This has...happened to me a few times. I'm sitting there, fooling around with something, and I think, "Oh, hey, that would make a great story!" Sometimes something comes of it; sometimes it doesn't. I never know when it's going to happen, either. I might be watching a movie, and start to think, "Hmm, what if?" I might be reading a book, and wonder the same thing, or playing a game...or listening to someone talk about a game, which has happened before.
But when it seems to happen the most is when I am sitting down already writing. I start to put in backstory, mention a character in passing, and suddenly become more interested in the passing character than the main story, so I have to move to a new document and write down at least the idea for this new tale. There is a mysterious tower with a strange inhabitant--friendly or unfriendly--and suddenly, I want to explain how this tower and the inhabitant got to be the way they are. Someone finds or receives a storied item, and I want to tell the item's story.
Sometimes, I am able to quash the urge and go on with the story I'm writing. Sometimes, I take down a note and then write the other story later. Sometimes I can't make up my mind which to do, and that's when I leave the computer and get some coffee--or I don't leave the computer and start playing Spider Solitaire.
But what happened recently to prompt this post was a time-write. The last one I posted, in fact. I've had time-writes that looked like they could branch out into something bigger. I like those; they're doing what they're supposed to. But this one exploded. It didn't just look like it could become something bigger. It did--right away. Almost as soon as the timer went off--taking a few minutes to rest my cramping right hand--I got on the computer and entered in what I had written. And kept going. And going. About the time I went to post my comment, I had to go back to the notebook to find where I had let off, because it had gone from half a page to almost three.
It has gone from a page-long sword-and-sorcery exercise to an epic novel, involving two armies of villains, an order of knights, and at least two battling supernatural entities.
I am trying to keep it from ballooning any more than it has...but this one seems to have the bit in its teeth, and I may just have to hang on for the ride.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Time-Write Tuesday
All right, it's that time again! Grab your notebooks, set your timers, and rev up your pens and pencils. And feel free to check out Seventh Sanctum and the Rinkworks name gen if the offerings I give don't interest your muse. I'd really like to see what you guys can come up with; it won't matter if it's posted late. Heck, I often post mine late... sometimes because I'm squabbling with my siblings about who gets the computer. Here we go!
Male Lead: Firunil: The calculating knight. His midnight black hair flows over his shoulders like water. His plum-colored eyes are always looking at painful memories. He usually wears multiple charms.
Female Lead: Ethrolie: This woman puts you in mind of a prowling panther. She has beady brown eyes that are like two discs of wood. Her silky, curly, brown hair is short and is worn in a weird style. She is tall and has a leggy build. Her skin is dark. She has a small mouth. Her wardrobe is strange.
Villain: Malan: This logical warlock is motivated by greed. He employs alchemy in his plans, usually taking over institutions of magical training to achieve his goals. He can't resist a fight.
Setting: Jungle of Memories/Ancient Ever-changing Starship/Neptune's Anchorage
McGuffin: Dagger of the Titan
Mysterious Creatures: Chaos Incarnations
1: Setting: pirate science-fiction. Theme:love-against-the-odds story
2: Setting: space opera/sword-and-sorcery. Theme: adventure story
3: Setting: utopia. Theme: mythological mystery story
And if you find that you really like whatever it is you've come up with, save the starter and see if you can't convince it to turn into a full-fledged story later on!
Male Lead: Firunil: The calculating knight. His midnight black hair flows over his shoulders like water. His plum-colored eyes are always looking at painful memories. He usually wears multiple charms.
Female Lead: Ethrolie: This woman puts you in mind of a prowling panther. She has beady brown eyes that are like two discs of wood. Her silky, curly, brown hair is short and is worn in a weird style. She is tall and has a leggy build. Her skin is dark. She has a small mouth. Her wardrobe is strange.
Villain: Malan: This logical warlock is motivated by greed. He employs alchemy in his plans, usually taking over institutions of magical training to achieve his goals. He can't resist a fight.
Setting: Jungle of Memories/Ancient Ever-changing Starship/Neptune's Anchorage
McGuffin: Dagger of the Titan
Mysterious Creatures: Chaos Incarnations
1: Setting: pirate science-fiction. Theme:love-against-the-odds story
2: Setting: space opera/sword-and-sorcery. Theme: adventure story
3: Setting: utopia. Theme: mythological mystery story
And if you find that you really like whatever it is you've come up with, save the starter and see if you can't convince it to turn into a full-fledged story later on!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Writing Tips: Worldbuilding
This is a part of writing I don't often see covered, but it's an important point: a lot more important than some people think. Worldbuilding is a lot more than being able to fit your imaginary country on a map or make a globe with your continents on it. It's figuring out the whys, wherefores, if-thens, and what-ifs that make your world more than a backdrop for the story.
One of the things I've always found important is nailing the climate and the clothing that goes with it. Let's be realistic, here: if your land has bone-chilling winds regularly whipping off the arctic ice that sits only twenty miles to the north, your characters will not, repeat not be walking around with bare chests, short sleeves, or in light fabrics. Clothing materials that will make sense are wool, leather, and lots of fur, with little to no bare skin exposed to freeze. Conversely, if your characters must move for some reason from biting cold up north to the blistering heat of a southern desert, do not expect me (who lives in the Texas Panhandle and thus right on the edge of the Great American Desert) to calmly expect that these cold-tough but heat-wimp heroes will be able to travel through the murderous temperatures without ditching a considerable amount of clothing, and fast. Equally, I can see a beauteous princess who comes from a jungle setting being perfectly comfortable in a nudist society. I can't imagine someone from the temperate (read: chilly) regions of northern Europe being so.
Second--and this I have found rarely detailed--is the way the flora and fauna of the area dictate the lives of the characters. Emily Rodda's Rowan of Rin series does a great job of detailing how the ecology of her various lands works, and the marvelous Edge Chronicles do such a great job of making a completely alien world look realistic you almost expect to find it on a map. But most other stories ignore this altogether. Yet this used to be such an important part of life that I find it weird that we forget about it! The flora and fauna in a region dictates what your people eat, how they live, what they fear, and sometimes what their transportation is and how they make war on each other. In a desert region, for example, they will subsist on what grows around the oasis, what they can hunt, and what their herds of goats and camels can provide them with. In the jungle, they have fruit, meat, and vegetables in plenty; the real problem is keeping the wild animals out of their crops and their villages. You don't have to go into pages detailing how the lives of your character intersect with the world around them; but if you put in hints that help us understand how their world works, it really makes the story come alive.
