Why Writing Fantasy is Difficult: Setting

I've always done things the hard way. It's basically become part of my personality at this point, and something I've tried to embrace over the last few years.

Frankly, I think it's why I chose to start writing Fantasy above all other genres. It is an ungodly challenge. Now, I'm not saying it is the most difficult genre to write, but it certainly is for me. To be successful, one must create a living breathing world full of differing cultures, interesting characters, and--above all else--rules.

Yes, it's a Boris Vallejo.

Many people think writing Fantasy is easy (if not simple) because it's all fictional and you can "do whatever you want." Some people think this about fiction in general, which makes me chuckle a bit. Let me be the first to assure you that this is not the case. For one thing, "doing whatever you want" implies that things don't need an explanation. Things can just "pop into being" at any time, with no history and no purpose. If you want fairies, *bang* there are fairies. Unicorns? Why not! A magic sword that talks and cupcakes that sing? Sure.

I believe this stems from Fantasy being pointed to as a "childish" genre. Of course, this has changed in the past decade-or-so, with many "gritty" fantasy titles that clearly appeal to a more adult audience. But, still, there seems to be a stigma attached to the genre in general that can't be cast off through a bit of blood and gore.

At any rate, even the Disney "fantasy" movies have rules. Ariel doesn't just happen to be a mermaid; there's an entire mythology behind her existence. Belle's boyfriend in Beauty & The Beast adheres to a strict backstory, as well. It's important to note that, even though a "magic" concept is present in both worlds, it isn't used to supplant an actual storyline and plot. Even though magic is present, there are many things the hero and villain can't "just do" to make everything okay. Whether the good guy is destined to win or not, they have to follow the world's rules to do so.

Flounder ruins another Family Picture.

Rules in Fantasy are part of the setting. Far from just names and places, the setting is what produces your characters. They have to come from somewhere, therefore the culture they originated from leaves its mark on them. Ariel is a mermaid princess, therefore she must act like a mermaid princess. No matter how much of a rebellious streak she has, she grew up in a palace under the sea and therefore comes with all the trappings that entails. Frodo Baggins comes from The Shire, and he begins the story every bit as simplistic and myopic as all the other hobbits there.

This is what makes those characters so interesting--despite their sources, they are distinct from their peers.

With that being said, the setting in Fantasy is probably the most important initial piece. Where does the story take place? How do you define what can happen there? No matter how interesting your characters are, if you do not define the parameters in which they life, you can't possibly push them toward their next part of the hero's journey.

With The Ninth Avatar, I had a very clear picture of the world that my characters lived in. Thanks mostly to having originally planned it as a video game, of course, I had sheets and sheets of character drawings, place descriptions, and other intricasies of a "fantasy" world. I even had a map (which, I found later, was sort of inadequate... but at least I had one).

The problem I'm running into with Scions of the Shade is that I did not begin with this solid framework. I took a few very good ideas and began running with them, as far and as fast as I could. But now, even though I'm almost at 50,000 words in the initial draft, I have basically written myself into a corner. The story is not going where I want, the characters are not doing what I want, and there's very little I can do about it with the MS in its current form.

Believe me when I say that writing a novel is one of the hardest things a person can attempt. This goes double for Speculative Fiction (Fantasy and SF). There's so much you have to keep in mind at any given time, so much you have to know; about a world that doesn't even really exist; about characters who you invented out of thin air; about a plotline that ties these two together with threads sometimes as weak as spidersilk. On top of all that, you have to make sure your style is coherent, your characters are believable and sympathetic (if not likeable), and that the story arc is clear.

One example of a great fantasy setting is in the books I've been re-reading lately: The Coldfire Trilogy. Many of you know this is my favorite series of books (which isn't a small thing for me to proclaim, particularly with so much great Fantasy under my belt) and during this latest re-read I have really discovered why. C.S. Friedman's style is a little repetitive, as she tends to remind you of a character's feelings in chapter after chapter, and constantly reminds you what happened previously in the story, but these things are minor in comparison to how rich and deep her setting is.

With a brilliant mixture of SF and Fantasy, she created a planet called Erna that a group of Earth colonists traveled to and settled on. We get hints of the result of that in the first book, Black Sun Rising, but it's not until the prequel of the second book, When True Night Falls, that we see what really happened after the Landing.

Erna is similar to Earth in that it has a breathable atmosphere, natural processes (weather/earthquakes/volcanoes), and native species. But what it also has is a "magical" force called the fae. This is really the twist that sets Coldfire apart from its peers, as the fae is not just your run-of-the-mill magical force.

Humans landed on Erna, but they don't belong there. Therefore, the fae reacts differently to them then it would a native species. This manifests, usually, by bringing the humans' greatest fears to life to feed on them. It reacts to their emotions, this intangible force that they cannot even see at the outset, and I don't just mean in small ways. Sure, it summons demons out of their nightmares, but the changes are much more broad than that.

Imagine a world where your own thoughts can actually cause things to happen. Fearing that a gun will misfire will make it misfire. Believing in a deity will make it manifest and feed on that faith. With how fickle and fearful humanity is, we were doomed to failure before even landing there. Ah, but there's one other thing: to give humans the ability to utilize the fae, one of the colonists sacrifices a few hundred of his shipmates (and the ship, itself) in a huge explosion. So they're stuck there.

Of course, all of that happens in centuries past. What the setting entails "today" is how humanity adapted to their conditions with the constant presence of the fae. There are cities, semi-safe havens, but walls cannot truly protect against the faeborn creatures. Basically what you have is a "middle ages" of sorts, where people use swords and the like, since the fae can influence the unpredictability of gunpowder, and numerous religions and sects who consciously or subconsciously utilize the fae.

Do you see how deep this goes? What could possibly come of these "rules?" And I haven't even gotten to the characters borne of them, yet. The world Friedman created is incredible--so rich that I have barely scratched the surface here.

So, it's with this in mind that I "go back to the drawing board" [fully] with Scions. I can't abandon the project outright, my mind won't let me, but I can start over with a better plan in mind and draw on what I've created and written already to feed this process.

Wish me luck.

My yearly bookmark

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. I'm still staggering, having realized this some time in advance, but I thought I should share a bit of my experience of what this meant.

My birthday usually means three things. For one, now that I live in Colorado, it means that snow is either coming (or, in the case of this year, it's already here). Two, people tend to send well-wishes and give me gifts--both of which I appreciate immensely. And three, I celebrate my "anniversary" of moving to Colorado.

Four years ago, I moved here, just a few days before I turned 25. Since then, I've wanted to commemorate the occasion each year by doing what I did the day I arrived. Micah was working downtown at the time and, since I had nothing to do that day (having not started my job yet), I spent all day walking around the 16th Street Mall. Ultimately I ended up at the Barnes & Noble, purchasing a bookmark.

