad and pathetic I know, but I'm sure it will get better.
it just can not get worse I'm afraid :))
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but no, that ain't true.
I did write four poems inspired by a short-lived strange feeling toward a special someone, plus I wrote a fifth one inspired by a long-span strange feeling toward one (other) special someone - coding, just coding here, my all...

*edited by me: all the five poems are in Hungarian, but one of them is translated into English with the help of my blogging-friend Chris.
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which means that yes, I can pat myself on my back for in case of a definite need, there *is* inspiration and writing.
what else can anyone hope for?
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I hope you are going on fine with your writing projects, my dear.
be well,
SzélsőFa

Third meeting

The third meeting is due today.

In the email circular our leader suggested that there would be less projects and more fun in the classes.

This time I am way behind with my homeworks. We had like 4/5 tasks and I'm finished with 2.

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One of them was to revise one (or one part of) my previous work.

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I have two ongoing projects (wips). One is Halo, the other one is called Copper Moon. I have not contributed a single line to the latter in more than a year. Do you think it means I will never ever finish it? I don't think so. I want to finish Halo first, you know.

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So, since none of my longer-sized wips are ready I re-composed a poem instead.

It is a simple 8-line paganistic poem.

I adjusted the number of syllables so as to have the same length of lines, removed 2 cliches and 1 inappropriate word. I chose more suitable words and expressions. Also I changed 1 word to avoid unnecessary repetition.

This poem is written in Hungarian.

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I usually do this revision as a habit, you know.

Now the strange thing was to do it deliberately and with defined methods.

I tend to write impulsively, which sometimes results in quite a flow of words, sometimes with not a word at all for weeks. I assume this is not the right way, but I find it hard to manage and control my inspiration. I don't even know if any control is possible.

Whenever I'm finished with something I usually check the thing over to remove and unwanted repetitions, cliches, misused words, inappropriate subjects and objects, verb usage, grammar and so on.

I do it impusively, too -

How your writing's going?

Another task

We were given lots of tasks in the first meeting.
Some of them I described in the posts beneath this one, and there's one left.
It was called : Change your life.
At first, you had to choose an important event of your life. Most preferably, it needed to be a conflict, an exciting moment, something with lots of emotions involved.
Once you had this memory in mind, you had to write it
1-in first person singular
2-in third person singular
3-having different POVs, preferably from each person involved
4-with all the persons 15 years older/younger
5-in a completely different set of emotions (say, if the original story was happy, now you had to write a sad one)
6-in a completely different set of events, but with the exact same set of emotions (say, if you had an uplifting story with a birth involved, you had to re-write it about, say, a car accident, but with the same uplifting tone.)
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I'm sorry but I don't have the time to translate my versions, I might do this some time later...But not now.
I chose an event that happened to my son in his classroom.
There were him, his best friend and a bad guy (a third classmate) and this bad guy's best friend in the story. I wrote it from each of their point of views.
I chose to re-write the story when the characters were 20 years older. The guys became co-workers. The whole event has taken up a more detached tone, with a tired feeling.
For number five I chose that the bad guy was good.
For number six I changed the setting to a skiing camp, where the main character decides not to go on with the camp so as to avoid something that made him fear.
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It was really interesting to see how different the monologoues of the different characters were. The most difficult thing for me was to define the range of emotions (for tasks # 5 and 6).
The most challenging task was to write #6. Interestingly though, once I had a sparkle of inspiration I finished it off quite quickly and nicely.
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This #6 was the one I read aloud at the second meeting.
I wonder what people thought the original story was....
:))))
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'll be back with more news soon.
Cheers,
SzF.

My answers and a new task

Dear readers,
I am thankful for your answers for my three *whatif*s.
The game is not closed, so you may all contribute another completion anytime you wish.
Yet, as I promised here are my three finishing lines:
1-What if everyone in a park suddenly fell asleep?
Everyone would be having the same dream in which they are having a garden party with balloons and funs and jokes so that when people gets awake, with the same memory in their mind, they all share smiles and laughter with each other.
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2-What if someone, working in a car repair shop fixed a tank (a sturdy army machine) out of the parts the shop normally uses?

