Help! I'm Running Out Of Words!

So far I've written 5,632 words of 7,500, and i haven't finished the second section. I have to say that participating in NaNoWriMo has helped me get my ass in gear and get writing instead of just doing endless research, but it's making me face the flaws in my work. Overall, today was very depressing. At best i would describe this first draft as 'skeletal' and almost totally devoid of emotional depth, because i just don't have the word-space to play with. It's driving me mad. I'm almost ready to hang up my keyboard, throw in the soggy towel and generally have a tantrum, but I'm too stubborn. Doesn't change the fact that I'm deeply dissatisfied with what i have. I'm sorry, J.T. but i don't know if i can write something worth reading within the word limit.

The other thing I've been thinking about is the form. i might have to have a play with it when i have my first draft down, 'cause I'm not sure it's working.

Now what do i do with the host of disgruntled characters and 'plot bunnies' that won't accept that they won't fit in the word limit no matter how hard they diet and are all busy throwing tantrums all over my head?

In conclusion, word limits were sent by the devil to piss me off. Good job Lucifer, it's working.

First bit done!!!!!!!!!!!

I say 'done'. What I mean is that a very rough draft of the first part of my portfolio is finished. It's still going to need work, obviously, but I'm moving onto the second part now. Honestly, I think it seems a little bare, but I'm trying to keep within the word limit, so i will see how i feel when it's all written up. I would still prefer to use my whole idea, but word limit won't permit *sigh* The real world sucks sometimes ;)

Am taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, if only to make me stop faffing and get on with writing lol. There's only so much research one can actually cram into a piece of writing before it stops being a story and starts being a collection of research. All the same, research is fun...

New Eden website

Not very exciting but....

I'm trying to write down the various bits of info I have on the Seven Houses and New Eden as a whole, so that I'm not trying to hold it in my head - so that I can concentrate on exactly what I need to be focusing on, make sense? Anyway, there's a link over there ------->

Plans For Reading Week

I say 'plans' knowing full well that 'the best laid plans' yada yada yada.

Obviously I plan to catch up on the reading I've been a little swamped by in my other modules and find out what I can do about my coming assignments, but I think I'm ok there. Other than that, I'm planning on working on my portfolio. I'd like to make some sort of decision about the form, because it's getting to be in a rather ambling way, which isn't great.

Just Checking In....

Yeah, still working on my portfolio, just don't think I've got anything ground-breaking to say about it. I've been thinking about having a look at some of the abandoned avenues to see if there's anything i'd still like to use.

'Til next time

Waffle and Anno Dracula

I've been considering various aspects and issues and problems with my portfolio, one being how to condense my (typically epic) ideas into the word-limit, and have decided to 'simplify' the storyline by only pursuing the 'Alena' storyline, and leaving other other storylines and sub-plots out for the purpose of this portfolio and work on them in my own time. I've also been considering the settings in which Glass Dresses will take place and have discovered that I need to brush up on workhouses and various poverty-related laws of the time, including the obvious Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 and the issues of child labour and prostitution.

I've also just finished reading Kim Newman's Anno Dracula, an alternate history set in the Victorian period under the premise that Van Helsing never killed Dracula, allowing him to take over Britain, and leading to the spread of vampirism.

Anno Dracula is set in 1888 - the period in which the infamous 'Jack the Ripper' was haunting London, mutilating and murdering prostitutes; in this case, all vampires. I was advised to read this by K.S. - a tutor in another module - and have really enjoyed it. The setting is - as far as my research and knowledge of the era goes - historically accurate with obvious exceptions. I will be looking at the book in more detail now that I have read it through to look at how Victorian London is constructed, and which details are used to solidify the image in the reader's mind - examples being the fashions, sensibilities, and currency.

I'll write more when I have more time, but for now - busy, busy, busy! ;)

Live and learn

Well, I've learn that funerals are a farce and that Orwell's prediction of the evolution of the family unit in Nineteen Eighty-Four wasn't far wrong - at least judging by the behaviour of certain individuals. But as a little toad once said; onwards and upwards, forwards and faster.

I've been working on the proposal and the extract, and trying to work out where this is going, and how to cram my idea into 7,500 words, as per suggestion by JT in our meeting - albeit a fairly informal one. It's been noted that I tend to have rather epic ideas that don't translate too well into the given word limits, with the result that extracts can leave a reader with a dis-jointed impression of what I've been trying to convey and a fractured, unclear view of the image I'm trying to present; so this time I'm going to try to keep it all within the word limit, rather than using extracts... fun.

