J.B. Garner's Blog, page 63

Sneak Peek: Current WIP of the Indomitable 2nd edition cover

Still not finished, but I still wanted to show off Felipe’s incredible work so far.  With the editing done, there should be news VERY soon as to the release of the second edition of Indomitable.  What news I can tell you is that the second edition books will be completely FREE, at least the digital copies.

 

Everything is still on track to publish Indefatigable and The Tale of the Tape by the end of September.  Currently, I’m probably going to go for a $2.99 price point for digital copies.  More news to come in the passing days!

No Such Thing: Why an unproductive day is still worthwhile

Last night, I had a worrying case of insomnia.  To be frank, I’ve slept fitfully at best this entire week.  Chalk it up to nerves, I suppose.  I had, after all, just recently managed to work up the nerve to start the Kickstarter and get back together with my biological family.  The lingering anxiety must have stuck with me this week.  Coupled with a flare up of arthritis (I have it in my hands, great for a writer, really!), I accomplished a big fat zero of my goals for today.  Normally, I would have kicked myself for this, but I had a bit of a realization today.

 

Even an unproductive day has merit.   Maybe your lack of productivity was caused by your body and mind simply taking a rest day, regardless of your wishes.  You needed that but, caught up in the bustle of modern life, you tried to push on without it.  Or perhaps what you didn’t accomplish at work was made up for in some other arena.  Maybe it gave you a chance to talk to friends, family, or housemates that you had missed in the whirl of your normal busy schedule.

 

Look, even if nothing else was gained, it was another day of life and another day filled with experiences and interactions.  If all you did was a mundane treadmill, the daily grind, it was still a day worth living.  Why?  Ultimately, every day is worth it, no matter what happens.  Even the tragedies of life are steps forward.  It may not feel like that at the time but positive things can be build out of the blocks left behind by horrible things.  All events, good, ill, and mundane, are the basic components of life.

 

Maybe I’m starting to see things this way because of my authorial perspective.  More likely, I’ve just grown up enough to see the truth of the matter.  Either way, my new outlook has made those blah days a little easier to deal with and that’s a good thing, no matter how you slice it.

Speading to new horizons with Bloglovin’

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12772609/?claim=hzjkyapnb7s”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

What it says on the tin.  Obviously, as an author, the more people who read my words, the happier I am.  So taking this beyond WordPress is the smart thing to do.

We’ve All Signed It: Authors and the social contract

I mentioned in a previous articles, as an aside, that writers are judged by what they write and how they write it.  At the time, it was merely a small comment relevant to the topic of the article but I realize that I want to revisit that and expand upon that.  Really, it goes beyond a simple matter of image, with authors judged personally by what they write.  I believe that authors, as much as anyone else who creates things for the public consumption, have a duty to their readers and to themselves to not spread certain harmful social constructs.  That sounds all academic, but it’s really something that should be common sense.

 

Books have many purposes: education and entertainment are foremost among them.  One can certainly argue that authors, like any artist, should have unlimited freedom to pursue their creative goals.  While I would argue we do deserve a huge amount of said freedom, at the same time, there is such a thing as harmful speech and what, if nothing else, is a book but written speech?  The point being is that books, like speech, have the power to spread ideas and emotion, both for good and for ill.

 

Going forward from that idea, can we not agree then that it is important for us as the generators of this speech to be held responsible for its effects?  Certainly, good works and enlightening works should be held up and respected.  Likewise, those who write harmful or slanderous tracts need to be looked on with scorn.  It is sadly easy for fictional works to be dismissed as ‘harmless’ when instead they spread harmful notions and ideas.  Sure, it may ‘just be a book’, but all books, fictional or not, plant the seeds of thoughts and ideas.  Maybe that harmful seed is ignored, expunged from the soil of the mind like the foul thing it is, but just as often it can take root and spread, plunging the garden of thought into a dark, weed-filled, and decaying morass.

 

Just as with the ideal government, authors too sign, whether they wish to or not, a social contract with the public.  I think it’s important for us to realize this and keep it in mind always.  While I certainly don’t wish to suggest that there shouldn’t be books that look at the negative parts of life, they should be handled factually and appropriately.  There are things that shouldn’t be glamorized or put on a pedestal.  There are cultures and activities around even today that, when brought to life on the page, should be cast in the dark shadows that they rightfully should be.  Rape culture, sexism, racism, injustice, slavery, any violation of human rights, murder … you may not be able to avoid them coming into your works, especially realistic ones, and there is good reason to confront these things … but it’s important to avoid the temptation to sensationalize or elevate any of these things into something to be tolerated, admired, or even loved.

