Monday, December 28, 2009

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?

4 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

My 09 was pretty good on the writing front. I think you need to just force yourself to finish Halo, let it sit a while, then go back and reread to find if there's a center or a story there that you can further develop.

SzélsőFa said...

thank you Charles!
I have talked about it with my husband, too.

fact 1: it has no plot, no evolution, nothing I've learned about in that writers' circle...

fact 2: I like it. I like reading and writing it.

fact 3: I have no intention to marketing it. not in English, that is.
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conclusion 1:
I will finish, let my fancy take me within the limits of the original plan - and think about it afterwards.

conclusion 2:
I will let it beta-read by my English speaking friends. have their suggestions heard.

conclusion 3:
I will translate it into Hungarian and see what effect it will have on my bests friends.

Crafty Green Poet said...

2009 was a good year for my writing, because I put together a chapbook that will be published in April 2010!

There are some great novels that could be said to lack plot (James Joyce's Ullysees and Don De Lillo's Underworld to mention just two, so Halo is in good company...

Have a very happy new year...

SzélsőFa said...

oh, Juliet, heee - thank you for your words of encouragement :)))))
I'm sending you my best happy new year wishes to you!