I had an awesome time at the College World Series on Wednesday, which is weird because I don't care much for sports. I guess it makes all the difference in the world if you go see them live. The weather was perfect. We had great seats off home plate, ate pizza, funnel cake, waffle cone, and I had to fend off hubby as he tried to hold me down and keep me from doing the wave. This post is not about sports, honestly. Although, I will be going on a bus trip this weekend. The fact is that non-writing spouses are asked to give a lot for us. This is my way of paying him back, accompanying him on sports functions. So, here's where I'm getting at.
A few days ago we had a terrible storm here. The sirens went off. Sirens...when I moved here from Florida and those things went off I thought I was in a concentration camp. Ohh, tornado alert. Anyway, they went off, so I hurried up and let the dogs out. While they're out there doing their doodie, I'm gazing at the sky. It was strangely calm, no wind, no darkness. I never understood the term "the quiet before the storm" like I did that day. Birds started flying in a frenzy. I could almost hear them saying, "get inside, stupid humans." Naturally, they were speaking to the neighbors who were outside taking pictures, never mind the fact that I was recording the scene on my phone at the time. Then a huge cloud approached, came out of nowhere. The weather people always refer to them as ominous, bringing apparent doom. The wind immediately followed. By then I was harassing the dogs so they'd climb up the stairs. Little fingers were trickling down from all around the cloud. There was twirling in the middle. It reminded me of the mixing of a cauldron, a wicked brew. Hubby explained about the formation of tornadoes and asked what I would do. I told him we'd both be running down to the basement screaming like a couple of girls. This is not about the weather either, really.
While I was standing there with a tinge of fear in my heart, humbled by the awesome monstrosity, I thought about setting. Yes, me, the writer, thought about setting. What a spectacular setting. That got me to thinking that I needed to tweak some of the setting in my WIP. I've written the word setting one too many times. I went back in the office/dog room and played with world building. I want that when I introduce my readers to my world, they'll step onto the land and feel the velvet of the grass, and beneath that the magic that connects my characters to their planets.
This post is actually about my WIP but I seem to be rambling today. It's been a while since I posted an update.
I've read in countless blogs lately that we need to keep our characters real so that readers can relate. If a character is too fictitious, readers won't want to read. A way to keep them real is to place them in real life situations. I've just written the word real one too many times. This is what happens when I don't get enough sleep. 150 pages into the book, after using villain to emotionally drag Craven through the mud, I wanted him to play. I let him tinker with an everyday experience. I treated him to a nice breakfast with his parents. It was a fun chapter in which mom would be mom. I focused on the food, his interaction with his parents, parental advice. Craven is a king, a warrior. He has certain powers, and a little something extra. He's passionate, brave, at times faulty, but I wanted to show him in a different light. It was a great opportunity to reach into his heart and present his more tender side. I wanted to my readers to see him as I see him, to connect.
Needless to day, I had a great time writing it. The bad weather was quickly forgotten.
Everyone have a wonderful weekend!
