Arthur Gibson's Blog: A Journey In Mind, page 6
March 18, 2011
Censorship
I have been reading a lot about censorship. Both in literature and in film. The subject is one that unfailingly ticks me off. I am not one who believes that just anything should be allowed in print or on the screen. I think that we do need standards. But the arbitrary way in which some of those standards are imposed upon us is ridiculous. But this post is not about that. Pardon me while I swallow my bile.
The question that every author or creative person needs to ask themselves is simply this: does it advance the story? There are books that throw in sex scenes just because a good sex scene will sell a book. Is there swearing so that you can say your characters are "edgy"? Is it necessary to the story? Does it help? Does it advance the plot? Don't wait for someone else to do it. Censor yourself where needed.
I once wrote a story for a group of friends. Many of the characters swore. It seemed right at the time. But after it was written and I was editing i realized that I could remove 90% of the foul language and it wouldn't effect the story. In fact, in two places it helped me out a lot. Different language lent a new nuance to the scenes in question. Mostly that did not happen. I could just leave out the cussing and still get my point across.
It is the same with sex. It is an organic choice that advances the plot? Is there something that happens in the intimate encounter that makes a difference to those people? Something that needs to be seen? Or will it be advanced just as much implying that sex will occur and then showing the new intimacy between the people afterward?
Is the violence needed? The car chase? The dull conversation waiting in line at the bank? Leave out all the crap that doesn't matter. Leave out all the junk that is piling up in your story and causing readers to get bogged down. Leave in everything that is necessary. That advances the plot. That is needed for the characters and what they are experiencing to be truly felt by the reader. Leave in everything that hurts the story by leaving it out. You still might get a censor note from an editor, but you can honestly say it is needed and back up your arguments with all the hard thinking you went through when you decided to leave it in. You might not win, but you will have been true to your story and not just throwing something in to titillate.
The question that every author or creative person needs to ask themselves is simply this: does it advance the story? There are books that throw in sex scenes just because a good sex scene will sell a book. Is there swearing so that you can say your characters are "edgy"? Is it necessary to the story? Does it help? Does it advance the plot? Don't wait for someone else to do it. Censor yourself where needed.
I once wrote a story for a group of friends. Many of the characters swore. It seemed right at the time. But after it was written and I was editing i realized that I could remove 90% of the foul language and it wouldn't effect the story. In fact, in two places it helped me out a lot. Different language lent a new nuance to the scenes in question. Mostly that did not happen. I could just leave out the cussing and still get my point across.
It is the same with sex. It is an organic choice that advances the plot? Is there something that happens in the intimate encounter that makes a difference to those people? Something that needs to be seen? Or will it be advanced just as much implying that sex will occur and then showing the new intimacy between the people afterward?
Is the violence needed? The car chase? The dull conversation waiting in line at the bank? Leave out all the crap that doesn't matter. Leave out all the junk that is piling up in your story and causing readers to get bogged down. Leave in everything that is necessary. That advances the plot. That is needed for the characters and what they are experiencing to be truly felt by the reader. Leave in everything that hurts the story by leaving it out. You still might get a censor note from an editor, but you can honestly say it is needed and back up your arguments with all the hard thinking you went through when you decided to leave it in. You might not win, but you will have been true to your story and not just throwing something in to titillate.
March 17, 2011
How Long...
...is too long? Is there even such a thing? Of course there is. Any time that your length outpaces your story, that is too long. Any time that your story requires more words, then it works. The question of how long or how short your piece should be is one of story. At least, assuming you are not writing something on commission for a publication. If that is the case, stick to their word length guidelines.
Baring that, look at your story. Does it flow? Does it come alive the way you want it to? Should you have more? Do you need more background, more dialogue? More description? Is there more happening that we should know about?
I do not know about other authors. But I tend to think big. As I work, I think bigger. I like to explore the story. Not exhaustively but completely. complete exploration lets us look into all the interesting corners and gives us a fun time too. Exhaustive exploration lets us read what every character had for breakfast and possible let us count how many times they chewed beans at lunch.
Shoot for thorough exploration of your STORY. Not the world in which it takes place. We want to see all the good things. Have all the fun we can. And have that ride be along the story arc. A novel in three chapters is too short and disappointing. A novel in three volumes can be too long and disappointing. Make sure you are writing what is appropriate to your story. Stow your dreams of glory and be objective. We do not all want to know the intricacies of elbow scratching.
Baring that, look at your story. Does it flow? Does it come alive the way you want it to? Should you have more? Do you need more background, more dialogue? More description? Is there more happening that we should know about?
I do not know about other authors. But I tend to think big. As I work, I think bigger. I like to explore the story. Not exhaustively but completely. complete exploration lets us look into all the interesting corners and gives us a fun time too. Exhaustive exploration lets us read what every character had for breakfast and possible let us count how many times they chewed beans at lunch.
Shoot for thorough exploration of your STORY. Not the world in which it takes place. We want to see all the good things. Have all the fun we can. And have that ride be along the story arc. A novel in three chapters is too short and disappointing. A novel in three volumes can be too long and disappointing. Make sure you are writing what is appropriate to your story. Stow your dreams of glory and be objective. We do not all want to know the intricacies of elbow scratching.
March 16, 2011
Expectations Suck
You have an idea for your sequel. You have a theme or at least something that you want to explore. Something to say. You have your characters settled in your mind. You have played around a little with their voices. You are confident and ready to proceed. Is that when the bottom drops out on you? When the blank page stares at you and mocks? Is that when you start thinking "how will I make this as good as the last one"?
It is the kiss of death. Just look at films. Why is it a generic rule of thumb that a sequel sucks but a third film is great? Because they try to duplicate the past. Do not dwell on past success. Do not dwell on past failure. Previous stories with the same characters are mere history now. Background. Filler in your consciousness. They do not apply.
It is important to let each story speak for itself. For it to gain breath and life and shape on its own. The best sequel movies and books are those where the creators were trying to make a good product. To tell a good story. Where they were not trying to do better than or similar to anything previous. Individuality is prized in creativity. It is what will make each story good to read. Worth picking up.
Write the best story you can each time you sit down to write. Give 110%. Make it the most interesting with the most vibrant characters. Then your story will always be a success regardless of whether people love it or not. Do not get bogged down in expectations. They can only hold you back.
It is the kiss of death. Just look at films. Why is it a generic rule of thumb that a sequel sucks but a third film is great? Because they try to duplicate the past. Do not dwell on past success. Do not dwell on past failure. Previous stories with the same characters are mere history now. Background. Filler in your consciousness. They do not apply.
It is important to let each story speak for itself. For it to gain breath and life and shape on its own. The best sequel movies and books are those where the creators were trying to make a good product. To tell a good story. Where they were not trying to do better than or similar to anything previous. Individuality is prized in creativity. It is what will make each story good to read. Worth picking up.
Write the best story you can each time you sit down to write. Give 110%. Make it the most interesting with the most vibrant characters. Then your story will always be a success regardless of whether people love it or not. Do not get bogged down in expectations. They can only hold you back.
March 15, 2011
I Want You To Write A Theme
I am a big fan of theme. I believe that every book has a theme that gives it tone. As writers we have something to say. It can be as simple as "this is fun" or "this is spooky" or "this is cool". It can be as complicated as a moral or political stance. But there is always something to say.
If we approach our work with a theme in mind, that theme will get written into our plots. It will add feeling and meaning to the scenarios that our characters encounter. They can go in our stead and explore the many facets of our theme. They can say and do everything we can imagine. They will set the tone and help it to reverberate throughout the story.
This does not mean that every story needs to be a deep thinking piece. Not every story is something that is going to take on religious or cultural significance. Not every story is the greatest novel of our time. But every story has a tone. That tone helps us to like or hate it. That tone helps us to spread the word about it and share our most beloved authors. That tone will help to bring us back to read our favorite authors again.
Think of what you want to say. Of what you want your characters to say. Help to craft a theme and a tone for your book. Have fun with it. Give your story a depth beyond mere characterization. Give your story the chance to truly communicate with your readers.
If we approach our work with a theme in mind, that theme will get written into our plots. It will add feeling and meaning to the scenarios that our characters encounter. They can go in our stead and explore the many facets of our theme. They can say and do everything we can imagine. They will set the tone and help it to reverberate throughout the story.
This does not mean that every story needs to be a deep thinking piece. Not every story is something that is going to take on religious or cultural significance. Not every story is the greatest novel of our time. But every story has a tone. That tone helps us to like or hate it. That tone helps us to spread the word about it and share our most beloved authors. That tone will help to bring us back to read our favorite authors again.
Think of what you want to say. Of what you want your characters to say. Help to craft a theme and a tone for your book. Have fun with it. Give your story a depth beyond mere characterization. Give your story the chance to truly communicate with your readers.
March 14, 2011
But They Seem Different
There you are. Writing the sequel to the last story you did. And... well... everyone seems off. They don't sound the same in your head as they did last time. The longer you go between visiting them, the more off they sound. Do not fret. They are organic and grow. Why? Because you do.
Go and re-read that treasured book from your childhood. It is rare that you find it the same. The good one inspire you with new things to love about it. You respond to it differently. Sometimes you find you hate it. That it is the stupidest thing ever. This is because you have changed. You have had life experiences. You have grown. Maybe even matured. Why would your characters be any different?
At their heart our characters are merely psychological extensions of aspects of our own minds. They do what we would if we were like them. That is the joy of writing. Be the bad guy. Be the hero. Be the little troll with a snotty nose who is stuck living under that stupid bridge waiting to get his ass kicked by a goat. We can be anything and anyone we want.
As we change and grow our worldview expands. How we see it changes. How we interact with it changes. What we have to say about it changes. This adaptability is part of what makes us human. What we write and draw and sing and film and dance and produce will reflect those changes. As we grow our work grows. As our work grows our characters do too.
The best thing to do is to really look at your characters. What changed them? Natural passage of time? A traumatic event? If you can figure it out, you can use it. Write it into the story. Make it a part of the shared heritage of that character. Show your readers why it is that things have changed. Sometimes there will be a big change. Other times it is just because the character is a year older and a year wiser.
Use everything you can about your life in your work. That is what makes your work unique. YOU. Your thoughts, your experiences, your take on life. Use it. Enjoy it. Your readers certainly will.
Go and re-read that treasured book from your childhood. It is rare that you find it the same. The good one inspire you with new things to love about it. You respond to it differently. Sometimes you find you hate it. That it is the stupidest thing ever. This is because you have changed. You have had life experiences. You have grown. Maybe even matured. Why would your characters be any different?
At their heart our characters are merely psychological extensions of aspects of our own minds. They do what we would if we were like them. That is the joy of writing. Be the bad guy. Be the hero. Be the little troll with a snotty nose who is stuck living under that stupid bridge waiting to get his ass kicked by a goat. We can be anything and anyone we want.
As we change and grow our worldview expands. How we see it changes. How we interact with it changes. What we have to say about it changes. This adaptability is part of what makes us human. What we write and draw and sing and film and dance and produce will reflect those changes. As we grow our work grows. As our work grows our characters do too.
The best thing to do is to really look at your characters. What changed them? Natural passage of time? A traumatic event? If you can figure it out, you can use it. Write it into the story. Make it a part of the shared heritage of that character. Show your readers why it is that things have changed. Sometimes there will be a big change. Other times it is just because the character is a year older and a year wiser.
Use everything you can about your life in your work. That is what makes your work unique. YOU. Your thoughts, your experiences, your take on life. Use it. Enjoy it. Your readers certainly will.
March 13, 2011
So You've Started A Sequel
Where do you start? Do you spend a chapter or two explaining the characters and the situation again? Do you trust your readers to have read the previous book and just plunge in? Do you do a little of both? I have read both styles and depending on how they are handled, both work.
Revisiting characters and situations in point form is effective. You will tend to lose only about a half a chapter. You do not need to give their whole history. You do not need to mention every little bit of growth they experienced in the last novel.
Ignoring the fact that you are in a new novel can work if you are organically progressing. Instead of looking at it as a new book, simply start the first chapter as if it was the next chapter of your previous book. Your characters might easily reference what happened to them, but they aren't going to explain a lot of what just happened to them.
I prefer a mix of the two. I do not revisit the previous novel. I like to separate the two books by a period of time. Not necessarily a long time, but time will have passed. As we revisit the characters, we won't be paying attention to the previous events but only the events that took place in the missing period. This lets you re-describe characters and update events so that by the time your story truly starts everyone is caught up.
Revisiting characters and situations in point form is effective. You will tend to lose only about a half a chapter. You do not need to give their whole history. You do not need to mention every little bit of growth they experienced in the last novel.
Ignoring the fact that you are in a new novel can work if you are organically progressing. Instead of looking at it as a new book, simply start the first chapter as if it was the next chapter of your previous book. Your characters might easily reference what happened to them, but they aren't going to explain a lot of what just happened to them.
I prefer a mix of the two. I do not revisit the previous novel. I like to separate the two books by a period of time. Not necessarily a long time, but time will have passed. As we revisit the characters, we won't be paying attention to the previous events but only the events that took place in the missing period. This lets you re-describe characters and update events so that by the time your story truly starts everyone is caught up.
March 12, 2011
Background Doesn't Mean Cardboard
Who are your supporting characters? Are they the same characters that have been in a hundred books? A dozen movies? Is there anything that distinguishes them at all?
But you say that you need them. You need the lonely librarian. You need the weasely snitch. You need the greaseball reporter. There is nothing wrong with that. Characters that are tried and true throughout fiction are characters that we can easily identify with. Unfortunately, they give us nothing new. We know how they will talk, what they will do, and what we can expect from them. That is what makes them a stereotype. There is nothing new or individual about them.
Don't use a stereotype and end there. Start with a stereotype and then change it. Give those characters some personality. Give them something different. Make them unique. Giving them just a little bit of history. Give them a quirk or two. Maybe the lonely librarian is lonely because they are addicted to internet gambling. Maybe that weasely snitch is just acting. Maybe he is using his snitches to eliminate his competition. That greaseball reporter? Is actually a philanthropist.
It doesn't matter how you spin them. It just matters that you give them some humanity. Some individuality. Main characters are the ones who travel through the story. But what they travel through can be a boring landscape or an interesting tapestry. They will interact with props or with people. It is all in how you write. In what backgrounds and personalities you create. Life is rich. Your fiction should be too.
But you say that you need them. You need the lonely librarian. You need the weasely snitch. You need the greaseball reporter. There is nothing wrong with that. Characters that are tried and true throughout fiction are characters that we can easily identify with. Unfortunately, they give us nothing new. We know how they will talk, what they will do, and what we can expect from them. That is what makes them a stereotype. There is nothing new or individual about them.
Don't use a stereotype and end there. Start with a stereotype and then change it. Give those characters some personality. Give them something different. Make them unique. Giving them just a little bit of history. Give them a quirk or two. Maybe the lonely librarian is lonely because they are addicted to internet gambling. Maybe that weasely snitch is just acting. Maybe he is using his snitches to eliminate his competition. That greaseball reporter? Is actually a philanthropist.
It doesn't matter how you spin them. It just matters that you give them some humanity. Some individuality. Main characters are the ones who travel through the story. But what they travel through can be a boring landscape or an interesting tapestry. They will interact with props or with people. It is all in how you write. In what backgrounds and personalities you create. Life is rich. Your fiction should be too.
March 11, 2011
Laugh or Cry?
When doing a serial, there is not a lot of questions about style. What there is is a large question of content and revelation. The format of the serial will determine the size and length of the story`s pieces.
When you break up a story into small pieces, you lose a lot of ability to explain. Without a lot of description you need to get your story across. This leads to two main methods of storytelling. Humor and drama. They are the classic smile up or smile down faces of drama.
Both have their plusses and their minuses. I prefer a mix. I loathe the creation of soap opera drama. The constant relial on evil twins, affairs, and other cliche dramatic events. I also loathe turning decent story into a pratfall or a forum for lowbrow laughs.
By using drama and letting characters travel through the events while keeping their sense of humor I think you get both sides of the street. By seeing snipets of the story we gradually travel forward. By allowing them humor, we endear the characters to their audience. And while there is a place for odd events and scenarios, I would hope we can travel forward without the evil twin stealing the plantation out from under us.
When you break up a story into small pieces, you lose a lot of ability to explain. Without a lot of description you need to get your story across. This leads to two main methods of storytelling. Humor and drama. They are the classic smile up or smile down faces of drama.
Both have their plusses and their minuses. I prefer a mix. I loathe the creation of soap opera drama. The constant relial on evil twins, affairs, and other cliche dramatic events. I also loathe turning decent story into a pratfall or a forum for lowbrow laughs.
By using drama and letting characters travel through the events while keeping their sense of humor I think you get both sides of the street. By seeing snipets of the story we gradually travel forward. By allowing them humor, we endear the characters to their audience. And while there is a place for odd events and scenarios, I would hope we can travel forward without the evil twin stealing the plantation out from under us.
March 10, 2011
To Maze or Not To Maze
All stories are created with two factors. One is character. The other is plot. I have worked with many other writers (professionally and in school) and most of us do things differently. We all have our personal style. Some people start from the end and work backwards. Some people have to know every little thing that happens on the journey. Some people prefer to know nothing except the starting point. There is no right way as long as what you do works for you.
Personally, I have a tendency to use the same model that I use when designing games. Roleplaying games are designed to let players take characters and run through a series of events. There is a lot of room given for their free will. They can go in many different directions. Quite often they go in directions that you do not expect.