Suspecting conspiracy, he starts his own private investigation into the company.

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3-What if a family found out that they have to move into a foreing country?
A painful farewell party is organized and given, when love-and-hate relationships formerly hidden came into the front, leaving former friends as enemies, and former neutrals as close friends.
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And now, since my computer is due to another re-installation, I'm leaving you with another task. I mean this is a task we were given, but it's kind of fun so you are encouraged to share your results with me.
The original task was to pick a recent day of my life.
I had to write about the events in a.) first person singular; b.) third person; c.) in sentences containing not more than 10 words; d.) in one long sentence; and finally e.) using only nouns, with a limit of 40 words for the day.
I did it dutifully, but it was a tedious task.
I found doing a.) and b.) a bit boring, but the difference between various POVs came out nicely.
Task c.) was really, really boring, because I love long sentences when it comes to description. I think this task was to make events appear faster than they really were. Any opinion on that?
Task d.) on the other hand was really challenging, because we were not allowed to use 'and' as a connection. Task e.) came as a refreshing one and it created a dramatic effect.
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Now, if you are still in the mood for a game, pick any of a-e. and write it in the comments section.
And as I'm taking this course in Hungarian I will not translate tasks a.-d. - anyway, they are quite boring, but I'm presenting you with my solution for task e.
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March 3.

Awakening.
Chicken.
Corn.
Bed.
Kitchen.
Breakfast.
Quarrel.
School.
Discussion.
Notes.
Plans.
Pen.
Writing.
Music.
Exercise.
Tiredness.
Slaughterpants.
Garden.
Chase.
Axe.
Neck.
Feather.
Skin.
Intestines.
Meat.
Lunch.
Boy.
Girl.
Games.
Joy.
Home.
Table-tennis.
Tiredness.
Laughter.
Dinner.

Homework for April

The followings were among the homework we had to finish before our April meeting - my notes are in italics.
Task One:
Complete three sentences starting with 'what if'. I guess this exercise helps gathering new ideas, finding a nice start for a plot perhaps. Strange as it may seem but I'm new to the terminology of writing. If I misuse any word, please let me know so that I can use it correctly.
We had to write our threes right during the meeting and our homework was to answer each of those three questions in one sentence.
Hear my three 'what if'-s:
1-What if everyone in a park suddenly fell asleep?
2-What if someone, working in a car repair shop fixed a tank (a sturdy army machine) out of the parts the shop normally uses?
3-What if a family found out that they have to move into a foreing country?
You turn - if you have time and willingness, that is, of course.
Finish my 'what if'-s with your answers. One sentence per each question, please.
I've written my three answers to these, and will be willing to give them away within a couple of days.
But I'd love to see your versions, too.
Let's play, if you're in the mood for a little game.

