Tag Archive for: Demonesse

Working Through It: Motivation in Backstory

By Kimberly Jayne

The last three
months, I’ve felt like I’ve been stuck on Survivor.
I don’t know about you, but from my perspective, with the election won by the
most disagreeable guy on the island (who should have been easily voted off)—and
a death in my family—I’ve been grieving. And it’s affected my writing.

But like everything
else that tests my sanity, I’m confident this too shall pass. It’s worth noting,
though, that when the Fates point our heads in one direction, their sleights of
hand point us in another without our recognizing it until after the fact.

Case in point…
Instead of actually writing, I’ve had a lot of time to think—some of it even
deliberately. While I’m not able to boast productivity in word counts, I am
able to count lots of behind-the-scenes progress on premise, backstory,
character motivation, truths, lies, and arc.
 
In my dark fantasy, the mystery
aspect of the plot concerns where the protagonist comes from and the secret nature
of her existence, which informs the trajectory of her arc and will ultimately
make an enormous impact on her world. Shocking, actually. Some of this was
already sketched out but just vague enough to roadblock my forward momentum.

So, back to thinking,
or rather, creative hashing out. For the story engine, the “why”
aspect of the character’s motivation is the jet fuel that can turn a book into
a page-turner—or a disorganized snoozefest, if you’re always running on empty.
It’s also the kind of epic behind-the-scenes battle that writers frequently
avoid because it’s just not easy. And until writers resolve these “why”
elements, they’ll torture themselves with “how it should all go—this way,
not that way—wait, that other way, because what if…” until it’s perfect. Until
it’s perfect, procrastination is the well-spring of writer’s block.

So while I’ve been
alternately moping and becoming a better activist, my brain has been
percolating on “why” story elements that are making my book
better—far better. I didn’t realize the extent of this percolation until a
series of light-bulb moments culminated in giddy, hand-rubbing, Mr. Hyde-like
epiphanies.
 
And all it took was staring off in deep thought, scribbling notes
on napkins, texting plot fragments to myself, talking it out with my cats, and forcing
a series of writing sessions where my progress was measured by how many minutes
my butt stayed in my chair. Of course, it helps to have writing buddies who
will brainstorm and pro-and-con ideas with me.

What all this means
is that I’ve created a stronger spine on which to hang my story. I know the
truths, and I know the lies. And now I have to wield them with precision. I’m
beginning to enjoy the writing again and celebrate the return of a terrific
adventure I enjoy diving into in each day—in a place where I can ignore all the
hijinks happening on the island.

__________________________________________

Kimberly Jayne writes humor, romantic comedy, suspense, erotica, and dark fantasy. Her latest foray into a dark fantasy released in episodes is as much an adventure as the writing itself. You can check her out on Amazon. Find out more about her at ReadKimberly.

Books by Kimberly Jayne:

Take My Husband, Please: An Unconventional Romantic ComedyDemonesse: Avarus, Episode 1
Demonesse: Avarus, Episode 2
Demonesse: Avarus, Episode 3
All the Innuendo, Half the Fact: Reflections of a Fragrant Liar

 

The Four Fs of November

By Kimberly Jayne

November is my favorite color. And it’s also the combination of family,
fun, football, and the Frustration 50. Let me explain.


Family, of course, because of Thanksgiving gatherings; there’s
nothing I love more than being with my family members and feasting and fullness—usually
too-fullness. Fun because it’s my favorite season, and while the painted canopies
flicker in the sunlight and blanket the ground with fall magnificence, I can
rejoice in jeans, boots, and sweaters—what I call finery. November is also for
football. Woot! And FF for Fantasy Football, fall’s double whammy.

Finally, there’s the Frustration 50, because NaNoWriMo. If
you know what that is, I feel your shuddering from here. If not, let me fill
you in. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, and it dares us to write a
novel of 50,000 words November 1–30. That’s 1,667 words a day for 30 days, yo.