Hell In The Proverbial Handcart

Was debating whether or not to actually make a note of yesterday's...events in this journal, since it's a uni thing, but i figured it will probably affect my work so here it is:

my uncle died. three hours after i got that phone call, Sappho also died. On me. Literally. I had to watch the whole thing. I don't care that it sounds trivial, i don't want to explain it all AGAIN.

So honestly, i dunno what's gonna happen in the next few weeks with my portfolio. I know it sounds bad, but I'm being honest: I really don't give a crap about writing right now.

Catching Up: Part Four - Goddamn 'punks...

Yep, it's me again. Well, who else would it be, really? Don't you roll your eyes at me...

I've been considering the possibilities of a neo-victorian society, so I've been reading whatever I can find out about it, including - gasp! - a perilous trip to the uncharted territory at world's end, otherwise known as Wikipedia. A common word that came up in relation to neo-victorianism was the word 'steampunk' which, paraphrased is a setting in a world that still runs on steam power. A real intellectual leap I know, but bear with me, all will be revealed ;)

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.
Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.

As you can no doubt guess, this lead me to go poke around and find out what i could about cyberpunk:

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is derived from cybernetics and punk and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983, although the style was popularized well before its publication by editor Gardner Dozois. It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.

This lead me to the word 'Biopunk' - and yes, I confess to surfing wikipedia at the time. While I'd been interested in both steam- and cyberpunk, neither of them quite fit properly with what I was working on.

Biopunk (a portmanteau word combining "biotech" and "punk") is a term used to describe:

1. A hobbyist who experiments with DNA and other aspects of genetics.


2. A techno-progressive movement advocating open access to genetic information.


3. A science fiction genre that focuses on biotechnology and subversives.

...

Science fiction genre
Biopunk science fiction is a sub-genre of cyberpunk fiction that portrays the underground side of the "biotech revolution" which in the 1990s and 2000s was expected would start having a profound impact in the first decades of the 21st century. Biopunk stories explore the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a backdrop of totalitarian governments or megacorporations which misuse biotechnologies as means of social control or profiteering. Unlike cyberpunk, it builds not on information technology but on synthetic biology. Like in postcyberpunk fiction, individuals are usually modified and enhanced not with cyberware, but by genetic manipulation. A common feature of biopunk stories is the “black clinic”, which is a lab, clinic or hospital that performs illegal, unregulated or ethically-dubious biomod and gengineering procedures.

So there you have it. I am writing a dystopian, therianthropic biopunk novel :P

All quotes taken from www.reference.com

Catching Up: Part Three - NEXT

I've previously read Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and picked up NEXT very cheaply on a whim. I really really enjoyed it. There were a few things I noticed about Crichton's style while I was reading NEXT:

• Multiple styles of narrative. As well as 'straight-forward' narration, Crichton uses both newspaper and academic journal syles of writing to communicate information to the reader. A short note near the end of a book informs us that a character is dead, nothing more is said in the text. This can give a rather understated feel to the writing at times, at others, it lends credibilty and weight to the story. Visually, it had a very interesting effect, one I would like to consider in my portfolio/


• Depth of research. Crichton clearly spends a lot of time researching the topics that his books revolve around, and it shows. The evidence of this is visible in the extensive bibliography at the end of book. The result of all this research is that the whole book is logically and scientifically credible - to the average person. It is of course possible that an expert in the field of transgenics would fid mistakes, but the average reader is not such an expert. A mixture of the quantity of research and the clear understanding of the subject that he demonstrates, as well as the knowledge that he has had some education and/or training in scientific and medical background, makes the reader comfortable in believing the more complicated concepts being proposed.

The book is well grounded in the 'real' world, the fictional elements being so well worked in and backed up that they are entirely plausible. We may not yet have created an ape-human hybrid (to the best of my knowledge) but it is posed in a way that makes the possibility believable - it could happen if events progress in this direction.

Catching Up: Part Two - Bitten

I read Kelley Armstrong's Bitten and HATED it. I liked the depiction of werewolves - as a group or a race - pack life, the need to Change, but the heroine made my blood boil. Brief outline, and totally, objectively unbiased... naturally...:

Elena - heroine, only female werewolf in existance: the 'gene' is passed down the male line - is in a long term relationship with a human called Philip. So far, she's neglected to mention that teensy bit of information about herself concerning the whole "oh yeah, I'm a werewolf!" thing... Nice. He's in love with her, looking to settle down with her, and later proposes to her. She claims to love him, but does little to back up these repeated claims. An emergency takes her from the 'human world' to the 'pack world' surrounding her with others of her kind, reminding her of the life she chose to leave behind - incidentally without actually TELLING them. Seriously, this girl has no concept of how a wolf pack functions... it's painful. While she's there, she just HAPPENS to have sex with 'Clay' - repeatedly - and openly says that she does not feel guilty, although she wishes she did. Did I mention that Clay was her fiance? And that he turned her into a werewolf in the first place? And that he's in love with her?

I found the sex scenes and the almost unstoppable tide of violence were gratuitous and did little if anything to move the plot along. In the end, she decides to live happily ever after with her pack, showing less than no concern for the effect this ordeal has had on Philip, never actually telling him that she's leaving him. As seems to be her habit, she leaves him to guess it from her absence.

All I've achieved from reading this tripe - apart from some very violent reactions to it - is the knowledge of what exactly I DON'T want to write.

Catching Up: Part One - 1984

Ok, read Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and really enjoyed it. Before I read the book, I opened it at random, and came across a phrase i really liked, one that seemed to fit quite well with the tone of the project I'm working on: 'Thought Police'. I noted a few quotes that really stood out to me:

Page 56

'How could you have a slogan like "Freedom is Slavery" when the concept of freedom has been abolished?'

A comment made to Winston by a fellow 'comrade' called Syme, when they are discussing the progress of the latest Newspeak dictionary, leading to the comment on the party as a whole. Winston rather astutely predicts Syme's fate as a result of this comment:

'One of these days, thought Winston with a sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vapourised. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is wrotten in his face.'

In a rather Stalin-esk gesture the Party moves to protect itself from people like Syme whose plain understanding of the nature of the Party itself could undermine it, by removing him, as it has with countless other 'comrades'.

Page 266

'The command of the old despotisms was "Thou shalt not". The command of the totalitarians was "Thou shalt". Our command is "Thou art".

Thus O'Brien lays open the (rather disturbing) heart of the world Winston inhabits. Obedience isn't enough, Big Brother intends to secure itself by changing the way the citizens think, as demonstrated by the presence of the Two Minute Hate, Hate Week and the destruction of the family unit as we understand it, replacing it with a unit of spies that wait for an opportunity to betray one another. This understanding of Big Brother's plans for the society is crystilised in a phrase a little later in the book:

Page 280

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - for ever."

I enjoyed the book, but I wasn't sure about the ending. It left me rather disatisfied because, in the end, Big Brother wins.

I Have Internet Again! Fear Me!!!!!!!!

Just a quick entry to note that I have access to the 'net again (assuming all goes well, which is always dangerous...) Over the weekend I will post to update the journal with what I've been doing over the summer, as well as updating the list of books I've been reading... it's a long list. Might take a while to get up to date, but I haven't forgotten, Honest!

Writing Madness!

Not totally convinced about what i've been writing. Still struggling with seeing where it's going in a broader context. I have a vague idea, and i'm mostly just using the opportunity to develop Alena and the world she lives in, but i really want to get a handle on the whole narrative think that's always been a struggle. I don't want to over reach myself again. I'm really enjoying myself, but i'm just not sure quite where it's going just yet.

Notes To Self

Directions I want to pursue in addition to books already suggested with very brief explanation. More detailed comments individually.

Workhouse: read around this for House omegas, main court, Old House training courts etc

The Age of the Five/The Black Magician Trilogy: Brilliant style of writing, tone and suspence, twists etc, great characterisation.

My Family And Other Animals: Humourous, dry, autobiographical style might be useful

His Dark Materials: Don't roll your eyes, there is logic here. Alternate version of reality, similar to ours but different.

Finished Lady Audley's Secret

I really enjoyed this book once i got into it. I loved that she kept holding things back right until the very end, and not just what Lady Audly's secret is, but also the last twist right at the very end :)

It's taken a while to actually post that i finished the book because i couldn't get to the computer :(

Still reading Lady Audley's Secret

Just a brief entry to let you know i'm still around...

Still reading Lady Audley's Secret and enjoying it more than i thought i would. The suspense is good, and it's not full of the soppy romantic stuff i was half expecting...

So far it's a thumbs up. I'm afraid i'm dense and I haven't worked out what the secret is yet. Because of the nature of the books i like reading, something in the back of my head keeps shouting 'vampire! werewolf! mad axe murderer!!!!!!!!'

