random original fic/writing thoughts
Apr. 9th, 2008 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbard1. I keep a list of last names in the back of my notebook, usually garnered from the last names of actors and producers/crew from the TV shows and movies I watch. I really need this list, because I keep having to come up with more and more characters for my novel, and it gives me a pretty decent cross-section of American surnames, rather than just the Anglo-Saxon I tend towards otherwise.
2. I handwrite most of my stories, but I only write on the front side of the paper in a notebook, because (1), I hate having my hand run into the wire spine, and (2), pencil smears way too easily when you write on both sides of the paper in a notebook. However, I write on the back side from the back forwards -- those are my notes. The first/last two pages are the above-mentioned last names; the majority of the rest are notes. Mostly character lists: "Wave 2", "Wave 1", "Earthside", "Rokasa (Americans)", but also just notes/lists in general. All planets with American bases, including the names of the ships that evacuated them and what happened to them after the Recall; a bibliography; major ships of the American starfleet and what happened to each starcarrier ("returned Earthside, Year Three"; "destroyed, Year Two, survivors rescued by North Carolina"; "lost in Rokasa"; "flagship, went native"), "Wave 1 Chain of Command"; the recent extensive list of -- oh lord -- notes on aircraft carriers and carrier battle groups.
3. I spent the better part of an hour last night gleaning information about the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers, carrier battle groups, amphibious ready groups, carrier air wings, and various other military related things to try and make my military universe make some kind of sense. Literally, that universe part. And to make it make sense (discounting the, "Oh, god, how did the U.S. even manage to make thirteen starcarriers when we don't even have thirteen aircraft carriers," part), I kind of have to restructure all of the first wave crew and personnel. I think it makes it a stronger story, though, and lets me take care of my lingering gender issue worries by putting women in command positions. (Since I'm actually making the Carolina make sense, the CAG -- Commander, Air Group -- is now a woman, Colonel Callie LaPaglia.)
4. The main character I know the least about is Cam Lorne, and it bothers me because what I know of him is how he affects other people -- that Ethan's in love with him, that Beau's pissed and protective of him all at once -- and how other people affect him. I don't know he affects himself. He's not a three-dimensional character.
5. I don't generally have favorite characters, but the one I like most right now is Colby Quinn, a wave two Air Force captain who's flying Landing Team Bravo around and imprinting far too much on the Rangers. He gets shot down and left behind, then gets alien nanites injected into him. Occasionally I do have to have alien technology in my sci-fi novel.
6. I think my main character's out of his mind. One of the most recent quotes I did was part of an essay called "A History of Violence: Beauregard Lorne Before Rokasa", and I actually kind of scared myself because of what I did to him. He's a psychopath -- but very, very good at pretending otherwise. (So psychopath might be pushing it, but -- he's not entirely sane, and he's aware of that fact.) And I honestly don't understand why he didn't get kicked out of the Army before they decided they could send him to Rokasa and pray he didn't come back. (Let me put it this way: an academic can make a very good case of him committing cold-blooded murder and never getting caught, let alone suspected. And one of my favorite incidents is what's called the glass-smashing incident, where he gets bitched out by a general in debriefing, pours himself a glass of water, drinks it, and smashes the glass in the general's face. And doesn't get court-martialed for it.)
7. I'm trying a little playing around with my secondary characters, to get a better feel for them, and so I ended up writing the medical/dental/nursing briefing when everyone got told they were getting sent off to outer space in nine weeks and hey! Joint task force, so everyone probably has to answer to someone who's not in their own branch of the service. Told from the POV of the Ranger doctor on Beau's team, Yoni Itzak.
2. I handwrite most of my stories, but I only write on the front side of the paper in a notebook, because (1), I hate having my hand run into the wire spine, and (2), pencil smears way too easily when you write on both sides of the paper in a notebook. However, I write on the back side from the back forwards -- those are my notes. The first/last two pages are the above-mentioned last names; the majority of the rest are notes. Mostly character lists: "Wave 2", "Wave 1", "Earthside", "Rokasa (Americans)", but also just notes/lists in general. All planets with American bases, including the names of the ships that evacuated them and what happened to them after the Recall; a bibliography; major ships of the American starfleet and what happened to each starcarrier ("returned Earthside, Year Three"; "destroyed, Year Two, survivors rescued by North Carolina"; "lost in Rokasa"; "flagship, went native"), "Wave 1 Chain of Command"; the recent extensive list of -- oh lord -- notes on aircraft carriers and carrier battle groups.
