My new normal

I started kind of late today. I wanted to write and had a fun scene in mind. It required me to have Mari do something nice for a kid, then make it dark and dismal right after.

I’ve probably been under a rock somewhere, but recently saw the term PTSD dreams. These sound kind of like what Mari is going through, but I won’t use that term in the story. If I don’t have it absolutely right, I could inadvertently offend someone going through this issue.

Mari will continue to have her dreams, but I’m not putting a name on them. This time it got weirder than they have previously, and her dead son made an appearance.

I’ve put her in a strange position of discovering some good in the world, but getting sucked down by her own past at the same time.

Her life now involves one gigantic ox, who she doesn’t exactly love, but has grown to respect. There’s also a coonhound pup at that gangly stage where she’s all legs and enthusiasm, and Mari loves her dearly.

I need to milk this for some emotion between her own suicidal quest and concern for her animals after she’s gone. Must remember to do that.

As far as the word metrics go, it came to 2000 words today. That sounds wonderful until you realize it’s also 2000 words for the week.

I no longer have a flex day I can dedicate to writing, so this is my new normal. Things will slow down, but I can still push out something every year.

My Pinterest boards have been getting some wonderful comments, so I’m going to keep sharing them. Today, I’m going to share one that is a subset of locations. I call it “Decay.” https://pin.it/E5d3QUa

Pecking away at the keyboard.

It seems like progress in the writing game just involves planting yourself before the keyboard and chipping away at the outline; written or mental. That’s how I approached my day.

Once Upon a Time in the Swamp is as much about the post apocalyptic world as anything else. I’ve had some fairly grim sequences, and decided to make this stretch a little happier.

Mari came to a city that seems to have accepted their world, and life is much nicer here than anyplace she’s been so far. She’s been in a dark place, and this will give her something to think about as she continues her travels and the hunt for those who killed her loved ones.

She might even have fleeting thoughts about what might happen after her quest ends. This section was kind of a nice respite, but I won’t let her make too many long term plans. Her quest is a life or death kind of thing, so she’ll turn dark again fairly soon. This usually happens when she’s alone once more.

I chose a place called Spanish Fort, Alabama for the town that’s moved on from the historical disasters. Mobile won’t be quite as nice after she leaves.

I’m at around 47,000 words now, and added about 2500 today. Might even get a few more tomorrow.

Old What’s Her Face has to work tomorrow, and we had a nice breakfast before I sequestered myself away. Not exactly date night, but it was great.

It’s time to think about what I need as I approach that arbitrary 80,000 word target. We can learn more about the world, but she needs another fresh clue about the men she’s chasing. Eventually, she has to catch up to them, and this story is going to require a longer denouement phase. I don’t have a hard plan for the number of words, but it’s on my mind now.

I’ve been sharing Pinterest boards and have gotten some good comments about them. These were all made at ten minutes per night over a long period of time. I don’t use the app like everyone else. My boards are all writing related, and are more like a visual notebook or inspiration board. This one is called Magical Gadgets, Mad Science. https://pin.it/3peGbLC

Let me know what you think. Almost anything can be a magical gadget, but it’s nice to have a reference and that’s what I’m building. Is there something here that might fit into one of your stories?

A little better today

I’m definitely in the middle slog with Mari’s swamp story. I broke the 40,000 word mark by the time I quit and ended at a chapter. (Half a novel. Woo-hoo!)

This can’t be an action sequence, so there was a lot of training involved. Some of it quite brutal and she has bruises and scrapes everywhere. I also included a tiny bit of world building, but didn’t get too deep this far into the story.

I’ve reached the point where it’s time for her to pick up the trail once more. There are more clues to where the killers went in the next town, but she’s better prepared for what she’s seeking now.

Oddly enough, an old movie called Hannie Caulder came on the other night. There are some similarities to the story I’m telling, but I think mine is better. Of course, I don’t have access to Raquel Welch, but I like Mari and she’s doing just fine.

This is one of those stories where I could kill my main character in the last chapter and it would work out well. I’m sure it would be a stronger story because of that. I also know I’ll never actually do it.

I took one tiny break to Google wildflowers of the Florida Panhandle, for the sake of accuracy. This world is full of exotic creatures, because Florida is that way now. A few wildflowers help blend everything together.

There’s a pretty good chance I’ll pick up Lizzie and the hat the next time I take up the keyboard. This is a great point to leave Mari, and she even has a roof over her head this time.

While I already know what’s going to happen with all my stories, sometimes switching tales brings new ideas and thoughts.

I’d kind of like to have her cross the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. It would take about eight days by ox and wagon from where she is now. This is because after an extended war and nationwide system failures, it makes for a decent struggle. Imagine trying to live off the land, but there is only a swamp and it’s below you, out of reach.

My research says this thing is eighteen miles long. I can stage it so there’s at least one uncomfortable and hungry night spent on the bridge. Fill it with holes from war damage, add a ton of ox, and it could be interesting. No area for grazing either, which could cause a critical delay if I come up with something. Weigh that against the odds of my spelling the damned thing correctly.

I’ll have to ponder it while moving the hat forward in his next adventure.

Hope everyone out there is having a great weekend.

Chipping away at it

Somehow, I managed today as my flex day. It hasn’t happened very often that I get a four day weekend out of the schedule, but I’m pretty stoked about it.

Tried my hand at some fiction this morning. It’s going slow. I’ve been dwelling on this story for years, but I still have to get post apocalyptic America on the page along with everything else. This involves things like transportation which is back to horse power, or in Mari’s case ox power.

It also involves a monetary system where barter is king, and salvage is a way of life. The currency exists in the form of quarters. These are more durable than old paper money, and people can sift through the rubble for them on occasion. Sometimes purchases are made by the coin count, other times by the pound. It’s +/- $20 per pound of coins. I looked it up.

I also have to work with geography and a few ideas from the fall of our modern society. For now, I’m sticking with “Once Upon a Time in the Swamp,” for a title. Something else may come to me as I write it out, but it functions for drafting purposes.

I’d like to start another Lizzie and the hat tale soon. Working on two projects at once really functions well for me. When I get in a bind on one, I can switch to the other and still earn word count out of the day.

I keep finding some pretty obscure music as part of my hat research. After so many volumes, I’ve covered a lot of tunes people are likely to recognize. I hate to use obscure stuff, but might have to start weaving some of that in.

This is something new from Samantha Fish. I think it’s a cover of an older song, but I can totally envision Lizzie and the Pythons playing it.

I’m thinking the working title for this story will be “Goodbye Old Paint.” That will probably be a line of dialog in the story. It will involve national security, and her being forced into helping. My motivator could go down in flames, though. It involves Lizzie’s unpaid student loans. If the president forgives those it might force me to change directions.

With any luck, I might start writing this one before the long weekend ends. Right now, Mari and the swamp need more of my attention.