<![CDATA[Signy Kuiper - SciFi and Fantasy fiction writer - Thoughts and Frustrations]]>Sun, 20 May 2012 19:32:17 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Writing Again]]>Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:15:52 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2011/10/writing-again.htmlTomorrow is Samhain/Halloween. The next day is the start of NaNoWriMo. If you've read this blog before, you know I usually participate and this year is no exception. Ours is a very active region both in person and virtually so feel free to join us if yours isn't as much so. Central Iowa Authors in Iowa (of course).

A few months ago I finally started getting back into the writing groove again. This time last year I went to a very personal and dark place that spun my attempt at a story out of control. So I've been focusing on sorting that out. While not perfect by any means, I think I'm in a much better place to get some new words out into the universe.

What am I writing this year? This afternoon my characters informed me that it's a sequel of sorts to By The Pen. Same world and a central character has worked closely with Caelan in the past. Right now I have a cast of characters, location and the beginning of the story. But as of right now I still have over 30 hours to figure out the rest. Right? Yeah, I'm what they call a pantser for the most part though I plan at least a few scenes ahead and I have an idea of where the main characters end up. Oh and I have a list started on who is going to die and how. So I should be all set to go.

Anyone else out there doing NaNoWriMo this year? What are you writing?

SK
]]><![CDATA[Swimming Through Air]]>Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:46:37 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2011/08/swimming-through-air.htmlSome of you may think I'm not serious with this title. You would be wrong... and probably live in a different part of the country from me. As I type this we are under an Excessive Heat Warning with a temp of 92 and heat index of 108. Two hours ago it was a temp of 98 and heat index of 119. The swimming part comes from tropical dew points/humidity yet not a thunderstorm in sight.

On the writing front, all fingers are crossed.

First in the hopes this blog post doesn't get smacked with the issues of the last one. Neither Webyeti or myself know what happened to that one but a test run I did a couple days ago seemed fine.

Second that I'll be able to get By The Pen edited sometime soon. It's been nearly two years but I still find myself cringing after only a few paragraphs. I am so envious of Amazon and Melbourne being able to turn their stories around so quickly. (On a side note, Melbourne chose her own nickname and made Asrion giggle in the process. I'll let you ask her yourself about that one.)

Third has to do with the new link on the front page. O'Shiny Creative Services is alive. That would be a group of local writers, myself included of course, being led by our writing Mom in editing and other things to help others get published. At the moment it's mostly editing and formatting resources we provide but there's a very long list of up and coming options as we get more comfortable with them. I'll be sure to post here as those we work with get their work out into the world.

So what have all of you lovely folks been up to while I've been meandering?

SK
]]><![CDATA[Reset]]>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:48:33 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2011/03/reset.html Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Hello again my lovely internet friends. Long time no blog. I am glad to see you’re still here, though.

Where have I been all winter? The frozen wastelands of the north would be the easy answer and accurate. But why haven’t I been posting here? Because while surrounded by ice I was in a personal meltdown. I won’t go into all the icky details but the result is that the bio-family is no longer a part of this writer’s present or future. Since they’ve been such a big part of the past this results in me going through a process of redefining myself. Thus we are in reset mode around here.

Some have wondered why the sudden action. This whole tale has been brewing for decades but the breaking point came with the last NaNoWriMo. The story I started, admittedly using characters inspired by those around me, hit just a bit too close to home. So I came out of November without a whole lot of words but no coherent story. Instead it was a month of literary therapy for me that has since continued and become more coherent. I know parts of what I wrote these months will appear in later stories.

That brings us back to the present… and the future. There are a lot of things in the works for me at the moment. Multitasking is my life. The day job decided to keep me though my team has been bounced around a lot in the last six months. Personally, I am trying to do by myself what had previously been done by three people. My determination to get out of the cubicle farm increases daily. Now if I can just manage to focus that determination. J

Personally… well… the adoptive family keeps me on my toes these days. This is where some things are in the works but I can’t say much about them just yet. Trust me, once things solidify I will be all over this site with the news. One thing I can talk about is the wedding of WebYeti and DD. That should be fun for everyone involved.