3. I spent the better part of an hour last night gleaning information about the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers, carrier battle groups, amphibious ready groups, carrier air wings, and various other military related things to try and make my military universe make some kind of sense. Literally, that universe part. And to make it make sense (discounting the, "Oh, god, how did the U.S. even manage to make thirteen starcarriers when we don't even have thirteen aircraft carriers," part), I kind of have to restructure all of the first wave crew and personnel. I think it makes it a stronger story, though, and lets me take care of my lingering gender issue worries by putting women in command positions. (Since I'm actually making the Carolina make sense, the CAG -- Commander, Air Group -- is now a woman, Colonel Callie LaPaglia.)
4. The main character I know the least about is Cam Lorne, and it bothers me because what I know of him is how he affects other people -- that Ethan's in love with him, that Beau's pissed and protective of him all at once -- and how other people affect him. I don't know he affects himself. He's not a three-dimensional character.
5. I don't generally have favorite characters, but the one I like most right now is Colby Quinn, a wave two Air Force captain who's flying Landing Team Bravo around and imprinting far too much on the Rangers. He gets shot down and left behind, then gets alien nanites injected into him. Occasionally I do have to have alien technology in my sci-fi novel.
6. I think my main character's out of his mind. One of the most recent quotes I did was part of an essay called "A History of Violence: Beauregard Lorne Before Rokasa", and I actually kind of scared myself because of what I did to him. He's a psychopath -- but very, very good at pretending otherwise. (So psychopath might be pushing it, but -- he's not entirely sane, and he's aware of that fact.) And I honestly don't understand why he didn't get kicked out of the Army before they decided they could send him to Rokasa and pray he didn't come back. (Let me put it this way: an academic can make a very good case of him committing cold-blooded murder and never getting caught, let alone suspected. And one of my favorite incidents is what's called the glass-smashing incident, where he gets bitched out by a general in debriefing, pours himself a glass of water, drinks it, and smashes the glass in the general's face. And doesn't get court-martialed for it.)
7. I'm trying a little playing around with my secondary characters, to get a better feel for them, and so I ended up writing the medical/dental/nursing briefing when everyone got told they were getting sent off to outer space in nine weeks and hey! Joint task force, so everyone probably has to answer to someone who's not in their own branch of the service. Told from the POV of the Ranger doctor on Beau's team, Yoni Itzak.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-10 03:36 pm (UTC)I, too, am one who writes almost everything longhand. I have a first draft of my original fiction novel done, all in longhand, spread between three voluminous notebooks. Typing it up constitutes a simple second draft and then... then the really tough work will begin with the third draft.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-11 12:38 am (UTC)Yoni started counting heads as soon as he walked into the briefing room. Doctors, dentists, nurses, from all three branches. He knew a few of them -- all the Army doctors had Ranger tabs on their sleeves and he'd worked with Jackie Black in Philadelphia -- but the majority were strangers. He took a seat in the Army portion of the room, nodding to the other two doctors and the head nurse.
Down on the floor, Caruso conferred with Staite briefly, then sent him over to the Navy contingent and moved to the podium. "Good morning," she said. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Jewel Caruso, United States Air Force Medical Corps. You're probably wondering why you're here.
"Three weeks ago, President Copland announced his decision to send the USSS North Carolina to the Rokasa Galaxy on a search and rescue mission for the missing members of the Rokasa Expeditionary Force. You are all the premier experts in your fields. You represent the pinnacle of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Medical, Dental, and Nurse Corps. You have been handpicked to serve onboard the North Carolina.
"In all likelihood, this will be a combat mission. It will be dangerous. All of you will be expected to leave the Carolina and travel on-planet or to another spaceship if it is requested of you. All of you will be expected to perform in combat operations should it become necessary.
"Given the circumstances of the situation, the President requries me to inform you that the North Carolina may not be able to return to Earth at the conclusion of our one year tour. Because of this, you may request transfer off the North Carolina. I cannot guarantee that your request will be granted, but I promise that it will be considered by the Secretary of the Air Force himself.
"That said, this is a once in a lifetime experience. I congratulate you all on being selected to fill these positions, and I look forward to working with you. Thank you."
There was a moment of vaguely stunned silence, a few of the Air Force and Navy medics nodding at each other in understanding and satisfaction, then someone in the Navy section raised their hand.
I kind of go back and forth between writing longhand and typing -- I do both -- but I prefer longhand because it's less, I don't know, concrete.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-11 01:04 am (UTC)I do like reading about your project. I'm also intrigued by your military research, partly for selfish reasons. With the science fiction novel I've started--which is set on a military research spaceship--I know I need to go through and make the military aspect realistic. (Right now, all I know about the navy I pretty much learned from NCIS.)
I have to say I am much intrigued by a main character who is out of his mind. :)
I also have to say, I'm envious of how organized you seem to be.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-11 02:09 am (UTC)Oh, God, let's not even. My main characters are Army, Air Force, civilian, former Army, and Air Force, and I thought I'd be able to get out of this without having to do too much research on the Navy at all. Now I know oodles and oodles about the Navy, especially I'm trying to make my novel make sense in the context of the military. (It's less than twenty years in the future.)
