Thinking Blahs

It should be logical...that when one is sick...one would be able to have more time to write.
After all, you're just lying there...being sick.
Surely, the mind would be able to do a lot, while the body is recovering.
But no.
The mind gets just as fogged as the rest of the body.
Unable to think.
Unable to be creative.
Just lying there, sleepily, staring at the tv.
For the processes aren't firing to write...

Boo.
I dislike being sick.
It makes me even more unlikely to write stuff than when I'm well. XP

-Sarnic Dirchi

Alone Again

Often, sad events inspire concept ideas for stories.

Like today;
A guy brought in a cat he'd adopted a couple of months ago.
Why?
Because his wife had given him an ultimatum.
It was her, or the cat.

:S Yikes.
I wish I could hear the whole story.
I mean, what brought them to this point?
Why give the cat back?
Was she being problematic? How so?

I wish they could have worked it out another way.
:( Like...watch that Cat show about problematic cats on Animal Planet.
I mean, surely...trying other things would be better then this.

It totally doesn't help that I watched Bolt last night either....
Because the cat totally looks like Mittens from it. :(
She had a home, a nice warm place to stay...
And today, she was placed back into a cold metal cell with no comforts of home, no warmth, lots of strange noises, smells...and no comfort of warm arms to snuggle into.

She's totally terrified the poor thing. :(

What if she'd had a home before this one.
Was this the second time being given back? To first? The seventh? Who knows.
But, if I were her, I'd have a hard time trusting humans.
I would be waiting...just waiting for them to leave me, to take away my home again.

*shakes head.* I hope she finds a permanent home soon. :(

-Sarnic Dirchi

Enchanted Moment

There I was, watching Enchanted.
Totally a random place to gain inspiration, but there was this one scene.
Near the end of the movie
(where if you haven't seen it and don't want to be spoiled...stop reading here.)

Where Giselle was lying unconscious and Prince Edward had just failed to awaken her, and everyone had just turned to what's his face...Robert.
That moment where it's like "And the world suddenly depends on you."
His face.
His words. "No, that's impossible, I've only known her a couple of days."

I love those moments in movies and books, even songs.
Where the hero gets his moment.
Where he decides if he wants to take a chance,
or stay with the same old same old.

Yep. Good moment that scene. One I hadn't paid attention to before, but now, is kinda stuck in my head on repeat.

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Song Character Creation

Ready? :D
Have you been waiting anxiously to see what I came up with?
Well, here you go!

1^st Song -Skid row

-I gotta get out of here. -down on my luck, - thief, -rich person turned poor, -person trying to hide. Not be found.

2^nd Song -When Somebody Loved Me

-alone. Lost a friend –girl best friends.  -betrayal, -one finds fame and forgets the other.  –broken relationship.

3^rd Song -Shadowland

-redemption –dawning morning, hope is found. -Had no choice - set to their path, doesn’t see a way to get out of it. -cast out –plans to find a way to return, regain what was lost.

4^th Song -Come Little Children

-Reminds me of Peter Pan from Once Upon a Time, -Garden of Magic, -Gets a wish, but doesn’t like the results of it.

5^th Song -Transformation

-Reunion

6^th song -Tarnished Silver
-power that character gets doesn’t last. It ‘tarnishes’ with time. -wanted to leave…leave power. Comes to accept them. -fire, ashes, silver, tarnish…power with one, some or all of those? Liquid silver..molted silver?

7^th Song -Let it Go

-swirling metal flecks. -hot , molten -Building something to hide, but gives up, decides to show the world, allows people to come into the built masterpiece. Shares, helps the world. -Creation ends up helping problem at hand. -Silvery wings. –Flying in the air. “Here I stand, here I stay” -Making a better world. City. Saving the city from a terror..i.e. foreign enemy, volcano exploding, other unworldly thing?  

8^th Song -Brimstone and Treacle I
-O.o This is a weird song. O.o -Harsh taskmistress, taking advantage of main character. Working them beyond safe means to get results. -task mistress cause of best friend separation?

9^th Song -Temper Temper

-O.o I don’t think I want to see this musical.  -Caught at last, looses control. -Think you’re wicked. Labeled. Unable to escape it. -once something is created it can’t be destroyed.