 

No matter what you write or how you write it, remember what you signed before you even began to put a word on the page.  Remember your fellow man and the involuntary impact your word can have on his or her life.  Be responsible.

Writers, do you ever feel this way? For me, it is absolute truth….

jbgarner58:

This is so true. That’s why you see regular posts begging for more beta readers. You can NEVER have enough input on your work! Soooo …. anyone want to be a beta reader?

Originally posted on Sarah J. Carlson, Author:

I’d still be writing 200,000-word monstrosities with marginal plot if I hadn’t found the courage to let others read and critique my writing. Terrifying at first, to be sure, but I cannot quantify how much I’ve learned from other writers, critique groups, and writing classes since then. It’s made me the writer I am today. If I ever get Hooligans published, I’ll be thanking at least 17 people (and counting) by name in my Afterward for making my novel what it is today. I just don’t even want to imagine what my novel would have been without them. I got feedback on multiple occasions that made me go back and pretty much re-write the entire thing, but each time it got better and better. I made some people read various first chapters at least three times. Without all my writer friends, it would have been sad. Just sad.

Writing is…

View original 61 more words

Into the Action: How detailed should an action sequence be?

I write a lot of action scenes.  Consider that, no matter the potential depth for narrative and character development, the genres I write in also demand a lot of action and direct conflict.  One series of books is set in the superhero genre, a classification that can have entire comic book issues devoted to an extended action sequence, and the other is grounded in professional wrestling, a sport entirely about ‘let’s you and him fight!’.  Certainly, I try to twist those genres and interject plenty of discussion, introspection, and character-building moments, but who am I to deny the fans of the genres I write in one of the things they expect?  After four novels of action scenes, I think I’m starting to get a handle on it enough to talk about it in a more analytical sense.  Today’s musings are part of that analysis.  Specifically, what I want to talk about today is just how much detail and length should a writer devote to the action sequences in his book.

 

I think the first thing to note is that action isn’t always a direct physical conflict (though it often is).  Moments of intense conflict where not a single punch is thrown can be a fulfilling form of action in and of itself, be it an emotion-laden argument between two lovers or a seemingly polite duel of wits between two enemies fought over a pleasant meal.  Though much of my focus in this post is about physical action, you can transpose some of these ideas to other forms of action with minimal adjustments.

 

With that established, when contemplating how to approach an action scene, an author should consider how important this scene is to the overall plot.  Is there any critical narrative or character impact in the scene or is it simply a minor plot point?  The more important the scene is, the more length and detail should be devoted to it.  While this seems really obvious, the fact is that it is easy to get carried away.  Writing action scenes can be fun, after all, and it’s easy to invest yourself too much into lovingly detailing out every minor scrap you can find.  Doing that, though, just bloats your scenes and bores the reader.  Action has to lead to consequence or it’s wasted pages and the depth of that consequence should equal the length of the scene.

 

If you follow the traditional curve of a strong initial hook, then rising action to climax, the curve alone can provide a barometer of how deep you should make each sequence.  The detail and strength of an action sequence should pretty closely map it’s position on the curve.  Feel free to start an action novel with a bang, using a strongly written action sequence to start the book, then ramp down, using gradually swelling bits of action to lead to a showstopping climax.  Again, this seems pretty logical, but if an author doesn’t properly structure the story, they can wind up fatiguing the reader with out-of-place intense sequences, leading them to just be, well, tired and burned-out by the actual climax.  Left with a feeling of ‘what could possibly top that’, their suspension of disbelief can break and they may not buy into the importance of the true climax of the book.

 

If these main points seem to be saying the same thing in different ways, they are to a degree.  The main rule of thumb should always be ‘importance = intensity’.  No matter the type of conflict, the intensity of the action should never overstep the scene’s importance.  Never use the genre as an excuse to overstuff your works with excess scenes and wordy baggage.  This applies as much to a mystery or a disaster yarn as much as to a martial arts action novel.  In a mystery, for instance, don’t waste excessive pages on the questioning of a minor witness that adds little to the unravelling or obfuscation of the ultimate mystery.  That’s a waste of action as much as a two-chapter fight scene with a shoplifter in a superhero book.

