The Death of a Character

Yesterday I was pretty frustrated with my NaNo project. That generally occurs at least once during the month of November, and the second week is right around the time it hits me.

So I took a step back, wrote a little over 700 words, and let my mind just rest. And when I didn’t concern myself with all the book’s issues, the ideas for the rest of the book were born.

I have to kill off one of my characters.

As in the case of most of my mini-writing epiphanies, the idea came to me while in the shower. Perhaps it’s the hot water or the steam stimulating the creative juices.

The others I just systematically got rid of as they were adding nothing to the story; this one however will actually die in the course of the story. It’s heartbreaking I have to do this, especially since I know how hard it’s going to be on my one character, but the story advances better. If anything, it’ll also help make Miyuki more human after she witnesses how a family is affected when a loved one dies–something she never gave any thought to before.

This will be, oh, probably the third or fourth person that will end up dying over the course of the book. I don’t like killing off my characters like that but if that’s where the story is taking me, then that’s what needs to be done.

I Want to Pull My Hair Out…

Warning: Massive rant ahead about my rough draft. If you should continue reading, consider yourself sufficiently warned.

As I get farther and farther along in my first draft, more and more questions around the storyline keep popping up as I’m writing.

And I’m beginning to feel a great deal like this woman below…

I’ve been assaulted by so many questions that I’ve had to make a running list of them. I keep changing things so that the story really doesn’t flow at all from the beginning to the current chapter (most important one being the fact the entire village and family that my MC is staying with is highly hesitant towards her, thinking she may be some sort of supernatural creature–which she is. Of course she has to try and convince them that she isn’t in order to be trusted).

That’s going to be an editing nightmare.

I had to add a minor subplot because I had to give the antagonist some more depth to her character.  I use “antagonist” loosely because while she’s a threat, she’s not a significant one–the main one is my MC’s own nature–you know the whole, man vs. self thing. Still, she’s a thorn in Miyuki’s side.

I’m also shifting around some village hierarchy and may be putting Miyuki in the village headman’s family–the village headman currently being her love interest (and still rather new in the position since his father was killed by her that winter before). If that’s the case I need to see if that meant they had servants and whatnot.

Considering this is a small (like less than 200 people small) village, they probably wouldn’t have been much higher than the surrounding countrymen; they also would’ve still been in the same caste, even if they were “higher end” farmers. Caste system in feudal Japan was very strict and to limit my research woes, that’s why I’m placing all the characters in the farmer’s caste as well as setting it in a small enough village where I don’t really have to worry about samurai and any other higher castes.

Of course that’s the plan now; the way this book is going, it could be completely different by the end.

I know, I know, I shouldn’t worry about it–just keep writing through it. But sometimes all the changes are hard to keep up with! And it’s scaring me to think about what I’ll have to deal with after the first draft is all done…

Movie Trailers

Because I can think of nothing else to post about today, here are some movies I’m looking forward to seeing.

This one I think I first heard about from Victoria Dixon or Jeannie Lin (I’m sorry I can’t remember exactly who!)  It intrigues me simply because it’s historical and it’s set in China. And the effects look amazing. Granted, it may take me a little while to figure out who is who in the film because Chinese names always throw me for a loop initially, but I’m willing to spend the $9 to go see this. Plus it’s one I actually got Phil to say he’d consider watching with me–yay!

This next one will have to be one I go to on my own, or try and find someone who likes historical romance:

I can seriously watch this trailer all day.

And finally, because Tim Burton movies are trippy and often amazing, I’m looking forward to this one coming out in March:

Obligatory NaNo Update and Word Wars

I’m officially past the 20K mark at 21,367. Very, very soon I’ll be hitting the halfway point

I also have to say that engaging in word wars with a fellow writer during this time is especially great for getting the story out and duct taping that inner editor’s mouth shut–at least for a short period of time. I generally engage in one of these battles once or twice a week with my younger sister who is also taking part in NaNo.

What is a word war? Well, you pretty much see who can write the most in a given period of time. Sis and I generally do half hour increments, though sometimes they are a little longer (we always specify the ending time during our phone call). The moment we hang up, we type as fast as the fingers can carry us.

The first word war I beat my sister with a count of a little more than 1100. Yes, 1100 in 30 minutes IS possible (I triple checked it). This time around, sis won with a total of 1400 (I had a little less than 1000). We battled for about 40 minutes. Getting a high word count in a short amount of time is certainly possible if you’re willing to be a little mean to that inner editor of yours.

Kreative Blogger Award

Thanks goes to Victoria Dixon for nominating me for the Kreative Blogger award. Victoria has an awesome blog that seeks to promote Asian-themed fiction–something that’s very near and dear to my heart.

 

Now I have to send my award to others.