And finally, something I have almost never seen done is how the terrain looks or appears to an outsider. This is probably something I notice more than most people. I come from the Texas Panhandle, and often see people from other places react with shock to certain things I take for granted--for instance, the nearly non-stop winds and cacti waiting in ambush. On the other hand, when I went to Colorado and tried to hike in the Rockies, the thin air just about did me in--and in Washington State, I always like to go in the autumn, when the blackberries are ripe and I can go pick them. If your characters enter a region with topographical differences, they will notice--and making them notice can be a lot of fun.
One of the things I've always found important is nailing the climate and the clothing that goes with it. Let's be realistic, here: if your land has bone-chilling winds regularly whipping off the arctic ice that sits only twenty miles to the north, your characters will not, repeat not be walking around with bare chests, short sleeves, or in light fabrics. Clothing materials that will make sense are wool, leather, and lots of fur, with little to no bare skin exposed to freeze. Conversely, if your characters must move for some reason from biting cold up north to the blistering heat of a southern desert, do not expect me (who lives in the Texas Panhandle and thus right on the edge of the Great American Desert) to calmly expect that these cold-tough but heat-wimp heroes will be able to travel through the murderous temperatures without ditching a considerable amount of clothing, and fast. Equally, I can see a beauteous princess who comes from a jungle setting being perfectly comfortable in a nudist society. I can't imagine someone from the temperate (read: chilly) regions of northern Europe being so.
Second--and this I have found rarely detailed--is the way the flora and fauna of the area dictate the lives of the characters. Emily Rodda's Rowan of Rin series does a great job of detailing how the ecology of her various lands works, and the marvelous Edge Chronicles do such a great job of making a completely alien world look realistic you almost expect to find it on a map. But most other stories ignore this altogether. Yet this used to be such an important part of life that I find it weird that we forget about it! The flora and fauna in a region dictates what your people eat, how they live, what they fear, and sometimes what their transportation is and how they make war on each other. In a desert region, for example, they will subsist on what grows around the oasis, what they can hunt, and what their herds of goats and camels can provide them with. In the jungle, they have fruit, meat, and vegetables in plenty; the real problem is keeping the wild animals out of their crops and their villages. You don't have to go into pages detailing how the lives of your character intersect with the world around them; but if you put in hints that help us understand how their world works, it really makes the story come alive.
And finally, something I have almost never seen done is how the terrain looks or appears to an outsider. This is probably something I notice more than most people. I come from the Texas Panhandle, and often see people from other places react with shock to certain things I take for granted--for instance, the nearly non-stop winds and cacti waiting in ambush. On the other hand, when I went to Colorado and tried to hike in the Rockies, the thin air just about did me in--and in Washington State, I always like to go in the autumn, when the blackberries are ripe and I can go pick them. If your characters enter a region with topographical differences, they will notice--and making them notice can be a lot of fun.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Time-Write Tuesday
That time again! And this time I hope to be able to provide examples. I do not know what was wrong with me last week; I didn't want to get anything done, even something fun and easy as a time-write. I will be doing better this week, though!
Something new this week; I normally use the generators at Seventh Sanctum. This week, however, I will take a couple characters from two custom generators at Generatorland, and providing two names from the Rinkworks generator site. These are pretty good sites; check them out!
Male Lead: Tadashi, The Air Faery; Sagaris Paladin of the West Tundra
Female Lead: Jh'tira: Good Princess with Slender build Porcelain skin Blonde hair Slender Silver eyes enjoys Functional Clothing Plain coronets
Villain: Sharalith: This brutal sorceror is motivated by power-lust. He uses demonology in his plots, always summoning demons of deception to achieve his goals. He suffers from a chronic medical condition.
McGuffin: The three pieces of the Foul Battle Lens
Setting: Fleet of Eternity
And, because I cannot for the life of me come up with any first lines, I will cheat and use the Seventh Sanctum idea generator. Have fun!
1: Setting: pirate. Theme: transformation/sudden gain-of-greatness story
2: Setting: high fantasy. Theme: race-to-the-finish/adventure story
3: Setting: high fantasy/sword-and-sorcery. Theme: treasure hunt/redemption story
(For those of you who, like me, had no idea what a sagaris is, it's a large axe.)
Something new this week; I normally use the generators at Seventh Sanctum. This week, however, I will take a couple characters from two custom generators at Generatorland, and providing two names from the Rinkworks generator site. These are pretty good sites; check them out!
Male Lead: Tadashi, The Air Faery; Sagaris Paladin of the West Tundra
Female Lead: Jh'tira: Good Princess with Slender build Porcelain skin Blonde hair Slender Silver eyes enjoys Functional Clothing Plain coronets
Villain: Sharalith: This brutal sorceror is motivated by power-lust. He uses demonology in his plots, always summoning demons of deception to achieve his goals. He suffers from a chronic medical condition.
McGuffin: The three pieces of the Foul Battle Lens
Setting: Fleet of Eternity
And, because I cannot for the life of me come up with any first lines, I will cheat and use the Seventh Sanctum idea generator. Have fun!
1: Setting: pirate. Theme: transformation/sudden gain-of-greatness story
2: Setting: high fantasy. Theme: race-to-the-finish/adventure story
3: Setting: high fantasy/sword-and-sorcery. Theme: treasure hunt/redemption story
(For those of you who, like me, had no idea what a sagaris is, it's a large axe.)
Fangirls and Fanboys
Despite what some would have us think, there is no real difference between an author and an authoress, an actor and an actress, a poet and a poetess, and often very little difference between a hero and a heroine--aside from the general differences in thought between a guy and a girl. However, there is a huge difference between saying you are a fanboy or saying you are a fangirl. I realized this when trying to tell my mother about the conversation I and a friend had about the worlds of D&D. I do not play D&D, but I enjoy world-building probably more than I should, so I enjoy discussing it. It felt a little weird to tell her that I was fanboying--but there was no way I was telling her I was fangirling over world-building!
