Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Writing

In search of inspiration

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Some days are more inspiring than others. I find myself sitting at my computer with several tasks to do.

  • write monthly blog post
  • post to Facebook, reply, repost, respond
  • get lost on Twitter, reply, retweet, comment, post
  • write 1,000 to 3,000 words to current book
  • review edit back from the editor
  • redraft book back from beta readers
  • outline: next book in current series, new series, previous series, new idea
  • approve cover layout/changes, final
  • come up with idea for a cover (I once told my cover artist I had no ideas for the cover I was booking with her, and ten minutes later, I emailed her and said, “I have the whole series’ covers figured out.”)
  • create ads
  • write monthly newsletter

It’s a never ending search for inspiration that is worth writing and (please God make it so) worth reading. I look at every action in the course of the day as a possible relevant topic

A dog with slippage is not a happy dog.
  • trim the dogs foot hair (otherwise she is constantly fighting slippage on the wood and linoleum floors)
  • trim dogs toenails
  • sort mail
  • clean kitchen
  • fold clothes
  • be a passenger in the car
  • shower
  • dry hair
  • put on makeup
  • treadmill, free weights, stair steps, walk

I rarely get a zone-out moment to myself. Sometimes my brain demands I cease all efforts to create. So I grade homework, essays, etc. It really doesn’t replenish the creative stores. Actual time to just vegetate does not exist in my world.

Wisteria, right?

What would I do if I could?

  • sit on a porch and listen to the rain fall
  • walk up and down the pathway in our backyard along the carport and admire the wisteria blooming
  • cloud staring (I wouldn’t even look for shapes, just stare.)
  • put on nail polish and take my sweet perfectionist time at it
  • learn how to whistle
  • learn how to play my ocarina
  • learn how to tie all sorts of knots
  • make that t-shirt quilt (my husband then would stop asking what I’m planning for that stack of clothes building up in our daughter’s abandoned bedroom.)
  • sand my face with my micro-abrasion tool
  • dust the entire house
  • try different eye makeup styles (there are tenth graders whose eye-shadow looks ten times better than mine. I’ve been asked if I even wear makeup.)
  • read all the writing-related books I have
  • read more fiction
  • complain (I don’t even have time to complain. Big moment here. I think I just complained. I need more practice. I’m not sure that’s an actual valid complaint.)
  • vacuum the entire house, even the walls and ceiling. (You know when you have a baby, and someone gives you the plaque that says its okay not to clean the dishes, dust, fold clothes, etc., because you have a baby. Authors just plug writing into the baby slot — have a book to write.)

Back to inspiration.

I’m big on questioning. Whatever the “mindless” activity I’m involved in, questioning has always been my go-to “slide into what to write next” approach. I just keep asking questions until the character or narrator or my “planning” brain starts answering.

You’ve caught yourself doing it, I’m sure.

A question comes to mind because someone said something, others answered, and you didn’t get your chance. So you self-question. “When did you graduate high school? Have you ever broken a bone? Where did you meet your spouse/special someone? If you could be any age, what would it be?

And there you are telling your story even if nobody is listening. The only difference for me is I’m listening and at some point, I say, “Hold that thought,” and sit down at the computer and write.

