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 The Good Life. |
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree . But that's just my resume. My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress. ![Merit Badge in Music
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To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif) ![Merit Badge in Organization
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in Leadership
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For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif) |
#scopecreepersanonymous I asked ChatGPT and Gemini to review a short story I wrote. The feedback I got from both on various revisions pretty much defines me as a writer: Gemini said:  This is a fantastic opening.This revision elevates the story from a good setup to a very compelling narrative fragment.ChatGPT said: This is a polished and highly effective opening to a series or novel.You should feel very confident in this draft. Are you planning to continue this story or move on to a different project?ChatGPT did redeem itself a little with this one: If you plan to submit or expand this into a series, this could serve as Chapter One or a standalone “origin” story. But in general, this is the story of my writing life. Everything I write is just a chapter of something bigger.  Scope creep. It's no wonder I never finish anything. |
| In case I've never mentioned it, October is my busiest month. It's PrepMo, of course, which is busy even when I'm not actively participating, like I am this year. Also, my music school's most popular performance event happens the weekend before or after Halloween: Our annual Halloween Party Recitals. Friday night is for adults and teens only. Saturday and Sunday afternoons are filled with performances from all our kiddos, plus Halloween activities like trick-or-treating from room to room, completing a craft in the lab, taking photos in front of the Spooky Selfie Station, and competing in a costume contest. For me, personally, that means teaching lessons Friday afternoon; setting up for and conducting teen/adult recitals Friday night, and then breaking back down for Saturday lessons; teaching lessons Saturday morning; setting up again and conducting Saturday afternoon lessons; sleeping until noon (HA!) Sunday; Sunday afternoon recitals; then break it all down and set back up for lessons to resume on Monday. If you got lost in the paragraph, imagine how I feel when I'm actually in it. So, in summary, you won't see much of me this weekend. Try bugging Waltz in the Lonesome October  , S🤦♂️  , and Storm Machine  if you need anything - or just post it in the Prep forum. Those folks love helping others figure things out.  I'm off to buy candy corn (to mix with the Chex Mix) and punch. See you Monday.  |
| I'm not sure why or how poop became such a taboo topic. Whenever someone acted holier-than-thou, my ex used to say, "his shit doesn't smell like roses." There's a reason he's my ex, but actually, none of us shit roses, so he kind of had a point. We all do it. Some of us are better at it than others. My husband, for example, poops at 9:00 am for roughly 20 minutes daily, but he can easily adjust that time around his meeting schedule as needed, as if it's a valve he can control. I, on the other hand, oscillate between not pooping for days and, "Oh, bloody Hell, get outta my way!" My style of pooping is not recommended. For one thing, it's the reason I started composing this blog post at 3:30 in the morning (in my head initially, because my eyes don't work properly for at least 30 minutes after waking). It's not the root cause of my lower back pain, but I can definitely tell when I'm backing up even without clock watching my toilet habits. A full colon compresses on my spine and it freaking hurts. And there have been many times in a public setting where I had to be very careful not to laugh too hard. Even though you don't talk about it, I know you fall somewhere on the spectrum, too. Pooping may be something you take for granted. But if you're more like me, your waste elimination system may be interfering with life. These days I compare everything with managing blood sugar on an insulin pump, but shooting (heh) for that balance between constipation and liquid fire, and between once a week and seven times per day, is truly comparable (see illustration below). I personally take more constipation meds in a day than Parkinson’s meds, and if you know anyone with PD, you know that's saying something. So, in summary, I'm jealous of my husband and I'm awake way too early today. Share your poop stories below. Be improprietary. Break the taboo.  My glucose over the last 24 hours |
| *pokes at disabled "Reviewing" and "Blogging" badges near the top of nav menu* I suppose the "Blogging" badge will be activated shortly, but the review is not going to happen. I can't seem to write a review in less than an hour, and I need that hour back for novel writing because my Prep project KICKS ASS.{/ego} By that I mean, I love it. You don't have to. But you will get the chance to decide because this one is getting written. I will be sprinting this November. Damn it! No more streak races for me. So Saith I. ![Merit Badge in Visit WdC 7