Writing. Oh the writing. As I mentioned, my theory on writing being excellent therapy has been proven these past few months. Now that I’m in the stage of determining my own future, By The Pen is back on the table. I’ve made some headway into the second draft and hope to get it to that stage in the coming months. Don’t be surprised if snippets start appearing on this site. Also, another story is starting to unfold within my computer these days. Tentatively called The House, this one is another urban fantasy though more settled in the ‘real’ world. While I’ve always expected BTP to become a series, The House characters have made no bones about it. They have big plans.


So that’s the update on my world these days. Updating a bit more frequently here is on the agenda as well. What’s on yours?

SK

]]><![CDATA[NaNo Is Coming... NaNo Is Coming]]>Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:29:30 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/10/nano-is-coming-nano-is-coming.htmlIn case you can't tell by the title and a couple tweets lately, it's almost November thus almost time for NaNoWriMo. A week ago I'd have said I wasn't sure what I was writing and that I was just going to wing it when kick off came. Now... well, I might have some ideas. I have my notebook of potential ideas and spent yesterday doing some research. I have a main character and a cast of supporting characters for her. No antagonist yet but I'm sure something will pop up.

As for BTP, this isn't a sequel which I know has Mom disappointed. The first scene found it's way to writing group and seemed to go over well. I have lots of notes for that scene which I think will drive edits in several follow up scenes. I'm considering making those edits my winter project. Winter in my part of the world seems to involve long stretches of time snowed in away from my 'family'. I definitely need something to keep me from going crazy. Asrion has yet to get the mole people to successfully create our tunnel system. (Love ya, brother.)

What else is new? Well, I dodged the bullet again regarding the day job. I am gainfully employed for the foreseeable future though that employment has me covering the work of what was multiple people. My goal there is to not sacrifice myself to the point where I lose my creative drive. It's been happening of late and I'm actively trying to put a stop to that. My boss has been warned that I will scream if/when I'm overwhelmed. She also knows NaNo is coming so I consider any fallout justified. ;-)

What have all of you been up to?

SK
]]><![CDATA[Some Progress]]>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:28:33 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/09/some-progress.htmlSome of you know this already if you're around my daily life but there has been some progress made in regards to the day job. I wouldn't say the limbo status that's been driving me nuts is over but at least my division of the company has been advised what our statuses are regarding going forward. Personally, I have a job and the plan is for me to continue to have a job in the foreseeable future. The actual comment went something along the lines of no one could figure out how to split up my department effectively so we are being kept together as our own 'new' department in the 'new' company with only a handful of cuts. Those cuts and attrition the past few weeks have taken my specific team from 7 to 3. Not entirely sure where that will all lead but it's a bit of breathing room.

In most ways it is good I still have a job. I can pay my bills. But the severance would have been nice too. While temporary it would have paid the bills while giving me a lot of free time to find my next steps. Lots of time to write, edit and get myself down the publishing road. Not that it isn't a possibility looming over us still but not for another year at least as the overall company finally decides how to 'integrate' us. Still, it was a wake up call... and one I will fight not to lose. While I like my day job the thought of losing it didn't send me into a panic. I'm good at what I do but I'm not passionate about it. So I think it is time to move on. Move forward. Stop hiding where it's safe.

Thus editing of By The Pen has continued. The first scene will be going before my critique group soon. Yeah yeah... I chickened out last session. It's a scene I like but one that I was raised to think myself nuts for even considering. All around nerve wracking. Mom & Asrion, be gentle when it finally shows up? Please? Anyhow, once it's gone through there and I'm sure of it I do believe that scene will find its way here. I'll tell you now it's a shock value scene that does not have any of the heroes of the story in play. It's all about the villain... well, one of them anyway... and from his perspective.

Q has been silent. I don't know if he's leaving me be while I sort out the rest of my world or if he's disappeared into the cosmos.

