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December has been a whirlwind month. With holidays, and first birthdays, and parties. It is also the month where I traditionally veg out after taking on NaNoWriMo in November. Instead, I tried to knock out a few short stories for some deadlines that came up this month. Note to self: you are not quite ready to take on a short deadline for multiple projects with numerous other things whirling around your life at the same time. Next time pick one project, and target it, don't try to take them all on at once. Not to mention a large end of year crunch at the day job...the one that actually pays bills and therefore comes first.
As you might gather from the above, writing for this month was for all intents and purposes a failure. I got some words on the page, but none of the stories headed in the directions I wanted, and I may have hit upon a case where research killed a story idea. Spent too much effort researching because I wanted the story to be "right" and started to decide that the premise wasn't working. And I got too wrapped up in the research itself so that I didn't step back and see the story. Time to go back to basics. I intend to finish the stories anyway. Nothing says that they might not end up selling elsewhere.
Submissions: Waiting on one submission. Lack of focus means I didn't get a new story out.
Reading: One book.
Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England, by Juliet Barker. A thorough and engaging look at the buildup to, and the prosecution of, the Agincourt campaign by Henry V. If all you knew about the battle, or even Henry V comes from Shakespeare, this book gives a distinct and different view. That's not to say Shakespeare got it wrong, but that you can see where he took some artistic license with his history play. What is even more compelling, was to come to understand what chivalry meant in the beginning of the fifteenth century. Imagine wars where when a person was captured, you took his word that he would show up at a prearranged location so that he might submit himself to be your prisoner. Knowing full well that he might be your prisoner for years. And they did. Even in the middle of a war, people pledged that they would not aid their own countrymen but would instead report to your castle. Fascinating. Much goodness to throw into the brain's compost pile. Hopefully it will produce some wonderful soil for stories, even beyond the one that sent me researching the topic to begin with. (Not that it took much to get me interested in Medieval history of any kind.)
Looking forward to getting myself back on track and making some new headway with the new year.
As you might gather from the above, writing for this month was for all intents and purposes a failure. I got some words on the page, but none of the stories headed in the directions I wanted, and I may have hit upon a case where research killed a story idea. Spent too much effort researching because I wanted the story to be "right" and started to decide that the premise wasn't working. And I got too wrapped up in the research itself so that I didn't step back and see the story. Time to go back to basics. I intend to finish the stories anyway. Nothing says that they might not end up selling elsewhere.
Submissions: Waiting on one submission. Lack of focus means I didn't get a new story out.
Reading: One book.
Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England, by Juliet Barker. A thorough and engaging look at the buildup to, and the prosecution of, the Agincourt campaign by Henry V. If all you knew about the battle, or even Henry V comes from Shakespeare, this book gives a distinct and different view. That's not to say Shakespeare got it wrong, but that you can see where he took some artistic license with his history play. What is even more compelling, was to come to understand what chivalry meant in the beginning of the fifteenth century. Imagine wars where when a person was captured, you took his word that he would show up at a prearranged location so that he might submit himself to be your prisoner. Knowing full well that he might be your prisoner for years. And they did. Even in the middle of a war, people pledged that they would not aid their own countrymen but would instead report to your castle. Fascinating. Much goodness to throw into the brain's compost pile. Hopefully it will produce some wonderful soil for stories, even beyond the one that sent me researching the topic to begin with. (Not that it took much to get me interested in Medieval history of any kind.)
Looking forward to getting myself back on track and making some new headway with the new year.
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Of course, part of my problem here was spending so much time in "research" that my original story idea just kind of fell apart. I'm not sure yet whether doing more reading will set things right, or dash them further.
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