The difference between the two is astounding. A fanboy will be obsessed with something that doesn't exist, but the discussions between two fanboys are likely to be about who would beat whom in a fight. Which is the real reason, I think, that in the Avengers movie, the heroes squared off against each other before they got down to fighting the bad guys. This was a movie meant for fanboys.
They will get into long, detailed discussions about who could beat who, and whose technology is superior, quoting scenes and happenings, as serious about their unreal characters as two professors of theology debating points of Scripture. Movie remakes of their favorite comics had better stay true to the spirit of the comic, or else the die-hard fanboy will scorn it to the end of his days. They work their obsession into unlikely places, and will be completely serious about it.
Fangirls, unlike fanboys, don't bother comparing, say, BBC's Sherlock to Doctor Who, unless it's to swoon over the idea of two handsome intellectuals in the same place. I have never seen them arguing over whether Merlin is handsomer than Loki, or whether Sherlock and John are more attractive than Sam and Dean (or whatever those guys from Supernatural are called). Nor do they discriminate over what movie their particular obsession is in. (Though if there is a chorus of excited screaming in the movie theater the first time Smaug talks, I'm waiting for the DVD--and gagging my sisters before he comes onscreen.) They have the unique ability to drool over just about anyone, provided his face and hair are the correct shape and color, and spend most of their intellectual time preparing to fling themselves into his net before he has it spread out to catch them.
The difference between the two is astounding. A fanboy will be obsessed with something that doesn't exist, but the discussions between two fanboys are likely to be about who would beat whom in a fight. Which is the real reason, I think, that in the Avengers movie, the heroes squared off against each other before they got down to fighting the bad guys. This was a movie meant for fanboys.
| Try to tell me this wasn't your favorite part. |
A fangirl, on the other hand, besides being a slightly older phenomenon (the fangirl originated with Frank Sinatra; I don't know the exact date when it became acceptable for guys to obsess openly about their favorite comic book characters), generally tends to swoon over real people, or at least the real people portraying their fictional hottie of choice. And it's almost always over a handsome guy, though the cute sidekick will occasionally have his own fan base. Don't believe me? Type in "Benedict Cumberbatch" in Pintrest. Or don't, depending on how much squealing you can take in one sitting.
| Cue screaming in 3, 2, 1... |
Do I seem a little prejudiced? Well, maybe I am. I am a very mild fanboy, enjoying building my worlds and characters, and willing to laugh--at least a little--at those who sit and argue furiously over their unreal characters, because I don't particularly care who would beat whom unless I am working them into a story. And I live with two fangirls, who try to convince me that Loki is not a jerk and have subjected me to Sherlock, both checking out the show (I wasn't that impressed by it) and drooling over it on Pintrest until I roll my eyes and walk away in exasperation.
Now, I do have my obsessions. But... they're a little more likely to be something like...this.
| An illuminated copy of The Simarillion. Isn't it gorgeous? Too bad there's only one copy...Sigh.... |
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Writing Tips: Living Characters
What do some of the best stories written have in common? I would hazard a guess and say that the best stories, the ones that become classics and live through the centuries, have characters that come alive for the readers. So it follows that writers probably want to know how to make their characters come alive.
Admittedly, this is a skill I myself am still struggling with. But I think I can identify some pointers.
First, living characters are complex. This doesn't mean they have to have deep issues, or have some huge buried secret. It just means that they behave a little differently in certain situations. For instance, the reason I found Aragorn so appealing as a character was the fact that, brave, noble and diplomatic as he was, he was still human, and had some flaws. In the book (they skipped this in the movie), he has some real issues with being asked to leave his weapons--particularly Anduril--at the door before he and the others enter Meduseld. In fact, he comes about a hair short of throwing a fit over it, and it takes some stern words from Gandalf before he obeys. Now, I don't believe in making a character so flawed they're impossible to like...but a few little flaw will make them believable.
Another thing that brings a character to life is a regional accent. I have a little trouble with this...not because I fail to give them that accent, but because I have trouble getting out of a Texan twang. I tend to make people talk as if they're from the Southwest even when they're not supposed to be. (This is actually because I have very little experience with the accents of certain different places, such as New York.) It's a little easier when I'm writing for places that don't exist; when that happens, I just give accents to the characters who are supposed to have one and don't bother with the ones who aren't. For clear examples of different accents and how they work, I recommend Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
Then there's the quirk. The quirk is a small character attribute that you might not necessarily expect in that character. My personal favorite is Mr. Tulip, a villain from Terry Pratchett's book The Truth. He's a hulking brute who has no problem with violence and uses censored curses ( __ing) in every sentence. But he is also an art connoisseur who appreciates beautiful paintings and can recognize rare instruments at a glance.
Passion also helps bring characters to life. The heroines of Joan Bauer's stories are good examples of this: whether it's journalism, waitressing, gardening or shoe retail, they throw themselves into it wholeheartedly, sometimes centering their lives around their love of it. These girls love what they do and want to do it well--maybe even do it best.
And finally, believable characters are willing to engage in banter. You don't need banter; but it's something that brings a story to life and makes characters instantly endearing. And note: banter is only banter when both or all are willing to engage in it. If only one person is doing it, they will come across as either mocking or annoying. However, a teasing back-and-forth exchange is a lot of fun to read--and in my case, at least, often becomes my favorite part of the book. Banter isn't easy to perfect, but the end result is worth it.
Admittedly, this is a skill I myself am still struggling with. But I think I can identify some pointers.
First, living characters are complex. This doesn't mean they have to have deep issues, or have some huge buried secret. It just means that they behave a little differently in certain situations. For instance, the reason I found Aragorn so appealing as a character was the fact that, brave, noble and diplomatic as he was, he was still human, and had some flaws. In the book (they skipped this in the movie), he has some real issues with being asked to leave his weapons--particularly Anduril--at the door before he and the others enter Meduseld. In fact, he comes about a hair short of throwing a fit over it, and it takes some stern words from Gandalf before he obeys. Now, I don't believe in making a character so flawed they're impossible to like...but a few little flaw will make them believable.