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| It's PrepMo, so I have plots on the brain. My songwriting student Millie, who just finished her musical, "Gwinny! The Musical" (starring her dog, Gwinny), has decided her next project will be an opera about manatees. Her homework was to complete a story and plot elements analysis template for the opera. Instead, she wrote the main plot points in a list form without actually completing the template. Although she had the analysis in her head, she had trouble filling in all the blanks when I asked for details; but she's stubborn and insisted her plot was fine. So I manipulatedenticed her by asking if she thought she would be up for an intellectual debate. She bit. So, I asked her favorite movie. What followed was a spirited debate between a 14-year-old intellectual and her much-older-than-that-but-equally-intellectual music teacher about the plot and story elements of the 2020 Sony Animations film, The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Millie argued that the protagonist is the Mitchells, and the antagonist is clearly PAL and the robots (aka, the machines.) After all, it's right there in the title, right? This was her initial analysis: Protagonist: The Mitchells Goal: Save the world Antagonist: PAL Conflict: A bunch of evil robots are kidnapping people and launching them into space. Climax: Rick & Linda (mom & dad) escape the spaceship Resolution: PAL bounces off Monchi's head and falls into the glass of water. Protagonistic change/growth: She couldn't really pin this down. It's been awhile since I saw the movie, so I looked up the synopsis from Wikipedia*. ▼ Do you think she's right? Let's hear your counter arguments. Her homework was to debate the plots of at least five more stories this week with other intellectuals like herself. *Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mitchells_vs._the_Machines |
| Poor Christopher Paolini has been the target of many a critic since the publication of the first book in The Inheritance Cycle series. We'll cut him some slack because he was a teenager when he published, but let's face it: the work deserved the critique. I don't remember the particulars, but I recall a lot of comparisons to gemstones. It's been awhile since I read the series, so rather than read it again for the purposes of this discussion, I found this handy list of Paolini similes and metaphors. How much description is the right amount? If your narrative description is so distracting that it pulls your reader out of the story, it's too much. Gosh, that makes it sound so easy! Unfortunately, swinging in the other direction can be just as detrimental. If you don't include enough description, your reader may get confused or be unable to visualize the scene enough to be immersed in the story. Like a diabetic trying to balance her blood sugar, we must find a way to navigate the narrow, harrowing path along the the knife-edged divide between purple prose and ambiguity. Unfortunately, they don't make a continuous glucose monitor (those white thingies stuck to the backs of the arms of diabetics) for narrative description. (For those not familiar with diabetes: that means your narrative description can't be measured in real time.) So what do we do? It can be difficult to assess where the balance lies in your own writing. As a writer, you visualize the events of your story in your head. It's already in there, so it's not always intuitive to write it out in words. But you have to remember to let the reader inside your head, too. I find reviews helpful for judging how close to the balance point my descriptions lie. An outside pair of eyes, glittering softly like multi-faceted jewels in the morning sun, is worth its weight in sparkle. Weigh in: How do you find balance between too much and too little description? Bonus article: Lessons From the Terrible Writing of Eragon |
| Did you know... ...that if you have a premium account at WDC (if you don't, keep reading...), you can use the "Signature Manager" in your account settings (My Account -> Account Settings -> Additional Account Settings -> Manage Signature(s)) to create a book-specific template for your book entries? For example, in my book item, "Poor Witch: Settings" , my template looks like this: See Template ▼ So whenever I navigate to "Add an Entry" for that particular book, the template automatically appears in the entry, and I just have to follow the prompts to complete the entry. I can edit it at any time. There are entries with no information - only the template - because I haven't gotten around to filling in the details yet, but the setting appears in my story(ies), so it's on the list. If you're not a premium member You can still do the same thing using your Notepad (left navigation menu, between "Messenger" and "Blog"). Create the template, store it as a page in your Notepad, and then copy/paste the template into your book entry or static item. In a static item, you can just add settings like so: See Code ▼ Or if you prefer a cleaner finished look, you could add dropnotes like this: See Code ▼ Which looks like this: Setting #1 ▼ Setting #2 ▼ Note that these work for any kind of list/database of profiles, and for the example book item above, I also have templates in books containing my characters, definitions, and background stories lists for this novel series. Have you found another convenient way to add, store, and edit your settings in WDC? What about outside WDC? |
| So, hubby got the news that he needs to immediately switch to a diet low in saturated and trans fats, a.k.a., a heart-healthy diet. I thought of the children's nursery rhyme: Jack Sprat could eat no fat His wife could eat no lean And so between the both of them They licked the platter clean Although in the case of this diabetic wife, it's carbs, not lean. (What rhymes with carbs? Anyone?) He's rediscovered oatmeal (born and raised in central Ohio, hubby calls the meal "oats") and eating Honeycrisp apples like they're going out of style (trust me - they're not.) We've had salads with lean meats for lunch, and he's learning new habits like reading labels and weighing his food. The poor guy has had a hard time sleeping the last couple nights due to all the fiber we've introduced into his belly (he can finally sympathize with me!). Have you been there? What advice do you have? PS: Hubby has never heard of dear ol' Jack Sprat and his wife.  |
