Randy Henderson's Blog, page 2

Writing Pros and Cons

I posted previously that writing is sacrifice.  And I posted on Facebook about how workshops, crit groups and writer friends can make the struggle less difficult.  I realized I might sound like I think writing is all pain and hardship, when the truth is quite the opposite.

In truth, writing is mostly joy (and life) to me.  Yes, there are sacrifices, but I don’t really notice them most times.  Yes, it can be hard and sometimes frustrating work with ups and downs and moments of self-doubt and disappointment, but most anything really worth doing is, and the pros far outweigh the cons in my mind.

So I thought I’d throw together a quick pro/con list to better show both sides.  And yes, this list is far from comprehensive, and there are writers for whom one or more cons have never been a con due to their successes or publishing method etcetera.  But I think this is a decent “at a glance” summary that holds true for most writers.

WRITING IS SACRIFICE

Do you really want to be an author?

Writing is sacrifice, Highness.  Anyone who says differently is selling something.

And no, I don’t just mean sacrificing the odd goat to the Goddess of Inspiration (though if you do, also be prepared to sacrifice hours getting those stains out. Lesson learned!)

Nor do I just mean spending a little less time on gaming or Netflix bingeing, though that may also be required.

True, every writer’s writing method and path to publication differs.  And every writer’s life circumstance is different.  But even if you are blessed to have retired, or be independently wealthy, or have someone supporting you financially, there are still sacrifices to be made.

And sometimes, these sacrifices are ones we don’t like to admit or talk about.

The first and least problematic level of casualties are indeed things like television and video games.  Yes, we need to “refill the creative well,” and also let our brains rest now and then.  Yes, at some point each day our brains just no write gooder words.  And you may even convince yourself that playing Assassin’s Creed is research for your assassin story.  But you may still have to make conscious choices to cut back, to limit the shows you watch and the hours you play.  And you may also need to change when you do such things, to prioritize your writing when you are in your best writing state – and then the question becomes, what else are you giving up in the time slot to which you have moved your TV and game time?  It could be extra sleep, it could be reading time, it could be quality time with others, or …

The second level may be other passions or goals or serious hobbies.  Perhaps you are also a visual artist, or photographer, or you make music.  Perhaps you are starting a business, or love taking classes.  Perhaps you practice martial arts.  Maybe you hope to be a YouTube star by having your drunk cat dress in historical garb and try to bake.  OMG. Wait! Don’t steal that idea! I’m totally going to — No. No, there are only so many hours in a day, and the more you invest in these other interests, the less time you are writing.  The less time you write, the longer before you finish each story or book, the longer it takes you to grow as a writer, and the longer between chances of being published.  The more you write, the less time you are practicing or investing in your other interests.  You have choices to make.

The third level becomes even more problematic.  That is social time.  Particularly if your weekdays are filled with work (and this includes stay-at-home mothers/fathers because that is WORK).  If your nights and weekends are filled with hanging out with friends or going out to restaurants or bars or shows or events or gatherings or holidays or birthdays or … when do you have the time to write?  When do you have the energy to write? An author must sometimes say “No” to doing fun things and being social, and instead sit somewhere and write. (And yes, scifi/fantasy writers DO get invited to lots of parties.  Whatever!) This does not mean stop doing ALL fun things or ALL social activities – that isn’t healthy—but you do have to start protecting and prioritizing your writing time.  Sometimes, you have to be your own taskmaster.

The fourth level may be financial.  Writing costs money, especially once published.  Yes, you would hope that those costs will be balanced by income from writing (HA HA HA HA!  Oh. Sorry…), but for most writers, it is not, especially if you calculate your pay-per-hour rate for actually writing.  There may be promotional material expenses.  There may be the cost of writing classes, workshops and retreats.  There may be the cost of attending conventions and festivals to promote or network.  Business cards.  Paper and printer ink.  Software. Shipping of copies for contests or promotion.  If you self-publish, the cost of good cover art and editing and formatting.  Budget for these things, and understand where the money comes from.

