Home Articles posted by Kit Campbell (Page 8)

The Art of Finishing

They say the hardest part of finishing a story is getting to The End. This isn’t necessarily wrong, but there’s a lot of “The End”s to get through in the creation of a story. In some ways it feels like it never ends. First you have to finish the draft. Then you have to finish the revision process, then work on publication and all that entails–covers, descriptions and marketing, and the marketing never really ends, does it? Book after book, all it gives you is more to keep an eye on, more upkeep to do. It can a bit exhausting, not going to lie. And a little depressing at times, when you look at everything you need to do. And I think that’s why writers tend to…not finish. Why we’re always picking up new projects when old ones aren’t done, or trying to squeeze one more thing in that we just don’t have time for. There’s something in the act of creation that, even if it’s not going well, is freeing. A story, when it’s still in its nebulous phase, can be anything, is full of potential. Reality hasn’t caught up to it yet. It’s a balancing act, I think, the creation and the rest of it. And if you get out of balance, it’s hard to see any real progress. So, I guess my point is to make sure you call still see the forest for the trees, and that you’re having some fun somewhere, writing or otherwise. Or…

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Summer, Alas

Hi, friends! Here we are, in July, and I find myself yearning for late August, at the very earliest. I am not someone who deals well with being hot. My ancestors hail from the frigid north, and, as they say, you can add layers if you’re cold, but eventually you run out of things you can take off. And aside from the heat, there’s the light. I don’t mind being able to go out late, but the birds don’t get the memo that 4:30 in the morning is not an appropriate time to sing. And the smaller members of the family are out of school. Which means either they’re around and need looking after, or they need to be taken places and supervised. I’m getting very little done. I mean, I am getting a little done, but I’ve had to resort to getting up early to try and get stuff done, which only works sometimes, depending on whether or not people can sleep through the sun and the birds. Oh well, it is what it is. And I guess its not all bad. Though we did overbook ourselves on activities, but it should clear up in the next week, and then maybe we can actually relax and enjoy the season. And maybe I’ll be able to get more done. How’s your summer? Are you more of a heat or cold person yourself?

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Ah, Fanfiction!

Good morning, friends, me again! (Since Siri took my spot last month and now I owe her.) Fanfiction is such a weirdly controversial thing among writers, which is strange to me. Are there writers out there who don’t start off with something derivative when they start storytelling? (I certainly did. One of my first “books” was a re-write of a kids’ puzzle book I was especially fond of, except with a female lead and an actual plot. I took the characters from Sonic the Hedgehog, made whole families (this was before Knuckles and all them showed up, back in the Genesis days), and made stories for my cousins and I to role-play. I tried to write Star Trek novels. (They were bad.)) I think it’s perfectly natural to take something you love and expand on it. Most source material is limited, after all. What happens to the characters outside the book/movie/TV show? After it? Before it? How would those beloved characters act if they were somewhere else? It’s an excellent writing exercise, if nothing else. And I don’t think it should be looked down on as not real writing. I’ve read some dang good fic in my day. I read some yesterday, in fact! (I may have spent most of my day, yesterday, reading fanfiction. I don’t really regret it aside from I really need to get some work done on various projects.) My current fandom fix is Good Omens. The miniseries is out on Amazon, if you guys have…

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Taking Time to Try New Things

Howdy, friends! Did you see my new story on Saturday? (It’s here, if you missed it.) I wrote it completely for fun. One of the writing communities I belong to has this neat challenge every month called a genre stretch. The idea is to try writing outside your comfort zone, to try new things and to stretch your writing muscles, in theory making you a better writer overall. “Deserts and Domes” was my story for the February genre stretch. Each month, two genres are offered, and you can write in either one. Or you can combine both, which is what this story is. Genre 1: Gilded Age romance. Genre 2: Dystopia. You see the appeal. It’s like a writing prompt, but you can write basically anything as long as you incorporate the basics of both (or either) genre. I prefer to do the combo, versus just one, because it provides more restrictions and also gives a basic form to the plot. I also did April’s, which was: Genre 1–Campus Novel; Genre 2–Slipstream. So far I’ve been pretty pleased with the results. As a writer, you have stories you like and ones that you’re more lukewarm about, even when they’re decent stories, and I’ve liked both I’ve done this year. I don’t know, but there’s something about working in broad, new genres that is very stimulating to creativity. That’s what they say, right? Keep learning, keep trying new things, and you’ll only get better, and you won’t go stale. And it’s…

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Deserts and Domes, by Kit Campbell

Deserts and Domes Kit Campbell ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Globes of electric lights flickered overhead as Mia stepped into the ballroom, smoothing the pale green silk of her gown. Below her spun dozens of the Dome’s finest, dressed in their best, each trying to outshine the rest. Purple seemed to be the color of the evening. Mia must have missed the signs somewhere. Alas. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now, except to find some other way to blend in. Deserts, how she did not want to be here. But it would not do to miss this, not after all the work she’d put into her persona, not after the sacrifices others had made to get her inside the Dome, not after the risks her “father” had taken. Matthew Ashwood stood beside her, resplendent in blues and greens, either also having not seen the signs for purple or, more likely, not caring. After all, if he cared about Dome society, he would not have taken her in. “Do you see him?” she asked, quietly, though she would not be heard over the music anyway. It came from all angles, amplified through speakers mounted on the walls. It was a waltz, scratching in a way live music never would, and its origins were unclear. Were there actual musicians hidden away somewhere? Some people could afford that, certainly, or justify attempting to, though there were very few musicians left. Probably it was a recording, or a recording of a recording. Matthew leaned…

