Craft Talk / Thirty One

Until some time around Christmas, you can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night…”


Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Never his. - Chuck Palahniuk

Thanks, Chuck !
I am going to do something I never ever do and talk a little bit about craft. I came across this essay by Chuck Palahniuk about thought verbs. He gives some writing challenges and I've found myself trying to do some of these challenges in my novellas because it's too hard to do in a full serialIt's basically about showing vs. telling.

I like the advice and I thought I might blog a little bit about my "process: but seriously all the example paragraphs in this essay are the worst.

Chapter 30
We made it back to the prologue ! Whew, I have been writing and writing to get here forever.

Let's talk a little bit about that last scene with Juliana. That scene is based on a scene from this movie called Pan y Rosas about the strike of immigrant custodial workers.The main female character named Maya has an older or aunt or possibly even friend named Rosa who is really against the strike because she doesn't think Maya understands what she gave up to help bring Maya to America.

Rosa then tells Maya basically about how she was tricked into working in a brothel in Tijuana for five years order to pay her way and she's telling Maya for the first time about what she had to go through every night so she could come to America. She's talking about herself in the third person and  I can't find it in English, but the Spanish dub is on YouTube and the scene is at about 1:23:50.




Anyway, I just like this scene because like UL it's this character who had this awful thing happen to them but can't talk about it and then one day the just snap...IDK, it's always stuck with me.
Okay, moving on.

Recap
Rocket Olsen is writing an oral history about United Light and is headed down to South Florida to get some interviews. Juliana, 8 months pregnant, has decided to come with her for a few weeks because she's ready to tell her own story.

We are getting into what I see as Part III of this serial and the chapters are going to be shorter.

Chapter 31
We're going to fluff it up a little...

Chapter 31
Playlist
-1-  Falling Slowly by Louise Dearman
-2- Let It All Goby Birdy

Dirty Thirty

 Hey, Lile

So, apparently there is this thing where bodybuilder couples create extreme couple fitness workouts and I feel like this could pertinent to my Leon/Sera QC interests

Especially this

 


 
Novella Update
As I said last time the reason I've been MIA is because I've been working a lot on these novellas, but I'm getting back in the groove of posting because I have officially written ''the end' on UL3.

Also...of the four novellas I have planned, two of them are done..which is so crazy to me.

Mostly, I'm working on the Maxwell/Haley novella and it is vastly different from what UL3...but also very similar ? Right now it's about 17,00 words, I think it will have about a couple thousand more words before it's done.

I'm really enjoying these novellas and I have a lot of gaps in them in case they could become full serials...kind of like QC and NA

Chapter 28 +29
When I was working through what would become the prolouge for UL I first imagined it as kind of a flash fic called "The Book" where we fast forward to Rhett and Juliana being normal, living with Rhett's family and Rhett being upset because a book has just come out exposing everything that happened in UL that they'd been hiding.

So, when I wrote the prologue I knew Rhett was upset about his UL secret getting out but that was all I knew. I knew there would be a reporter who befriended them but I had no idea her name would be Rocket Olsen or that she'd be former Coast Guard.

I was also hesitant about the storyline where Rhett gets suspended form the Coast Guard because of UL because I thought it would take away from him being upset about the book, but I also really needed to establish a reason why Rhett was so afraid of this.

Also, kudos to those of you who picked up on Rocket's draft of United Lies being dry--that was intentional so you could see why she had to change the format.

Recap
Rhett's been stationed in a remote island in Kodiak, Alaska and Oregon for the last 7 months and gets promoted to Jr. Lieutenant. He and Juliana start trying to slowly heal things over letters and e-mails...but then Rhett discovers Juliana is going back to South Florida with Rocket Olsen to help her write an oral history of UL. He thinks it will only bring bad things to them, but Juliana wants to tell her own story.

Now Rhett is visiting for Thanksgiving and they are going to hash it out in person.

Also keep in mind that Juliana took the fall for a car accident Rhett caused while drinking so she doesn't have a driver's license.

Chapter 30
Playlist 

-1-  I Was Born A Dreamer by SHEL
-2- Ho Hey by Jon D
-3- Never Let Me Go by Florence and The Machine

The One With The Gender Reveal / Chapter 28 +29

 

So, there is going to be a gender reveal in this chapter and when I was looking for an image to put at the top I found some things we need to discuss.

Gender Is A Social Construct

But seriously, I love this idea :

  

 Also this...is there a third option ?

