Characters, Stories and Life

I live in a rather rural area. My zip code likely contains more livestock and wildlife than humans. I work from home. This means that I don't really interact with humanity very often face-to-face. Most of my world is digital. At one point, I'd have said that this was a bad thing. That I wasn't really living. But some recent reading (link totally unsolicited, non-affiliated, etc) and conversations with a few friends have made me really think on it.

This post is the results of that mental chewing. It might come in a few parts. I haven't decided yet.

We have a guy here that you can always count to run into when you head into town. The family has dubbed him "Walking Guy." We don't know much about walking guy. He owns a couple of dogs, likes wicker hats and for whatever reason is always walking along a particular stretch of road in our area. Sweltering heat make you want to die? Walking Guy is walking. Snow up to the middle of the living room window? Walking Guy is walking. That's what he does.

We never see his destination. We only know where he lives by the presence of his dogs on the porch from time to time. Actually, thinking of it, we've never seen him actually leave that property. That might be the destination.

We don't know his name or the names of his dog. There's brown dog, golden retriever and Walking Guy. When you're driving down the road and approach walking guy, he always pauses briefly, turns and waves as he smiles. Pouring rain? Walking Guy still stops, smiles and waves. Four cars in a row? Walking Guy takes an extended pause and waves all four times. This is Walking Guy.

You now know about as much about Walking Guy as I do. But for some reason, he is a part of our life around here. On the off chance that he's not out walking on one of our random ventures into civilization,  someone in the car always asks "Wonder where Walking Guy is?" He didn't wave once... Instantly the response was "Uh oh... wonder what's bugging Walking Guy?" When Walking Guy goes the eventual way that we all do, I'm likely to miss Walking Guy and still talk about him from time to time with fond memories. Somehow, he has become a character in the story of my life. 

Sometimes, I wonder if Walking Guy waves because he cares or just because he waved once and feels obligated now? Does Walking Guy actually loathe waving and wish he'd never done it? Also, does Walking Guy see me and have a label for me? Am I character in Walking Guy's story as well?

I don't think we can ever know... but sometimes life jumps up and surprises you.

This is where Big Steve enters the story. Big Steve was a friend in college. He was... well big and Steve. So the nickname fit well. He was a gargantuan guy. Not chunky--just big in every way imaginable. Steve-zilla if you will. He also happened to sport a 3 to 4 foot tall, fire-engine red mohawk. There was no missing Big Steve.

After college, Big Steve chopped the 'hawk in an attempt to look desirable for employment. Something about a big red mohawk comes off as unprofessional apparently. What happened next, we didn't see coming.

It didn't matter if we were at the mall or just sitting at the park, little old ladies (I mean that in no disrespect) would stop and come over and lament the loss of his big red mohawk. "Oh! You cut your hair? Why?" "I liked that! Why did you get rid of it?"

These weren't biker grannies with tat's and leather tassels or retired Wicca priestesses, these were your average, run-of-the-mill, blue-haired, can-smell-the-aqua-net-from-30-ft sweet little old Nanas and Memaws. The kinds that give you cookies when you deliver a pizza or take in every local stray in a 5 mile radius.

Big Steve was a character in their life story. They didn't know it, he didn't know it, until one day Big Steve changed. 

It make me curious, whose stories am I a part of? Obviously, the wife, kids and immediate family. But am I someone else's Walking Guy or Big Steve? What stories have been shared about the lumberjack with the old truck? What alternate lives am I leading that I'm unaware of? Are those lives any more or less valid that the one that I am aware of?

I know this next part has the potential to ruffle a few feathers. I will disclaim it with this:

"The following observations are not to take a side on anything. They are observations, thoughts and feelings on a matter. Yes, they might involve your very personal beliefs. But they are for the sake of discussion. Not an assault, not a denial or confirmation of your thoughts and they will not  be a source of flames for comment shenanigans. I normally take the stance of leaving all comments intact, but I will not hesitate to prune with a vengeance if it gets off track."

Entities do not have to be proven real to have an impact on the lives of others.

The easiest way that I can think to show this is religion. Regardless of your personal beliefs, these various deities and creations impact the world that you live in. If for no other reason than that they influence the lives of those around you. Even if indirectly, that will someday swing around and influence your life as well. Truth is irrelevant. The effect is undeniable.

