Writerly Things ~ Collage Me, If You Can!

These are a few of my writerly things...

On a recent visit to my friend Andrea Teagan's blog (The Enchanted Writer), I read with pleasure her post "How to Make a Story Inspiration Collage." The basic gist of the project is to make a visual representation of a current work in progress (or WIP) and have it readily visible for when you're writing and feel yourself getting a bit stuck. The instructions are simple and I remember thinking that just going through the process of making the collage would probably stir up all sorts of ideas for your WIP. My next thought was, "Hang on; I totally made one of these for my (as yet unpublished) novel, Bedeviled !

I dunno about y'all but, as I write, I tend to need firm mental images of real-life folks to fill in these sort of abstract characters who're clambering out of my head and onto paper (yes, paper, as I tend to write my first drafts longhand). They're actors, usually, though sometimes they're folks with whom I'm personally acquainted - which isn't to say I'm basing the characters on the folks, just that these are the visuals I've got when I'm writing the characters.

Anyway, at some point that I worked on Bedeviled, I felt myself stall and so I put together a collage which, I must admit, is not as grand as the collage Andrea posted on her site but worked the necessary writerly mojo for me. There are two panels to this collage, which I've scanned and elaborated upon, below. My character's names come first (followed by the names of the dudes I visualize as I write, in parentheses).

Clockwise from the top: Ardos (Thomas Gibson); some random beach, somewhere; Father Gianni (William Hurt); me and my Sis on a wintry Robert Moses Beach, Long Island, NY; Gavin (Gerard Butler); and Mike (Samuel West).

Clockwise from the upper left: Cadzick (John Cusack); me and my Sis on her alma mater's campus (I envision this space as belonging to the chapel in my story); Gabe (Matthew McConaughey); Rafe (my friend, singer-songwriter Tama Waipara); a snippet from some magazine which perfectly summarized the basic themes of the story; a clawed hand belonging to no one in particular...as far as I know.

I've been thinking of Bedeviled as a supernatural thriller for quite some time but, lately, have desired to take it in more of a romantic direction - which is to say, rather than starting with the Main Character's love life at its crisis point (and having very little interaction between her and her fella except for the beginning and end of the tale), I want to tell the same crazy story while also showing the developing relationship between Madeleine (my main chick) and Gavin (her main squeeze). So, yeah; I've a fair bit of revising to do (and then some - what I've got in mind is a gargantuan process which will undoubtedly take me all summer to complete). Am I daunted? Hells, yeah. Can I make it happen? Sho, 'nuff. Probably. (God willing!)

Tagged with The Lucky 7 Meme!

Mina Burrows, blogger and fellow lover of Austen, Stoker, and Poe (and a fellow "Mina," as well!), has tagged me with The Lucky 7 Meme. Thanks for the shout out, lady!

Here's how to order! Uh, I mean...here's how it works. 

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines as they're written-- no cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers
5. Let them know!

Well, allrighty, then: here are 7 lines from one of my WIPs, a paranormal romance/pseudo-memoir tentatively titled There Are Monsters. Constância, a reluctant 21st century vampire, tries to work through her grief over the loss of her parents by journaling about her drastic transformation during her senior year of high school in 1987. In this snippet, the 7th line on the 77th page is the end of a section, so to give you 7 lines, I had to trip into the next section (and a little into the 8th line, just to complete the thought - don't shoot me!)

Back in Anne’s room I ripped my top off, hung it on the doorknob, and jumped back underneath the bedclothes.  Aching for Tristan, and from whatever the Change was working within me, I rocked myself back to an uneasy sleep.

#

Mom was a real pleasure to deal with when she picked me up Saturday morning.  Surly, sarcastic, and accusatory by turns, she made the ride from New Rochelle to Mount Vernon only slightly less painful than the bacterium working its way throughout my system.  It took every ounce of self-restraint I possessed (and some I didn’t) to hold my tongue and not lash out at her.

And now for the tagging!

If you've been following along, you'll know I tossed my hat in the ring for Cherie Reich's 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest this week. My little romantic tale, Mom Guilt, didn't make it to the final round, but I had a blast writing it, as well as meeting other brave and creative bloggers. I thought I'd give props to 7 other participants whose stories I especially enjoyed (click on the red links below to read their groovy, fewer-than-300-words, entries):

Surrender to the Sea by Andrea Teagan

Footloose by Jamie Gibbs

Lightning Flashed (untitled) by Jennifer

A Choice at the Crossroads by Chris Fries

Seasons by Christine Rains

Lightning Flashed (untitled) by Joshua

Lightning Flashed (untitled) by Angeline Trevena

I hope you do check them out, as they're all terrific in their own, special ways! And to the good people whom I've tagged - if you've recently been tagged with the Lucky 7 Meme thing and/or you're not up to doing it for the time being, no worries; I really just wanted to showcase your work for this blogfest! :-)