Month: June 2023

Story Idea – Red Riding Hood Revised

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Odin’s Day!

Alright, I am moving forward with things a little better. I know my routines work. The real issue now is habit and execution. That can take soem time so be patient. Thank you.

I have had the idea before of taking fairy tales and giving them a modern and adult twist before but the picture above re-sparked an idea I have had before particularly with Little Red Riding Hood.

If you know the original tale and its message you know it actually is very adult in its message. Basically, telling young ladies to not fall for the strange man’s advances because you might lose your virginity and/or your life. That is all hid in allegory and symbolism.

For me, I once did an old table top Superhero RPG called Villians and Vigilanties and had a hero duo called “The Red Hood” and “Grey Wolf” The female being a modern magic user and the male being a werewolf character. It was a lot of fun.

So I saw this artwork and thought to myself this is an idea I need to file away. Maybe for this blog. Maybe for another novel. I just like the idea of a pair of lovers who are both heroes and on the run from the powers that be. The fact they also parallel the Red Riding Hood Story just makes it even more interesting. I just don’t know what genre would work better for me: dark fantasy or modern fantasy with a dark twist.

I remain.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher.  The Grey Wayfarer.

Skal!!!

My Three Writing Projects

/ Ed Raby Sr / 1 Comment

Happy Mani’s Day!

I want to elaborate on my three many writing projects at present to clarify my own thinking about them. So sorry for the info post again, but creativity is in the works.

My first project is regular writing on this blog. But the change is going to be that this blog is now my outlet for the “What do I feel like writing today” itch. My other two projects have very specific objectives so this becomes my writing steam valve where I let off creative steam for other ideas. This can include poetry, different genres, more informal posts about issues, etc. Mostly, I need a place to just flow with my writing in whatever direction it takes me. I am going to continue my Dungeons and Dragons series, but creative writing won’t be the exclusive thing on this blog.

My second writing project is my novel. A few months ago I did a post on this blog: Grey Avatar – ‘Spiked Coffee’ – Part 1 of a Grey Wayfarer Serial. There was no Part 2 because my thought process did a double take and realized that if I combined it with two other ideas I had (one new and one old), I would have a pretty good novel idea. So that post is now currently the second chapter of my novel and I won’t be presenting any more of it here. Sorry, you will just have to wait for the book to come out.

Lastly, I am starting the process of writing my story from faith to atheism. What I am still trying to do is figure out how I want to present that story. I spent an hour or so yesterday working on it. I think once I know the outline, it will practically write itself. Now that I am past being a Christian by some time and have shifted in the deconversion process from the ‘getting over it’ phase to the ‘moving on’ phase, I can have a better frame of mind while writing it.

I remain.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher.  The Grey Wayfarer.

Skal!!!

Getting Back to Writing with a Better Plan

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Freya’s Day!

I want to, first of all, thank everyone for being patient and for your understanding as I struggle with my new understanding of myself. The old GI Joe cartoon used to say: “Knowing is half the battle”. The high probability that I have autism has been a major revelation of knowledge. How affects me is in some ways obvious and in others not so much. The real question is “Now that you know, what now?”

If knowing is half the battle, what is the other half? The other half, in my mind, is coming up with a plan that can be executed and be effective because you know. So today I am going to hit the planning part. Or rather, I am revealing my plan for dealing with this issue in relation to my writing. That is the plan I think will lead to effective action.

Effective action means I make progress on my writing goals, but it has been a while since I have stated my goals and I have a harder time sticking with them. The plan has to have a routine or system to it and I have to spend the time getting the discipline to do it.

First things first, I have redefined my goals for writing and related tasks:

  1. Reading for a half hour every day.
  2. Regular writing on this blog – This will include both creative posts and stuff about my journey through The Grey.
  3. Regular Writing on my novel for publication
  4. Regular writing on my non-fiction book, also with designs on publication.
  5. Daily Journaling at the end of the day.

The first task to make this work was getting these things into my daily routines. I have to have routines for things to work well for me. The daily reading of a book and journaling are everyday activities. The other three would best fit in a daily activity of writing where I rotate them at certain points. This system will be me doing the following rotation with whatever writing time is slotted.

Writing Rotation:

  1. One blog post – written, edited, and posted
  2. 1000 words on my novel.
  3. 1000 words on my non-fiction book.

The important thing to remember is I have time limits where I can write. For most work days I can do the reading and the writing until I leave for work. On days off I can go longer until I hit my walking time. Extra time, if I am in the mood, is always going to be a go as well.

The real problem is actually controlling my downtime. I need it to recharge my nervous system. However, sometimes those activities steal more time than they need. I need to change that and probably take drastic action to do so.

But this is the plan, so for you the gentle reader, it means more regular posts hopefully. It also will be leading me to a more regular fulfillment of a long-term goal for myself – being a published author.

I remain.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher.  The Grey Wayfarer.

Skal!!!