The fifth level is perhaps the most difficult to face or admit if you have a partner and/or children.  That is lost time with loved ones and family.  We all know the movies where “Person X is chasing success, yet in doing so loses sight of the most important thing of all — his/her family.”  Well, guess what – to be a successful author, you have a choice to make here as well.  The simple fact is that, especially if you work a day job, every minute you write is quality time you are not spending with your loved ones.  And every minute you invest in them is time you are not directly investing in your writing.  Yes, you can write while they are asleep or away, if you have that luxury.  But is that enough time writing?  And is that your best writing time, the time when your brain will be at its creative and productive best?  And what are you trading away then?  Rest?  Other activities you would normally do when they are asleep or away?  And what ultimately will you receive in exchange for the time invested in your children, internally and externally?  How does that compare to what you will receive in exchange for the time invested in yourself and your writing?  What do you owe yourself versus others?  How much of your time and energy do you owe yourself versus others?  For many, this is not an easy or comfortable topic to honestly debate.

Basically, how important to you is being an author, really?  How much of a life priority are you really willing to make writing?  The answer is extremely personal, and there is no right or wrong answer except the one you come up with.  But if you aren’t willing to make some sacrifices, there is a good chance it will take you much longer to grow as a writer, much longer to be published (or publish something that is great/successful) if ever, and much longer between each published work.

However, we must be careful not to sacrifice ourselves (especially on the promise of resurrection as an Elder God — I nearly fell for that one, but never again).  We must still protect our health and happiness. 

If physically able, we must still find time (and the motivation) for exercise.  Cardio especially is good for your mood, your memory, and energy levels, all important not only for quality of life, but also improve your writing.

And healthy, active relationships with partners, friends and family are important for overall health and happiness.  Don’t isolate yourself.  Find the balance that works for you.

Periodically reassess your priorities, as they may shift.  Perhaps you recently took up political activism.  Where does that time come from?  If from writing, can you shift things around and take it from somewhere else?  Is writing important enough that you want to sacrifice something else at that point?  Is there a timeframe in which you will cut back on the new priority and put that time back into writing?

Finally, know what it truly is you are sacrificing for and be sure you will ultimately be happy regardless of outcome.

Because success as an author is not guaranteed.  Certainly, with very few exceptions, you will not become suddenly rich or famous as an author.  And once published the level of sacrifice actually increases, not decreases.  You will have deadlines and promotional articles and posts and interviews to write and promotional travel to bookstores and conventions, etcetera – i.e. you will need to devote even more time to the work of being an author, on top of the time you still spend writing and editing and submitting.

Writing is sacrifice (indeed, this applies to most any passion or serious goal).  So make sure you admit that and control what is sacrificed so that you have ownership of the results, rather than regrets.  And control whether or not you are writing what you love, what makes you happy to write, so that the sacrifices are worth it regardless of result.

Robin Hood Policies

Seattle passed an income tax on the wealthy.

This is a complex issue. I understand the conservative view that this is “poor people getting free money/handouts taken from others.”


But simple fact: Society is a pyramid, and always will be (even in the Federation of Planets).






Even if everyone had the education and training to be a CEO (ignoring all the other factors that often — but not always — set one on a path to such jobs such as family and friend connections, the money and ability to get the needed education, environmental benefits, age, physical and mental health, etc.), if everyone in the US actually was a CEO, who would do the work the CEO manages? And who would farm the food, ship the food, and prepare the lunch the CEO eats? Who would build or drive the CEO’s limo? Who would design and pave the streets that limo drives on? Who would clean the sewers that run beneath that road? etc. etc.  

 

Society REQUIRES that we have people who do all kinds of jobs, most of them being much harder and physically or emotionally taxing than being a CEO, or even a tech manager. YET, not all jobs pay the same. Most people get paid in the hundreds of dollars per week, not the thousands or tens of thousands.