Another thing that brings a character to life is a regional accent. I have a little trouble with this...not because I fail to give them that accent, but because I have trouble getting out of a Texan twang. I tend to make people talk as if they're from the Southwest even when they're not supposed to be. (This is actually because I have very little experience with the accents of certain different places, such as New York.) It's a little easier when I'm writing for places that don't exist; when that happens, I just give accents to the characters who are supposed to have one and don't bother with the ones who aren't. For clear examples of different accents and how they work, I recommend Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
Then there's the quirk. The quirk is a small character attribute that you might not necessarily expect in that character. My personal favorite is Mr. Tulip, a villain from Terry Pratchett's book The Truth. He's a hulking brute who has no problem with violence and uses censored curses ( __ing) in every sentence. But he is also an art connoisseur who appreciates beautiful paintings and can recognize rare instruments at a glance.
Passion also helps bring characters to life. The heroines of Joan Bauer's stories are good examples of this: whether it's journalism, waitressing, gardening or shoe retail, they throw themselves into it wholeheartedly, sometimes centering their lives around their love of it. These girls love what they do and want to do it well--maybe even do it best.
And finally, believable characters are willing to engage in banter. You don't need banter; but it's something that brings a story to life and makes characters instantly endearing. And note: banter is only banter when both or all are willing to engage in it. If only one person is doing it, they will come across as either mocking or annoying. However, a teasing back-and-forth exchange is a lot of fun to read--and in my case, at least, often becomes my favorite part of the book. Banter isn't easy to perfect, but the end result is worth it.
Apologies
Sorry to all my readers for taking so long; I have been out of it all week, and am not entirely sure why. Hopefully I'll be back to myself next week, and I'll try to get the posts out on time again.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Time-Write Tuesday
It's that time again! I don't know how many people are doing this, but if it gives some ideas or helps hone writing skills, I'll keep doing this. Here we are: characters, McGuffin, and setting.
Male Lead: Esath: The mysterious librarian. His wounded eyes are magenta. His hair is the color of fine jade. He has a perfect mouth - and a perfect smile. He has colorful tattoos all over his body - and there's quite a story to be told there.
Female Lead: Tamiabi: This lady makes you think of an impenetrable fortress. She has round eyes the color of varnished wood. Her silky, wavy, black hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a pair of wings. She is very short and has an hourglass build. Her skin is tan. She has a domed forehead and small feet. Her wardrobe is unusual.
Villain: Kobethm: This strong mage is spurred onward by power-lust. He employs illusions in his plots, often stealing and corrupting the magical research of other to achieve his goals. He is part of a secret society.
McGuffin: Black Victory Jewel
Setting: Shadow's Marchessies
1. The lantern died, sending the room into complete blackness.
2. The waterfall would have been an idyllic sight--if not for what had happened there.
3. [He/She/I] slid through the opening and landed silently on the floor. The book was in here somewhere.
Ready? Grab your writing supplies, turn on the timer, and go!
Male Lead: Esath: The mysterious librarian. His wounded eyes are magenta. His hair is the color of fine jade. He has a perfect mouth - and a perfect smile. He has colorful tattoos all over his body - and there's quite a story to be told there.
Female Lead: Tamiabi: This lady makes you think of an impenetrable fortress. She has round eyes the color of varnished wood. Her silky, wavy, black hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a pair of wings. She is very short and has an hourglass build. Her skin is tan. She has a domed forehead and small feet. Her wardrobe is unusual.
Villain: Kobethm: This strong mage is spurred onward by power-lust. He employs illusions in his plots, often stealing and corrupting the magical research of other to achieve his goals. He is part of a secret society.
McGuffin: Black Victory Jewel
Setting: Shadow's Marchessies
1. The lantern died, sending the room into complete blackness.
2. The waterfall would have been an idyllic sight--if not for what had happened there.
3. [He/She/I] slid through the opening and landed silently on the floor. The book was in here somewhere.
Ready? Grab your writing supplies, turn on the timer, and go!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Musing: The Real War on Women
These days, it seems like anywhere you turn, you come across the phrase 'The War on Women.' Now, I do agree that there is a war on women going on, and it is cruel, brutal and straight from the forces of darkness...but I don't think it's quite the same war that the people screaming about it think it is.
This war attacks us, as women, on numerous different fronts, and it takes forms blatant and subtle. For instance, the sickening atrocities perpetuated by the zealots of Islam and the government puppets of China read like the bleakest dystopian novel, or the most disgusting horror story. There, the war on women is blatant, obvious, and bloody.
But there is another front to this war, one which is far subtler. And it is here that I propose we make our stand, to unmask the weapons, that they may be destroyed more easily.
1: Pornography Despite the blithe assurances given to us by the media, the porn industry, or Planned Parenthood, pornography is not something 'harmless', something every man looks at, or natural. Though possibly as old as civilization, it is right at the root of the subtle war. Pornography degrades all women, not just the sex slaves forced to perform for the professional voyeur's camera. It degrades the men who look at it, tearing them down from a fallen god to the level of a monster. Every serial rapist started with an addiction to porn. It turns a woman from the pinnacle of creation to a toy--and often a dirty toy.
2: Contraception: Far from being the liberating force women were promised when it first came out, contraception has done more than any other thing to enslave us. First off, the whole idea of contraception is that women are broken; that our fertility is something that must be fixed or suppressed. Really? That is an integral part of ourselves as women! In fact, it is that that truly makes us women! Whether or not we have children--I, for instance, am celibate, and therefore have never carried a child--we should be proud of our ability to bring life forth.
In the second place, contraception and the porn industry go hand-in-hand. Contrary to what the soldiers of Death tell us, your average man looking to pick up girls probably isn't really interested in fathering a child. He wants a loose night on the town, a good time with a pretty toy, and wants no responsibility to come out of it. He can't do that unless he knows for sure that the woman he will be sleeping with is sterile--and with contraception, he can believe that. Contraception fulfilled the dreams of every rakehell and cad in history: they could have their fun without worrying about having to support a child. And if contraception fails, there is always,
3: Abortion: This is probably hands-down the worst assault on women outside of the atrocities in Sharia Law and Communist China--and in China, this is the tool they use. I won't even go into the horrors of what abortion entails, save to say that most of the babies murdered in this fashion are female. (Sex-selective abortions, anyone? You know, the kind PP fought to keep from being banned?) Abortion is not liberating to women--quite the opposite, in fact. Even those who enter it freely, and by freely I mean 'not being threatened with death from the child's father if they don't', suffer for years afterwards. Flashbacks, hallucinations, a loss of sanity, promiscuity, and suicidal impulses are all common in post-abortive women. Some women who aborted a child are unable to bond with the children they have afterwards. Many become abusive. Some go so far as to kill themselves and their children.