Then there's NaNoWriMo. 8 weeks from today the entertainment begins. Some I've talked to are excited, wishing the time would go faster so they could start writing. Others are feeling nauseous because they have no idea what they're going to write about. Me? I might work on a sequel to By The Pen. I might work on something else entirely. Not a clue and I likely won't know until I open up that shiny new empty document and start typing. I've never been much of a planner and that won't change. I like my process which involves a lot of brain dump before things coalesce. Thus I type with a notebook/pen at hand to make notes on what gems flow and what I need to remember as I go forward. That notebook is the closest I get to making a plan. But that's my process. Everyone is different... as it should be.

Anyone else have thoughts on this year's NaNoWriMo or writing processes? Or just thoughts in general... we do have 8 weeks to kill yet. ;-)

SK
]]><![CDATA[The Devil in the Details]]>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:23:41 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/07/the-devil-in-the-details.htmlI watch a lot of movies. Not a good or a bad trait… just a trait of mine. Many of the movies I love are torn apart by critics and snarked at by my family. But I go to see these movies for my own emotional reaction to them. I can sit back and just enjoy. No heavy thought involved.

Then there are the movies which really do make me think. They evoke an entirely different emotional reaction to me. One such movie was Inception. There were a lot of things I took away from this movie. For one, the ending in another film would have left me feeling cheated with no closure but instead, like I think the character was feeling, it simply didn’t matter anymore. Another was the world building. Watching them create these dreams with everything they wanted… from the real world or a complete fantasy… was fascinating for me.

Isn’t this similar to what we do as writers? We create worlds… landscapes for our characters to play in. Some of us get really detailed in descriptions of the worlds while others keep it bare bones. A piece of advice from the movie given to the new dream architect went something along the lines of only putting in enough detail to make the dream seem real then let the dreamer fill in the blanks. This struck a chord with me as I am always struggling over how much detail to include. The landscapes in my imagination aren’t always so complete either but it doesn’t hinder my enjoyment of the characters or action. Why would it hinder the story I’m writing?

This applies to the characters too. Another struggle I have is in character physical detail. Unlike the landscape, my characters are always very vivid in my imagination. But I don’t always pay attention to those physical details. Why not? Because they really do not impact the story itself. For example, one character in By The Pen is Triston. He feels so real to me but the only physical trait which really stands out, and is mentioned a couple of times in the story draft, is his eyes. To someone who knows him they are a reflection of what he thinks and feels. To someone who doesn’t know him they are unreadable unless he wants the person to know what’s inside. One of my beta readers referred to his personality as refined. That made me smile. I would have said Triston was controlled.

So his eyes are important but is the rest of his physical description? He has to be capable of doing his job which can be very physical at times. Does being in charge reflect into his description? Those aspects come from my mental image but would that image be the same one a reader would associate with these important aspects of his personality? I don’t think so. So what is more important… that the reader see him exactly as I do or that they see him reflecting the important personality traits?

It’s something I am trying to keep in mind as I edit this story and write others.

SK]]><![CDATA[What do I do with]]>Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:43:32 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/07/what-do-i-do-with.htmlWhat do I do with too much free time on my hands?

Yep, I am blogging at work again. Again I will have to post this later as the firewall here won’t allow me to access it but oh well.

So, last time I discussed psychoanalyzing myself in my free time. But how exactly am I doing that? Well, as a writer of course I am doing it in writing. I am keeping a document called ‘log’ on my work laptop that is getting updated pretty much daily right now. In it I have my thoughts for the day as they happen. It is interesting to go back and read what I put down even a few days ago.

But at least I am writing… daily writing even… whether it is fiction or random squee moments doesn’t matter. I. AM. WRITING. Every piece of writing advice out there tells you to do it daily.

