Fiction vs Fact

The old adage is to write what you know. Obviously, I have never lived in a small kingdom where witchcraft and broadswords are the norm. Quite frankly, not sure I would want to. I like my computer, television, MICROWAVE, COFFEE POT, etc. etc.

But the fantasy genre is about so much more. You have to peel back the layers, magic included, and a lot of people don’t get that. That’s ok. They don’t have to “get” my writing. Just like I don’t “get” Dickens. It’s ok.

But is it ok to take something obscenely personal and splash it across the page? I normally don’t have a problem with this issue. If there’s something that I feel is too personal, I keep it that way. But when it comes to Ray, a lot of times I’ve written about the struggles. The joy too, but the struggles are out there in the open.

So. I was writing that scene the other day (the one where the potential villain became an ally and is going to require the entire beginning of the book? Yah. That one). SO the argument that roils around them, that has such power, is about her son. It doesn’t take a genius, here folks.

So. Do I go ahead and write the story that is exploding across the page? Personally, I don’t find the heroine’s views towards her son as anything other than normal: fiercely protective, loving, lioness… That the son is seen as something other than normal is by *other* people, not her. To her, he is the precious jewel to be protected against theives in the night.

Obviously, there are differences. There has to be, given the settings that I’ve chosen. And the story isn’t really about him: it’s about her struggle to first get him somewhere where he will be accepted, then to accept what fate has dealt not only for him but for herself. 

Wow. Yah, there could not possibly be anything of truth in that. Anything that I might know first hand.

So. Is it fact dressed up as fiction? Or is it fiction? Does it matter? If the power of the words is there… And not written in a manner that is meant to harm, but to work it out across the page…

Does it matter if it is fact or fiction?

Plotting it out

Through editing, and writing new words, I’m probably just about 2,500 – 3,000  words into the new story. I’m really enjoying writing it, even if last night I discovered to my chagrin that my bad guy is not a bad guy at all and may possibly even be one of the heroine’s greatest allies. SIGH.

My characters up and do this all the time. They don’t want to be purely good, or evil. It’s just a horrible situation made worse by the involvement of a child in it, and people are going to play the roles they are going to play.  Which is going to make it interesting…

THere will be no one villain to this story.

Don’t get me wrong, there will be bad guys, people who should be smacked down with a braodsword (btw- I write fantasy LOL).  But the main driving force of the WHOLE novel isn’t them. THey only factor into Part 1, not parts 2-4.

The rest is going to be pushed through by situation. By a mother’s feirce love for a child who isn’t quite where he should be… Well, you’ve read the blog. If not, go forth and explore. It’s something that I’m familiar with, and it is enough, more than enough, to sustain a story.

So. Old Lord Orlando is going to end up being a Stand Up kind of guy. I can deal with that. I think it will make the story even better, too. Even if I do have to scrap those words.

Because at least now I have a great lead in and know where I’m going.

YAY!

Bakugan’s– a learning tool

One of Ray’s newest obsessions is the little bakugans. They are small little balls that when popped on their card (magnetic, I think), pop open transformer-esque. He has 3 of them currently, and loves them. He will not allow us to play with them– the child who will normally share whatever he has, no matter how well loved the item, has grown selfish.

YAY!

(He’s acting like a normal 3 1/2 year old here, excuse me while I wipe a tear from my eye.)

But there’s something more, too. These little toys need someone who will fiddle with them, and employ fine motor skills. Which, if you remember, motor skills is the place where Ray has the slight problem. The Dyspraxia affects both fine and gross motor skills. So here he is, gaining dexterity, expanding his brain power as he figures out how to put them back together….

Oh, and the imaginative play is active, too.

Bakugan’s rock for Ray. In more ways than one. 

YAY Bakugan!