 

How do you approach action in your own works?  Do you see the action inherent in conflict that isn’t purely physical?  Do you treat that conflict in a similar way as physical ones or do you approach them on a different level?  Start the conversation in the comment section!

Weekend Update – Slow and steady

Despite the title, I’m pretty excited right now.  ‘Slow and steady’ is an apt description as to my progress towards publishing my next two books, as well as my second editions, but I think that’s a good thing right now.  The inner push to get things done led to the need for a second edition in the first place, after all!

 

I spent a good hour in live chat with Felipe de Barros, the new cover artist, last night and it was a really fascinating experience working so closely with an artist.  I was really impressed by his desire to know more about the subject matter he was doing the art for, asking for explanations of plot points and characters so he could best illustrate them.  I got a peek at his initial compositions sketch and frankly I’m really floored.  If you wind up needing art done for your own books or other works, I’d highly recommend him.

 

Editing is mostly wrapped on everything, but I’m not rushing things.  I’ll keep doing overviews and letting my beta readers ponder things up until the art is ready.  I won’t jump the gun this time.  Patience is the biggest lesson I learned from my first publication.

 

The second lesson would be self-promotion and that I’m still struggling with.  It’s just not in my nature, I suppose.  Still, that will not prevent me from closing this Weekend Update with a plug for the Kickstarter.  Like posting a link to it, as if you haven’t seen that enough.  If you’re a fan of the superhero genre, pro wrestling, or just off-the-wall independent authors, take a look.  Chip in.  Or just spread the word.  Thank you.

Friday Night Blogging – Peace and family

So, to give my blogging more structure, there will be more semi-regular articles going up.  We’ve seen Looking at Character, now it’s time to roll out Friday Night Blogging.  FNB is going to be my off-topic blog of the week, which is to say it won’t directly deal with writing or writing analysis.  Most weeks, it will probably be a look-back at the events of the week, both in my life and in the world, and touching on the points that interest me.

 

Though a lot of things are going on in the world right now, I have found myself mostly fixated on the events in Ferguson.  I don’t feel as if I have to really say more than that to identify it: it has been scrutinized and watched by people outside the U.S.A. as much as we Americans.  It brought a lot of events into the public eye in a dramatic fashion, things that had been stewing both in the public consciousness and in the policies of our government for some time.  The continued ethnic and economic tensions (often so intermingled they cannot be easily separated), the rapid militarization of our citizen police force, and the common injustices that plague us have now been laid bare.  While I’m glad to see that the violence has curbed and peaceful protest reigns, I only hope that, in that return to peace, that the need to see these massive problems dealt with is not forgotten.  All too often, when the crisis is over, the general public seems content that the problem has passed and doesn’t press to see the root cause of it fixed.

 

Personally, the past week, well, two weeks, has seen me finally make a reconnection with my biological family.  After my father’s death during my one and only year at college, I splintered away from my family.  I won’t go into detail.  There isn’t any need to do so and, besides, at the end of the day the causes were everyone’s fault and no one’s fault.  What matters is that, for almost twenty years, I didn’t speak with my mother, my brother, or my sister at all.  I had found a new family of choice, close friends who had become more than that over the same twenty years.

 

Last week, I decided I was being kind of an idiot.  Oh, not that I didn’t have my reasons, but in the past months, my mother, brother and sister had all started trying to make outreaches towards me.  I was being stubborn, trying to ignore it, clinging on to old grievances.  Finally, I realized I needed to cleanse myself of it.  My mother wasn’t getting any younger, none of us were, and there was no good reason for me to act the way I was.  So, I sent my brother an email and told him I wanted to talk to him.  From there, it was only a few days before I talked to my mother.

 

You know, for something I thought would be so hard, it was so easy.  None of us wanted to worry about the past.  We had all come to the conclusion in the past decades that it was all just foolish things anyway, aggravated by my father’s untimely death.  So, well, I added a new old family to the people I love and love me back.  It’s great to have one family, to have two?  It’s a miraculous thing.

 

When I sit back and think about it, I wonder if it was meant to be.  Was it fate that broke us up, connected me with my dear friends to be there and support them through their own rough times, and then for everything to be reforged into a larger, stronger circle?  I don’t know, but I’m just glad it ended up as it did.

Kickstarter Update: Over Half Way!

