Struggling with Story - Grateful for Recovery and School

I've been writing a story for my classes this semester, which is "genie in a box" style, and have a good start with 25 pages for the screenplay, and nearly 38 pages for the manuscript. However, the point of view is skewed. I thought my "heroine" was a certain person, but she's so weak, so meek and so stupid, I just can't go there. The other woman in the story is also not the heroine, since she's pure evil. I've decided to write the story from the chauffeur's point of view. He's a relatively present character, and I think I can turn his character arc into something that works.

What a tangle! I'm still converting the screenplay into a manuscript. When it's done, I'll go back and do the POV to pull the story together. It's a "whodunit" as well as "genie in the box" so it can be an entertaining read - if I ever figure out the thief! Yep, even I don't know whodunit...

At least not yet. I have suspicions, but it will all come to light at the end one way or the other. Considering this is the first full story I've written in a long time, it's kind of fun to see how it all develops.

I'm a much better writer for these classes this semester. I'm thankful I took them, even though they don't really count toward anything in my degree. I've learned something from every class I ever took - even the ones I didn't need for the degree I was pursuing. I think education is valuable for it's own sake. The more you learn, the better you can relate to your world - even if the class doesn't seem to relate - you will learn something.

For instance, I've learned a lot about myself and my history during this semester. Stuff started "gelling" about my history and I found words to describe things that I experienced that had no words before. I realize what happened and why I got embroiled in them. As a result, I've found forgiveness for my foibles, strength of character, and respect for myself that I didn't have before. That just can't be a bad thing!

I also found more forgiveness for those around me.

I guess this is all a part of maturing toward 60, but somehow, with my history, I don't think I'll ever feel 60. It's amazing I made it past 13!

Meanwhile, my home group continues to struggle with Tradition 2 - and what the oldtimers mean and how things should be run. It's a grueling and scary process for us. The tolerance levels are higher since the group conscience, but I find myself more pissed off than ever. I write about it nearly every day. I got myself on the "committee" for change and evaluation. All of us want a good strong home group, all of us respect the traditions and expect change - even when it's scary. All of us have over 20 years. I think I might have the least sobriety (at 20+ years) on the committee, and I've been in the group the least amount of time. The other members, Jim, Cindy, Mike and Doug, are all folks I respect a lot. Jim, Mike and I are the most widely traveled, and Jim beats us all by thousands of miles!

So, knowing that life changes, that my character arc is building into something that makes sense, and coming to the end of another semester, it's all playing out in my life.

Summer classes are two web-based classes - one a psychology, the other history. The psych is the last of the writing for a while, and the history is the last of the core requirements for Tennessee. Starting August, the Women's Studies courses begin, and I have decisions to make - whether to pursue the Appalachian side of things, literature, or history. I'm so drawn to history, but the literature is also important. I think you have to have both to truly understand what's happened to women in history. To put together the story of women.

I want to teach this stuff, so a blending would be really nice.

Future Dreaming

I've always wanted to write Science Fiction. Maybe that sounds a little strange, but it's true. I guess the first time I read "Stranger From a Strange Land" I got hooked on sci-fi.

I was told early on, that if I wrote sci-fi, I would never be taken seriously as a writer - as a way to deter me from genre fiction. I guess that person thought the "Great American Novel" was the way to go. But you know, people who write the GAN never make a penny. I want the cash and the fans.

Later, I tried my hand at writing a fictional story, but the lead character took off with the story and wouldn't give it back. Only other writers will know what I mean. I need to learn character development a little better, I guess.

There are only so many plots to fiction. Something in the 200-area, I'm not sure how many exactly. There are colorations, minor plots, major plots, under plots, plots that turn back on themselves, and many manipulations of these plots... But there are only so many original plots, so many Universal Stories.

I picked a couple of these as a fan, until I got tired of them. You know, you read the same story over and over again, and you need something new. I read Robert Ludlum's books until I could just about tell the story for him. Robert Jordan and David Eddings use the same universal plot.

So, I know a little about writing, because I read a lot. And now, life has changed for me once again. The God of my limited understanding has moved me to a new place and time, and given me the opportunity to write stories of my own.

I'm in school. To keep the grants and not have to pay them back, I need to finish the semester, and get at least a "C" in all my classes. So, I plan to do that. Come next semester, I plan on taking my first serious writing class.

Hang the degrees I've been pursuing! I have a new plan. English major? I'm not planning on it. More like the "Interdepartmental Studies" degree that lets you pick the courses and concentration. I need anthropology, biology, chemistry, more sociology, and LOTS of writing classes. I need classes in character development (psychology for writers?), some cultural understanding and maybe more history. I've got some plot structure books coming from Amazon, so that I can actually get started.

Back in 1993, I got this hairbrained idea about Goddess Archetypes, and used them in some work I submitted for school. Then, I did some historical and archeological research (in papers, not the actual dirt) and got some facts laid out about early civilizations. Then, I took some words used in everyday speech and looked into their origin. I studied Latin, Greek, and Sumarian - all on my own. I studied global mythology using Joseph Campbell's works, since all myths and legends have some grains of truth in them. The Bible is another great source for myths and legends!

So, this is a labor of love, and has taken me many years. I have all the results of my research on a disk, one that my current computers can read. I plan to take all this research and use bits and pieces in several stories. Maybe even a multi-generational epic. We'll see what comes out.

So, if I don't post about writing again, it's because I'm busy doing it.

School Starts Today...

I start summer classes today. Printed out for my online class, and checked for the in-class one, but not even a syllabus! Oh well, it will all get sorted later today....

See ya!

Agism vs Experience

I'm taking a management class at the local junior college. There is a group of young men - probably all in their 20's who snicker when I open my mouth to discuss, ask questions or contribute to the class.

I've owned (still own some) businesses, worked in many fields, lived in many parts of the country - I'm double most of their ages! They could all be my sons, and possibly even my grandsons, if they are young enough.

It gripes me that youth can't learn from experience. They look at my gray hair, overweight body and wrinkles, and think I have nothing in my past. Just because they have no past, doesn't mean I have no past. In my youth, I was cute, skinny, and very active in life. I was busy making mistakes, failing, and trying again.

There's a lady in the class who's either been in an accident or had a stroke or something. Part of her body doesn't work. She's intelligent and interesting. She's a winner. She didn't roll over and die just because she has a disability. I admire her a lot. These boys - I'm sure that eventually they will have a thought worth thinking, and a dream worth pursuing.

But you know, how many of them have a side business that pays them almost $200/mo without doing anything? It's not a lot, but it's something. It makes more if I pay attention to it and answer e-mails. I have earned over $500/mo from it, when I was paying attention to it. And yeah, it can all go away in a flash.

It just makes me wonder. Was I like that in my 20's? I'd like to think that I honored older people a little better. Gert, Helen, Veronica - the women who passed through my life when I was that age. All gone now, but they each had something to teach me. My mom had lessons to teach me, too. I had a harder time with her lessons, but I'm thinking about some of them lately.

I hope these young folks I'm meeting today will see wisdom, not just failure or strength, in me.