J.M. Robison's Blog, page 2
April 8, 2018
The Difference Between An Active and Reactive Plot Line, and Which One Is Better
There are only 2 forces in this world: what we make happen by our own two hands (we drive the car) and the random acts we react to (we get hit by a car).REACTIVE PLOT LINE:Bob must walk one block to Grandma’s house. Two steps out his front door, a dog bites his leg. He’s rushed to the hospital and tagged with a huge bill. He comes home the next day. Still needing to walk to Grandma’s house, he sets off on his journey again. Halfway there, Miley Cyrus' wrecking ball swings across the road and tags his head. Knocked out for 20 minutes, he continues down the road and narrowly misses getting hit by a car. Finally, he reaches Grandma’s house and sits down with a hot plate of cookies. THE END.A reactive plot line is that which the character spends the entire time reacting to random situations which are thrown at them the entire book. To where there would be no story if these circumstances didn’t interrupt their forward progress. They could sit in their room and stare at the wall the entire book, yet there would still be a story there because the house could burn down, aliens could abduct them, Miley Cyruses wrecking ball could throw them into space. Yet, all they had to do for any of that to happen, was sit in their room and stare at the wall.This is not a bad plot line, because many popular books follow this format. To name a few:Deep BlueWizards First RuleThe Eye of The WorldIron King
THE PROBLEMS WITH HAVING A REACTIVE PLOT LINE:I’ve read all four of the above books and hated them all with the exception of Deep Blue because I was in love with the under-the-ocean setting. And why didn’t I like them? Because they were predictable. These random events would happen to the character where death appeared eminent. But because there are still 300 pages left in the book, I know the character will live, so I’m not at all concerned for their welfare and I even feel a little detached. I start to know SOMETHING is going to happen to the character, and every situation the character goes through I know they will come out alive and well. A reactive plot line leaves little room for the reader to be surprised with unexpected twists.AN ACTIVE PLOT LINE: Bob must walk one block to grandma’s house, because Grandma has been kidnapped and he has to gather clues. He reaches her house and finds a note with three names on them. Believing these names to be the kidnappers Grandma identified, Bob does a google search and pulls up one of the names. He goes to the address listed. By process of elimination, he finds one of the kidnappers. Bob ties the kidnapper to a chair and beats him for information, and discovers Grandma has been forced into cookie-making slavery. Bob rescues Grandma, and eats a plate of cookies with her for his reward. THE END.An active plot line is that which nothing happens in the story except the character makes it happen. To where there would be no story if all Bob did was stay home and stare at the wall. There would be no fire, no aliens, and no wrecking ball. He might get up to use the toilet and make food once in a while.This is a better plot line to have. Books who used this format are as follows:Red QueenLifebloodMap of BonesThe Maze Runner*Some of the above books DO have reactive elements in them, but I will discuss why further down. The above books are massively active plot lines.*
I do not see any problems with this plot line. It’s not predictable, because we never know what the character is going to do from moment to moment. When Bob captured one of the kidnappers to beat him for information, we don’t know if Bob is going to put the man’s head in a microwave and turn it on, or bust in his knee caps, or drop him in a pit of snakes. Further, we don’t know if him performing those measures will be enough for the kidnapper to talk. The active plot line leaves a lot of room for twists, because now Bob discovers Grandma faked her own kidnapping so she could become a cookie-baking world tyrant.HAVING BOTH AN ACTIVE AND REACTIVE PLOT LINE: Let’s admit it; most of the time our characters would be really content just to bumble along in life, and so we impose a random act to happen to them to kick them into gear. Bob was watching TV and Grandma calls, threatening to stop paying his rent if he doesn’t go to her house right now and eat cookies, or Bob was sleeping when he receives a phone call saying Grandma had been kidnapped. That is a reactive moment, where some unforeseen event kicks our characters in the butt and forces them to react in some way which starts the story.I RECOMMEND: For what my recommendation is worth, I enjoy active plot lines FAR more than I do reactive ones, for all the reasons I’ve listed above. But neither are wrong.Which plot line do you like to write/read? Explain in the comments.