| The Music Lab teachers at my music school publish a monthly theme. They generate modules for the music history, composition, and listening stations based on the theme. After the children complete the modules, the lab teachers interview them, asking the students to list three things they observed. Kids Say the Darndest Things This is what some of the kiddos had to say about last month's "yodeling" theme: Aria W: "Many of the lyrics were not words at all, but rather noises and made up words." Ashlyn H: "Don’t think about it (yodeling) too much." Beatrice V: "'They wear not modern clothes." Haley N: "Learned about the yodel king (Franzl Lang)." Hayden C: "It’s really really quick — sort of like rapping." Judson E: "Used to use yodeling in farming for long distances." Julia Z: "It’s like going from head to chest voice rapidly." Lylah O: "I learned the magic of yodeling." Owen C: "In ‘The Lonely Goatherd,’ there was yodeling between each sentence." Olly C: "'There was a song from Texas." Penelope H: "I liked that they were singing with the puppets." Sebastian V: "There were barely any drums and no electric instruments." Can You Say It Better? I'm sure by now that you're dying to read about and hear yodeling for yourself so you can contribute your own witty takeaways. So, without further ado, I give you: The Listening Station (Yodeling): The Music History Station (Yodeling): |
| I've been a member of WDC for 18 years, and if there's a test out there to qualify for a creative writing degree from a major university, I bet I could pass it without a single day in a classroom, all thanks to the education I've gained from peer writers here. I gleaned much of that knowledge from creating and running the "October Novel Prep Challenge" - especially in the early years through friends who helped me plan and tweak the assignment calendar, volunteer writing coaches and forum posters who knew more than I did, and countless hours of research to make the activity actually useful to both aspiring and veteran novelists.But even before that, I started to really learn and understand the technical details of what makes literature consumable, marketable, and even successful - things like active voice, vivid imagery, clear and distinguishable character voices, and a plot that not only contains the required elements (protagonist, conflict, climax, resolution), but also maximizes tension through complications. And I learned though receiving and giving reviews. If you don't already know, I'm an analytical person. I tear things apart until I understand them completely. I ask annoying follow up questions to my follow up questions. The public reviews I give tend to reflect that, but what you may not see is how it manifests in the way I digest the things you say when reviewing my work. I get a lot of superficial, cheerleading-style reviews with high ratings. Sure, I've loved the ego boost (like my narcissism needs encouragement, lol), especially when I was a WDC noob. But over the years, I've occasionally gotten a serious review that really burns my biscuits... but also intrigues my intellect. Not always immediately, but when I read them months or years later, I realize, hmm. Maybe they had a point. It most often happens when I'm reviewing someone else's work and I see the same mistake. I'm considering creating a folder in my port containing pieces that received negative constructive reviews, adding the offending surprisingly helpful and educational review, and discussing my thoughts on why the reviewer was correct. I changed the access settings to many of these pieces to private at the time, vowing to circle back and try to make them better in the future, but they've just been sitting there for a decade or more, gathering dust. Yet even invisible to readers, they've been useful, because they were all practice. I learned something from each and every one of them, and more specifically, from the reviewers brave enough to teach me and award me- gasp - less than four stars. (in case you just cringed and thought, you mean, "fewer than four stars", I argue that since we count stars in halves, "less" is more appropriate, but feel free to make your counterargument in the comments!) More on this topic to come, assuming I actually get around to starting the project. |
| You love to hate them. An antagonist, by definition, is whatever causes conflict for your protagonist (main character.) Every story includes at least one protagonist, a conflict, and an antagonist that creates the conflict. Every story. For example, if I walk in the door and announce to my husband, "I got the mail!" - that's not a story. However, if I walk in and say, "I tried to get the mail but a bee that's guarding the mailbox stung me, so now it's your turn to try!" - that is a story. It includes a protagonist (me) who has a goal (get the mail), but an antagonist (the bee) creates conflict (by guarding the mailbox) until the climax (when the bee stings me). It also has falling action (I gave up trying to get the mail) and resolution (I delegated the goal to hubby.) I even experienced a protagonistic change (I will never again be so lackadaisical about the process of getting the mail.) See? Even that tiny story had an antagonist. When a fictional story has a great villain, you love to hate them. Hating the antagonist is, by default, choosing Team Protagonist. And every storyteller worth their weight in words wants you to be Team Protagonist. But what if the antagonist isn't a character? Great question! The antagonist is not required to be a character, after all. The only requirement is that it creates conflict for your main character. For the purposes of this discussion, I also consider an animal or other sentient, but non-human, antagonist as a character, who can be easily profiled with a character template. I will group non-character antagonists into the categories below: Internal conflicts This is the man-versus-self scenario. Internal conflicts usually involve some sort of fear or conflicting emotions, but could also include an uncooperative body or brain due to illness, disease or disorder. Dawn Embers  is tackling this topic in the Prep forum today, so I'll focus on the other three (below). Here's Dawn's forum post, if you're interested: "Day 10 - Ye Old Villain/Antagonist Stats" .Environmental conflicts Environmental conflicts can include natural disasters that your character must survive, or it could be as simple as your character finding their way home in a big, scary world. Waltz in the Lonesome October recently pointed out, "if