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