1.26.2012

Further Into the Brainstorm . . .

. . . and never mind the whipping winds and whirling whirlpools, the sheets of rain, and the frosty gale that seems to tear the skin from your face!

The unfortunate thing about brainstorming is that I can share very little without giving a lot away. Thus, it is difficult to write a blog post about my specific brainstorm. As I mentioned before, I have been thinking a lot about Torrson . . . and yes, I have written the first words of my re-imagined novel. These, at least, I can share:
      Torrsøn detested the cold. It reminded him how long he had been waiting. And taunted him with the prospect of waiting any longer.       
      Sitting with his back to the wind, he pulled his stiff nobleman's jacket tighter around him, but the frills did nothing to block out the biting frost. His nose was red as his frozen fingers, he was sure of it, and dripping with his inner mucus. He wiped it desperately on his sleeve. It would not do for the novice steward to have a runny nose. 
      Growling at the cold that persisted to stab him through the flimsy court fabric, he stood with a flourish and began pacing, as if by plodding back and forth he could run away from the frost.
My notebook in which I had begun, moths previously, to jot down notes about this re-imagination, has begun to fill up with pages of tight scripted notes. Specifying character's relationships, outlining their backgrounds, detailing their evil plots, listing their names . . .

And, of course, with all this comes the character sketches. Drawing my characters always re-inspires me, and it gives me a concrete face to gravitate to when I'm writing about them. (Does anyone else feel this way?) I have their personality inside my head, and I could write it out in words if I really tried. But somehow, in the raw early stages of their development, their personality more easily pours out of my drawing pencils than from my fingers on the keyboard.



With all the intricacy of the storyline in this particular character novel - political intrigue, plots and coups, intertwines relationships and devastating scandals (intrigued yet?) - I've decided to try a new method of brainstorming/organizing. The Bulletin Board.

This concept has both excited me and scared me ever since I first heard of it. I'm not sure if writing plot points on index cards, pinning them on a board, shuffling them around, lining them parallel to each other, adding things, and taking things away, will be an effective way for me to organize my thoughts. But I have yet to truly try.

"No time for idle talk! Back to work, you scalawags! Don't you know there's a storm a-brewin'? There she blows!"

3 comments:

  1. Ohmygoodness, is that first picture Torrson? *squee* He looks awesome!! Amazing! :D I LOVE his expression. You're a great artist, btw. ^_^

    And *gulp* I have the same feeling about the bulletin board... I sortofish incorporated it into my outlining for my NaNoWriMo, but not really... I just used sticky notes and my notebook, and shuffled things around like that. :P

    And who is that second picture of, if I'm allowed to know? :P

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  2. Good guess! Only a true fan-girl could have spotted that. Yes, the first picture is Torrson. The second picture is Queen Emeditra . . . before she is queen, of course.

    In my re-imagining of 'Enslaved' I plan on Part 1 ending with Emeditra's and Gammyur's coronation, and Part 2 ending with the end of the original 'Enslaved' storyline. So, basically, my plan is to tell the same story, but to start at an earlier point, from Torrson's point of view.

    I'm glad you liked the drawings. I just recently did another of Gracelynn's father, Leonard, when he was younger. It's been quite fun.

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  3. love it.....I get such a kick out of experiencing your thoughts, emotions, creations come through your brain, heart and soul ...out your fingers to be caught and exposed forever to the light of day. You are as complex, strong ,determined and flawed as your characters , you are quite beautiful and complicated and full of life. Love you to pieces my girl and please keep up opening all the door and windows so Miranda can continue to fly.......

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