you've ever read The Martian (or seen the movie based on it), the primary antagonist is the conditions on the planet... Another (example) would be the conditions on Mount Everest, if the story's about the protagonist attempting to summit that mountain."Technological conflicts Technological conflicts may be caused by the users of that tech (maybe your protagonist struggling to deal with trolling and cyberbullying by the general population). It could also be caused by the tech itself (e.g., your character's invention malfunctions). Societal conflicts Societal conflicts are caused by society as an entity, rather than one or more individual members of that society. Your character may be trying to flee a war-torn country or fight back against government corruption. Or your southern belle landed her first job in New York City and has to learn to navigate metropolitan behaviors and expectations. Some antagonists cross categories The cyberbullying victim's antagonist could either be classified as societal (because the bullies are people) or technological (because the tech allows the bullies to gang up on victims, and to be anonymous.) An AI gone rogue might be classified as a technological conflict, or, if the AI is anthropomorphic, it could even be considered a character. How do you profile non-character antagonists? This question refers to the "Antagonist Profile" assignment on the "2025 Prep Calendar" .Focus on the conflict and why it's a problem. Describe (or compose a bullet point list of) all the traits of the environment / tech / society contributing to the conflict. What about the antagonist background story? This question refers to the "Antagonist Background Story" assignment on the "2025 Prep Calendar" .I recommend one of the following two methods: 1. Pretend you're a journalist. Write an article about an incident that happened in the past, to some other character who doesn't appear in your novel, which was caused by the same environmental / technological / societal situation. 2. Personify the environmental / technological / societal situation. Imagine the conditions on Mars being sentient, taking deliberate action to try to kill the astronaut. What might have happened in Mars' past to cause it to scorn living creatures? Consider the anonymous Internet trolls and imagine they're all one person. What might be inspiring this composite character's hateful behavior? And the tech invention that malfunctioned and caused embarrassment or havoc for your main character - what motivation might it have to create problems? Maybe it doesn't want to be that thing your character is trying to create? Maybe its individual parts have their own personalities, and they don't get along with each other due to something in their history? What if it just IS? The antagonist character profile and background story assignments can definitely be an exercise in creativity. But maybe you spent some time thinking through and deciding that massive Everest doesn't care one bit about the tiny speck of a human (your main character) who is trying to reach its summit. Maybe you're just not inspired to personify your non-character antagonist or play journalist, and that's fine. Remember, the "October Novel Prep Challenge" is for YOU. It's a tool in your toolbelt; nothing more. If this exercise feels tedious and unnecessary for your specific project, spend fifteen minutes explaining why that's the case. The ultimate goal is to force you to deliberately consider your story's conflict and who or what is causing it. |
| Every good story incorporates some sort of growth or change on the part of its protagonist. But don't assume that "grow" always means "get better." Consider Walter White, the high-school-chemistry-teacher-turned-illicit-drug-manufacturer in Breaking Bad. Over the course of five seasons, Walt (a.k.a. Heisenberg) transitions from mild-mannered teacher and family man to ruthless killer. Every choice he makes that leads him to villainy is rationalized because he is just saving his family. Ultimately, the only viable option for the character is his demise, because there is no going back to the old Walt. Themes in Breaking Bad Power corrupts. Even the most gentle person can be seduced by it. Morality isn't black and white. The vilest deeds can be justified by noble reasons.Can you identify other themes in Breaking Bad? What are some of the themes in your favorite stories? This article was cross-posted in the "October Novel Prep Challenge" forum. |
| Whether you're a pantser or plotter, starting a story can be the hardest part of writing fiction. Just kidding. It's totally editing, am I right?? Okay, so maybe both are stressful and intimidating. You wrack your brain for the perfect opening lines, but they just won't come, because you're a perfectionist! And if and when you finally spit out some words that work, you never, ever want to edit them out because you worked so hard to find them in the first place. You're trying too hard. Just start writing, yo. But here's the catch: Write with the knowledge and understanding that you will absolutely be deleting these words later. Write the worst possible opening lines you could ever devise. The words themselves and what they say aren't the point. The words are a vehicle for the writing itself. They get your brain moving. They're a warm-up. Eventually, the story will start spilling out, and you can go back and find the point where the magic happened - where your brain finally remembered why you liked writing in the first place. |
