Grande Galerie des Glaces

"When I'm starting a book, I compose in bed before I go to sleep. I will lie there in the dark and think. I'll try to write a paragraph. An opening paragraph. And over a period of weeks and months and even years, I'll word and reword it until I'm happy with what I've got. If I can get that first paragraph right, I'll know I can do the book. ... The best first line I ever wrote is the opening of 'Needful Things.' Printed by itself on a page in 20-point type: "You've been here before." All there by itself on one page, inviting the reader to keep reading. It suggests a familiar story."
--Stephen King

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.theatlantic.com /entertainment /archive/2013/07/ why-stephen-king-spends-months-and-even-years-writing-opening-sentences/278043/?utm_source=writersfb

Now I feel a lot better about trying to get things to sound right when I am working on a story. :)

Found elsewhere, I'm just sharing the link. Enjoy!: http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/fortolkn.html


On Tolkien and Fairy Stories
by Terri Windling


"I propose to speak about fairy–stories," begins a famous essay by J. R. R. Tolkien; and I can do no better than to echo the good professor's words today. I propose to speak about fairy–stories, and why these stories mattered to Tolkien. And why such stories, including Tolkien's own fairy–stories, have mattered to me.
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Well, so far we have missed the worst of the storms, though that could change at any time. (I keep reminding myself of this because otherwise it's too easy to think no storms will come this way.) The snow we did get last week was not too bad, though most local schools were closed Thursday and Friday. We've had a little bit more since then but nothing major. Yesterday a lot of it melted off but today was too cold to do much melting.

Writing continues but slowly. Saturday I got a wireless mouse and I am working on my laptop now, which isn't too bad -- or at least it wouldn't be, if I could keep the cursor from jumping around all over and cutting into the wrong sentences/paragraphs. Nothing is worse than typing along only to discover that half the sentence has gone elsewhere. I am sure it is because I keep hitting the wrong keys on the laptop keyboard but unfortunately, I will just have to shut up and deal. but -- one of the pluses is that I now have spell-check again! :) [Because yes, even though spell-check is supposedly 'on' for my desktop, it isn't registering properly. Go me.] I'm also trying to get back in the overall mood I was in before my desktop decided on the latest tantrum. But there is progress -- just not as much as I had hoped for. And of course I am getting all sorts of ideas for everything but the story I am supposed to be working on. ::dramatic sigh::

One thing I do wish I had was a quick way to add in various names and other words from Tolkien to the dictionary section. All of the umlauts and other accents are hard to add properly. The umlauts are easy to spot but with names like Cirdan and Celebrian, I have a hard time being sure if the 'i' has an accent or not. And yes, I know they do but honestly? it doesn't always look like it.

Ok, time for me to switch computers again and see what sort of progress I can make .

Ttyl!

From oloriel via Tumblr:
The 22 rules of Storytelling, according to Pixar

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
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Yes, I'd say this is right. :)

All sorts of news today; most of it deals with Irene, and there's nothing I can really add or say since I am so very far inland. As for all of my f-list and their families who are dealing with this, I am thinking about you and praying for you too. It would have seriously affected my cousin Donna(tm) and I think -- make that, *I know* -- a big part of me is still waiting for her to call and tell me about it. :(

It's times like these when I am almost glad that I live where I do. At least I know what to expect, and yes, I am all sorts of prepared. Though here I am more likely to be snowed in during the winter or something like that. So I have lots and lots of emergency supplies laid in (no, I do not consider it to be hoarding behavior either.)


On a lighter note, I finished my AinA fic, so now it is just a matter of waiting. Also, I have decided to take part in a big_bang, so... we shall see what happens with that. Right now I have two very separate but viable ideas, and I hope I can manage to pull at least one of them off.

And now it is time for walkies. My little dog simply will not quit whining until I do, lol!

Back in a few.

Yes, I haven't done one of these for a long time. After July's heatwave, everything has been -- well, more or less normal weather-wise. Tonight though we have an interesting storm system moving up from the south. Lots of sharp, streaky lightning (my little dog was demanding walkies but I took one look at that and said no way) which is cool to look at but not so fun to be out in.

I took LeeAnn to the vet on Monday for flea drops. Of course, I could have done it myself but (a) I didn't have any on hand and (b) I don't want her to think every vet visit equals a shot or something of that sort. So we went and she was very happy that she didn't get a shot. She was rather sulky going up and refused to look at me (instead curling up and staring at the passenger door, lol) since last time -- only a couple of weeks ago -- she ended up having dental work done. She definitely was warmer toward on the trip home though still a bit miffed that I had upset her morning routine (*and* made her worry about getting a shot, which is really unforgivable, amiright? ;)

Writing continues. I am working on a couple of fics -- one due the 27th (AinA), and the other... whenever, I guess. Another will start probably over Labor Day weekend.

Back later on tomorrow, probably.

As you should know by now. I write. Not a lot, not very fast and maybe not really great writing but decent enough. (Or I should say, I hope it doesn't stink too bad.)

*ANYHOO*, some of my more current works are at the lotrff archive. It was an established archive who was owned by a fan, well thought of, tolerant, and some of my favorite authors posted a lot of their work and spent a lot of time designing their layouts there. I felt safe posting there.

Then yesterday, the site disappeared. An announcement was then made that the site had been sold to a new owner entirely, and one who is in it for the money. (More details will be under the cut.)

To make a long story very short, I am going to be taking my work off lotrff. I hate to do it, but I no longer feel safe and I don't trust what may or may not happen to the site. Since we are almost into a major holiday/three-day weekend, I have decided to remove the stories on 6 July. I know how much it troubles me when people delete things with little warning, which is why I'm trying to allow anyone who wishes a chance to grab my stories if they want. (They're all fairly short, btw -- nothing very long or multi-chaptered.) They'll still be archived, just not there.

And now for more gory details, if you choose to read them... Actually, maybe you should. It might prove important to someone as the new site owner is eager to acquire more fic archives for monetary gain. Just so you can give others a heads up. [Comments are disabled since this is a public post and this is a ultra-sensitive subject.]
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Once again, I am looking for a beta.

Details under the cut.
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Has anyone written a fic where the Sutton Hoo site is featured? Or any of the other UK archeological digs? I would think it a very natural tie-in w/Tolkien. Does this mean I have an idea for a fic myself? Erm, kinda/sorta but noting very specific. Just mostly along the lines of: throw in a few horse skeletons, and it's Rohan: Edoras, Medusfeld... you get the picture. Nothing very specific or perhaps even coherent yet but it's there, teasing me, lol.