 
But does this mean that a teacher, who studied hard to earn a degree, and now works long hours every day to educate children, is less deserving of a decent life and secure retirement than a corporate middle manager who spends a good part of his day browsing the internet, and benefiting from and reporting on the work of others? Does it mean that a single mother who works long shifts on her feet as a grocery checkout worker yet is constantly one emergency away from being unable to meet the rent or pay all the utilities deserve less basic security than a CEO? Does it mean a person who works full time to pay the bills but has little left over to pour into savings and the stock market should fear for their retirement?

 


I would argue it does not.


 


Will there be the occasional person who scams the social safety net to get money without working? Yes. Just as there are many people who scam the corporate system and wall street to be extremely wealthy without doing anything equivalent to the amount of effort and risk an average worker would have to put forth to “earn” the same amount.


 


But to condemn hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, to constant stress and fear and hunger and lack of opportunity for fear that a small handful of people may get a little money without working as hard as you do for it is, in my opinion, spiteful and petty and shameful.


 


There is no perfect solution. But there is a moral solution.


 


So good on you, Seattle.


 

Why You Should Virtual-Hug A Writer (aka it’s Write-a-Thon Time)

 

Let’s talk for a second about dreams, and passions, and the need for art that provokes speculative thinking and deep Feels — and the insane masochistic lives of the writers driven to provide that.

There are a lot of folks out there working hard to create for us the stories that we deeply crave and need, even when we don’t realize we crave or need them.  Stories that take use into fantastical worlds to escape our Darkest Timeline for a while.  Stories that explore social, psychological, political and technological problems and stimulate our thinky organs and inspire future solutions.  Stories that fill us with the Feels and help us to explore experiences unlike our own.

This act of creation is hard work.  And lonely work.  And often masochistic and depressing and ego-shredding work, because like all art it requires a lot of time and effort to become good at and then there is still no guarantee that anyone will appreciate or pay for it.  Writing, like so many professional arts, is facing constant rejection and not quitting.

Each hour spent writing is glorious agony, and the difficult resistance of a thousand tempting distractions.

Each story completed is a big middle finger to screaming self-doubt and the whispers of futility that haunt them as they write.

These folks continue to write despite the sacrifice and rejection and doubts because it is their passion.  They themselves have sought escape and inspiration and growth in the works of others, and were so deeply affected by the experience that they wish to do the same for us, to participate more fully in the genres and the artforms that have given to them, and in doing so they give of themselves to you.

There are many ways you can give back and help a writer get through the struggles and doubts and hours of staring alone at words on a screen.  Send them a quick message saying you admire their passion and believe in them.  If you have read something of theirs and enjoyed it, let them know, and certainly let others know through word of mouth, posts, and reviews.

And right now, you can also let one group of emerging authors know you support them and their art by donating to Clarion West in their name.  Clarion West is a workshop for up-and-coming genre writers, with a mission to support diversity in voices and content.

It is a huge sacrifice for many of these authors to attend the workshop.  Some travel from far away.  All must be apart from their loved ones and their source of income for six weeks in order to go “all in” on their dream of being a writer.  Donating to the workshop helps provide scholarships to these, your future favorite authors, among other things.

Go to https://www.clarionwest.org/groups/write-a-thon-2017/ to select writers and donate in their name.

If you’re thinking of donating $20, feel free to spread it around between a few of them.  Donating $5 in a writer’s name to the Clarion West write-a-thon may seem like a small thing, but you would be surprised at how much it means to the writer that you showed belief not only in this workshop, but in them.

Wonder Woman: Inspiration and Pain and Moving Forward

Wonder Woman. So many reactions to this movie.  And for me, the movie itself has not only inspired the Feels, but the reactions to the movie have as well, good and bad.

 

Most reactions that I see are inspiring and wonderful, such as this list of reactions from students in a Kindergarten class, or this awesome video of a woman inspired to play like Wonder Woman and kicking imaginary butt.  The garden hose bit gives me endless joy.

I see all of the people uplifted and inspired by this movie and it makes my heart sing.

