Peculiar People #4

That awkward moment when you want to build a temple but end up with an exosuit.

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Warped Plastic #23

Ahh, 1986: the age of castles and Crusaders.

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Peace by Piece--Hymn 185

Couldn't get this one out of my head this morning.

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Music: My Favorite Writing Tool

If you've ever watched a movie or played a video game, you've heard musical themes attached to certain characters and places. For example, Star Wars gave us "Leia's Theme." And in The Lord of the Rings, anytime this progression of descending thirds played, we knew something sinister was happening.

I like to assign similar themes to characters and settings in my writing, because I love the way music can ground an image in emotion. If I can convey that same feeling with my words, I know I'm on the right track. 

So I create my playlist early and check in with it often throughout a draft--like to make sure my protagonist, Roy, is still that kind, noble, mostly harmless guy with a dark secret just below the surface (as I interpret the main theme from Final Fantasy VII), or that Em's motivation remains driven by a deep sense of longing for something beautiful and out of reach ("Suteki Da Ne," from Final Fantasy X).

(And lest you think I only draw my themes from the Final Fantasy pot, my aging gambler, Lars, who gives characters a taste of the novel world's "old ways" in his vacation resort, got "Fi's Theme" from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, while the pianist in his employ, Philo, got Michael Nyman's "The Sacrifice" for his own journey nursing old wounds.*)

*You can hear seventeen-year-old me playing it a half-step lower here. In a lot of ways, Philo is basically me.

Aside from sparking ideas for entire novels and getting me into a creative mood, I've found that using musical themes in my writing keeps me emotionally in tune with my work and helps me stay true to the stories I want to tell. Music is my favorite writing tool.

Do any of you writers make a playlist for your stories? What other tools do you use? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

Peculiar People #3

It's just part of being LDS. ;-)

Okay, so for the record, I've never met a Mormon who actually talks like this. But a Mormon could probably tell you what it means! (And I couldn't resist giving a shout-out to the Texas San Antonio Mission, where I served as a missionary from 2008 to 2010. Go TSAM!)

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Warped Plastic #22

Though I don't get to play much, I love video games, and The Legend of Zelda remains a favorite. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Peace by Piece--Hymn #169

I'm gonna be honest: I've had a hard time feeling anything at church in recent months. It's not that I don't still believe--I do, very much so--or that God isn't speaking to me. But I've struggled to really prepare for church and be mentally and spiritually present while I'm there. I'm tired from a long week, I'm trying to keep my kids happy, and with a painful autoimmune disease, everything in life is harder than it should be.

But every time I sing this hymn, I feel something. It's one of my favorites, and we sang it in church today.

As now we take the sacrament,

Our thoughts are turned to thee,

Thou Son of God, who lived for us,

Then died on Calvary.

We contemplate thy lasting grace,

Thy boundless charity;

To us the gift of life was giv’n

For all eternity.

As now our minds review the past,

We know we must repent;

The way to thee is righteousness—

The way thy life was spent.

Forgiveness is a gift from thee

We seek with pure intent.

With hands now pledged to do thy work,

We take the sacrament.

As now we praise thy name with song,

The blessings of this day

Will linger in our thankful hearts,

And silently we pray

For courage to accept thy will,

To listen and obey.

We love thee, Lord; our hearts are full.

We’ll walk thy chosen way.

Music has the rare power to break through my pain, my fatigue, my lack of preparation, and remind me where to find myself again. I love this hymn especially; it was the obvious choice for my inspirational picture this week.

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A Lego Graphic Novel, Shelves of Books, and More Fun Things to Come

So many ideas, so little time.

My new webcomic, Peculiar People, has had a great response so far. Thanks to all of you who have liked it! I'm excited about this new project and look forward to seeing what it becomes.

But it's only the tip of an iceberg--which both invigorates and frustrates me.

I'm trying so hard not to fall to Shiny New Idea Syndrome. Over the years I've learned to harness it as a motivator rather than a detractor: when a great new idea comes, I usually push myself a little harder to finish whatever project is in its way, rather than fill my figurative shelf with half-finished novels and Lego builds. And where I can, I multitask--hence my now two webcomics and weekly scripture illustrations (also, I'm insane. There's that, too.).

Still, I have too many corpses of abandoned projects haunting me. And this time of year, when the weather starts warming and the days grow brighter, I tend to get a flood of inspiration and am the most susceptible to Shiny New Idea Syndrome.

But it helps to talk.

So, here is a non-specific and noncomprehensive list of things I want to do. You, as a reader, get a little peek at what's to come, and I get to let off some of this creative steam by talking about some of the ideas I really, really want to get to but can't work on quite yet. It's win-win!

What can you expect in the future? Here are some of the things I've got up my sleeve:

--Another Lego comic, but one that follows an actual story and will be more serious than my other comics. After I've produced enough installments, I may want to publish it as a graphic novel, too. I tried my hand at something like this in high school, but I only got four chapters in and the references are stuck in 2004, so I'm going to make something new and (hopefully) more timeless. The main obstacle to starting this project is the need to sort my Lego collection and establish a more permanent work space.

A shot from my first Lego story, Jellybean

--A series of Lego explainers on subjects I know a lot about, like LDS beliefs, chess, and buying contact lenses. This probably won't be a regular thing--just something I make new installments for whenever I find the time. But I think readers would find the Lego format eye-pleasing and accessible.

--A Lego graphic novelization of my own current book project. The novel I'm writing right now was actually inspired by Lego in the first place, so I feel like this would be a fitting return to roots. I'll most likely wait on this project until the book is published, though--or at least finished. That gives me more motivation to push through the drafts!

Lego Philo approves.

--Books. Lots and lots of books. Online, I've been focusing on the Lego stuff so long I wouldn't be surprised if most of my followers didn't realize I'm actually writing a book. I just don't talk about it a whole lot right now because I can actually publish a comic every week and readers are more interested in that than in characters and a world they haven't gotten to know yet. I'll be more open about my novel as it gets closer to completion and publication, though. In the meantime, I'm trying to push myself to finish as quickly as I can. My goal is the end of this year . . .

. . . Which is good, because I have a whole career's worth of other novel ideas stashed in a notebook, which include elements like a Jonah-esque sea monster encounter, a talk show in the underworld, and bionic children locked in competition. That's all in addition to the sequel, two prequels, and "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style spinoff I have planned for my current novel. Yikes!

--All the writings. But wait, there's more! I've got a bunch of smaller writing projects planned, too, from essay collections about the things that made me who I am, to short stories starring characters like a courageous pizza boy and a freelance writer with a dark past and a shady clientele. I'll probably do one of these between each novel draft, or something, as a way to refresh myself. Maybe I'll even throw a fan fiction into the mix (filed under "just for fun," of course).

Image credit: Know Your Meme

Okay, that's enough for today. I definitely, frustratingly, won't get to the bottom of my idea list before more ideas barge in, but that's also part of the fun. I'll always have something to create.

I'm working on establishing an effective balance between my creative projects, my full-time job, my family, my health, and other responsibilities and interests, and that's the main hurdle in my path right now. But I'm making progress, and in the meantime, it helps to talk about these ideas, at least. Thanks for indulging me today, and thanks for all your continued support. I can't wait to show you my finished work!

Peculiar People #2

This is exactly what it's like.

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Warped Plastic #21

Be careful out there.

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Peace by Piece--Dallin H. Oaks

One of my favorite quotes, and something particularly relevant in this age of contentious Internet debates.

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