Scrivener, Story Bibles, and Falafel

“Lo! The tale-spinners in days gone by

and the authors who inspired them had temerity and eloquence.

We have heard of those scribes’ heroic narratives.”

Yesterday’s mad lib was from Kafka’s The Metamorphosis: “As Elizabeth Mock awoke one morning from Kafka-esque dreams she found herself transformed in her jim-jams into a surrealist writer.”

No guesses or submissions. No love for Kafka. This makes me a sad panda, and NOT THE CUTE KIND. In leu of submissions, I give you awesome cover art ideas for The Metamorphosis: Claire Shorrock Illustration. These are seriously awesome.

Here’s the real opening line of The Metamorphosis: “As Gregor Samsa awoke from a night of uneasy dreaming, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”

I slept until nearly 7 AM this morning, which I haven’t done in a while. I guess yesterday’s jam-packedness drained me more than I originally assumed. Best part of yesterday? Homemade falafel pitas. The hummus. The homemade tzatziki sauce. Okay, it’s a little too close to lunch, because I’m feeling so hungry now. ANY way, getting back on target.

I mention when I rolled out of bed and onto a yoga mat because I’ve gotten up around 5-5:30 for the last few days, and waking up 1.5-2 hours later makes me feel like I’ve been behind all morning. Not having my drafting done by 7 AM felt WEIRD and LATE. I can now empathize with the White Rabbit. It’s funny how quickly our bodies and minds adjust to new habits.

I’ve also come to a realization. I find epic poetry mad libs MUCH easier to create than their prose counterparts. Seriously. The Iliad mad lib and today’s were so easy to create. I hope you have fun with today’s because I definitely did. Though, I do tip my hand a bit by giving you the term “kenning.” Watch what you google! Otherwise, SPOILERS.

So, I’m really starting to see the skeleton of my WIP coming together after today’s session. I fleshed out two more arcs and organized information that spiderwebs from them. Scrivener makes this so easy. If I haven’t given a shameless plug to Scrivener yet, let me do so now. 

I’ve used Scrivener for drafting, revising, and editing all my novels. I remember the Dark Ages of organizing projects with MS Word and a labyrinth of folder hierarchies. It was bulky and unattractive and transformed me into Cranky Writer. Scrivener is my best friend for writing novels. I can no longer imagine writing a novel without it. (Makes the classics seem all the more epic to me—written with no computers, much less Scrivener.) I’ve also drafted all these blog posts in Scrivener. The Classics Mad Libs have their own folder, and I have a research folder filled with live webpages of opening lines. This magical program satisfies all my writely word processor needs.

For real, y’all. I love Scrivener. Go gives the boys over at Literature & Latte some love: http://literatureandlatte.com/.

Speaking of programs that make a writer’s life easier. I’ve wanted to compile a story bible wiki for a while now. What is a story bible, you say? Well, I'm glad you asked. A story bible is a wiki you build that contains all the details and connections that exist in your world building, plots, and characters. It's what provides consistency in creating a wholly different world that spans more than a single book. It's what keeps you from drowning in the details. 

I’m a bit daunted by the process of building a story bible, but I know that I need to do it. ‘Cause that’s my life. I do the hard things. The real reason, however, is that I need to keep all my connections, histories (both world and character), world building, minor characters, and every other little detail of the Children of Man world straight. I hope to write beyond just these four books in the Children of Man world.

I just wish I’d known about story bibles when I first began constructing the world eight years ago. Then it would have grown organically like it should. Alas, I wasn’t savvy to the whole story bible concept back then. So, in the coming months, this is one more thing to add to the List. Did I also mention that sometime this summer I need to move?

Yay for being endlessly busy! Time to read. Hey, don’t look at me with those judge-y little eyes! *Taps at paper* See? It’s on the List.

06.25.12 Progress:

1. Blogged habits, scrivener, story bibles, and the List.
2. No reading yet today. *Eyes up A Hundred Thousands Kingdoms hungrily*
3. Yoag’d
4. 300 words drafted, plotted and storyboarded three arcs.

Mad Lib for 06.25.12:

[INTERJECTION]! The [KENNING PLURAL] in days gone by

and the [PERSONS] who [VERB -ed] them had [NOUN] and [NOUN].

We have heard of those [PERSONS’] heroic [NOUNS].