There have also been negative reactions too.  Some, as one would expect, from men who just don’t get it (or feel somehow threatened in their worldview).  But also criticisms from women who felt the movie misstepped with hurtful exclusions or stereotyping, or was too narrow in its feminism.

I posted before about how I wished we could have more “Yes, And” rather than “Yes, But.”

I see “Yes, and” in the reactions to the Wonder Woman movie like the Bazaar piece, and I find that as inspiring as the movie itself.  Because how we talk about issues even in a Wonder Woman movie has implications and impacts that go way beyond this one movie.

Yes this movie has been a powerful, empowering and incredible experience for many, AND we need more movies like this created by women and raising up women AND that also represent intersectionalities AND that also do other things.  Yes, we need to continue marching forward and in broader ways, together, and YAY that this Wonder Woman movie is a great positive step in that direction!

At the same time, I saw pleas from women to just let them have the joy and inspiration of Wonder Woman for even a few days without pointing out all the reasons why it is wrong or exclusionary, or why their joy is at the expense of someone else’s pain.

I saw a Jewish woman celebrating that she at last saw herself represented in a hero onscreen in one Tweet, then shortly after reacting in sadness and pain at all the posts giving reasons she was wrong to celebrate the movie.  Such interactions hurt my heart to witness.

There is so much hurt and darkness in the world today.  There is so much we must fight against together to keep this world, and our country, moving forward rather than backward.  And we are stronger together.

YES, we must be willing to acknowledge when we fall short without being defensive or taking it to mean we are “bad.”

Wonder Woman is not a perfect movie for every woman, or girl, or human being, and hopefully the writers and directors will hear that, and rather than saying “why should we even try, then” they will instead introduce Nubia and other characters and story elements to address that.  And hopefully the studios will see both the positive reactions to Wonder Woman and its revenue and be inspired to produce more movies by and featuring women that also embrace other non-dominant paradigms.

AND we need to also acknowledge the joys and the needs of others, and be willing to celebrate their happiness even if it is not our own — assuming their happiness is not from knowingly hurting others, of course.  Because we want them to want and fight for the same for us, not resent us for tearing down their happiness.

And we each need our own moments of happiness to keep us sane and recharge us so that we are able to fight for others.

I see the joy, and it inspires me.  And I see the pain, and I want to help address it.  And I see territorial conflicts across intersectional lines undermining the very goals that people across those lines actually share.  And I hope we can continue to move toward a model of communication and working together where the latter does not have to hurt the former.

This goes beyond just Wonder Woman of course.  The Left can be a bit overzealous at times in its self-policing, treating allies who made a mistake not as fallible humans with feelings and the ability to change, but as targets to score points against and destroy in the process.

There but for the grace of a single botched-attempt-at-humor Tweet goes I.

Doing otherwise can be hard.  Our society promotes a strong sense of competition, and to admit we are wrong can feel like granting victory points to others and somehow losing ground.  To point out that someone else is wrong can feel like we have somehow gained something.

And all feelings are valid.  If someone is hurt or angered by something, their hurt or anger is real, and absolutely we all have our right to express that hurt or anger.  We each have the right to seek equal access to power, and equal and accurate representation.  We have the right to address attacks against us.

To know how to improve, we must be able to examine where something failed, understand how and who it failed.

I just hope we can continue to move past the era of Twitter crucifixions and infighting, of the body attacking itself, and into the era of honest and constructive communication, of celebrating others’ successes and raising each other up, while at the same time we can share our own needs, our own hurts, our own dreams in a way that does not diminish our neighbor’s joy or health.

There is no perfect answer, I know, I recognize I’m ranting in generalizations a bit here.  And given my many privileges I am not one who should seek to offer real “answers” here regardless as I am certainly blind to many things.

I just cling to the “Yes, And.”

Yes, Wonder Woman is an awesome movie.  And I hope it is just the first of many inspiring representational experiences to come.  Not for myself, but for all those who are long overdue for a Wonder Woman that represents them.  And for the superhero waiting inside each of us to come out and play.

