Well, I'm back from my trip to Belgium and France - it was a phenomenal vacation, with lots of sightseeing and plenty of time for basically spacing out and thinking about nothing. I honestly didn't plan to spend any time on writing, but I did get several one-line outlines for some stories (that I'll write in the future, but not anytime soon), and a complete outline for the revamped version of "The Girls of the World". Not so shockingly, I've come to realize that it needs to be a novel in three parts - a three-act Victorian-inspiredmelodrama, complete with all the elaborate trappings and stagings that go along with such animals. And while the "flavor" of the novel will still be steampunk, with that distinctly Victorian London flare to the setting and behaviorisms of the characters and culture, there will be many more fantastical elements, which will probably push it directly into the "New Weird" camp. I'll write it next year, after I've finished "The Ruins of Love".
And of course, I thought a lot about "Ruins" - I've come up with a tentative outline (nothing on paper, only in my head) of the first half of the novel, but I'm unclear about what happens between then and the ending. I tend to get anal about outlines, thinking I can't write anything longer than 20k words without one, but the fact is, I can't postpone the project just because I don't have things completely worked out. I have to trust that I'll find the way, that it's already in my head, already fully complete - just that my conscious hasn't caught up with that murky subconscious of mine quite yet. So, I'll keep thinking about the plot, keep tinkering with ideas - but lightly, and not with any intentions of finding a final solution. Come hell or high water, outline or no, I start writing the novel on October 1.
FYI, I'll be posting my vacation photos over on Flickr, and blogging about specific things on Livejournal. I'll post the links when I start uploading the photos. Right now, I've had two beers and am coming down off of three hours sleep, eight hours of flight, and a six-hour time change. I'm not to be trusted with links. :P
And of course, I thought a lot about "Ruins" - I've come up with a tentative outline (nothing on paper, only in my head) of the first half of the novel, but I'm unclear about what happens between then and the ending. I tend to get anal about outlines, thinking I can't write anything longer than 20k words without one, but the fact is, I can't postpone the project just because I don't have things completely worked out. I have to trust that I'll find the way, that it's already in my head, already fully complete - just that my conscious hasn't caught up with that murky subconscious of mine quite yet. So, I'll keep thinking about the plot, keep tinkering with ideas - but lightly, and not with any intentions of finding a final solution. Come hell or high water, outline or no, I start writing the novel on October 1.
FYI, I'll be posting my vacation photos over on Flickr, and blogging about specific things on Livejournal. I'll post the links when I start uploading the photos. Right now, I've had two beers and am coming down off of three hours sleep, eight hours of flight, and a six-hour time change. I'm not to be trusted with links. :P
Labels: "the ruins of love"
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