FZAFSOAAWA Returns

So, I have just been writing and writing a million different things and not really focusing and it's been kind of a nightmare.

As I was going through my mess of files and I noticed I had a file called APO I didn't remember creating.  When I opened it I saw a short outline I wrote for FZAFSOAAWA(Formless Zombie Apocalypse Fantasy Space Opera Aliens Assassin Wizard of Oz -ish  Thing). I'd kind of forgotten about the outline, so I feel like maybe I could do this after all the other novellas are done. As usual I'm not sure how it ends or what the characters names are but I have more of it plotted  than I thought.

And...I now have a two song playlist.

The APO was just my shorthand for apocalyptic.

Chapter 27
I know a lot of you wanted some Rocket/Juliana time and this chapter was all about that and we are slowly inching back into UL territory. 

The reason Juliana is so obnoxious in this chapter is because she's dealing with that classic female thing of people not believing what she says. She tells everyone that the baby is Rhett's but she still has to prove it with a pregnancy test and she's a little bit hurt by it. 

I think we're at a point now where I can talk a little bit about how UL3 came to be. Even when I was writing UL I kind of knew I wanted Juliana to have a child and I had sort of imagined her with a young son and it being the two of them against the world.  I originally imagined this is what UL2 would have been about, but I couldn't write for it at the time. I think I was going to make Brad the baby's father.  I was going to do it in OHG too, but then I wrote a miscarriage and I just never got around to it.

Anyway, I finally got to explore this whole Juliana as a mother thing with this serial.

Chapter 28 + 29 
These are double chapters because of how they fit into the story. They are also both shorties.

Recap
After everyone tells Juliana she needs to get a paternity test and a fight with Jocelyn Juliana decides it's time to get out. She first goes to talk to Rocket in South Carolina and then she goes to Connecticut to visit her Dad and invites Rocket to look at some old UL documents. Rocket gets her Dad to open up about why he joined UL for her book and Tess convinces Juliana to get the paternity test.

Rhett is still working in Alaska and Juliana's been giving him the silent treatment since she visited and he told her to get an abortion and accuses her of cheating on him. But when she finally gets the paternity test she gets a nice little FU moment.

Chapter 28  (With link to 29)

Playlist
Chapter 28
-1- Waiting by Bootstraps (I'll use this song in everything until you pry it from my cold bitter hands)
-2- Say You Love Me by Jesse Ware

Chapter 29
-1- You Are Gold by The National Parks

Research Deep Dive

I went down such  a research rabbit hole when writing about Kodiak, Alaska and the Coast Guard located there. I had such a hard time imagining the life there that I realized it was better to just base it off the real thing...which actually turned out even harder than I thought. Kodiak is so remote that Google Maps doesn't even have streetview for it.

Did You Know ?
Here is the annoying part where I share some things I found in my research

So in the beginning of this Rhett is in Cold Bay, a real island at the very end of the Alaskan Aleutian Island chain with a population of  about 100, it  only has one school aged child named Wake Kremer (Yes, yes I'm stealing that name) living on the island. They had to close the schools because there were no more children. There is also only one restaurant.

Speaking of the Aleutian Islands, during WWII the Japanese tried to occupy them and there were quite a few battles over them and makes them one of the two attacks on US soil during WWII. I'm not sure people really talk about the war in Alaska. While it wasn't a state it was a territory.

Research Hole

Like I said I really went down a research rabbit hole. I'm honestly probably on a list somewhere. Here are all the crazy places on the internet I've been looking at to procrastinate finishing UL and writing my other novellas researching:

-  I downloaded a blueprint of Kodiak Airport to get a sense of the size
-  I may have stalked the USCG Kodiak Base Facebook Page
-  I lurked hard on Coast Guard forums that talked about transfers
- I literally have pdfs of USCG policy manuals / moving guides downloaded on my computer in case they go away and I need them.
 - There is a Coast Guard member who has been making YouTube videos for a few years. about camping. He has about 0-48 views per videos and he may have noticed a spike in his views for videos that involve the Coast Guard.
- I read a lot of local newspapers and NPR articles. In fact a lot of the Katrina stuff is based on NPR articles and interview. I tended to steer away from the official USCG blogs because I wanted unfiltered information.
- Wikipedia rabbit holes. So many Wikipedia rabbit holes.

Note to Lile
All your mentions of Goodwill in my comment section will lead to your laptop mysteriously vanishing from your house.

Chapter 25 + Chapter 26
So, you all must have seen the pregnancy coming since Juliana is preggers in the prologue. The reason this chapter brought so much clarification to me is because I could not figure out how to work the pregnancy in.