Today’s keyboard discussion with myself is prompted by a couple blog posts by a certain nerd actor from my childhood. He’s not much older than me so the tv memories are similar. But he reminds me that I as ever bit the geek/nerd then as I am now. Technology. Sci-Fi/Fantasy. That was my escape then as it is my escape now. I just have more access to it now. I am also free to enjoy it now as I was not then. Why not as a child? The life of a small town Midwest girl… at least my version. The tv was controlled by my mother for the most part. She taped her soaps on VHS cassettes every weekday then the evenings were all about watching said soaps. To this day I cannot force myself to watch those shows. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I got my own tv in my room. That was a little 12” that absolutely did not get cable. We had cable some of the time I was growing up but only on the main living room tv. Eventually Dad split it into their bedroom but never upstairs to my room.

But when did I get to experience the above mentioned nerd actor and all the shows he mentioned in his own blog? Summers and weekends. To a point. I still had no control over the tv thanks to an older brother but at least he watched some of the shows. More of a jock (ok, a complete and total jock… how are we related?) but with a fondness for Sci-Fi. So summer days and weekends when he could claim the tv from Mom (because she wasn’t home and he was supposed to be watching me) were our times. Godzilla was a frequent one on the weekends. When we could find it, Star Trek. I know there were others but those two stand out. Oh, and the Bela Lugosi movies. Any fear of monsters I might have had was quickly squashed under the ridicule of my older brother. One other tidbit, we had to watch these things when absolutely no parent was around. Dad might tolerate cheesy Godzilla but that was the extent of it. Said older brother and I hid our favorite novels for fear of them getting thrown out when Dad saw that we were reading about monsters and magic.

There you go… a little peak at my childhood memories. These things all go into making us who we are today. Care to share any of yours?

SK]]><![CDATA[Realizations]]>Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:45:49 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/07/realizations.htmlIn my ‘real life’ where I am not Signy Kuiper things have been in upheaval. I think I mentioned in my last blog that on top of personal pain (the dogs) my day job is in upheaval. Recent rumblings have me thinking that piece of my life will be in limbo until around the end of August. Of course those rumblings change frequently so we shall see what happens.

 

The impact of a lot of down time at work means I have a lot of time to psychoanalyze myself. Why am I not spending it writing? Oh I am when I can but it is difficult for me to settle into writing when surrounded by a lot of negative emotions. Trust me, there are lots of them in the office right now. Instead I get inside my own head. I have my hand written journal. I have a document on my computer to log thoughts when I feel like typing (it also looks more like I’m actually working on something that way). I also go find research items online to read… copying them into a document so if someone is checking I am not online all day at work. Officially at least. J

 

Back to the psychoanalysis. (Nope, I’m not easily distracted at all…) In the past two weeks there have been a lot of self revelations. The most recent is related to the distraction of my brain. In my life there have been three things that calm me down. Well, four but two of them are related in my opinion. Meditation, reading/writing, and exercise. I spent several years in martial arts classes so perhaps the first and last items are related too. Either way, all of them create the same reaction in my brain. The noise goes away. I do my best work when the noise goes away.

 

To the purpose of this site, writing is meditation for me. Focused and active meditation. That’s why I do so much of it handwritten… I can feel the energy flow through me to the pen to the paper. But I am typing this up at work right now. Can’t the energy flow through me to the keyboard as well? Surrounded by electronics all day I don’t notice it as well but the answer is yes. This is all information I need to keep reminding myself of to get myself back into my ‘me’ space.

 

That’s all the self revelations for now. Perhaps I will expound on my personal chaos theory next time? Meanwhile, does anyone else have some thoughts to share?

 

SK

 

Psst… firewalls at the office won’t let me in to post this right away. Once you see it, I will have had to send it home and post there. I shall attempt to not edit no matter how much the jumping thought patterns are annoying me. *grin*

On posting... I managed not to edit. You get the raw 'Signy at the day job'.

 ]]><![CDATA[Hiatus Over?]]>Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:54:26 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/07/hiatus-over.htmlHey there kiddos. A three month hiatus isn't too much is it? *grin* I hope not.

Excuses I have aplenty... mostly involving karma trying to kick my ass. Three major emotional upsets for the year is enough, no? I know I mentioned the first here... the loss of Moof. Well since then I have also lost Dozer to pneumonia and found out the company I work for is being dissolved. 'Retired' is the word our parent company used. Same diff. As of today I don't know if I will be moved somewhere else under the parent company or be given notice. That decision could take anywhere from two weeks to twelve months on top of what we've already spent in limbo since the announcement. Honestly, I don't know which decision I want to hear. So I've been getting my ducks in a row either way and we'll see where the pieces fall.