THE PROBLEMS WITH HAVING A REACTIVE PLOT LINE:I’ve read all four of the above books and hated them all with the exception of Deep Blue because I was in love with the under-the-ocean setting. And why didn’t I like them? Because they were predictable. These random events would happen to the character where death appeared eminent. But because there are still 300 pages left in the book, I know the character will live, so I’m not at all concerned for their welfare and I even feel a little detached. I start to know SOMETHING is going to happen to the character, and every situation the character goes through I know they will come out alive and well. A reactive plot line leaves little room for the reader to be surprised with unexpected twists.AN ACTIVE PLOT LINE: Bob must walk one block to grandma’s house, because Grandma has been kidnapped and he has to gather clues. He reaches her house and finds a note with three names on them. Believing these names to be the kidnappers Grandma identified, Bob does a google search and pulls up one of the names. He goes to the address listed. By process of elimination, he finds one of the kidnappers. Bob ties the kidnapper to a chair and beats him for information, and discovers Grandma has been forced into cookie-making slavery. Bob rescues Grandma, and eats a plate of cookies with her for his reward. THE END.An active plot line is that which nothing happens in the story except the character makes it happen. To where there would be no story if all Bob did was stay home and stare at the wall. There would be no fire, no aliens, and no wrecking ball. He might get up to use the toilet and make food once in a while.This is a better plot line to have. Books who used this format are as follows:Red QueenLifebloodMap of BonesThe Maze Runner*Some of the above books DO have reactive elements in them, but I will discuss why further down. The above books are massively active plot lines.*I do not see any problems with this plot line. It’s not predictable, because we never know what the character is going to do from moment to moment. When Bob captured one of the kidnappers to beat him for information, we don’t know if Bob is going to put the man’s head in a microwave and turn it on, or bust in his knee caps, or drop him in a pit of snakes. Further, we don’t know if him performing those measures will be enough for the kidnapper to talk. The active plot line leaves a lot of room for twists, because now Bob discovers Grandma faked her own kidnapping so she could become a cookie-baking world tyrant.HAVING BOTH AN ACTIVE AND REACTIVE PLOT LINE: Let’s admit it; most of the time our characters would be really content just to bumble along in life, and so we impose a random act to happen to them to kick them into gear. Bob was watching TV and Grandma calls, threatening to stop paying his rent if he doesn’t go to her house right now and eat cookies, or Bob was sleeping when he receives a phone call saying Grandma had been kidnapped. That is a reactive moment, where some unforeseen event kicks our characters in the butt and forces them to react in some way which starts the story.I RECOMMEND: For what my recommendation is worth, I enjoy active plot lines FAR more than I do reactive ones, for all the reasons I’ve listed above. But neither are wrong.Which plot line do you like to write/read? Explain in the comments.
March 25, 2018
What Is It? (one of those poems by Russ Asson)
Its nature is uncertain, Its purpose not disclosed.I don’t know what it is, But I’m sure it isn’t prose.It rises when falling’s better, Falls when up’s the thing.It aims for Nova Scotia And ends up in Peking.Perhaps it’s philosophical, Mayhap it’s existential.Perhaps very complex, Or simply elemental.Could be it’s awfully basic, Or maybe it’s sublime.But it isn’t any good at all If it doesn’t rhyme.It’s a magic carpet ride To places quite unknown.My mind is lost and dizzy, But my soul calls it home.What’s it do? I do now know, But knowing’s not enough.Oh thank God for that, I’m befuzzled by this stuff!But deep down deep where life is lived, And love is more than reason,The poetry of the soul, Is cuz the rhymin’s really pleasin’!(What, you were expecting maybe something profound?)By Russ Asson
March 24, 2018
Share The Good Stories, Since The Media Won't