And probably 1% of women go into an abortion without feeling pressure from somewhere. Whether it's an abusive boyfriend or husband who doesn't want the child, an incestuous relative who wants to keep his crime hidden, or just the staff down at the local Planned Parenthood, women often don't feel like they have a choice. Ironic, isn't it? They claim to give women 'choices,' but they only give her one--and it's often a choice she doesn't want.
Then there's the little fact that women who go into abortion clinics are often abused. The book Lime 5 is a nightmare compendium, listing women who died from complications with abortions, women who were raped by the abortionists, women who were permanently sterilized, and the callous treatment they received when asking for justice afterwards. And the list has just got longer over the years. Kharnamaya Mongar? Jennifer Morbelli? These are only two whom the media has recognized. How many hundreds never get mentioned at all?
This war attacks us, as women, on numerous different fronts, and it takes forms blatant and subtle. For instance, the sickening atrocities perpetuated by the zealots of Islam and the government puppets of China read like the bleakest dystopian novel, or the most disgusting horror story. There, the war on women is blatant, obvious, and bloody.
But there is another front to this war, one which is far subtler. And it is here that I propose we make our stand, to unmask the weapons, that they may be destroyed more easily.
1: Pornography Despite the blithe assurances given to us by the media, the porn industry, or Planned Parenthood, pornography is not something 'harmless', something every man looks at, or natural. Though possibly as old as civilization, it is right at the root of the subtle war. Pornography degrades all women, not just the sex slaves forced to perform for the professional voyeur's camera. It degrades the men who look at it, tearing them down from a fallen god to the level of a monster. Every serial rapist started with an addiction to porn. It turns a woman from the pinnacle of creation to a toy--and often a dirty toy.
2: Contraception: Far from being the liberating force women were promised when it first came out, contraception has done more than any other thing to enslave us. First off, the whole idea of contraception is that women are broken; that our fertility is something that must be fixed or suppressed. Really? That is an integral part of ourselves as women! In fact, it is that that truly makes us women! Whether or not we have children--I, for instance, am celibate, and therefore have never carried a child--we should be proud of our ability to bring life forth.
In the second place, contraception and the porn industry go hand-in-hand. Contrary to what the soldiers of Death tell us, your average man looking to pick up girls probably isn't really interested in fathering a child. He wants a loose night on the town, a good time with a pretty toy, and wants no responsibility to come out of it. He can't do that unless he knows for sure that the woman he will be sleeping with is sterile--and with contraception, he can believe that. Contraception fulfilled the dreams of every rakehell and cad in history: they could have their fun without worrying about having to support a child. And if contraception fails, there is always,
3: Abortion: This is probably hands-down the worst assault on women outside of the atrocities in Sharia Law and Communist China--and in China, this is the tool they use. I won't even go into the horrors of what abortion entails, save to say that most of the babies murdered in this fashion are female. (Sex-selective abortions, anyone? You know, the kind PP fought to keep from being banned?) Abortion is not liberating to women--quite the opposite, in fact. Even those who enter it freely, and by freely I mean 'not being threatened with death from the child's father if they don't', suffer for years afterwards. Flashbacks, hallucinations, a loss of sanity, promiscuity, and suicidal impulses are all common in post-abortive women. Some women who aborted a child are unable to bond with the children they have afterwards. Many become abusive. Some go so far as to kill themselves and their children.
And probably 1% of women go into an abortion without feeling pressure from somewhere. Whether it's an abusive boyfriend or husband who doesn't want the child, an incestuous relative who wants to keep his crime hidden, or just the staff down at the local Planned Parenthood, women often don't feel like they have a choice. Ironic, isn't it? They claim to give women 'choices,' but they only give her one--and it's often a choice she doesn't want.
Then there's the little fact that women who go into abortion clinics are often abused. The book Lime 5 is a nightmare compendium, listing women who died from complications with abortions, women who were raped by the abortionists, women who were permanently sterilized, and the callous treatment they received when asking for justice afterwards. And the list has just got longer over the years. Kharnamaya Mongar? Jennifer Morbelli? These are only two whom the media has recognized. How many hundreds never get mentioned at all?
Apologies.
Many apologies for the late posting. In deference to a sister's understandable complaint that I was working so much on my blog that it was giving her no time to do her own, I have decided to pare it down a little. Friday's post will be combined with Monday's. Sorry about that.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Writing Tips: Foreshadowing
An often-ignored part of writing is foreshadowing. In my critique group, this is generally frowned upon--but that usually just means I did it badly, because foreshadowing is really important. It's setting up something so that a plot point, when it appears, looks real rather than contrived.
Whether you write regular fiction, mystery, fantasy, or science fiction, something is going to happen later in the story that needs to be mentioned, at least for a second, earlier in the story. For instance, say a character dies in connection with a food allergy. If you want it to look like a suspicious death, insure that we know earlier in the story that the character has the allergy, and then make us wonder how the fatal tidbit got into his or her food.
In a fantasy setting, a character is more likely to start developing magical powers than have a food allergy. A secondary character slowly discovering their powers and what they can do with them generally makes for a pretty cool subplot. But don't give them these powers right at the climax, with no explanation of how they got them. For instance, say young Declan has the power to manipulate fire, which means that, at the climax, he is able to support our hero Termalaine against the dragon or wicked sorcerer by bending the dragon's flame or shooting gouts of it out of his fingers. A foreshadowing of this ability would be a fascination with candles or the hearth fire, and an unusually warm body temperature. He would probably be the one to start and tend the campfires while he and Termalaine are on the road, and might be able to sense when there's already a fire kindled. Giving Declan an affinity for fire at the start of the story makes his being able to wield it at the climax believable.
