The Story Concepts Are Like A Gushing Wound……. Of Ideas…. Not Blood

I literally have a small notebook full of story ideas. I can’t seem to staunch the open flow of creativity. It is getting to the point that I fear if I spent the rest of my natural life writing, I might get half way through. Seriously….

I came up with a new concept for a book series. It wouldn’t be high fantasy, maybe epic visceral, but very slipstream. It essentially takes place in a mountain range that nobody is really sure where they are or how to get to , but folks end up there accidentally all the same. Leaving is even that much harder, for strange things happen that keep life on the mountain volatile. The idea is essentially the birth place of magic that crazy shenanigans and adventures take place (dismantling clichés in the process – think Terry Pratchett) that all cultures seem claim propriety at. In the time frame that I am thinking, lots of time has passed and magic is all but gone. A few flickers exist, but only here in the mountain can a practitioner really thrive. Even then, they have to be damn good at their craft in order to harness the few threads of slippery magic left. The entire society and livelihood of the mountain revolves around a single inn.

That is all the detail you will get for now.

I’m thinking that the books would be small, like 70k-90k pages worth. Quick fun reads for the whole family… except the kids. I have a perverse sense of humor… so maybe not grandma either.

This is a story/idea that I think I will enjoy writing as much as reading. There is probably a moral somewhere in that sentence.

I’ve been going back and forth on posting Violence Breeds Violence, Repression Breeds Retalitation free for my 100th post. I don’t know how well that will go if it becomes published, I might have to take it down. Hmm, I’ll look into it.

Well today is my year anniversary, I have to go and give some love and attention to my other, then to dinner. Have a good day everybody!

Writing and Lannisters

First off, Damn it feels good to be a Lannister.

This made me laugh.

 

Character versus story driven plots. More often than not, a book will fall into one of these two categories. Every once in a great while a book will be perfectly balanced and have a solid harmony of both elements. The characters are vibrant and the story is griping, making you stay up until 3 am reading a book wondering how smart-ass Johnny will cross the pit of alligator/shark hybrids with lasers taped to their heads. The books that I have read that have both pieces to the gigantic puzzle of a well-rounded novel nailed down are few and far between, but unforgettable.

I tend to favor story driven books more than character driven. I am a deep thinker and constantly mull large abstract concepts around in my head, as I feel most things are a matter of perception. I tend to dislike character driven plots because well, I don’t care about Johnny falling down and breaking his ankle at 13 when he is in front of a Greek God wondering how he can escape his impending demise by death of a 1000 sorta virgins with ice picks. Him breaking his ankle at 13 has zero relevance to him now and his situation. That being said, when a writer makes you feel and connect to the past happenings of a character and those events ripple out and affect them now, that is an entirely different animal.

I also tend to dislike lengthy explanations of a character’s feelings. I don’t need 15 pages to understand that Johnny is heartbroken over his mother’s death, often I think less is more. On the flip side, with story driven plots, I don’t care about an obscure village or cities history and current economic standing. Unless it has some relevance on the character or their quest/problem, leave it be.

Often I read books where the writer wants to fill in the coloring book of my imagination while I read their story. That takes out a lot of the fun, let me color it in! Not everything has to be explained and not everything has to be explored. Wonderment and open-ended questions drive our imagination taxi into our inner selves and let us populate that beautiful world with our own dragons and war-head flavored candy houses.

But understand something, just because I prefer story driven plots doesn’t mean I don’t have character driven books that I love dearly. This is more of an overall general assessment of my experience.

So what about you guys? What do you prefer, story or character driven plots?

An example of books that I feel has both elements in perfect balance; A Game of Thrones, Mistborn, Ender’s Game, Great Expectations.

Weird Quarks

Post Strangulation

So you are writing your story and your characters feel a little flat. Know what they need? Quarks. They need these little idiosyncrasies to make them human because guess what, we are all a little goofy and have little things we do that are unique.

