September 16, 2003
While watching "The West Wing"
Toby is watching Sam write
"Sam, you're going to come to a verb soon, right?"
"You know what this is called?"
"Bad writing?"
"Imagery."
You knew I had to do this sooner or later...
With the luxury of my MP3 jukebox, I've been able to collect my MP3s and many of my CDs into one little portable device. I think it's one of the greatest things ever invented. I can't tell you how intoxicating it is to have over 1,000 songs at my fingertips. (And believe it or not, most of those are obtained legally!) However, this large of a collection requires playlists. I always end up with at least one playlist for whatever I'm working on. So far for The Exile's Daughter I have four, for different moods and characters. I thought I'd share a few selections from the two character-based playlists, as well as snippets of lyrics that are usually the reason I picked that song for them.
"Defender of the Child" -- Heather Alexander: "Fresh drawn blood upon your cheek / Confrontation's all you seek / Passion round and hatred wild / Defender of the child..."
"Going Under" -- Evanescence: "Don't want your hand this time, I'll save myself."
"I Stand Alone" -- Godsmack: "Now I've told you this once before / You can't control me / If you try to take me down you're gonna break..."
"Drive" -- Incubus: "Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear."
"March of Cambreadth" -- Heather Alexander: "How many of them can we make die?"
"Harder to Breathe" -- Maroon 5: " When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love / You'll understand what I mean when I say / There's no way we're gonna give up..."
"Know Your Enemy" -- Rage Against the Machine: "'Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system / I was born to rage against 'em / Now action must be taken / We don't need the key / We'll break in..."
"We Are the Ones" -- Sweet Honey In The Rock: "We are the ones we've been waiting for."
"Jack the Giant Killer" -- The Nields: "Do you see me, / I'll knock you down / I'll break your crown / Yesterday I was afraid but that's over, / yeah that's over. / Cause I'm Jack, the giant killer..."
"Falling Free" -- Tom Smith: "Got to find the future 'cause the present's all I see, / And I won't last without a past, I'm out here falling free."
"Steal My Kisses" -- Ben Harper: "Now I've been around you for days / But when I lean in you just turn your head away..."
"Come Down from the Tree" -- Audra McDonald: "Come down from the tree / Open your mind and trust / You know in your heart / One of these days you must..."
"Children of the Revolution" -- U2: "You won't fool the children of the revolution..."
I think it's interesting that Jack's playlist has more romantic songs on it than Alex's (who has none on hers). He also has some fairly playful songs. I think the difference is that while both characters are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore, Jack can see a life after his anger, and Alex can't. I can't wait to see how it all works itself out.
I'm disturbed about something. In
I'm disturbed about something. In trying to write The Sword in the Mound I learned that I have a strange reluctance to write sex scenes (nearly 100 pages into a supposed smutty romance novel, and only a few kisses here and there). However, on several occasions--most notably in The Host and now in The Exile's Daughter--I've written rape scenes, or scenes that were so blatantly symbolic rape that they may as well have been rape scenes.
I'm bothered by this. I know that I have a fairly healthy sexual outlook, so why can't I write about it? Am I somehow less ashamed to write about sex if its not consensual? It's almost as if I don't have a choice if I write rape, either because it's part of the story or because (since I invariably write from the victim's perspective) I'm "not in control". It's like a bizarre literary reenactment of a rape fantasy. I'm free to enjoy it as long as it's "not my fault". It's weird, and also troubling.
Or I may just be making entirely too much out of this.
Game called on account of injury
I dunno what I did, but my shoulder hurts like a son of a bitch this morning, so I'm knocking off early this morning. This afternoon I'm still planning to hit the library, we'll see if writing in a slightly different position is a little more bearable.