10^th Song -Brimstone and Treacle II

-Disappears for 2 years. -Broken wings.  -part of redemption cycle –returns to the taskmistress
-returns with help. Doesn’t do this alone.

 Okay, from all those little concepts I got this:

While under the harsh rule of a taskmistress at a metal factory, a young character (undecided if boy or girl), gets into an industrial accident, and finds themselves with an ability to work with silver, particularly with molten silver. They have found themselves suddenly with the 'rare' ability to become part of a 'elite' club of metal workers -those who have powers with different metals. Usually reserved for those born with the ability. And currently, the character's ability with silver, is looked down upon. Why? Because Silver Tarnishes. That's bad. Metal is supposed to be perfect and if it 'tarnishes' it's not perfect. And when an accident happens, to destroy a bunch of different metalworks, the Main Character has to flee.

Later...the MC figures out how to keep the Silver from Tarnishing, surprisingly from the taskmistress that they despised, and ends up becoming a hero, when they use their ability to created a 'metal storm' of molten metal to save the city from being destroyed by.... who knows. :) 

There's my idea. :) lol, not really a character development, more of a plotline, but hey. ^^ It was fun to come up with anyway. :)  

What did you come up with? :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Song Character

There I was a wandering through blogs,
when I came across my friend Mirleki's recent blog post
(http://theblackhoundsdaughter.blogspot.com/) -I have no idea how to link things, tried it. Didn't work.
And she was talking about how, when at work, she can listen to music.
So she creates a playlist of songs, and then tries to come up with a character from that set of songs she listened to.

I thought this was a marvelous concept. I mean, I have a playlist of songs that remind me of different characters, but actually building a character from a series of songs? Awesome idea!
lol though at this point I really don't need to add in a new character to the many many many already in residence in my head,
I thought for fun I'd try it out. :)

Below is the lists of songs she put on her blog.
I'll post later today what I came up with myself with this series of songs. :)

Song 1: Skid Row (Little Shop of Horrors)

Song 2: When Somebody Loved me (Toy Story 2)

Song 3: Shadowland (the Broadway version of The Lion King)

Song 4: Come Little Children (Hocus Pocus)

Song 5: Transformation (Brother Bear)

Song 6: Tarnished Silver (Heather Dale)

Song 7: Let it Go (Frozen)

Song 8: Brimstone and Treacle Part I (Broadway version of Mary Poppins)

Song 9: Temper Temper (Broadway version of Mary Poppins)

Song 10: Brimstone and Treacle part II (Broadway version of Mary Poppins)

 
Did you come up with anything? :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Alternate Story Line

So, I was watching Tangled; and I had this thought.
What if Rapunzel had actually shown Mother Gothel, that she had Flynn Rider in the closet?

What would have happened?
I'm guessing...that Flynn wouldn't have left the tower.
And Rapunzel would have gotten to go on a trip to a new tower, without seeing the lights.

:S I think the current version is happier. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Writing Blahs

I've hit a creative wall.

I had so many ideas in the works, but the umph to do them just suddenly faded.

Having gone through this before....I know I won't be able to break through it until another creative inspiration hits.

I hope it hits soon.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Open Notebook

On a spur of a moment thing,
I brought out a few of my writing notebooks, and said "have at it." to some fellow writers.

And to my surprise, they actually picked up my notebooks and read them. O.o
That hasn't really happened before.
Of course, when I've done it before, there hasn't been much time for them to actually sit down and read it.
But they read it.
Not the whole notebook they picked up. But a good portion of it.
It was actually kinda fun to see them reading it.
lol though they're probably pretty bugged at my sudden abrupt shifts to different story lines. lol.

Still. It was fun.
Why not I thought.

Then I remembered.

*gulp*
There were some stories in those notebooks, that they really can't read yet.
Why?
Heh. Because they're currently 'in the works' -i.e. Being posted on the character blog I have.
And I didn't want them getting ahead of the story line.

Luckily, I remembered before they reached those parts of the notebook. ^^;;
So when the moment came.
SWIPE!
I took it back into my possession. :)
No secrets yet revealed.

