what a relief to come across this...i know i am influenced and it drives me nuts.  nice to see others are as well.

the fact of the matter is that none of us lives in a vacuum and, as already mentioned, a polite nod is one thing and outright plagiarism another.

i was scribbling along and wrote something that seemed so familiar...but i couldn't put my finger on it.  co-writer read it and pointed it out, 'um, yeah...that thing we just read...they did that.' 

OH.  phooey. 

<erase, erase, erase> 

i've tried directing what happens and it just doesn't work for me.  i'll sketch up some notes or i'll talk about it...then what actually happens is something completely different.  i even had a bad dream that my beloved character stopped talking to me.  i realized that i was trying too hard to control the story, so i backed off.  after a couple of days, i couldn't get him to be quiet.

growth does not happen without overcoming one crappy thing or another.  this holds true for everyone - real or imagined.  if you never present your 'people' with obstacles, they won't grow and develop.  they'll be stagnant...and we don't want that for anyone.

bottom line is that it's ay-okay to (1) stick a figurative sword in your character's gut and (2) feel awful about it even as you continue to twist that sword and gaze with morbid fascination as the blood falls to the ground.

*chuckle*  you know...i almost ranted in mcnally's about this very topic and realized something.  i won't kill one of my people.  i'll get them close (just did, actually), but i refuse to drop the curtain on them.  they are a part of me.  it would be like cutting off my arm or something.

Fantasy. I have 2 stories going and am working on edits to another.  I can't stick too many irons in the fire or I get discombobulated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~POSITIVE VIBES~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i agree with king-nile.  get out and listen to people.  hang at a coffee shop, ride the bus, visit a hospital, go to a bar or hang at the student center of a local college. be a voyeur.  become a student of body language.

i'm sort of at the opposite end of the spectrum.  i love dialogue and i'm pompous enough to think i'm pretty fair at it.  i enjoy describing a character's posture, their facial expression, or the exasperated sighs when they become frustrated that they aren't getting their point across.

thankfully, i have a co-writer who keeps me in line with generally directing the big picture.  i love details and frequently get bogged down in the little stuff - like conversations.

i'm not good with people, either, but i've found that as i write dialogue, somehow, i've gotten better with real people.

((hugs & chocolate to richelle))

to answer the question - yep!  i've been writing.  collaborative effort with the cowriter is about six main characters - three are mine, three are hers.  we've got the c.e. on hold at the moment while we each work on 'prequels.'  she's got over 40 chapters and, so far, i have...four.  did i mention i'm editing the c.e. as well?  does that count as writing?  <hopeful grin>

my hubby ROCKS.  he is so understanding.  if anything, i abuse his good will.  we had about a month or so where i was completely ignoring my fair share of the domestic chores and he finally stepped up, politely cleared his throat and looked around before looking back at me.

communication is important.  he knows i would rather be writing and editing more than almost anything else, and he makes sure i get as much time as he and our daughters can spare.  he's so awesome.

 

Hmmm....my co-author and i seem to have an issue with verbosity.  We're at chapter 25, passing 120K words with no sign of stopping any time soon.  Lots of editing to do, but, to tell the truth, I only see the editing process adding to the count.