So does that make them alive? Does that make them exist? Even if only in the minds and actions of others? If so, does that mean that my various roles and characters in other's lives also exist? Or are they just a 'figment of your pigmentation?' (That was a favorite saying of Blind Mike... but he's another character that won't be joining us today)

So I'll leave with yet a few more questions - What are your characters doing in the world? Are you the hero, the villain, the disposable guy in the red shirt that meets a gruesome end in Act 3? What other lives do you have floating about the world you live in? Are they placed intentionally or are you oblivious to them?

Organization Old-School Style

Don't get me wrong... I love my technology. Sometimes too much I think. Though I suppose when you're drafting web content, pen and paper doesn't always make much sense.

For my entry back into the world of fiction, I've decided to change things up a bit. Notebooks and manual writing for the initial draft, then I'll revise as I enter it into Scrivener or Liquid Story Binder (Haven't decided which yet) and go from there.

It seemed pretty straight-forward at first. Buy journal, write in it, profit! Then I got it and realized that I couldn't just charge in writing willy-nilly. When I write on the PC, I'm a bit like Conan the Librarian. I come screaming in, toss words at anything that moves and then pick up the pieces and bandage the wounded when I'm done. The notebook was nice and deserved more than that. Not to mention the headaches and craziness that could cause come digitizing time.

So a few hours of thinking later, here is the organization method I'll be trying for Project H :)

It is all pretty basic, expandable and easy to adapt. Using cheap 3 x 5-inch index cards, I created a few categories by running a stripe of color down one side of the index card. So far there are:

• Characters: For notes about character traits, relationships, etc.
• Background: For important background information about people, places, events, etc that might not make it directly into the story in a scene of their own.
• Plot/Scenes: For scene ideas and inspirations that I'll be incorporating but not writing currently.

I expect there will be more categories added before this is all finished. But when adding a category is as simple as finding a new color of marker and adding it to the key, it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

These index cards then store handily in the rear pocket of the current notebook. I can pull them out, find the color of the category I'm looking for and get to work. I can arrange them on the table, desk or cork board for brainstorming and reference as well. No flipping back and forth or searching through files.

So far, I really like it. We'll see how it holds up as things progress on Project H. It's only about 1000 words along at this point. I'm hoping that this new system will help streamline things and allow me to put pen to paper a bit more often.

Do you have a favorite organziation system? Any optimizations you'd make to this one? Drop me a comment below!

Letting Your Word-Babies Fly

As those of you who I talk to on Google+ and Twitter probably know, I pay the bills by writing web content. Blog posts, product descriptions and the like.

I take pride in my work and pay attention to every text even if it seems ridiculous. I proofread, edit, tweak and hone. I make sure that my rates allow me to do so. If I can't justify the time investment, I just don't take the job. Most of my work, while I'm proud of it, has a spin on it for a specific site style or client requirement. Though I write them, they don't always feel like they are mine. Given that many of them are ghostwritten, they technically aren't once I hit the send button.

Then there are the posts that creep and surprise you. You get the order, you look at it and it's the norm. Things like 1000 words on business ethics, a 500-word summary of platinum-coated egg beaters, a write-up on the health benefits of adding glitter to your omelettes. Mmmm... tastes like Bowie....

You get to work. The tabs are flying fast and furious while you source a few links to sprinkle in your work. Outlining is happening in the back of your head. You hit up your document and get to work. Another night, another paycheck. At some point in the process, you pause for a second and it comes screaming in out of left field - HOLY CRAP THIS IS REALLY GOOD!

Then you realize it isn't yours. You're sculpting it, guiding it, growing it and preparing it to take on the world. But at the end of the day, someone else gets to play daddy. You're the anonymous thought-donor. There have been a few times that I've actually considered saving it and writing something else instead. Even if I didn't have an immediate use for it. It was mine. I didn't want to share. Even if it was about something completely asinine. But it's miiiiiiiiiiiine....

Curious if any of you have ever experienced this? I don't know if it really relates to the fiction world at all, but thought I'd send the question out into the blogosphere.