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Playing Around

Hi, friends! I hope you’re having a lovely Tuesday! (Also, I was looking at my post from last month talking about how nothing was a catastrophe, and then three days later I had a car accident. Still not a catastrophe, but March was really determined to make life hard.) It’s always interesting to write these posts each month, because it is only once a month, and it’s hard to remember what I was talking about, and because Siri, Erin, and KD have come in and talked about different stuff. Do I build off of the other posts? Do I wander off on my own? But anyway. 2019 has been a year of exploration, for the most part. Aside from the anthology, most of what I’ve been working on has been trying new things. I think this is an important part of creativity, really, to help you think of new things and give your brain a workout. Plus I was feeling a little discouraged and burned out, and having fun doing new things always helps. So, what am I working on? Children’s books of all shapes and sizes, from picture books to chapter books. Mostly just playing around, but writing some. Nonfiction books and potentially video classes Workbooks and journals Writing a book to a new technique from a class I’m taking Drabbles just to drabble New genres It’s a bit freeing, though I will admit I feel a little guilty about not working on any “serious” projects, though the story…

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Adulting Sucks But At Least There’s Coffee

Which is funny, because I was pretty sure I was never going to be a coffee person. First of all, our new anthology is out! It features four stories from the time period between the War and the events in City of Hope and Ruin. All the details can be found here. But seriously, there was a coffee shop in the lobby of the engineering building at university, and I’d meet my friends there all the time, maybe getting some tea, and they were boggled about how I was surviving engineering school without caffeine. (Maybe caffeine would have helped? I did not get a lot of sleep at night and slept through a lot of class, but I think I’m mostly immune to caffeine anyway.) (Moving on.) In a few minutes here I have to take my car to the dealership for a major recall fix (apparently the passenger side airbag becomes more and more likely to explode incorrectly as time goes on), which is a pain in the butt. I have at least coerced them into giving me a rental car so I don’t have to wait around (with the smallest, mobile one) for six hours while they replace the airbag. Two weeks ago, I had to have the washing machine repaired. And two weeks before THAT I had sinus surgery, which I shall be paying for forever. I mean, nothing’s a catastrophe. But, Goddess, can’t things stop falling apart? Can’t we go a few months where there are…

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I Look Like Groucho Marx

This has been a year so far, my friends. Yes, it has. The first half of January was eaten by Disney World, and February’s first half isn’t going so well either. I spent most of last week doing stuff for the kids (and also I got a very minor case of the flu over the weekend, yay), and yesterday I had sinus surgery. This has been a bit of a roadblock, as you can imagine. Surgery is, of course, not cheap. Plus there’s the fact that I’ve never had surgery. Or anything remotely like anesthesia. So, panic! (Though, when I told my anesthesiologist that I was feeling nervous, he said, “I have medicine for that,” and duly went and got something and put it in my IV and woah, that stuff works fast. And is also a little disconcerting.) Anyway! I won’t go into too many details. Surgery was had, I have survived, and now I’m in this weird place where I feel mostly like myself except also occasionally very sleep and a bit dizzy. Should I just plan on this being how this year is going? Only half a month is usable? Maybe so. Maybe that’s not a bad thing to assume anyway. Keep our expectations realistic and all that. Anyway, I’m going to take a nap.

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The Elusive Tom Sawyer’s Island

Last week, we went to the Happiest Place on Earth. (Or is that Disneyland?) It could, potentially, be labeled the most overwhelming place on Earth, but we’ll ignore that for now. I hadn’t been since I was a child, which was a long time ago. And while many things have changed over the past twenty years (at one point I stood in the middle of Fantasyland with the weird sensation of knowing that someplace should be familiar and yet failing to find anything that was at all recognizable), some things have stayed the same. One of my very favorite places in Disney World is Tom Sawyer’s Island. It’s an island in the middle of a lake between Frontierland and Liberty Square which is, as the name makes obvious, is based of the book Tom Sawyer. It’s got Aunt Polly’s house and Harper’s Mill, and secret caves, and a fort, and is generally a really fun place to explore. The only way to get to it is by river raft. And I’ve missed it the last two times I’ve gone. It closes pretty early in the day, basically as soon as there’s any hint of the sun going down, which I assume is for safety reasons. But it means that if you’re not on top of it, you’re out of luck. When I last went, at 14, we had a single day at the Magic Kingdom, and I missed the last raft. And I missed it last week, too, though we…

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Putzing About

Oh, friends, my November was gloriously productive. It was so productive I’ve gotten cocky. No doubt that will be a mistake later, but for now, I am reveling in it. So, the time goal worked out really well. I got a ton done. So I’m continuing that for December, though I’ve lowered it to 30 minutes because Holidays and so forth. So far, so good. I’m actually ahead for the month. Aside from that, I’m still working on drawing/shading/coloring classes. It’s been very interesting, though we may be getting to the point where I should stop doing classes and actually start working on projects.  I’ve also started doing some vocal skills classes. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any sort of instruction on the matter–probably high school. All the choirs since then have just assumed you know what you’re doing and left you to flounder if you don’t. So hopefully that will be useful in the future. Right now, so far, it’s been pretty basic, and also I have a cold and singing makes me cough. AND I’m sewing again, making presents for Christmas, as well as putzing around with other random projects (including patching the pile of clothes that need patching). My mother and I went to Goodwill Outlet last week (where you can buy clothes for about $1/pound) so I now have stuff for other projects should the Christmas presents go well. It’s a creative monstrosity over here. No doubt eventually I will have so many options of…

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