Monday, May 31, 2004
I have found it pointless to attempt to write on the PC in the computer room now. Too much noise and I hate sitting upright to type any story. Even when I turn everything off, I cannot concentrate at this computer. And the lighting sucks - if I turn a light on the room gets too hot too quickly but without a light I cannot read my notes. I find it interesting since I wrote my first stories here. Now I cannot even get a few words out without my frustration levels soaring.
So I am waiting for the new craptop and getting annoyed to the point I am chewing on things, including rat. I try to keep my sanity by making notes and carrying my note book everywhere. This story is so close to completion and I am being stymied.
So I worked on the latest pic last night.
The image here shows the progression with the overlay/underlay. The blue are the new lines, the yellow the old lines. You can now see how I moved the arms over some to get them more in line with the bodies.
Worked on the LJ gravi_muse_meet archive some yesterday as well.
Friday, May 28, 2004
No writing done last night, blegh. No writing at lunch yesterday or today.
The last few days have averaged only about 100 to 300 words.
I have an itch to get out this little ficlet I hinted about last month. I think I can do it pretty quickly, but I don't want to post it until patosan has computer access again.
Worked a little on 'Afterglow'. I plan to scan the in-progress piece again and see how much I have changed it. I know I moved both extended arms over about a half inch to the right.
I realized the photo I was working from and the drawing I was making were actually from two entirely different perspectives. I have a tendency to 'flatten' drawings to avoid perspective and foreshortening. I turned this particular pic so I could get the eyes straight and I have just continued to draw it from that angle. That angle suggests a different angle than the angle in the photo proper. So I was fighting two perspectives. Once I got E's body twisted around so his back was now flat on the surface of the paper the lines are shaping up better, in my opinion. I will probably scan the sketch this weekend so I can compare.
I guess I should post the photo at one point, just to show what I am working from. It will be a good way to show how a photo can be referenced without being copied line per line.
I am really feeling the urge to just create and I cannot because of work at the moment. I have planned a week's vacation the last week in June, just to do art and writing.
The last few days have averaged only about 100 to 300 words.
I have an itch to get out this little ficlet I hinted about last month. I think I can do it pretty quickly, but I don't want to post it until patosan has computer access again.
Worked a little on 'Afterglow'. I plan to scan the in-progress piece again and see how much I have changed it. I know I moved both extended arms over about a half inch to the right.
I realized the photo I was working from and the drawing I was making were actually from two entirely different perspectives. I have a tendency to 'flatten' drawings to avoid perspective and foreshortening. I turned this particular pic so I could get the eyes straight and I have just continued to draw it from that angle. That angle suggests a different angle than the angle in the photo proper. So I was fighting two perspectives. Once I got E's body twisted around so his back was now flat on the surface of the paper the lines are shaping up better, in my opinion. I will probably scan the sketch this weekend so I can compare.
I guess I should post the photo at one point, just to show what I am working from. It will be a good way to show how a photo can be referenced without being copied line per line.
I am really feeling the urge to just create and I cannot because of work at the moment. I have planned a week's vacation the last week in June, just to do art and writing.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Shockingly, I got 300 words exactly out today. Not a lot, but better than my more recent 100 word a day dribbles.
Shaped up the breakfast scene a little more, which is turning into a horror scene of logistics and tiny details to paint the scene.
Had to go find the razor info again at Sharper Image. I don't know how to integrate it exactly yet, how far to go with the description, and if I am going to use the word 'metrosexual' to describe it (nod and smooch to l_n), though it does cry out for it. Part of my hesitation is trying to determine if E would consider something like this a 'grunt guy' toy or is it just an expensive and sexy convenience.
I need to find the piece of paper floating around here about the somewhat cruel practical joke concerning bath towels.
Don't worry, some fluff is being put in the story too, but E won't admit to it!
Shaped up the breakfast scene a little more, which is turning into a horror scene of logistics and tiny details to paint the scene.
Had to go find the razor info again at Sharper Image. I don't know how to integrate it exactly yet, how far to go with the description, and if I am going to use the word 'metrosexual' to describe it (nod and smooch to l_n), though it does cry out for it. Part of my hesitation is trying to determine if E would consider something like this a 'grunt guy' toy or is it just an expensive and sexy convenience.
I need to find the piece of paper floating around here about the somewhat cruel practical joke concerning bath towels.
Don't worry, some fluff is being put in the story too, but E won't admit to it!
Monday, May 24, 2004
I am only averaging a 100 words a day, which is not making me too happy. I am also finding more tiny details to add in some sections I thought were pretty much complete, and I have not even gotten some other sections shaped up into any semblance of readability.