An example of a quark? It is common knowledge that Teddy Roosevelt couldn’t achieve an erection unless he strangled a bear with his bare-hands. So what interesting little nugget of borderline insanity does your character have? Do they hate dogs but love cats, what about the opposite? Do they have to get completely naked to use the bathroom? Do they flip a coin to decide if they will kill somebody. A hardened veteran cop who secretly loves Sex and the City is always a good time.

One of my characters is terrified of a specific type of insect, another can’t eat anything on their plate if the food is touching, and another hears a voice that echoes the deep dark thoughts sane humans repress. Can you spot one in this post?

The range of quarks that can be used is staggering.  These little peeps into the characters help the reader feel they are real, interesting, and worth their time.

So what little quarks do you give your characters?

Taking the Leap

So how many of you want to be paid full-time writers? I know I do. The question I seem to ask myself is, when do I take that leap? When you have a full-time job and other responsibilities that keep you busy, you cannot dedicate the time needed for taking your writing to the next level. It is a slow process otherwise, writing part-time can take years before one can get established. So when do you take the leap? When life gets in the way of your writing, is that a sign it is time to jump? Or should one play it safe and gradually build up credentials to help become established?

I’ve heard both sides of the argument; take your time and build your reputation or go for it and take the risk of succeeding faster but with greater risk of failure. The number I’ve heard thrown around a lot is 3 in 10,000 manuscripts get published. That is a very depressing number. So is it an all-in game, put all of your chips on the table and just go for it, or the wait and see. Both have pros and cons and I’d assume it depends on the person, but I’m trying to figure out the right fit for me. I’ve written for a few years now and have honed my craft to a more marketable level. I still have weaknesses that need work on, but don’t we all. I am getting closer and closer to the point where I feel it is the time to jump. I have a notebook full of stories and ideas that need to be flushed out and written, but the stupid real world keeps getting in the way.

How about you guys? Where do you stand on the elusive dream of making a living writing?

Neglected Cultures

I recently read an article over at SF Signal, you can find it here.

The gist is that some cultures are seemingly neglected in fantasy and science fiction. Most books tend to revolve around Western European societal structures and some people are simply wondering why? It probably is because when most people thing dragons and the like, they immediately go to King Arthur style settings. Why this is? I have no idea, but the answer isn’t going to be straight forward or easy.

Many different cultures have intriguing lore and settings that offer just as powerful and entertaining settings. But considering the troupe and tradition of our medieval settings, can a story be written in a non-traditional setting and still have a resounding impact? Before you answer yes, I ask you to consider the examples. The best that comes to mind is The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. There are other examples, but I’m going with Paolo’s because I’ve read his book and it was amazing. The book takes place in Thailand, post climate change Earth, and with genetic engineered food stores.

The book was awesome, it made you think or at least question the potential of genetic modifications in the reasonably distant future. But the point, it was nice to read something outside of the normal class and society structures. Had the book not been well written and executed, would there have been a serious disconnect because of this? Are we too saturated in our comfort to really branch out and experience other cultures in our reading diets?

 

What do you think? Are other cultures neglected in published works? Are we to familiar with Westernized ideas to fully dive in another culture when reading?

 

Loving Your Characters

So I have switched back to my book. I went back over everything I have written and it is still to my satisfaction. I’ve decided to add a few chapters for better character building and started writing POV chapters and one of my characters has taken a death grip over my writing. I have a character named Calve, and he is has two separate personalities. Both are assholes, but in different ways. Two separate people are living in the same body with different tastes, interests, and flaws. I am have more fun writing his chapters and story than I have the main character or any of the others. As far as I can tell, this can yield two things; Calve gets his own book or If I don’t slay the beast he will take over the book.

I have enjoyed writing all the characters in my book, some a little more than others. I feel that each person is distinct from everybody else and their relationships and dynamics are different and interesting that the reader will never feel bored. Granted I am borderline insane, some of the curve-balls I throw are really big.

I have had immense fun thinking about the people in my story and treating them like they exist, because in my head they do. It annoys my other half when I refer to them like they are real people. She hears the name is gets annoyed because they aren’t real. I am probably more out of it then I give myself credit for.

