After the fun of my sci-fi mash-up dream, and urged on by rockinlibrarian (also aided and abetted by rthstewart, who nearly made me snort tea all over my computer with her take on the animosity between Lando Calrissian and Mal Reynolds (I am so going to think “Not right, man wearin’ a cape” the next time I watch Empire Strike Back, rth!)), I decided I had to start writing it down as a story. Not one for publication, or even for putting up on ff.net due to my blatant self-insert (but she’s not a Mary-Sue! She is not perfect and nobody is in love with her except her off-screen husband, but she and Mal do have great fun with harmless flirting by passing insults at each other), but just a way to get some of this marvelous creativity my subconscious was providing me with down on paper.
I’m about ten thousand words in, and it’s getting crazier and more peppered with cameos from other sci fi/fantasy stories with each paragraph. Mara Jade has insisted on popping in (for more than just a brief cameo, thankyouverymuch, what do you take her for?), and it’s becoming very clear to me that the Doctor would never consent to being left out of a madcap adventure like this, so it is clearly my duty to get caught up on that show, since I still haven’t made it all the way through the Ninth Doctor (though even the few episodes that I have seen have left me with a tendency to say “Fantastic!” just like Christopher Eccleston).
But aside from the sheer fun of this, and the marvelous outlet it has become for releasing any stress in my life, the other nice thing about this story (simply titled “fun” in my computer documents) is that is stirring up my creativity for my other writings, as well. Did you know I hadn’t written one word of fiction since before Christmas, up until I started this nonsense project? Not. One. Word. (Speaking of things that ain’t right.)
And then yesterday, I actually opened up my current MG WIP and skimmed it over, thinking how ready I am to get back to writing more about Cadi &co. And then I started thinking about Maia and Len (my older YA 1920s adventure-fantasy) and realized the first draft had finally settled enough that I was ready to tackle putting it into decent shape for the second draft.
Today I have to take care of some basic household chores (Carl’s been helping out a lot – blessed man keeps washing dishes for me, which is marvelous, darling, thank you – but breadmaking and laundry are still two tasks that will always be delegated to me), but I’m hoping to spend some time this afternoon or evening in “real” writing, writing I might actually be able to show to the world someday.
And I will not be abandoning my “fun” story, either – I have a sneaking suspicion that this is one tale that will stretch out for many years, to be added to whenever it strikes my fancy or I am getting bored, and never quite coming to an end.
What do you do to get your creative juices flowing again? What are some science fiction or fantasy characters you would add to a crazy story like mine?
Two words: River Song(actually I'll add that I theorize the universe is not large enough for River Song and Mara Jade — and if you add Zoe the only thing a sensible man should do is get out of the way).It's Rthstewart btw. and I so want to read this.
Wanting to know more about River Song is actually one of my main reasons for needing to watch further series of Doctor Who. Just the snippets I've picked up about her from fannish stuff seem awesome, and I have a sneaking suspicion that once I know more about her, there WILL be a deadly trio of River, Mara, and Zoe featuring heavily in this story. (And if you really want to read it, I can send you a copy once I've gotten more than just wandering around wreaking havoc happening – but I warn you, it's mostly snarky dialogue with brief spurts of action, not much of ANYTHING by way of plot.)
*clapping* I have noticed this myself. At least the Pipeweed Mafia Saga has given me more CONFIDENCE about writing "real" stuff… I'm still not sure I'm at the point where I'm going to jump in and write seriously again. Actually, I mean to post on this today once I get a moment.I don't know, I would let the crazy cameos flow naturally based on what else is happening. If you find yourself in a dive bar on a desert planet, go ahead and call it the Mos Eisley Cantina and start watching out for tall shaggy creatures in bandoliers. But don't force it. I had no idea Narnia references would end up in what started out as a body-in-a-car-trunk mystery, but then the Mythopoeic Society got involved and it all went downhill.Also, this is nearly completely unrelated, but I have decided I want to use the sentence "This story has been adjusted to fit your paradigm" in a scifi story someday.A robocall just interrupted my exercise biking. i'm annoyed. First I typed "I'm annoying" but I edited that….um, I forget what I was talking about, too.
It IS enlightening, in that it shows me where my real strengths are as a writer (looking at this seriously, and not just as ARGHHH SO MUCH FUN MUST WRITE MORE SNAPPY DIALOGUE), and my weaknesses. I have pages of dialogue interspersed with random action (and the far-too-frequent "…" she said, rolling her eyes – my characters roll their eyes so much they all oughta have major headaches all the time), and pretty much no description of where they are – they could be walking through a desert, a forest, a field of wheat, or traveling through space, and my readers would have no clue. I LIKE DIALOGUE. And, apparently, I really like characters just chatting and teasing each other and HUMOR without much of anything happening. So maybe this is a good way to get all that out of my system so that my "real" stories can be more balanced?I dunno. It's a good excuse to use the next time Carl asks me why I'm staying up late writing something that isn't even publication-possible. "Just getting it out of my system, dear, so that I don't end up OD-ing on dialogue without action in the other works."
Sounds like you're in heaven! I love when that happens. There's something marvelously freeing about writing just for you. 🙂
It has been marvelous! And I was able to write 500 words of my MG WIP today – which doesn't seem like a lot, but it wonderful compared to what I have been getting in. Hurrah for freeing fun!
I love the idea of writing just for fun, but I don't do it enough! I should have a "fun" document, too.Just found your blog through a friend's and am now a follower. Nice to meet you!