(This thunderstorm is a good representation of the thunderstorm we were running from) I have ranted before about the media reporting on only those stories that make people look bad, and never reporting on the stories that make people look good. So I need to take the next step and prove I WANT to see good stories, and I'll do that by posting my own, in hopes that people will post theirs, so we can flood social media with the good and push out the hate. And all the good, for me, starts with my belief in God. I've known so many blessings because of my trust in God, and one I want to share.Me and my good friend Teresa went hiking up a mountain one summer, with the intent to camp at the top. We reached the top and it started to rain. Hard.And lightening started striking the mountain top.We decided to pack up quick and hike off the mountain. It got dark on us, with the storm clouds and the rain covering any moonlight we might have had, and Teresa's flashlight stopped working. With only my dim flashlight and the hounding rain, we accidently walked off the road and could not find it again.We were not lost, by any means, as we could clearly see the town lights below us, but in order to reach those lights safely - what with mountain lions, thick bramble, sharp ledges - we needed to find the road again. We decided to pray for help. In the prayer, we asked, "please make the rain stop" and, I kid you not, the rain stopped so suddenly, it felt like someone had shut a facet off. Not even a drizzle. The rain was gone. Also in the prayer we asked that we would be guided back to the road. We ended the prayer, and five minutes later, we found the road again. With the rain not making the dark even darker, we were able to stay on the road and make it off the mountain.We got back to the truck - safe - and it started raining again.If at any time I have doubts that prayers work, I remember this experience, and I know I had that experience so in the future - now - I could reflect back on it.That is my good story. Share yours. #SweepTheEarth
March 18, 2018
My Blogging Intern Stint With Collegerentals.com
BELOW ARE THE ARTICLES I WROTE FOR COLLEGERENTALS.COMWhy Tweeting About Your Roommates Is A Bad IdeaMaintain Personal Security in Your Personal SpaceCan You Share a Bathroom?Spring Staples for Your WardrobeValentines Day for the Happy Couple and the Happy Single
February 19, 2018
Not Every Character Should Be Beautiful
Us writers love to introduce beautiful characters. It’s poetic and tugs at our heartstrings when a dashing cowboy struts into the scene, and get all melty when the heroine winks while biting her lip. Both are beautiful.But the secretary is beautiful too, and the side character pumping iron at the gym. The villain is devilishly handsome, and the random guy who shows up for five minutes to betray the secret in act 3 is described as “breathless.”Now all of a sudden, Chad and Angela in the first paragraph have lost their appeal, because if everyone is beautiful, what’s to make Chad and Angela special above every other character?I’m reading a book right now (which prompted this post) where everyone is described as breathless, beautiful, incomparable, etc., so now I’m desensitized, and the impact I once had for the handsome main character has been whittled down for me, and he’s no longer handsome because everyone else compares in their beauty to him.
KEEP YOUR BEAUTIFUL CHARACTERS TO A MINIMUMIf you want maximum impact, reserve the absolute pinnacle of beauty to one character. Others can be pretty, cute, commonly, plain, or – even better – just leave those opinions to the reader. In my novel, The War Queen, I never once say Kaelin is handsome. I describe his bonze goatee, crooked nose, and blue eyes, and that is it. You understand more of how he really looks when he handles his massive war-horse, straps on his armor, faces off with the enemy. I had one reader tell me, “Well no wonder so and so was attracted to him. He’s handsome.” But I never said Kaelin was handsome. Never even hinted at it. Never had a character think or say, “Kaelin is handsome.” The reader decided Kaelin was handsome, and it wasn’t because I told the reader to think that way.I always enjoy books more when details are not forced upon me. Besides, saying, “X is handsome” is telling, and telling is bad. If looks are not pivotal to the plot, then don’t bother saying “Y is beautiful, X is handsome.” There is nothing wrong with ugly people falling in love. Let your reader decide those opinions for themselves.Read next: The Ugly Face of Handsome Heroes: Writing Heroes With Disabilities
KEEP YOUR BEAUTIFUL CHARACTERS TO A MINIMUMIf you want maximum impact, reserve the absolute pinnacle of beauty to one character. Others can be pretty, cute, commonly, plain, or – even better – just leave those opinions to the reader. In my novel, The War Queen, I never once say Kaelin is handsome. I describe his bonze goatee, crooked nose, and blue eyes, and that is it. You understand more of how he really looks when he handles his massive war-horse, straps on his armor, faces off with the enemy. I had one reader tell me, “Well no wonder so and so was attracted to him. He’s handsome.” But I never said Kaelin was handsome. Never even hinted at it. Never had a character think or say, “Kaelin is handsome.” The reader decided Kaelin was handsome, and it wasn’t because I told the reader to think that way.I always enjoy books more when details are not forced upon me. Besides, saying, “X is handsome” is telling, and telling is bad. If looks are not pivotal to the plot, then don’t bother saying “Y is beautiful, X is handsome.” There is nothing wrong with ugly people falling in love. Let your reader decide those opinions for themselves.Read next: The Ugly Face of Handsome Heroes: Writing Heroes With Disabilities
January 17, 2018
Don't Express Yourself
Don’t you dare express yourself.Not in religion, race, or genderBecause opinions are threats,And sensitive to every member.If you don’t agree you are wrong,And we’ll troll you till the end,Stalk you and harass you,Until your reputation bends.You must not be different,Not unique, no individuality,You must fall into step with us,Or we’ll drown you in the media sea.You must be accepting of all,Or we’ll ruin your life,There is no agree to disagree,Only stabbing you with strife.You don’t have to say you hate us,Only express your feelings on your preference,But we love a good hunt,And we’ll bleed you for the indifference.No, we won’t scroll past.We’ll comment that you are sexist, bias, or hateful.Get ugly with demands for no contest,And when you defend, stuff our ears with wool.We can’t just accept you don’t feel the same,Because if you are not with us, you are against,And court of law says we’re right,And we’ll sue you for recompense.So keep quiet and don’t speak,Just agree with our post without a fussWe’ll turn humanity into robots,And make you all subservient to us.
Read A Book, Ruin A Book
I've done it. I was booted from a facebook book lover's group. And when I say "booted" I mean, my posted was deleted, I was kicked out and BLOCKED from even finding and joining the group ever again. It won't come up in my search results. Further, I messaged the group admin (I already had her contact info) and she won't even respond to my question about why I was booted.What was my heinous crime, you ask?I posted to this facebook group, saying that when I read a book and come across something I don't like, I cross out those parts with a pen and keep reading, so when I go back to re-read the book, I don't have to read those parts I didn't like. I paid for the book. I'm not giving it to anyone else to read. And I only ever do that to maybe five sentences per every 10th book I read. Anyway, I asked the group if anyone else did this.I was met with hate and fury, called childish for defacing a book, as if I'd spray-painted the Holy Grail. I was posting a very calm and collected reply to all the ugly comments, when I discovered my post was no longer active, and I - in fact - was no longer in the group. In no way did I violate the group rules (I checked them.)
So this experience propelled me to blog about my thoughts on defacing books. Here’s my stand on it: You bought the book. Write notes in it. Highlight. Dog-ear the pages. Tear pages out. Spill hot chocolate on it. Burn it. Why? Because it’s yours, just like you would do for any other property you own.BUT J.M., YOU’RE AN AUTHOR. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF A READER CROSSED WORDS/SENTENCES OUT OF THE BOOK YOU WROTE?I don’t care. Not every book, and not every scene in every book, is going to appeal to every reader. If Reader is enjoying The War Queen, but decided she doesn't like the scene where Altarn catches Kaelin in a towel, and Reader crossed that part out so she wouldn’t ruin her delicate senses if she were to ever re-read the book, that is great. That tells me the reader is making my book HER OWN. That reader is enjoying my book in the way that pleases her the most. That reader can change my character names, descriptions, scenery, whatever, because that reader is reading The War Queento escape into another world and enjoy her journey. Who am I to demand she stays on the path I laid out for her? Maybe she wants to walk into the trees of Endendre and become blissfully lost. I am not her travel guide. I am only her map-maker.So, you’ve heard it from J.M. Robison, fantasy author: that I deface books according to my reading pleasure, and I encourage others to deface books according to THEIR pleasure. It’s not immoral, nor illegal. Be free. Consume that book in whatever way tastes the best.Comment below your thoughts.
So this experience propelled me to blog about my thoughts on defacing books. Here’s my stand on it: You bought the book. Write notes in it. Highlight. Dog-ear the pages. Tear pages out. Spill hot chocolate on it. Burn it. Why? Because it’s yours, just like you would do for any other property you own.BUT J.M., YOU’RE AN AUTHOR. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF A READER CROSSED WORDS/SENTENCES OUT OF THE BOOK YOU WROTE?I don’t care. Not every book, and not every scene in every book, is going to appeal to every reader. If Reader is enjoying The War Queen, but decided she doesn't like the scene where Altarn catches Kaelin in a towel, and Reader crossed that part out so she wouldn’t ruin her delicate senses if she were to ever re-read the book, that is great. That tells me the reader is making my book HER OWN. That reader is enjoying my book in the way that pleases her the most. That reader can change my character names, descriptions, scenery, whatever, because that reader is reading The War Queento escape into another world and enjoy her journey. Who am I to demand she stays on the path I laid out for her? Maybe she wants to walk into the trees of Endendre and become blissfully lost. I am not her travel guide. I am only her map-maker.So, you’ve heard it from J.M. Robison, fantasy author: that I deface books according to my reading pleasure, and I encourage others to deface books according to THEIR pleasure. It’s not immoral, nor illegal. Be free. Consume that book in whatever way tastes the best.Comment below your thoughts.
January 6, 2018
A Quick And Dirty On When To Stop And Start A Chapter
Have a looooooooooong chapter and want to cut it but don’t know where?Cut the chapter right when you blast the reader with surprise, suspense, or strain for maximum effect.SURPRISE CHAPTER ENDING: Herten woke. And he knew. Panic lanced through him and he sat up in bed, sweating with anxiety as he wondered why it had taken him so long. Had his own faith dimmed so much he could not see what was clearly in front of him? He jumped from bed as if thirty years were shaved from him, his heart racing at the earned knowledge of what this all meant and would mean. He fled the room, hoping he was not too late. Dragging his hand along the wall to Chalyn’s chamber, he knocked a little too anxiously on the door, worrying he had failed the test. “Good morning,” the lad greeted as if trying to contain the zeal shining behind Herten’s own blind eyes. “How can I serve you, Deon Priest?” “Nay,” said Herten. “How may I serve thee?” And Priest Herten bowed before the God Gildeon.SUSPENSE CHAPTER ENDING: Kaelin rolled to his feet in time to see the biting glance of the mace roaring at him again. Kaelin rebounded and threw his body as far away as he could. Mid turn, the mace smashed into his right hip, knifing silver thorns into his body. Kaelin flew five feet before he hit the dirt in a pain soaked haze of darkness. A teeth clenched scream escaped him. Liquid pain bloomed inside his body, gushing warmth out of crushed armor. He shuddered to lift his body, but the trauma of the blow numbed his limbs. He dove deep down… deep down… to sum together everything he had to stand and die fighting. He pushed up on his hands, but blood rushed away from him. Blackness chomped across his vision and he collapsed.STRAINED CHAPTER ENDING: “Kaelin – KAELIN!” Her shout morphed into a hopeless shriek. “KAELIN!” When she was hoarse, she picked up a chair and hurled it at the door. The impact resounded with a loud crack and the chair landed out of reach. She sat on the bed, her calm broken away like a horse tied in a storm. Barbed spits of panic hailed down into a pit of hopelessness. She curled her knees into her chest and rocked back and forth. But Kaelin never showed that day. Or the next.Don’t have any of those? That’s okay. Other areas where you can create chapters/chapter breaks:- When characters travel (because travel is boring)- When characters go to bedIf, after all those suggestions, you STILL don’t know where to create a chapter? This will be your fail-safe: A chapter ending should have the same tone, feel, and effect like the ending of a song.
December 27, 2017
THE PANTSTER'S UNDERPANTS:| How To Write Like A Pantster | How Pantsters Do It | Why You Should Write Like A Pantster
The age-old debate…to wear pants, or not to wear pants? Oh, that’s not the debate…? Maybe it’s…to outline or not to outline (but that just sounds SO much less curious.)What is a pantster? A writer who scripts stories by the seat of their pants without any clear thought as to what’s going to happen from scene to scene. They don’t outline. Like, at ALL.HOW in the WORLD do they do that? I couldn’t write a WORD if I didn’t have a clear, chapter by chapter outline mapped out in advance!Just kidding. I’m a pantster.Come over and take a peek at the pantster's underpants…HOW TO WRITE LIKE A PANTSTER:You take a scene. Any scene. The scene I chose is my characters reacting to the technology of a toilet for the first time (in a fantasy setting.) I knew I wanted to have this scene, and have it be funny, but other than those 2 desires I had no other direction of which to make this a complete scene.Meta-physically stand in your story. This scene I chose is set in a fantasy setting inn. I’m meta-physically standing in this inn. I look around this inn, trying to decide how my characters discover there’s a toilet in the inn, a technology of which is new and that which they will find strange. How to do that? This part is easy. My character asks the inn host where the outhouse is._________________________________________Rubbing both eyes and smacking his lips still greasy from the hot meal, he stood. “Gotta empty the bowels,” he said, patting his stomach, and weaved among the patrons in the room who filled up every chair and table, several of them hooded, keeping their heads down.Sciath scrapped a fingernail into the wood. Clothes finally dried, his eyes drooped in half-sleep. They’d spent the rest of their money on dinner. There was no telling where they would sleep tonight.Radak was currently in the company of Andrast’s Lord. According to the inn host, Radak had rented a room in this very inn for tonight and would be returning to it before the gas lamps dimmed.Talon would follow Radak invisible to his room, sneak inside with him, discover what he’d done to their friends somehow, and leave without anyone ever knowing the how, why, or who.That was the easy part. The hard part would be then getting to Malandore to rescue–Talon ran back to their table, breathless. “Alamarr, you have to come see this!”“See what?”“This inn has a toilet.”“A what?”“A porcelain seat you sit on to empty your bowels. It flushes. Inn host called it a toilet.”“Flushes? What does that even mean?”“Come look.” Talon tugged on Alamarr’s sleeve until Alamarr relented and followed him.__________________________________________________Alright, so my characters have discovered this toilet. I STILL want this scene to be funny, and I still have no idea how to go about doing it. It’s exactly like this: you won’t know what the inside of Starbucks looks like until you GO there and LOOK around. So I meta-physically follow my characters to the toilet so I can see what they see.HOW PANTSTERS DO IT:Right, so I’m looking over Alamarr’s shoulder as the three men stare at the toilet. This is what they – and I – see:_______________________________________________Sciath followed Alamarr to a tiny closet, almost not wide enough to fit Sciath’s broad shoulders. He looked down at a white porcelain seat with a massive bowel filled with water in the center, the bowel narrowing at the bottom into a narrow funnel which disappeared.“Watch this.” Talon shouldered passed Sciath and yanked on a chain hanging from the ceiling. Water gushed around in a circle inside the bowl, flushing all down the narrow funnel with a gurgle. They all stood silent, watching the bowel fill back up.______________________________________________Well, that’s all grand, but NOW what? I’m not just going to have my characters flush this toilet once and go sit back down to talk about dethroning Radak, because that would make this entire toilet scene – though entertaining – useless and any good editor will tell me to cut the scene out because it does not drive character or plot forward.At some point, Radak’s lackeys are going to come into the inn and attempt an arrest on my characters. While I meta-physically stand in my story, I don’t see why the bad guys can’t attempt this arrest while my characters are staring at the toilet. I’ll write it out and see where it takes me.___________________________________________________“Is there a man in here who is part barbarian, elf, and human?” an authoritative voice called.Everyone in the inn held their breath. Even the three men in the toilet closet. The inn host new. But he wasn’t saying anything. So did Calthania. She didn’t respond, either.