Writing and Music

For some reason, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about writing compared to composing a song.  Don't ask me why - I have no clue how/why my brain works the way it does.  I've just been thinking about it way more than I should be, so hopefully by writing my thoughts down, I can get them out of my head and move on with my life.

First, let's consider writing a song.

You want to be a composer - piano, let's say.  Well, first, you have to play piano.  To start, you play music by other composers.  You start to learn things like chords.  Like what notes sound good together.  Like how to use dynamics to get the feelings you want out of your audience.  You learn this because other composers have done it before you, and you learn from their work.

Once you've played enough, you start composing.  At first it's just a few scribbles here and there, a few notes plunked down.  You learn what works and what doesn't.  Most of it is crap, at first, but then there are a few moments of brilliance, and soon the moments of brilliance come more and more frequently.  You learn how to string notes together; at first a couple phrases, but eventually, a whole song.  It's probably pretty plagarized at first, but you soon learn how to put your own spin on songs, and soon you can compose things that are completely original.

Now, for fun, let's replace some of the words.
        composer = writer
        piano = genre of your choice
        play = read
        music = books
       chords = sentence structure
       note = word
       dynamics = tropes
       phrase = scene
       song = book
  




In case you're too lazy to replace the words, I did it here:

You want to be a writer - cozy mysteries, let's say.  Well, first, you have to read cozy mysteries.  To start, you read books by other writers.  You start to learn things like sentence structure.  Like what words sound good together.  Like how to use tropes to get the feelings you want out of your audience.  You learn this because other writers have done it before you, and you learn from their work.

Once you've read enough, you start writing.  At first it's just a few scribbles here and there, a few words plunked down.  You learn what works and what doesn't.  Most of it is crap, at first, but then there are a few moments of brilliance, and soon the moments of brilliance come more and more frequently.  You learn how to string words together; at first a couple scenes, but eventually, a whole book.  It's probably pretty plagarized at first, but you learn how to put your own spin on books, and soon you can write things that are completely original.





I feel like most arts are related in this way.  First, you learn by studying the masters - listening to their songs, reading their books, seeing their art, watching their movies, watching them dance.  After seeing enough, you can start to pick out techniques, and then you try them out - you imitate the artist.  Eventually, you have enough techniques to draw on that you can create something entirely new - put your own spin on a technique.

Never stop reading.  Never stop writing.  Never stop trying new things.  And don't be afraid to imitate*.  That's how you learn and grow.

*I mean in practice.  I don't advocate selling plagarized stuff.  That would be bad.

The 7 Deadly Sins

Wrath, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy and gluttony.  I've always wanted to incorporate the 7 Deadly Sins into a book, and I'm sure I will.  One of these days... months... years...

But that's not really the point of this post.  A couple of the sins have always confused me.  I can understand wrath, greed, lust, pride and envy, but the inclusion of gluttony and sloth as "deadly" sins doesn't make much sense to me.

According to Wikipedia, the most reliable of sources, the 7 deadly sins are ones that threaten a person's sense of charity and will therefore potentially cause eternal damnation.  I can see how wrath, greed, lust, pride and envy could hurt someone's ability to be charitable, but I feel gluttony is a sub-category of greed (come to think of it, 'envy' and 'lust' stem from greed as well), but sloth seems an odd inclusion.  I'd expect the 7th deadly sin to be dishonesty, or something, not laziness.

Side tracking for a bit: just the other day, I heard a story that made me angry.  It was a neglect case in which the horse died of dehydration.  The owner claimed she'd put water and food in the paddock, but the horse couldn't reach it because its foot was stuck in the fence.  Dear reader of this blog, I'm sure you can figure out what made me angry, even if you know nothing about horses.  Because the owner wouldn't do something as simple as get her horse's foot out of the fence, the horse died.

Which brings me back to Sloth.  After much - far too much, I can be a bit obsessive - thinking on the topic, I think equating sloth to laziness is a bit inaccurate.  I think a better synonym for 'sloth' would be 'neglect'.

Neglect, to me, makes sense as a deadly sin.

More About This Blog and the Writer's Voice

 Since this post is two-fold, I've split it into two sections.  Lucky you :)

ABOUT-THIS-BLOG RAMBLE

This blog probably won't be the best, if you're looking for things like frequent updates and having the posts follow a logical sequence.

Basically, when I feel the urge to write a post, I will.  It could be about anything.  It could happen at any time.  If ever I decide to become more professional about this whole blogging thing, I'll let you know <waves again to the one person who reads these posts>... that is, if you're still reading by then.

I'm working on getting a followers thingy (you can tell I'm good with technology, can't you).  Right now, my computer seems to be having trouble connecting to their server.  Any advice is appreciated.