Another thing that's wise to foreshadow is the presence of a higher enemy. Say you have two countries, usually at each other's throats, who have obtained an uneasy peace. Both countries have something valuable--some resource or a sacred place--which they guard carefully, and each one wants what the other has. So they're starting to rumble at each other again. But all the while, a third power--which wants both things--is waiting in the wings, fanning the conflict, and building its forces for the correct moment to strike. Again, you don't want to spring this third power out of the blue. A good foreshadowing would be agents of this third country--and these agents can take almost any form--filtering through the first two, and spreading nasty rumors to stir people up. Or, if this third power is something too evil to send its agents openly, people could use it in curses, and describe their enemies as coming from the power's country.
Foreshadowing can also hint at the arrival of a benign force as well. For instance, there is a foreshadowing of the character of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when Mr. Beaver speaks his name for the first time. All the children feel something different, high and wonderful and terrible (just terrible, in Edmund's case) at the same time, which leads you up to the moment you realize who and what Aslan really is.
I came across both an excellent example of foreshadowing and an example of what happens when you don't foreshadow at all fairly recently. The first comes from the excellent series, The Runelords, by David Farland. It starts with the second book, with a nine-year-old girl fleeing from a city under attack by reavers. She seemed like a normal little girl, choking back tears as she flees her homeland. But shortly into her flight, she encounters a creature that was introduced in the first book: a wyld. She bonds with the wyld, and teaches it some rudimentary things--which changes her, just a little. And that little change turns into bigger changes--until the little girl becomes a powerful Earth Warden.
For the bad example, I am relieved to say there is only one book of it so far, though it may become a series. Frankly, I'm astounded that...thing, I almost dare not call it a story--even got published, as it reads like the first draft of a first attempt at writing. Quite simply, he forgot to foreshadow the bad guys at all. And while you're assured constantly that they're evil, you have no idea why. They come out of nowhere, and never have more than a name and a battle plan. I don't even know what they're supposed to look like, or why they decided they wanted the hero's nation.
Foreshadowing doesn't have to be blatant. It can be a grumbled curse from a character so minor he doesn't have a name, or a throwaway comment by a cook over a spit. And you can foreshadow something quite big from a tiny incident. For instance: The smith reached for the hammer, fumbled at it, and then dropped it. "Lord Asp take it!" he yelled, jumping back just too late. Even if this is the only time we hear of Lord Asp before he rides out of the blood, smoke and flames, we already have his name in our minds, and a shiver will go down our spines as we see him for the first time. And the same goes for this: "Ah well then," old Marjorie sighed, giving the hen another turn on the spit. "It's one of those things that can't be helped, lass. In the old days, we used to say that the world would turn right again when the Bright Lady came from her hill; a pretty saying, but not much help now." You, as well as the girl Marjorie is speaking to, understand the portent when the Bright Lady arrives on scene.
So that's my take on the foreshortening technique. Can be simple, possibly even painless...yet believe me, people will notice when you skip on it.
Whether you write regular fiction, mystery, fantasy, or science fiction, something is going to happen later in the story that needs to be mentioned, at least for a second, earlier in the story. For instance, say a character dies in connection with a food allergy. If you want it to look like a suspicious death, insure that we know earlier in the story that the character has the allergy, and then make us wonder how the fatal tidbit got into his or her food.
In a fantasy setting, a character is more likely to start developing magical powers than have a food allergy. A secondary character slowly discovering their powers and what they can do with them generally makes for a pretty cool subplot. But don't give them these powers right at the climax, with no explanation of how they got them. For instance, say young Declan has the power to manipulate fire, which means that, at the climax, he is able to support our hero Termalaine against the dragon or wicked sorcerer by bending the dragon's flame or shooting gouts of it out of his fingers. A foreshadowing of this ability would be a fascination with candles or the hearth fire, and an unusually warm body temperature. He would probably be the one to start and tend the campfires while he and Termalaine are on the road, and might be able to sense when there's already a fire kindled. Giving Declan an affinity for fire at the start of the story makes his being able to wield it at the climax believable.
Another thing that's wise to foreshadow is the presence of a higher enemy. Say you have two countries, usually at each other's throats, who have obtained an uneasy peace. Both countries have something valuable--some resource or a sacred place--which they guard carefully, and each one wants what the other has. So they're starting to rumble at each other again. But all the while, a third power--which wants both things--is waiting in the wings, fanning the conflict, and building its forces for the correct moment to strike. Again, you don't want to spring this third power out of the blue. A good foreshadowing would be agents of this third country--and these agents can take almost any form--filtering through the first two, and spreading nasty rumors to stir people up. Or, if this third power is something too evil to send its agents openly, people could use it in curses, and describe their enemies as coming from the power's country.
Foreshadowing can also hint at the arrival of a benign force as well. For instance, there is a foreshadowing of the character of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when Mr. Beaver speaks his name for the first time. All the children feel something different, high and wonderful and terrible (just terrible, in Edmund's case) at the same time, which leads you up to the moment you realize who and what Aslan really is.
I came across both an excellent example of foreshadowing and an example of what happens when you don't foreshadow at all fairly recently. The first comes from the excellent series, The Runelords, by David Farland. It starts with the second book, with a nine-year-old girl fleeing from a city under attack by reavers. She seemed like a normal little girl, choking back tears as she flees her homeland. But shortly into her flight, she encounters a creature that was introduced in the first book: a wyld. She bonds with the wyld, and teaches it some rudimentary things--which changes her, just a little. And that little change turns into bigger changes--until the little girl becomes a powerful Earth Warden.
For the bad example, I am relieved to say there is only one book of it so far, though it may become a series. Frankly, I'm astounded that...thing, I almost dare not call it a story--even got published, as it reads like the first draft of a first attempt at writing. Quite simply, he forgot to foreshadow the bad guys at all. And while you're assured constantly that they're evil, you have no idea why. They come out of nowhere, and never have more than a name and a battle plan. I don't even know what they're supposed to look like, or why they decided they wanted the hero's nation.