Since then, every year without fail, I have set aside a day to make the same (or at least a similar) trip. This may seem like an insignificant thing to many, but I tend to be a semi-sentimental guy... especially with material possessions. Nowadays I have moved into more of a minimalist mentality so it's become doubly important that the possessions I do keep mean something to me. The yearly bookmark ritual is one of those things, and I expect to be doing it for a long time... at least until I move out of Colorado, in which case Micah and I will have to invent a new tradition.

Also, I got an iPhone (finally!), cementing myself firmly as a 21st century individual.

Watch out, world.

nonfiction

Sometimes, when I look back on my past, I am confounded.

Today I realized just how many "enemies" I've made over the years. What seems like such a poignant thing in fiction sounds so immature in real life; that there would be people who, even today, upon hearing my name would respond with violent thoughts. The fact that there are people in the world who wish me ill is something I have to deal with, whether or not they are in a position to do so.

Sometimes I wonder what became of some of my friends. Are they even still alive? Many were in bad shape the last time I heard from them; lost to the unpredictable world of drugs or worse.

The question in both cases that I ask is would I contact these people if I had the chance? Whether to seek some semblance of reconciliation, or possibly to resume the shallow interactions that are all that could remain after so many years out of contact? Inevitably, the answer is "no," and "neither," as the circumstances of life dictate I focus my efforts on what's in front rather than behind.

Still, it makes me wonder: what is the purpose of these memories? Of companionships, soured or not, by time or otherwise? Should I watch my back in fear that someday, somewhere, I might find a person waiting to seek revenge on me? It's a bothersome concept, and not one easily mulled over.

Would an apology ever be enough for the wrongs I've done, or does the positive I've brought about during the same times outweigh my trespasses? If forgiveness is that important, why do we not pursue it with more energy and effort? Perhaps we need only to forgive ourselves, and let the grudges lie where they may. Or perhaps that was the way of the past, and, now that we have the Internet, we no longer need to allow the lack of proximity to forestall our communication.

I neither watch for nor expect to run into anyone I've known in the past. It happens about as often as I'm in the same room with a celebrity, which is close to never. And yet, through things I've found and read, I know there are people who I've made a lasting impression on -- however negative that may be.

As we constantly evolve, should we even continue to place importance on these things? They might as well have happened to someone else, for as disconnected as we are from them.

I am purposefully being vague, mostly because these "grudges" and "trespasses" are so shallow and unimportant that to dwell on what they actually are would waste even more effort. But, hopefully, we can all relate to making enemies in our pasts.

I never have claimed to be a saint among men, though saying so sounds like I wish to excuse my behaviors. Perhaps I do, but I'd be naive if I thought any of the aforementioned might read this obscure post. There is really nothing to do but carry on, cast off these things as best we can, and work toward a better tomorrow.

New BP post

Hey everyone, check out the new post over at Beethoven's Playlist.

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Speaking of BP, I am looking for some possible guest bloggers over there. If you know a lot about music, have "connections," or are interested in the project, leave me a comment or shoot me an email. Thanks.

Confounding Vernacular: "blank" porn

Being that it is October here on Earth, the subject of horror writing came up in a discussion between me and Harry Markov recently. As if you weren't already aware, by the multitudinous zombie anthologies and tales of bloodletting he reviews, Harry is a big fan of the horror genre as a whole. I, myself, have held off on jumping too far in over the years. When I have, more so in 2009 than in the past, it has been 99% through film.

Horror writing, however, is quite the fascinating venture. Being able to frighten people with words is an enviable skill. I, myself, have never actually put forth effort into writing horror and told Harry so. I wouldn't even really know where to start.

He told me to "write torture porn."

Now, reading the expression "torture porn" immediately conjured images of sadistic erotica and tentacle-ridden hentai films. I told him I didn't write erotica, either, and he grew perplexed at this comment.

You see, inserting a word before "porn" does not imply any nudity but instead uses the themology of pornography to describe something in fewer words. It should make you start thinking "should I really be looking at this?"

So "torture porn" would be copious amounts of torture, as in Hostel and the Saw franchise. Just like This Is Why You're Fat is "food porn." No need to explain.

So, in effort to clarify, let's make sure we adopt the same universal definition.

My thoughts on The Recession

While some would say business isn't exactly "booming" at the moment, and point to the near 10% of unemployed Americans as proof, I discount any claims that things have stagnated.

Recently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average passed the 10,000 mark ⁽¹⁾ after having dropped below it for the first time in four years. This set off a massive wave of speculation, both public and private, about where the country is headed economically. Gas prices, after giving everyone a collective "breather," have given us a 12 cent jump in one week's time due, apparently, to the "weakening dollar."⁽²⁾

At [nearly] the same time, Apple posted its highest quartly gain ever⁽³⁾. A rise in profit of 47% with their stock price hitting the highest it ever has, somewhere close to $200/share. This in thanks to their Macs and iPhones, which they sold the most of ever. If you don't own an iPhone, and are not on AT&T, you probably don't understand the kind of investment that is. There's no such thing as a "free" iPhone version and, even though they've lowered in price, the cost of the phone is not the only thing you have to contend with. The bigger, longer-term, and absolutely-necessary cost is for the Data Plan you use (and whatever other Plan features you require). If people thought they were going to be broke, I'm not convinced they would make this kind of "investment." Then again, we are a nation built on a foundation of debt.

On top of all that, the Publishing (which includes distribution) Industry has come up against a challenge of its own⁽⁴⁾. With the advent of electronic readers (e.g. Kindle, Sony eReader, etc.) the "electronic book" has started to become a hot commodity. I say "started to" because I don't feel they've caught on as quickly as, say, DVD's. I can remember when The Matrix came out (and, to be honest, I didn't even want to see it at first because it was so hyped) but I remember even more vividly when The Matrix DVD came out. Everyone wanted to know "how they did that," and they didn't want to wait 5 years for a History Channel show about movie effects.

The "book" industry has seen so many "bestsellers," yet there is no literary equivalent of The Matrix. That much of a leap forward would be like releasing Hemingway during the Renaissance. However, I digress.

My concern about this ebook price war is that it takes away from the value of the property while, at the same time, preying on people's need for a bargain during "these tough economic times." Now, I've sold my own product at a discount, even given it away for free, but at this point in my career it isn't my primary goal to "turn a profit" from my writing efforts. Not that I would turn it down, of course. But what makes this price war so dangerous is that it ignores the profit model -- Walmart, Target, and Amazon will be losing money by retailing these selected bestsellers for less than they, as a business, need to.

"Sure," you might say, "but the consumer wins, don't they?" In the myopic short term, yes, the consumer does pull ahead on the scoreboard. Think, though, about what the retailers stand to gain from this kind of a maneuver. Loyalty? Due to the lightning-quick price matching of competition, it's unlikely that Walmart might "lure" away Target or Amazon's customers (and vice-versa). I'll grant you that a lot of people buy bestsellers, otherwise they'd have to come up with a different label, but is this really the main target market of any of the three retailers in question?