Do your character’s take over your stories? Do you treat them like they are real people?

Cardboard Warfare and Post Editing

Here is a sweet video with cardboard guns, blood, and some cgi shenanigans.

 

So I finished my novella today. Debating if I should just send it in to the next quarter of Writers of the Future or send it to Asimov or Analog. Getting a paycheck for my story would be nice, it would also help with some rather vicious school loans, although if my last entry doesn’t win then maybe this story will? Yes, that is a bit of a stretch and a dream but a playa has a right to dream. Which happens that I do and it involves beaches and being paid full-time to write.

 

So for the next week I will be meticulously and methodically breaking down my story into its components, checking the flow, voice, science, depth, and description to ensure maximum efficiency. Editing is probably my least favorite part of the entire writing process, but it is as important as writing. Taking away excess fat from your story, or killing your darling, can turn a paragraph of mediocre dialog into a one sentence solid gold bomb. With the exorbitant amount of research material I have purchased over the weekend this should actually move quickly. The goal is to have the story completely polished by next weekend. From there I will decide where to send it and then I will ultimately return to my novel, which should have been refined and polished months and months ago. Where does all the time go? Probably where are all the lonely people do.

In editing I get to see all the grammatical errors and awkward sentences I produce like a drunk rabbit in a whore house. I am aware my grammar is horrid, I think and have been told that it is my biggest weakness in terms of writing. I like to think that isn’t terrible because there is always revision, but who knows, maybe I just don’t get it.

 

Anyway, my question to you is, what is your biggest weakness that needs lots of tidying during revision?

Speculative Fiction Contest

According to Uncle Orson, this is the only contest that is worth a damn if you write in the fantasy or science fiction genre. It carries the most credibility and has launched a ridiculous amount of writers careers. I submitted my story ‘The Uncanny Blossom’ last quarter. I urge all writers of in these two fields to send their works and keep the blood pumping.

Watch the video and see for yourself.

 

The Savior Enigma

One of the questions that I constantly mull over in my head is something I call The Savior Enigma. It can be taken in two forms; villainous justification or …..being a savior – I feel like I should have put something witty there, but I’m tired.

Follow along with me as I open my skull and let you see the cacophony of screams and monsters noises that is my thought process. Careful, there is a monkey in a nightie throwing diamond crusted dinosaur eggs filled with goat piss to the left, and a knee-high version of he-man running around, mounted on top of a blob of Marlon Brando’s liposuction fat shaped like a giraffe to the right. Don’t mind the video being played overhead of me doing the ‘fork in the garbage disposal’ dance in a pirate costume. Needless to say, my mind is a bit fucked up, bear that in mind.

Essentially what I call The Savior Enigma is this; If it were in a person’s hands to unite mankind, have humanity put aside it’s differences and join together as one body to further the human condition, is there a point in action where the deed is evil but becomes good or is good but becomes evil? If that is too complicated to follow or if I didn’t articulate myself gooder (see what I did there?), think of the Watchmen graphic novel.

*******DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER********

What I’m about to write has spoilers about the Watchmen novel. Read on at your own peril.

At the end of the novel, Ozymandias sent a giant alien squid, it wasn’t really an alien, to the middle of time square. By doing this he scared the living shit out of humanity and made them think there was an impending attack on Earth. All the nations of the world, which in the novel were on the verge of war/nuclear assault, put aside their differences and started to band together to fight off the certain invasion, except Ozymandias made the thing up. Yes, people died with him doing this, that means he killed people, which is bad. But he united mankind against a common enemy so war would end and peace would prosper. What Ozy achieved was something that has never really ever happened in human history, but he did it through the death of innocents. If there is a heaven or a hell, which would he go to? He single-handedly saved lives and turned humanity on a course of unity and peace unlike anything we have ever dreamed, but his hands are bloody.

By definition Ozy was a villain. He did the one thing that good-hearted people just don’t do. But the outcome of his actions were amazing to say the least. But the end results also put him in a savior category.