“Inn keeper,” said the same voice, “have you seen–”“Yes, yes,” the inn host said in a frantic hustle, clearly unwilling in his tone but without choice. “He went back to the toilet not a moment ago.”Alamarr, hanging the most outside the closet, rammed his shoulder into Talon and Sciath, shoving them both inside. Following, Alamarr closed the door and flipped the lock.Sciath pressed against one wall, Talon directly across, both with a foot front and rear of the toilet. With no where else to go, Alamarr stood on the toilet, bracing his balance on Talon’s and Sciath’s shoulders.“Exactly, what did this accomplish,” Sciath asked, the small space heating up with all three of their rampant breathing.“Keeping you alive.”“For what, another minute longer?”Massive fists pounded on the door, shaking the walls. “Come out by order of King Radak.”_______________________________________________
Now I’m happy because this is building up to become really funny. But now I have a new dilemma and that is, how are my characters supposed to escape? There’s three of them crammed in this tiny toilet closet with no weapons.Hmmm.I REALLY force my mind to think. I stand meta-physically in this cramped closet with them, looking at everything I have access to. I see a toilet bolted to the floor, water in the toilet bowel, boots and clothes on my characters. What kind of havoc can they cause with just those things? Well, it’s all I’ve got. So I’ve got to work with only what I’ve got.THIS is how pantsters do it. They work with ONLY what they have, beit even a toilet, a bowel of water, and clothing. Let’s try it out.___________________________________________________“What? What did you say?” Alamarr removed his shirt and shoved it into the bowel, stuffing it tightly into the funnel. He flushed it. Water pooled up and dumped over the rim, splattering Sciath’s and Talon’s boots. He flushed again. More water. It flooded under the door.“Oops,” Alamarr said to cries of, “Awk!” and “Gross!” “Sorry. Dropped a big one.”Another shoulder to the door, but a prompt, “Umph!” and a heavy crash of armor on floor testified the man slipped and fell.Alamarr kept flushing. While other, half-attempts were made on the slick floor on the other side of the door to ram it open, Alamarr motioned the other two to lean in. “Remove your boots, both of you. You’ll have better grip barefoot.”They both did, without question. Alamarr, too.“I’m going to stop flushing and shove my finger under the door. When one of them grabs it, Sciath, unlock and kick the door open as hard as you can. Talon, remain invisible and rush the first man you see. Throw your boots at him to distract him while you do. If you hit hard enough, he’ll slip on the water. The rest we’ll have to take as-is, since we don’t know how many are out there. Ready?” Alamarr flushed one more time and stepped off the toilet, shoving a finger under the door.“I’m right here!” he taunted. “Pull me out–OUCH!”Taking his cue, with an added forward thrust of his hips, Sciath rammed the heel of his foot hard into the unlocked door.It blasted open. Not a particular heavy thing, with the force of his kick, the door slammed into the armored man’s head – who was bent over, holding onto Alamarr’s finger. His winged mask saved most of his face from the blow, but his entire body tumbled over and rolled. His armor looked identical to those on Avanor who pursued them. They were called Knives?Talon’s brown boots came out of nowhere, landing on the second masked man’s face who reacted with an upward swing of his arms to block them. His body folded in half, slipping on the wet floor as an invisible Talon tackled him.The third and last man Sciath delivered a straight punch to his face with his right, gloved arm.The man’s head knocked backward and he slipped on the floor, remaining still.Alamarr came out with his sodden shirt dripping in his hand. “Let’s be gone.”______________________________________________All right, THAT worked out rather well.WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE LIKE A PANTSTER:Had I sat down three days in advance and drew up an outline for this scene, I would have planned in something super lame, like, Sciath bringing his sword into the bathroom with him which he then would use to fight his way out. Doing that I would have lost the flavor of the toilet scene, and it would not have left quite the impression upon the reader, nor would it have been as funny.IF YOU SKIMMED: To write like a pantster, only use what the characters have access to. Don't introduce save-the-day people or objects.
