Where have I been ?
So, I took a detour from my regular posting schedule and it was mostly because I fell in love with my writing again. I heard some songs and got super inspired and ended up almost completing two goals I have always talked about in these blogs.
Turning in to Tim O' Brien
I mentioned Hemingway's iceberg theory early on in this serial and a lot of it related to the war going on in the background of the serial. Which is ironic because the Iceberg Theory is something Hemingway came up with when he was a war reporter.
Anyway, In my head I knew so much more background on Camp Independence than I let on or had time to write. I actually deleted large chunks of dialogue from the last chapter to keep the flow.
That being said, after I posted chapter 7 and Chapter 8 was in an editing stage I decided to scratch out some of this story about Camp Independence that had been floating in my head. It was all for my own enjoyment.
It was supposed to be scenes or whatever and I just got addicted to writng this and it ended up being 10,000 words in just 2 days. I thought to myself 'hey, if I can do this I bet I could make this a NaNo' so the next day I added more scenes and more words and I made it 20,017 words.
Then I looked and saw a NaNo was 50,000 and I though No.Just.No. I mean, if I put Hidden on the back burner I could have added more scenes and more dialouge but, a part of me didn't want to and I kind of forfeited.
I don't believe every aspect of the whole story has to be told and I did not see this backstory as being a 175 page novel.
Anyway, the story revolves around the Camp Independence and I mean it's pretty crappy (and seriously, I mean high school fan-fictiony crappy) in itself so, I am debating wether to post it or not. I'm not trying to be a tease but, I wanted you guys to know what I had been up to.
I just had a lot of fun writing it and honestly it has made writing Hidden so much better, I feel like I have a whole new view of everything.
Flash Fiction
After I gave up on expanding the Camp Independence story I still had a writing itch and chapter 8 was giving me a hard time.
A while ago, I heard a song on playlist.com and fell in love with it and this very short story formed in my head. I wanted to make it a flash fiction of 300-400 words and planned to start it much later but, I thought 'what the heck' and wrote it. It is 588 right now so I need to do some work. I worked on that for a while--still abandoning chapter 8
So, yeah that's what I've been up to. Also for all that writing I listened to Pandora so, after it finished giving me every song from IVB and UL it finally started generating a lot of new music I really like.
Re-Context
I commented on a forum post about someone pointing out how I recontextualize things and I thought it was very clever but, that list is actually mostly plot elements I am guilty of using over and over again like Dan Brown.To me, Recontextulizing is when I take the context of something, the meaning of it that is and turn it into something else. For instance The 10th Circle is a club in Miami in United Light in Hidden The 10th Circle is a club in LOLA . . . hmm that is not the best example.
The best example is how the triangle with the flower went from being a symbol of ownership used by Caine to the insignia of the Republican Liberation Army (although I suppose you could argue that as being the same . . .)
Chapter 7
I hate to be a tease but I don't want to explain to much about Chapter 7 because it may come up if I ever post the Camp Independence story but there was one thing. Haley thinking he has Shingles is supposed to shadow that premonition thing some people have before something bad happens. A lot of people reported having nightmares or feeling sick before 9/11.
Chapter 8
I wrote this chapter and it felt very empty so, I re-wrote it with a specific outline in mind and I hope that comes through. This chapter got a little abandoned as I mentioned earlier but, as I listen to it with the music and re-read it, it is actually one of my favorites for a few reasons.
Chapter 8
-1- Twilight Serenade by Jason Myles Goss (the first song on the Hidden Inspirations playlist)
-2- Sheep May Safely Graze by Bach & Jon Sayles
-3- Stronger (cover) by 30 Seconds from Mars (remember Jared Leto ???)
-4- Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine (New favorite song)-5- All That I Am by Rob Thomas (would you believe I randomly added this song to the inspirations playlist, without hearing it)
This chapter was actually pretty sad ): A++++ music though.
ReplyDeleteDid you plan out the "Gray" naming thing before or was that a coincidence ?
ReplyDeleteWTF ? Was the ending. . . just WTF !!!
ReplyDeleteI know Alan didn't seem sad but I missed Jean in this chapter. The ending was totally unexpected I thought it was going to be his mom, doppelganger or something.
ReplyDeleteWait, does this mean that Minnie was a robot ? Well to me it does.