Lol.
Yes, I definitely need to be more careful about which notebooks I say 'have at it' with next time. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

There Is No "Perfect" Time. Life Gets In The Way.

One of my major drawbacks to writing,
is that I often think that I need to be in the 'perfect spot/position/place' in order to actually 'write.'

That's sooo not true.
I should really realize this, I mean, if I have a notebook in hand, I can be jotting down ideas and scenes everywhere and anywhere that I can.

There doesn't need to be a 'thinking corner' or a 'writing nook' to write. You just plop down and do it.

I often think that my mind should be in a 'writing zone' as well, again, not true. If I have an idea I just need to plop down and write it.

Don't think about it. Just write.
Let the words flow.
Do it. Do it now.

*sighs* lol if only it were as 'easy' as writing this blog post was.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Holiday Fix-It-Up

During the Holiday Season a lot of Christmas movies end up playing.
And there are a few of them, with the theme of 'go back in time to help your younger self.'

Apparently my brain has been pondering this sort of plot line.
As I had a dream like it last night.

Where a girl goes back in time, but she doesn't go back to help herself, originally.
She goes back to help this girl who didn't live up to her potential, and ended up marrying the most boring man on the planet and became the most boring girl ever. To the point where she didn't have any friends, or respect for herself any longer.
And the 'back in time' girl wants to fix that. She wants to fix that moment when everything 'went wrong'
And in the process, she helped to solve a feud between her family and a cute guy's family that's been going on for centuries through the help of some magic string.

Sounds like the making of a good holiday movie right?
I think so.
Or at least a good book. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Frozen Ideas

I just had like a mind explosion of ideas for an older story of mine come into being.

Why?

Because I went and saw Frozen.
And watched this scene:

It got me sooo excited!
There are sooo many ideas with snow that I hadn't ever thought off,
but now that I've seen this scene...I'm totally on a new line of thinking.
And it's awesome!

^^;;

-Sarnic Dirchi

Sweet Liquid

Sugar Water.

Somewhere. Out there.
Is a character of mine, who loves to drink the stuff.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Switch It Up

That annoying moment when you're trying to write a scene between Theodore and Jocelyn, and Theodore isn't talking to you at all.

Nothing. No ideas. Nothing that doesn't sound extremely boring and tedious.

Cue: Jocelyn.

Amazing how easy it is to write after switching the POV the story is told from.
Suddenly the ideas are bouncing off the walls.

Crazy.

-Sarnic Dirchi

#WritingProblems

You know the most difficult part about writing a book?

Starting it.

At the beginning.

It's particularly hard for me,
because this story, I know my characters have a history.
And that history influences everything that they do in later scenes I've already worked on.

But...I'm not sure how to write their history as present.
How do I get Theodore and Jocelyn to fall for each other, and then, decide they don't love each other?

It's so simple in theory.
But in reality. It's something different.

Jocelyn uses magic to get Theodore to love her, but there is genuine affection from Theodore to Jocelyn in that it's not a 'You used magic on me? I HATE YOU!' sort of thing.
It's the sort of thing, where Theodore realizes he was under a spell, but is willing to work things out, even for the greater good, even if he's not happy at it.

The key....is to get that relationship on paper.
In a way that makes sense.
In a way that makes the reader sympathize with both sides of the party.
and doesn't make Theodore seem like the real jerk he was in his first draft....

-Sarnic Dirchi

I Needs My Notebooks!

So my sister tried to carry my bag the other day.
She hefted it, gave me a funny look and was like "What do you have in here? Bricks?"
And I was like..."No...Notebooks!"
"How many notebooks?"
"Oh...ummm...like four? maybe five?"

Yah.
I know what you're thinking.
Why do I need so many different notebooks?
Because seriously, that's the only way I can keep track of multiple different stories without having to flip back and forth between pages.
When a new idea hits me, I just switch to a different notebook, that way, if I get the chance, I can go back to the other story line I'd been working on before the idea hit, and walla! It's still together!

Of course, others...have warned me about having too many notebooks in my bag, because you know...I might break my bag.

