Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.
So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…
“Cruelty is a terrible thing. I believe it is the worst human sin.” - Jane Goodall
I had a nasty cold over the weekend, and it totally interfered with our plans to do all the fun things. But sometimes I think getting sick is our body’s way of telling us to slow down and pay attention, so that’s what I did. I slept more this weekend than I probably do in a whole week normally, and I’m happy to report I’m on the mend.
I’m well into the murky middle of my thesis project. With every manuscript, I’ve had moments when I feel like I’ve totally lost the plot, or I just feel stuck. Over the years, I’ve developed some tried and true tricks to help me navigate this part of the process. For my thesis, however, I did something a little different than usual and wrote a full synopsis of the story before I started writing the manuscript itself. A synopsis is a two page summary of the entire story, from the main characters, to the plot action, to the end–with spoilers. It’s a document most agents and editors require, and it is absolutely no fun to write. But, I’ve discovered that my synopsis is acting like a pretty solid roadmap, and it’s helping to keep me on track. So, the murky middle of this book isn’t quite as murky as others have been at this point, which is a good thing since the deadline is looming!
The other class I’m taking this semester for school is on short forms, from flash fiction to novellas and everything in between. I just finished writing one for class titled “Red Riding Hood Redux,” and it’s a subversive, feminist retelling of the traditional fairy tale. I’ve submitted it to an anthology for publication, and I should hear back in a few weeks. Whether or not it’s accepted, I really like this piece. I find when I’m exploring short fiction, I lean in hard to writing horror, and this story is no exception. I can’t wait to share it with you!
It’s storming like crazy outside right now, but I am cozied up with my kitties and a cup of tea writing all the words. As I sit here thinking up imaginary worlds, characters, and conflicts, I’m reminded what a privilege it is to have the freedom to express myself creatively. I wrote an article recently for another blog titled “Writing is Radical Resistance.” As storms of all kinds rage around us, I thought I’d share one section of that article that gets to the heart of why telling stories is so important.
As much as I want to entertain and connect through my stories, I am also often grappling with big questions in a lot of my work. With my first science fiction series, the underlying questions I posed were, “When confronted with hatred and injustice, who becomes a hero? Who defends their neighbor? Who turns a blind eye?” These questions are as frighteningly relevant today as they’ve ever been. The characters I created for that series had been tossed into the fray, so to speak, and it was satisfying to explore all the various ways they responded to the catastrophes in their world and watch them evolve. I think maybe we creative types are constantly processing what we’re seeing around us – the oppression, the injustice, the inhumanity, and we’re practicing our own responses to it.
“Writing in itself is radical resistance, a triumph - people can try to stop you from speaking your truth, but no one can take your words from you.”― Eternity Martis