Close to half a million people are participating in
NaNoWriMo this year, and across America people are gathering in coffee shops
and online to discuss words and stories—and their frustrations at trying to
meet this demanding word count in so little time. And I’m one of them.


It’s haaaaaard! After the first week, I’m reluctant to
announce how behind I am in words and how overflowing I am in caffeine. I knew
I would be (and as the saying goes, if you think you will, you’re right!). Hey,
I have the complications of a day job that eats up 10 hours of my day,
including travel, and the foils of after-hours fatigue because of said day job,
so achieving the daily 1,667 word count precisely defines “challenge”
in the dictionary. Feeling my Frustration 50 reference now?


As of today, I should have written 11,669 words. I’m not
even close. I’m at about 4,000. But they are 4,000 words I didn’t have before, so
I’m not a complete failure. If I keep at it, I surely will finish in record
time the last two episodes of my dark fantasy Demonesse: Avarus. And I’m determined to finish because it’s my
favorite time of year, I’m happiest and most motivated in November, and I’m up
for a dare.


November is also for foolish, but that’s a whole other post.

What about you? Are you braving the challenge of NaNoWriMo?
__________________________________________

Kimberly Jayne writes humor, romantic comedy, suspense, erotica,
and dark fantasy. Her latest foray into a dark fantasy released in episodes is
as much an adventure as the writing itself. You can check her out on Amazon. Find
out more about her at 
ReadKimberly.

Books by Kimberly Jayne:


Take My Husband, Please: An Unconventional Romantic Comedy
Demonesse:
Avarus, Episode 1

Demonesse:
Avarus, Episode 2

Demonesse: Avarus, Episode 3
All the Innuendo, Half the Fact: Reflections of a
Fragrant Liar

 

Literary Sadist: Make Them Suffer

By Kimberly Jayne 


If there’s one thing I relish about writing, it’s making my characters suffer. Happy people with no challenges don’t inspire page turning. Movies operate on the same premise. When I watch Far from the Madding Crowd, based on Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel of the same name, the most fascinating thing about it is that I can always ask, What bad thing could happen next? And after that, what bad thing could happen now? The story is fraught with suffering and disappointments and love unrequited times three. Exactly why I liked it. I try to do the same thing with my stories.


Does that make me a literary sadist? Probably, but I also enjoy seeing flawed characters reap the rewards derived from their most
agonizing struggles and spring from the ashes of their misery into some sort of transformative happy dance. The farther they fall, the more gratifying their rise.



Of course, making them suffer requires we hurl betrayals and terror and shock and shame and all manner of bad juju at them. Muuu-ah-ah-ah. I’m getting excited just thinking about it. And then, we make them survive. What that survival looks like is one of the most rewarding aspects of telling stories. It calls on us to look inside ourselves and imagine what we would think and do in those situations, how we would feel and act if we were brave or desperate determined enough. 


In my dark fantasy, Demonesse:
Avarus
, my protagonist is the virtuous, empathic daughter of an excommunicated nun. After months of erotic fantasies, she awakens into her new life as a seductive killer powerless to resist the moon’s calling. This is everything she was raised not to be. Her idyll is shattered and she is thrust into a life-altering journey that will challenge everything she knows and mold her into the person she was born to be. It won’t be easy. The rubber bands of tension are consistently stretched and tested so this character’s story arc will be dramatic and, I hope, as gratifying to read as it was for me to write.



________________ 
Kimberly Jayne writes in multiple genres including humor, romantic comedy, suspense, erotica, and dark fantasy. Her latest foray into a dark fantasy released in episodes is as much an adventure as the writing itself. You can check her out on AmazonFind out more about her at ReadKimberly.


Books by Kimberly Jayne:





Take My Husband, Please! A Romantic Comedy
Demonesse: Avarus, Episode 1
Demonesse: Avarus, Episode 2

Demonesse: Avarus, Episode 3
All the Innuendo, Half the Fact: Reflections of a Fragrant Liar