ReplyDeleteIt's so awesome the way inspration just hit you. There are still a few days left in Nanowrimo !!
ReplyDeleteDidn't see that one coming, TBH I thought Shai was a but Mary Sue like.
ReplyDeleteDid the Camp Independence story focus on Hayley as a main character ?
ReplyDeleteOkay, so what does the purple ribbon mean. I mean it must mean something.
ReplyDelete^ Well, they never did find Minnie's body. . . so
ReplyDelete^ Well, they never did find Minnie's body. . . so
ReplyDeleteWhat did Tim O'brien have to do with the "iceberg theory ?". This chapter was a sad one put the music was great.
ReplyDeleteAll I could think was "That's the song from EAT LOVE PRAY". It was what made me think something hopeful was going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI totally think they killed Shai to make more organs, IDK nothing is every as it seems.
ReplyDeleteFor the longest time I've been trying to figure out how the title "Hidden" fits into the plot and I am still at a complete lost. Maybe the secrecy of Minnie being "resurrected"
ReplyDeleteIs Camp Independence not a Fort, or should I be asking what the difference is ?
ReplyDeleteWow, Camp Independence sound like some Pro-American day camp run by the Tea Party and Glenn Beck.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why Alan does not try to escape, I mean isn't he just a little but concerned about Allison.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it obvious that the gov't is killing off Arcadians and keeping the solider's alive. Amirite
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the title I thought that you had left Erik Vance for JB or MaTow (:
ReplyDeleteAre we ever going to see the original ? This chapter actually seemed kind of long.
ReplyDeleteCome on Alan, Dr. Channing is not helping anyone. Haven't you learned.
ReplyDeleteLoving the muted color scheme you choose, IDK why I always look at them.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was sad to kill of Shai but atleast we got another character back. . . right ?
love how you are ROCKING it indie ! !
ReplyDeleteThe Bach joke was so corny 0:
ReplyDeleteUsually it sounds kind of wierd but the name Persephone is kind of awesome. Was it hard having to type it over and over again.
ReplyDeleteI always thought Mr. Baker could pass for a young Jared Leto
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLinda-- THanks, I love the music too !
LOTRMom- That was a coincedence I decided I had to adress because I wanted to use the term.
Maylights-- I'm not really sure how to answer to WTF .. . (:
October S-- I miss writing Jean too. Hm . . .
Tabby-- Hm . . .
Coraline- I know and I just got the idea for more scenes. I will keep you updated.
California_Blue-- I can see that. That was why I didn't like the chapter when I first finished it.
Peace GOddess-- I mean, he is in it.
Lorrie C-- Hm . . .
Tabby-- No,they didn't find her body.
Nilla Latte- He had nothing to do with it but, Tim O Brien write a lot of stories about war and soldiers and that is soley what the camp independence story is. . . which is so weird for me.
NextMrsCullen-- That's where I first heard the song.
CranberriVodka-- Hm . . .
Mansfield-- Well, the word shows up every now and then. I will get back to this at the end.
Ft. Life-- You would think I would have looked up the official defenition but, for my purposes they are just names . . . I will explain this later.
Constnance-- Bingo ! That was the whole point, the name is propoganda to make soldiers feel good about being there. It is so awesome you caught on to that.
sugarcookie-- Good point but, Alan said in this chapter he had stopped really caring about anyone a long time ago. He does not really care about Allison.
Tanya-- Hm . . .
Redrose-- Um, no . . . I don't see that happening . . . yet.lol
sundance_girl-- I end up deleting a lot of things permenantley but, the original chapter 8 is very similar.
Marcia- Hm . . .
Terri-- I think the new blogger has less vivid colors but, I like the muted one, they go well with the blogger template background I have . . . still searching for a new template BTW.
Silver_Phoenix-- Are any of these artist still considered indie ? What can I say, I am cool like that ! lol (;
Emma--It was. It really was...
Dacy Lover-- OMG, I cannot get over how much I love this name. I mean in the real world it is not a common name so, I would never name my kids that but, I love it in the context of a story. In the original I had Alan call her Seph after a while but, I hated that name and changed it back. I love the name. Also, it has no special meaning aside from that.
Greta-- I think Joel will always be a hotter Matt Bomer . . . that says A LOT !
I will say I think I just like typing out elipses so don't look to much into it. . .