‘I’ve a couple of hours for writing so I’ll just check out some details before I start.’
Often and often have I been pixie-led to the River Time, finding its deep places and sinking in a bubble to search for the lives of fifteenth century folk.
A flash of gold in the dark current; Coin or grain or powder? A rare and beautiful coin stamped with a fortress wall, a ship and bales of wool, the seal of Bristol and minted in its castle. Next to it, a powder of equal worth- saffron, used to dye the silken cloth worn by the great and powerful and to colour a yearly dainty of saffron bread at the Lammas Feast. Breads made from the golden harvests of wheat and barley.
Barley to make the ales drunk daily with oatcakes to break the fast at dawn before the workday starts at six. Forests and farms and towns filled with labourers, merchants and artisans, each busy building, bargaining and making goods of daily life until the dinner hour at ten and end of work at five. Weavers and dyers of wool and linen; potters of clay and makers of glass, inheriting Roman skills; apothecaries mixing recipes of herbs and spices and other, less savoury things; sailors and the ships that carried the commerce of the age.
Stained glass, illuminated manuscripts and tapestries to show the great ones in riotous colour and fabrics feasting on rarities like cane sugar, liquorice and lemons which lesser folk use as medicines bought only at great need. Boasting too of great stone castles, keeps and fortified manors lapped around by timber and wattle daubed cottages thatched from river reeds and of the walled cities with crooked streets of tiled houses. The pageantry of Church and State brings excitement and information to folk who travel only as far as they can walk in a handful of days. Records also tell of the blights of accidents, disease and war which maim, scar and bury most before they reach their three score years and ten. The stern realities of heaven and hell that shape the certainties of men are writ large in church and law.
Sunlight shimmers as the River darkens and the brief image of a gold coin tossed into sunlight blinks reality back. The hours have gone.
Word count?
Nil.
Pixies.
30 August 2009
24 August 2009
Soundtrack of a Novel
Music - it's the reason why I cry in movies.
Fast, boppy music makes me speed and drive erratic.
Sometimes hearing a particular song can put me back in the moment when I heard it before.
Pop music gets me ready to go out with friends, bluesy music relaxes me when I'm home alone.
Music - it can make me smile, laugh and dream.
The second book I wrote, I had 2 songs that I included in the story. Sometimes when I was writing I would listen to them to get me in the mood. My third book, I went overboard, below the surface and reached 20,000 leagues under the sea.
As an avoidance tactic I browsed my songs on iTunes and surfed the net for the soundtrack to my Young Adult novel that was going to be turned into a movie (aim for the neighbouring solar system huh!?!). I came across some songs for the action scenes (mostly classical) and a sultry number for whenever my dark hero graced the screen. It was fun. I stored them away and finally got writing.
But the playlist didn't stay buried in my music folder. It grew with more and more songs that fit a certain scene or the story in general. Suddenly I couldn't write an action scene without having the songs to put me in the mood. Or if I had a mental block, it wasn't just a walk that could sort me out, it had to be a walk with my novel soundtrack playing on my iPod. And once I had written a scene, I had to re-read it with the music playing. Then things started to get grandiose. I could sell my novel with a CD and have certain pages that said 'Play track 5 now' so when they read a scene, they could fall into the mood of it all (if this technology happens - you heard it here first!! Copyright 2009 Kym Brooks).
Obsession you say? You're probably right. But it worked. I believe it helped with the emotion my characters were feeling. The action seemed more real to me as I wrote it. It inspired me.
My point...
Music makes us feel things. It can make us happy or sad or mellow or sexy (who hasn't played 'Hot Stuff' by Donna Summer before going out on a date?). So why not translate that into our writing?
I challenge you to find a song (or if you get hooked like me - a whole soundtrack) that fits a scene or a character and see if it can enhance your writing. Even if it just gets you to sit down and write 100 words, it's worth it.
And who knows, maybe your novel will be turned into a movie and you can give them some of your ideas as to what would suit the first kiss, the climax or the credits where everyone lives happily ever after.
Novel playlist at time of writing: 23 songs.
Thanks for reading,
Kym Brooks
Songs listened to while writing this:
Injection (MI2 soundtrack)
Angels by Within Temptation
Uninvited by Alanis Morissette
Evil Force by X-ray Dog
Fast, boppy music makes me speed and drive erratic.
Sometimes hearing a particular song can put me back in the moment when I heard it before.
Pop music gets me ready to go out with friends, bluesy music relaxes me when I'm home alone.
Music - it can make me smile, laugh and dream.
The second book I wrote, I had 2 songs that I included in the story. Sometimes when I was writing I would listen to them to get me in the mood. My third book, I went overboard, below the surface and reached 20,000 leagues under the sea.
As an avoidance tactic I browsed my songs on iTunes and surfed the net for the soundtrack to my Young Adult novel that was going to be turned into a movie (aim for the neighbouring solar system huh!?!). I came across some songs for the action scenes (mostly classical) and a sultry number for whenever my dark hero graced the screen. It was fun. I stored them away and finally got writing.
But the playlist didn't stay buried in my music folder. It grew with more and more songs that fit a certain scene or the story in general. Suddenly I couldn't write an action scene without having the songs to put me in the mood. Or if I had a mental block, it wasn't just a walk that could sort me out, it had to be a walk with my novel soundtrack playing on my iPod. And once I had written a scene, I had to re-read it with the music playing. Then things started to get grandiose. I could sell my novel with a CD and have certain pages that said 'Play track 5 now' so when they read a scene, they could fall into the mood of it all (if this technology happens - you heard it here first!! Copyright 2009 Kym Brooks).
Obsession you say? You're probably right. But it worked. I believe it helped with the emotion my characters were feeling. The action seemed more real to me as I wrote it. It inspired me.
My point...
Music makes us feel things. It can make us happy or sad or mellow or sexy (who hasn't played 'Hot Stuff' by Donna Summer before going out on a date?). So why not translate that into our writing?
I challenge you to find a song (or if you get hooked like me - a whole soundtrack) that fits a scene or a character and see if it can enhance your writing. Even if it just gets you to sit down and write 100 words, it's worth it.
And who knows, maybe your novel will be turned into a movie and you can give them some of your ideas as to what would suit the first kiss, the climax or the credits where everyone lives happily ever after.
Novel playlist at time of writing: 23 songs.
Thanks for reading,
Kym Brooks
Songs listened to while writing this:
Injection (MI2 soundtrack)
Angels by Within Temptation
Uninvited by Alanis Morissette
Evil Force by X-ray Dog
13 August 2009
Work In Progress
In my spare time I like to cross-stitch, usually while I watch TV much to DH’s chagrin.
This is the design I have been working on for two years.
A gorgeous picture by Selina Fenech turned into a cross-stitch by Heaven and Earth Designs. This one is 279x312 stitches, and many, many hours of work. That tiny blue grid in the right hand corner is 10x10 stitches.
How is this related to writing?
I could say that picking the design, the fabric the threads are like picking genre and characters and each novel is a beautiful tapestry, blah, blah, blah.
Finishing a cross-stitch this size requires determination, a sheer bloody mindedness to finish the damn thing so it can be framed and hung on the wall for everyone to admire, even though they could never understand the time and effort that went into creating the masterpiece.
Sounding like a novel?
Like writing a novel the secret is to chip away, break it down into manageable pieces, one page of the chart, one colour. It’s easy to get disheartened and to lose sight of the bigger picture and to wonder why this ever seemed like a good idea.
With only a little bit left to go, maybe only three months left of stitching, I’m taking a step back to admire my progress. Looks good. But I can’t stop now, I’m too close to the finish line. I want to see the mermaid framed.
As writers we sometimes forget to step back and look at the big picture we’re so focused on where we are now, or where we aren’t. I dare you to pull out the first thing you wrote and read it (mine is a cringe inducing novella written for a school project).
How far have you come?
Now celebrate any contest wins, any rejections, and rewrites, any sales, they are all markers on your journey. Without them you wouldn’t be where you are today. And wherever that is enjoy it, tomorrow you will be somewhere else.
Shona
This is the design I have been working on for two years.
A gorgeous picture by Selina Fenech turned into a cross-stitch by Heaven and Earth Designs. This one is 279x312 stitches, and many, many hours of work. That tiny blue grid in the right hand corner is 10x10 stitches.
How is this related to writing?
I could say that picking the design, the fabric the threads are like picking genre and characters and each novel is a beautiful tapestry, blah, blah, blah.
Finishing a cross-stitch this size requires determination, a sheer bloody mindedness to finish the damn thing so it can be framed and hung on the wall for everyone to admire, even though they could never understand the time and effort that went into creating the masterpiece.
Sounding like a novel?
Like writing a novel the secret is to chip away, break it down into manageable pieces, one page of the chart, one colour. It’s easy to get disheartened and to lose sight of the bigger picture and to wonder why this ever seemed like a good idea.
With only a little bit left to go, maybe only three months left of stitching, I’m taking a step back to admire my progress. Looks good. But I can’t stop now, I’m too close to the finish line. I want to see the mermaid framed.
As writers we sometimes forget to step back and look at the big picture we’re so focused on where we are now, or where we aren’t. I dare you to pull out the first thing you wrote and read it (mine is a cringe inducing novella written for a school project).
How far have you come?
Now celebrate any contest wins, any rejections, and rewrites, any sales, they are all markers on your journey. Without them you wouldn’t be where you are today. And wherever that is enjoy it, tomorrow you will be somewhere else.
Shona
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