Of Water Horses and What to Write Next

[starfishstar]

More thoughts about writing...

(Can you tell I only really get a chance to get online on the weekends these days, and have to post all my thoughts all at once then??)

Anyway:

Perhaps surprisingly – given that Harry Potter is one of my favorite things – in my original writing I've never felt particularly drawn to write either fantasy or YA. My writing tends to be quite serious and realistic, looking at questions of life and human connections, and character-focused almost to the exclusion of all else. (Er, much like my fic, yes. And yes, even in my Harry Potter fic I've often had to remind myself to add magic bits in, because I'm so focused on my character explorations, I almost forget to even nod to this whole fantasy setting that was the source of it all!)

When I made a stab at writing a novel a couple years ago, though, I quickly realized that going on about character development for 50,000 words is not actually enough. A novel needs a framework, be that "mystery" or "quest" or "romance" or whatever other type of plot, to form the scaffolding; then the character development can drape elegantly over and around that structure. Or at least that's how I've come to see it.

So I've put my energy into writing fic (yay!) and especially into trying out stories with more plot, stories based around a mystery or action or adventure, where the character stuff is woven in around that, rather than being the sole focus. It's been really fun! I'm learning a lot!

But every now and then I check back in with myself to see whether I have any ideas about what kind of story I might want to tell whenever I do circle back around to writing original stuff, and every time the answer seems to be...uh, nope, sorry, still no ideas.

Which brings us to:

I'm finally reading a book by Maggie Stiefvater. (I say "finally" because her name seems to come up constantly in YA circles, so I decided I really needed to pick a book of hers and get to it!) This one's called "The Scorpio Races" and I'm really digging the world-building. The premise involves "capaill uisce," or water horses, scary mythical beasts of Celtic legend, and the author both draws on the folklore about these creatures and also plunks them down in a quite mundane setting of cars and shops and tourists, and lets you figure out gradually how the particular magic of these creatures works, in this modern-day context.

And I love stuff like that! I've contemplated the idea of a Sherlock/Song of the Sea fusion (i.e., as selkies), and for Holmestice I wrote a fic where Sherlock was a dryad and Mrs Hudson was a griffin (and Lestrade was a very baffled, normal cop trying to figure out what the hell was going on around him) and it was so much fun! Also: I have loved writing the werewolf pack OCs for "Raise Your Lantern High," and researching Celtic/Pagan traditions for them has been one of my favorite things about that story.

So maybe there's something there for me, some potential to play in the fantasy genre by discovering and reimagining something out of this kind of folklore/mythology and turning it into something "original". (As much as any story in our collective storytelling tradition is ever completely new!) I mean, I know I would also still have to come up with an actual plot, and not just "hey, look, it's got this cool mythical creature in it." But it's an idea and a start, and the first thing that's pinged my "ooh, that might be fun to write about!" sense in a while. (Outside of fic, I mean. I have "ooh, I want to write that!" moments about fic constantly.)

Comments

[indybaggins.livejournal.com]

For a while I totally had this very strong fantasy about a remote cabin in the woods by the stormy north Atlantic coast *gasp of longing* Yes! YES! Oh I would adore that. I think it comes with being an introvert (and a writer, I suppose) but alone time with nature and just a chance to think and feel away from everything else, it sounds glorious.

Do you happen to have links of the artist residency and the group in Berlin? I do travel a lot, so I might be able to do that some day... I imagine it's not cheap, though? And yes to the self-imposed retreat, I always enjoy writing on planes, too, so I'm sure I will do a lot when travelling next month.

[starfishstar]

For sure! It's "The Reader Berlin" – http://thereaderberlin.com/

Though I should further explain that mostly what they do is offer a variety of writing classes (over the course of several weeks), and occasional one or two day workshops or retreats (for example, I see there's a "Berlin writing weekend" coming up in March). They also do cool stuff like an all day event where you first go to an art museum for inspiration, then spend all afternoon writing, and there's also dinner included I think. But I'm not sure if "writer's retreat in a rural location" is something they do often or at all at the moment. They're a great group, though! I'm sad that they started up just around the time that I was leaving; I took one fiction-writing class with them, then I was already moving away.

