Owl Story Trivia

I have been working on a project called Owl Story for the last 4 or 5 years. I posted about it when I was writing on it pretty regularly. Then I kinda wrote myself into a corner and I left it alone to work on other projects. The other day my mom asked me how it was going and when she would be able to read it. It is one of my stories that really grabbed her interest.

I wrote most of the story by hand on legal pads from the dollar store. (Dollar Tree Rocks!) And I kept all the pages together in one place. However since we have been moving, I don’t know where I put it for safe keeping and I had typed most of it on a thumb drive. There again I don’t know where that is either. So for the moment the story is lost except for the first part.

I recently read over the introduction and its good. It isn’t perfect, but it is a good start. I am thinking maybe I should start over keeping the introduction, but taking it down a different path. That may help me in several ways, either show me how to get out of the corner I wrote myself into or open up a completely different story.

One problem I had was too many main characters. I can see that now looking back on what I remember. I was trying to keep up with ten (10) characters that would be classed as main characters. Ambitious I know and overwhelming trying to keep that many spinning plates. I think I would focus on maybe three and a possible fourth as a wild card character.

Stay tuned for future updates on Owl Story and I might even try for a proper working title. And let this serve as a lesson to you. Just because you have a back up copy of your writtings. It serves no purpose if you can’t find it. Also it means when you move make sure All the writing stuff goes in one safe and Findable location.

Cheers, james

Update: I thought I found it but it was a regular old legal pad with a bunch scribbles. Practice, notes about life in general, and lots of self doubting angst. Too cliche I’ m afraid, but true.

Owl Story Update

Update: As of Sunday, Sept. 20th my typed word count is 14,812 Yay! I am still twelve handwritten pages away from being completely caught up. So I have broke the 16,000 word count. For me this is huge. I’ve never written this much on a story. Not so great news is it has taken me a year and change to get here.

I have been typing on my main work in progress. Noticed that my font size instead of being 12 point was 10.5. No wonder I had the zoom on 140%, cause I couldn’t see it. I thought it was just me, being blind. I changed it to 12 and my page count jumped from 28 to 32.

Yay! I have typed up from page 86 to page 96, I think. It is a lot slower typing it up vs. writing it up. I’d still be working on it, but the grill was calling me.

So I am tending to fire, grilling a nice chunk o meat. The hubby had to work this afternoon so, I am being wifely?, and making supper. I think he will be pleasantly suprised driving up and seeing smoke from the grill and not his kitchen. Lol!

So cheers to you on a lovely evening, james

Progress, Owl Story update

I have been fussing with Owl Story for the last week, ever since my pen decided to quit and the replacements wouldn’t be found. (Yes, I am well aware it is silly to only write with a certain type of pen on a certain type of paper. But… if you knew how nice these pens work with this paper, you would understand.) In the scene I am working on, Dmitry is running from a possessed wolf pack (how cool is that) and I needed a place to stash him for safe keeping, until the pack is gone. I stashed him in a old tree on par with the California redwoods. And to get back he has to pass through a swamp with some type of monster living in it.

I keep wondering am I going to far? Swamps are bad places to wander through without a swamp monster to fight off too.

Cheers on a Sunday night. james

Owl Story update

I decided to catch up my typing on Owl Story, while I mulled things over about what needs to happen vs. what is happening. One passage struck me as a “hey wait a minute that’s a mack truck sized plot hole”. Reading the several pages leading to it I typed my orignal. Then I included the rewritten and hopefully better passage. Funny thing is the second part has gone further than the original. Finally progress on something.

I like learning more about one character’s backstory, when she first appeared I didn’t know if she was good or bad or what. I am starting to think she will have a more active role than I originally planned. I’m pleased with the story’s current progression. Still have about three pages and change to catch everything up between the hard and digital copies.

I am starting to wonder about the wisdom of writing pen and paper, only to have to type it later. Although it quiets the need to edit and get one paragraph or page right before moving on. Pen and paper allows me the freedom of “I’ll fix it when I type it up” mentallity. And everybody tells you, first draft is getting the story on paper. Then your second and third draft, you edit, edit, and hopefully after all the ink, sweat, and tears a final copy is born.

Hope this chilly evening finds you well. Cheers, james

Owl Story Introduction page

Dear Readers,

I have just posted a new page, this is the introduction to Owl Story. It is the most polished of my story as I thought it would be a short story. However it seems Rachael and Sean’an had other ideas. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Cheers, james

Writing vacation

Me and the hubby took a vacation earlier this week to the Outer Banks. The weather was perfect, clear blue skies, not to hot or cold, just gorgous weather. (FYI: the water at Nags Head is coooooold!)

Anyway after supper the hubby would carve or play a game while I wrote. Mind you I wrote some while I was gone, but mostly I read. I looked with fresh eyes at pages I haven’t poured over in a month or better. (Yes, thank you, I am well aware I write slowly and eraticly. Spelling is also not one of my strong suits.) So imagine my dismay that on page 80 my healer slips two of the main characters a sleeping potion and on page 86 they are having a pow wow. (Do we see the nasty, glaring, plot hole looking at us?)  So it grabbed my attention and now I wonder how many other little holes are dotted in my story. I left the prevous 76 pages home in a small oversight, packed them in the wrong bag. So now when I get a break I can read the whole thing and get back in my story.

So the above quote is quite correct. Cause when the pen wasn’t flowing on the page, I was thinking about the story and how to get it flowing from the current point to the next point.

We saw this sign in a jewerly shop window and the hubby had to see what it was all about. The sign says “Gunz & Glitz, fine jewelry, firearms, and ammo”  promoting Dare Jewelers at Nags Head. Good way to attract men into a jewelry story. Lots of neat little shops and nice beaches up that way. Cheers and have a great weekend. james

History-Character Development

In writing, how much history do you give your characters? How much of their histories fuel their motivies, passions, obsessions, strengths,  or flaws?

The past is the whip driving my bad guy, fueling his desire for revenge. While my heros, the past is the burning flame that keeps them fighting. Fueling their hope, good will triumph evil and the battle will be won. Past regrets and choices haunt both sides, and only by raising above those ghosts will they suceed.

The youngest of my heros is also the one the past weighes heaviest. A prophecy to fullfil and self doubts about making the right decisions fuel her fear of failing. Especially since the other heros won’t speak of the past for fear of repeating it. And she is left fitting bits and pieces together. The only ones willing to speak about the prophecy are three shadows that are not able to directly influence the world. She questions their motives, even though they helped her the first time she met them. The past haunts these spectors as they must watch from the sidelines while things unfold. Hoping to right past wrongs and reclaim their honor. Of all my characters these three are the unknowns as they can tip the balance of the story.

I have tried to make all my characters  well rounded, although I have self doubts they are believable folks. I take heart in an Ernest Heminway quote: “Characters are cliches. I write about real people” (I hope I got that right) I continue to write and plan on following my story where it will take me. Cheers on a Monday night. james