How to write with kids in the house

Ha...haha...hahahahahahahaha...phew...wipes tear...

That's a good one.  I was thinking I might have some great wisdom to share now that I have a wee one toddling around, but... basically no. At least my advice is: if you have a significant other, inform (beg) them that you need some alone time and schedule it. That's the only way I get anything done these days.

The actual clock time is not so important as the 'baby time.'  something like: after his bath, you will watch the Muffin watch Sesame Street while I (fill in the blank.). also multitask. As I write this , I am riding the recumbent bike. No other time to exercise!

Of greater concern is my braindeadedness for crafting fiction after a day chasing the Muffin. My thoughts go like this: it was a dark and stormy night. She was all alone in the house. So she took a hot shower with no baby beating at the bathroom door and then went to bed at 8 pm. It was glorious. The end.

Compelling, no?

So now I don't worry about actually making progress on one thing. I just write what sounds good and when that peeters out, I'm done. No stress. I have enough already.

Good luck!

When your characters astonish you

There is this long (like 130,000 words) story I've been working on for a while. Its a space opera.

I know, incredibly silly.

At least that's how it began. My method was to take every ridiculous thing from every space story I've ever seen/read and compress them into one place. It turned out awesome, no sarcasm at all. I love it.

And since I loved it, I kept working and refining, writing back story, etc. Suddenly, though, it wasn't silly anymore. It kind of turned into a interplanetary geopolitical military drama. Though there are still some silly bits, its now quite heavy.

And yesterday, as I was thinking about my main character, I realized something astonishing: he is autistic. High functioning, but definitely on the spectrum. He is a mathematic savant, required structure in his life, has difficulty with personal relationships and expressing his feelings, and when faced with emotional trauma reacts by either shutting down or lashing out in unpredictable ways.

This changes my whole view of him, the story and his relationship with the main female character (who is the queen of the solar system; like I said, still somewhat silly.)  I have experience working with children on the autism spectrum, but not enough to do it justice I think. autism is a fascinating way of thinking, a truly different view of life. Next step: go research autism spectrum disorders!

Moral of the post: allow your characters to be themselves. Many times they become something even more interesting than you could think of originally.

Now, the Muffin is trying to climb my leg, so I should go. :)

Triumphant Return!

Or not.

I was reminded today of my lack of activity on this bloggy thing and checked the last post.  "Its not so bad," I thought, "November 9...of 2012!!!"

Yeah...

So, the Muffin is less of a muffin these days and more of an extremely speedy layer cake. Chubby, loud, and given to sprinting to the things he wants. He regularly runs so hard into the couch, he bounces back and lands on his butt. But, he has started this wonderful thing called 'independent play.' Never for very long, but enough that it only took me four separate sittings to write this post. :)

So, new resolve, appropriate for the new year! Now I must go. Silence has fallen and that's generally bad...