(My novel is also on a military research spaceship. Only -- it's not just research, and I'm not sure how much you're interested, so I won't go into it unless you ask.)
Beau's not completely out of his mind, he's just. Well. He's got a completely different set of priorities than anyone else would like. Which sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. It would not take much to send him completely over the edge.
You can tell I'm getting really nervous about a project when I start obsessive compulsive list-making (http://bedlamsbard.livejournal.com/218611.html). I also have a del.icio.us account just for Internet research that's not Wikipedia.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-11 04:18 pm (UTC)He's got a completely different set of priorities than anyone else would like. Which sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. It would not take much to send him completely over the edge.
Yeah, I figured you meant something like this. It makes for a much more interesting character than simple madness.
A del.icio.us account just for non-wikipedia internet research is a fab idea. In fact, I just stole it from you. (I'm always surprised that I'm really... not the best at being organized.)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-12 04:14 am (UTC)Anyway, I've been reading a lot of books these past few months, all of the true war drama type -- Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, House to House -- that sort of thing, because I'm trying to get the feel for the characters and the type of people who go into the military and go into special ops. For time period, I try to get as recent as possible (my novel is near-future, within the next twenty years), so most of what I read comes from the War on Terror, although Black Hawk Down obviously deals with Somalia. I've also read a couple books on World War II -- specifically the Pacific Theater, because the island-hopping, Pacific fleet tactic is fairly close to the planet-hopping, starfleet tactic used in the Rokasan War in my novel. My research del.icio.us account is bardicvoices (http://del.icio.us/bardicvoices), but everything there is mirrored over at my main account,
Anyway, I've been reading a lot of books these past few months, all of the true war drama type -- Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, House to House -- that sort of thing, because I'm trying to get the feel for the characters and the type of people who go into the military and go into special ops. For time period, I try to get as recent as possible (my novel is near-future, within the next twenty years), so most of what I read comes from the War on Terror, although Black Hawk Down obviously deals with Somalia. I've also read a couple books on World War II -- specifically the Pacific Theater, because the island-hopping, Pacific fleet tactic is fairly close to the planet-hopping, starfleet tactic used in the Rokasan War in my novel. My research del.icio.us account is <a href="http://del.icio.us/bardicvoices">bardicvoices</a>, but everything there is mirrored over at my main account, <a href="http://del.icio.us/bedlamsbard</a>, which also has fanfic recs; all research is under the <a href="http://del.icio.us/bedlamsbard/research">research</a> tag, which is also subdivided up.
Anyway, by the time I started doing research, I already had some things set in stone. It was just the little things I had to have make sense. I'd already set up that there are thirteen American starcarriers; what's the command structure going to be on that? Nearest parallel are Navy aircraft carriers; how are those structured? Oh, aircraft carriers travel in groups. Do I want to have my starcarriers do that? That's a lot of spaceships. America has a lot of ships on the sea; are we going to be able to produce an equal amount of spaceships on short notice? Maybe not the full carrier group, but it still makes sense for a carrier to have some kind of escort. The next closest thing is an amphibious ready group, the main ship of which is described as being a miniature aircraft carrier. It's a group of three ships. That'll work, especially since those tend to carry Marines and my starcarriers carry a lot of Marines. How many planes/helos does an aircraft carrier actually carry? Nine squadrons. Is that reasonable for a starcarrier. Sure. How many of those are fighters? Four. That'll do; how do the rest divide up? Is the U.S. still going to have or need that capability in space? Obviously a helicopter antisubmarine squadron is unnecessary. Obviously we're not going to have helicopters on space, but maybe I can put them with the ground troops. Which branches of the military fly helicopters? All of them. Which ones do they fly? Well, Navy, Army, and Air Force fly Blackhawks, although they name different depending on the capability; Army's not in space, I like Blackhawks, let's modify them slightly and call them Starhawks, have USAF planetary troops fly them. Huh, the Marines fly helos too, and they make up the majority of planetary troops. What do they fly now? It's near future, it doesn't need to change much...oh, wait, they're developing a new helo they're planning to switch over to within the decade. Okay, the Marines are going to fly the Viper; Navy and Air Force planetary fly Starhawks when the mission calls for it. There are a ton of other helo types; those can show up if the story calls for it.
*cough* Okay, this went so long I now have a <i>three-page</i> comment. Very cathartic, though. It's, um, going in a separate LJ entry. (No, seriously, I'm sure you wish you'd never got me started. I can talk about my writing <i>forever</i>. It's probably a good thing my senior project presentation is timed and has very strict guidelines; the panel would probably fail me just because I started talking about the classes my MC took in college. Which I'm changing, because it'll make more sense for him to not have been a physics major.)