We also can't set aside the fact that these are ebooks being sold, not fancy hardcover editions. And yet, the only major difference there is materials--every piece of effort that goes into creating a physical book goes into creating an ebook short of tactile assembly. In fact, there is even additional work that needs to be done (e.g. special formatting). Add to that, these books are most-likely not just coming out in electronic format. To sum up, it cost the publishers the same amount to acquire and release these titles. How then do they get paid back by the retailers? The retailers eat the difference, and hope their own costs adjust to avoid deflation.

Or, they are merely sticking their toes in to see if they can't create a demand in this market, hoping electronic reading devices are that "next great thing" on everyone's shopping list. "Look how much money you can save!" they might boast, delicately sweeping all thoughts of the Public Library under the rug.

My point is that companies wouldn't be taking this kind of risk unless there was some kind of payoff. That's neither good nor bad; just don't for a second believe they have some kind of altruistic motive. We're a capitalist country, and the only reason a US company would care how much money is in your wallet is they want to know how much they can get you to spend. (Again, neither good nor bad. It's healthy, just not very friendly.)

And me? I'm just a guy who believes laptops were invented so men could multi-task.

I believe the economy is on the return swing (as in a pendulum) but that our "recovery" is not as simple as people wish it to be. People have to invent new ways to make money, building on the old methods. So, in my opinion, expect to see one of the two scenarios in the coming year:

1) Walmart, Target or Amazon declares bankruptcy (bad sign)

2) Unemployment stops rising and starts falling (good sign)

Till you see either one of those, relax.

AGOT pilot edging ever closer

Based on some of the recent posts at Winter Is Coming, the pilot for A Game of Thrones is nearly ready to begin filming. A lot of the secrecy around the cast/casting seems to have blown off, as some of the actors are now doing (and posting) interviews about the project.


Frankly, I couldn't be more excited to see ASOIAF brought "to life" on the small screen. As many have said already, HBO has an incredible track record for their series'. I was a big fan of the short-lived Rome, and have heard and seen numerous things on their other shows.

Judging by the size of Martin's fanbase, and the cost involved just in producing the pilot, I will be floored if this series doesn't get fully picked up and go on to finish as far as it can go (which means as fast as GRRM can write, which is a little up in the air at this point). Floored, and very unhappy. Not only will AGOT get me to watch a television program at its actual airing time, it will get me to upgrade my cable plan to get HBO for the duration. And I bet I'm not alone.

With as strong a cast as they've built, and the obviously fantastic (haha, pun) subject matter, we may have a great winter coming... next year-ish.

Check out a good article with cast pictures here.

Digging up bones

Most of you have probably never seen my old Tripod page (last updated nearly a decade ago, when I was into AMV's and still had the desire to build my own website). I had to access it again yesterday/this morning because I still store a lot of images there. Old Magic: The Gathering card art that I like, which I now use for "custom" shortcut icons on the new-blue-laptop. Old RPG character icons, same reason.

I try hard to avoid "reliving" the past, or reminiscing the times of my life where this website was actively used. Mainly because I'm not that person anymore, and any attempt to understand where my head was at that point fails from this current vantage. That "Gerald Tarrant" chat room personality that I invented is dead, and with him all the friendships and popularity of that age.

It's funny how certain things in your past can strike you. For a long time, during the aforementioned "chat room" years, I kept a page of my website devoted to female friends I deemed "angels" for one reason or another. Even searched for paintings and renderings of "actual" angels to thumbnail next to their names, and had categories of angelicism (music, beauty, etc.) to further highlight my appreciation for them.

I can understand how this might sound weird when comparing who I am now to who I was then, and it was weird, but there are/were facets of my personality that had no other real outlet. I think when I started to lose touch with all my "chat" friends, started living in real life (though to what standard that applies, I can't say) those things dried up and died away. So much so, in fact, that rather than recreating an Angels page on my then-new Tripod site, I created a page where the filename was titled YRUangels. As if I wasn't getting what I expected.

There are very few traces of this "past life" of mine floating around, even though the Internet archives information better than Dumbo's lineage. It's all in my head now, and somewhere locked in the memories of various people I will (in all probablity) never see or talk to again. And probably rightfully so.

Time marches on, and as we learn and make new memories we also evolve. Our bodies change as we age, but so do our personalities, and sometimes it's a bit shocking to look back on the gauntlet we've traversed throughout the years.

Perhaps, in this instance, it's a good thing that memory fades with time.

Drizzle

I've considered (and, subsequently, discarded) numerous post topics as of late, pondering what next to write about. This indecisive stint of my creative side has bled over from the numerous "irons in the fire," aka projects in my Writing folder. One interesting thing to appreciate is that I wrote two ~500 word shorts recently, and both received a surprising amount of positive attention. I'm not creatively dry, just possibly a little hesitant.

The question is why.

If you're stalking me, then you know I've made a music blog wherein I have sung the praises of Lady GaGa⁽¹⁾, advised a Modern Alternative playlist for October⁽²⁾, and discoursed greatly on the various Media Players it has been my pleasure to utilize over the years⁽³⁾. You might also know that I'm holding off a bit of blogging in anticipation of a certain announcement (which shall remain nameless for the time being). But, I digress.

Music is one topic I've considered, having recently become interested in Marie Brennan's preferences while writing (see the Music heading). It would be difficult not to listen to music while writing, I think, because there's so much potential for distraction otherwise. I have to fill my ears with something, and usually something I don't need to concentrate on to enjoy. I'm still trying to figure out the "best" playlist for such activity but, because I tend to memorize things pretty easily, it is a very dynamic and ongoing process.

I pondered posting a short complaint type of fiction wherein the first-person-narrator would bemoan his sense of hearing, annoyed at having to listen to his co-workers talk. This could, conceivably, branch out into a "short" wherein his sense of sound is taken away It's A Wonderful Life-style. Might have been interesting.

As I eluded in a previous post, I'm writing something right now from a very "different" perspective -- one that might not be accepted or appreciated [as much] should it be obvious that "I" wrote it. This irks me. So much so that after a few thousand words I'm not sure how far I should go with it, even though there are many possible scenes I could explore with the character in question.

Speaking of which, an author friend of mine once "criticized" a piece of mine that a certain character didn't really have any flaws. I'm trying to rectify this in later works, as that particular piece merited that trait, but it is another thing constantly on my mind. I don't want cardboard cut-outs in my writing. I want interesting, dynamic personalities who have something to offer should a reader circle back to me a year later (as I often do with books I've purchased).

Another potential topic is a bit of introspection; I have realized that many of the worlds I create are incredibly dark and morose. I don't write about a lot of happy people holding hands and dancing in circles while fluffy bunnies and doves march in time. Many of my characters have a jaded view of their world. Is this me coming through, or are my characters reacting to the conditions of the worlds I create?

