Someone told me their "idea" for a story today and I didn't mock them, even though it was fairly generic and open-ended. They asked me what I thought. I responded with, "there's nothing I can say. Write the story and I'll tell you."

    This idea of concept first, EVERYTHING ELSE second is an interesting thing to me. I've taken quite a few writing classes and know many writers and a lot of times we talk about process. There are many cases where I will be sitting in some pretensious upscale lounge with my writerly friends and they'll start talking about "this great concept they've been working on." I always freeze at that, and have nothing to say. I'll admit that I get a little bit suspicious at people who have concepts first. I am suspicious that it's really just procrastination and it's easy to just sit around and say "what if?" if there's no story that you have to feel guilty about not writing.

    Of course, it could be because my concepts are about as simple as primary colours. What long-type stories have I worked on? What were the concepts? "Bullied girl tries to assert her position on the high-school scale by destroying the life of mysterious new kid before she becomes too popular." And the one I'm working on now, "friend comes back after two years, wants free place to stay." And I got like 100,000 words out of "girl wants to fix bridge."

      Do any of you feel that people who develop concepts before writing are just masters of not writing? Do you, like me, believe that the "concept that sounds like a pitch for a television show" part actually comes at the end? Do you prefer simplistic concepts? Do you get agitated when someone windbags over his or her "brilliant new concept"? Do you want to scream "IT'S ABOUT THE STORY, NOT THE CONCEPT, YOU GASBAG!"

     ERSATZ WRITING. I HATE IT.
     - L.

  

    

   I was actually talking to someone about writing today, as they are slowly getting through the entirety of Bridge to Sunrise Island. In the second "part" (I never know what to call these things without sounding like a jerk), there's a bully  as a main character. I really like writing bully characters as I feel it's an interesting "type" to write. I usually write girl bullies too. It might be easier for me to relate and maybe that's some tiny part as I've been bullied and have also been guilty maybe of BEING a bully at times, but mostly I just like to show a case of a girl who is angry, who HURTS people, but who isn't irredeemable. Vatusia, the bully character, ends up being the only person with enough guts to do anything about the problems facing the people around her. 

    This person who is reading the story felt a little alienated because they WERE bullied all through school, but I think that's why Vatusia exists. I mean, there's the point that the story necessitated her - but also that, demonizing bullies really just makes it less okay for those same people to express any other emotion. So I guess it locks them into the role they've been labelled with.

   Or maybe I just like to write characters who beat up people for fun  (particularly female characters as society makes that more complicated) AND are really, when it gets down to it, really smart, intelligent and "decent" people. 

-L.

   

[Since I'm ultimately only capable of "quiet love," I have taken this one from apiphile ]

Finally, a quiet love meme.

One little compliment can make you feel amazing. So give me a compliment, anything in the entire world, even that my shoelaces are pretty. Put this in your journal. And once you get some comments, put that entry in a memory or tag and when you are feeling down, just go to that entry and this will remind you how great you are.

Comments are going to be screened.

L.

 Well, my mood has gotten better since yesterday when it was already pretty great. My hands are twitiching with the rush of happy, but I feel like I could finish projects again now. 

SPRING GUYS. IT'S COMING.

- L.

Okay. So, after eight days in a row of staying INSIDE, I'm going outside. It won't be an extended thing and I feel vaguely apprehensive about it, but we will see where it goes.

- L.

Dear sun,

   It seems that, finally, we're waking up together again, instead of me watching wild-haired as you come back from visiting Australia. I missed those days, didn't you?

Love,
- L.

DANCE!

Sisters, arriving.

FIVE EXTRA ANIMALS!

Our tree's up, finally!

Baked today, and actually succeeded.

Christmas is transient; anticipation is perpetual.

Well, my hair is GIGANTIC today. Festive.

Surprise! Snowed today. I'll probably play in it.

Asked to do the Christmas baking. ALL OF IT.

O Holy Night, the song breaks, light spreads. Quietly, unnoticed.

      I felt it!

      I went to bed and, for some reason, could not sleep. My window was covered by a thick blanket, but I jumped out of bed and pulled it off. I looked outside. I knew what I would see before I saw it.

     It was snowing! I went outside immediately. It wasn't really snowing heavily or anything, but it was enough to make me happy. After walking around for awhile, I lay down on the grass and looked up. There were no stars.

     At first, a few flakes drifted from the sky but, soon, more and more snow started falling and soon I was caught in this swirling haze of white. Shortly after, it stopped completely and the sky was black again. I stood up and went inside, filled with a sense of overwhelming happiness.

I slept well last night,
L.

Oh. Well, I figured out why. So if you had something ABSOLUTELY RUTHLESS to say. (Or something nice, it doesn't have to be that bad.)  So, all of you people that usually comment twice - go for it!

Uhhh, did anyone else have a message that said my other post was "locked" or something? Someone just said that it wouldn't let them say anything. I have no idea what that means.