tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316 being chiefly about the written word marycatelli 2026-02-26T05:13:29Z tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1889660 2026-02-26T05:13:29Z 2026-02-26T05:13:29Z public 0 I need more magic in the world, to hide the heroine in it.<br /><br />I throw in magic where it would be useful.<br /><br />It occurs to me that the magic would be exceedingly useful -- plot-breakingly so.<br /><br /><i>grouse, grouse grumble</i><br /><br />Time to curb it.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1889660" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1889523 2026-02-23T03:21:31Z 2026-02-23T03:21:31Z public 0 The heroine has her magic.&nbsp; She can use it for useful tricks, such as running errands without being pestered, because she can't be seen.<br /><br />THEN it occurs to me that that particular trick would be of mind-boggling importance in the politics she's involved in.<br /><br />Unless I curb it.<br /><br />So out come the whip and the chair.&nbsp; Back, ability, back!&nbsp; Into your cage.&nbsp; You are a fun trick and little more!&nbsp;<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1889523" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1865978 2025-12-22T19:43:02Z 2025-12-22T19:43:02Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/who-are-you-and-what-have-you-done?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1865978" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1859627 2025-12-09T00:51:50Z 2025-12-09T00:51:50Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/plot-devices-and-places?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed!</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1859627" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1854762 2025-11-28T23:13:36Z 2025-11-28T23:13:36Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/speaking-of-secrets?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1854762" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1853479 2025-11-26T21:44:15Z 2025-11-26T21:44:15Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/a-problem-with-portals?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1853479" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1850134 2025-11-22T05:01:24Z 2025-11-22T05:01:24Z public 0 So plugging along on the story, and three characters manifest interests in new magic, which, I abruptly realize, are going to have to have significance.<br /><br />And indeed some other characters need an interest or they will seem flat. Maybe I can give two of them the same interest.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1850134" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1846757 2025-11-12T22:23:08Z 2025-11-12T22:23:08Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/sorcery-and-subtlety?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1846757" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1843917 2025-11-05T23:30:21Z 2025-11-05T23:30:21Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/temperance-the-cardinal-virtue?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1843917" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1837180 2025-10-20T20:13:55Z 2025-10-20T20:20:55Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/how-do-you-feel-about-that?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1837180" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1834940 2025-10-10T17:39:33Z 2025-10-10T17:39:33Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/i-know-something-you-dont-know?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1834940" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1828464 2025-09-28T02:48:50Z 2025-09-28T02:48:50Z public 0 A minor comment in the outline, how the heroine got the attention of the wizards.<br /><br />But it wasn't detailed enough.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">(&nbsp;</b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://marycatelli.dreamwidth.org/1828464.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close">&nbsp;)</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1828464" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1821548 2025-09-15T21:42:54Z 2025-09-15T21:42:54Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/color-by-numbers-series?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1821548" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1792838 2025-07-15T19:55:11Z 2025-07-15T19:55:11Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/curses?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1792838" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1778300 2025-06-12T17:05:31Z 2025-06-12T17:05:31Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/the-dm-vs-the-writer-curses?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1778300" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1772927 2025-06-02T18:58:32Z 2025-06-02T18:58:32Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/worlds-beyond-worlds?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1772927" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1760445 2025-05-06T17:05:12Z 2025-05-06T17:05:12Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/the-much-maligned-blue-curtains?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essay'ed</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1760445" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1757346 2025-04-30T03:14:27Z 2025-04-30T03:14:27Z public 0 While stymied on one work, I went to work on another. And realized I hadn't described the characters.<br /><br />Lucky me. The opening scene is when the viewpoint character remembers her life in another world. Nothing is more natural than her looking at her own reflection and at the members of her family and trying to remember whether her family looked like that. Her real family. If it was real. . . . <br /><br />At least the descriptions are in.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1757346" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1754596 2025-04-25T19:25:42Z 2025-04-25T19:25:42Z public 0 The heroine has gone into the woods. Several other scholars are with her.<br /><br />I know that they will threatened by monsters of shadow. Probably lions. I know that her woodcraft will be vital -- you can tell you really reached the top of a hill when you see the sky ahead of you. <br /><br />Nothing else is clear.<br /><br />Furthermore, this will lead into an eruption, where the villain, having been foiled at every turn by our heroine, goes all out to make her play. <br /><br />Nothing about that is clear, either.<br /><br /><i>sigh</i><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1754596" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1728969 2025-03-08T04:59:49Z 2025-03-08T04:59:49Z public 0 Oh you plot bunnies!<br /><br />Two very different stories about a character who finds herself in another world.&nbsp; The means by which they are moved differ, the situations they find themselves in differ, their powersets differ, and the reasons they have powers differ.&nbsp; Their enemies differ, and so does the conflict.<br /><br />This probably means they should have different reactions to arrival, perhaps all the more in that they do not glide over it as a machine that the readers will simply accept as not relevant to the plot.&nbsp; (It is relevant in both cases, though -- the reasons differ.)<br /><br />Both are going to have&nbsp; metaphysical questions, though.&nbsp; No matter how different I make them.<br /><br />(And I don't even know if either one is a full story yet.)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1728969" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1720547 2025-02-15T04:39:54Z 2025-02-15T04:39:54Z public 0 Was plugging along on a story.<br /><br />Knew there was a character, a servant, who knew about a cursed prince. Needed him as a plot device to keep the prince alive, and also he gave me a way to keep the prince busy. Made him a big solid guy, a huntsman.<br /><br />So writing along on the outline and realized that I had to name this servant. I dug up a name, decided it looked good, and if it's a diminutive, it's ironic he has it.<br /><br />Put it down on the character list. Character started to wonder whether he could be a lean and wiry huntsman instead.<br /><br />Ah, the game of names.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1720547" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1719667 2025-02-13T22:35:53Z 2025-02-13T22:35:53Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/fairy-tale-weddings?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">I essayed. For tomorrow</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1719667" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1713758 2025-02-02T05:13:53Z 2025-02-02T05:13:53Z public 0 I lay out the plan. The heroine goes somewhere wearing a cloak, so she can take it off and be recognized.<br /><br />A scene opens with her waiting and thinking about how hot and heavy it is. It ends with her being recognized.<br /><br />But I never actually took the cloak off. . . .<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1713758" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1704902 2025-01-10T02:19:35Z 2025-01-10T02:19:35Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/dealing-out-drama?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true">essayed again</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1704902" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-06:2875316:1678205 2024-11-10T19:26:21Z 2024-11-10T19:26:21Z public 0 <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writingandreflections/p/magical-technology?r=17sx99&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true">essayed again</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=marycatelli&ditemid=1678205" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments