So what am I doing right now? Avoiding writing, of course! Actually, though, I am happy to report that over the last two day's I've written 6,000+ words of a new story. I'm tempted to post some of it, but the last time I did that (for another fresh start I began last month) it was still pretty much drek when I posted it. So I'll resist this time, too.
Anyhow, this new one is intended to be erotica. I've been reading the genre and it seems like the plot can often be practically nil, just add lots of steaming sex. Stacia Kane, our very own December Quinn, had her first Erotica novel published by Ellora's Cave, and it was well written with (gasp!) actual character development and a plot! I am thus inspired to come up with my own erotic adventure tale with a plot; but, mostly, I'm just exercising my urge to write smutty vampire sex scenes. I have that 450 page mostly-finished vampire trunk novel to inspire me. It had some pretty good sexy scenes in it.
But this one is going to be a novella.
However my beta reader, Susan, says the rough draft she's read isn't descriptive enough. So that tells me someone likes my overblown prose. What's a gal to do? Add or trim? Ack!
Anyhow, three chapters. Hot sex against a wall. A vampire finds his mate, who resists the concept. And every other vampire tale cliche I can stuff within the pages, just to see what I can do with them to make them fresh and new. Hee! What fun!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Dr. Seuss or appropriate alliteration?
I'm reading a cheesy romance, one of the things I like to read for brain candy (and to avoid actually writing, lol). However, this particular book, How to Engage an Earl by Kathryn Caskie, is full of alliteration that detracts from the story. It's a fluffy and fun read, but the alliteration is bugging the crap out of me.
A couple of examples are, "chattered cheerfully" and "glistening goblets." (Another thing that bugs me is that not once does she call a glass a glass. They are always goblets. Ech.)
Now, alliteration has its uses, but when you create such sing-songy phrases as these, they call attention to themselves. And the fact that the author peppers her writing with them means she is probably unaware of this habit of hers and does not realize they are, well, bad writing.
All I'm saying is, notice when you create melodies in your prose. If you do it on purpose and with a reason, that's great. But when you do it on accident...
Happy writing!
A couple of examples are, "chattered cheerfully" and "glistening goblets." (Another thing that bugs me is that not once does she call a glass a glass. They are always goblets. Ech.)
Now, alliteration has its uses, but when you create such sing-songy phrases as these, they call attention to themselves. And the fact that the author peppers her writing with them means she is probably unaware of this habit of hers and does not realize they are, well, bad writing.
All I'm saying is, notice when you create melodies in your prose. If you do it on purpose and with a reason, that's great. But when you do it on accident...
Happy writing!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
A Slice of Culture
A friend sent me a link to an article about New Orleans. What I find terribly fascinating about the article is that it gives such a wonderful flavor to the topic he is writing about, which is houdou in NOLA. This gentleman knows this houdou world, having lived it; and the article thus has some really great atmosphere and insights.
Now, I've mentioned here and there that I had studied Santeria and Condomble a little bit. But as a white, middle-class outsider, it wasn't the same thing as what the guy in the article talks about. For me, it was a completely foreign culture. I knew I didn't get it like my Brasilian and Cuban friends; and it was okay...But it was just not the same experience.
Now, how does this relate to writing?
Familiarity from study is not the same thing as bred-in-the-bone familiarity. Back of the hand familiarity.
When we write about something we don't know intimately, there is a danger of creating a fictional world without authenticity, or of creating an inadvertant charicature. Always remember that it takes a lot more effort and care to create a fictional voice that has the priceless quantity of being real. And it's more than doubly difficult if you wish to create an entirely fictional environment... Which relates to speculative fiction quite handily.
Write on compadres!
Now, I've mentioned here and there that I had studied Santeria and Condomble a little bit. But as a white, middle-class outsider, it wasn't the same thing as what the guy in the article talks about. For me, it was a completely foreign culture. I knew I didn't get it like my Brasilian and Cuban friends; and it was okay...But it was just not the same experience.
Now, how does this relate to writing?
Familiarity from study is not the same thing as bred-in-the-bone familiarity. Back of the hand familiarity.
When we write about something we don't know intimately, there is a danger of creating a fictional world without authenticity, or of creating an inadvertant charicature. Always remember that it takes a lot more effort and care to create a fictional voice that has the priceless quantity of being real. And it's more than doubly difficult if you wish to create an entirely fictional environment... Which relates to speculative fiction quite handily.
Write on compadres!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Night Terrors
Paca was blogging about night terrors, and he sparked an idea for me. What if someone was insistant that he/she was being visited in the night, and no one believed him? What if the docs kept saying that he/she was imagining it?
Ideas:
1. Cassandra's curse. No matter how much you try to warn people, they do not believe.
2. Character committed as insane. Might have committed a crime to get rid of the visitors. Then he/she is stuck, watching the world go to hell as what he saw coming actually occurs. (This is a Twilight Zone episode, I'm sure.)
3. Alien abduction scenario. Some researchers postulate that the alien abduction scenario is really an experience of night terrors. What if your character is trying to set a trap to prove to his/her spouse that the abduction is real. He/she could be married to a psychiatrist or doctor, or already in a mental hospital, trying to prove his sanity.
Ideas:
1. Cassandra's curse. No matter how much you try to warn people, they do not believe.
2. Character committed as insane. Might have committed a crime to get rid of the visitors. Then he/she is stuck, watching the world go to hell as what he saw coming actually occurs. (This is a Twilight Zone episode, I'm sure.)
3. Alien abduction scenario. Some researchers postulate that the alien abduction scenario is really an experience of night terrors. What if your character is trying to set a trap to prove to his/her spouse that the abduction is real. He/she could be married to a psychiatrist or doctor, or already in a mental hospital, trying to prove his sanity.
Word Count, or Love??
Well, just had five days off, two of which entailed getting radioactive dye injected and another that involved driving 220 miles round trip to get the car serviced. It was also hot and humid, which left me feeling wrung out due to medication that sometimes makes me sick in hot weather. So I didn't get a lot done besides mowing my 1/2 acre and getting a coat of paint on the front porch. I did read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, though. But I didn't hardly write at all.
Which is what I was thinking about this morning on the way to work. Word Count, or lack thereof.
Sometimes, I think the comparison to other writers, who nearly all of them write faster and more consistently than I do, is really a dumb idea. But as I do tend to work better with deadline pressure, it might be a handly tool for self motivation. Dunno for sure. Sometimes I think it adds to that occasional feeling of despair or Why Bother? that slams me into feeling frozen and unable to move. Sort of like you are stuck between deciding to run from the bear or try and pet it.
Well, when I get feeling inadequate because I am not a prolific writer, I just remember that 1) I really don't have a lot of time to write, anyhow; and 2) I do it because I love it.
So I'll never be one of those writers who can bang out a book every couple of months. I still love to write. So nya to my silly ego tripping.
Now I can go back to writing something other than the WIP yet again, lol.
Which is what I was thinking about this morning on the way to work. Word Count, or lack thereof.
Sometimes, I think the comparison to other writers, who nearly all of them write faster and more consistently than I do, is really a dumb idea. But as I do tend to work better with deadline pressure, it might be a handly tool for self motivation. Dunno for sure. Sometimes I think it adds to that occasional feeling of despair or Why Bother? that slams me into feeling frozen and unable to move. Sort of like you are stuck between deciding to run from the bear or try and pet it.
Well, when I get feeling inadequate because I am not a prolific writer, I just remember that 1) I really don't have a lot of time to write, anyhow; and 2) I do it because I love it.
So I'll never be one of those writers who can bang out a book every couple of months. I still love to write. So nya to my silly ego tripping.
Now I can go back to writing something other than the WIP yet again, lol.
Monday, July 23, 2007
True Tales
A border anecdote for y'all...
Got a stress test this morning, one where they use radioactive dye. They injected me at about 9:30. Afterwards, I forgot about certain governmental concerns and drove to Canada for a little bit of window shopping. I didn't have anything I was specifically shopping for; just thought I'd go and kill an hour or two. However, when I got there, I developed a nasty headache that was sort of a migraine precursor so I headed back home. This was at 11 o'clock. The dye had not started to metabolize yet, or hadn't metabolized much. Meaning, I hadn't peed any out yet. So, I'm as chock-full of radiation as you can get from that particular medical test.
You can see the handwriting on the wall, can't you????
Upon arrival, I discovered a line at the port of entry back to the US. And so there were multiple lanes open instead of just one, because r.v.'s, buses, and cars from all over the States and the Atlantic provinces were lined up to come see the United States. And then I entered the primary lane to be inspected and, apparently, set off every radiation alarm in the entire port. Ooops....
The guys on duty know me personally, so that made it rather funny (to me, anyhow.) They were rather busy dealing with the traveling public, and to have me set off all the alarms in the building pretty much locked everything down until they determined the source of the excitement. And even though I confessed right away that it was moi, they aren't paid to believe people but to investigate for themselves...
Well, after they got through doing secondary inspections of four cars and seven people, including searches, secondary radation scans of all of us and the vehicles, then doing computer reports for every car, every person and moi, the real culprit, I got to go down the road.
But at least we all know that the equipment works!
Got a stress test this morning, one where they use radioactive dye. They injected me at about 9:30. Afterwards, I forgot about certain governmental concerns and drove to Canada for a little bit of window shopping. I didn't have anything I was specifically shopping for; just thought I'd go and kill an hour or two. However, when I got there, I developed a nasty headache that was sort of a migraine precursor so I headed back home. This was at 11 o'clock. The dye had not started to metabolize yet, or hadn't metabolized much. Meaning, I hadn't peed any out yet. So, I'm as chock-full of radiation as you can get from that particular medical test.
You can see the handwriting on the wall, can't you????
Upon arrival, I discovered a line at the port of entry back to the US. And so there were multiple lanes open instead of just one, because r.v.'s, buses, and cars from all over the States and the Atlantic provinces were lined up to come see the United States. And then I entered the primary lane to be inspected and, apparently, set off every radiation alarm in the entire port. Ooops....
The guys on duty know me personally, so that made it rather funny (to me, anyhow.) They were rather busy dealing with the traveling public, and to have me set off all the alarms in the building pretty much locked everything down until they determined the source of the excitement. And even though I confessed right away that it was moi, they aren't paid to believe people but to investigate for themselves...
Well, after they got through doing secondary inspections of four cars and seven people, including searches, secondary radation scans of all of us and the vehicles, then doing computer reports for every car, every person and moi, the real culprit, I got to go down the road.
But at least we all know that the equipment works!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
How To Kick Your Characters' Buckets
Found an interesting book, Final Exits, by Michael Largo. A zillion alphabetized ways in which people are purported to die. Some cool fuel for thought in this baby.
And, while we are on the subject of death, what are some of the euphemisms for dead? Let me count the ways...
Dead, passed away, deceased, defunct, departed, exanimate, extinct, late, lifeless, out of his misery, gone the way of all flesh, pushing up daisies, taking a dirt nap, kicked the bucket, six feet under, sleeping with the fishes, meeting your maker, dead as a doornail, bit the big one, ate it, worm food, fried, wasted, deadified, axed, waxed, blown away, going down, going down for the third time, down for the count, bit the bullet, gone home...
Got any more?
And, while we are on the subject of death, what are some of the euphemisms for dead? Let me count the ways...
Dead, passed away, deceased, defunct, departed, exanimate, extinct, late, lifeless, out of his misery, gone the way of all flesh, pushing up daisies, taking a dirt nap, kicked the bucket, six feet under, sleeping with the fishes, meeting your maker, dead as a doornail, bit the big one, ate it, worm food, fried, wasted, deadified, axed, waxed, blown away, going down, going down for the third time, down for the count, bit the bullet, gone home...
Got any more?
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Kinesthetic Learning & Your Characters
Kinesthetic learning is a teaching and learning style in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration. It's about learning through doing and students with this predominant learning style are natural discovery learnings who have realisations through doing, as opposed to having thought first before initiating action. wikipedia
Methods of learning.
A fellow named Carmine Boffo says in his article on self programming that you can learn activities not just by doing, but by imagining beforehand. Interesting concept, that you can teach yourself how to do something you've never done. His site, Mind Sight, is full of interesting articles on kinesthetics, awareness, and learning.
For me, the referenced article is a bit self-congratulatory; but I thought it was an interesting approach to use for a character in a book. I usually have some form of psychic ability to my main characters, so that self-training thing can be useful for some character, some day.
Of course, it also reminds me very much of a technique of mass hypnosis, where the government might seek to control large portions of the population via Thought Control. I mean, take a "voluntary" technique and twist it... Makes me think of the Riddler's television beam in Batman. I am also reminded of Brave New World, and also V For Vendetta.
Methods of learning.
A fellow named Carmine Boffo says in his article on self programming that you can learn activities not just by doing, but by imagining beforehand. Interesting concept, that you can teach yourself how to do something you've never done. His site, Mind Sight, is full of interesting articles on kinesthetics, awareness, and learning.
For me, the referenced article is a bit self-congratulatory; but I thought it was an interesting approach to use for a character in a book. I usually have some form of psychic ability to my main characters, so that self-training thing can be useful for some character, some day.
Of course, it also reminds me very much of a technique of mass hypnosis, where the government might seek to control large portions of the population via Thought Control. I mean, take a "voluntary" technique and twist it... Makes me think of the Riddler's television beam in Batman. I am also reminded of Brave New World, and also V For Vendetta.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Third Person vs. First Person narration
Nathan Bransford had a wonderful post on the pros and cons of first person point of view versus third person point of view. It's very thought provoking. The comments are really worth reading, as well. Just an all-round great discussion.
Disapproving Rabbits - cool site
I never noticed until I found this site that bunnies have a distinctly disapproving look when seen from the proper angle. Snarfl. This is funny stuff. I've linked here because that first picture is my favorite.
Now, waste some more time before you get back to writing!)
Now, waste some more time before you get back to writing!)
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Ceramic Hammock
Here's a silly way to spend time: Cats In Sinks. This is an offshoot of the KittenWars site (see sidebar) and it is nothing but kittens and cats in the old ceramic hammock, the sink or basin.
Funny, my three cats have none of them ever gotten into a sink...
Funny, my three cats have none of them ever gotten into a sink...
Getcher URL here!
Agent Kristin (Pubrants) has a great post on why authors should have a website, and why it should be dynamic. She offers a number of suggestions for things that you can do besides the apparently ubiquitous contests-- which rule, of course; free stuff always rulz!!
Another thing you might consider, my fellow writing friends, is that you should reserve your web address NOW, before you publish. This is because there are some folks out there who profit off your desire for that name as a web address. And the minute you publish, someone will reserve the name you published under and might charge you a bundle to obtain it.
GoDaddy.com is one of those sites. Go there and see what I mean. You can spend a bit of money to get your preferred name. I've even reserved this blog name as a web site, because I figure that will be my main website when I get around to making a web page (as in, when I actually need one.) Besides which, my real name is taken, lol.
Another thing you might consider, my fellow writing friends, is that you should reserve your web address NOW, before you publish. This is because there are some folks out there who profit off your desire for that name as a web address. And the minute you publish, someone will reserve the name you published under and might charge you a bundle to obtain it.
GoDaddy.com is one of those sites. Go there and see what I mean. You can spend a bit of money to get your preferred name. I've even reserved this blog name as a web site, because I figure that will be my main website when I get around to making a web page (as in, when I actually need one.) Besides which, my real name is taken, lol.
Gestural Communication & Your Characters
Gestures in prose.
I got to thinking about use of gestures in my writing. There seem to be three aspects of note (and probably more, so chime in!). First, gestures give emotional emphasis and power to the speech they are associated with. Second, they give visual stimulus to the reader. And third, gestures are an important tool for characterization, since everyone has a set of stock gestures they use; or there are stock gestures that tell us something about the character.
Paralanguage - what you don't say that counts.
All the non-verbal forms of communication, including body language, are associated with this term. Emoticons in written text, winking, all that stuff is paralanguage. But basically I'm just concerned with various forms of gestural communication and how they apply to characterization. Specifically, kinesics.
Body language, or kinesics.
"Kinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures-- or, more formally, non-verbal behaviour related to movement, either of any part of the body or the body as a whole." (wiki)
I find I am always relying on a few stock gestures in rough draft and have to visualize and block out movements in order to come up with the appropriate gestures. It is too easy to rely on facial gestures-- most particularly mouth actions of various sorts to include smiles, sneers, frowns, licking of lips, etc-- rather than physical motion. It is also very easy to give all the characters the same or similar physical habits, instead of giving them distinctive gestural tropes. A woman who always head tosses her long tresses over her shoulder, another who nibbles her cuticles, a third who constantly taps her toe, crosses her arms, stands hipshot, drums her fingers. Habits of body language can be used to define a character.
Obviously, whether or not a character succumbs to the natural inclination to do certain apparently hard wired gestures (such as looking down before telling a lie), or deliberately uses false gestures (acting to fool someone) is also telling. The practiced criminal may give no signs he's lying, because he's either sociopathic or has rehearsed his answers. An autistic might learn to make eye contact despite the hard wired disinclination.
But regardless of how you acknowledge the gestural communication of your characters-- either by its absence or presence-- it's still an important tool that's all to easy to forget.
I got to thinking about use of gestures in my writing. There seem to be three aspects of note (and probably more, so chime in!). First, gestures give emotional emphasis and power to the speech they are associated with. Second, they give visual stimulus to the reader. And third, gestures are an important tool for characterization, since everyone has a set of stock gestures they use; or there are stock gestures that tell us something about the character.
Paralanguage - what you don't say that counts.
All the non-verbal forms of communication, including body language, are associated with this term. Emoticons in written text, winking, all that stuff is paralanguage. But basically I'm just concerned with various forms of gestural communication and how they apply to characterization. Specifically, kinesics.
Body language, or kinesics.
"Kinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures-- or, more formally, non-verbal behaviour related to movement, either of any part of the body or the body as a whole." (wiki)
I find I am always relying on a few stock gestures in rough draft and have to visualize and block out movements in order to come up with the appropriate gestures. It is too easy to rely on facial gestures-- most particularly mouth actions of various sorts to include smiles, sneers, frowns, licking of lips, etc-- rather than physical motion. It is also very easy to give all the characters the same or similar physical habits, instead of giving them distinctive gestural tropes. A woman who always head tosses her long tresses over her shoulder, another who nibbles her cuticles, a third who constantly taps her toe, crosses her arms, stands hipshot, drums her fingers. Habits of body language can be used to define a character.
Obviously, whether or not a character succumbs to the natural inclination to do certain apparently hard wired gestures (such as looking down before telling a lie), or deliberately uses false gestures (acting to fool someone) is also telling. The practiced criminal may give no signs he's lying, because he's either sociopathic or has rehearsed his answers. An autistic might learn to make eye contact despite the hard wired disinclination.
But regardless of how you acknowledge the gestural communication of your characters-- either by its absence or presence-- it's still an important tool that's all to easy to forget.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Aspects of the Street Gang
"Street gangs began due to a myriad of social and economic reasons. Two of the most common reasons youth join gangs are the breakdown of the family as a cohesive unit and desperate poverty. Sadly, a map of the gang areas of Los Angeles overlays almost identically a poverty map fo the same area. While there are obviously other reasons for joining gangs, when closely examined, these reasons are related either directly or indirectly to family situations and poverty."
The above is from an LA Sheriff's report done some while back. Made me think of urban fantasy, which tends to slink through the lower orders of life form living in back alleys and the poverty-stricken areas of large cities.
There's a lot of good information out on the web regarding gangs and gang activity. You might peruse some to help add a few touches of realism.
For example, did you know that gangsta girls in Asian gangs tend to identify themselves by wearing high, spike heels, black mini skirts, and black stockings? They might have an identifying mode of dress, such as red heels or one fingernail painted a particular color, such as the Silver Middle Girls, who paint the middle fingernails silver. The dress and innocent appearance of these rabid little sweeties is a means to 1) fool cops, school officials, and others while they are out on the street; and 2) fool their parents. To outsiders, they pass for regular kids. They most definitely aren't.
And, another tidbit from the same report: "Female gang members are an entity that must be taken seriously. They not only commit criminal acts, but instigate much of the action committed by the males." That is definitely food for thought!
The above is from an LA Sheriff's report done some while back. Made me think of urban fantasy, which tends to slink through the lower orders of life form living in back alleys and the poverty-stricken areas of large cities.
There's a lot of good information out on the web regarding gangs and gang activity. You might peruse some to help add a few touches of realism.
For example, did you know that gangsta girls in Asian gangs tend to identify themselves by wearing high, spike heels, black mini skirts, and black stockings? They might have an identifying mode of dress, such as red heels or one fingernail painted a particular color, such as the Silver Middle Girls, who paint the middle fingernails silver. The dress and innocent appearance of these rabid little sweeties is a means to 1) fool cops, school officials, and others while they are out on the street; and 2) fool their parents. To outsiders, they pass for regular kids. They most definitely aren't.
And, another tidbit from the same report: "Female gang members are an entity that must be taken seriously. They not only commit criminal acts, but instigate much of the action committed by the males." That is definitely food for thought!
Friday, July 13, 2007
An interesting tidbit...
In reading today's News Of The Weird, I ran across this article on some mystery cash left in the men's rooms of Japan. I thought about how one could use such an event, a mystery package drop-off, in a book.
Mysteries or thrillers would no doubt be able to use this for a terrorism theme, or some other high drama plot bunny, e.g. spread of disease or contagion. Literary novels? Sharing the wealth, paying it forward, or social experiment to see which folks would turn in the dough and which would run off with it, cackling all the way to the bank.
But for a fantasy or science fiction novel, the possibilities can include all of the above, and more.
What if, for example, the cash was fairy gold, doomed to turn to dust at sunset or dawn? Would the motivation be to get a particular person in trouble? To upset the economic apple cart of some small town? To have a rumor begun of thievery, or as a misdirection while some other crime took place?
I just love playing What If. Don't you?
Mysteries or thrillers would no doubt be able to use this for a terrorism theme, or some other high drama plot bunny, e.g. spread of disease or contagion. Literary novels? Sharing the wealth, paying it forward, or social experiment to see which folks would turn in the dough and which would run off with it, cackling all the way to the bank.
But for a fantasy or science fiction novel, the possibilities can include all of the above, and more.
What if, for example, the cash was fairy gold, doomed to turn to dust at sunset or dawn? Would the motivation be to get a particular person in trouble? To upset the economic apple cart of some small town? To have a rumor begun of thievery, or as a misdirection while some other crime took place?
I just love playing What If. Don't you?
Got Surveys?
Not sure if this is a cool site or not, but have you ever heard of Survey Monkey? It's a site where you can create your own surveys. Interesting, if you can get folks to participate.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
No, I'm really not an egghead!
In case you were wondering about all these long and tangled posts this week... I don't know what got into me. Must be my evil twin at work. Don't expect this sort of tear too often. I AM supposed to be writing, after all.
Anyhow, tell me if you want more of this sort of b.s. and I'll give it a whirl as topics come to me.
Anyhow, tell me if you want more of this sort of b.s. and I'll give it a whirl as topics come to me.
Hootenanies & Pow-wows
Facts are generally overesteemed. For most practical purposes, a thing is what men think it is. When they judged the earth flat, it was flat. As long as men thought slavery tolerable, tolerable it was. We live down here among shadows, shadows among shadows. John Updike
The first is the more simplistic approach-- merely developing your own system of slurs and pejoratives, language denoting class and whatnot. But these are essentially nothing but surface gloss, the wax on the paint of your shiny prose. Because the only things foul language and pejoratives adorn are characters' speech and the pov character's thoughts. They do not create emotional impressions of your fictional world for your readers. In fact, racial epithets and cursing aren't even necessary, if you do the world building properly.
The second approach is to reflect the cultural background and dynamics using the subtleties of language. Language can denote class, education, prejudice, religious affiliation...all manner of relationships-- including political ones.
But, to me, the coolest (and most subtle) use of language is to show historical change and power via the use of altered language. There's probably a really long, multi-syllabic term for this, which I have forgotten in the 25 years since obtaining my English degree. But what I mean is that words can be used to oppress because conquerors or those in power can demean the conquered language.
An example of the above is the way in which small word usage changes reflected the mighty cultural struggle between the Normans and the Saxons. Specifically, the words throne and stool. The Normans invade and degrade the high words of the Saxons; thus the word stool is replaced by the Norman word throne, and becomes the foot stool, the item you place your feet upon (a symbolic subjugation if there ever was one!). Then stool becomes the toilet, and finally the production of one's bowels, where it lingers in the lexicon today, odorous and shunned. But aha! The political tables were turned as the Norman winners became losers: Their word throne becomes a toilet, too, when the Normans were overthrown!
You can't miss the synchronicity between political/cultural dynamics and these examples. And, as writers, we should not fail to utilize this subtle but powerful opportunity to add another layer of reality into our fictional world. That there's what I'm talkin' 'bout. Subtlety.
Then there are the comedies of errors.
This is sort of tangential to the main idea, but perception, whether logical or correct, still plays a part in word choice. Overzealous PC-ness, if you will. Perfectly good words are maimed in the cultural consciousness forever, thereby, so that now people hesitate to use certain words like gay, or fag, or retarded, fearing that it might offend someone even when it's clear by context that the original meanings (joyous, cigarette, or slowed) are being used.
Take the word niggardly which has nothing to do with the dreaded "N word." One look in a decent dictionary confirms this. [Websters: Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hnoggr; akin to Old English hneaw. 14th century.] But I read a few weeks ago how someone was fired for using this innocuous word. It was considered indecent and grounds for immediate dismissal. Pure ignorance!
You can use this to humorous effect-- an opportunity to lampoon overly PC nit picking! -- or the opposite, show a person sincerely trying to get along and probably blundering, a bit of bathos, making that character sympathetic or a buffoon.
You must be aware of loaded words and use them for effect.
The point being, no matter what you do, you have to make the language choices with the knowledge of what is loaded and what is not. You have to understand the subtle meanings of the words you use. Racial pejoratives are a small but highly charged portion of the choices you make. Likewise choices of words for sexual parts, skin color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, body parts, looks, intelligence, and-- for speculative fiction-- even species. But there is power in these sorts of words, and they will tie in with the socio-political aspects of the greater world with which you surround your characters and the basic plot of your novel.
Happy writing!
Speculative Fiction as Society's Mirror.
Today's topic is political correctness vs. appropriate language use in speculative fiction, segueing into a couple of tangents as I really get rolling.
I was re-reading some old pulp not too long ago, and it struck me that certain attitudes portrayed were a trifle...prejudiced. I was reminded of the discomfort felt when watching an old cowboy movies where the Indians were presumed to be savage, stupid, lazy drunks; or the Al Jolson variety of black-faced caricature. It was all considered harmless at the time; authors and Hollywood didn't feel the social pressures we do today to be fair-- otherwise known as Politically Correct.
Not to say it is a bad thing that we have this current correction of our cultural mores underway; unfortunately, though, the pendulum has swung so far from unthinking stereotypes that one feels wrong for noticing any cultural differences and disliking or commenting on them.
And why is this important to writers? Because falling for this illogic is one way to hobble your prose, causing you to lose some of the power you might otherwise pack into the story.
Which is where speculative fiction comes in. We are writers. Language is our business. Therefore it is essential that we separate the "real world" pressures from essential and implied meaning of language, and use these aspects of language for effect. A huge tool, if you are wise enough to recognize and use it.
As Orson Scott Card observes in his book "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy," the SF genre allows the writer and reader to step outside of our world and view social problems from another perspective. A prime example is the Star Trek episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield where there were two races, one with the left half of their faces black, the other half white; the other race having reversed black and white faces. Their bitter hatred was so ridiculous and incomprehensible, it was a cutting commentary on our current racial tensions in the late 1960s.
This is a wonderful illustration of how spec fic can address charged issues of racial and cultural tension. Which is nice, if you write to make a statement. Most of us write to sell, though, and themed books often aren't sold. So we need to approach the PC issues a bit more cautiously.
However, you can use the concept in the worldbuilding aspect of your work and gain a lot of depth thereby. The tactic can be use of a theme, or it can influence character growth, society, political institutions, law, etc. But the tension of cultural or racial conflict is a valid and powerful motivation we'd be remiss to ignore.
The first is the more simplistic approach-- merely developing your own system of slurs and pejoratives, language denoting class and whatnot. But these are essentially nothing but surface gloss, the wax on the paint of your shiny prose. Because the only things foul language and pejoratives adorn are characters' speech and the pov character's thoughts. They do not create emotional impressions of your fictional world for your readers. In fact, racial epithets and cursing aren't even necessary, if you do the world building properly.
The second approach is to reflect the cultural background and dynamics using the subtleties of language. Language can denote class, education, prejudice, religious affiliation...all manner of relationships-- including political ones.
But, to me, the coolest (and most subtle) use of language is to show historical change and power via the use of altered language. There's probably a really long, multi-syllabic term for this, which I have forgotten in the 25 years since obtaining my English degree. But what I mean is that words can be used to oppress because conquerors or those in power can demean the conquered language.
An example of the above is the way in which small word usage changes reflected the mighty cultural struggle between the Normans and the Saxons. Specifically, the words throne and stool. The Normans invade and degrade the high words of the Saxons; thus the word stool is replaced by the Norman word throne, and becomes the foot stool, the item you place your feet upon (a symbolic subjugation if there ever was one!). Then stool becomes the toilet, and finally the production of one's bowels, where it lingers in the lexicon today, odorous and shunned. But aha! The political tables were turned as the Norman winners became losers: Their word throne becomes a toilet, too, when the Normans were overthrown!
You can't miss the synchronicity between political/cultural dynamics and these examples. And, as writers, we should not fail to utilize this subtle but powerful opportunity to add another layer of reality into our fictional world. That there's what I'm talkin' 'bout. Subtlety.
Then there are the comedies of errors.
This is sort of tangential to the main idea, but perception, whether logical or correct, still plays a part in word choice. Overzealous PC-ness, if you will. Perfectly good words are maimed in the cultural consciousness forever, thereby, so that now people hesitate to use certain words like gay, or fag, or retarded, fearing that it might offend someone even when it's clear by context that the original meanings (joyous, cigarette, or slowed) are being used.
Take the word niggardly which has nothing to do with the dreaded "N word." One look in a decent dictionary confirms this. [Websters: Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hnoggr; akin to Old English hneaw. 14th century.] But I read a few weeks ago how someone was fired for using this innocuous word. It was considered indecent and grounds for immediate dismissal. Pure ignorance!
You can use this to humorous effect-- an opportunity to lampoon overly PC nit picking! -- or the opposite, show a person sincerely trying to get along and probably blundering, a bit of bathos, making that character sympathetic or a buffoon.
You must be aware of loaded words and use them for effect.
The point being, no matter what you do, you have to make the language choices with the knowledge of what is loaded and what is not. You have to understand the subtle meanings of the words you use. Racial pejoratives are a small but highly charged portion of the choices you make. Likewise choices of words for sexual parts, skin color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, body parts, looks, intelligence, and-- for speculative fiction-- even species. But there is power in these sorts of words, and they will tie in with the socio-political aspects of the greater world with which you surround your characters and the basic plot of your novel.
Happy writing!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Argyria - The Gray Man
Argyria, better than woad!
The ancient Celts liked to stain their bodies with the blue pigment woad, snarl up their hair with skulls and whatnot, then run naked into battle, screaming at the top of their lungs. It scared their enemies mightily, by all accounts. Considering this little habit, I bet they'd like the effects of Argyria even better! Talk about scary looking...
Ever heard the rumors about people who take colloidal silver for arthritis can turn permanently gray? It's no urban legend; it's Argyria. And symptoms also include grey-blue eyes. Sclera blue? Then so are you! (Hah. I made a funny.)
Wikipedia also mentions that silver nitrate can do the same thing. Unfortunately, lest you become too excited with the prospect of being the first to use Argyria in your writing, wiki says it's been used in The Five People You Meet In Heaven (on my to be read pile).
The ancient Celts liked to stain their bodies with the blue pigment woad, snarl up their hair with skulls and whatnot, then run naked into battle, screaming at the top of their lungs. It scared their enemies mightily, by all accounts. Considering this little habit, I bet they'd like the effects of Argyria even better! Talk about scary looking...
Ever heard the rumors about people who take colloidal silver for arthritis can turn permanently gray? It's no urban legend; it's Argyria. And symptoms also include grey-blue eyes. Sclera blue? Then so are you! (Hah. I made a funny.)
Wikipedia also mentions that silver nitrate can do the same thing. Unfortunately, lest you become too excited with the prospect of being the first to use Argyria in your writing, wiki says it's been used in The Five People You Meet In Heaven (on my to be read pile).
The idea.
Now, how can one use this little factoid in a story? Oooh, lemme see...lots of ways. For one thing, just extrapolate and figure what would happen if some strange, alien substance deemed harmless is introduced to the body of a human (sf story). Could there not be a sudden change in skin color thereby? Or some other result?
Or you could just use a silver-colored man from colloidal silver as a sign that they were Untouchables, deliberately imbibing silver in order to avoid vampire attacks? (I like this one. A lot.)
Then again, you could have a mystery where some change occurs and colloidal silver is either the cause or the answer to the problem, and the silver skin is either a red herring or a foreshadowing hint.
Economics and Your World, or Why You Should Learn to Play Jenga
I ran across a book a week or so ago that I had to pick up. I figured, seven bucks, why not? It's called "A Concise Economic History of the World," by Rondo Cameron, and I thought that it would be improving to read something on the topic. Worldbuilding background info, which I am sharing because I know you love it. :)
Here are a few key points as to why you need to think about the economy of your world. I took them from the introduction because of the broad focus of the commentary. Seems to me that the main issues are the most useful for we writers to grasp. Historical analyses which may prove useful for various writing projects (bucolic, cyberpunk, dysfunctional, anarchy, etc.) will be ranted about in later posts.
First, you need to consider what the economic situation is in order to have the citizenry and the overlords (evil or otherwise) functioning in a manner which feels appropriate to the setting, tale and etc. It's subtle, but affects the book in major ways-- such as giving your characters their motivation for their choices, or explaining why they have become the way they are. It isn't usually that mommy or daddy were mean to them; it's quite often things like lack of economic power, political power, social schisms, etc...which are affected by the economic situation.
Second, the fundamental principles of economics are that, the higher the technology, the fewer people producing food there are. More craftspersons and service personnel. More leisure time. More opportunity for bureaucracy to form, for social and political institutions to become bloated and less effective (law of diminishing returns) and for the growth of a disenfranchised and unhappy underclass.
Third, the shape of a society and its economy intertwine, each influencing the other's growth patterns; and the factors which do so are myriad and complex. Ever played Jenga? The game where you stack a bunch of pieces into a tower, then take turns pulling pieces out and stacking them on top? That's the full-blown technological economy. And as a writer, one should keep in mind that, if you fiddle with the wrong jenga bit, the whole thing will come down.
Following are a few economic concepts that may be useful to you. Very dry stuff, but grain for the grist mill, nevertheless.