Don’t like that example? How about this one. Please bare in mind that this is a hypothetical, it isn’t true.

Let’s say I take up the hobby of killing all the thieves, murders, rapists, child molesters, etc, in the world. I take their lives to protect society and human kind from their transgressions and ugliness. I purge the world of evil and wrong, see where I’m going yet?, by doing wrong. Lets say by my actions I begin to eliminate all the wrongness of the world. Regardless of whatever religion you prescribe to, I’m a doomed soul for having killed. But by stopping all these bad people, even at the sacrifice of my salvation, I made the world a better place. Would I earn golden stars for saving the would be victims of a serial killer by killing the serial killer? Am I a savior or am I a murderer? If the outcome of my actions sprinkle such happiness and warm fuzzy feelings all over the world, at what point would the taint and evil that stained my soul be overlooked? Surely somebody who prevented genocide by killing a dictator wouldn’t fry in hell, or would they?

Is it the act or the outcome the defines someone as a savior? Do we ignore one or the other, or do both get taken into consideration?

Anyway, this is just something that has plagued me for a while. I thought I would share it. Through this concept or question I have created several antagonists, people just trying to make the world better but are doing really heinous things to accomplish it. When I apply this to the real world, sometimes the answer becomes confusing to me. Feel free to throw your two cents in.

Roll A D6 and Character Building

Here is an awesome video, it is a parody of Like A G6.

 

Character building, it can be fun or it can feel like being bikini waxed continuously, but in your head. Sometimes it is easy and the character just flows from thy finger tips, other times you might be writing a character and have zero experience in their strifes or generally what has made them the way you want them to be. So here is a little something on how I build up my characters.

1. Not different, but different. I make my characters as unique and different from each other as possible, even if they are the similar. In my science fiction novel I have seven characters thrown into the same situation, I do a little back traveling while moving forward with the plot that explores each character. Sort of like The Canterbury Tales, but much darker and messed up. I have two characters that are soldiers, they have lots of military experience and are very structured. To combat the similarities I have literally made the military experience their only common ground. One character, Calve, has two separate personalities, I hesitate to say schizophrenic because it is more like two people in one body with separate memories and interpretations of the past. One is slightly psychopathic and the other is protective and overbearing.  The other soldier, Reed, is a commanding officer with a huge chip on his shoulder, he has been rejected by society and would just generally like to see the universe burn from all the injustices he has suffered.

2. Ungodly amounts of research. The amount of time I put looking into military structure, lifestyles, PTSD, and lingo might have amounted to enough time to have written my novel three or four times over. That is just for two characters, the others are completely different. Add in some science and astronomy and the time reading other books, articles, science journals, and poking around on the internet is staggering. In case you are wondering, it makes the world of difference. Stay organized and keep a firm grip on your material and it shouldn’t be daunting.

3. Break their hearts. Seriously, in order for your characters to be interesting, they have to evolve. The most effective and engrossing way to carry out this is to put your characters in a good situation, make them feel warm and tingly inside, then pull the rug out. Drop them in some shit and push them to make hard choices, push them outside their comfort zone. Make their decisions hard, impossible, and unpredictable. Then slip in the knife of justification just a little further, the one that has always been poking the reader in the kidneys since the beginning, those little snippets of your characters that you sneaked in the middle of a paragraph that was thought to be irrelevant.

4. Find your weakness. Find the part in your character building that is lacking, find the part that you cannot push into the realm of imaginative release that irks you at every turn. Latch onto that spot and figure out why it sucks. Figure out why you can’t make it feel real, and build on it. No, you don’t have to use it but write through it anyway, you can trim and toss out later. Over time as you practice you will find you are getting better and better at it. Before long with enough effort it won’t be this giant overbearing monkey weighing you down in the muddy waters.

5. The Most Important. Ask yourself How, Who, What, Why, When, and Where. Regardless of if you are an Architect or Gardener, do this continually and incessantly. You will save yourself lots of headaches.