Finally, I want to congratulate Kelly and Gabe on their recent marriage. They're in France, at the moment, but I wanted to give a shout-out anyway.

That's about all I can muster for a Wednesday. Back to work.

Stick with what you know?

Familiarity is sort of a double-edged sword as far as writing is concerned.

Speaking from a purely Fantasy (or SFF, even) standpoint, it is ultimately impossible to have any familiarity with many of the characters we create. Sure, we can do research into Dark Age Europa, interview Wiccans to see what "magick" is like, even watch some biology documentaries to get a look at some really fantastic creatures.

We can talk to convicted murderers (I assume we can, anyway; they'd probably be happy to get a visitor) and read the biographies of tyrants, kings, presidents, and laymen alike. But do any of these things put us in their heads?

A common problem among beginning writers is they can't convey the story from an acceptable point of view. It's not that the narrator is unreliable as in dishonest, more like unreliable as in not believable. Upon reading it, we'll say things like, "Teenage girls just don't think that way," or something of the sort.

When I wrote The Ninth Avatar, I knew going in that I would have to write from both male and female perspectives. I had no idea how deep the author is expected to go with that, but I learned quickly. Each character must have a different, distinct voice. Women do really think differently than men, and the last thing you want is two characters "thinking" exactly the same way.

Through their viewpoint, though, is one of the best ways to develop a character. Are they cowardly? Show them cowering while the action goes on. Are they prone to explosive moments of uncontrollable rage? Can they perform magic? Are they sexually aroused? Depressed? Confused? Show us what kind of person this is, and how they think of themself.

So, with all of that in mind, how comfortable are you reading a book from a female's perspective but that a man wrote? Or vice-versa? What if the man/woman has a specific profession, like prostitute, that it might be difficult for the opposite sex to fathom?

Should we ultimately stick with what we know, or can we as authors step outside our own psychological boundaries? (And, if we do, must we publish these projects under a pseudonym?)

fiction

Lawrence always kept a copy of the Bible in his hand when he gambled at the roulette table. Usually the King James version, or whatever the Gideons left in the drawer by the bed. He wasn't even sure why; it never brought him any luck. Most times the book only brought awkward stares from the croupier, but Lawrence had to have it. He would feel naked without his anchor.

Twenty years of office work hadn’t done the tall, thin Lawrence any favors. He heard in a movie once to "always bet on black," but that was just a funny quote. Roulette fascinated him, and not just because the odds were so long. The wheel always spun with its own special hum, and the undersized cue ball ticked like an Armageddon clock.

The Bible felt good in his hand. Bonded leather, the cheap kind, with embossed titling and a well-worn appearance. Of course, people used it often in a place like this. Not for the same purpose Lawrence sought--more for a misplaced belief that luck was the same thing as divine intervention. He never quite figured out why some people thought God wanted them to win. The wheel surely didn't care.

"Black 22," came the call. Lawrence started to curse under his breath, then remembered the Bible in his hand. Oh shit became Oh well, and he pushed another short stack of chips across the table. The tan plastic discs resembled pancakes today, and the croupier grinned like a patron at the International House that bore their name. All that was missing was the syrup.

As if on cue, one of the casino's intoxicated nomads stumbled into the table and spilled her drink across its surface. The mixture of booze and cola--diet, no doubt--completed the image in Lawrence's mind. At least none had spilled on his book.

"I’m sorry," the woman slurred as she clumsily tried to gather the liquid and ice in her hands. The croupier, a short Latino with matching vest and bowtie, waved her off and applied a towel. When the woman’s gathering began to include more than just ice cubes, Lawrence reached out and grasped her arm.

She wrenched out of his grip and scowled, dark eyes behind bright curls. His hand came away saturated in vanilla and lavender. The woman froze as if caught, looking with only her eyes to the right and left, and Lawrence used the moment to take in her full appearance. Crimson hair, ruby lips, and a fire engine red dress, the last shining from the ambient neon, cut too low for her ample bust and hemmed too high for her muscled legs. Diamonds glittered across the pale skin of her wrist and neck, and something about her manner said none of it belonged.

Beautiful in the way only trouble can be, the woman moved around the table and pressed herself against Lawrence's back. Her lusty warm breath tickled his ear as she whispered into it.

"See something you like?" She spoke in a husky southern accent, and the scents he'd picked up before only intensified with the proximity.

"Red," he said, placing his bet. Red, like blood, like her--like energy given form. The Bible might say something about this kind of moment, if he ever cared enough to open it. Tonight it was just an anchor, and the red sea was waiting to be parted.

A Subtle Misunderstanding

I would love to eat both, but it's frowned upon to cook dog in this country.

Oh wait, you meant... ohhhhhh.

Yanni quote

Taken from the "Live at the Acropolis" album and WikiQuote:

"And I just want to remember one more thing, that everything great that has ever happened to humanity since the beginning, has begun as a single thought in someone's mind and if anyone of us is capable of such a great thought then all of us have the same capacity, capability, because we are all the same."

fiction: 21 Guns

This is a response to a writing prompt that Micah received for an assignment. The goal is to describe a setting and portray an emotion that can be easily identified in 500 words. Enjoy.

The gunshots still echoed inside my head. Even now, fourteen years later, I could hear the shout before each blast. Today, though, when I looked around I couldn't see anyone else. My brothers and sister moved away and forgot, but I remember. A twenty-one gun salute for a hero, a flag for a wife, and an apology for a son.

Rounded white slabs look like teeth jutting from the grass, the teeth of the monster that ate our father. They go on forever in neat rows, but I could never forget which one belongs to him. As I knelt before it and pressed my fingertips against the engraving, the stone felt as cold as a Denver winter. July it might be, but without my father it would always be December.

Two presidents were buried here, along with nineteen astronauts. It's hard to imagine the remains of Space Shuttle Challenger men and women next to my dad, whose only claim to fame was drinking George W. Bush under the table in college. He told me once how he'd shaken hands with General Schwarzkopf, and it turned out to be the last thing I would hear him say.

I saw a long line of black cars as I looked across the field of stones. As they halted and deployed, I felt the urge to salute, but my father's words came back to me again. "You'll never be soldier material," he used to say, and Mom would spin it to sound more like a compliment. Now I can barely watch the news without hearing those words again.

I want to apologize for not being a better son. I want to say something, but his tombstone never listens. Never forgives.

The breeze rustles the pines as I stare at Robert E. Lee's home, and a soft trumpet comes with it. Taps is the only music allowed here. No rousing fanfares or Reveille to wake the fallen, just a solemn sunset serenade to lull our loved ones to their eternal rest.

Last year when I arrived there was a ceremony already in progress, but not this year. Instead I stiffen to greet the new addition and watch as my father's real family marches past. A bawling wife, two wailing children; an entire army dressed in black or navy blue. I see the same white hats I used to try on in front of the mirror when I was young, watching John Wayne movies and pretending to shoot the Japs alongside my dad.

