A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a new writing experiment of mine, The Curtain. I’m not going to reiterate everything about it here, not when there’s a perfectly good blog entry about it that you’re welcome to read, but I think I’ve decided to debut the first few scenes in this experiment during the week of Halloween, then continue to roll them out at a rate of two or three a week afterwards. This will give me time to bank several scenes before I start, and in fact, I’ve been working on that for a few weeks now.
As I work on it, though, I’ve learned a few interesting things.
- As a writer, bouncing between characters can actually be a lot of fun.
- The “notes” function on my iPod is invaluable, as I keep coming up with characters (both heroes and monsters) that would be fun to throw into this world and I don’t know exactly when or how I’ll introduce them yet. A quick sentence or two is enough to bank the idea until I decide what to do with it.
- Ideas I had long ago, as it turns out, weren’t “lost” at all — they were just waiting around in the back of the subconscious until I found a home for them.
- World-building is fun for me. I just hope that when people read the stories, they’ll be able to piece the world together.
- TV Tropes is your friend. Seriously. Whether you’re trying to avoid a pitfall or just trolling for ideas, TV Tropes is your friend.
Evertime Realms 
Two questions for you:
1. You really take notes on your iPod? Not your iPad? Or iPhone? Isn’t that tedious?
2. You’re going to kill me with following the awesome audio-cast of Other People’s Heroes AND The Curtain? I’m going to have ignore my family and friends just to keep up with all the content.
(And yes, that last question was really more a statement.)
1. I don’t have (or want) an iPad OR an iPhone. My iPod does everything I need it to do. And it’s not like I’m sitting there writing out long drafts or anything — I use it just for quick notes. If it’s more than sentence, it’s time to break out the actual paper notebook.
2. Yes, I’m trying to kill you. 😀 Although fear not, I’m not planning to start any other long-form audio content until after OPH is finished.