| It's Day 5 of "October Novel Prep Challenge" , and I'm already scope creeping. My initial idea was to develop the Druid Archives series further and actually complete one of books 2 through 10, all of which are in progress. (Book 1, "Poor Witch" [E], is still technically in progress, but at least I have a complete draft.)But the Prep did what it's supposed to do: it gave me a new idea, and a trio of crime-fighting teen witches was born on Day 2. By Day 3, the protagonist of that story, Maya, revealed to me that she was a descendant of the witch from Poor Witch and a Druid Healer named Kaleb (or Emergence, depending on whom you ask.) Meanwhile, back on Day 1, I started a short story for "The Writer's Cramp" . The prompt was to write a story about a rabbit sneaking into a garden. By Day 2, "Snickers" was adopted by the titular protagonist from Poor Witch (who is also, apparently, Maya's ?×great grandma.)In the 18 years I've been an active member of WDC, I could count on one hand the number of times I've entered the Cramp. Something inspired me to take Prep '25 seriously and write for real, not just my typical brainstorming word vomit. I read that prompt, and Snickers introduced himself immediately. In the wee hours of Day 5, I had yet to be inspired with a background story about Maya. She's not speaking to me much, other than to share her lineage. But my Muse was obsessing over an idea that's not yet fully formed, involving this rabbit who, like Maya the teen witch, wormed his way into my Druid Archives world. Also, my Muse has been screaming for two decades to stop trying to write mature stories. My audience is young people; when I speak to kids and young adults, the words come effortlessly. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows my profession (teacher and employer of other teachers), and I guess it's not a surprise to me either, but I've been resisting because I want to express my own self and experiences, which span five decades now. I've (technically) spent more than half my life as an adult. Sadly, my stupid Muse doesn't care what I think or want to express. I'm still not sure where she's taking me this year, but at least she's made it clear we're staying in the Druid Archives. Folks, this is how Prep works. This is why we say you can show up on Day 1 without a hint of an idea. We do this for 31 whole days. The ideas come. The story evolves. Day 6, bring it on. |
| Do you feel like all the plots have been written? That we're just recycling stories? I asked two chatbots to offer lists of novels that were considered innovative or groundbreaking at the time of publication, to prove that brand new plots are still possible. The compiled* list is below, highlighting innovations in plot, genre, theme, and storytelling methods. Note that if you asked again, you would probably get a different list. This list is not meant to be accurate. It's meant to be enlightening and encouraging. And maybe a bit of a gauntlet.  Will you write the next groundbreaking novel?17th–19th Century: Breaking Early Conventions Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1605–1615) A man loses his mind from reading too many chivalric romances and sets out to live as a knight — blurring fantasy and reality centuries before postmodernism. Often called the first modern novel, blending realism, satire, and metafiction. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) A scientist creates life from the dead — the first narrative to explore artificial creation, science ethics, and “playing God.” Created a new genre: science fiction. Shelley's novel is a foundational text of both science fiction and Gothic horror. It was innovative for exploring the consequences of scientific overreach and grappling with themes of creation, morality, and ambition. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847) A multi-generational Gothic tale of obsession, revenge, and destructive love told through layered narrators — shocking for its brutality and moral ambiguity. Unconventional narrative structure and dark romanticism. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë (1848) Brontë's novel was shocking for its time due to its frank depiction of a woman leaving her abusive, alcoholic husband. It was a pioneering work of feminist fiction that challenged Victorian social conventions and a woman's right to self-determination. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1857) A bored provincial wife seeks meaning through adulterous affairs and consumer fantasies — scandalous in its time for realism and female agency. Introduced modern realism and free indirect discourse. A masterpiece of literary realism, this book was groundbreaking for its focus on the mundane, psychological, and emotional aspects of its characters' lives. The realistic style was so shocking that Flaubert was prosecuted for obscenity, though he was ultimately acquitted. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865) A surreal, logic-defying fantasy with no moral lesson — an absurdist inversion of Victorian children’s tales. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (1895) A seminal work of science fiction, this novel was innovative in its use of time travel to explore themes of social decay and evolution. A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison (1896) As a key work of naturalism, this book was innovative for its unromanticized and gritty portrayal of slum life in Victorian London. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899) This novel was ahead of its time for its frank exploration of a woman's sexuality and her rejection of traditional motherhood. It was met with controversy and condemnation upon its release for its "immorality," but later came to be recognized as a groundbreaking work of feminist modernism. Early 20th Century: Modernist Shifts in Reality Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900) Often called the first modern American novel, it was innovative for its naturalist perspective, portraying characters as products of their environment and driven by social and economic forces. It defied moral conventions by allowing its heroine to find success without being punished for her choices. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915) A man wakes up as a giant insect — no explanation given. The plot’s absurd simplicity launched modern existential fiction. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922) A single day in Dublin parallels Homer’s Odyssey — transforming an ordinary man’s day into an epic of consciousness. Revolutionized the stream-of-consciousness technique and narrative structure. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925) A single day in the life of a woman planning a party, mirrored by a veteran’s suicide — ordinary events used to explore time, trauma, and identity. Broke linear time with interior monologue. The Trial by Franz Kafka (1925) A man is arrested and executed for an unnamed crime — an allegory of faceless bureaucracy and existential guilt. Questioned authority, bureaucracy, and meaning itself. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932) A genetically engineered society where pleasure replaces freedom — an early dystopia critiquing consumerism and conformity. Mid-20th Century: Reality, Morality, and Madness Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949) A totalitarian future where language itself controls thought — its “Big Brother” concept redefined political fiction. Defined dystopian fiction as political prophecy. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955) A middle-aged man’s obsessive relationship with a young girl — narrated with disturbing beauty and irony. Shocked readers with unreliable narration and linguistic artistry. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954) Children stranded on an island descend into savagery — a grim inversion of adventure tales like Treasure Island. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) Soldiers trapped in bureaucratic paradoxes — the plot’s circular logic made absurdity itself the story. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967) The cyclical rise and fall of a family across generations in a mythic town — time itself becomes the plot. Defined magical realism and multi-generational storytelling. The book's use of magical realism and its cyclical narrative structure were highly innovative. It blended history and myth to become a touchstone of Latin American literature and a worldwide sensation. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) A man becomes “unstuck in time” during war — looping through past, present, and alien abduction in nonlinear order. Collapsed time and genre boundaries. Late 20th–21st Century: Postmodern and Conceptual Innovation Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) This is a groundbreaking work of speculative fiction that blends science fiction with the slave narrative genre. Butler's innovative use of time travel makes her novel a uniquely impactful and intimate exploration of racial history. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino (1979) This experimental postmodern novel is unique for its second-person narrative, with the reader as the protagonist. It consists of ten different novels, whose opening chapters are interrupted just as the narrative begins to develop. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985) A theocratic regime reduces women to breeders — dystopian fiction told as a recovered historical record. Feminist dystopia that blurred speculative and literary fiction. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987) A mother haunted by the ghost of the baby she killed to save from slavery — blending the supernatural with historical trauma. Merged ghost story, historical fiction, and collective trauma. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001) A boy stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger — an allegory that questions the nature of truth and storytelling. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (2004) Six interlocking stories across centuries — each nested within the other, showing the repetition of human ambition and oppression. Nested narratives spanning centuries and styles. Mitchell's novel is notable for its complex, nested narrative structure and for spanning multiple timelines, genres, and writing styles. It is considered a highly innovative work of postmodern fiction. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003) A nonlinear love story between a man with a genetic time-travel disorder and the woman who experiences his life out of sequence. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) Cloned children raised to donate organs — a quiet, emotional take on science fiction ethics. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012) A missing wife’s diary and her husband’s guilt twist mid-story to reveal an unreliable, manipulative narrator — revitalizing the psychological thriller. * Disclaimer and boring details: This list was consolidated from multiple chatbot conversations. Specifically, I asked Google for "novels that were considered innovative at the time". For comparison, I asked ChatGPT, "Please provide a list of novels that were considered innovative or groundbreaking at the time of publication". The lists provided were more about innovations in the storytelling strategies, genres and themes rather than plot, so I clarified, "Please provide a list of novel plots which were considered innovative at the time of publication". The list above was generated by the third query, but elements of the first two queries were interesting enough that I included them. Output from Query #1 (Google) is blue. Output from Query #2 (ChatGPT before I added the word "plot") is magenta. |
| I'm actually Prepping this year. I spent the first two days re-reading old notes and short stories from my Druid Archives world, thinking for sure I would write something there. The plan was to get back into the habit of writing, and specifically writing in that world, so I could move on to actually editing some of it and maybe publish one, if not all ten, of the novel-length works I started as early as 2007. My Muse had other plans. Meet Maya (Yaya) Kumar, teen witch extraordinaire, and her crime-fighting cohorts, Frankie Ortiz and Penny Blackburn. Also Frankie's older brother Ricardo, who may or may not become a problem for the witch trio. Because what I need is another work in progress.  Cheers, Michelle |
