Updates

I have tons of ideas for my next novel, but a lot of thought needs to go into the underpinnings of any new project, because it is the themes that drive everything else. Specifically, how does the theme generate character action and consequence (which needs to be made literal in the climax); how do the character’s driving wants and needs lead to that climactic moment; how can the character’s internal drives be made visible through action, and the external plot (that is, the antagonist’s driving actions) feed the central character’s internal change? I need to know all of this before I can begin to structure what happens.

But the good news is: I know what questions to ask. Now to dive in.

I have been studying the elements of writing a mystery novel with a small group of fellow writers, and one of the critical elements is the crime scene: why the villain killed (kidnapped, or whatever) the victim, their relationship, how it was planned, the location (including time of day, season, etc.) and exact mechanism of the crime–leading to clues. This scene may never end up in the book–in fact, it likely won’t–but the author needs to know it to the minutest detail.

I have decided that my next novel will be structured as a mystery, so this week, I constructed the crime scene. Man, I learned a lot.

Finished the text of another grant application. It is not due for a while, so I have submitted it to my writers’ group for critique. As it is not fiction, I queried first, and they all were interested in reviewing it. It will be interesting to see what kind of feedback I get.

Had a great interview with Josh Pantalleresco today. Actually, it was more like a conversation–he is an excellent interviewer. The post should come out in about a month or so.

Oh, yeah! Had a cool experience this week, invited to sit in my daughter’s creative writing dissertation defense. She handled herself with terrific aplomb, and passed the exam. She will have a few minor revisions to do, and then we can all call her “doctor!” In the meantime, she is applying to professorships and post-docs for next year. We celebrated by taking her and her significant other to dinner.