Example: I went from 'sheets' to 'garnet-hued sheets' to 'garnet, forest green and royal blue plaid sheets'. Now people can actually see the sheets but I wonder if it was necessary to go that far. My own need for visual clarity says yes, it needs to be that specific.
The kitchen scene has to be perfectly orchestrated to be believable. 'A' has to happen before 'B', even though 'R' is already located on the counter and 'B' needs 'R' to make 'J'. So, when does 'A' occur? Should I go ahead and mention 'R'?
One story I like over at aff.net has a real problem with when E takes off S's sailor fuku. It happens twice in the storyline. Unless S put his clothes back on (which is not mentioned) , that is impossible.
I am always trying my damnedest to avoid that kind of glaring error in visualization and continuity.
Example: I went from 'sheets' to 'garnet-hued sheets' to 'garnet, forest green and royal blue plaid sheets'. Now people can actually see the sheets but I wonder if it was necessary to go that far. My own need for visual clarity says yes, it needs to be that specific.
The kitchen scene has to be perfectly orchestrated to be believable. 'A' has to happen before 'B', even though 'R' is already located on the counter and 'B' needs 'R' to make 'J'. So, when does 'A' occur? Should I go ahead and mention 'R'?
One story I like over at aff.net has a real problem with when E takes off S's sailor fuku. It happens twice in the storyline. Unless S put his clothes back on (which is not mentioned) , that is impossible.
I am always trying my damnedest to avoid that kind of glaring error in visualization and continuity.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
kokoroita asked me a few months ago to think up something for her to write, something she wanted to dedicate to me because of the support I showed her with her story, Way of the Sword. Because of many factors I have not for the life of me been able to think of anything. kokoroita is very good at a/u stories.
So today, as I was walking across campus, on my way to pick up the departmental mail and it finally struck me - here is the scenaro for kokoroita to consider writing next!
Old West scenario
The Sheriff and the Badman
The Sheriff and the Outlaw
The Lawman and the Outlaw
The Lawman and the Badman
S is the sheriff: well-liked, sings in church choir, handles guns well, good with getting people to obey the laws because of his natural charm and his ability to make people feel good and do the right thing for him. Known as the Singing Sheriff. Doesn't drink much but will hang out in local saloon to talk to people, innocently flirt with the working girls, maybe play a hand of cards. You can bring in other Gravi charas here and decide who his deputy/s is/are.
S can have a somewhat tragic life, but it made him stronger and made him want to become a sheriff. That's some background that could somewhat parallel E's situation, which would parallel how they both dealt with being raped in the canon. I don't want to go there-rape that is, but something should be parallel - death of family member, etc., so they have a shared/common experience in the past.
E is the outlaw: robs banks, trains, stagecoaches. Romantic anti-hero; the girls go ape when he robs them, he could actually steal kisses from them and leave some of their jewels if they are family heirlooms. He probably needs to be completely masked with just eye slits, using his sexy voice (which he pitches differently than his usual voice) to wow the girls.
E is a bad guy because of 'justifiable' revenge. It could be he only robs from places owned/financed by the person who killed his brother/parents/whomever. He could be gathering funds so he has enough to go to a foreign country and portray aristocracy in style so he can get to the person who killed whomever, like the Count of Monte Cristo. E is methodical about where he makes his hits, making sure he does not follow any kind of pattern or route.
E can have a 'barmaid' or ten from his home base as an occasional sex partner if it works within the storyline to add background information (girls talking about him, how he doesn't settle down, what a catch, focussed on other things). E can even have a regular job as a newspaper journalist (geeky-wears his glasses) or something along that lines, or maybe in the telegraph office, or some place where he can get news of the world as well as information on where he can make a convenient and profitable hit.
E rents horses from other towns to do the robberies so they are never the same in how they look and messes with the horse brands and paints extra white markings or covers white markings on the horses in case someone can track them that way.
E robs a stage with a young woman (very minor chara-maybe Ayaka?) who ends up having the destination of the same town as S, tells S the story and develops a little crush on him. The woman is there because of some family issue and integrates well into the community, guys flocking around her, interested in marriage. She can consider many of them, although the sheriff would be first on her list because of his kindness to her, but quickly she realizes it is not real love and gets out of the story quickly. She is really there just to get S interested in wondering about this mysterious bandit who has ethics. He does not think about E sexually, but as a sheriff wondering about outlaw motivations. S is not interested in any kind of romance and has no real inclination about any gender because he is focussed on doing his job well.