Determinants of economic development: "Classical economics evolved the tripartite classification of the "factors of production"-- land, labor, and capital... [H]owever, [this] classification is much too limited. It assumes that tastes, technology, and social institutions (e.g. the forms of economic, social, and political organization, the legal system, and even religion) are given and fixed or, what amounts ot the same thing, have no bearing on the process of production. In historical fact, of course, all of these bear strongly on the process of production, and all are subject to change. Indeed, changes in technology and in social institutions are the most dynamic sources of change in the whole economy. They are thus the deep wellsprings of economic development." (p10)
Social institutions and their effect upon the economy: "One social function that institutions perform is to provide elements of continuity and stability, without which societies would disintegrate; but in performing this function they may serve as barriers to economic development by fettering human labor, withholding resources from rational exploitation (e.g., India's sacred cows), or inhibiting innovation and the diffusion of technology. But institutional innovation is also a possibility, with consequences not unlike those of technological innovation permitting a more efficient or intensive use of both material resources and human energy and ingenuity. Some historical examples are the institutional innovations of organized markets, coined money, patents, insurance, and the various forms of business enterprise, such as the modern corporation." (p11)
Law of diminishing returns (or diminishing marginal returns): "According to this relationship, in a production system with fixed and variable inputs (say factory size and labor), beyond some point, each additional unit of variable input yields less and less additional output. Conversely, producing one more unit of output costs more and more in variable inputs." (wiki)
Law of diminishing marginal utility: "The more one has of a given commodity, the less one values any single unit of it." This is referencing supply and demand, where value decreases as the supply increases." (p15) This means commodities such as corn or wheat. I'm not sure why gasoline doesn't follow this rule in the US, but that speaks to other economic factors' involvement, too... [Why scisms from agrarian-based villages and big cities form. How the poor get poorer and the rich richer. The underpinnings of a revolution in your world, perhaps.]
Economic structure and structural change: "...three major sectors known as primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary sector includes those activities in which products are obtained directly from nature: agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The secondary sector includes those activities in which the products of nature are transformed or processed: that is, manufacturing and construction. The tertiary, or service, sector deals not with products or material goods at all, but with services; these cover a wide range, from domestic and personal services (cooks, maids, barbers, etc.) to commercial and financial (retail clerks, merchants, bankers, brokers, etc.) to professional (doctors, lawyers, educators) to governmental (postal workers, bureaucrats, politicians, the military, etc.)" [Whether you want a cyberpunk world, agrarian fantasy or whatever, knowing how the everyday situation is organized will help to make the world feel more real than reality.]
Logistic curve (the S curve): This is a mathematical formula that recognizes the S-shaped growth curve of many subhuman populations, "such as a colony of fruit flies in a closed container with a constant food supply," (p 16) as well as human populations. S curves accurately portray many social phenomena. Also, the author observes that 'growth in population is matched with economic growth,' and life grows miserable for humanity as the economy stalls and population begins to level off. (This refers to earlier historic periods before major technological breakthroughs.) [This concept is useful for societies with a dynamic of social stability. What is too stable and thus unbearable? Why can a society of humans not have a truly stable society without growth? etc.] And, regarding this, "Adam Smith's remark...to the effect that the position of the laborer was happiest in a "progressive" society, dreary in a stationary one, and miserable in a declining one."
Like I already mentioned, I'll delve beyond skimming the major concepts to a more detailed discussion of how these principles can affect a fantasy or SF tale in some later post. Meanwhile, have fun with this. If you think about the big picture elements of your society you are creating, you can see how you can more easily set the stage for your hero's rebellion against the Evil Overlord or whatever.
Happy writing!
Here are a few key points as to why you need to think about the economy of your world. I took them from the introduction because of the broad focus of the commentary. Seems to me that the main issues are the most useful for we writers to grasp. Historical analyses which may prove useful for various writing projects (bucolic, cyberpunk, dysfunctional, anarchy, etc.) will be ranted about in later posts.
First, you need to consider what the economic situation is in order to have the citizenry and the overlords (evil or otherwise) functioning in a manner which feels appropriate to the setting, tale and etc. It's subtle, but affects the book in major ways-- such as giving your characters their motivation for their choices, or explaining why they have become the way they are. It isn't usually that mommy or daddy were mean to them; it's quite often things like lack of economic power, political power, social schisms, etc...which are affected by the economic situation.
Second, the fundamental principles of economics are that, the higher the technology, the fewer people producing food there are. More craftspersons and service personnel. More leisure time. More opportunity for bureaucracy to form, for social and political institutions to become bloated and less effective (law of diminishing returns) and for the growth of a disenfranchised and unhappy underclass.
Third, the shape of a society and its economy intertwine, each influencing the other's growth patterns; and the factors which do so are myriad and complex. Ever played Jenga? The game where you stack a bunch of pieces into a tower, then take turns pulling pieces out and stacking them on top? That's the full-blown technological economy. And as a writer, one should keep in mind that, if you fiddle with the wrong jenga bit, the whole thing will come down.
Following are a few economic concepts that may be useful to you. Very dry stuff, but grain for the grist mill, nevertheless.
Determinants of economic development: "Classical economics evolved the tripartite classification of the "factors of production"-- land, labor, and capital... [H]owever, [this] classification is much too limited. It assumes that tastes, technology, and social institutions (e.g. the forms of economic, social, and political organization, the legal system, and even religion) are given and fixed or, what amounts ot the same thing, have no bearing on the process of production. In historical fact, of course, all of these bear strongly on the process of production, and all are subject to change. Indeed, changes in technology and in social institutions are the most dynamic sources of change in the whole economy. They are thus the deep wellsprings of economic development." (p10)
Social institutions and their effect upon the economy: "One social function that institutions perform is to provide elements of continuity and stability, without which societies would disintegrate; but in performing this function they may serve as barriers to economic development by fettering human labor, withholding resources from rational exploitation (e.g., India's sacred cows), or inhibiting innovation and the diffusion of technology. But institutional innovation is also a possibility, with consequences not unlike those of technological innovation permitting a more efficient or intensive use of both material resources and human energy and ingenuity. Some historical examples are the institutional innovations of organized markets, coined money, patents, insurance, and the various forms of business enterprise, such as the modern corporation." (p11)
Law of diminishing returns (or diminishing marginal returns): "According to this relationship, in a production system with fixed and variable inputs (say factory size and labor), beyond some point, each additional unit of variable input yields less and less additional output. Conversely, producing one more unit of output costs more and more in variable inputs." (wiki)
Law of diminishing marginal utility: "The more one has of a given commodity, the less one values any single unit of it." This is referencing supply and demand, where value decreases as the supply increases." (p15) This means commodities such as corn or wheat. I'm not sure why gasoline doesn't follow this rule in the US, but that speaks to other economic factors' involvement, too... [Why scisms from agrarian-based villages and big cities form. How the poor get poorer and the rich richer. The underpinnings of a revolution in your world, perhaps.]
Economic structure and structural change: "...three major sectors known as primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary sector includes those activities in which products are obtained directly from nature: agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The secondary sector includes those activities in which the products of nature are transformed or processed: that is, manufacturing and construction. The tertiary, or service, sector deals not with products or material goods at all, but with services; these cover a wide range, from domestic and personal services (cooks, maids, barbers, etc.) to commercial and financial (retail clerks, merchants, bankers, brokers, etc.) to professional (doctors, lawyers, educators) to governmental (postal workers, bureaucrats, politicians, the military, etc.)" [Whether you want a cyberpunk world, agrarian fantasy or whatever, knowing how the everyday situation is organized will help to make the world feel more real than reality.]
Logistic curve (the S curve): This is a mathematical formula that recognizes the S-shaped growth curve of many subhuman populations, "such as a colony of fruit flies in a closed container with a constant food supply," (p 16) as well as human populations. S curves accurately portray many social phenomena. Also, the author observes that 'growth in population is matched with economic growth,' and life grows miserable for humanity as the economy stalls and population begins to level off. (This refers to earlier historic periods before major technological breakthroughs.) [This concept is useful for societies with a dynamic of social stability. What is too stable and thus unbearable? Why can a society of humans not have a truly stable society without growth? etc.] And, regarding this, "Adam Smith's remark...to the effect that the position of the laborer was happiest in a "progressive" society, dreary in a stationary one, and miserable in a declining one."
Like I already mentioned, I'll delve beyond skimming the major concepts to a more detailed discussion of how these principles can affect a fantasy or SF tale in some later post. Meanwhile, have fun with this. If you think about the big picture elements of your society you are creating, you can see how you can more easily set the stage for your hero's rebellion against the Evil Overlord or whatever.
Happy writing!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Things go in circles always
Or, the benefits of writing an outline.
You probably don't recall this post, wherin I mention that I need to stop looking back and what I've written and fiddle with it and move ahead? I specifically mention needing to get Haydn off of the rock in the middle of a swamp.
Well, in writing the outline, a lot of things became clearer. Specifically, I realized the perfect means of getting Haydn off of the rock. Heh.
Or, how synchronicity appears in many forms.
And, even more grin producing, the way that writing an outline showed me how I'd already written in a bunch of stuff that linked to the now-clarified plot ideas (and even ones I had not thought up yet, at least not consciously) and made immediate sense.
Or, how I managed to read this and that and it miraculously solves plot problems I didn't know I had until writing an outline.
Such as reading on the economic history of the world (future post fodder) ; the nature of cognitive dissonance and other ways people perceive the world; or archetypes.
All of which have fit into this process in a miraculous example of falling into place. Maybe not seamlessly as I write, but darned close in the outline stage.
We writers need to love how the subconscious works on our behalf.
Or it could just be that one tends to write what has stimulated our little brains most recently...
You probably don't recall this post, wherin I mention that I need to stop looking back and what I've written and fiddle with it and move ahead? I specifically mention needing to get Haydn off of the rock in the middle of a swamp.
Well, in writing the outline, a lot of things became clearer. Specifically, I realized the perfect means of getting Haydn off of the rock. Heh.
Or, how synchronicity appears in many forms.
And, even more grin producing, the way that writing an outline showed me how I'd already written in a bunch of stuff that linked to the now-clarified plot ideas (and even ones I had not thought up yet, at least not consciously) and made immediate sense.
Or, how I managed to read this and that and it miraculously solves plot problems I didn't know I had until writing an outline.
Such as reading on the economic history of the world (future post fodder) ; the nature of cognitive dissonance and other ways people perceive the world; or archetypes.
All of which have fit into this process in a miraculous example of falling into place. Maybe not seamlessly as I write, but darned close in the outline stage.
We writers need to love how the subconscious works on our behalf.
Or it could just be that one tends to write what has stimulated our little brains most recently...
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Progress Report: Outline complete!
I've spent most of the last two weeks slapping together the outline for my WIP, The Beauregrave. I managed to get it all together yesterday morning. I have the weirdest process for doing this, though. I'm going to illustrate it so you can see one writer's wacky process and maybe give yourself a break for your own quirks.
1. Get frustrated because I wrote 100 pages and realised most of them have to go; I don't know where I'm heading. (But it's useful backstory and character development.)
2. Bang head against wall. Go off on writing tangent for several months or pout.
3. Use relational database to make five zillion notes of anything and everything that comes to mind about this story.
4. Try to group these ideas and place them in chronological order. By this time, I am starting to see viable trends and subplots.
5. Dump the ideas into a text file. Print and cut into sections. Play shuffle the paper in a room with a fan on. (I really did this. Stupid oversight.)
6. Type Word file with the basic ideas formed into an outline, another with subplots listed, and a third with all the characters and their motivations/wants/needs for the book. Use colors and whatnot to help figure out how things connect. Waste three days on this.
7. Take out a pile of 4x6 blank note cards. Print the main plot points, and only the main plot points, on these cards.
8. Sort into chronological sequence. Fill in ideas in fine point pen.
9. Rewrite the cards that are too messy or where you got carried away; put the ideas that are on wrong card where they belong.
10. Assemble into book sequence.
11. Read to victim (in this case my mother) to see if they can follow what you are saying.
12. Fix any big problems. Add in subplot needs.
13. Let sit. Gloat at my success.
14. Come back to it later that day and despair because it'll never work: it's all crap.
15. Get some sleep and reread. Get all excited again and start to write.
16. Stop writing. Decide to use Power Writer instead of Word. Add all outline card info into section headers; add scene notes and subplot needs for each section. (A lot of this is still amorphous and will be fixed in the later drafts.)
17. Now I actually write prose instead of scene notes.
1. Get frustrated because I wrote 100 pages and realised most of them have to go; I don't know where I'm heading. (But it's useful backstory and character development.)
2. Bang head against wall. Go off on writing tangent for several months or pout.
3. Use relational database to make five zillion notes of anything and everything that comes to mind about this story.
4. Try to group these ideas and place them in chronological order. By this time, I am starting to see viable trends and subplots.
5. Dump the ideas into a text file. Print and cut into sections. Play shuffle the paper in a room with a fan on. (I really did this. Stupid oversight.)
6. Type Word file with the basic ideas formed into an outline, another with subplots listed, and a third with all the characters and their motivations/wants/needs for the book. Use colors and whatnot to help figure out how things connect. Waste three days on this.
7. Take out a pile of 4x6 blank note cards. Print the main plot points, and only the main plot points, on these cards.
8. Sort into chronological sequence. Fill in ideas in fine point pen.
9. Rewrite the cards that are too messy or where you got carried away; put the ideas that are on wrong card where they belong.
10. Assemble into book sequence.
11. Read to victim (in this case my mother) to see if they can follow what you are saying.
12. Fix any big problems. Add in subplot needs.
13. Let sit. Gloat at my success.
14. Come back to it later that day and despair because it'll never work: it's all crap.
15. Get some sleep and reread. Get all excited again and start to write.
16. Stop writing. Decide to use Power Writer instead of Word. Add all outline card info into section headers; add scene notes and subplot needs for each section. (A lot of this is still amorphous and will be fixed in the later drafts.)
17. Now I actually write prose instead of scene notes.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Cool Site: Quote It Write
Just ran across one of Josie D's blogs, Quote It Write. Therein are lots of really inspirational writerly quotes. Check it out!
Josephine Damian is the woman who is studying forensic anthropology, and whose blog, Forensics Diary, I linked to earlier this month.
Josephine Damian is the woman who is studying forensic anthropology, and whose blog, Forensics Diary, I linked to earlier this month.
An odd place for research...
Bernita mentioned that she's had numerous hits since titling a blog "medieval porn." So I googled and that post was indeed right up there at number 8. I tried Alta Vista (www.altavista.com) and she should be relieved to know she wasn't on the first page.
However, this intriguing site-- Pornokrates-- was. And, by golly, it is actually quite a useful little site for the writer seeking historical accuracy in the bedroom. I mean, it's Medieval Porn!
For example, I now know where to go to learn a whole bunch of ways that women were called whores back in the 18th century. And what male genitalia wore in fashionable Medieval circles. (Okay, I made that one up, but we all have heard about codpieces, right?)
Anyhow, an amusing foray for the bored or seekers of really bad odes to a dying cockerel...or something like that.
And someone praised me for the adult language I used in my last blog? Glad mom isn't chasing me all the way from my childhood with a bar of soap in her hands!
However, this intriguing site-- Pornokrates-- was. And, by golly, it is actually quite a useful little site for the writer seeking historical accuracy in the bedroom. I mean, it's Medieval Porn!
For example, I now know where to go to learn a whole bunch of ways that women were called whores back in the 18th century. And what male genitalia wore in fashionable Medieval circles. (Okay, I made that one up, but we all have heard about codpieces, right?)
Anyhow, an amusing foray for the bored or seekers of really bad odes to a dying cockerel...or something like that.
And someone praised me for the adult language I used in my last blog? Glad mom isn't chasing me all the way from my childhood with a bar of soap in her hands!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Confirmation Bias
Reading today's post over at Tantalus Prime's science blog, and he brings up an interesting concept: Cofirmation bias. This is essentially the will to disbelieve the facts before your eyes. Prime quotes from an article by Arthur Allen, where he references this phenomenon of human behavior:
"Years ago, when writing an article for the Washington Post Magazine about the Tailwind affair, a screwy piece of journalism about a nonexistent attack on American POWs with sarin gas, I concluded that the story's CNN producers had become wedded to the thesis after interviewing a few unreliable sources. After that, they unconsciously discounted any facts that interfered with their juicy story. They weren't lying—except, perhaps, to themselves. They had brain blindness—confirmation bias."
But possibly a formal definition will make this more clear:
"When we have made a decision or build a hypothesis, we will actively seek things which will confirm our decision or hypothesis. We will also avoid things which will disconfirm this. The alternative is to face the dissonance of being wrong. We use this approach both for searching our memory and looking for things in the external world. This has also been called the Positive Test Strategy."(changingminds.org)
OR: "A tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs." (wikipedia)
The possible mechanics of cognitive dissonance.
"There are several possible reasons beliefs persevere despite contrary evidence. Embarrassment over having to withdraw a publicly declared belief, for example, or stubbornness or hope. Superstition, religion, or ideology can allow a believer to give a greater weight to articles of faith over facts. One explanation may lie in the workings of the human sensory system. Human brains and senses are organised in such a manner so as to facilitate rapid evaluation of social situations and others' states of mind. There is an evolutionary benefit in just estimating significance and relevance quickly, rather than waiting for an exact answer. Studies have shown that this behaviour is evident in the choosing of friends and partners and houses, even though it is largely subconscious. Although it can be a very fast process the initial impression has a lasting effect as a byproduct of the brain's tendency to fill in the gaps of what it perceives and an unwillingness of the part of a believer to admit that their cogitation was erroneous." (wiki)
Your writer's toolbox.
Plainly, characterization and motivation are key issues in character building. And, like with archetypes, we writers can benefit from a basic understanding of the various types of behavior patterns and trends. So now you can study cognitive theory and drive yourself nuts! Whee!
But seriously, where knowledge of cognitive dissonance could be useful to the writer is in having characters display the rational behavior of the convinced yet also illustrate their blind spots. We need well-meaning characters who are willfully blind, or bigots who cannot be convinced, or cops who justify subverting their oaths to become the vigilante and villain.
And then there's the hand puppet trick: You could have a therapist or some snooty over-educated wise guy taunt your character with his/her failings by throwing around this twenty-five cent term. (And thereby basically be you with your hand shoved up their ass, making them be a ventriloquist's dummy.)
This is a tactic that needs to be used extremely judiciously. It smacks of writer lecturing reader and can be pretty damned obvious and off-putting to your readers.
But, sometimes, it is the trick you need to use. Just don't over do it. S'all I'm sayin'.
And thoughts about Critical Thinking.
When is confirmation bias most likely to occur for really big things? Well, I'd say it is when critical thinking and true logic has lapsed. And we are not talking about the pickayune oddments such as 'did I get a good deal on my flouride toothpaste', but big stuff like who to vote for, bigotry, opinions on economic policies or-- as Arthur Allen cites-- vaccines and autism.
On her blog a couple of months ago, Nicole Kelly had a series of posts on logical behavior, straw man complexes and the like. These go along with the illogic of confirmation bias and may help to flesh out this rant. I'd look up more logic sites, but it's not my forte and this post is long enough already.
Related reading.
Article on cognitive dissonance at Changingminds.org
Wikipedia article on cognitive dissonance.
Articles on logic in prose by Nicole Kelly, here, here and here.
"Years ago, when writing an article for the Washington Post Magazine about the Tailwind affair, a screwy piece of journalism about a nonexistent attack on American POWs with sarin gas, I concluded that the story's CNN producers had become wedded to the thesis after interviewing a few unreliable sources. After that, they unconsciously discounted any facts that interfered with their juicy story. They weren't lying—except, perhaps, to themselves. They had brain blindness—confirmation bias."
But possibly a formal definition will make this more clear:
"When we have made a decision or build a hypothesis, we will actively seek things which will confirm our decision or hypothesis. We will also avoid things which will disconfirm this. The alternative is to face the dissonance of being wrong. We use this approach both for searching our memory and looking for things in the external world. This has also been called the Positive Test Strategy."(changingminds.org)
OR: "A tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs." (wikipedia)
The possible mechanics of cognitive dissonance.
"There are several possible reasons beliefs persevere despite contrary evidence. Embarrassment over having to withdraw a publicly declared belief, for example, or stubbornness or hope. Superstition, religion, or ideology can allow a believer to give a greater weight to articles of faith over facts. One explanation may lie in the workings of the human sensory system. Human brains and senses are organised in such a manner so as to facilitate rapid evaluation of social situations and others' states of mind. There is an evolutionary benefit in just estimating significance and relevance quickly, rather than waiting for an exact answer. Studies have shown that this behaviour is evident in the choosing of friends and partners and houses, even though it is largely subconscious. Although it can be a very fast process the initial impression has a lasting effect as a byproduct of the brain's tendency to fill in the gaps of what it perceives and an unwillingness of the part of a believer to admit that their cogitation was erroneous." (wiki)
Your writer's toolbox.
Plainly, characterization and motivation are key issues in character building. And, like with archetypes, we writers can benefit from a basic understanding of the various types of behavior patterns and trends. So now you can study cognitive theory and drive yourself nuts! Whee!
But seriously, where knowledge of cognitive dissonance could be useful to the writer is in having characters display the rational behavior of the convinced yet also illustrate their blind spots. We need well-meaning characters who are willfully blind, or bigots who cannot be convinced, or cops who justify subverting their oaths to become the vigilante and villain.
And then there's the hand puppet trick: You could have a therapist or some snooty over-educated wise guy taunt your character with his/her failings by throwing around this twenty-five cent term. (And thereby basically be you with your hand shoved up their ass, making them be a ventriloquist's dummy.)
This is a tactic that needs to be used extremely judiciously. It smacks of writer lecturing reader and can be pretty damned obvious and off-putting to your readers.
But, sometimes, it is the trick you need to use. Just don't over do it. S'all I'm sayin'.
And thoughts about Critical Thinking.
When is confirmation bias most likely to occur for really big things? Well, I'd say it is when critical thinking and true logic has lapsed. And we are not talking about the pickayune oddments such as 'did I get a good deal on my flouride toothpaste', but big stuff like who to vote for, bigotry, opinions on economic policies or-- as Arthur Allen cites-- vaccines and autism.
On her blog a couple of months ago, Nicole Kelly had a series of posts on logical behavior, straw man complexes and the like. These go along with the illogic of confirmation bias and may help to flesh out this rant. I'd look up more logic sites, but it's not my forte and this post is long enough already.
Related reading.
Article on cognitive dissonance at Changingminds.org
Wikipedia article on cognitive dissonance.
Articles on logic in prose by Nicole Kelly, here, here and here.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Thinking Bloggers?!?
Hey, I've been nominated as a thinking blogger! And by someone I don't think had ever before posted! How cool is that?
From the horse's mouth.
I got the following off of the original Thinking Blogger post.
Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.The participation rules are simple:
From the horse's mouth.
I got the following off of the original Thinking Blogger post.
Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).
So, okay. I'll play.
FIVE BLOGS THAT MAKE ME THINK (in no particular order):
1. Bernita's blog, An Innocent, A Blog. A witty, gentile and erudite blogger. Besides, she seems to like the things that go bump in the night as much as I do!
2. Evil Editor, of course. I'm a junkie and wannabe stalker. (It's the muttonchops, obviously, and the laser beam eyes!) But, seriously, my fondness for this site is the incisive way the anonymous Evil Editor cuts the dross from queries and revises them to be much improved. A real learning experience if one dares to partake. Besides, he's so damned funny!
3. Writer Beware. So again I'm not very original. But these ladies, A.C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss, are so deserving of thanks and praise for saving the butts of writers who otherwise would be victimized by the wolves in sheep's clothing masquerading as legitimate agents. Thanks, ladies! Great writers, too. ;)
4. Nicole Kelly's blog, Agent Kelly. Nicole Kelly hasn't been posting a great deal, but she has had some really great discussions on the logic of stories. Her comments to my posts are also quite to the point and thoughtful. I hope she blogs more as time permits to continue the round of discussions in some other interesting directions.
5. Post Secret. This site, while not really a product of blog owner Frank's skillfull or inciteful writing, is definitely one that makes me think. He's provided a forum whereby people can share their most intimate secrets with the world. Hopefully it helps. But it does help me because, every time I read that blog, I am reminded of life's foibles, fancies and miseries. Reminded of the human condition. Grounded in the realities of life and in the fact that they are not all bad, or good or anything. They just are. Learn and move on. We all need that.
Undead Walking...
I was reading Evil Editor for my daily dose of humor and snarkiness when something I read made me think of the phrase, "Dead man walking." I toyed with it, wondered what I could do with it and thought, "undead man walking." Hmmm...
What if the punishment for certain crimes was to be made into a zombie?
Can you imagine the society that would have evolved to relegate murderers into the undead, paying far more time than their normal span as punishment of the deed? What elements of magic would apply? How would magic and religion shape this society? What effects would there be upon systems of justice, property, inheritance, social responsibilities? How would magic influence the economy? And what would be the international effects on all these things? I mean, if the Old World (Europe and Asia) had different or no magical capacity, then the shape of things magical would dictate migration, economic and political changes just like technology did for Europe to the New World...
Ideas:
What if the punishment for certain crimes was to be made into a zombie?
Can you imagine the society that would have evolved to relegate murderers into the undead, paying far more time than their normal span as punishment of the deed? What elements of magic would apply? How would magic and religion shape this society? What effects would there be upon systems of justice, property, inheritance, social responsibilities? How would magic influence the economy? And what would be the international effects on all these things? I mean, if the Old World (Europe and Asia) had different or no magical capacity, then the shape of things magical would dictate migration, economic and political changes just like technology did for Europe to the New World...
Ideas:
- Alternate history: Suppose you used afro-based religions such as Voudoun, Santeria, etc. and extrapolated the results of the slaves in the Americas having reached a critical mass, allowing their powerful religious rituals to reverse the situation...
- Suppose there are different types of magical power to go with the traditional major religions? Then Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Taoism, Afro-based, Native American-based, European-based, (and all the various sub-groups of these) would all compete to outdo for social, political and economic power. Economics and world migration and political trends would be linked to these religions/philosophies...
- Urban fantasy: Suppose something empowered religions in the current day? What if something really unexpected, like the afro-based religions, was the hands-down favorite and whipped the asses of any competitors? How many bitter and vengeful african americans and hispanics would suddenly find power? Would people like Jesse Jackson switch religions for the power to become President? Would the economy fail? How would international relations be affected?
- Oh, and here's another thought: What if Christianity and the other major religions were the major religions because of people's belief that the other systems were wrong? That the other systems weren't wrong, but they were held in stasis or oppressed by a belief they were ineffective. And what if that lid were suddenly pulled off by a catastrophic event?
There are so many permutations of this idea that I could keep hair-splitting the original concept for hours. But, basically, if the world were determined by the things we call superstitions, the fundamental changes that would erupt would be fascinating to catalog and create.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Aidez moi!! I need a name!!
Need help naming a grimoire. One from dark faerieland. One that has a gruesome title which has more than one meaning. As a starting point, I'm trying to riff off a book title I read in a short story some while back: "The Book of Skin and Mashed Pulp" or something similar. It was an evil tome. That name sounded rather evil, but, more importantly, it was original.
This book isn't evil, but it is very ancient, alive in a fashion, and as bloodthirsty as any faerie in the book. Have you ever read The Darkness (comic)? That kind of creepy ooky sliminess.