The only way to prepare yourself for their actions is to take a given area (say a town or village) and people it with characters. Some of those characters are going to have information that the players need. Some of them will not. By mixing them up it gives the players a way to interact with a lot of people over an area no matter what they decide to do or say. This is the same principle that is used in open-world video games.
I use this same method for my writing. Essentially, I create a maze. There are clues and answers. What they learn and how far along the storyline they manage to get depends on how good they are at ferreting things out. I know this sounds crazy. I know that characters I create will in the end do only what I ask them to. They are not real. But I prefer to try to make them function as individuals. Like real people would. I try to constantly rethink their actions and words so that there is a certain amount of spontenaity. I always hope they do things I do not anticipate.
Not everyone likes the maze method I use. Letting their characters run through a maze and see how far along they get. But I find it works well and I do love the sense of spontenatity and basic human lack of common sense I end up with.
Personally, I have a tendency to use the same model that I use when designing games. Roleplaying games are designed to let players take characters and run through a series of events. There is a lot of room given for their free will. They can go in many different directions. Quite often they go in directions that you do not expect.
The only way to prepare yourself for their actions is to take a given area (say a town or village) and people it with characters. Some of those characters are going to have information that the players need. Some of them will not. By mixing them up it gives the players a way to interact with a lot of people over an area no matter what they decide to do or say. This is the same principle that is used in open-world video games.
I use this same method for my writing. Essentially, I create a maze. There are clues and answers. What they learn and how far along the storyline they manage to get depends on how good they are at ferreting things out. I know this sounds crazy. I know that characters I create will in the end do only what I ask them to. They are not real. But I prefer to try to make them function as individuals. Like real people would. I try to constantly rethink their actions and words so that there is a certain amount of spontenaity. I always hope they do things I do not anticipate.
Not everyone likes the maze method I use. Letting their characters run through a maze and see how far along they get. But I find it works well and I do love the sense of spontenatity and basic human lack of common sense I end up with.
March 9, 2011
Suprising Growth
One of the things I love best about writing are the suprises. I have been plotting out and working on the second book of a series (as well as editing one of the Oracle books and setting the print copy of Sacred Shadows). Seeing as I am busy, maybe I shouldn`t be suprised at what happened.
I write the Den of 13 series differently than anything else I write. I was in the middle of plotting out a character`s thread when suddenly the character announced that they did not want to be there. I will admit that he did not stand on my computer and nag me, but it was very clear that he did not work well where I had him.
Characters are organic. They move and flow in our minds as we write. While some of the aspects of the plot I had in mind would work, I do not feel that they all will work. The timing seemed off. It is as if some of the personality aspects were more developed than they should be considering the timeline. I might not have caught it, or ignored it if I did, but I recently was looking at a novel that did the same thing and it bothered me. It is soooo easy to jump ahead of development. It is fun to think of developments for characters. And it is hard once we think of them to avoid writing them in. To wait until it is organic for them to appear.
So it turns out that there is a book lurking between what was vol 1 and 2. The plot points that need devleoping will go and do their thing. I will have to remove them from vol 3, but it shouldn`t affect the plot. In the end I think that both aspects to the story will end up being tighter and stronger. I hope they will end up as fun and enjoyable as I want.
I write the Den of 13 series differently than anything else I write. I was in the middle of plotting out a character`s thread when suddenly the character announced that they did not want to be there. I will admit that he did not stand on my computer and nag me, but it was very clear that he did not work well where I had him.
Characters are organic. They move and flow in our minds as we write. While some of the aspects of the plot I had in mind would work, I do not feel that they all will work. The timing seemed off. It is as if some of the personality aspects were more developed than they should be considering the timeline. I might not have caught it, or ignored it if I did, but I recently was looking at a novel that did the same thing and it bothered me. It is soooo easy to jump ahead of development. It is fun to think of developments for characters. And it is hard once we think of them to avoid writing them in. To wait until it is organic for them to appear.
So it turns out that there is a book lurking between what was vol 1 and 2. The plot points that need devleoping will go and do their thing. I will have to remove them from vol 3, but it shouldn`t affect the plot. In the end I think that both aspects to the story will end up being tighter and stronger. I hope they will end up as fun and enjoyable as I want.
A Journey In Mind
Thoughts, feelings, and discussions on writing, publishing, creative solutions to issues, and generally anything else that might come up along the way.
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