| I asked ChatGPT to rewrite the book of Genesis in Gen Z. Here's what it came up with. Genesis, Gen Z edition (abridged): --- Genesis 1 – 2: The Vibe Check God: “Let there be light.” Boom. Light mode unlocked. Separates sky from water, land from sea, day from night. Basically organizes the whole place like a Minecraft world. Plants, animals, stars — all spawning in. Finally makes humans, Adam & Eve, gives them admin rights. --- Genesis 3: The First L Snake slides in like: “Yo Eve, wanna taste that forbidden fruit?” Eve: “Bet.” Adam: “Aight, me too.” God finds out: “Y’all really ate my one rule? Out of the garden. No WiFi for you.” Humanity = nerfed. --- Genesis 4: Family Drama Cain & Abel, Adam and Eve’s kids. Abel’s offering = valid. Cain’s = mid. Cain gets salty, cancels Abel permanently. God: “Where’s your bro?” Cain: “Idk, not my problem.” God: “It is tho. Now you’re cursed. Enjoy exile.” --- Genesis 6 – 9: Noah’s Ark: Survival Mode Earth = toxic community, full of griefers. God hits reset, but saves Noah & fam. Noah: “Say less.” Builds giant boat. Animals 2 by 2, vibes cramped. Flood wipes everything. Rainbow = God’s promise patch note: “No more world wipes.” --- Genesis 11: Tower of Babel Everyone: “Let’s build a clout tower to heaven.” God: “Nah, too OP.” Mixes up their languages. Suddenly nobody can squad up. --- Genesis 12 – 25: Abraham Arc God: “Abraham, I’ll make you the OG influencer of nations.” Abraham: “Bet.” Adventures, promises, and awkward lies about his wife being his “sister.” God finally gives him a kid (Isaac) even though he’s 100. God tests him: “Sacrifice Isaac.” Abraham: “Uh… okay?” God: “Chill, just testing. Keep your kid.” --- Genesis 27 – 36: Jacob the Trickster Jacob scams his bro Esau out of blessings & birthright = ultimate sibling beef. Dreams of a ladder with angels like some trippy TikTok filter. Marries Rachel & Leah (family drama maxed out). Has 12 sons — squad becomes the future tribes of Israel. --- Genesis 37 – 50: Joseph the Glow-Up Joseph = dad’s fave, gets drip coat. Bros: “We’re over this favoritism.” Sell him to traders. Joseph ends up in Egypt, goes from jail to prime minister because he can read dreams like spoilers. Famine hits, bros come begging for food. Joseph: “Plot twist, I’m your bro.” Whole family moves to Egypt. Season finale. --- That’s Genesis in Gen Z: memes, drama, betrayal, survival, redemption — basically an ancient Netflix series. |
| I dreamed that my husband's sister, Kathy, who passed away last year, sent him a postcard from Heaven. I sat across from him as he read it, so the words were upside down, and I couldn't make everything out. But I did gather that she was excited to tell him that she'd been promoted to the next level of angel, which gave her the authority to grant blessings to the levels above her. She also said that she could confirm that God keeps his promises. (Dream inspired by the current political climate in the US? Probably. )So this gave me an idea for a novel about an angel who gets promoted. At the time it felt like a great idea, but I was half asleep, and we all know how great half-asleep story ideas are once we're awake. That was when I started thinking about the major flaw in that idea, which is that, according to Christianity, Heaven is perfect. And why is this a problem? Because we all know the fundamental foundation of a good story is conflict. If there are no problems in heaven, there's no conflict. Therefore, no story. And that got me thinking about Heaven in general, and my beliefs as a Christian. I'm a scientist, and I don't always believe in the Christian story of Jesus' death and resurrection. Think about how much journalists get wrong today, despite all of the varied technologies and communication tools available to them. Sometimes they even quote each other in stories that end up being wrong once new evidence comes to light. Isn't there a possibility that the Gospels got it wrong, even though they corroborate each other? Maybe. I once had a very wise Pastor explain it this way: either Jesus rose from the dead, or it was the greatest documented hoax in history. I have similar back and forth opinions about Heaven and Hell. Maybe they exist exactly as outlined in the Bible - Heaven is paradise, while Hell is eternal torment. Or maybe that's just what they want you to think in Heaven. Kind of like how the Republicans think that the Democratic ideal sounds like Hell and vice versa, whereas their own ideals would be paradise. And then there's the third alternative: that neither Heaven nor Hell exist at all. Even if they do exist, the idea of Heaven itself makes me question it. I've been to "paradise" - the Earthly version - in the form of all-inclusive Caribbean resorts. While paradise is relaxing, I do find myself starting to get bored at the end of the week. Could I handle that for all eternity? Or maybe the Earthly concept of Heaven might be something like being retired and wealthy, but still in good enough health to do those things we've always put off but wanted to do, like traveling, crafts, or home improvement. But if Heaven is perfect, what is there to improve? And even if I could travel or do crafts for eternity, I feel like they would start to get less fun eventually. I'm a problem solver. I love to solve problems. In fact, we humans are fundamentally built to solve problems, which is why we have such advanced brains compared to most other species with whom we cohabitate this planet, and even they were built to solve less complex problems. Our problem-solving ability is why all we species have survived so long here on Earth. It's also why video games are so popular. Can you imagine a video game with no conflict, no challenge? What kind of afterlife would it be if we never were challenged? It all just sounds incredibly boring. I realize that all of this seems ambivalent for someone who claims to be Christian. But here's the way I see it: whether Jesus rose from the dead or not, and whether Heaven exists and is paradise or not, I choose to follow Jesus. If the teachings of Christianity are true, I'm confident that I'll land in Heaven despite John 3:16 dictating that i have to "believe" to gain access. I have a hard time believing that God would judge me for my doubts, which are beyond my control, and