Thoughts of Grandeur

Note: Tomorrow I promise I will write about something other than reading books and writing. I fact, I will be writing the runner up entry from my last Giveaway. Joey S. from Stewartville, MN (Yes, my son, Joey) submitted the topic "What makes Spanky so stupid." But for now, this is what was on my mind today-

I've started to craft a story. I'm just not sure if it's going to be something I'll ever finish. If you know me well enough, you know I tend to hop into a project with best laid intentions and thoughts of grandeur. Then I get bored, get lazy, work myself into a point where I need assistance and the result is a half done messy looking shitshow. Another factor is my life is in a bit of a... What's that place Catholics go before they're admitted to Heaven? Yeah, that me, in that spot. Best laid plans of someday may not come for my own personal love story. But for today, God's grace and the sun shines upon us, so we'll tuck that nasty nugget away. And speaking of nasty nuggets, it's almost time to go back to my full time boy job. Pun totally intended.

I started off not knowing who my characters were. I didn't even have a plot. If you dig real deep back to high school English, you could say, "But, Sarah, how can you write a story and not know what you're going to write about?"
Crazy, huh?

Well, I've been doing some research and apparently you can craft a story from an opening line that's sticking in your head. As I've said before, by research I mean I Googled a statement and clicked on the first result. Actually I clicked on a few because I didn't like the answers the first couple pages presented to me. Alas, I found one that told me I could do it that way.

So what was the statement that was sticking in my head so much I began a whole story with it? It's embarrassing, actually. The kids were watching a DVR recording of Lizzard Lick Towing and Ronnie and Bitch in a Sausage Casing were chasing Bobby and his ex girlfriend and BiaSC states she needs to know what Ex Girlfriend is up to and Ronnie says, "I don't care if she's up to 6' 2", blah, blah, redneck blah.
Clever statement, Ronnie. I like it.

I wrote it down in a steno notepad, using the floating writing pen I keep hidden from the kids. (Does anyone else do either of these? Get a certain satisfaction from using a pen that glides across the page or hide these kinds of luxuries from their children?) One of my kids asked why I was handwriting this and the answer is, I don't know. It seems like a very writery thing to do. I also think it lends a step to the crafting process. I started thinking about who doesn't care what another character is up to and to whom the first character is speaking of. And all of the sudden a scene was set in my head and I was filling pages, crossing things out and leaving blanks for a more clever statement will be adding at a later date. The names of the characters may be changed eventually and really I'm not sure how/why I named them what I did. So far, an inconsequential character is named after my sister, Jaime, with no likeness to her at all, the name worked.

My characters do not have concrete physical descriptions. That's all part of the creative and editing processes. When I read, unless an author tells me their characters look like an actor/actress or the character personifies someone I know, they're often faceless hot bodies with the hair the author has described. I find I lose characters when I try to pinpoint facial features or they become blurby faces like on Cops. The flaw to an author stating a character is on likeness to a famous person is of I don't particularly find that person attractive I'm all, "No. You do not look like Channing Tatem. Josh Duhamel it is!" (Haters gonna hate, Channing fans. Please keep reading my stuff.)

I think I've nailed down my plot after writing my initial conversation. This may change as I'm writing, too. I really wanted to stay away from the lead male being in a sector of law enforcement because really I don't know jack about being a cop, but at this point, this seems to be the tone I'm setting myself up for. A plot outline may have saved me from this, but I just kept picturing a hard cover book full of blank pages when I tried to think of it as a whole product. So I've now got a beginning that needs to be rounded out with character descriptions and smoother introductions to the characters. The lead female's ex keeps popping up unannounced while I'm writing so I have resolved there is a reason for this. He obviously wants to be a part of the greater story, so I have devised that eventually he will be. This was another part that just fell into place for me.

The next thing I'm struggling with is, "What kind of book do I want this to be?" Hmmm. I'm most comfortable with contemporary romances that are told in a subjective but third person point of view. The view typically volleys between the lead female and the lead male character, using phrases like:
Ally felt like she should have packed it in for the day fifteen minutes after she got to work that morning. Looking around her stale office, she just couldn't take looking the dark, seventies colored Formica desk and washed out gray wall paper with pastel watercolored pictures in chinsy metal frames. Of course, if she left early, Mary, older squat lady would be passing rumors about Ally needing to attend to a gastrointestinal emergency before lunch break.
Or
He couldn't believe he let himself lose his temper like that around his daughter, leaving him feel like a giant tool.

But I've also read and enjoyed books wear the story is told completely subjectively like this:
I can't believe I'm still at work. I've got to be, of course, because packing it in for the day at 8:15 would not only reflect badly on my paycheck, but Mary The Stout Hag, in the office next to me would promptly spread it all over the place that it looked like my butt cheeks were clenched when i left and probably i had a case of the colossal squirts.

(These are just examples of stuff I made up, not part of the story I'm writing, btw.)

These subjective stories typically don't have the change in subjection leaving the main character to relay how she perceives other characters to feel. She also has to paint a picture of her surroundings, but the book can read at a quicker and quirkier pace.. These are usually the posher looking bigger than a paperback but smaller than a hardcover books.

Man, I really kind of sound like I paid attention I'm English class! Or maybe the people who did pay attention are saying, "Sarah, you're not even using the correct words."
I get points for using the correct yours and theirs though, right?

So, who wants to be my critique group? I'm looking for a few people to send my musings to and will honestly tell me where I'm leaving holes, what questions arise as a reader and honestly if it's crap that will never go anywhere. I'd like a mix of avid readers and people who don't read at all. This unpaid job description will let you brainstorm when warranted but not co-write. Just sayin'. Heck if you think it's something completely in attainable, shoot me an email as well.

Again, tomorrow no talking about writing. Spanky ye shall be.