Betty Adams's Blog, page 132

Writing the Tender Years

There is a trope in storytelling, and life, that says that as a child matures into an adult they think that they are somehow strange and different from everyone else. It is played off of in a hundred other tropes from self discovery to betrayal and adventure. For those formative years through the teens the character is a conflicting mass of emotions and impulses. This does have a firm grounding in reality and to write a character without it would be very odd indeed. But Why?
Perhaps it is because even the most statistically, plain Jane, character is strange during these years. That is strange to them selves. 
The infant is supremely unaware and as she/he grows into a child they slowly gain awareness of what they like, what they want, and who they are. Then, with the drop of a hormone producing gland suddenly everything is different. They feel strange. They are no longer what they were. Meanwhile they can see their peers around them behaving in perfectly statistically predictable ways. They can see the "normal" of their behavior and growth. They only thing they can't see is the equally normal feelings of strangeness that their peers are equally strongly trying to hide.  So they think that they are the only one who feels this way. 
How do you handle writing characters during this time-frame? 

Dancing Your Way Through a Book

Forms of visual expression like dance can be difficult to incorporate into the written word. After all, the entire experience is about what the audience is seeing. While an individual scene might be easy or possible to describe every change in position is a new scene and a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. It is the same from tap-dance to the tango. 
With a known dance, one that has permeated the culture the author can take the short cut of relying on the knowledge of the audience. Perhaps, 'The child danced a jig from joy.' For more complex but refined dances like ballet there are specific terms that can be used.  'The ballerina stood proudly in arabesque at the end of the set.' But these must be targeted carefully at an audience. To describe a free flow of dancing movement might take pages of effort and requires that the audience be invested if they are to stick with it.
Do any other writers out there have a method for describing scenes of artistic movement? 

The Shiny Red Button

If ever there was a deserving decedent of Chekhov's gun it has to be the shiny red button. If there is a big red button in a story (whatever medium) it is going to get pressed, or else the story will revolve around the struggle not to press it. It is Pandora's box and Tantalus all in one. Given that in real life big red buttons are usually used for exciting emergencies; setting off alarms in elevators (not that this author ever did that as a child mind you dear reader...don't do that), bringing a production factory to a screeching halt, or just to signal a big deal in an add campaign (this author is looking at you "Easy Button") it is no wonder that humans wonder that it does and what would happen. When the trope is turned on its head the button does nothing, or something harmless like releasing soap bubbles into the snow. A third twist makes the characters think nothing has happened but actually the button triggered something out of the range of the characters' awareness.  
What are your favorite "red button" (it doesn't have to actually be  a button) stories? 

Writing a Eulogy

Given that most, if not all, fiction stories are predicated on conflict it is no surprise that there are a lot of deaths. What was the story that touched you the most as a child? Mostly it was one where someone died. From the titular character of "Charlotte's Web", to the red mare in "Black Beauty", to most of the cast of a modern TV drama, death and the ensuing emotions sell. One of the best ways to enhance the emotions is through a eulogy. The characters stand around and recite solemn words, or break into screams of grief, or spit in spite. This scene can really define each character remaining. 
What was a poignant death scene from your early reading career? 

Bicycle to Work Day 2016

Today is #BikeToWorkDay2016. This is where being an author comes in handy. All an author has to do is peek out the window at the snow storm, wander too the mud room to check on the bike, and say "Yep, I participated." 

Dangerous Situations

One of the best ways to keep a story interesting is to send a character into a dangerous situation. A popular dangerous situation is an ice cavern. Simply given how naturally dangerous they are the prize at the end must be pretty impressive to lure most protagonists down there. What do you think likes at the bottom of this ice palace?                                   

Fancy Science Words

There is very little that makes an author's science fiction story feel  more realistic than accurate scientific terminology, if it is properly used. Like any literary spice these terms must be carefully judged and weighed for cooking. Too many can bog a story down and make it unreadable. While it is possible to write a science fiction story without scientific jargon it is a hard sell. One way is to write it from the perspective of a character of lesser intelligence or education but it is most often best to have some long fancy science words in there. Of course some terms are simply so striking that the beg to have a story written around them. 

Nephelometric Turbidity Units

Doesn't that sound like it deserves a story centered on it? 
Hint, it actually is related to the picture above! 

The Book Binder

Many years ago Mr. Teacher brought a big box of supplies to school. The little children held their breaths in excitement as the glue, stiff paper, and wallpaper were laid out on the counter. It was time for a Project. Mr. Teacher always had the best projects.
The stack of supplies brought out today was destined to be transmuted into books. The stories that had been written yesterday were carefully formatted onto half pages and the pages were sewn together with the help of the strong hands of the older graders. The covers were affixed and glued down and titles were carefully written on the inner covers. 
"This is how books are made and bound," Mr. Teacher explained. 
Well even then the process was a bit more complex than that in the factories, but with the advent of the computer and the popularity of the lightness and compactness of the paperback, genuine book binding, as a marketable skill, is a thing of the past. Machines spit out even hard copies at fantastic rates and while a few, isolated craftsmen turn out leather bound tomes that particular skill set has gone the way of the dinosaurs. 
#ObsoleteJobSkills

Learning the Hard Way

"There are three kinds of men.
The one who learns by reading.
The few who learn by observation. 
The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."
Will Rogers

The art of storytelling has been linked to teaching from the beginning. The oldest fairy tales are not fun entertainment but rather gruesome cautionary tales; beware of strangers, don't blindly accept gifts, there are dangers out in the world at night, being clever is critical to survival. A wise author will tap into this. It doesn't necessarily have to be a moral but a good book should teach something. Or should inspire the reader to go out and learn something.
"To Build a Fire" a famous short by Jack London is a perfect example of this. 
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Working the Day Job

Back at Crater Lake for the "summer".
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This will at some point be a roofalanch. DO NOT stand under it.