I promise you, there will be nothing of Björk naked or spitting on anyone–except for this comment. That said, onward.
I’ll tell you, it’s been a while since I’ve created a new character for a role playing game, and I’ve forgotten just how time consuming that endeavor can become. Particularly if you have a lot of equipment to buy, and said equipment is spread out all over the place in different books. You start out thinking that you’re going to knock this sucker out in maybe a couple of hours, and before you know it–BAM! It’s about 7 hours later and you’ve while you’ve got most everything physical tapped out for said character, you have to start in on their history.
Oi. It’s a real time consumer, and it does eat into the time you should spend writing.
Then again, coming up with a great character history is writing, which you would know if you have ever created a great character for a role playing game.
Trust me, I did write some serious stuff last night, once I got past all the distractions. Ah, yes: I’m back on the air at The Undisclosed Location, and with Internet comes all the distractions. And there is something else here in the mix, and that’s work. Because for the last year, when I’ve been heavy into writing and game playing and character creation for both, I didn’t have to worry about work getting in the way, I just got up, flipped on and started working.
Writing was my work.
Right now, however, I’m back to earning a pay check to cover the bills, and that’s taking a huge chunk out of my life. Which means lest time to write and do all the other things I want to do.
This is known as time management. Last night my time wasn’t managed that great, but I did manage to get it done.
I actually surprised myself by knocking off 950 words for Couples Dance. I got into the chapter with the reading of this journal from 1932, and I was off–really. I began putting my thoughts together and realized that what this journal needed was just a touch of offness, and since it was about 9:30 PM, and I was already writing about unusual sexual encounters, I conjured up a few disturbing scenes in my head, and . . . yeah. I decided that, within the story inside the story, I was going to go there and show people what happens when you mess with a couple of my now-long dead characters, and put it out there for all to see.
It was like, the moment I created this one character, I needed something bad to happen to them, and instantly I went there. And since it ties into something that will happen to another character, it’s sorta gonna make sense in a way.
That’s what happens when you start dancing in the dark: your mind goes places you maybe don’t want it to go, but it does anyway. And Couples Dance is a strange story, so what I found sitting in the deep parts of my brain doesn’t surprise me one bit.
I just hope when I can find someone to publish it, because it’s truly not the sort of story that’s going to appeal to everyone.
In the meanwhile, I have to start working on my game character’s history, which is probably going to take up about a 3,000 words chunk. All I need now is to figure out if she’s going to spend $15,000 in-game money on a pickup or the ability to become invisible like a Predator–
Let me get my dancing shoes . . .
January 31, 2012 at 5:10 am
Awww but naked Björk is not that bad! I know how timeconsuming buying stuff is with me wondering how many arrows I will really need and will you need that 150 feet long rope for something.
January 31, 2012 at 5:12 am
Yes, I’ve seen naked Björk, and it’s not bad at all! I wonder about that rope as well . . . my stumbling block with my character is what sort of BDSM toys she should have.
January 31, 2012 at 8:15 am
I’m gonna put on, my my my my my boogie shoes! (OK, I’m showing my age there but the point is, I thought you stated it in a fairly consice manner. The background stuff often takes more time than planned, but it’s still time management.
January 31, 2012 at 8:28 am
There was a time when I actually danced to that song in a club . . . yeah, time management is a pain. I can see how it’s so much easier when your job is writing, because you don’t need to worry about that 9 hour chunk taken out of your day.