Foreshadowing doesn't have to be blatant. It can be a grumbled curse from a character so minor he doesn't have a name, or a throwaway comment by a cook over a spit. And you can foreshadow something quite big from a tiny incident. For instance: The smith reached for the hammer, fumbled at it, and then dropped it. "Lord Asp take it!" he yelled, jumping back just too late. Even if this is the only time we hear of Lord Asp before he rides out of the blood, smoke and flames, we already have his name in our minds, and a shiver will go down our spines as we see him for the first time. And the same goes for this: "Ah well then," old Marjorie sighed, giving the hen another turn on the spit. "It's one of those things that can't be helped, lass. In the old days, we used to say that the world would turn right again when the Bright Lady came from her hill; a pretty saying, but not much help now." You, as well as the girl Marjorie is speaking to, understand the portent when the Bright Lady arrives on scene.
So that's my take on the foreshortening technique. Can be simple, possibly even painless...yet believe me, people will notice when you skip on it.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Time-Write Tuesday
Not sure how many people actually did this last time, but it seemed to be fairly popular, so it will continue! Remember the drill? Notebook and pen, timer, and I'll provide three characters, a McGuffin, a setting, and three story starters. If you do it, post what you came up with in the comments. Don't worry if it's not very long; the time-write is a practice session, meant to help kick-start your muse and hone your techniques. Trust me, mine used to be really short, too, and some of them were weird.
Male Lead: Haero: The witty king. His naughty eyes are like two glowing embers. His hair is the color of black coffee. His clothes are fashionable, and he has a preference for green and white. He likes to wear a lot of amulets.
Female Lead: Teialle: This humorous lady has slanted blue eyes that are like two windows on the afternoon sky. Her silky, straight, white hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a lionfish's spines. She has a wide-hipped build. Her skin is light-colored. She has small hands. Her wardrobe is simple.
Villain: Farollu: This combative sorceress is spurred onward by a need to compensate for personal inadequacies. She employs elemental magic in her plans, usually conjuring armies of elementals to achieve her goals. She is trapped by the past.
McGuffin: The five fragments of the Jewel of the Moon
Setting: Fief of the Silent Fisher
1: The entrance to the cave would have been ominous enough without the stacked skulls around it.
2: The towering stack of books finally crashed down, nearly burying [him/her/me].
3: For some people, entering an all-out run needs motivation.
Pull out your pen and paper, rev up the timer, and see what you get!
Male Lead: Haero: The witty king. His naughty eyes are like two glowing embers. His hair is the color of black coffee. His clothes are fashionable, and he has a preference for green and white. He likes to wear a lot of amulets.
Female Lead: Teialle: This humorous lady has slanted blue eyes that are like two windows on the afternoon sky. Her silky, straight, white hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a lionfish's spines. She has a wide-hipped build. Her skin is light-colored. She has small hands. Her wardrobe is simple.
Villain: Farollu: This combative sorceress is spurred onward by a need to compensate for personal inadequacies. She employs elemental magic in her plans, usually conjuring armies of elementals to achieve her goals. She is trapped by the past.
McGuffin: The five fragments of the Jewel of the Moon
Setting: Fief of the Silent Fisher
1: The entrance to the cave would have been ominous enough without the stacked skulls around it.
2: The towering stack of books finally crashed down, nearly burying [him/her/me].
3: For some people, entering an all-out run needs motivation.
Pull out your pen and paper, rev up the timer, and see what you get!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Musing: Dangerous Similarity
In ancient times, there were two powers. One was ancient and powerful; one was a scrappy little place just starting to pull itself up by the bootstraps. The older was a hub of commerce, fat and wealthy. The other was famed mostly for the courage of its soldiers.
The smaller place worshiped a plethora of gods that grew constantly cozier and more homely: the god of doorways was important enough to have a month named after him, for instance, and the most respected of their pantheon was Vesta, goddess of house and home. The constant proliferation of their pantheon got a little ridiculous, but it was all concentrated around the home, and the protection of it.
The other power worshiped demons. There was no other word for them, and their names have since passed into infamy: Moloch, Baal, Astarte, Tanit. They requested only one sort of sacrifice: infants, burned alive.
Neither power liked each other; after all, in the ancient days, that's how it went. You couldn't have two superpowers in the world; one had to go down. And certainly the older power saw the scrappy new one as a decided nuisance. They attempted to crush it, like a bug underfoot. But to their annoyance, the bug fought back, and became stronger for the attempt to crush it.
I won't deny the other factors that made up the Punic Wars; wars, after all, are complicated things, and no one knows precisely what might motivate the ones higher up, the ones who suggest the wars and send their soldiers into battle. But G.K. Chesterton says, and I agree, that at their heart, the wars between Rome and Carthage were wars between gods and demons: a ferocious battle against a household pantheon, still strong in its time, and perhaps more closely aligned with Heaven, and unmasked demons from the pits of Hell. The repetition of Delenda est Carthago, Carthage must be destroyed, was not motivated by something so petty as "They're bigger than us and they're getting in our way." It was sheer horror at the monstrosities that went on in the Carthaginian temples--and given how bloodthirsty the demons are, I would imagine they took place every day.
The war of Gods and Demons ended the only way it really could, for the demons, no matter how hard or how viciously they fight, are ever fighting a losing battle. They may have their hour, but it is an hour only, and then they are flung back into their pit. And Carthage arguably destroyed itself. Rome was practically lost. Little household gods, no matter how sweet they may seem, aren't very strong, not without Someone else behind them. And it didn't seem that there was someone behind them as Hannibal thundered slowly toward Rome, the blessings of his hideous 'gods' behind him, no doubt gloating as they saw that which they hated falling before them in fire and ruin. It was their hour and they gloried in it...but the people back home betrayed them.
Hannibal never received any reinforcements. The people back home did not believe he needed them. After all, the Romans had nothing left but their city and their stubborn determination not to fall. The Carthaginians could not understand that they would still fight, even after their fire was down to an ember. Embers, after all, can do nothing but go out. So they returned to their money-counting and baby-burning, blithely ignoring the frantic reports coming back from Hannibal.