The first meeting could be when E rides into town to scope out the prospects. He will go to the bar and see the group of people gathered and be reminded of what he lost and why he is seeking revenge. The pretext of being there is something having to do with news or something pertaining to the job you give him. If you think a pattern would have been noticed-that a newspaper man was in town prior to the robbery, it would be wrong. E somtimes checks out a place while he robs another he had not visited since a month before, or even longer. Sometimes he is at his home base when a robbery occurs. He is quite the fox.
The first inclination something is amiss could be S falling into a horse watering trough for some reason (think clumsy), and noticing places on E's horse losing/gaining colour because it was splashed - the paint is now be re-wetted so it is dripping.
I have sent the storyline for her to think about.
So today, as I was walking across campus, on my way to pick up the departmental mail and it finally struck me - here is the scenaro for kokoroita to consider writing next!
Old West scenario
The Sheriff and the Badman
The Sheriff and the Outlaw
The Lawman and the Outlaw
The Lawman and the Badman
S is the sheriff: well-liked, sings in church choir, handles guns well, good with getting people to obey the laws because of his natural charm and his ability to make people feel good and do the right thing for him. Known as the Singing Sheriff. Doesn't drink much but will hang out in local saloon to talk to people, innocently flirt with the working girls, maybe play a hand of cards. You can bring in other Gravi charas here and decide who his deputy/s is/are.
S can have a somewhat tragic life, but it made him stronger and made him want to become a sheriff. That's some background that could somewhat parallel E's situation, which would parallel how they both dealt with being raped in the canon. I don't want to go there-rape that is, but something should be parallel - death of family member, etc., so they have a shared/common experience in the past.
E is the outlaw: robs banks, trains, stagecoaches. Romantic anti-hero; the girls go ape when he robs them, he could actually steal kisses from them and leave some of their jewels if they are family heirlooms. He probably needs to be completely masked with just eye slits, using his sexy voice (which he pitches differently than his usual voice) to wow the girls.
E is a bad guy because of 'justifiable' revenge. It could be he only robs from places owned/financed by the person who killed his brother/parents/whomever. He could be gathering funds so he has enough to go to a foreign country and portray aristocracy in style so he can get to the person who killed whomever, like the Count of Monte Cristo. E is methodical about where he makes his hits, making sure he does not follow any kind of pattern or route.
E can have a 'barmaid' or ten from his home base as an occasional sex partner if it works within the storyline to add background information (girls talking about him, how he doesn't settle down, what a catch, focussed on other things). E can even have a regular job as a newspaper journalist (geeky-wears his glasses) or something along that lines, or maybe in the telegraph office, or some place where he can get news of the world as well as information on where he can make a convenient and profitable hit.
E rents horses from other towns to do the robberies so they are never the same in how they look and messes with the horse brands and paints extra white markings or covers white markings on the horses in case someone can track them that way.
E robs a stage with a young woman (very minor chara-maybe Ayaka?) who ends up having the destination of the same town as S, tells S the story and develops a little crush on him. The woman is there because of some family issue and integrates well into the community, guys flocking around her, interested in marriage. She can consider many of them, although the sheriff would be first on her list because of his kindness to her, but quickly she realizes it is not real love and gets out of the story quickly. She is really there just to get S interested in wondering about this mysterious bandit who has ethics. He does not think about E sexually, but as a sheriff wondering about outlaw motivations. S is not interested in any kind of romance and has no real inclination about any gender because he is focussed on doing his job well.
The first meeting could be when E rides into town to scope out the prospects. He will go to the bar and see the group of people gathered and be reminded of what he lost and why he is seeking revenge. The pretext of being there is something having to do with news or something pertaining to the job you give him. If you think a pattern would have been noticed-that a newspaper man was in town prior to the robbery, it would be wrong. E somtimes checks out a place while he robs another he had not visited since a month before, or even longer. Sometimes he is at his home base when a robbery occurs. He is quite the fox.
The first inclination something is amiss could be S falling into a horse watering trough for some reason (think clumsy), and noticing places on E's horse losing/gaining colour because it was splashed - the paint is now be re-wetted so it is dripping.
I have sent the storyline for her to think about.
The craptop crapped out on me yesterday. It functions some of the time after being rebooted about five or six times, but I am afraid to do anything on it I may lose. Bought another on eBay this morning - could not afford it, but I cannot afford not having a laptop to do this work.
I brought my folder with the the two hard copy working stories to work today, so I could work on something even without the craptop.
Of course, Grunt had me going at the breakfast table this morning, not letting me translate but forcing details on me, some not even remotely related to what I am concentrating on currently. I need to get the piles of notes from there into some semblance of electronic manuscript order really soon.
I brought my folder with the the two hard copy working stories to work today, so I could work on something even without the craptop.