The first thing Kickstarter and just about every source of information on crowdfunding tells you is to contact all of your friends and family first.  Not only will they be more receptive to passing news of what you are trying to their own friends, they are also the people most likely to be impressed by what you are trying to accomplish and contribute.  This being true, I’m not sure the crowdfunding gurus would expect something quite like this.

Overnight, I went from .1% funded to over 50% funded, all thanks to my family.  Sure, you do expect your family to support your actions and your dreams, but I never intended to ask them for money.  If I were going to do that, I would have just, you know, asked.  Apparently, seeing that I had a real plan to fulfill my dreams, they were impressed enough to chip in on their own volition.

Still, there’s a ways to go.  $490 to be exact.  If you want to chip in or just see what I’m trying to get accomplished, click the ‘My Kickstarter’ page tab at the top of the blog or click here.

Looking at Character: The Load

Looking at Character is going to be the first of several semi-regular categories of my starved authorial ramblings and is going to concentrate on various character tropes and archetypes, both ‘good’ and ‘bad’, looking at the pitfalls and uses of each.  As with all my musings, the thoughts and ideas shown here are purely based on my own experiences and ideas.  Take them as the opinions they are and feel free to dispute them.  Disagreement is the basis of discussion, after all.

 

The first subject of this feature is the ‘Load’.  Named quite literally, the Load is a helpless character (at least in comparison to the conflicts of the majority of the story or to the main characters) who, despite this, not only is deeply involved with the story but is essential to either the main characters or to the solution of the conflict of the piece.  The Load is a vital person, but is a burden on the main characters.  The Load generates plot points not through their action, but their helplessness, sometimes tied into a nature as a MacGuffin.  Often, the Load develops as a character over the course of the piece, proving their worth and rising to the situation, but this isn’t always the case.  Sometimes they just remain a burden on everyone around them.  Common examples include some portrayals of children, the ‘bumbling sidekick’ from superhero lore, or the ‘person of prophecy’ who has some vital purpose but has no actual power as is seen in some fantasy works.

 

I think it’s important to note that what makes the Load a load is often how the author writes a character.  For instance, take two fantasy stories with a ‘person of prophecy’, like I mentioned above.  In both pieces, the character has no unusual abilities outside of their importance to the prophecy compared to the other protagonists.  However, this person is only the Load in the first story, where all he/she is capable of in danger is hiding, freezing, and crying.  Outside of danger, he/she is equally a burden, showing no appreciable skills at all.  In the second story, simple characterization turns the Load into something else: he/she had been a farmer before picked by prophecy, let’s say, and, while not helpful in a fight, their knowledge of the land and homegrown common sense prove an important balance for the group.  One is a Load, the other is something else.

 

Does this mean that the Load is always a bad thing?  Well, no.  Not always.  There are some characters that would, realistically, be a Load in most situations.  Take a protagonist who has an infant child and is forced to bring he/she with them on their adventure.  The infant can’t fend for themselves and must be constantly protected from danger.  He/she may be the Load, but can still provide valuable characterization.  A Load can provide an interesting foil in a story, provided they are well characterized and dealt with realistically, which often means, at times, they may not be a total burden on the protagonists.

 

The Load can become an annoyance to readers, however, when dealt with unrealistically.  If the author continually creates contrived situations to keep the Load around or to keep the Load useless, the reader’s patience will wear thin quickly.  Even worse, an author may make a mistake of combining a Load, poor characterization, and common racial, ethnic, social, or gender stereotypes to form a truly insulting character, one that makes the reader just put it down in disgust.  Remember, as an author, everything you write makes a statement about yourself and creating a ‘lazy, useless ethnic sidekick’ to add to your story makes very unfortunate implications about your character.  Don’t do it!

 

I think the best way to handle a Load is to take a nuanced approach, something I will often say about any character trope or archetype.   These archetypes come to the fore because they hold certain truths about human nature and resonate with readers.  If you use any of them too strongly without a gentle touch and fleshed-out personalities, however, you will bludgeon your readers so excessively you overwhelm that subtle resonance and break their suspension of disbelief.

 

What do you think about including a Load in a piece of fiction?  What other good or bad points might there be to their use as a story element?  Is it possible that the Load is an artifact of a more blunt and stereotypical writing style and doesn’t have a place in more nuanced modern literature?  Let me know in the comments!