December 21, 2017
Don’t Ignore Common Sense In Writing
I didn’t think this was an issue, but after reading so many books, both by published authors and author-hopefuls, I realize it’s not only an issue, it has become an ACCEPTABLE NORM, which I think is very, very sad.This is so important to me that I actually stopped in the middle of editing The Last Wizard (deadline to get it back to my editor is 9 Jan 2018 where it will be published Apr 2018) to write this post. The scene I was editing actually sparked this thought.So what do I speak of when I say “common sense” in writing? I love examples, so, for example, in my novel, The Last Wizard, Bob (fake names and no gender are used to protect the innocent) is kidnapped by gypsies. Bob was wearing a silver necklace which Bob wore specifically to bait a thief so Bob could hire the thief. In the original version of the story, Bob was kidnapped by the gypsies and then saved by the thief Bob was trying to hire, and Bob used the silver necklace to pay the thief for the job Bob wanted the thief to do.The common sense issue I ran into that was this: why didn’t the gypsies take the silver necklace off Bob and keep it for themselves? Having the gypsies take the silver necklace off Bob would take away Bob’s only payment to hire the thief. But I can’t ignore the common sense factor there. So I thought really hard and decided the gypsies taking the silver necklace was more realistic in the story, and I came up with another form of payment for Bob to use. So what was the end result? Bob was able to pay the thief in a different way AND I was able to keep the common sense factor intact.
THINGS I’VE SEEN IN BOOKS THAT IGNORE THE COMMON SENSE FACTOR WHICH DRIVES ME ABSOLUTELY BONKERS:Good guy and bad guy get in shootout. Good guy runs across an open space and bad guy – though he’s a trained assassin – can’t hit the good guy worth sh*t: bullets hitting the floor, the ceiling, the wall, grazes the good guy’s shoulder…and the good guy gets away. Well, CLEARLY, we all want the good guy to get away, but the writer sacrificed common sense to make it happen, which made the story unrealistic and not as fulfilling as it otherwise could have been. Plus, what’s so wrong about the good guy getting near-fatally shot?Jill is scuba diving, but had to disconnect from her tank for good reason. Now she’s underwater without oxygen, swimming around, but not seemingly troubled by not being able to breath, despite her adrenaline also pumping.I’ve been struggling lately finding a book that 1) has stellar writing style 2) is realistic in their world 3) leaves no loose ends 4) doesn’t drag on with useless details 5) doesn’t ignore the common sense factor. In every book I’ve read in the past white, they had at least one of the above violations I listed. Most readers won’t pick up on what I list as violations. But I can’t ignore them. I see them as clearly as I see words on a page. It comes down to quality, and – though I don’t claim to be perfect – I at least have a mind to see the violations I make myself and do everything possible to whittle them out. Quality. That’s what I strive for, and that’s what I beg other writers to strive for, too.Now, back to editing The Last Wizard. Discover it before its release date HERE.
THINGS I’VE SEEN IN BOOKS THAT IGNORE THE COMMON SENSE FACTOR WHICH DRIVES ME ABSOLUTELY BONKERS:Good guy and bad guy get in shootout. Good guy runs across an open space and bad guy – though he’s a trained assassin – can’t hit the good guy worth sh*t: bullets hitting the floor, the ceiling, the wall, grazes the good guy’s shoulder…and the good guy gets away. Well, CLEARLY, we all want the good guy to get away, but the writer sacrificed common sense to make it happen, which made the story unrealistic and not as fulfilling as it otherwise could have been. Plus, what’s so wrong about the good guy getting near-fatally shot?Jill is scuba diving, but had to disconnect from her tank for good reason. Now she’s underwater without oxygen, swimming around, but not seemingly troubled by not being able to breath, despite her adrenaline also pumping.I’ve been struggling lately finding a book that 1) has stellar writing style 2) is realistic in their world 3) leaves no loose ends 4) doesn’t drag on with useless details 5) doesn’t ignore the common sense factor. In every book I’ve read in the past white, they had at least one of the above violations I listed. Most readers won’t pick up on what I list as violations. But I can’t ignore them. I see them as clearly as I see words on a page. It comes down to quality, and – though I don’t claim to be perfect – I at least have a mind to see the violations I make myself and do everything possible to whittle them out. Quality. That’s what I strive for, and that’s what I beg other writers to strive for, too.Now, back to editing The Last Wizard. Discover it before its release date HERE.