The gunshots begin long before I'm ready, and my body jumps without my permission. Again. A third shout and blast, and I can no longer keep the tears at bay. The trumpets pick up the call as another man or woman is deposited in the ground. Payment for another battle won. I watch them fold the flag and remember the box my mom placed hers in, never to see the light of day again. Along with all his medals. Forgotten, but I remember.

No HtW post today

Sorry, folks, I don't have a piece prepared for today as I am gearing up for the 2009 GABF!

Check back on Monday, the 28th; I might have an announcement to make.

Guest post on Criticism at Temple Library Reviews

I did a guest post for the guy who recently reviewed The Ninth Avatar on taking and handling criticism.

Take a look.

Response to review of "Best Served Cold"

I have been a subscriber to James' Speculative Horizons blog for quite some time now. While he's been the source of many good recommendations, and while we have agreed that certain books have been unreadable, his review of Joe Abercrombie's latest work, Best Served Cold, gave me a bit of pause.

Specifically, this portion:

The main issue I had was - surprisingly - with the characters. I just couldn't connect with most of them on any real level. Perhaps it's because the entire lot of them - to varying degrees - are cheating, lying, backstabbing scumbags with barely a redeeming feature among them.

Now, I'm not going to question his reviewer skills or anything so extreme; it's just that this bit raises an interesting question to me as an author.

I'm all for connecting with characters, empathizing and all that business, but I'm not sure I'd place as much emphasis on it as James clearly does. The statement implies, and he can definitely correct me if I'm wrong here, that all characters must have some "redeeming" feature about them. It's like saying we're not allowed to write a book about scumbag murderers because our readers can't relate to that.

Did I mention these are the "good guys" he's talking about?

Of course, fiction (and fantasy in particular) should give us a window into another world that we can plausibly understand. The above statement gives me the impression that all the characters we create must be, at least in part, nice. Gentlemanly. Respectful.

(As if Logan Ninefingers ever helped an old lady cross the street or got a cat out of a tree.)

Am I alone in thinking this is not a major issue? Maybe I'm jumping to an extreme, or just misunderstanding his intent, but can somebody throw me a bone here?

How to Write: Intentionally

In the second installment of the How to Write series, I covered using only the necessary words and leaving the rest out (or editing it out later). The conclusion of that led me to the point of today's topic, writing with intent.

For the most part, I think we all do things because we intend to do them. Rarely do we eat dinner by accident, of course, but as the saying goes "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." It's in our actions, regardless of our intentions, that the value truly comes out. We may not eat dinner by accident, but maybe we burn the chicken we're grilling. Our intentions were good, but they just didn't execute properly... unless we intended to burn the chicken in the first place.

Writing can be very similar to this. When we set out to write a story about a knight errant and end up straying off into a subplot about how his family achieved a high station at court, without any possible tie to the relevancy, we have "burnt the chicken."

Not only must we write succinctly, using only the necessary words, we must write intentionally, using only the necessary parts of our story. If we plan to have the main character's lineage discovered later on in the story to aid the plot, we intentionally leave his heritage ambiguous. If we leave it ambiguous to no purpose, then why mention it in the first place?

The reason we must write with intention is because readers read with intention. They are trying to figure our stories out, even before they reach the ending. By including extraneous details that meander and fizzle, we are building bridges that do not connect.

In some genres, and with certain projects, it is desirable to mislead the reader. So long as you intentionally mislead them, that's all well and good. The problem comes when they are only three pages in and they have no idea what is happening; you have not written the piece intending them to understand it. At the same time that you want to remain the wizard-behind-the-curtain, you must keep in mind that your reader has no idea what to expect from your story (beyond what the cover art and genre have promised, if anything).

Some things can happen at the writing stage completely by accident, of course. A minor character can turn out to be much more important than you originally wanted to; a major character might develop into a boring stereotype; your setting can fall completely to pieces because, somewhere along the line, it stopped making sense entirely. These are neither good nor bad because they are during the creative stage. Anything can happen. When you yell "cut!" on your project, you have turned a dynamic work into a static one. Everything you've put in there should be intentionally placed.

Say you write a scene of two characters arguing. What purpose does it serve? What do you intend the reader to take from that scene? Aside from the fact that it may (or may not) move the plot along, what does the scene accomplish?

When you're describing a character, or making them take an action, make sure your motivation is clear for doing so. If your motivation is not clear, theirs won't be either. What you will have is a random set of events whose only common thread is that they're all contained between the front and back cover of the same book.

Writing intentionally encompasses foreshadowing; dropping subtle hints at what awaits the reader in the coming pages. Notice I used the word subtle; you do not have to bludgeon a reader over the head. A major problem is that many writers don't know what's going to happen later in the story, so they are casting the net as wide as they can and (hopefully) paring it down later. While I do enjoy writing "by the seat of my pants," I always keep in mind where the scene and plot are going.

It is vital that you, the writer, at least keep in mind, if not know outright, what is coming. I'm not saying outline every detail before you get started, though that might help for some people, but think of where the story can go. You might even make notes of future possibilities, in case you are prone to forgetfulness (as I am).

But, above all, be aware of your story. Nothing should seem random or out-of-place unless you have made it that way. Purposefully. Intentionally.

It's okay to figure things out as you go along. You'll just have a lot of editing to do when you finish the first draft. Too bad you can't revise burnt chicken.

That's all for this week. Any and all comments are welcome.

Prologues

Just a short thought today, as I'm working hard at re-envisioning Scions of the Shade.

I seem to be good at writing prologues, and by that I mean I enjoy writing them.

I have heard, however, that they are largely unnecessary. Their major purpose is to set a "tone" for the work, in which case they can have neither chronological nor regional ties to the main storyline. In other cases, the opinion seems to be they provide unnecessary back story which could be worked into the narrative.

I prefer to keep mine interesting, setting a tone as well as showing some action, rather than just introducing the world or story blandly through exposition.

Any thoughts on prologues?

How to Write: Succinctly

In the first installment of the How to Write series, I suggested to write bravely. Forge forward despite criticism, any possible "illusions" about talent, and fear that your initial attempt is crap.

Today, I'm going to talk about how to write succinctly. It brings to mind a popular water-conservation slogan here in Denver, "use only what you need."

Get to the point. Don't use thirteen words when you can get the point across in four.











Just kidding, you thought that was the end didn't you? Ha. Wouldn't that be fitting to end a piece on brevity just that quickly? Well, too bad. This requires some explanation.

To write succinctly is more than just not using "too many" words, it's using only the right words. How do you know what these words are? Examine your sentences. This calls into play the guideline of using "better" verbs, using fewer adverbs and adjectives, and showing more often than telling.

For example:
She stuck her head cautiously through the doorway and looked in all directions for any possible hint of danger.

What is this sentence trying to tell us? A girl looked inside a room. How could we make it more succinct?

She peered in, eyes sweeping for danger.