Lady Audley's Secret

Based on a suggestion from K, i have checked some more books out of the library. I've been doing lots of reading, even though i haven't posted in a couple of days; i'm just giving what I've read a while to filter through and fit into place if that makes sense?

I wanted to have a bit of a break and read some fiction, so I've started reading Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon. It's not my usual reading preference, but it's a welcome change and i haven't actually rolled my eyes at it yet! ;)


I've only read the first few chapters, so i can't really comment on the book as a whole yet, but so far it's good.


Anyway, back to the reading, writing and making sense of freaking victorian ideas...

The Place of Peace: 1

i've already been reading around the subject of Victorian society. The first one i'm 'studying' (so to speak)is Jenni Calder's The Victorian Home (The Anchor Press LTD, 1977)

i have found this book interesting and full of rather apt quotes! The first chapter is called 'The Place of Peace'.

'The picture of the victorian house... is essentially an environment maintained by women and controlled by men.'

This is one of the most distinctive features of the period, what i first associated with the Victorians in comparison to the world i lived in as a child. The victorian home was a world dominated by the husband/father, where the woman's role was strictly defined and controlled. A wife was expected to ensure that the home her husband returned to was well kept and run smoothly, and - most importantly - peaceful.

'Victorian attitudes to marriage reflect this understanding of the home as a place occupied by a woman who was, ideally, both decorative and useful...

The man aquired a licit sex life... in a situation where someone else was responsible for the provision of food and comforts, a decorative symbol of achievement and, perhaps most important, a solidity and status which society approved, indeed deemed almost a necessity for the pursuit of a conventionally acceptable career, or occupation, or simply existance.' (page 9)

A victorian wife was seen to fail if she could not or did not provide these things, especially if she had servants to help.

In 1865, John Ruskin said:

'This is the true nature of home - it is the place of peace; the shelter, not only from all injury, but from all terror, doubt and division. In so far as it is not this, it is not home; so far as the anxieties of the outer life penetrate into it, and the inconsistanly-minded, unknown, unloved, or hostile society of the outer world is allowed by either husband or wife to cross the threshold, it ceases to be home.' (page 10)

According to Ruskin, the primary function of the home is therefore a place of refuge. 'It cannot be separated from Ruskin's view of women... for he considers it woman's function to preside over this refuge. It is the woman who must ensure that the home remains 'a place of Peace'... Home was a refuge and women made it such... as guardians of comfort and replenishment.' (page 10)

This idea of the home as a refuge from the hostility of the world beyond its' doors, and the apparently catastrophic effects of this refuge ceasing to be is something that interests me and i would like to pursue as a theme in my writing.

That's all for now.

x-lm-x

Portfolio Journal...

Urgh! So out of practice at keeping a journal/diary/blog/whatever...

So, not really got much to say at the minute, since i've only just started really. i thought it might be wise to try to manage my time better this year, rather than getting over-enthusiastic about specific elements and pretty much forgetting about the rest...

As i said, i don't have a whole lot to report right now, just forming an idea of what i want to do, and doing the research. i've been researching Victorian culture mostly, since i want to base my portfolio in a neo-Victorian setting - i do at the minute any way... let's see how enthusiastic i am in a few weeks when i'm still hitting brick walls left, right and centre - focusing on one specific House this time, whereas last year, as a Field Year Journal, my character, Jennis was supposed to be looking at the Houses as a group. This year i would like to examine his House in more detail from the point of view of another character, since Jennis is no longer a resident of the House of Tulnrek! (Not really a long long story, but still...)

Still got a lot of research to do for this project, but i'm trying to spread my work more evenly this year, rather than focusing on one bit, then the next etc, so i am also working on the written part.

Interestingly, i have found that my intentions have already changed a lot since i first started working on this project. i had originally intended to do a more in-depth look at the House of Sollenverl, but found that i just wasn't... comfortable with the characters. i decided to leave her for another day, and see where this idea fell more naturally. After dismissing House of Almara as too anti-social by nature and 'not quite right' it occurred to me that maybe i should try the original House, where the whole project had started! Duh! Sometimes i'm so stupid it's aggressive... *sigh*

i have also been looking at the animal side of my characters, since they are Shifters (mostly) to see how that will affect the 'human' aspects of their society. Getting a little frustrated by the repetitive nature of the internet, but suppose that's in part because i would much rather just go watch a wolf pack in their natural habitat... which isn't going to happen anytime soon...

Anywho, onwards and upwards...

x-lm-x