P.R. O'Leary's Blog: PROLeary.com, page 10

Looking for Photographers/Artists for Free Fiction Fridays!

I am going to start participating in “Free fiction Friday”. It’s a thing where authors post a free story online for everyone to enjoy. I have many stories that I think would be good for that forum, but I wanted to do something a little more interesting with this.

Are any of you photographers or artists who just want to get your work out there? You don’t even have to call yourself a “Photographer” or “arist”. All you really need to be is a person who enjoys taking pictures or drawing things.

I was going to include a relevent image with each Free Friday Friday post. Nothin fancy! Just something relevant to the story in some way. Something fun to get other people involved. Everyone who contributes will get their image credited to them with a link to their website (if applicable).

If you are interesting just let me know. I’ll send you the next few stories I plan on posting and maybe one of them will spark your imagination and you can send me an image that fits.

I’m not looking for award winning images. I just think this is something fun we can do together and help spruce up the internet in the process.

Going Cold Turkey

The number one hindrance to my writing progress is the internet. There is no shame in that. (I don’t think.) I’m sure most people have that same problem, even if they aren’t specifically trying to write. The internet and things it provides can be wonderful and useful. But it can also suck you in and keep you from getting what you need (and even want) done.

I know this. People in my situation know this. But what can we do? I tried to limit my time, which works to a point. But when I sit down at my laptop to write, the internet is just right there. I have even contemplated getting rid of internet access altogether. Now that would be going cold turkey!

But luckily there is another option. And this one is very simple and practical. It’s a clever peice of software called, you guessed it, Cold Turkey. It’s free. All you do is install it, set a time and it will block your computer from connecting to specified websites until that time is reached. And it is NOT easy to bypass. So make sure you know what you are getting into!

I started small. I set it to black all my homepages (social media sites, email, etc.). When I’m ready to write, I set the timer for 30 to 45 minutes. Then, I write. Simple and effective. I can usually stop myself from using the internet for 30 minutes, but it really helps me concentrate when the option is not even available to me.

After that time is up, I’m usually too invested in what I’m doing to stop. So I keep writing or working until I come to a natural stopping point. (Usually, when I just can’t take sitting down anymore.)

So if you are having any of the same problems, I highly recommend this simple remedy. Install and enjoy.

Impromptu Haiku-ing

I’m proud of my Honorable Mention. I wrote that haiku in 1 minute.

Word Music

This year I have been trying out different writing habits to see if anything fits with my own personal style. For the past two weeks I have been writing with music. Usually, I write in silence, attempting to avoid all distractions.

But I read some interesting things from Chuck Palahniuk about how listening to music helps him keep a consistant tone to his writing, and how for each novel he listens to a different set of albums to help do that. Here is an excerpt from an interview he did with Bookslut:

The music depends on the tone of the book. In a way, I use a single piece of music to re-create the same mood each time I go back to a project. By listening to it — again and again — I quit hearing the words, and almost hypnotize myself into a fictional world. Andy Warhol used to do this with a record called “I Saw Linda, Yesturday.” His friends grew to hate that song.

And again from ChuckPalahniuk.net:

I use music like a drug. For this non-fiction writing, I like “chill” music – with “Chill Factor Audiotherapy” playing right now. But for editing, I’ll listen to the Chopin Nocturnes that Tiffany Wong sent me. And for the first draft of my next angry story, maybe… Pink Floyd. Other stories, Country and Western. What can I say? I’m a mess.

I think its a good idea. Music does set a mood and it theoretically could help your writing keep the same tone over a time period. For some writers it may work well. But for me it causes too much distraction. My brain is a little too finicky. When there is sensory input coming in I don’t create information at the same rate I would otherwise.

This is the second habit (trick, method, etc) that I’ve researched this year and the second one that I am not going to use for myself. It just goes to show that not all writers are the same. What works for one might not work for another. I just hope, by the end of year, I learn something new that will help make my writing stronger.

The Gender of Pronouns

Whenever you refer to a person in your writing without using a name or a description, you usually have to use a pronoun. But embedded in these pronouns there is already a description. It’s the person’s gender: He/She, Him/Her, His/Hers.

I ain’t no linguist so I don’t know why there are different versions of pronouns. But I can see why, back in the day, gender would be an accepted way to separate them. Now, though, when people are more enlightened and the lines between genders have blurred, We don’t need artificial segregation in our language.

In creative writing it is not really an issue. You usually know the gender of the character being refereed to. And reading those pronouns just feels right. After all, we have been using them forever.

“Jane was a strong woman. When people looked at her they could tell she enjoyed doing impressive things with her muscles.”

“John was a beautiful man. When people looked at him they could tell he enjoyed doing impressive things with his hair.”

I have been working on a rule-book for a Role-playing Game. (Demonize! A competitive RPG debuting soon on this very website!) It contains a paragraph where the player is supposed to fill in the blanks to create a character. But the player could create a man, woman or anything in between, so how do you address pronouns in that situation? Here is what I did:

“In (TIME PERIOD/LOCATION) there lives a (GENDER) named (NAME). Most people see them as (OCCUPATION), but the thing they want most in life is to (ULTIMATE GOAL). If they can just get their (EVIL VICE) under control they might be able to attain that goal. In the meantime, they bide their time (HOBBY) and hoping that (FEAR) doesn’t happen. Little do they know that The Demons have taken notice of them for something terrible they did in order to get where they are today. (TERRIBLE THING)”

Notice I decided to use the “singular they” approach. It sounds fine, right? But when you start to fill in the blanks you will see that the results read quite awkwardly:

“In present day Washington DC there lives a man named Sterling Jackson. Most people see them as a US Congressman but the thing they want most in life is to be elected president. If they can just get their corruption under control they might be able attain that goal. In the meantime, they bide their time sailing yachts and hoping that they don’t get caught lying to the American people. Little do they know that The Demons have taken notice of them for something terrible they did in order to get where they are today. He once had a mistress who threatened to expose their affair. He had her killed before she could talk.”

See what I mean? Yes, I can use “He or she” and “Him or Her”, and besides the masculine pronoun always being the first part of that duet, the main problem is that it’s just too cumbersome.

I was alerted to the existence of gender-neutral pronouns such as Ze/Zir/Zirs and Xe/Xem/Xyr. But it comes down to respecting your reader. Do you really want people to have to look things up to understand what you are talking about?

Invented pronouns (chart stolen from Wikipedia)

Spivak (old)
E laughed
I called em
Eir eyes gleam




Spivak (new)
Ey laughed
I called em
Eir eyes gleam




Humanist
Hu laughed
I called hum
Hus eyes gleam




Per
Per laughed
I called per
Per eyes gleam




Thon
Thon laughed
I called thon
Thons eyes gleam




Ve
Ve laughed
I called ver
Vis eyes gleam




Xe
Xe laughed
I called xem
Xyr eyes gleam




Ze (or zie or sie) and zir
Ze laughed
I called zir/zem
Zir/Zes eyes gleam




Ze (or zie or sie) and hir
Ze laughed
I called hir
Hir eyes gleam




Ze and mer
Ze laughed
I called mer
Zer eyes gleam




Zhe, Zher, Zhim
Zhe laughed
I called zhim
Zher eyes gleam




Yo
Yo laughed
I called yon
Yos eyes gleam

Usually, no. And in the example paragraph I am working on, I feel the best choice is to leave it as-is with the the singular-they. It’s not perfect, but when it comes to grammar (and other things), we are still a society that segregates by gender. So for now this will have to do.