Reverb 10--December 1-8

I completely missed out on hearing about this really cool, yearly web event: Reverb 10.  "Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what's next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we'll do both." (That's from the website.)

I'm going to do a catch up post for the week I missed and then keep on with this through December because I love the idea and can see how focusing on this as this year rolls into next can really help me put energy behind my wishes for myself and my life.

December 1--One Word
     My one word for 2010 would have to be "fitful."  I've done a lot this year, met wonderful, creative people online that I am feeling more connected to all the time.  But there have been great periods of dormancy when I've been frozen by lethargy, self-doubt, depression, general inertia.  "Fitful" seems like a perfect description of my forward motion this year.

December 2--Writing
     "What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)"  I procrastinate, I play around online, I forget why I want to write and sometimes even that I do want to write, I actively avoid it, I tell myself mean things that make me feel it isn't worth the time.  Yes, I can eliminate a lot of this.  It's going to take a lot of work, but most of all it's going to take paying attention to the things I'm doing that keep me from my words.  But I can do it.

December 3--Moment
     This one makes me feel really sad and kind of like I want to give up on this venture.  I can't think of a moment when I felt most alive, not just from this year but in I don't know how long.  I really don't know, don't have an answer for this, and that is heartbreaking.

December 4--Wonder
     I cultivated wonder in my life this year by learning lots of new things, trying new things, and looking for it all around me.  I started a new business, learned how to build a WordPress website, started my first newsletter, joined in on many creative online groups and discussions, started playing with my camera more again to look more closely at the world around me, remembered to watch the moon and the stars the way I used to, watched the birds in my yard every day.

December 5--Let Go
     Have I let go of anyone or anything this year?  I did let go of some duties I had taken on in the SCA because they were taking too much time and effort and wearing at me when my heart had been pulled elsewhere.  I let go of spending my time and energy on things that no longer held much meaning for me.

December 6--Make
     What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)"  The last thing I made was this great new recipe for a Swiss potato dish called a rosti.  That was on Monday.  On the weekend, I made background pages in my art journal.  I make a lot of things throughout the year.  Is there something I need to clear some time for? Regular art journaling, although that's not specifically one thing.  Is there one thing?  Yes!  I know.  I want to make curtains for my bathroom and my studio--I really want them and keep not doing it.  So that's the one thing I want to make next.

December 7--Community
     "Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Author: Cali Harris)"  This has been a really big word for me this year.  I had to really acknowledge that I'm lonely and really want and need more friends.  But in creating my new business, I have started connecting with people online, and I'm starting to feel that I'm becoming part of a community of creatives and writers.  One of the biggest ways this is happening is through Twitter, which still seems so odd to me. But in May I took a short workshop on using social media, learned about how to use Twitter effectively, and there you have it.  I've also connected with several people through Wishcasting on Jamie Ridler's website.  Took a wonderful class with Kelly Rae Roberts and connected with many fabulous artists there and on Facebook afterward. And I've connected with a great group of writers, most local to me, through NaNoWriMo this year.
     For 2011, I want to connect more with other writers.  I'm building a community for us online, and I hope it will bring many of us together for companionship and support and more writing.  I am also creating a community of women who want to change their bodies and physical selves while also feeling better about ourselves and learning to love and accept ourselves. 

December 8--Beautifully Different
     What makes me different that lights people up?  I guess I found out during NaNo that my ability to be a cheerleader of sorts is really appealing to people because I encourage and occasionally gently prod without being overly chipper or perky or annoying.  And I really like that about myself, so I think that might be a beautifully different thing about me.  What else is different about me?  I don't know for sure.  I feel fairly ordinary, but at the same time I know I'm not.  I'm still learning about the differences of me and learning to embrace them.

Character or Plot?

Well, this was supposed to be posted yesterday, but we had a power outage last night so I wasn’t able to finish it and get it online. Anyhow…

Right now, as I am working to fine tune my work-in-progress, Blood of the Mist, I am reading quite a few books and articles and blogs about writing. And I’m running into lots of talk about “character driven plots” and “plot driven stories.” And so I’m wondering, which comes first—the character or the story? Is one more important than the other? Is there actually a difference? I mean, really. You can’t have a plot without characters. And you can’t have characters without a plot. If it’s a story, the characters have to do something, don’t they? Otherwise you have a verbal still-life.

Okay, I know there is a difference between character driven stories and plot driven stories. I even think I have a pretty good grasp of the difference. A character driven story has a protagonist with depth. We get to see the inner workings, know the thoughts and emotions that are driving this character. A character driven story has a really well developed protagonist, a protagonist whose inner life is as intricately detailed as the outer trappings of the story, and part of the story essentially takes place inside the character, inside his thoughts and feelings. (This is, of course, an overly simplified definition, but it will do for my purposes.)

Conversely, when I think of a plot driven story, I think of stories with rather flat, two dimensional characters. Quite a few thriller/spy stories seem to fall more into this category. Really, though, I don’t think it’s possible to write a novel or short story and not have some content involving the protagonist’s inner life (if anyone has examples of such a story, please let me know; I’d love to have a look). So I don’t know if there really is such a thing as a purely plot driven story.

I think a story that is just about characters moving from point A to point B to point C, doing this and that and having this and that happen to them, falls into the realm of fables and fairy tales. Or possibly stories for very small children—think “Dick and Jane.” And while fables and fairy tales are stories, I don’t think they really fall into the realm of fiction or short stories. They are a category unto themselves, and I believe they fall outside the scope of my current meanderings.

Ah, I think I finally found my point in all of this, finally figured out what I was trying to tell myself. Plot is important—my characters need to do things, and those things should be important to the story and interesting. But without a rich inner life filled with its own conflicts and conundrums, my story will not be as vivid and resonant as I want it to be.

So why is this important? In Nancy Kress’ book Dynamic Characters (by the way, she has several good writing books out there—you should check them out), she writes, “People are endlessly fascinating, endlessly surprising, endlessly strange…If you start with people—characters—as you feel our way into your novel, it, too, can become fascinating, surprising and strange.

In short—real.”

And there’s my answer. There’s why I’ve been feeling like I need to do more with my characters, need to know more about them, need to change some things about them and what they’re doing. I don’t want just action and thrills and adventure. I want more. I want my story to be real, and for that, I need my characters to be real, too.