Writing Report – 20 February 2018

While I do admit today was a slow day for me in terms of my writing, there is no denying that with my intensive schedule, days such as this are bound to happen every so often. I take the good days as well as the bad, because without the bad days, then a writer does not learn anything new. They never learn to adapt and improve. That should be the goal of every writer: Improve with every word.

Progress Report: Tuesday 20 February

Focus of Writing: Crow

Word Target: 2,500

Words Written: 2,505

Overview: Every Tuesday I work on my pseudo Noire Mystery Novel, Crow. I call it as such because the main character is a female and the conventions of a noir mystery do not apply to the fullest because I write books not to follow convention, but to play with them and perform complex subversions that do not seem evident at first.

For Crow, the best overview I can give of the work today is that the story is an extremely slow burn as I move toward the first of the major plot twists. It might be something people can see, but that is the purpose of it. It provides a major conflict and a new solution for the protagonist, Ashley, to solve.

Ashley herself is a dynamic character. She represents the dark side of people and is intended to be not the most likeable person, but one that gets the job done no matter the cost. Her disillusion with the world and her apathy for the feelings of others makes her a dangerous foe if someone gets on her bad side. Her arc centres around her inability to recept to change and the steps she tries to take to rectify her situation by confronting what she does not like.

The style of Crow is a dual focus first person that jumps back and forth across a period of several days as the pieces of the story build and culminate into a tense climax. The ultimate goal is to have the reader know how certain things turn out, then highlight how they happened through the course of the novel.

Like Kile of Chronicles: Ascension, Ashley is a fierce female lead, with many quirks not present in her science fiction comrade. In contrast to Kile and her gender blending nature as her society dictates she must utilise, Ashley has a clearer role in her world. She is a clear female in how she presents herself. She does not try to be androgynous in any way nor does she hide the fact she identifies openly as a lesbian. That brings in a massive character point for her: She hails from Alabama and identifies as a Christian, so her sexuality defies everything her beliefs say she should stand for. It is a little piece of information that is quite pivotal in how people react to her.

What I Did Today: The work I did on February 20 had a prime focus in building on the Main Dramatic Question and a minor case of character building in terms of Ashley herself. I accomplished that by highlighting a little of her background and how she plays into the alternate version of San Diego I am using as the backdrop for the front of the book. I do not give away too many details of her life, because that is something that is best saved to litter the book with. I do not believe in exposition dumping a reader, and Crow is one of my most unique experiments to test the waters of a genre I have never touched before.

 The Best Sample From Today: Today’s best work is a testament to how subtle I can be with what I write. While everything I wrote today took place in a single place, the whole focus came on the mindset and backdrop around the enigmatic Ashley.

Being short had its advantages sometimes. I was not as liable to have an errant arm strike me across the face. Some of the more obnoxious males flailed around without a care for those around them. I felt the rush of air on the top of my scalp as I slunk past. I kept my head on a swivel as I looked for the perfect target. Arguing with Heather caused my arousal to shoot sky high. I needed the release. I came upon a group blocking my way through the house. I cracked my neck and approached the group with a furrowed brow. I tried to get past. There was no way around. I cleared my throat.

In the sequence, while there might not be a focus on anything in particular, I feel it generates a fantastic portrait of Ashley’s mindset in a situation she does not find herself in on a regular basis. I like to think of Crow as a masterclass in writing psychology. I am not a psychologist, but I draw on my own mental experiences to create composite characters that serve a multitude of roles. That is what this sequence shows: a weary mind facing a trivial task.

The other notable part in the sequence is the lack of visible emotion shown by Ashley. Crow is a novel I anticipate to have quite a hefty amount of emotion as the story builds, so to have a main character that is so unfeeling is something that is quite disconcerting to a reader and it is that point that will grip the reader.

How Productive I Felt I Was: In terms of my productivity today, I feel I accomplished a lot with the development of Ashley’s character and my approach to the Main Dramatic Question. While I might not have the consistency when writing Crow as I do with something like The Elder Ones, the fact that week after week I can put out writing I am happy with is astounding. Every week that passes my confidence about Crow grows and grows. I find that every day serves as a testament to my resolve and creativity that I manage to continue in a consistent fashion.

I feel that today was on par with last week. Crow is something that I need to really wrack my brain to write, and the way it progresses is astonishing to me.

 What I Intend To Write Next Week: Next week’s focus is on the first twist that marks the end of the introduction to Crow itself and I have been looking forward to that particular event since I resumed work on the novel. If I can keep my spirits high, then nothing will stop me from accomplishing my goals regarding writing.