WRITER'S VOICE RAMBLE

I've got to say, I'm not a twitter person.  You probably guessed that from the above explanation.  I am, however, enjoying keeping up with all the Writer's Voice judges as they post on twitter.  Just from their advice and comments as they are reading queries, I've been able to look at mine with a more critical eye.  I've been rewriting and rewriting.  The problem I've been having is that all the plotlines in my book meld together and effect each other; I'm having trouble threading out the subplots while still making the main plot understandable.  But I am working on it! Reading their comments really has helped me.  Anyone who gets to work with them one-on-one is lucky.

There is such a huge amount of talent in this competition - I haven't read all the posts, but from what I have, the judges have a hard job - and even though my post hasn't been picked (yet - still holding out hope!) I feel as though I've won.  Why?  Because I think, from participating in this contest, that I'll be able to make my query better.  I hope that everyone in this contest is able to take something away from it, some way to make their query (or first 250) better... that everyone is able to win.  It's nice to think of the agents bidding on your project, but ultimately, I feel the goal of this contest is to just figure out how to make your pitch better.  That was my goal going into this, anyway.  The agents were a nice bonus to think of, icing on the cake :)

Was there a point to this ramble?  Not really.  I just wanted to thank our wonderful judges, and to point out to people that even if you don't get picked, that doesn't mean you've lost.  I've already been reworking my query.  And Brenda (on the off chance you read this)?  I hope you host that query workshop you mentioned.

WRITER'S VOICE

Wow, that filled up fast!  I just managed to squeak in at number 72.

Plot Summary portion of query:

   Fallen's mother was murdered and his father died getting revenge. Of the three people responsible, only one, Zata, escaped – and it's Fallen's duty to kill her. At least, that's what his father's ghost says. Zata fights on the opposite side of a war, so getting to her poses a challenge.

   After years of searching, he's just spotted her when a celestial being named Auris appears. Claiming to be a god, Auris bans killing. Fallen has no idea what a god is, but anyone to break Auris's ban is fried by lightning on the spot.

   Auris can't be omnipotent; Fallen just needs to find a way around the ban. He sticks to Zata like a shadow, biding his time. But the longer he spends with her, the more she seems, well, normal. Father says he's a traitor. Zata is the enemy, Fallen should kill her, simple as that.

   As long as Auris is around, killing Zata is out of the question. Whenever anyone tries to break the god's bans, it fries them and makes a new rule to fix the loophole. Soon, the god has made so many bans, it's dictating everyone's lives. Auris has got to go.

   But to get rid of the god, Fallen must defy his father, forget the past and ally with Zata. Because if either side wants to stand a chance, they must do the unthinkable: unite

   HALIDOM is a 70,000 word YA fantasy with series potential. It is told through three points of view: Auris, Fallen and Zata.

Annnndddd first 250 words!  It starts in Zata's perspective.

 

There was always that brief moment, falling, sky bright and wind rushing past her ears, drowning everything else out, when Zata truly thought she might die. She could imagine herself tumbling, faster and faster, until she would hit the ground with a smack and become a pile of broken bones. She flipped over in the air and watched the ground coming ever closer. Her instincts were screaming at her, and ignoring them made adrenaline flood her veins. Zata grinned. It just never got old.

At the very last moment, she snapped out her wings.

It was longer than she'd ever waited before. Her muscles screamed as she forced her wings straight out, catching as much air as possible. She barely managed to bank in time, the middle talon on her left foot scratching a dark line in the dirt as she forced her wings down, forced herself to get lift. In spite of rising, the tips of both her wings smacked painfully on the ground. Her second wingbeat lifted her further up, the momentum of the fall already worn out. Zata knew that changing her course earlier would have given her more forward speed, but she couldn't resist the urge to see just how far she could push it...

No further. Her heart was pounding so hard she could watch her chest move, her cheeks aching from the width of her smile. That's the longest I should wait. She chuckled. That was what she'd told herself last time, too.

Introduction

Hello Blogosphere! <waves to the one person who will actually read this post>

This is where I'm supposed to write about what this blog is and the deep meaning I hope to impart on the Internetz, aka my blog's purpose.  Well, this blog was created to let me enter The Writer's Voice contest.  Will it go beyond that?  Probably.  Will it focus just on writing?  Probably not, hence why writing doesn't factor in the blog name.  I write and I read, yes, but I do many other things, like agility and riding and acting, with a bit of song and dance thrown in for good measure.  And I ramble, as you've probably guessed by reading this paragraph.

So this blog will just be my rambles.  On things that are happening to me, things I love and things I hate.  I do hope someone reads it, but if they don't, I'll be fine with just writing out my thoughts and spewing them to the Internet.  If you love what I've written, feel free to leave a comment!  If you hate what I've written, feel free to run away and never come back!  Kidding.  You can leave a comment too, as long as it's respectful.  All my views are, and always will be, open to change at any point, with or without notice.

That's basically my introductory ramble.  I'm sure I'll get to know my reader over time <waves again to the one person reading this post>.  My next post will be my query letter and first 250 words for the Writer's Voice contest.  What my third post will be, I can only guess.