Monster Mash.

Welcome to my very first blog post, from February, 2009!!


Hello, world, and welcome to Linda Mercury's Blog!

Today's topic is Monster Movies. How curious is it that a woman who loves to write vampire novels doesn't watch monster movies?

I made up for lost time this week, though, by watching The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), and Nosferatu (1922) all in one week.

What exactly does a novelist take from watching movies? This novelist, at least, takes the importance of setting, body language, and story structure. How do they keep the pace going or not going? How do the film makers create a sense of anticipation and danger? Can I identify the story arc for each character? How can I translate an action scene into words? What little things 'make' each shot special? What makes a character sympathetic?

But most importantly, I get images of really hot men. I confess, I now have pictures of Arnold Vosloo and Oded Fehr pinned above my writing desk. Their physicality and charisma definitely have inspired me to write a much hotter hero than before.

 

Noferatu was a different proposition. Dracula's Secret explores facets of the Dracula myth and as such, I figure I'd better watch some of vampire classics. The print I rented through Netflix had the most distracting music I'd ever experienced in a silent film. Something about cheerful string arpeggios when Count Orlok is being his creepiest just really killed the experience. I turned the sound off and enjoyed the film that way.

What did I learn from Nosferatu? The importance of soundtrack! Listening to frothy, uptempo music when I'm writing something frightening or even sexy is self-defeating, to say the least.

What monster movies do you like? What do you get from them?

Karim Nagi lesson sample: "Maqam and Taqsim for Dancers"

And now, a literal taqsim, shown here in Karim Nagi's teaching video. :)

Rolling with it.

Photo by Michael Baxter.

In Belly Dance, there is a section of the music called the "Taqsim". It is a Turkish word meaning "Solo" or "Solo action".

For a taqsim, the music is completely improvised, much like a live jazz solo. This means the dancer completely improvises as well. She has no idea what will come at her next. When the dancer and the musician are connected, it becomes an intimate and profound performance that binds the spectators, the band, and the dancer together.

The solo/taqsim is often a slow piece of music (but it does not have to be!). When the dancer moves slowly, we can see every thought, every impulse for her actions.

It is hypnotic, peaceful, and strong.

Going slow in writing creates this same sense of wonder. Writers can get so caught up in page count, word count, number of submissions in this quarter- anything that is quantifiable, really.

In this time of hibernation, racing from plot point to plot point can create anxiety. Go slow. Dig deep. Show us your passion.

Playing with the Tarot

*blows dust off of blog* *cough choke*

Sorry it's been so long, everyone. There is something about the winter season that makes me want to hermit up. I decided I might as well roll with it, so this morning, I did a cool Tarot spread.

 My deck is the Visconti-Sforza deck, a 15th century deck, and one that I find the most beautiful.

I'm not a big Tarot chick - I find it a fun way to play with brainstorming, dream up psychological insights, and of course, work on archetypes. 

I found a spread called Create a Vision Statement in Barbara Moore's book, Tarot Spreads.
Super fun!

The spread looks like this: 

2     3

   1

4     5

Position One is who you are, Two is what you do, Three is how you do it, Four is who you do it for, and Five is the benefits to your clients/audience. 

And this is my very cool mission statement!

I discover and bring to life bold stories of adventure and passion for lovers and dreamers so we can create options for a better world. 

 *happy dances*

What is *your* mission statement?

(I drew the Eight of Wands, the Knight of Wands, the King of Wands, Two of Cups, and the Nine of Cups, if you are curious)l

Idea to Story, Part Two.

Previously, in Idea to Story,  I talked about Dr. Snickerdoodle and the tales of his youth.

Now I have an idea about a young man who cared very little for others feelings, a bully who possessed sheer animal magnetism. One of those people you just know that their comeuppance will be an ugly, ugly experience.

This begins the first draft. The first draft is about getting the basics out of your head. For most writers, the first draft includes notes, photographs or drawings of the characters, and the framework of where you want to go.

I do most of my brainstorming and first drafting by hand. Everyone is different, of course. Some writers can do it all on the keyboard.

I like handwriting since it gives me a chance to scratch things out, doodle, and go in multiple directions without worrying too much about making sense. The idea is to explore the limits of the idea. Is is a short story or full length novel? What is the setting like? Who the heck are these people??

I set my pen to paper and let it flow forth without thinking too much. Once I start thinking, I get uptight about what the story needs - setting, description, strong active verbs, shorter sentences here, longer sentences there, blah, blah, blah, you know the rest.

That comes in the second draft phase.

The first draft is about experimenting. Do what you need to do to free yourself. Go to the library or a coffee shop or the local playground or bird sanctuary or zoo or whatever and play with the idea.

And that messy, joyous, crazy, unorganized piece of weirdness is your first draft.

Just who *is* The Muse?

The reality of The Muse.

From the adult comic Oglaf.