1. Fellow writer Anna Scott Graham and her blog Non Fictional Chronicles of a Fiction Filled Life. Great blog of a fellow writer’s journey.
2. Jessica Nelson at BookingIt. She’s writes Christian romance and often has posts about how to improve your own writing as well as asking questions. It’s a great interactive blog, for she often responds  back to you in the comments.
3. Patti Nielson is another writer friend who often ties in some sort of every day life event with writing. Another great blog!
4. Lynda Schab at On the Write Track. She’s very informed about the world of Christian publishing–from freelancing, to greeting cards, to fiction writing and contests. She has great giveaways quite often too!
5. Courtney Vail at ~Creative Burst~. A wonderful blog full of great writing advice. She was actually one of the first I followed when I got started blogging myself.
6. K@ The Flighty Temptress. She lives and works in Japan and has great posts (and pictures) of all the adventures she’s been on. I must admit, I’m always a little jealous reading her blog. So I travel vicariously through reading her posts.
7. Last but certainly not least, Sara Raasch at See Sara Write. Certainly one of the funniest and most creative blogs out there.  She’s also repped by the well-known agent Kate Schafer Testerman (Also known as Daphne Unfeasible) from KT Literary.

Definitely check out these amazing blogs!

Wordle Fun

So I got bored and went to the uber fun site Wordle to see which words were most prevalent in the 18K I’ve written thus far for Lady of the Snow.

Well there can be no question on who the main character is… And I suppose it’s pretty obvious who some are the other more prevalent people are in the book too.

That was fun. I think I’ll post more of these as my word count grows, just to see how the word sizes change and if other words become larger.

November 9th Already? Seriously??

Is it already the 9th of November? Wow. Last week was kind of a blur for me–though it was slow, all the days just blended together and I kind of forgot what the date was…

Anyway.

Sometime later in the month I may do another little series on the Mythical Creatures of Japan, despite the fact there was little interest in it last week (the fact that my page views per day were hardly above those on days when I didn’t write a blog post at all, it kind of says something…) I guess people just aren’t as fascinated with Japanese mythology as I am! But I will continue in a week or two with some fun and fascinating creatures, despite lack of interest.

As for NaNo updates…are you ready? This could be a little long-winded, so feel free to skip past this if you don’t care.

{Begins long winded NaNo rambling here}

I’m doing good on the word count (slightly past the 16K mark) however, the story just doesn’t seem to be, well, flowing like I want it to this time around. I don’t know why, but the last two years when I worked on Promise of the Plum Blossom, the words just seemed to come easier. And the prose seemed to be better. 

Not saying there isn’t any salvageable material in Lady of the Snow just…well, there just doesn’t seem to be as much. As others have told me no writing is absolute garbage, so I know there’s some of this that I can use and edit to make it shine.

 Wouldn’t you know it–as I’m working on Lady of the Snow, I keep thinking of things to change in Promise. But I’m being good and not looking at it–solely focusing on Lady of the Snow until it’s done.

Yes, I know I shouldn’t be re-reading anything I’ve written at all, but too bad I haven’t changed any of it, just marked where things need clarification and examination. I already decided to make a complete change in one regard.

I initially had Kazuhiro’s family (Miyuki’s future husband and my second viewpoint character) welcome Miyuki/Yuki-onna with open arms (since she’s a human, at least physically). However I was reading one of my research books, because I wanted to look up some aspects of rice farming (fun stuff huh?) and I saw that it mentioned how young women found on mountain roads traveling alone were regarded with extreme caution because of the prevalence of the stories about them being supernatural beings (like kitsune, or “fox women”).

So probably around 30 page mark, I changed it to where the family–and the village in general–is a little hesitant of this strange girl found on a remote road. On the plus side, it adds another little challenge for my character–she’s got to gain the trust of the family and the townsfolk in order to be accepted.

By doing that, she’s got to act more “human” and by extension, this ultimately transforms her, making her realize ever so slowly that being mortal is a lot more than she expected. It’s one of those things that I wouldn’t have figured out except through writing–and of course, reading my history book and applying that one little truth nugget to part of my story.

{End of rambling}

This week doesn’t seem to be as busy as the last…at least not yet. Still planning to go to a few write-ins and hopefully catching up on some housework. Oh and hoping that our garbage disposal gets fixed since it’s now busted and using that side of the sink causes water to leak out below the cupboard.

How’s everyone else doing at the start of this second week of November?

A Much Anticipated End to a Long Week

This was one of those weeks where I thought Friday would never come.

Nothing absolutely horrendous happened–just a bunch of small things all adding up to make this a neverending week. From $400 vet visits, to winning an awesome contest I couldn’t use the prize for, to driving all over town for work and for write-ins, to a computer virus attacking my work computer, it just was, well…neverending.

