Writerly Ways

Inspiration is something we've talked about before but it's worth revisiting (mostly because it's what's in my empty head at the moment). Finding inspiration in published works, that is. No, not talking about the feeling of 'I must write fanfiction for this.' That's something else entirely. (and btw, it's interesting to note one of the slash cons in CA has invited the erotica publishing house I work with a lot to speak at the con specifically those who started out as fanfiction authors so the stigma is lifting).

Anyhow, I'm talking more about seeing inspiration from things already on the shelf. Sometimes we see a book and go 'damn, there's my idea!' That is not inspiring. However, on the other hand we see one and think 'this is like my idea so there IS a market for it.' That happened to me this week reading Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta.

What I found inspiring about it was that it was a fantasy, set after a destructive war, looking at the lives of the people it affected and their goal of restoring their kingdom. In many ways that is the plot of my last nano Voluntary Nightmare but that is where the resemblance ends (very different character types, time settings, religion etc) so I wouldn't worry about feeling derivative.

What I found inspiring was that even though the general plot was to restore the kingdom, most of the book was planning and that event actually took less than a handful of pages in a 400 page book. The book was about the characters not the event. Savaria, Charis, Ethon and Sverre in my nano novel are the focus of the book, much more so than the actual plot. The book is one of character growth and change. So now I see that yes there is a market for such a thing. It takes a weight off and I feel freer to continue down the path I'm on with that novel (not at the moment since I'm finishing up other things but Sverre has yet to shut up so I'm sure one day it will see its conclusion)

Anyone else ever have something like this happen?

Of course there's the flip side to the published shelf when you see something not so great get lauded far beyond what it deserves and you know the market is going to be flooded afterwards. Or see a big name author move into territory you wanted to write in. For instance, seeing Anne Rice muscling in on her sister's territory with werewolves. Then again, is anyone at all still reading Anne Rice?

Yearly word count -

7140 / 75000 words. 10% done!

and I've done nothing else on any short story at all this week (bad me. VERY bad me). I did write some on Until the Ice Breaks, getting closer to finishing it.

And unless I get lazy or overwhelmed with work I shall have FMA big bang done tonight then start the hideous process of making it not look like talking heads

I didn't leave the house (oh and weight off)

got a lot done.

1. heart lecture
2. spinal cord lecture
3. the goddamn fma big bang
4. half my grading

what I didn't get done
1. watching the dumb netflix i've had for a week
2. cleaning anything

I've been sort of nauseous all day (and yesterday) I'm assuming my paresis is acting up. The sugar is. going from low to high and back again.

Well I did clean out the fridge and took out the cat litter which broke on the kitchen floor. Whee.

Mom is bored. The weather was bad there this weekend so her and dad decided to bag it and just stay up on the hill. I think she's called me ten times in 2 days and she's back to house hunting for me. (found nice ones. I need to go look at them in situ. I think they're too in the city for me)

Hey Angel & Buffy peeps, the owner of the Angel book of Days archive is moving it to AO3. If Justhuman hasn't contacted you and you did that challenge (boy was that a fun challenge) let me know. I'll direct you where to go. My stuff is up on AO3 now (same user name as here). I was going to do it but she didn't wait for me. So cool

Frontline has failed for the final time. Anyone know how long that shit takes to kill fleas? One week later and all three still have them.