So, I tried to heed this advice.
I'm leery though, as what if I take out a notebook and then I need said notebook for an idea!

Yet...I tried it.
And my leeriness was right.

I had this idea strike me at work.
A new scene for a mostly complete story.

And guess what!
>.>
I didn't have that notebook with me!
Why? Because I'd taken it out, because I actually hadn't touched it in a while.
But....today I needed it.
I mean. I could have used a different notebook, but then...in the future...I wouldn't be able to find that scene because I would think it would be in that story's notebook but it wouldn't be!

Sooo it's very likely, that I'm not going to take any of my notebooks out of my bag in the near future.
Who knows when inspiration will strike!!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Must Write This Down

A couple of new Characters introduced themselves to me last night.

Brothers.
They waltzed right into my dreams, and stole my heart.
To the point where I didn't want to wake up.
As I wanted to continue to explore their story. 
Peacefully, without distractions, in my mind.

Unfortunately, I had to get up at some point.

But they're still there, lurking, in the back of my mind.
Wanting their story told.  

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Doggie Idea

So I was at work today,
and this Great Dane walked in.
He was nearly as tall as I was it seemed like.
Anyways, his owner said his name was Watson.

And all I could think of when I heard that was Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes.
Particularly the BBC version of Sherlock
(I'm obsessed with it.)

I thought to myself "What if Watson was turned into a dog...would he be a Great Dane?"

It was an interesting idea.

And now, I can't get the image of Watson as a Great Dane out of my head.

Particularly when I picture a Mini Yorkie on him.
The Yorkie being Sherlock of course. ;) lol
Don't ask me why that particular breed popped into my head, it just seems to fit....

-Sarnic Dirchi

Theme Songs

I know the Twilight Saga gets a lot of flack for things.
But, the author did have an influence on me.
-And not in the sparkly vampire sort of thing.
 
It was her 'behind the scenes stuff.'
More importantly.
 
The fact that she has an unofficial music play list that she feels represents certain scenes, chapters, moments, characters in her book.
 
I thought that was soooo cool!
 
And consequently I've done that for a few of my characters.
Not all of them, but there are those songs where I hear them, and I'm like ()_() "That's totally a song for Theodore!" or "This totally fits this scene I'm working on with Jocelyn"
 
Unfortunately,
I've come across two songs....that I think can perfectly fit the first introduction to Theodore....
But the vibes are totally different.
And I'm like O.o Huh....
I mean.
One song is like...
Okay I can't explain it.
 
Lemme begin again. :)
 
In my original 'draft' of the story, Theodore's introduction has this sort of vibe:
 

 
The quiet Joy. Just being able to Breathe. To be able to get a second chance.
 
But then, I recently came across this song....and it changed my thought process.
 

 
Totally different vibe right?
 
And I'm like.
 
WHO IS THEODORE?!?!
I mean, I can picture him in both of these songs.

Is my character more complex then I thought he was?!?
 
Can I write him in such a way that he can fit both songs?
 
Or do I just need to pick a vibe and run with it?
 
Honestly...

 
 But I shall figure out which version (or both) of Theodore works and run with it!
I mean...that's what multiple drafts are for, right?

-Sarnic Dirchi
 

Unusual

Have you ever read a word, and thought nothing of it beyond that it's a word,
Until one day you look at it and go "Oh hey! That could be a really cool name!"

I just did that.

I was reading General Conference talks, and noticed that when I highlighted areas I wanted to mark these six words would show up: Note, Tag, Link, Mark, Copy, Style.

And I was like "Huh, Link is a name of a game character....hey Mark is a name! Tag could be a name! ooo Note might be an interesting name too!"

Then I thought "What if I wrote a book and used all six words as the names of my characters?"

It could be fun really.
They could be the code names for spies.
or
A new society formed where people are named by what job they're required to do.
or
A trend where people started taking words from the dictionary to make names out of.
or maybe even
it's a series of office tools, looking to have a more exciting life then being in the drawer of an accountant and they go on an adventure to find a new home! :D

lol seriously the possibilities are endless.

Hmmmm now which idea would I actually pick....

-Sarnic Dirchi

E or A

I have a confession.