Here's how I describe some of my faeries at a party:
"He was flanked by his fellows, some of them obvious in their display of Hel-borne ancestry. Tentacles wreathed one dandy's skull, gelatinous jellyfish sac dropping slime down his finery as it rested against his neck. Another with eyes faceted like an insect's in a strangely boned head. Carapace showed above the lace at that one's throat. Two others, female by their dugs, and furred in the red-eared manner of Alapathia's Hel Hounds, lounged against the wall immediately as Haydn paused. They fingered matched rapiers and started at Haydn, their tongues lolling."
I've got a list of words I think might be good, but I just cannot come up with a title that sounds right. Maybe something Celtic, since I have used the Lia Fwil as an object, and taking the Stone of Destiny for a spin in my dark fantasy is definitely bringing Celtic flavor home...
This book isn't evil, but it is very ancient, alive in a fashion, and as bloodthirsty as any faerie in the book. Have you ever read The Darkness (comic)? That kind of creepy ooky sliminess.
Here's how I describe some of my faeries at a party:
"He was flanked by his fellows, some of them obvious in their display of Hel-borne ancestry. Tentacles wreathed one dandy's skull, gelatinous jellyfish sac dropping slime down his finery as it rested against his neck. Another with eyes faceted like an insect's in a strangely boned head. Carapace showed above the lace at that one's throat. Two others, female by their dugs, and furred in the red-eared manner of Alapathia's Hel Hounds, lounged against the wall immediately as Haydn paused. They fingered matched rapiers and started at Haydn, their tongues lolling."
I've got a list of words I think might be good, but I just cannot come up with a title that sounds right. Maybe something Celtic, since I have used the Lia Fwil as an object, and taking the Stone of Destiny for a spin in my dark fantasy is definitely bringing Celtic flavor home...
- Glinderwist, which is purely made up, but it wasn't creepy at all...
- The GARG BILE or "Bitter Leaf" because the prophecy, in the end, is bitter indeed. An Early Irish/Celtic try (butchering the language with poetic license.) Or, perhaps "Bitter Leaf" because all prophecy is bitter, knowing what fate is going to deal out.
- TESYA-MEX, ancient Etruscan for "sacrificed humanity" or "human burnt offerings".
- In English, The Book of Painful Whispers was the best I've come up with, and it falls rather short, lol. (This was me thinking of the pain of a schizophrenic trying to ignore the voices.)
Monday, July 02, 2007
Character Tune Ups for the Series Book
Character development is another important aspect of series writing. Everyone knows that characters must grow and change over the course of the story: it's called a "character arc." But what do you do if you need to write characters that not only grow over the course of one story, but over the course of three or four? Mess this one up and you either have characters spinning their personal-growth wheels, progressing at a snail's pace, or, worst of all, backsliding in an attempt to create drama. Diana Peterfreund
Reading the Knight Agency's blog, found a nice article on writing series, written by guest blogger Diana Peterfreund. Ms. Peterfreund's characterization points, quoted above, really struck me.
This is something that I hadn't specifically considered in the multi-book arc I've been plotting out, and yet it is something that I hadn't realized was bothering me about the main character. I think in my particular case, the "out of tune" character problem has cropped up because I've been dumb enough to start writing the second book first. That felt like a good place at the time; but it has allowed me to make the main character a bit less heroic and more a whiney wuss than I liked.
Now I know what I had overlooked: Her growth is backwards, "backsliding in an attempt to create drama." It simply felt off a bit, yet I liked where she was in the plot I made for Book 2. So now I am aware of the disconnect and can adjust her character and the plot to reflect her state of mind in a way that flows properly from the first book's plot.
But I am seriously thinking I'd better go work on Book 1. In fact, it might be two books! Sheesh. Time to go back to The Beauregrave...
Diana Peterfreund is author of Under The Rose, and has a blog here.
Reading the Knight Agency's blog, found a nice article on writing series, written by guest blogger Diana Peterfreund. Ms. Peterfreund's characterization points, quoted above, really struck me.
This is something that I hadn't specifically considered in the multi-book arc I've been plotting out, and yet it is something that I hadn't realized was bothering me about the main character. I think in my particular case, the "out of tune" character problem has cropped up because I've been dumb enough to start writing the second book first. That felt like a good place at the time; but it has allowed me to make the main character a bit less heroic and more a whiney wuss than I liked.
Now I know what I had overlooked: Her growth is backwards, "backsliding in an attempt to create drama." It simply felt off a bit, yet I liked where she was in the plot I made for Book 2. So now I am aware of the disconnect and can adjust her character and the plot to reflect her state of mind in a way that flows properly from the first book's plot.
But I am seriously thinking I'd better go work on Book 1. In fact, it might be two books! Sheesh. Time to go back to The Beauregrave...
Diana Peterfreund is author of Under The Rose, and has a blog here.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Cool Site - Tantalus Prime
Blog trolling again, and found a new thought-provoking site, Tantalus Prime. What's cool about this guy's blog is that he rants on science, in particular neuroscience. Lots of stuff I didn't know and don't understand; lots of food for thought! In particular, this blog about a fellow who insists that, "somehow, having a basic understanding of our physiology is fine but you should not be comfortable with it."
And you call that progress?
Well, I did work on the Beauregrave today, but I didn't write any prose. No, I had a hard realization, and that was that the notes I'd made several months before had this big, blank gap in the middle. Time to come up with some plot points. Sub-plots missing, too.
So today I did some busy work with the relational database. This is a fun exercise for when you have forgotten all the ideas, lost your original notes or have no freakin' idea.
Using Literary Machine, I created a project for The Beauregrave, and covered my workspace with blank note cards. If you've never used a relational database, just picture real index cards; this process works with them too, except it's faster when I get to type into the database. After I tag all the cards as plot points and from The Beauregrave, I put the lock caps on and typed in the existing scene synopses and the plot points I have already noted in what notes I could find. Then I started coming up with ideas, whether conflicting or not. I figured on what characters I'd mentioned and how they were supposed to return to the story. I figured on how I could possibly get to the end I'd envisioned and how the goal Haydn needed to achieve would be accomplished.
After you hammer away at the note cards for a few days, you tend to have a pretty good idea what's what in the story line. That's when you pick up all the cards and dump them into a .txt file. At which point you can use your word processor to organize the ideas into a formal outline.
The beauty of this system is that it's incredibly neat and adjustible. I have this compulsion to rewrite messy note cards (I've mentioned a minor problem with OCD before; well, this is what it does to me, it makes me tidy things up...except for my house; that I can ignore for some reason.) And you can add to it and reorganize the cards into sub groups, such as chapters, and then dump them into files. You can even expand these cards into scenes and then dump the scenes into a .txt file and thus to the word processing program. Very flexible program, is Literary Machine. And it's free. Cool beans.
So, anyhow, the exciting news is that I actually came up with some good stuff. It's not entirely finished, but I have some subplots and some ideas how to use all the flashbacks I've been writing. Ideas for how the non-linear flashbacks can reflect the present plot, which is linear. And how the deceptions and misleading actions all get revealed. I love that feeling. It's no doubt delusional, but it still feels good while it lasts...sort of like that warm feeling you get when you dog pees on your leg...until you notice what's warm... (Hey, I was a military dog handler, and yes, the little furballs do stuff like that on occasion.)
So today I did some busy work with the relational database. This is a fun exercise for when you have forgotten all the ideas, lost your original notes or have no freakin' idea.
Using Literary Machine, I created a project for The Beauregrave, and covered my workspace with blank note cards. If you've never used a relational database, just picture real index cards; this process works with them too, except it's faster when I get to type into the database. After I tag all the cards as plot points and from The Beauregrave, I put the lock caps on and typed in the existing scene synopses and the plot points I have already noted in what notes I could find. Then I started coming up with ideas, whether conflicting or not. I figured on what characters I'd mentioned and how they were supposed to return to the story. I figured on how I could possibly get to the end I'd envisioned and how the goal Haydn needed to achieve would be accomplished.
After you hammer away at the note cards for a few days, you tend to have a pretty good idea what's what in the story line. That's when you pick up all the cards and dump them into a .txt file. At which point you can use your word processor to organize the ideas into a formal outline.
The beauty of this system is that it's incredibly neat and adjustible. I have this compulsion to rewrite messy note cards (I've mentioned a minor problem with OCD before; well, this is what it does to me, it makes me tidy things up...except for my house; that I can ignore for some reason.) And you can add to it and reorganize the cards into sub groups, such as chapters, and then dump them into files. You can even expand these cards into scenes and then dump the scenes into a .txt file and thus to the word processing program. Very flexible program, is Literary Machine. And it's free. Cool beans.
So, anyhow, the exciting news is that I actually came up with some good stuff. It's not entirely finished, but I have some subplots and some ideas how to use all the flashbacks I've been writing. Ideas for how the non-linear flashbacks can reflect the present plot, which is linear. And how the deceptions and misleading actions all get revealed. I love that feeling. It's no doubt delusional, but it still feels good while it lasts...sort of like that warm feeling you get when you dog pees on your leg...until you notice what's warm... (Hey, I was a military dog handler, and yes, the little furballs do stuff like that on occasion.)
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