Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I need to get a life

I need to get a life.

Since I completed NaNoWriMo I've gotten in to the habit of trying to write fiction. It's kind of the idea of the program. It really makes me realize that I have no life.

They always say "write about what you know" and most authors get around that. Most of the stories I look for are fantasy based because I get to make the rules. The one book I read on the subject pointed out that you need to keep to certain concepts, like if it isn't a Star Trek book don't talk about warp speed, but kept an open mind for the most part. You can study something or read about something to make it believable enough for the average reader. Some people will be mad at you if you get everything right, but you shouldn't worry about them. My point is that reading up on something, or watching something isn't as good as actually experiencing it. Whenever I actually experience life I think about how once considered writing about a similar event and I realize that I would have gotten it all wrong.

In November I went to an IFD show at a bar in Baltimore, MD. I don't go to bars that often. Maybe three or four since I've been able to drink. I don't drink that much, thought if I did I would do it at a bar. Anyway, each of these bars were completely different. They all had the same concept, sell drinks and entertain people, but one was focused on just drinks and cheap food, but the one in Baltimore had a decent stage and a very odd balcony area too. The one in my college town seemed more aimed to the locals instead of the students, or maybe just the alcoholic students. Each time I entered I felt like I knew what to expect and each time I was proven wrong. The one in Baltimore had a great stage, but the sound was messed up, not in the "you're seeing a show way" in a "fire your sound engineer". I wouldn't have thought about that when writing. The one I was at in Charlottesville, VA was simply too small for the number of people there. I don't think of that when a book says crowded, I think busy, not standing room only.

When I watch Dollhouse and they get into the nonsense about brains, half of which is made up, I just think about how much they do know. I can't list off all of the parts of the brain. First aid for a bullet wound? Don't know it. A Broadway show, a Bon Jovi concert, snowboarding, ice skating, operating a motorcycle, I haven't done any of that. Even a couple of weeks ago when I got stuck in the blizzard, a guy towing me out of a snow bank asked me if I knew how to drive in snow... nope, the last time we had that much snow I was eight. But the thing is I thought I could drive in snow. I had never had a problem with it before.

So I'm adding a new GOAL - Get a life. And I'm adding a bunch of stuff to my extended goal list

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