Clocks and novel planning

As autumn has arrived, the time is approaching when we will have to put the clocks back. Which for most of us means ten minutes trying to get the digital watch right.

Work on the novel planning isn’t going well. I’m getting stuck on trying to build up a character. I’m also looking at all the plot strands and wondering how I can fit them together. The first problem is because I’m thinking of her too much as there so serve a function in the plot, not actually in terms of ‘she is doing this because is the type of person.’ So I need to work on that.

Old Alligators in Love

Some cheerful news in the Guardian today (well I liked it.) A study of alligators in a wildlife reserve in Louisiana has revealed that up to 70% of female alligators will remain with the same male for many years. I think that’s a nice thought, the idea of an old alligator couple lying on the banks of the river together.

Trying to prepare for November, I'm getting the feeling that I might end up with a cast of thousands.

November is coming, sleeping cats and Up

Have finally signed up to November Novel Writing Month for this year. Ok now can start properly planning and panicking. It should be simple, but I’m worried I haven’t got the characters to a state, where it explains why they are doing what they are doing. At the moment I’ve a lot of ideas and an overall plan, but I’m still not sure how it will fit together. So I’ve just to start the process of selecting which bit’s will go in.

Why is it when you are working on anything, you can always find a cat sleeping within your sight, in a smug way?

Saw the film ‘Up’ at the weekend. While it is a cliché to say how great Pixar films are, it is completely right on this occasion. ‘Up’ is moving, romantic and witty. It has a wonderful opening establishing the ordinary life of two people in love, to explain the hero’s quest and escape and then moves into a spectacular journey, which is enjoyably surreal, referencing stories about explorers. Yet it never forgets the relationship shown in the opening is the heart and soul of the story.

True Blood, politics, November is coming

The much hyped screening of ‘True Blood’ starts tonight. I’ll watch it but it needs to be good to outrank ‘Being Human’. I notice that after that it’s ‘Generation Kill’ billed as by the creators of ‘The Wire’. I have never seen an episode of ‘The Wire’, because I have got put off by all the people raving how it the greatest television series ever. How do you judge what is the greatest television series ever?

Today, the news is full of the shadow chancellor talking about wage freezes and pay cuts. This might be a bit of a risk. It certainly isn’t going to be made one of the cornerstones of the Conservative election campaign. “Vote for us and we’ll cut your pay because it’s for your own good.”

Been thinking about November Novel Writing month again. Feel like I still need a ton of planning to do. I was going for the idea that if I outline as much as I can, I won’t wind up having to bring in a new character/monster every few pages, to cover the fact that I’m not sure where to be going. Alternatively, it would mean that I will not wind up writing sentences that get long winded to bump up the world count. This did happen last November.

Sunny start for October

Bright and sunny in October. And some people say there is no such thing as global warming?

The Halloween stuff is starting to creep into shops. I get the desire to make a brand new costume for this year. Then I realise that I’m not likely to get invited to any costume parties, so it’s rather irrelevant.

Again realise there are a hell of a lot of projects that I want to do, that just seem to be piling up. I won’t suffer any physical side effects if I don’t do them. Part of me knows I might be expecting too much of myself.

Goodbye woods, Hello Jungle

Been trying to think of a new way to do something with the idea of a magical wood. But it’s trying to think of something original to do with it, that’s the tough idea. Something that came up while I was pondering was, did Victorian popular culture began to replace the wood with the jungle? It might have started with ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ and ‘Heart of Darkness’ and progressed throughout the century. The idea that the jungle strips away civilisation and causes a reversion to savagery, continued in the stories ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ and ‘Lord of the Flies’. So the jungle takes over from the wood as the idea of wilderness. Well it’s a theory.

Playlists and CD's

Thinking about it, the thing with an Ipod, I am realising is that it is forcing the majority of us mere mortals, is that all notions of musical taste come down to ‘well, I like it.’ If the little white R2D2/Dalek (delete depending to mood) will record lists of how often you have listened to a song all the way through. Currently according to the play list, my favourite track is ‘Song from the Edge of the World’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees. I am aware that this does not appear on any ‘greatest of’ lists. But I think it’s great and it’s my Ipod so what?

Another thing about Itunes is that you get sized by an urge to cram as much as you can on there. (Are they banned from being the luxury item on Desert Island Discs?) Because you think that once all the CD’s have been turned into electronic files, you can take the majority of them to a charity shop. Two fatal flaws. Firstly, CD cases have the toughness of the average English football player’s leg. The plastic and the hinges can be cracked by a hard enough stare. Secondly, going to the nearest charity shop to drop stuff off, is something that the mind can turn into a trek to Mordor. Not something that one can just walk into. Actually it is, but very easy to procrastinate over.

Still concerned that I can’t make myself get out of bed at 6.am. This only going to make things more difficult when I find a job, but I can’t get to sleep until after twelve.