Until a couple of days ago, I really had no idea what the difference between 'then' and 'than' was.
I mean...I know the words. I know there is a difference, but for the life of me I had no clue what it was. For some reason this little tidbit of knowledge refused to stick into my head whenever I learned about it multiple times in school.

But, I decided I really should know.
As I tend to use 'then' for everything.

What's the difference?

Then refers to time or sequences of events. "I went to work and then slept for the rest of the day."  
While Than is a comparison tool. "Football is a much better sport to watch on TV than basketball."

I'll have to keep this in mind...really this time. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Blood

Blood has been on my mind today....mostly because I got the most random bloody nose last night.
And where I'm thinking of blood...vampires usually comes to mind.
 
And I wondered....
It's thought that I got my bloody nose because there wasn't enough iron in my body.
So today, to help that out, I ate like three tacos.
And a bit after I ate that last one...I ended up with like a major headache.
...I don't know if I over did it on getting the red meat into my body, and my body reacted.
or it could be many other reasons.
 
In any case.
I wondered....
If a vampire wasn't able to have blood for a looong period of time,
and then they finally get some.
How would they react?
Would they be able to get headaches? Or would it be like a sugar rush to them? But would it be a bad sugar rush -feel sick/headaches. Or a good sugar rush -where all their senses are heightened to like an '11' on the 1-10 scale. So they feel energy, can see/smell/hear better, move faster....
Would the quality of blood affect their experience?

I could go on and on with questions. Really I could.
It's just something to consider really.

If I wrote a vampire book....how would I make it different from all the other vampire books flooding the market?
This...may be one way, methinks.

-Sarnic Dirchi 

What's In A Name?

Have you ever wondered what people are thinking, when you pull out your Itouch and they see your Apps?
Particularly, when you hit the app called "Baby Names?"
And you're in a singles ward?

lol, I have no idea if anyone has ever noticed that.
But I do have such an app,

Why?
Because it's the perfect way to find names for your characters!

Need a name that starts with the letters Dr?
Just plug it in.

Need to find guy names?
Customize to only find guy names.

Plus!
The particular app I have, will tell you the meaning of a name.
So if I'm wanting a character that has a particular name meaning like Fire, or light, or willow, or destiny....I can just plug it in! :)

Of course, not all character names happen this way,
Some just come to me.

But it's always handy to have an App of Baby Names. Just in case you can't hit upon something yourself...or you really want a character to have a particular meaning connected to their name. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Plotting Moment

When things go wrong...some people may get angry, depressed, annoyed....

Me. I plot.

How can I turn this situation into a scene that I can use in a story?
Or... if it's not sparking any new ideas,
How can I use this emotion I'm feeling to help me out with writing other scenes?

Even more importantly, will I be able to keep that motivation going throughout work until I can get to a point where I can write?

Sometimes yes.
Sometimes no.

That's how writing goes.

-Sarnic Dirchi

:)

Favorite line one of my character's has said:

"Well, today sucked worse than a straw."

It makes me smile every time. ^^

-Sarnic Dirchi

Would This Actually Happen?

So, there I was planning a scene for a character where they would come to the rescue of some wolf pups being attacked by a bear determined to kill them.
When I had the thought:
 
Would a bear actually do this?
 
So I pulled out my handy dandy Google!
 
And asked my all knowing friend :Will a Bear kill wolf pups?
 
Google gave me the link to this page http://www.freewebs.com/alphawolfsabrina/wolfecology.htm
 
And within it's long sections of text was this nice little tidbit:
 
"Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) will sometimes dig up, kill, and eat wolf pups."
 
Yes! It can actually happen in real life! Ha!
 
^^ I love it when real life supports the ideas I come up with for a story. ^^;

 

 

 

Now back to the scene!

 

-Sarnic Dirchi

 

Not All Ideas Work On Paper

You know what's annoying?

When you get this Awesome idea.

But, when you try to plug it into a story.

It just doesn't work.

It doesn't sound as awesome on paper as it does in your head.

Yah, I had that today.

An idea.

A person on the run. Hiding from the authorities. And they manage to avoid said authorities with a special power.
They can turn invisible.
Yet, there is a small draw back to it.
The person's shadow can still be seen.