Recursive layering as I write ~ my 3 steps

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Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
When I write, it is the voice of the character that comes
first. I hear the dialogue, and it generates setting, conflict and motivation
for me. So when I write, dialogue is first. Sure, there will be tags and
description that comes with it, but it is minimalistic. 
After a run of dialogue, I will head back over the scene and
start layering characterization, reaction and action. I return again to
consider setting. And then again, I return to add sensory details, behaviorisms
and determine what backstory contributed to how the scene went, how it will
affect future plot issues and did any subconscious writing take place that dug
into the story deeper (which is always a hallelujah moment). Sometimes a
character will say something or do something, and I’ll just sit there and
think, whoa, that explains a lot or that is going to be a bugger to get over.
For example, in At Any
Given Time (Students of Jump, a standalone CES novel), Samantha worries about how she’ll react to the sight of blood, hers or someone else’s. She knows it makes her nauseous and dizzy, a complication that worries her. This is not a major issue
for a time traveler under normal conditions, and she has lots of time jumping
experience. But this time with an injured search and retrieval jumper, it turns
out to be a real issue she has to manage through. That’s not the main conflict,
but it sure added dimension to an already bad situation for Sam. The fact that
she is fully aware of her problem with blood and is self-reflective and
determined to get the situation rectified provides humor and stress to the
story that the little aspect of character helped to create.
I suppose it sounds rather clinical to
say I tuck in more details later, but it is not like that at all. The initial run of
dialogue flows out as if I’m eavesdropping from behind something and can’t see
or hear anything but what they are saying. It sets the stage for the whole
scene. The layering is another me standing there in the room, cave, whatever the
setting is and looking around, smelling, touching things, asking the character
questions and really just being a peeping Tom for my reader (and me, too).
Every writer has their own process. This is mine most of the time. Some writers edit like mad as they go and other writers don’t go back over their work until the complete draft is done. And there are numerous variations in between. If you’re a writer, what do you do? If not, have you thought about how writers build their stories? 
#writing
#character
#dialogue
#layering

Stop, drop and research – sometimes you need the answer right now!

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Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

In March, I started a new series. It’s not really a series
as each novel can standalone, but they are all set in the same world of the Solstice
Dragon. What they have in common is setting, and there is a solstice dragon
that is key to each book.
As I’ve been writing them, I’ve had to stop now and then to
research. Sometimes the research has required an hour or more of reading and
notetaking, such as when I was researching castle building. Other times, I’m
searching for a word or term appropriate to the time or I need to know if a
certain item or clothing would have been used in the 1700s which is the time
period these books are loosely set in, largely just for reference as the world
of solstice dragons is a creation not an actual place on known Earth.
So what have been these little items that take a minute or
two of sleuthing about the internet? That is what this post is about. Just this
week, I have tracked down the following words.

  • What are the three walls that make up the back
    of a fireplace that keeps the heat from damaging the building called? Firebox.

    Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
  • Parts of a horse – namely the withers: the high
    point between the shoulder blades of a horse
  • A particular roof style that has roofing angled
    on all four sides versus say an A-frame: that’s a hip roof.

  • What is the difference between trousers, pants
    and breeches? Trousers go to the ankle whereas breeches stop at the knee and
    are often tied about the waist to keep them up. Pants? Apparently, those
    reference panties in the time period I’m working with. Definitely don’t need to
    mention the lady’s undergarments at inappropriate times.

  • Grains – these took a little more time as I was
    looking into identifying both a grain as well as having a picture to aid
    in describing it properly.
  • A picture of a stove. There’s a kitchen, so, of
    course, I needed to get a good impression of what a stove of the Solstice Dragon
    World would likely look like and how it should operate.

    Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

That’s all folks. Do you stop and search for scraps of
knowledge when you realize you’re missing some information? What did you
search for this week that you thought was pretty interesting?
#words
#writing
#fantasy

A Stab at a Self-interview: Question 12 ~ collaboration

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Mirror Image ~ writing. Modified from a 

Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash

Would you consider collaborating with another writer?

I would have to know them very well and feel that we had similar writing styles and a united focus on the plot and characters. Of course, after saying that, I must admit I have been talking to two people about collaborating.

My husband and I have a couple of ideas we would like to turn into a series of books. Though we have never worked on a creative endeavor of this sort together before, lately I have been finding him very easy to brainstorm with. He has often over the years offered ideas that I have found intriguing and inspiring. Usually I write notes down about what he came up with and look forward to when I can work them into my writing schedule. Some have turned into short stories, but at this time none are published.

After I finish editing Standing Stone 3 and drafting Students of Jump 5, I hope to begin working on a novel he and I recently brainstormed together. And we have a second planned out as well. At this point, I will probably be the one writing while he contributes to the process in brainstorm sessions. But we may migrate into actually writing a novel in tandem or in pieces together in the future.

