Fantasy, Horror & Science Fiction Writers

Comment by Mark A. Santomieri on November 30, 2009 at 11:20pm

Hello to all. I would like to share a collaborative science fiction project that is currently nearing completion. If anyone wants on board, let me know. The title of the work is Free Clinic, takes place in 2059, with flashbacks for historical fill.
It is primarily character driven, was originally drafted as a series of five to ten page emails for my sister, who was contemplating some serious surgery, not terribly unlike the way J.R.R. Tokien wrote The Saga of The Ring to his son, during the "Big War".
It grew from there into an email string, with about twenty five other writers and readers getting in on its evolution.
All interest is good interest.
M.

Comment by Mark A. Santomieri on January 3, 2010 at 6:41pm

Hey Kay,
I have a femme fatale for you. She is a pivotal character in my current work. She topped her husband out of spite and now is looking to be a major spoil sport with the rest of my nice characters. Her name is Justine, ironically. Ping me if you would like to read some of her. She's not a first person, but an elightened third omnicienct, if you catch my drift. The two of my nice characters, hero and heroine of the book, are written as first person. It's actually quite stimulating to write between first person and third. It strikes me as a neat edge to the action.

Comment by Anna L. Walls on January 11, 2010 at 11:04pm

Hello Mark. You say you write between first and third person. Is that in the same story? Do you ever get accused of 'head hopping'?

Comment by Kay on January 13, 2010 at 4:52am

Mark, you could always post a little on your blog here or at the forum to give us a look at her. :) I think you'll find there would be plenty interested in reading that. I'd like to sometime but work's eating every hour at the moment.

Anna, what's head hopping mean?

Comment by Anna L. Walls on January 13, 2010 at 5:51am

Head hopping means reading too many of your characters' minds all at once. Or perhaps its much of the inner characters' workings and reasonings. I'm not entirely sure which if not both. That's why I asked.

Comment by Anna L. Walls on January 13, 2010 at 5:52am

I've been told I do it way too much. As I understand it, it's a POV thing.

Comment by Mark A. Santomieri on January 13, 2010 at 4:46pm

Hey, all.
A little "head hopping" is a a necessary evil in writing character driven fiction, in my humble estimation. So long as one does not get too carried away, it leads to a certain and necessary richness in the narrative stream.
In the case of my current work, moving between the first and the third person narrative is essentially a dramatic device to add to the tension of the story and to tighten the romantic angle between the two leads--this angle being what could be considered a sub-plot, I suppose. It also helps me to improve the visual and textural definition of the world I have created for my characters to flow within to make the plot take shape and conclude.
To be honest, my characters started doing the actual work at around page two hundred something. And no, I am not crazy. Yet!
I will post some of my dear femme fatale, Justine, on my blog when I get a chance later today. I had to spend the day away in the big city yesterday and today I am up to my eyeballs in library business.
So stay tuned. More to follow.
Best,
M.

Comment by Kay on January 13, 2010 at 11:17pm

Anna, thanks for taking the time to clarify that term for me. Now that I know what it means, I can say I'm not fond of a lot of that in a book. But then what's a lot? I think that would be down to the individual reader's tastes. I'd agree with Mark's comment. It does add another dimension as long as it's not too much.

It would be great if you could add it to the Discussion Forum for this Group above and start a new discussion Mark please. We won't get sidetracked then. :)

Comment by Anna L. Walls on January 14, 2010 at 12:21am

I, for one, am still learning tricks. I would like to see an example of what you write. Maybe with a little explanation, if at all possible. I'm thinking I may be doing the same thing, but I'm not sure. For me it's a struggle to keep POV where it needs to be, at least until I can change a chapter.

Comment by Pink Asassin on February 7, 2010 at 2:38am

Hey everybody, how are you all doing today? :)

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