Now, where’s that garden hose?

tl;dr: I love the joy and inspiration this movie provided, and I hope we can all celebrate that together, and be inspired to bring such joy and affirmation to those who did not feel represented by this movie.

Writing Workshop: Level Up as a Writer

 

What will help you reach the next level as a writer? What is that thing you can’t quite put your finger on that would take your stories to the next level?  Come to my workshop on May 21 and I will walk through the stages I see most writers grow through, from beginning writer to published pro, and some of the common challenges and lessons found at each stage. The workshop will include handouts and a number of exercises.  No matter where you are at in your writer’s journey, the goal is for you to walk away with a clear idea of what you can do to “level up” as a writer.

 

There are limited seats available, so sign up now!

 

Randy Henderson, May 21

I Loved My Visit to Black Mirror’s San Junipero

Black Mirror: San Junipero hit all of my (and Finn’s) sweet spots!

I think part of the positive reactions might be due to the fact that Black Mirror is pretty consistently bleak, but reality right now is practically a Black Mirror episode, so an episode that was (possibly) hopeful was such a nice gift.

And yes, the concept’s been well covered, so I understand why some may feel that viewer’s reactions to that concept are overblown, but many viewers may not be deeply read in scifi, so their “mind blown” reactions are understandable and a perfectly good thing.

I am fine if people discover, say, robots through Star Trek or Westworld without going back to read Asimov first (or at all) if Asimov doesn’t appeal to them (and no I’m not saying San Junipero is about robots).

We each have limited time to read and consume media, I don’t think it makes someone less of a genre fan or their love of or reaction to something less valid if they only have experience with recently produced media and not the foundational classics or the past century of fiction.

Yes, knowing the whole history of robot fiction might enrich one’s experience of a new robot story — or at least allow one say clever literary things like “this story was in dialogue with the works of Obscure Author, exploring the metaphor of so and so.”

But it also might not. And in the end, I love the possible conversations a story like this might spark among a group of friends around a table (in between Instagramming whatever artisanal fare they are eating, of course).

Justice League Movie Review (From the Future)

I have run fast enough from the theater in the future to break the time barrier and return here to give you my review of the movie.

There was a lot about the JLA movie that was sheer awesome!  A lot of cool, snapshot poses, a lot of awesome uses of superpowers.

But by the end I felt disappointed, and even a bit bored.

 

The first problem was the character intros.

As expected, we spend a good chunk of the movie meeting the new heroes, and getting bits of their backstory.  Flash.  Aquaman.  Cyborg.  This was the first big challenge of the movie, to make us care about these characters, so that later when they are fighting and in danger, we actually care whether or not they win, whether or not they are hurt.  Care whether or not they achieve some kind of happiness, or peace, as a result of the choices and changes they make through the course of the movie.

But we simply did not get enough time with each character to feel connected to them, to care.  I rooted for the Flash just because he was funny and likeable.  But what Pixar did in five minutes at the beginning of Up, JLA did not manage to do in the roughly ten minutes of character establishment per character.

Even Batman did not move me much, because we haven’t really spent much time with Affleck’s Batman except in his ragey conflict with Superman, so all his pain and the tragic experiences of his past that would make forming a team and being responsible for others a fear to overcome for him (e.g. the loss of a Robin to the Joker) has not really been established here.

Wonder Woman, at least, we understand a little after her LONG overdue solo movie.  Which is probably one reason she was the most relatable hero beside Flash.

 

Heroes aside, though, I think the biggest problem was the enemy.

Steppenwolf and his MacGuffincubes

 

Basically, our heroes did not have an interesting villain with goals and motivations that we could relate to on some level.  I never felt the villain had personal stakes that I cared about yet knew would be bad for our world and our heroes.  Instead, we had a CGI Alien Armor Big Bad who wants some evil boxes, and a bunch of CGI aliens and robots to help him get them, and that would be bad.  Because it is bad.