For the Romans did still fight, and they fought with all the strength that determination gave them. And surely, in their city, sacred as all cities are sacred that are truly loved by their people, they received there the breath of the Divine. Perhaps the little household gods were backed by angels; perhaps Vesta, a foreshadowing of the Woman who would bless hearth and home by providing one for the Son of God, had her hour, rising up in power against the false Queen of Heaven. But Hannibal was thrown back, lost the ground he had gained, and the Romans rose in fury, pursuing him back to the gates of Carthage itself. And Carthage was destroyed utterly: no stone left upon another, the fields about it sown with salt.
And now in modern times, there are two powers once again--three, if you consider the wild card which did not exist back then. And ironically, most of these two powers are concentrated in the same countries. We like to label them, to pin them down neatly between Left and Right, between Them and Us. And we waste a great deal of time screaming at each other, tearing each other apart over trivial things. Yet at our heart, we have again, very simply, the spirits of Rome and Carthage.
We have, mostly, replaced household gods with household policies, or household saints in many cases. And the temples of Moloch do not proclaim themselves as such, nor do they boast sneering statues or smoke-belching furnaces. But we have our household patrons and our temples of Moloch--and as before, they are locked in furious combat.
The combat has changed from days of yore: gone are the times when two men might hate each other, and let fly with sword and bill and bow. Now we are locked into 'civilized' methods, which, if one listens, quickly prove to be far less civilized than the swordfight. Now we argue over bills and rights. We fight tooth and nail to protect our household patrons, and resort to mob tactics when anyone dares to limit what goes on in the temples of Moloch.
And I wonder: does anyone else remember what went on in the past, when this first happened? Does anyone else recall how nearly crushed Rome was, and will anyone be willing to fight when the parallel comes around? And does anyone else wonder which will be America's equivalent: Carthage, a dim, bad memory of an evil place, where ghosts wail around the broken stones over the salted plain? Or the shining pillars of the glory days of Rome?
The smaller place worshiped a plethora of gods that grew constantly cozier and more homely: the god of doorways was important enough to have a month named after him, for instance, and the most respected of their pantheon was Vesta, goddess of house and home. The constant proliferation of their pantheon got a little ridiculous, but it was all concentrated around the home, and the protection of it.
The other power worshiped demons. There was no other word for them, and their names have since passed into infamy: Moloch, Baal, Astarte, Tanit. They requested only one sort of sacrifice: infants, burned alive.
Neither power liked each other; after all, in the ancient days, that's how it went. You couldn't have two superpowers in the world; one had to go down. And certainly the older power saw the scrappy new one as a decided nuisance. They attempted to crush it, like a bug underfoot. But to their annoyance, the bug fought back, and became stronger for the attempt to crush it.
I won't deny the other factors that made up the Punic Wars; wars, after all, are complicated things, and no one knows precisely what might motivate the ones higher up, the ones who suggest the wars and send their soldiers into battle. But G.K. Chesterton says, and I agree, that at their heart, the wars between Rome and Carthage were wars between gods and demons: a ferocious battle against a household pantheon, still strong in its time, and perhaps more closely aligned with Heaven, and unmasked demons from the pits of Hell. The repetition of Delenda est Carthago, Carthage must be destroyed, was not motivated by something so petty as "They're bigger than us and they're getting in our way." It was sheer horror at the monstrosities that went on in the Carthaginian temples--and given how bloodthirsty the demons are, I would imagine they took place every day.
The war of Gods and Demons ended the only way it really could, for the demons, no matter how hard or how viciously they fight, are ever fighting a losing battle. They may have their hour, but it is an hour only, and then they are flung back into their pit. And Carthage arguably destroyed itself. Rome was practically lost. Little household gods, no matter how sweet they may seem, aren't very strong, not without Someone else behind them. And it didn't seem that there was someone behind them as Hannibal thundered slowly toward Rome, the blessings of his hideous 'gods' behind him, no doubt gloating as they saw that which they hated falling before them in fire and ruin. It was their hour and they gloried in it...but the people back home betrayed them.
Hannibal never received any reinforcements. The people back home did not believe he needed them. After all, the Romans had nothing left but their city and their stubborn determination not to fall. The Carthaginians could not understand that they would still fight, even after their fire was down to an ember. Embers, after all, can do nothing but go out. So they returned to their money-counting and baby-burning, blithely ignoring the frantic reports coming back from Hannibal.
For the Romans did still fight, and they fought with all the strength that determination gave them. And surely, in their city, sacred as all cities are sacred that are truly loved by their people, they received there the breath of the Divine. Perhaps the little household gods were backed by angels; perhaps Vesta, a foreshadowing of the Woman who would bless hearth and home by providing one for the Son of God, had her hour, rising up in power against the false Queen of Heaven. But Hannibal was thrown back, lost the ground he had gained, and the Romans rose in fury, pursuing him back to the gates of Carthage itself. And Carthage was destroyed utterly: no stone left upon another, the fields about it sown with salt.
And now in modern times, there are two powers once again--three, if you consider the wild card which did not exist back then. And ironically, most of these two powers are concentrated in the same countries. We like to label them, to pin them down neatly between Left and Right, between Them and Us. And we waste a great deal of time screaming at each other, tearing each other apart over trivial things. Yet at our heart, we have again, very simply, the spirits of Rome and Carthage.
We have, mostly, replaced household gods with household policies, or household saints in many cases. And the temples of Moloch do not proclaim themselves as such, nor do they boast sneering statues or smoke-belching furnaces. But we have our household patrons and our temples of Moloch--and as before, they are locked in furious combat.
The combat has changed from days of yore: gone are the times when two men might hate each other, and let fly with sword and bill and bow. Now we are locked into 'civilized' methods, which, if one listens, quickly prove to be far less civilized than the swordfight. Now we argue over bills and rights. We fight tooth and nail to protect our household patrons, and resort to mob tactics when anyone dares to limit what goes on in the temples of Moloch.
And I wonder: does anyone else remember what went on in the past, when this first happened? Does anyone else recall how nearly crushed Rome was, and will anyone be willing to fight when the parallel comes around? And does anyone else wonder which will be America's equivalent: Carthage, a dim, bad memory of an evil place, where ghosts wail around the broken stones over the salted plain? Or the shining pillars of the glory days of Rome?
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