Introducing Mr. Peeps: My November Writing Excursion So Far

Signore e signori, I would like you to meet Mr. Peeps the Motivation Owl.

Ciao.

Mr. Peeps hails from Italy, or so says the sticker on his little alabaster feet, but his current residence is beside my laptop.

Mr. Peeps sits by my laptop and stares at me to keep me in check, his harsh, unflinching  little eyes guilting me into turning away from Pinterest and opening Word to continue the epic battle of filling white space with words. Mr. Peeps keeps me on task in a way that only an inanimate little rock with eyes can, though he does prove a distraction himself due to my tactile obsession with carved stone and fondness for creating double entendres with his semi-suggestive name, (fondling Mr. Peeps!)

It is mid-November, and it is apparent that I have snapped a little.

Nanowrimo is in full swing, and though I’m only participating by writing every day and meeting a spot quota in the story rather than a word quota, I am feeling the pressure. I’ve completely delved into Demetrius and Chloe to the point where I’m having vivid and psychologically scarring dreams about it. I scribble down ideas on my breaks at work and pray nobody’s reading over my shoulder (“Ponder: when are the slaves unsupervised in the basement?”) and glue myself to my laptop the minute I get home from work. I am in the creative zone, which is fantastic, except for the fact that it is seriously nudging me from half mad to full blown Bedlam.

            I cannot, cannot get some of the characters out of my head, namely Demetrius, which is more than a little horrifying, and another person who may be the closest thing to a true antagonist in this story, a slave trade partner of Demetrius named Abigail. Now, before you think I actually have taken that step off the deep end, let me explain what having a character “in my head” means. Not only am I constantly zoning out about upcoming plot points and the proper way to convey my ideas on paper, but little quirks about characters keep popping into my head; like how Demetrius has chronic shoulder pain from a gunshot wound he suffered years ago, or how Abigail was raised in the bowels in San Barnardino.

Also, as my invisible/imaginary blog readers know, Demetrius has an extremely distinct manner of speaking. He is a damn strong character, if I do say so myself, and after writing in that “voice” for hours at a time, it’s sometimes hard not to interpret the world through that voice. So basically…sometimes I have a hard time not seeing the world through the eyes of a half mad sociopathic slave trader.

            ….Yep…yep, I’ve definitely snapped.

            Mr. Peeps is staring at me.

            The creative process is weird for every writer, I think. Anne Rice casually mentions the current status of characters barely there in her series (for instance, that a minor vampire character, Bianca, was “still around.”) Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the brilliant Merry Gentry series I’ve mentioned earlier, is one of those writers who talk about her characters as if they’re in the room arguing with her in her blog. Sometimes characters are so strong in the writer’s head that they practically hold the reins to the story themselves. I know I’ve spent a few hard hours (what up) wanting to bang my head into my desk because the story needed to go one way, but it wasn’t in the character’s nature to do what was necessary to get to that crucial point.

            I am having some serious storyline issues, though. As I’ve mentioned before, I am the Queen of the Unfinished Novel, and that is largely due to the difficulty of I have with middles. I’ve spent all this time building up the characters of Demetrius and Chloe, their backgrounds and mannerisms and such, and I’ve made so many ridiculous outlines for myself about this story—including a slave training guide—and now that I’ve hit the time where I actually have to sit down and explain all of this mad world that I’ve been building up in my head in a manner that makes sense to the rest of the world, is paced just right, and moves toward character development, climax, and resolution…just thinking about that is making me panic. 

I’ve been told before by non-writers that writing has to be the easiest job in the world because all you do is sit in a chair all day and make shit up. People who believe that obviously have no idea how hard it is to make shit up and keep that shit consistent, moving, and entertaining. One of the biggest things I miss about being in BG is that I had a readily available writing community. As much as I hated workshop classes, they gave me an environment in which I could rant about subplots, story archetypes, and the evils of the passive voice and not be met with a blank, uncomprehending stare. My poor Boyfriend has had to deal with it all this month. I’m sure nodding and patting my head while I bemoan an unforeseen plot hole in a story he’s never read isn’t exactly what he wants to do when he gets home from work. He humours me with so many things I rant about (the Joker, serial killers in reality vs movies and TV, books, belly dance, Shakespeare, musicals…). The guy deserves a break.

…now I want to rant about all that’s wrong with the show Dexter.

But Mr. Peeps is staring at me.

I’m on it, Mr. Peeps.

Anyway, despite the lack of writing community around me, I’ve been productive enough to startle myself this month. Demetrius and Chloe is taking some weird turns I hadn’t anticipated, but I can see the Dinner Party chapter that is my ultimate goal just on the horizon. I can see a possible wall forming just before it, though; a wall of storyline I haven’t thought through entirely, weak motivations, and mysterious characters, but I’ll worry about that when I hit it. Or when I’m pancaked against it like a piece of squashed clay. And hopefully the arrival of Mr. Peeps the Motivational Owl will be my only eccentric slip from sanity this month.

Peeps out.