Of course, this assumes a few things. First, we need to know already that she's going to be looking through a doorway. If you have a sentence where she is approaching the door (Alice approached the door) this would work fine. Otherwise, you might confuse the readers by being succinct. However, you have to weigh the need for clarity against the tension you're trying to build.

Tension is not just for "scary" stories, however, and not all "long" sentences are in need of condensing. It all depends on what you're trying to convey. It's a stylistic choice.

For a bland, wordy narrator, we would expect the sentences to be long. Not so long that we can't remember what the beginning was when we get to the end, of course, as the guideline of succinctness still applies insomuch as you're only using necessary words.

But, see the major differences in the example above? "Peered in" replaces "stuck her head inside the doorway" as a stronger verb, and "eyes sweeping" replaces "looked in all directions" for the same reason. "For any possible hint of" is completely extraneous, as a hint of danger equals danger itself. A threat is a threat, so there's no need to measure it out for your reader unless there is an absolutely concrete contextual reason to do so.

It's worth saying again: get to the point. I've been known to write in such a way that I both tell and show in the same scene -- even the same paragraph at times. Try to identify this in your own writing. Are you telling us how a character feels before/after you show us how they feel through their actions?

For example:
Jimmy was so mad about having to go to school sick today. The math test would not make him feel any better. As he stared at it, Jimmy wiped his runny nose and contemplated tearing the test up just to see the look on Mrs. Matterer's face.

Can you tell the difference between telling and showing in that scene? The author doesn't need to explicitly state that the character is "mad" because he wants to tear up the test. The entire first sentence is superfluous, the second is getting there, and we don't get any "meat" until we hit that third sentence. I might also mention it's "buried" in the paragraph, but since nothing comes after it we can assume that's the end of the paragraph (which is okay).

So, how can we write more succinctly? Pay greater attention to what you're trying to convey. This also comes into play when you're editing, but if you can learn to write more succinctly you will have less work to do when it comes to editing. Have a specific reason for the words in your sentences. This last bit gets into what I will discuss next time: how to write with intent.

Comments are welcome but, of course, try to keep them short.

The Ninth Avatar reviewed at Temple Library Reviews

While you're [presumably] waiting for the next installment of How to Write, check out this review of The Ninth Avatar posted at Temple Library Reviews.

Link

While Harry's score of 2 out of 5 might indicate he hated the whole thing, the review does in fact highlight some of the book's strengths as well. It's fair and balanced, and even has some comments already.

It's funny how, so far, most of the people who've liked the book the most are those who aren't usual fans of the genre. Not sure whether I should read into that or not, but I'm quite comfortable receiving his (or any) criticism -- particularly on a debut work. I would have more reason to worry, but his negatives focus particularly on the presentation rather than the content itself. This is something both he and I agree should improve over time, as an author develops.

Even so, an honest review is all one can ask for. Criticism is fuel, and I write bravely.

How to Write: Bravely

My study of philosophy, minor though it's been so far, has led me to the conclusion that far too many people believe improper conclusions about the ability to "do things." Writing is a craft, and an art to be certain, but it is not as inaccessible as people think. Appending to the old adage that writing is "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration," I submit that talent is an illusion.

Talent is just a word, a concept, but people treat it like a wall separating them from those they've put on a pedestal. While I believe it is true that some have a natural inclination or desire toward one trade or another, I do not believe some are naturally mundane while others divine. It is, in short, a matter of effort.

Just like with anything, a person cannot expect to pick it up and achieve perfection on the first try. Perfection shouldn't even be the goal, in my opinion. No, the goal should be completion.

Can a person pick up a guitar with no knowledge of how to play it and emulate Jimmy Hendrix? Could a person parallel park, having no experience driving a car? Would a person be able to "preach the gospel" having never read and studied the book bearing its message? No.

Then why is it that people get so discouraged when their beginning writing is "bad?"

The adage goes "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Another one is "how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice." These say the same thing: it takes more than one attempt to succeed.

I think the origin of this willful failure, or propensity to give up, is a misplaced desire to be humble. Our natural assumption is "if my writing isn't as good as X, then it's just not good." If we can't create characters as interesting as Frodo Baggins or Jon Snow on our first time out, we're okay with humbly admitting defeat... somewhat secure in the knowledge that we gave it a try.

Throw all of that out. If you want to be a writer, it won't help you where you're going.

You must write bravely. If your characters suck, your setting is boring, and your plot slips through your fingers like sand at the beach, fix it. Writing is not an impossible task. Completing a novel, while a difficult feat, is not something that takes divine inspiration to do. It just takes courage.

The more you work on it, the more you will improve. So, work.

Besides, what is there to be afraid of? The inevitable comparisons of your work against the paragons of your genre? Criticism of your friends and peers? Scrutiny of amateurs and professionals alike? You shouldn't be afraid of these things -- you should be afraid to avoid them. I say use them; comparisons and criticisms can be helpful if employed properly.

Look at the process this way: there are two pieces to crafting a manuscript. Writing is the creative process -- you are allowed to make mistakes, "break eggs to make an omelet" as the saying goes. Experiment. Go crazy. Write whatever you want. Be secure in the knowledge that this is your project -- not your peers', nor a critic's, or anyone else's.

Use editing to sculpt the piece further, smooth out the rough edges, and make it perfect. Editing is the revision process. Understand that even the aforementioned paragons edit; they not only edit their own work, but others edit it as well. No writing is ever perfect on the first draft, even Stephen King will tell you that. And there must be a first draft, because there will be a second (and more, in many cases).

As much as I dislike the "dance like no one is watching" quote, it definitely applies here.

Write bravely, like you are in sole control of your creation. Because, frankly, you are.

Official 250th Post

What a wild ride it has been since the inception of this blog, and look at how far things have come.


Way back when, I started this blog as a topical alternative to my Myspace blog, as I was posting there whatever musings came to mind. Initial Draft actually came after [Opinionated Spiritual Commentary] but, as I no longer post there, it has survived the longest. While I have occasionally posted pieces on life and whatnot, the focus of this blog has been writing.

Things have really ramped up in the past year. With the completion and self-publishing of The Ninth Avatar, the completion of Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell, and the beginning of many other projects (including Scions of the Shade). I still have a long way to go, but now is a good time to reflect on how far I've come.

Beginning this week, I will be blogging a new series on How to Write. Yes, I know the topic is covered ad nauseum across the Interwebs but, seeing as it is the purpose of this blog, it sort of behooves me to make an effort to fulfill that purpose. Look for new articles and, down the road, a new design.

Thanks again to all the readers, subscribers, and followers who support the efforts here. I hope, as time goes on, to create more discussion around one of my favorite topics and be an informative voice among the cacophony. Never hesitate to let me know how I'm doing.

Nietzsche Quote

"The recipe for becoming a good novelist...is easy to give, but to carry it out presupposes qualities one is accustomed to overlook when one says 'I do not have enough talent.'