Of course, Grunt had me going at the breakfast table this morning, not letting me translate but forcing details on me, some not even remotely related to what I am concentrating on currently. I need to get the piles of notes from there into some semblance of electronic manuscript order really soon.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
I am averaging between 100 and 400 words a day. I may even get a fic completed this summer.
This particular one keeps asking me to add more details. Details are actually very important in this particular story.
It is like choreographing a ballet or blocking a one-act play. Each action causes a reaction. If I move hands to 'here' to do 'this', how will that affect the objects on a counter-top and what is being done by another pair of hands doing 'that' over 'there'.
Now I know that scenario implies sex on a counter-top, but, sorry (sumimasen), that is not the case. This is a simple breakfast prep scene, with two people working together to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Alas, no actual sex is in this story, though titillation will be around to tease, because it IS Gravitation.
I really want to get this one done. I think people will like it because I am exploring the future, adding to the time-line of "Over Breakfast" without making another chapter to that particular story. A lot of people seem to like that one, which was my first Gravi story. It was such a simple yet succinct piece.
*shrug* I guess part of the reason people like that story is because I am showing a positive future for the boys.
This particular one keeps asking me to add more details. Details are actually very important in this particular story.
It is like choreographing a ballet or blocking a one-act play. Each action causes a reaction. If I move hands to 'here' to do 'this', how will that affect the objects on a counter-top and what is being done by another pair of hands doing 'that' over 'there'.
Now I know that scenario implies sex on a counter-top, but, sorry (sumimasen), that is not the case. This is a simple breakfast prep scene, with two people working together to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Alas, no actual sex is in this story, though titillation will be around to tease, because it IS Gravitation.
I really want to get this one done. I think people will like it because I am exploring the future, adding to the time-line of "Over Breakfast" without making another chapter to that particular story. A lot of people seem to like that one, which was my first Gravi story. It was such a simple yet succinct piece.
*shrug* I guess part of the reason people like that story is because I am showing a positive future for the boys.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Been working on the two fics calling me the most, concentrating on one in particular. Lots of little details are popping up, demanding they be put in the correct order so the story flows correctly.
rat says I like to set up a 'constraint' in my tale-telling - for example, hiding the identify of the narrator, or, in this latest work, having zero dialogue. rat says, in good writing, the 'constraint' should be sufficiently painless so the reader will not mind it, or may not even notice it. I don't think I can live up to that comment...
Got almost 400 words logged Sunday.
rat says I like to set up a 'constraint' in my tale-telling - for example, hiding the identify of the narrator, or, in this latest work, having zero dialogue. rat says, in good writing, the 'constraint' should be sufficiently painless so the reader will not mind it, or may not even notice it. I don't think I can live up to that comment...
Got almost 400 words logged Sunday.
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Got 212 words done Friday, during the half-hour lunch.
I cannot seem to get any writing done at home. It's frustrating.
I cannot seem to get any writing done at home. It's frustrating.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Didn't get any writing or betaing done on the craptop yesterday, though I did get some more handwritten fic work done at work Wednesday. Grunt finally gave up the ending of the story I have been concentrating on completing. Yay!
I considered working on more than one fic at a time but I am finding it a smarter move to focus on finishing one thing at a time.
I am also scribbling notes at the breakfast table while eating said breakfast when I am not translating Japanese in manga. I may have to take a picture of the breakfast table, with all the fic and Japanese notes scattered about.
I considered working on more than one fic at a time but I am finding it a smarter move to focus on finishing one thing at a time.
I am also scribbling notes at the breakfast table while eating said breakfast when I am not translating Japanese in manga. I may have to take a picture of the breakfast table, with all the fic and Japanese notes scattered about.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Work in progress
Scanning then shrinking lets me see where my proportions may be off some.
And I did this little piece for the community:
Scanning then shrinking lets me see where my proportions may be off some.
And I did this little piece for the community:
Saturday, May 08, 2004
I did these back in February (I think), but just posted them.
My very latest is here:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/darkestlynk/oekaki/index.php
Look for #112.
My very latest is here:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/darkestlynk/oekaki/index.php
Look for #112.
Friday, May 07, 2004
Before going to bed last night I whipped out another 100 words into the craptop.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
After only a half-hour lunch, including eating, I was able to get 200 words in the craptop.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
私は今日かくつもりです。
Monday, May 03, 2004
Was looking at one of rat's girlie mags in his bathroom. Yeah, he has them lying about. I have books on gay sex and yaoi doujinshi in my bathroom. Turnabouts fair play. Found a photo pose of two girls I think might use as reference for one of the next pieces for me to draw. Another snuggly kind of piece. Imagine that.
