Meta Writing

In the computer world, data about other data is called "metadata". For instance a weather instrument records how much rain falls, the temperature variations, and the wind speed throughout the day. That's the "data". It also attaches information such as the time of day for each recording, the date, and the geographic location of the recordings. That's data about the data, or "metadata".

My intention with this blog has been to talk about the writing process and document my first major attempt at fiction. I got to thinking about that this past week, and realized that my blog was really writing about writing - that is, "metawriting". I thought that that was such a good name for the blog that I decided to change it.

Unfortunately "metawriting.blogspot.com" was already taken, so I've set up a new blog at WordPress: http://metawriting.wordpress.com. See you there!

"It works"

Well, this week was supposed to be my writing week, but as it turns out my day-job project was delayed by a week, so writing was delayed the same amount. Houston, please reset the clock to T-minus 3 days and some change.

In a curious twist, though, I've been able to spend a lot of the last week (particularly in the evenings) organizing my thoughts, and getter much better prepared for next week. This included filling the largest hole in the story - the climax.

I certainly didn't start out intending to write the buildup and the conclusion first, and then fill in the connection between the two last. In fact, as I fleshed out the end pieces, I realized (a couple of nights ago) I had no idea how Alina, my protagonist, was supposed to beat her opponent. I knew what the aftermath should look like, and what the ante-math should look like, but the "math" was proving to be a hard nut to crack.

I did finally manage to come up with a scene that I was pretty happy with. My wife gave it a very reserved "it works" when she read my outline for the scene. Hopefully I'll be able to find ways to make it a little more suspenseful for the general reader, and rate a little higher than "it works".

With the climax written, I now had a complete skeleton, and of course by "complete" I mean it connects the story end to end, much like a chain-link fence is a solid wall. A small triumph, but one that I think I'm allowed to enjoy.

Middle Names

George Bush, come here this instant!

George Walker Bush, come here this instant!

I've always been amused that if someone uses your middle name when they're angry, it means they're REALLY angry. It seems to be one of the most common use for a middle name, and one that we apparently learn at a very early age. This past week, my wife addressed our daughter with her first and middle names. It was done in jest, but my wife was met with a very serious-looking 4 1/2 year old: "No Mommy, you're only supposed to say that when you really mad."

Now, I was 4 1/2 years old once (a few years - ok, decades - ago), and my middle name had a few "angry-uses". In fact that's about the only times my middle name has gotten used. I've decided to change that with this first novel, hence the name "M. Edward Gilbert".

I don't really expect it to completely eliminate its angry-use ("Mark Edward, where is that draft?!"), but at least the usage will be a little more balanced.