which arise from the analytical brain he gave me, when I'm living my life according to his dictates to the best of my ability. And if there is no Heaven, following the teachings of Jesus improves my life while I'm living. Being nice and caring for others provides me with happiness, the security of a strong community of friends, and less stress overall. You know how they say forgiveness is for you, not the person you're forgiving? It's like that, where the person you're forgiving is literally every jerk who ever cut you off in traffic and every deadbeat who took advantage of the welfare system* to rip you off of your hard-earned tax dollars, not to mention the love ones who betrayed you. So in conclusion (ha!) I'm not sure my Heaven story idea is gonna work. Unless my fictional Heaven incorporates some imperfections. And I learn to control my scope-creeping, off-topic ramblings. #pardonanyerrors #3AMmusings *by "the welfare system", I mean the collective social programs paid for by my federal, start and local tax dollars. I realize that there's no actual program called "welfare". |
| As as musician, one of my biggest struggles due to Parkinson's Disease is the ability to play or sing quickly - aka, vocal or instrumental agility. After tremor, this was one of the earliest symptoms I noticed: I could no longer strum fast-paced rhythm guitar patterns at full tempo for more than a couple measures before my battery ran out. The summer of 2021, I helped lead outdoor worship in the wake of COVID, and on a few occasions, my guitar was the only instrument. I recall trying to strum a quick rhythm guitar pattern on an up-tempo song I've played for years and giving Aaron, the music director, an exasperated look before dropping the rhythm to a half-tempo pattern. Levodopa has restored much of the mobility PD stole, but musical agility is still holding out on me. Don't get me wrong; I'm grateful for the medication. I can practice any instrument at slower tempos for hours and make good progress. Since all songs, even (especially) quick-paced pieces, should be practiced slowly before gradually speeding up, I've been able to practice a lot in the last year and a half since diagnosis and treatment, and that's encouraging. My soul is getting fed again by the music I love so much, and I'll take it. But at some point, I need to kick things up a notch if I want to regain the agility to play fast. So a few days ago, Sunday evening, I tried speeding up a few short Bergmüller pieces to allegro. I played for maybe ten or twenty minutes, then crashed. I couldn't do anything. I hopped on the exercise bike because that often helps - apparently, it triggers dopamine production - but I could NOT rotate my feet faster than they wanted to rotate, period. So I just sat there biking at a super slow speed for an hour in front of the TV until bedtime. At the time, I thought maybe I was experiencing a bad off episode due to my weekend getaway trip with the girls, or the time change, or both. But Monday morning I tried again, and that was worse. I lasted maybe five minutes. So, probably not the road trip. I just have a time limit on agile playing. Note to self: musical agility requires more dopamine. Yesterday was Tuesday, and I'm a glutton for punishment, so I gave it another go, and this time, I documented the whole session by video. My phone camera kept timing out, so I started and stopped before and after each run of an individual piece or passage. And that's how I happened to catch on video the exact moment my battery ran out. After the bradykinesia kicked in, I took a brief, difficult shower, then I lay down on the bed with the doggies and read clickbait articles on my phone until I could move again at 1:30ish. Timeline: 8:00 am - morning Levodopa* 10:00ish am - 60 min on stationary bike 11:30 am - late morning Levodopa* 11:33 am - started practicing piano 12:08 pm - video 1 of 2 (the bottom one below) 12:11 pm - video 2 of 2 (the top one below) *carbidopa/levodopa 25/100 x 2 both times For comparison, I played it like this three minutes earlier: |
| 2021 was a difficult year. It was the year before my Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and Parkinson's Disease (PD) were properly diagnosed and treated. I lost 75 pounds without trying and spent most of the year bingeing on Netflix shows. I couldn't even play games. I just stared at the TV. All. Year. Don't get me wrong; I got shit done that needed to be done, but it was the bare minimum. That's the year I lost my voice. I lost the other instruments, too: piano, guitar, violin, drums. But I could still play slow songs, and piano was decent since the PD only affected my right side at first. My left hand picked up the burden. But I couldn't sing. I have a great support network, so I didn't wallow in depression. But now that I'm medicated for both diseases and have regained maybe 90% of the mobility I lost in '21, I'm working hard to get all the instruments back, including my beloved voice, which I didn't realize was such a dear friend. Frankly, I'm pissed at PD for taking it away from me. Quick side note: the doctors and all the literature blame the PD, and it's well established that PD impacts the voice. But it was the T1D that stole my energy: my cells weren't getting any fuel. That surely contributed to barely using my voice for a year. Either way, the ENT shoved a camera up my nose and proclaimed: vocal fold atrophy. So I saw a speech therapist for about six weeks, and I've been working hard to get my voice back. It's so slow going that I decided to document the journey, maybe just to convince myself the progress is worth it. I took some earlier videos, but I need to dig through them to build the history. For now, this was yesterday: Oct. 26, 2023. For any Preppers concerned that I threw in the towel on my own prep, this is one of the things I'm prioritizing over creating a new novel project I don't currently have time to write. My music, my school, and my family are much more important. Musically, Michelle |
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