Another individual I am in discussion about collaborating is my daughter. We both are very busy, creative types so we are trying to figure out how we can make this work. Recently, we chatted via Skype so we could brainstorm the organization of an idea we have in mind. We have already determined which parts will be mine to write and which are hers. The unusual structure of the piece makes it possible for us to write separately, share and adjust what we’ve written. Also the idea we have is more non-fiction than fiction, most definitely not science fiction or fantasy. A contemporary work based on personal experience ~ fictionalized true to life, perhaps is a good description. LOL, without actually describing it.

As for writing with an author I am not related to, that has not come up yet. I’m not against the idea; I just have not had any reason to consider it.

#collaboration
#writing
#interview

A Stab at a Self-interview: Question 10 ~ Newsletter news

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Buttons

What have you been doing that’s writing related but not actually writing one of your books?

I’m glad you asked because I have taken the plunge and am busy putting together a newsletter subscriber system.

I’m a newbie at this particular process, so I am learning as I go. My plans include having a subscribe button on my blog, nothing overly demanding, just an option for my readers who visit my blog and read my books. Of course, anybody who accidentally drops by and would like to subscribe will be welcomed as well.

What’s going to be in the newsletter?

  • Upcoming books in my series
    • Standing Stone (fantasy magic)
    • Students of Jump (time-travel scifi) 
  • Upcoming sales for my books
  • Publication of those new books
  • New series plans and publications
  • A tidbit about me and my activities in my non-writing life

I also intend to add the option to subscribe in my books, and if I’m feeling particularly adventurous, I will figure out how to add the option to my Facebook page. I hope I can type with crossed fingers.

You can assume I’ll also be writing these newsletters soon. Just not today. And I will not be sending them out more often than once a month as I pretty much give family, work and novel writing priority in my life. Lately, my dogs have been nabbing most of my free time (but we’ll save discussion of that for another interview day, or maybe a newsletter ;)) Blogging and newsletters will run second on the must-do-soon list. But they will occur, just not more often than monthly.

And that is what I am doing writing-related but not actually writing.

#writing
#newsletter

A Stab at a Self-interview: Question 9 ~ Social media and me

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Do you spend a lot of time on social media?

Hmm. Not like I used to. In the past I gave a lot of time to Twitter and Google+ (made a lovely friend and joined a wonderful group). I have an account with Pinterest and Goodreads as well, but I visit rarely. I’ve since narrowed my activity to Facebook and keeping up this blog. I just can’t be split all over the place keeping an internet presence, writing and publishing, and working the day job.

Even my efforts at keeping those two sites up are cranked down quite a bit. I visit Facebook once a day and read the two groups I like, post a comment or two and maybe visit my books page and make a post there. As for this blog, I am trying to post once a week on Saturdays. Even so, I’ve missed a few days here and there.

But my writing is a daily effort. I am working on the third book in the Standing Stone fantasy series and am meeting the goals I set for myself to ensure a publication in September. When I’m not writing and putting in my brief social media visits, then I’m spending time with my husband and learning to play a musical instrument.

I posted awhile back about keeping the mind sharp. One of the points I made is how much learning to play an instrument it related to maintaining memory. So I’ve taken the plunge and I’m learning to play the twelve hole ocarina. I won’t be posting any songs online anytime in the near, and probably distant, future. I am about as novice a musician as they come. I am learning about notes and rests and treble clef, etc. It’s another language to say the least.

So no time for a big social media presence. But I do have author pages at Smashwords and on Amazon for those interested in knowing me better than just what I post here.

I am working up the courage to start a newsletter. It was one of my summer goals. Summer is not over yet, but I won’t promise anything. I’ll have to learn how to create an email base, a newsletter, setup signup pages and add them to my books as well as this site. But it will have to wait for the completed draft of book 3 and the weeks it will be with my beta readers when I can take a short writing break.

#socialmedia
#memory