One has only to make a hundred or so sketches for novels, none longer than two pages but of such distinctness that every word in them is necessary;
one should write down anecdotes every day until one has learnt how to give them the most pregnant and effective form;
one should be tireless in collecting and describing human types and characters;
one should above all relate things to others and listen to others relate, keeping one's eyes and ears open for the effect produced on those present, one should travel like a landscape painter or costume designer...
one should, finally, reflect on the motives of human actions, disdain no signpost for instruction about them and be a collector of these things by day and night.

One should continue in this many-sided exercise for some ten years; what is then created in the workshop...will be fit to go out into the world."

Guest blogger on Podioracket.com

The fantastic ladies over at Podioracket.com have asked me to reflect upon the experience of completing a book for Podiobooks.com. You can find the actual post here:

http://www.podioracket.com/main/2009/08/27/on-completing-a-book-for-podiobookscom/

Updates and Motivation

After doing some housekeeping here on Initial Draft, I realized that I hadn't actually "hit" the 250-post mark just yet. I was surfing through old posts, pondering a "reincarnation" series like I see so many bloggers do. This may still happen, but it definitely won't be until September. There are a few good nuggets here and there, but my "proud to be an American" essay still seems to be getting the most hits. Ah, to have grand dreams of being plagiarized in high schools across the country...

Monday night I wrote, and realized [as far as word count is concerned] I am approaching the midpoint of Scions of the Shade. If my conversations with Ben are any indication, you'd think the story was falling apart -- plot and characters slipping through my fingers like desert sands. This is most definitely not the case. I may not have decided what the exact ending will be, but I do have a firm grasp on the course of the story and who my characters are. Now if I could just finish it.

Which brings me to my next point: motivation.

I have problems with motivation. It's difficult to motivate me in any normal fashion; I don't enjoy doing things simply because "I should" or because they "must be done." I don't even enjoy doing things strictly for personal gain or benefit. While this makes me a little less human, I suppose, it also means that the pursuits I do lend my focus to are harried and doggedly accosted. I'm much like a stone atop a hill; it takes a lot to get me moving, but the rest is relatively easy.

I'm going to do some looking up to improve this about myself. My brain needs some resetting to avoid lacking motivation in pursuits I truly enjoy (and need to do).

Finally, I will be guest-posting tomorrow on the Podioracket.com blog about having finished the audio version of The Ninth Avatar. I'll be posting a link as soon as it's available.

The Ninth Avatar audio version is complete

Late last week, I completed the recorded "episodes" for The Ninth Avatar on Podiobooks.com. The entire book is now available in audio format, free, in serialized format. If you've been waiting for the ending to be posted to begin listening, now's the time!

Link:
http://www.podiobooks.com/title/the-ninth-avatar/

Are good writers bad people?

I was talking to Harry Markov today, who was recently nominated for Book Blogger Appreciation Week, when our conversation turned to altruism. I think I've always had struggles empathizing, whether from being jaded from watching too many Sally Struthers commercials as a kid, or from something else, but I've been pondering lately that it might have something to do with writing.

To quote myself:
"If life were all sunshine and rainbows and meadows and bunnies, we could never invent complex characters with serious motivations and flaws. Because if we didn't struggle, our characters wouldn't either."

We need to be able, if not experience things first-hand, to at the very least imagine those things well enough to describe them. More than that, we have to make them believable and fit them into the context of a narrative. This is where I think things get sticky for us as human beings.

Through fiction, writers explore concepts that average folk may never experience in their lifetimes. In many cases, like horror, we earnestly hope no one will experience certain things, but they must be in there. And, for it to be believable, it has to feel believable to the reader. Like something just under the surface of their consciousness waiting to be defined.

This is not to say that writers have the license or propensity to be complete bastards, mind you. James likes to talk about Terry Goodkind like he's evil incarnate (exaggeration!), when he probably just doesn't know how to respond to fame and fans.

Writers are people, yes, but we are required to be observational people. Even if we're not actively "people watching," we almost always have one eye on our world around us and inside us.

This is also not some existential diatribe about how "we suffer for our art." Writers don't necessarily, to quote Tim Mcgraw, "love deeper" or "speak sweeter" just so that we can force our protagonist through the same hoops. Neither do we, I hope, seek struggle on purpose for the sake of doing so.

The point is to say that I don't believe writers are a particularly altruistic breed. Sometimes we're downright selfish, particularly when it comes to how we spend our time. Many of us are abrasive introverts who make horrible first impressions and don't always care to improve upon them.

But, frankly, no one will ever remember Hemingway for his philanthropy.

Writer's Group, Scions, Green Day

This weekend was a busy one. Well, probably no busier than usual, but full of excitement anyway.

Saturday morning, I attended Writer's Group -- the last meeting before the organizer (Lori) returns to Arizona for the school year. It was an interesting refresher on writing freelance, specific to magazines, and it was announced officially that Ben, Jayme, and I will be taking over the group while Lori is away. We are now The Triumvirate, and we hold absolute power.

Our first order of business is a presentation on "how to critique," which we felt would be hugely beneficial to a group 50-60% driven by the purpose of constructive criticism. One person made a face at this, one person seemed excited, and everyone else seemed a bit confused. So be it.

After BWMG, I had a cigar with Ben and discussed some of the plot elements of Scions of the Shade. He seems to be a sounding board for the project... so much so that sooner or later I think he'll require a retainer and begin clocking his hours spent. It was an impromptu discussion. Mostly, I keep worrying that the story isn't dense enough and I'm a little worried my plot is going astray. The project needs a lot of work, but I can't decide whether to re-work it during this initial draft phase or do the bulk of the work during the rewrite. Maybe both. I'm still only 1/3rd into the word count [guideline] at this point, so nothing is certain except that I need to do something.

After that, I went to the Green Day concert at the Pepsi Center. Highlights included great seats, tons of crowd participation, playing of new and old tunes (including classic tunes not even their own), bringing up audience members to sing songs, and bringing up a 12-year-old kid to play guitar on Jesus of Suburbia. They did 2 encores, the last "set" including only the lead singer and his acoustic guitar. It was a fantastic show, definitely rivaling all concerts I've ever seen in my life for "best ever." If you enjoy their music, trust me, the cost of admission is more than justified.

Today begins a new week, and I'm resolved to have a better one than I had last week. Get more work done, that sort of thing, on both the writing and exercise fronts. Lately, motivation seems to be my biggest problem, as I get too easily caught up with everything else. So, Happy Monday.

Join my Q&A Group on Goodreads.com!

Goodreads does a lot more than allow you to rate books you've read and connect with friends who have similar interests. It also helps you connect with authors of those books, in many cases, and it allows them to connect with you.

I've setup a Q&A "group" for The Ninth Avatar and my other projects. If you'd like to join and ask me zany questions like where my ideas come from, go here:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/22168.Q_A_with_Todd_Newton

To Alaska And Back

Alaska is not a place where many people live, but it is a place where many people visit.

