It's the end...of 2009 that is.

I can't believe the year is just about over.  I think my only resolution for the year is just that I need to write more...whether that's here or in other places.  I know there are other things I could resolve to do, this is promising to be a hectic year in my life, but I'm going to give it a try. 

Where has the time gone?

Wow! It's been a while since I've written anything.  Life has been busy, and I've had a lot to do.  Writing hasn't been on the top of my list.  Maybe I should get busy again.

Speaking of...

As I've editing When the Wind Whispers Your Name, I've decided that I'm just not that into the title anymore.  First of all, it follows the same formula as When Broken Sparrows Fly, and I like that title more.  I'm not really sure what route I should take. Here's a brief synopsis of the story. Due to circumstances (and one messed up in the head dude) out of her control, Lizzie Kinkaid is taken from her home and has her memory sorta erased (it's not totally gone, just repressed due to the synthetic chemical MX-23).  Her husband, Nick, and best buds Tess, Dan (who are married) and Russ think Lizzie just took off of her own free will.  Two years later, Lizzie comes back, unaware of who she is.  Nick and company work to help her regain her memory while aforementioned messed up dude tries to kill her. 

That's about it in a nutshell.  Any suggestions?

About me? Yuck!

Barring my writing on the unfinished novel, I have to write an autobiography.  No, I'm not going on celebrity dish, planning on busting on everyone I've ever known in order to feel better and sell books.  It's a part of the paperwork I'm working on for the adoption process I'm going through right now.  And, boy is it a process!  On top of everything else, they want me to write an autobiography.  Dang!  I'm sure they don't want a book, but how do you compress 36 years into a few pages?  What's important?  What do I make sure to include and what do I definitely NOT include?  

I guess I should get started on that.  

Goals

I've set a goal for myself to finish W.t.W.W.Y.N. by the end of the year.  Well...that's not going so hot.  I only have 27 days left!  And 3 of those are holidays...well one is a holiday and the other 2 should be.  I need to get my butt in gear!!  

Failing that goal, I'm definitely going to have this baby done before NEXT Christmas.  Hmm...well I hope so anyway.  

Writing can be Murder!

Sometimes the decision comes to kill off a character.  I've killed off a number of characters in my time.  In my original version of W.B.S.F., I think there was something like seven people who were knocked off.  Even the final version has about six people dying.  What prompts me to kill off a character?  I think it really comes down to the need to create tension and show that the stakes are high for the main characters.  If no one dies, then is there really the possibility that someone you care about could die?  Are they really in danger?  

I made the decision to kill off a majorish character in W.t.W.W.Y.N. and while it was sad for the characters (and me), I think it was the right decision to create tension and conflict.  So, good-bye to all those killed off characters...you should be happy knowing your death made the story better!

Cutting a Character

When I'm editing, I have found that certain elements that I at first thought were terrific, don't work as well as I had planned.  When I was writing W.B.S.F., there were a number of characters that upon a  later edit I decided were unnecessary.  I also added a new character which has it's own challenges.  

The problem with getting rid of an established character is that you then have to obliterate every reference to that person.  The more involved that character was in the story, the more references that need to be erased.  Plus, I had to make sure the story worked better without them.  Things needed to flow and make sense.  I didn't want the reader to go, "Hmm...something's missing here...what's going on?"  

I've been editing W.t.W.W.Y.N. and have come to the conclusion that I need to get rid of a character.  There's nothing inherently wrong with this character (a spunky FBI agent with a dog and a cat) except that she doesn't fit very well into the story.  I made the decision to focus on the main characters and that didn't leave a lot of room for character growth and involvement for Delia.  On the plus side (and more evidence that she should probably go) was that she's really only in four or five of the first 29 chapters.  That's just not enough to make her important to the story.  By disposing of her character, I'm hoping that I can keep the story tighter around the main characters and keep the story from going in the wrong direction.  

While poor Delia is getting cut out, I still like her character.  She has a unique personality, and I like her, so I'll just file her paragraphs away.  Maybe I'll find a story just for her someday.