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I took advantage of Livejournal's new tagging feature to completely organize this journal by writing project and other stuff. I've also changed around the layout again. I do wish I could put the tag somewhere other than at the end of this entry.
Cat vacuuming masked as research
Oct. 9th, 2003 10:31 pmMy writing group describes all the things writers do to avoid writing as cat vacuuming exercises. Because after you've straightened and cleaned and vacuumed, you run out of things to do. Since the cat will shed anyway, you think vacuuming said cat will save future time and expense. It will also seriously annoy the cat and probably clog up your vacuum, but who's telling this anyway?
I am a master of odd types of said cat vacuuming. There is a reason I spent more time hanging out in the technical forums on the Nano board. Part of it is just plain curiosity. Why does someone need that obscure opera? Or funerals? Or what do you use instead of shampoo?
The second place I hang out is the soundtrack forum, because I am a film music afficianado. Every story has a mood. Even if you don't listen to music while writing, you might still associate your story with certain songs or types of music. "Trial by Light", last year's Nano, has a soundtrack of medievalish music, suited to the fantasy elements. I haven't found the perfect lighthouse song yet.
This year I am doing the Roaring Twenties. I have unearthed all of my appropriate cast albums. We have also discussed the perfect Nano anthem, like "Paperback Writer" or Elvis Costello's "Every Day I Write the Book". I like the suggestion of the "William Tell Overture" but it started slowly and then built to a frantic/frentic pace. I also think there should be a theme for the plot ninjas. Which begs the question? What do lurking plot ninjas sound like?
I did do some quasi-real research for "Where or When" by finding "Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's" by Frederick L. Allen, a book I remembered from a history couse in college. Actually written in 1931, when the Jazz Age was a recent memory, I recalled the book as providing a very vivid perspective on the time period.
I am a master of odd types of said cat vacuuming. There is a reason I spent more time hanging out in the technical forums on the Nano board. Part of it is just plain curiosity. Why does someone need that obscure opera? Or funerals? Or what do you use instead of shampoo?
The second place I hang out is the soundtrack forum, because I am a film music afficianado. Every story has a mood. Even if you don't listen to music while writing, you might still associate your story with certain songs or types of music. "Trial by Light", last year's Nano, has a soundtrack of medievalish music, suited to the fantasy elements. I haven't found the perfect lighthouse song yet.
This year I am doing the Roaring Twenties. I have unearthed all of my appropriate cast albums. We have also discussed the perfect Nano anthem, like "Paperback Writer" or Elvis Costello's "Every Day I Write the Book". I like the suggestion of the "William Tell Overture" but it started slowly and then built to a frantic/frentic pace. I also think there should be a theme for the plot ninjas. Which begs the question? What do lurking plot ninjas sound like?
I did do some quasi-real research for "Where or When" by finding "Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's" by Frederick L. Allen, a book I remembered from a history couse in college. Actually written in 1931, when the Jazz Age was a recent memory, I recalled the book as providing a very vivid perspective on the time period.