The place near where I live now (in the US) is more for artists/musicians, and I know you have to apply for it and I don't really know anything about how it works... BUT I can only imagine there are so many things like that! Writer's workshops, retreats, colonies, etc. are all over, at least in the US, though you generally have to pay/apply/get a grant to go. Probably easier just to rent a house by the sea for a week with a couple of writer friends and hold each other accountable for writing every day. Actually, I'd sign up for that!! :-)

[indybaggins.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link! I bookmarked it. I've been planning to go to Berlin sometime in July or August, I might see if there's something on around then and if the dates work out maybe a one-day event because those sound really fun! But yeah, I think anything week(s) long I'd probably have to arrange myself because even if it exists it would be quite pricey. Probably easier just to rent a house by the sea for a week with a couple of writer friends and hold each other accountable for writing every day. Yes! That would be awesome! I'd say 'let me know if you ever want to do that' but um, realistically I can't just hop over to the US. It would be a nice dream though! :)

[starfishstar]

Ah, you're going to Berlin when I'm no longer there! That's sad! ALTHOUGH, I am hoping to finally go back for a long visit this summer, now that I work at a job that has the summers off... So it's quite possible I *might* be there in July or August. (If I'm not in Iceland...) Maybe let me know when decide to go? It would be fun and funny to meet up with a fandom friend! :-) (I know you do that a lot, but I only have once or twice.)

To which, actually, ditto on the build-your-own writers' retreat... *IF* I do get to come hang around Europe all summer, I could totally imagine doing a rent-a-holiday-cottage-on-the-sea-and-write thing... Right now it's too far in advance for me to actually plan anything for the summer, but it might not be as crazy as it sounds!!

[indybaggins.livejournal.com]

(Sorry for the late reply, I moved out this week and then spent the weekend in Paris, writing this while waiting for my train by the Gare du Nord :))

Berlin, ah, sorry! I don't have any definite plans yet so I could probably adjust my dates? Depends on what else I do in summer, I think I'll be quite busy in July, but not so much August. It would be really fun to meet you! :) I'd definetly be up for it. Same for renting something by the sea and writing, aaah! Yes! Okay, we definetly need to talk when it's a bit closer to summer. I would probably need to know when in May or early June? :)

[starfishstar]

Oooh, no, don't adjust any plans around me – especially since I have NO idea of my own plans yet! But if it happens to work out that we cross paths, that would be really fun! And yeah, I'd be up for pondering the idea of a writing holiday by the sea, if we happen to be somewhat in the same region of the Earth at the same time... Talk again in a couple months??

[indybaggins.livejournal.com]

Let's! And I do think it can be done, I travel, um, often... *is writing this from Bangkok airport* ;)

[starfishstar]

Cool! (I used to travel all the time, like you're doing, but I've been boring since I moved back to the States; I hope some good old wandering is in my future for this summer...)

Enjoy Thailand! I lived there for a year as an exchange student, and it was one of the best years of my life. :-)

[indybaggins.livejournal.com]

Thailand is wonderful! Last time I was here I considered moving here, I loved it that much. So now coming back I was a bit worried about whether it would hold up to its reputation in my mind, but it totally has, I still adore it! I still wish I could live here, tbh, but then I would never make enough money to travel anywhere else, that's why working in Europe makes more sense...

You lived here for a year, I'm jealous! Funny, I was an exchange student to the US! :)

[starfishstar]

Ooh, where in the US were you?

[indybaggins.livejournal.com]

A small town in Wisconsin, of all places... Not the best for me then (being a queer vegetarian didn't help) but I've been back to the US many times since then and found loads of places I like better :)

Where were you in Thailand?

[starfishstar]

I'm going to move this comment to PM only because this thread has already nested so far, and I don't know how much further it can go! More in your inbox in a moment. :-)