So, the only way to be truly invisible, is to find a dark spot to hide in.

And do you know how difficult that is to do when there are people after you?

Extremely difficult. As they can just watch where your shadow goes and follow you to that spot and catch you.
I mean, just because you're invisible doesn't mean that you're intangible.

Ah, drawbacks to powers.
They can be annoying.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Intimidation

This:
 

 
Intimidates me.
 
Just staring at the blank screen.
With it waiting for me to put words on it....
 
I'm like
 


 
And take shelter in doing other things...
Like checking facebook,
seeing if other people have posted on their blogs,
surfing the internet,
watching tv.
Creating new playlists in my iTunes account,
playing app games on my Ipod
and...going to grab ice cream (I literally just did this one.)
 
Anything really to avoid having to face that blank screen.
 
And you know what's super annoying?
 
That moment,
When I finally gather up the courage to face that screen.
To put words down...
 
I end up having to go out somewhere,
or...I have to go to bed....because I'm responsible like that, and I'm not quite willing to go to work tired...as it's a tiring job in of itself.
 
So where does that get me?
Writing?
I mean, even working on writing this post has taken me a while.
Do I ever get anything down?
 
I do.
 
With this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep. I went old school.

 

And it's really working for me.

I mean...I've got like 5 different notebooks in my bag, just so that I can write down whatever ideas hit me.

 

And I think it's because...pen and paper...doesn't feel as official.

 

Word document -official.

Pen and Paper -not official.

 

With a little notebook, I feel like I can make mistakes. I can rewrite scenes. I can jot down ideas.

It makes it easier.

And puts less pressure on me to 'get it done.'

Because it's portable.

So if I ever find myself with a spare moment,

I can flip open that notebook and start writing.

No need to worry about how long it takes my laptop to start up,

making sure I saved the document,

worrying about having enough power...

 

It's relaxing. Really, I only need to worry about spilling liquids onto a notebook....and having my pen die on me.

 

But that's why I carry like 15 pens around in my bag.

So that never happens. ;) lol

 

*Fingers Crossed*

 

-Sarnic Dirchi

A New Introduction

I read somewhere a while back,
That writers should never have more then one blog.
Why?
Because one ends up falling by the wayside.
 
And I had to say, that was true for me.
Out of three blogs.
I only post on one frequently.
The other one is...hit and miss...mostly due to a writer's block...and lack of writing time.
And my third one... was this one. And I hadn't posted in it since July.
 
Why?
Because this blog was trying to be a cartoon blog.
I originally created it with the idea that I would make cartoons that over exaggerated dates that I had been on...but then I realized...I don't go on many dates.
So I thought I could do things I heard from other people....
Then maybe cartoons about random funny things happening....
 
Well, it all basically boiled down to...
I neglected this blog.
(and I'm frustrated with myself for that because I didn't want to be one of those 'post a couple of times then never post again sort of people' when I decided to start a second blog.)
Yet I did.
It's all because I've realized...
I seriously have no patience for drawing.
I can do it.
I'm great at doodling.
But my mind is way more creative in it's mental pictures, then what my hand can actually create.
And that gets frustrating.
 
Plus, every time I draw I can't help but think:

 



Drawing...writing....
Writing should win every time.
It doesn't.
Something called:
 

 
Gets me easily distracted.
 

 
So on a spur of the moment 'I can't sleep because this idea has me sooo excited' sort of thing...
 
I revamped this blog,
 
To make it not a cartoon blog....though I will probably include both hand drawn pictures (first picture) and pictures taken from the internet (the rest of the pictures in this blog) on occasion.
 
But a writer's blog instead.
 
One that will most likely not have posts everyday,
but hopefully will post more frequently then....well almost never.
 
A blog where I can just vent my frustrations, discoveries, processes, and excitement over the whole 'I'm going to write a book!' thing. :)
 
We'll see how this goes!
Fingers crossed.
 


-Sarnic Dirchi
 

Capes Are Cool.

 

 

Inspiration for this comic is brought to you by Disney's Planes: Particularly at 1:45

.