I think a lot you are picking up on Rhett's anger issues and Juliana's impulsiveness and flightyness that were apart of the characters in UL that cause a lot of their differences.

I am getting closer and closer to writing the ending so I don't want to say too much because I feel like I'll reveal something. I almost did it with a blog post

Chapter 27
Recap
Rhett has been in Kodiak, Alaska for 8 weeks and Juliana comes for a visit and surprise! she's detoxing from heroin also...surprise ! She's pregnant. Rhett wants her to have an abortion because he knows her anxiety and pregnancy don't mix...and he's not sure the dates add up. Juliana gets upset and leaves.

Back in Freeport Juliana has the same argument with Rhett's mom and she walks out of her house. When she gets home she finds a message from Rocket wanting to meet. On impulse, Juliana decides to go to Rocket

Chapter 27
Playlist

-1- Wilderness by Jon Bryant
-2- Embers Upon The Wind by Whitaker

Meanwhile / DOUBLE CHAPTER POST !

Muse/CPShawna: Really ? Stealing Lile's format ?
SH: #shawnaisunoriginal

Tell Me Your Name !

When I first wanted to be a writer (waaay back in the day) I thought the fun part would be giving characters names and making up serial names and that that is what most of my time would be send doing. I’ve come to the point where characters names are the hardest part for me. I wish a character could just tell me what their name is suppose to be.

I’m going to reveal a little bit about the Meanwhile novella which is a 3-4 chapter novella about Luce. That’s all I’m going to say for now. I'm not going to say how old (or young?) he is and if this is even canon. I bring up this serial to say there are some new characters in this serial who do not have names and are literally being called Female A or Male A right now. I actually have half a mind to keep them like that and make it a weird character choice.


Names are especially hard with the Vice world because I don't want to use too conventional names, but I also don't want them to be something crazy. Anyway...all that is to say there may be some of your names sprinkled into these novellas....I actually really wanted to name a character Fiona, but I won't.
 

Chapter 24

This chapter was really a transition chapter from the fall out of the accident to Rhett getting his job back. Also, it's mentioned in internal dialogue that Rhett and Juliana fight a lot and I wanted to show a little bit of that with them in the diner.

 

I'll admit there are a lot of intimate scenes with Rhett and Juliana in this because even though they don't have their relationship together they have really good bedroom times. Juliana's sexual experiences in UL were so toxic and I really wanted Rhett to...*ahem* get the job done. 

Chapter 25 + Chapter 26

This is a double chapter post, but only because Chapter 26 is a shortie and I couldn't figure out how to fit it in. 

 

Recap

Juliana spends 8 days in jail after taking the blame for the car accident after Amber and Wes' wedding. She and Rhett are on thin ice when he announces he's been reassigned to Kodiak, Alaska. His cohort (and handstand pushup) friend Bethany Whitlow and his other class members wrote him letters of support for him to get the assignment.

 Rocket tries to get Rhett to talk to her for her book before he leaves but he refuses. She reminds him of how dangerous it is in Alaska and Rhett realizes he's never been honest about that part of his job. When Rhett leaves Juliana sticks a needle in her arm.

This isn't my favorite chapter or anything, but I  really like chapter 25 because it was a turning point for me writing wise. After I wrote this I could finally see where I was going and how I was going to get there.

Chapter 25
Playlist
-1- Hear Your Heart by James Bay
-2- I Cant Make You Love Me by St. Vincent
-3- This is How I Let You Down by The Franklin Electric
-4- Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheerhan - oh hey first song on the playlist.

Chapter 26 
-1- Sunrise by Nora Jones
 

Easter Eggs

I don’t think I have happy danced over more Tomfia yet, so I’m gong to do that now. I actually did a re-read of ABWG when I was wasting time so I am seriously ready.

  

 
Novella Update
Well, I can officially say I have most of my four novellas written. I just need to work on my endings which are always what I struggle the most with. These novellas are for different serials but I'm kind of connecting them with certain Easter Eggs...that may not be the right term, but you'll see some recurring themes throughout the serials that are just kind of going to be there for fun.

I haven't written the Valentine's Day one, that one is still rattling around in my head.

I've also kind of been messing around with the idea of writing a Freeport prequel flash fic but I'm not sure if it would be canon. It would involve Jocelyn and Macy as teenagers, but I don't really want to touch it until I finish UL3. Also, I'm not sure how well I'd do a historical piece since it would take place in the late 70's.