A lot of people say stress like this is inspiration to write. I've often been one of those people but 2010 has just been too much. I'm either crying, hiding from myself, or if I can write it's only in my journal. No one else sees that... sorry folks but it would either scare or hurt most of you.

The other day when I was at work with nothing to work on I started sketching out idea of a possible new story. It's more of a 'high fantasy' with a little romance spin. At this point I would call it light fluffiness. We'll see where that one goes. Could become a story or it could get added to the pile of ideas that are moldering in a computer file. That is not the idea that might bring me out of hiatus.

Q might bring me out of hiatus. I don't know much about him yet. Freaky scary dreams last night finally resolved into a very vivid set of scenes. Q never showed his face... or his voice for that matter... but he was the mastermind behind what was in my head. So today I am exploring this person. I know he's male. That alone is unusual for me... I usually start with the female lead. I know he was raised by someone not his parents. In fact, his birth mother is afraid of him. His birth father is aloof and proud, possibly using Q. Dunno yet. But somehow Q found his mysteriously disappearing mother and his half sister. How? Why? What made Mom run in the first place? All questions I'm trying to figure out. He's not the most talkative sort so it's been an interesting day of it. But it is writing and it has gotten my head out of the 'real world' for a while.

What more could I ask for at this point?

SK
]]><![CDATA[Sunshine and Inspiration]]>Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:34:41 -0800http://signykuiper.com/2/post/2010/04/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit.htmlIt is a lovely day outside in my part of the United States so what am I doing inside on the computer? Attempting to be a productive writer. If you saw my Twitter post recently I really did try to write a blog last weekend. However, it turned into a lot of whining which did not need to be immortalized on the net. So it can live in the archives of one of my email accounts where I won't completely forget about it but can't torture the rest of the world.

The past few days I've been actively trying to drag myself out of my funk. Yeah I've been stressing over a lot of different things and that's seriously hindered my writing. Writing might be my way of dealing with things most of the time but there are some issues even that doesn't help. So it's been a lot of sounding off to a few friends and meditating asking for help. I got some answers, a little guidance, and a whole lot of crying to purge the negative emotions. Not sure the tears are completely done yet but getting closer so there's a little space in my head for the character voices to find a spot again.

In my home there are massive piles of notebooks and bundles of papers. These are stories. Some are just a few sentences I jotted down as an idea came to me. Others have actual scenes, character details, and research I've done. A couple are nearly completed ideas I wrote long ago. They date back to my childhood. Yep, I'm a pack rat at least where my books and notebooks are concerned. This weekend I chose one of those notebooks with some scenes, characters, and research to try working on. It's somewhat ironic that I wrote those pages over a year ago but they coincide pretty closely with recent discussions I've had with a few of you. Struck me as funny anyway so I'm attempting to return to that story idea. We shall see where it goes.

Which brings me back to sitting at my computer on such a lovely day. I have the iTunes on shuffle (it seems to think I need to listen to metal today) with a bottle of tea in front of me. The referenced notebook and pen are at my side and will become my focus when I get off from this little project. There is a writing group today, two in fact, but I am not going to either. Sorry, Amazon and Mom. Instead I am going to leave the computer just playing music and settle in on my balcony with the notebook and tea. Perhaps I can get Dozer to join me out in the sunshine.

Speaking of, I've been meaning to add a few pictures here. I know everyone gets referred to by nicknames around here but that doesn't mean I can't post pictures. Who shall be the first victim... I mean subject? *grin* I'll go with Dozer as he's right beside me. He does love his furry little monster and my bed.
Picture
I'm off to work on some ideas for the next couple hours. This story has nothing even close to a title so I can't give you that but I can tell you it started with me watching Ghost Hunters. Let your own imaginations go from there.

SK
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