Musing on Words.

[misslj_author]

I am a writing machine!

Okay, not really. However, I completed NanoWriMo this year, coming in at 50629 words. I managed to finish a story for submission to a Valentine's Day themed anthology due by the 8th January 2011, which is called Life And Nothing But.

Currently, I'm working on a story for submission to the Dreamspinner First Time anthology, called City of Gold. I'm finding this is difficult to write when it logically should not be. It's set in the early twelfth century in Constantinople, during one of the short periods of peace of the Byzantine Empire. I know the history and the material, what I didn't know or wasn't entirely sure about, I've researched. (I've also found myself embroiled in a debate about semantics between medieval Latin, medieval Greek and medieval Russian, which, while fascinating, wasn't really what I was searching for at the time!) I've dug into information about the Silk Road and trading with the Byzantine Empire in 1130, when my story is set, I like my two protagonists, I know what the conflict is going to be (laws of the time were very strict regarding homosexuality in Byzantium, but that wasn't the case in other parts of the world), and I'm excited to have this wonderful history backdrop in which to set my story.

Yet it's proving extremely difficult. I don't know why, but I don't like it. I just want to be able to write it, but my inner history pedant keeps getting distracted. Which isn't a problem per se, because I do love a good afternoon of link hopping. I don't know. I have writer's nerves, I think. I need to step away for the afternoon and not think about it, I think.

At least the Valentine's story is with my lovely proof-reader/editor of awesome, so that's one good thing. Tomorrow - or tonight - I'll get back into my historical m/m.

Comments

[strangemuses.livejournal.com]

What is your story and how is it different from the 'conflict' you mentioned? Or is the conflict the story?

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

The conflict is part of the story - the laws of Byzantium at that time were pretty harsh regarding homosexual relationships and this is going to be a sort of clandestine/secret romance theme between a soldier who guards the walls of Constantinople and checks merchant trains for contraband when they come to the city and a member of a trading train who's from Gyeongju, where taboos about sexuality aren't so common or strict.

[rian219.livejournal.com]

It might be that you're letting the historical aspect of the story overshadow the relationship aspect of the story, when it should be the other way around if the story is to be about their first time.

We've talked hairy plot stuff out before. If you want to do that again I can probably make time for a call on Saturday. Not before then though, not this week.

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I need to edit things a bit. I got to 3280 today, which is good progress and then there was a power out, which was annoying. I'm finding their interactions easy to write but trying not to pile on too much historical info more than necessary to describe the location/clothes/etc is a challenge!