Can you catch arthritis from a keyboard?

The typing has jumped ahead and I finished the second notebook today. I'm looking forward to a very quiet weekend this weekend to make a significant dent in the third and final notebook. After that I have to redo my first chapter (in which I'll combine chapters 1-3 and thus get into the action sooner) and rework two other chapters I was unhappy with. After that I can do my first full read through/edit.

I was reading a book and I was suddenly struck by a thought regarding profanity in writing. I'm a fan of profanity. I like curse words and frankly I don't think we have enough of them. I'm also not shy about using them in my own writing when appropriate, but that's where I'm having an issue: when is it appropriate?

For me, I feel like if a character would say it, then go for it. For instance, if I was a character in a novel and in that novel I happened to be driving in rush hour traffic, I'd be inventing new ways to call someone a soiled douche like there was no tomorrow. So for me, swearing, a little or a HUGE amount is totally okay, so long as it's something the character would say.

My issue comes when the narrator uses profanity and the narrator isn't the first person. A first person narrator is still a character in the story, but what about a third person? Here's the quote that got me started, "It had acquired a name, Spatters, that reflected the desultory randomness of its outlines: the whole stinking shantytown seemed to have dribbled like shit from the sky."

I'm not offended by the word, I think I'm offended by the laziness exhibited by the author who resorted to a profanity. I mean I get it, maybe it's the author's way of trying to desensitize the audience to words like shit, but my generation is used to words like shit,and in my opinion shit carries no more weight than doody. Shit is also not overly descriptive. If the author was trying to make the point that the shantytown was haphazard and a ripe mess, there are other words for shit that could have served better and been far more descriptive. Diarrhea for example would have certainly evoked a lurid image (and would have worked especially well for a town with a name like Spatters).

Maybe I'm missing something, maybe I'm being overly sensitive, maybe I'm too old-fashioned. I guess I just sort of think that my job as a writer is to describe things, to give my readers as many tools as I possibly can so that they can really get into my work. Sometimes I can get too descriptive, but hey, that's what I do. But in a third person narrative, I just think that profanity should only be coming out of the mouths of the characters.

Thoughts?

My poor fingers

I really enjoyed writing Jak and the Giants with a pen, but as I type all those hand-written pages I really wish I hadn't.  The saddest part is that I know I'll continue writing by hand.  I can't wait for the day when I can just read my book to my computer and the words will magically appear on the screen.  Until then, the typing is slow going.

The last couple of weeks has been lazy.  I've returned to the world and seen some friends I'd been missing, read some books (Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" was pretty decent; it would have been a much bigger deal to me if I'd been 13 while reading it), and piddled around with some other projects.  I've decided that until I finish the next two Jak books I'll just keep throwing ideas against the walls until I see what sticks.  I mean, I'm still on board with my idea about Minuet, but I've also resurrected my China virus story and my Broken Earth story, and my story about the Nobles (the one that died prematurely....I did a postmortem and I think I know how to fix it).  I figure that when I'm done with Jak, I'll go ahead and start whatever feels like it's ready to be started, so the more ideas I have, the better.

I've also slowly been working on my cannibal story.  It's an idea that's been rolling about in my head for years.  The problem (aside from the deplorable paper) is that it feels like one of those stories I read in literature classes that was terribly boring to read and yet was very "full" of stuff.  You know the stories I'm talking about.  They're meaningful and beautifully written and say something about our society and might survive the test of time, but they're tedious to read.  I think I'm writing one of those stories.  Sure, it's sort of a horror story.  And sure, it's likely that it won't stand the test of time, but it's tedious to write so I can only imagine how it will be to read.  Unfortunately I really want to get it out, so I just keep plugging away at it.

I'm also working on my Plane Jane comic.  It's a little easier, but I have to switch from thinking cinematically and try to work out how many panels on a page, and how to squeeze a lot into a small space without overloading it.  22 pages has never been so hard.  Either way, it's very strange and sick and funny.  The first couple of pages show a teenage boy killing his entire family and then burning down his house in a shirt that reads, "I shaved my balls for this?"

On the actual physical act of writing front, I got my Pelikan M800 and promptly sent it back to Pelikan.  It gushed and I was very unhappy with it.  I'm letting the manufacturer tinker with it before returning it completely and getting my money back.

I also did some new inks, one of which was the worst ever (Private Reserve Fast Dry Sherwood Green....just don't) and two that were really nice.  

I also picked up some paper from Levenger and I would advise against it.  I had really wanted to try their Notabilia notebooks for writing because they hold more paper and because the Moleskin's I'd been using were great but sometimes inconsistent (often they were overly waxy causing some beading on the page).  The Levenger's look good but the pen doesn't glide across the page, it feels scratchy and rough.  Plus, there's too many sheets in it and the way it's bound leaves a ton of empty space.  In the Moleskin I could literally write from edge to edge fitting an average of 12-14 words a line.  With the Notabilia the most I could get was 8 or 9.  A pretty big disappointment for a book of paper that cost $22 for two.  I also got the storyboarding pad and while the paper is pretty much the same, I like the concept...it's been useful when working on my comic.

Other than that, for the next few weeks I'll be typing and editing Jak to prep it for its grand adventure in the world.  I'm planning on starting the second book no later than July.  I'd like to start sooner, but I don't want to rush through the editing process of book one, because if I screw up there, then no one's going to care if I write book two.

Word of the day:  Carpal Tunnel 

Typing Versus Scribbling

When I write I tend to just grab on to an idea and let it take me where it wants to go.  It's how I've always written.  When I took creative writing classes in college I always chomped at the bit when they forced us to go through the process of outlines and character sketches, ad nauseum.  I always did everything they wanted and then the night before the assignment I would conceive and write a completely different story from the one we had spent weeks working on.  And I always got an A.

When I became serious about my writing this year, my first story was mapped out meticulously.  The story crashed and burned as the characters came to life and my three protagonists had zero chemistry.  I abandoned that for a story I dreamt.  That became The Last Guardian.  My notes were scarce and rarely did I know what was going to happen  until it did.  While it allowed me to complete the novel, I'm not satisfied that the story works.  I've been trying to toe the middle ground with Jak and the Giants - I've been setting up guideposts along the way...major plot points that Jak and his minions have to hit.  The rest I'm leaving up to them.  Last night I had a really wonderful session where I "figured out" how part one is going to go.  (I figured out that my story works in three distinct sections).  

I don't know how that made much to do with anything, but I feel much more confident going forward that I have a solid and entertaining story, and that I've left more than enough room for Jak to explore and run off the rails a little bit if he wants.

I've also been inspired to give writing free hand a shot.  I have terrible handwriting that only my mother and I can read.  My teachers in high school and college were thankful I knew how to type so that they didn't have to read my writing and I often had to fight my teachers because they would mark answers wrong that were right simply because they couldn't read them.  So I've always been a typist.  I type very fast but lately I've felt that my speed typing keeps me from really being able to think about what I'm writing.  I've been pushing myself so hard to get quantity out that I may be losing some quality.  

I ordered a Cross Century II, couple of nibs of various width and a couple of different inks (Noodlers Polar Black came highly recommended as did one from Levenger).  Being a lefty I wanted to make sure that I had a fine nib and a medium nib and a couple of inks to see which one would smear the least.  I don't write in that crampy, crabby left-handed pose, but prefer to attack it head on and drag my fist right through what I've just written.  

I'm going to give myself permission to take my time and make every word count and see what happens.  I personally think I'll grow terribly frustrated at first, but will warm up to it later.  I'll keep you up.

Word of the Day:  Sinister