A rose may be a rose but a Hector can never be a Philip

[pbray]

Writing: 3,393 words today, in two sessions. I impress myself.


This morning I sat down to write, and after several false starts managed to grind out just over 800 words. I told myself I couldn't quit until I had done at least 1,000, so I forced myself to keep writing. Even another 200 words of complete dreck would be better than stopping early.

Somehow I kept going, and when I finally came up for air I'd written over 2,000 words. It was also 1:30 in the afternoon, so I was really really hungry. Showered, and went out to a local watering hole where I had lunch at the bar while reading over the pages I'd just written. Came home, did stuff around the house, then was inspired to start on the next chapter, writing just under 1,400 more words before calling it quits for the day.


Why it's cool to be me. As I was driving this afternoon, a line of dialogue popped into my head. Traffic was too busy for me to write it down, so I kept repeating it aloud so I'd memorize it. Then, the line firmly fixed in my head, I began to chuckle. What other job gives you the satisfaction of coming up with cool lines like this?

"He is to be burned alive at the foot of her pyre, so the sound of his screams will ease her passage."

As you can tell, the new book is a light and happy story :-)

I've sketched out the next few scenes that need to be written, so anticipate another productive day tomorrow. And I've finished assigning names to the key conspirators. Names are vitally important to me as I flesh out my characters. "Pretender to the throne #1" is a job description, not a name. To understand him I need to give him a name that fits. Hector is a very different person from Philip, and thus each name needs to be chosen with care. It's why I own five name books, and am always on the lookout for more.

Finally, in other writing news, I received an e-mail from my copy editor. The same copy editor who worked on the Devlin series is working on THE FIRST BETRAYAL, so I know I'm in good hands. He e-mailed me to let me know that he had just finished the copyedit, and he liked the story very much, which is a wonderful compliment.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Somehow I kept going, and when I finally came up for air I'd written over 2,000 words.

I often have to work through a gawdawful slog just before a big, fingers-can't-type-fast-enough breakthrough. That moment of spill-all-over-the-page is very nice.

[janlewis.livejournal.com]

You should get one of those little voice recorders to keep in the car.
Oooh, another idea, if you have a cell phone, it may have a feature where you can record short audio messages. My husband's has that. Hmmm. Maybe it's time we trade phones...

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I counted eight baby name books on my shelves. I picked up the first one in high school yonks ago.

It bugs me when I read a story with a badly named or misnamed character. If the guy is named something that is feminine sounding, for example.

(I go spare if the name is flat out stupid).

Great word count! I enjoyed reading your process today. I get those inspired snippets in the shower where I have to remember them long enough to finish up, get out, get dry and get to paper.

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, NAMES. If I don't have the right one, the voice isn't true. Often the name is key to the plot, as well. I've only got 2 name books--LaReina Rule's from a million years ago, and a MONSTROUS one called "The Baby Name Countdown." But I've found the internet to be a very rich source, especially for ethnic names or alternate spellings. I mine the Celtic name sites all the time.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

There are some great name sites on the web, but I like being able to look at a list of names over coffee, and idly page through them. Which I did this morning, as I'm debating whether Simon or Gregor will make a better Minister of the Treasury :-)

When I was writing the DEVLIN series, I found a great website with lists of Norse names from the sagas, and printed these out so I had them at my fingertips.

In case anyone is wondering, the name books I have on the shelf over my computer are:

"Dictionary of Given Names" by Loughead, a 1974 reprint of the 1933 work. Heavily Anglo-Saxon and Germanic, with a large number of 'North American Indian' names that aren't commonly found in other name books.

The "Writer's Digest Character-Naming Sourcebook" by Kenyon with Blythe and Sweet. Nice ethnic organization, it's great for writers who need to worldbuild a culture by using linguistically similar names.

"From Aaron to Zoe" by Richman (15,000 baby names), your standard tome.

"40,001 Best Baby Names" by Stafford (I understand the new edition is now 50,001.

and "Book of Irish Names: First, Family and Place Names" by Coghlan, Grehan and Joyce.

[naominovik.livejournal.com]

"He is to be burned alive at the foot of her pyre, so the sound of his screams will ease her passage."

I was just browsing back a bit as I do when I first hit a new lj, and this line really does just leap off the page. With sharp teeth and claws. *g*

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks!