Monday, November 7, 2011

Oh yeah, it is good to be back, and why all writers should play The Sims


 Well it has been a month since my dual carpal tunnel surgery.  Yeah, dual, aka both hands.  Why?  One reason is one round of anesthesia.  Two, because I’m a tough gal.  The funny part, everyone’s initial reaction is, “how did you…manage?”  Yeah, it hurt, but I took care of myself in the bathroom department. 

Anyhow, I’ve been working this week on National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo and #nanowrimo for the twitter peeps.  This is my second year participating, friend me if you want, I’m there as laurathejane78 and I’m right on track to complete at this moment.  We’ll see what happens when I start back to my dayjob.  I have confidence though in myself, and so should you.  You never know until you try, and once you try, you will be a writer on nanocrack. 

I was talking to my bff Jynnipher online (start an un-shameless plug to http://jynnipher.com/), and we were discussing our WIP for NaNoWriMo.  I, at one point, made my main character Lexi cry, and then I made her love interest temporarily reject her.  I told Jynnipher how it was my own character’s fault for the current situation.  Now comes the part of our conversation why all writers should play The Sims…



“I’m so damn cruel.  It’s like in Sims when I’d put someone in a room without doors.  Lexi (the MC) is waving to me and making a bed sign.  Instead of crossing her legs with the thinking bubble of a toilet, she is making a jerk off motion with a bed in the thought bubble.”

Yeah, now that I think things over, The Sims is awesome to watch the character’s reaction to things.  No matter how hard you try, your person doesn’t stay happy all the time.  They come up with their own wants and desires, which could range from a hot dog, make a friend, or have whoopee.  In writing style, I describe myself as a planned fly by the seat of my pants ( I say both types, since I believe some ppl actually sit down and truly write with no premeditated thought about the end or the plot).  I know the big plot points I want to hit, and sometimes I come up a certain situation I want to include.  When it comes to actual writing, I keep the ideas in my head, but I just let the typing fly unscripted.  Many times I don’t know how I will inflict the specific conflict I thought about ahead of time, until it comes out of my fingers.   So if you’re like me, with a wide open planned structure for your novel, I’d say think ‘The Sims’ and have your character wave their hands at you with their frustration.  Then, in true writer form, make them suffer a bit more.  

Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to cause some more frustration for Lexi and see how much she stomps her feet and waves her arms to get my mind's attention.  Silly girl has not realized that makes me want to cause more conflict yet.  Current word count:  12,222.

2 comments:

  1. Tough, funny, and typing ybo. Think I'll stick around to see what you do next.

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  2. Sounds good Gene Pool Diva...I've got a stack of goodies to add here, just need to get out of the November Nano season first.

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