The next two days will be a little busy too. Tomorrow I will be spending a few hours making kolachky (fruit filled cookies) for a recipe party on Sunday. That should be fun, although messy. Nothing like having a flour-covered kitchen! LOL.

Somewhere in there I need to find time to get another 4K…

Oh well. The world shall continue to spin despite my complaining Anyway, at least it’s mostly over. On the plus side, I’m going to an author signing tonight. Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) will be at the local book store speaking and signing books. I’m glad I checked the website last night though–the location is slightly different than what I thought, but it’s much closer to my house (if it was summer time, I’d actually just walk there, it’s that close). I’m going with hubby’s cousin to listen to him. So, at least the week ends on a good note!

Oh and I’m at a little over 11K with my NaNo word count. Most of what I’ve written is absolute trash but there are some salvageable parts in it. Maybe Yeah I know I shouldn’t have gone back and read it–breaking a rule there–but oh well. I didn’t edit any of it…yet. The inner editor is screaming at me, but she’ll have to just sit locked away in her room until December.

Hags and Beauties: Hari-onago/Hari-onna

Today’s lovely woman of mythology is the Hari-onago/Hari-onna. The hooked hair woman.

Hari-onago is an extremely beautiful and enchanting woman–except for the fact the ends of her hair are razor sharp hooks.

Legends say she comes from Ehime prefecture. Unlike the others this week, she’s more of a local legend rather than a national one.  However, her notoriety has spread throughout the country and she’s even made appearances in the famous anime anime InuYasha as well as making an appearance in a video game. 

What exactly does she use her massively long and dangerous hair for? To trap men, of course. She preys upon them, much like a vampire. It’s said she will smile and laugh at whatever boy catches her fancy, and if he laughs back, she extends her hair and captures him with her hooks and mutilates him in the process.

One has to wonder why she goes around laughing at her prey and daring them to laugh back. I suppose that’s her way of capturing them.

Not many stories exist of one escaping–she has the uncanny ability to make her victims laugh. However there is one instance where a young man somehow escaped being ensnared in her hooked hair by shutting her out of his house. The hooks left deep gashes in the door, but the young man escaped harm.

At least it wasn’t a paper door, like many of the doors in Japan, or the story would’ve ended differently.

Hags & Beauties: Yama-uba

Ah, the Yama-uba. Literally, it means “mountain crone”–and that’s exactly what she is.

She’s not a very pleasant looking woman is she? She’s the prototypical “old hag”, who lives far off in the deep forests or high mountains of Japan. She’s normally fairly hideous in appearance with messy long hair, tattered clothes and a large mouth. However, it’s been said that she can alter her appearance in order to capture her victims.

Her prey is the poor lost traveler in the woods (much like that of Yuki-onna). She will sometimes transform into a beautiful woman in order to capture their attention. Other times she maintains her old crone appearance and beg said victim for help. She gains their trust and when they least expect it, she kills them and feeds on their flesh (gotta love canibalism…)

If the traveler is in need of help himself, she will offer her hut for safety. Still in other cases she will lure the victim to his death by having him fall off the side of a mountain, where she can feed on his corpse. Some legends say she can animate her hair, much like that of the Futakuchi-onna; others say her hair turns into snakes. Her diet isn’t limited to lost traveling adults; it’s also said she will prey on children as well.

Yama-uba isn’t invincible though, like the Yuki-onna. Various legends say she’s only nocturnal and she’s frozen in the sunlight. Other legends say her soul is captured in a flower, and if the flower is destroyed so is she. She’s also said to be quite gullible so that her victims will often trick her to find escape. Like any good mountain hag legend, it’s known that she’s quite skilled in sorcery and potions, and sometimes she will barter this information to someone in exchange for a much steeper price.

However, Yama-uba is known to have a benevolent side. A very popular legend centers around the folk hero and superhuman warrior Sakata Kintoki, or otherwise known as Kintaro. Yama-uba took in the orphan Kintaro and raised him as her son. Their relationship is depicted as quite loving; she the doting mother and him the dutiful son. The legend helped influence more modern tales that show her more as a matronly figure rather than the horrible cannibalistic hag.

Other legends simply say she’s a woman of nature, and she represents humanity’s harmony with natural surroundings. So, she can be a multitude of different beings.

Origins of the story are thought to have their roots in a time when famine made it to where villagers had to abandon their elderly in the woods because of lack of food. Stories with the Yama-uba have existed for a thousand years or more, many of them tracing back to the Heian period (794-1185 A.D.).

She’s a quite popular subject still in Japan, ranging from Noh plays that have her as the main player, to books, and even an odd fashion trend that started back in the ’90s  called “Yamanba.”

Apparently, the mountain crone still lives on.