felis_ultharus

So montrealais is off in Europe for a couple of months. Even though I said goodbye to him yesterday -- and even though his mother called this morning -- I still kept turning down the sound on the computer's speaker, as if I was worried I'd wake him up.

I finished version six of my novel on Sunday, exactly on deadline. Still not perfect -- the last page continues to give me trouble, and there's moments throughout that give me trouble. But I think the change in tone was the last huge altered. Plot-wise, much less is different since last version.

I'm determined not to even look at it for a month. I've made that promise before, and failed, but I'm starting to draft something completely different. Medieval fantasy specifically. I've done so much research into the middle ages -- and how fantasy novels get the middle ages wrong -- that I might as well use it for something besides D&D games and historical research.

I'm also thoroughly addicted to Full Metal Alchemist, which has now replaced Evangelion as my all-time favourite anime. Thanks to the miracle fan-scanned translations, I have now read every issue of the manga out in Japan, and thanks to streaming video, I've seen all nine episodes for the second series out in Japan.

If anyone wants to compare the two anime series, the gory, horrific scene where the boys try (and fail) to bring their dead mother back to life is a good benchmark.

The scene in the first anime has good atmosphere, but is overplayed. The same scene in the second series (which starts seven minutes in, and includes unskippable commercials) is closer to the manga.

But it's interesting -- like comparing two different theatre companies doing Hamlet. Only with more bleeding children. And magic circles. Though it might be interesting to see a version of Hamlet where he brings Gertrude back from the dead and winds up with a cybernetic arm and leg. I'd pay to see that.

I've been editing like mad the last few weeks. I've got about twelve pages left and I've been at this first edit for ten days. The second will have to be faster. I'll likely have to boost my quota from 15 to 30 pages a day to meet my deadline of the end of the month.

I'm really proud of this version. There are tweaks here and there, but there haven't been any major structural changes in the last two versions. Once I revised the tone (paragraph-by-paragraph), it really fell into place. I think I've learnt more about the craft of writing in the last four months than in the previous ten years.

Other than that, it's been a fairly quiet week since em_fish's going-away party. When I'm not working or editing, I've been glued to the Fullmetal Alchemist manga (damn you, maidenofirisa!).

Also, I've developed a serious addiction to TV Tropes. My favourite trope name is probably "[The Law of] Conservation of Ninjutsu" -- the reason why it's easier to fight an army of ninja than just one. I also like "Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds."

My favourite page so far on TV Tropes is for The Bible, where that particular book is dissected for its clichés, tropes, and fan responses like any novel, TV show, or movie would be, all by people with a wicked sense of humour. They put all references to the crucifixion in a spoiler box -- because, after all, they don't want to spoil the end of the book.

Also I have a Dreamwidth account, which I haven't done anything with yet. Some of my LJ-friends are migrating that way, though, so I might start re-posting in both places.