As the largest state in the union, the northernmost territory, and by far the wildest (in a grizzly bear sense, not a frat-boy sense), Alaska stands tall among giants. The cities, though by no means measured metropolises like New York or Los Angeles, have their own subtle charm both of commercialism and native culture. Home of everything from salmon to Sarah Palin, Alaska is a wilderness even amid its cities' streets.

Me among the foliage in Juneau

Strife is a way of life there. Since everything you can buy arrives either by plane or barge, typically the latter, a shopping trip can be far more costly. The people who live in Alaska have accepted this. They respond by animating the adage, "living off the land," carving their way as necessary. Some, I'm sure, alter that to "living off the tourists" for the few months we come to visit their rugged home, but it must take some kind of courage to survive in such a place.

Me presenting Skagway
Background left: The Golden Princess

Those of us from Colorado may scoff at the "mountains" in other states, but we are landlocked. Places like Tracy Arm Fjord, which can only be viewed by sea or air, teach us that mountains are not always completely visible -- sometimes they extend from a sheer drop-off a thousand feet down into the ocean. Plants even grow on these harsh rock faces, as if to prove they belong in Alaska.

On our recent trip, I was fortunate enough to experience the hospitality of those who live and work there. We also partook of the aerial view and a brief time in a truly natural spot. While on ship, we saw jumping dolphins and a few undulating whales, but what impressed me most by far was the scenery. The ocean has its beauty of nothingness, but Alaska's impression of serene forests stretching as far as you can see gives off something more. It says, "This is untouched land," something many parts of the lower 48 could not say with a straight face.

Ketchikan, AK from the Taquan Air dock
Beyond me, the Ketchikan Int'l Airport
(I am indicating the proposed home for the famous Bridge to Nowhere)

Mountains, trees, wildlife, and a few people and cities in between. I was told it does not snow that harshly during the winter, but I can't imagine the temperatures. Living in Colorado, I feel like I know cold when it drops below 32*F, but double-digits in the below zero range would indeed make me rethink that assumption. It reminds me of the descriptions in J.V. Jones' Sword of Shadows series, where chilblains and frostbite are as common as North Face gear in Denver. Our experience, however, was of the warmest summer they've had in 15 years.

On our return, one of the cities we ported in was Victoria, British Columbia. Having been to Eastern Canada a few times, I knew some of what to expect there, but I had no idea it would impress me so much. Our brief stint, only a few evening hours during a Pub Tour, was enough to make me want to go back for an extended period in full confidence I'd have the time of my life. Full of local flavor, Victoria felt much like Boston to me where Toronto feels like [a much more pleasant] New York City.

One of our pubs in Victoria, BC

If you get the chance to visit, my suggestion is to focus your time in Ketchikan, AK. Juneau and Skagway are nice, beautiful places in their own right, but not necessarily if you are looking for something to do. You can take an air tour or a fishing trip just about anywhere there's a coastline, but the vitality of Ketchikan and Victoria put them far ahead for me.

All in all, I heartily recommend a trip north if you're in the mood for one. And, if you do take a flight around Ketchikan, you can't go wrong with Taquan Air.

Thumbs up, Alaska.

Vacation

Tonight, we leave for our cruise of Alaska. I won't be posting next week, but will definitely catch up when I return.

SF&F, Disney's bringing out the big guns

Possibly unsatisfied with all but owning the children's movie market (via Pixar), Disney is resurrecting a few old projects to appeal to my demographic. You know, the SF&F fan who is now "too old" to truly enjoy Finding Nemo and its ilk.

First, we had the announcement of a Tim Burton project, Alice in Wonderland. Since many of us have never read the actual fable, our only experience with this particular story is through Disney's original animated version (which, to date, remains my favorite Disney movie, as well as one of the only ones I can stomach watching). Now, though, we have a creepy filter laid over it through Burton's dark vision, Johnny Depp's impeccable performance record contributing to its appeal, and a few other big-name actors (Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Crispin Glover) to coax the money out of our wallets. As much as I might complain about Disney, they seem to have hired a few people who know what I like.

Alice in Wonderland trailer (courtesy of YouTube):


Next (and finally), we have TRON Legacy. For those few "early" computer geeks who remember what it was to play on a Commodore 64, you remember TRON was right up your alley. I just saw this trailer on Apple today, and am already salivating over the "zoom" noises of the CG motorbikes. TRON was the first real jaunt into "virtual reality," an adventure inside the imagined world of computers that brought life to it, and the reminder that while computers may serve us they are not our slaves. This new iteration looks to have some weight behind it, with the original Bridges brother (assumedly) reprising his role. With how far technology has come since the original TRON, I can't help but be excited.

TRON Legacy trailer (courtesy of YouTube):

Style and length

Working on my latest title, Scions of the Shade, I've come to realize a few things.

A lot of writers have a very distinct style. Fantasy authors tend to be on the verbose side. Whether this means they waste words or not, books in the genre I've chosen to read and write can be quite long. Full of description, information, or otherwise, I've noticed that I don't particularly trend this way.

My literary style tends to be very succinct and action-focused. If someone has a knife to someone else's throat, I don't pause the action to explain what color the drapes are. Bearing this in mind, it's practically a miracle that The Ninth Avatar is as long as it is (154,000 words). Thomas Redpool is, actually, fairly short, coming in a few hairs under the 80,000 word "standard" for a novel. It's an arbitrary number, to be sure, but it is touted to be the standard nonetheless.

This makes writing the first draft a bit easier, I must say, but the general consensus seems to be that authors cut from their initial draft rather than add to it. I'm not so far advanced as to stifle a wonder to whether I'm "doing it wrong," but I have learned by now that a person has to find their own way to do this.

It's like that quote, "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." (W. Somerset Maugham)

Take today, for example. I wrote a fairly short chapter (2500 words) including the climactic sex scene in Scions. I expected it to be longer, but it seems my style won't allow for that. Having re-read it a few times already, I know I can (and will) add to it later, but that doesn't change the fact of what it is.

Frankly, I think I enjoy writing more when I don't have word count as my goal. Having goals is nice, and all, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to have to adjust my pace to fit the story into a neat little package wrapped up at exactly the proper time. My word count is telling me I'm only 1/3rd of the way through Scions and, though I know how the story is going to end, I'm not 100% sure if that is an accurate analysis.

I will say, though, that knowing the ending this early does make it feel like I'm just coming up with stuff to put in between. Some might enjoy this sensation, but I am fighting hard to keep my story from feeling contrived. I don't want to put obstacles in my heroine's way just because I can or should; I want to put the obstacles there that the story requires.

Ultimately, I'm just glad I don't have to write this perfectly the first time through. If you've just started writing but haven't learned this yet, I feel for you -- sometimes it is all that keeps us from abandoning a project altogether.