Yes, the battle scenes were epic and full of superpowered awesome.  But I never felt that Steppenwolf forced a hero to confront their deepest fear or flaw and overcome it.  I never felt that Steppenwolf presented a personal challenge to any of the heroes, that he was the worst possible enemy the hero could have had to face at this time because of what they had been through, or what they were struggling with.

Steppenwolf is a master strategist, yet I never really felt there was a clever cat and mouse game going on between him and Batman that made Batman question his own brilliance or ability or willingness to lead others into danger and death.  Steppenwolf never really made me feel he had pushed Batman to the edge and the Bats might lose it if anyone died on his watch.  They just were racing each other to get the boxes, a simple set of escalating challenges.

Steppenwolf is a badass, but I never felt that in his conflict with Wonder Woman or Aquaman that any of them were forced to question their own strength, the responsibility or consequences of strength, or who they were without it.

Part of the reason the Avengers worked well by comparison is that they faced off against Loki, a villain we had come to know already, a person filled with pain and anger and tragic, twisted need that drove him, a guy who really just wanted to be loved above all others (is that so wrong?).  And because Loki played on each hero’s insecurities and flaws and fears, and turned friend against friend.  Likewise, in Civil War, the enemy plays the heroes own flaws and pain against each other, turning friend against friend.  And in Avengers 2, Scarlet Witch does something similar.

Steppenwolf did not really achieve that.  He was not an enemy of the Justice League, of the heroes individually or as a team.  He was just big badass enemy, a threat.

And as demonstrated by the Phantom Menace, simply destroying an army of enemy robots in an epic battle can in fact be extremely boring.

Finally, I understood why of course they had to keep Superman out of it for most of the movie, for much the same reason that Hulk wasn’t in Civil War (he would have just smashed anyone on the opposing team, etc).  But his moping/angst over the events in Batman vs Superman was a bit of a lame reason for the delay.

In summary, I of course went and saw this movie, and overall it was a fun popcorn flick.  How could I not go to see the JLA on the big screen?  Not to mention Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot kicking ass and looking hot doing it.  But if you are going to have all the grimdark and Pew Pew, you need to balance it with a tad more humor, and a lot more heart, than JLA delivered.

Maybe the Extended Cut DVD will fix it.

 

Favorite Bits and Big Ideas: Smells Like Finn Spirit

Over the past couple of weeks, Finn and I have held a couple of conversations together online in celebration of the release of Smells Like Finn Spirit:

 

In the My Favorite Bit series hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal, Finn and I discuss, well, our favorite bit about book 3.

 

In the Big Idea series hosted by John Scalzi, Finn and I discuss our journey together over the course of the trilogy.

 

Enjoy!  I know I did.

Finn, not so much.

FINN 3 BOOK BIRTHDAY!

TODAY IS THE BOOK BIRTHDAY FOR BOOK 3: SMELLS LIKE FINN SPIRIT!!!

Logan says RUN to your bookstore and buy the Finn Fancy series! First day sales are a big deal.

Tor (US) Version Available for Purchase: 

Amazon

University Bookstore (Seattle)

Powell’s (Portland)

Mysterious Galaxy (CA)

Tattered Cover (CO)

Barnes & Noble

Indiebound

And for UK readers, it is available at (among other booksellers):

Smells Like Finn Spirit at Amazon UK

Smells Like Finn Spirit at Waterstones (UK)

 

Smells Like Finn Spirit – Tor Cover

 

Book Description:

Finn Gramaraye is back in the third installment of Randy Henderson’s Familia Arcana series, which began in Finn Fancy Necromancy, and Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free.

Finn’s re-adaptation to the human world is not going so well. He’s got a great girlfriend, and is figuring out how things like the internet work, but he is still carrying the disembodied personality of Alynon, Prince of the Silver Demesne, the fae who had occupied his body during his imprisonment. And he’s not getting along at all with his older brother. And oh, by the way, an enemy from his past is still trying to possess him in order to bring about Armageddon.

Read the First Three Chapters

Or add it to your library on Goodreads.

 

Book Details:

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (March 7, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765378124
ISBN-13: 978-0765378125