The first meeting

Hosted by the local library, the the first meeting went easier than I expected.
I had this fear of getting into
a.) a group of published, and/or otherwise famous authors, where I would definitely feel minor and unworthy,
b.) a bunch of people with no talent, in which case the idea of visiting the group would deem pointless.
It turned out that the group consists of aspiring authors with talents of different kind. They both have the drive to create and they are eager to learn.
I think this is an inspiring environment for me.
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The leader of the group is an author of several fiction books. He's middle aged. He listens to our works and takes his job seriously. He's kind but firm when it comes to managing a debate. So far, first impressions are good.
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And now about the actual events:
There were two newcomers, including me. When everyone arrived, we introduced ourselves. I'm far too shy when it comes to public self-introduction. I want to make a good impression yet stick to the truth - the outcome is an honest, but not-so-flattering mumble of words. Pfft.
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The leader talked about some basic aspects of writing a longer piece of work.
Most of the topics he covered were covered with my fellow bloggers. I recall Charles having mentioned the importance of pacing (i.e. alternating between fast and slow, events and dialogues, etc.).
He emphasized the importance of an outline.
These things may seem far too obvious, but the main point is that they only seem so. The leader admitted having to send 100k of his new novel into the Recycle Bin due to the lack of a coherent outline.
I think his honesty may make these sessions more valuable.
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Every once in the while his speech was interrupted by handing out and/or checking exercises.
One of them was to analyse three poems by a famous Hungarian poet named Pilinszky János, one of them was to write 3 sentences starting with the ever famous 'What if...'.
Then, we were to read our writings.
As I gathered, each time tasks are given. Everyone gets the same set of tasks as a homework.
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For this occassion one of the homeworks was a so called self-inducing paragraph.
The task was to write the first sentence just about anything we want. The second sentence however, had to be composed by using 2 or 3 words of the same sentence. The third sentence had to contain 2 or 3 words from the first two sentences and so on - until you feel it's finished. Here's my job (translated into English)
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Looking out of the window she saw braches covered with snow, sparkling in the sunshine against the clear blue of the sky. The world was covered with snow; branches were mixed with the sunshine. In front of the window on the small garden path a cat shook some snow off of himself. Mixed in his coat, there were black and grey mixed with the shower of snow falling off the branches. The path was grey; his pupil was black against the blue of the sky. In the frame of the window, under the branches a hunter was on his way on the garden path.
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I read my version, others have read theirs, too, and we had a little discussion.
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Finally, we got our homework for the April meeting.
Pending computer availability, I will probably inform you about those as well.
But since the language of this course is Hungarian, I will or may not be always supply you with the actual texts I write as homework.
Yet the problems explored in a homework are universal.
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My overall impression was that I will definitely attend next time to see how it goes. To floow the others, to improve myself...
When I informed my husband about the nature and quantity of homework he raised his eyebrows….
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One

Phew, I'm back from the writers' club event I attended for the first time last evening.

- I'll be back with details soon.

a simultaneous post

Well, my home computer is broken but will be up and ready within a few days.
Surprisingly enough, I seem to enjoy the peace the lack of internet means in our home.

In the meantime, let me draw your attention towards my other blog called Gondolatok az erdőben. Don't get warned away by the Hungarian title. I write my blog in English (well, the one I know).
The Hungarian title means 'thoughts in the forest', or 'forest thoughts', and is basically about anything I face in my real or imaginary life.
Whenever I have anything to publish is getting published here. Poems, writings, photos and musings about everyday...it's all there, while this one is about writing only.

Thanks for your attention.

Dear all,

Blue death has taken my home computer. This I write from the office PC of my husband.
We are trying to find the best solution as soon as possible.

goin' local

while I am an advocate for local thinking (as an opposite to globalism) it never occurred to me to actively search for a local circle of writers...
it seems now that the opportunity is just here fine at this very point of my life :)
reading my mailbox I came accross an ad for the March session of the local group of writers/poets. As far as I see, this is a helping group, a writers' class, if you like, for any unpublished writer or writer-to-be.
I remember when Paul wrote a post about going to the first of his writers' class. His was excited about it and so I am.
I don't know anyone.
I contacted one of the organizers in an email and got my first homeworks...
More on those later on...
Did I tell you I was excited?

funny or sad?

I returned to see how can I possibly finish writing Halo. I opened the word document, isn't that great? This is something I have not done in weeks.
I found 22,000+ characters and a couple of instructions to move further on.
I also found this particular sentence labelled (by me) as **a bad example of mismatched subjects and actions**
Here we go:
Hail’s left foot moved forward and raised his sword above his own head.
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Oops.
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The online game is over

inspiration here you come?
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I'll be working on it ;)
Cheers,
your not-a-writer

*covers head*

hm, the server I'm playing is about to close within two weeks now.

Which means I'll have more free time and brain capacity to focus on the work I've started.

As a (bit of a silly) New Year Resolution, I woved to finish Halo this year.

I have no illusions about it - since at the moment I haven't got the slightest notion and inspiration as I used to have. But I'm being patient with myself.