Chapter 23
I really debated with this chapter because I feel like it's bringing back the soapiness of UL, but I couldn't figure out a way not to write the car accident in. I'd sort of been waiting to  write this car accident scene from the very beginning. The scene when Rhett drives home drunk from Aubrey and Wil's house in an early chapter was kind of a set up for this accident. This word is overused a lot nowadays but I kind of wanted to show how "normalized" Rhett's drunk driving had sort of become that Juliana doesn't even question it and to a certain extent neither did the reader.

Also, if all of you in the comment sections were either Rhett's mom or Juliana's BFF I would not have a serial. You all say all the things they need to hear.

Chapter 24
Recap
Rhett and Juliana have a little too much fun  at Amber and Wes's wedding. Amber pulls Rhett aside and she tells him that his mother said he hasn't been the same since he was in UL. Upset that his mother told Amber about his time in the cult Rhett storms out with Mason and Juliana. They argue in the car and get in a bad accident. Rhett was driving, but Juliana takes the blame so Rhett won't get in trouble with the Coast Guard.

Chapter 24
Playlist

-1- Regret by Jamie Sloan
-2-  Cherry Wine by Hozier
-3-  Like You'll Never See Me Again by Alicia Keys

GIF FUN !

I don't really have a reason to do a GIF post, but the last few chapters have been kind of angsty and it felt like time !

I have SO much I want to finish but it's going soooo slow.I have been typing away on these novellas when I'm not working on the last 10 5 or so chapters I have of UL. 

Me, when I finally post the first novella and reveal which serial it's from

Last week I finished a draft of Meanwhile, the 5,000 word novella

And then I forgot to save it and lost it:

But re-writing it has actually made me refocus and make it fit  better:

To work on the novellas I've been re-reading serials and it's a mix of 

And

 I sometimes dip into the blog posts and comments. I love how many commenters have been in for the long haul.

Not to mention how funny you all make the comment section

Seriously, your support and honesty is always great

 

Now, let's talk Lile-verse

I'm all about Lile's feminist agenda

Queen and Country is blowing my mind ! It's like the culmination of everything Lile's been doing. The world building, the themes, the new characters, the old-new characters,  inventing APR, the twists and turns. Everyday I'm just:

Whenever we get a Paris scene in QC

This is a little mean ):

Paris' decision making

When I see Sera

Sera's Decision Making

 

Leon's Decision Making

And I'm rooting for Aria/Leo, but I'm also rooting for Sera/Leon so I'm really rooting for some menage.

Now, let's do some obligatory GIFs of Nicholas Hoult, the closest person I can find to a Rhett picspiration

I know this has probably been color corrected but HIS EYES. Also those wrinkles on the left side of his cheek and his pointed back teeth are 90% of why I see him as Rhett.

You got a purty mouth

Although I imagine Rhett's hair as more this color...but no widow's peak.

And can we talk about this second puberty male actors seem to go through ?

From this:

To This:

This is him next to Elle Fanning. I mentioned in another picspiration post that They are about the age difference between Rhett and Savannah....also, yes, she plays his love interest in this movie ):

But, seriously THOSE EYES

 

Alright, back to the trenches !

Chapter 22
This chapter was a tough but I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into the toxic background Rhett came from that led him to even join UL. Also, as I was building this story I had this distinct image in my head of a scene where Juliana was walking Rhett home and he was black out drunk. I didn't have context for it, but I wanted it to be a turning point.

Chapter 23
This is another long one and probably the last long one.

Recap
Rhett has been on suspension for about 6 months from the Coast Guard after Mr. Reese calls his job about some letters he sent Juliana when she was in jail where he detailed some...not so great things he did in UL. Juliana gets a taste of heroin from Cody Grady and she likes the way it works with her antidepressants. Rhett finds out Juliana's been buying  heroin from his neighbor, Marty Enlign, in exchange for pictures. Rhett, Cody, his cousin Wil and Uncle Deacon go and pick a  a fight with the neighbor and Rhett smashes Marty's computer.

 That same night Juliana has to go and get a black out drunk Rhett from a party at his Uncle Deacon's where he becomes verbally abusive until she gets rid of the heroin. In the morning he doesn't remember anything and they both agree to try and do better. She'll stoping using heroin and he'll stop drinking.

Chapter 23
PLAYLIST
-1- You Are Gold by The National Parks
-2- From the Ground Up by Dan + Shay
-3- Blurred Lines by Alan Thicke
-4- 8 by Bon Iver