Posts Tagged ‘novel’

Self-Pub Authors: Taglines

Posted: March 10, 2014 in Journalism, Writing
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Does anyone here ever use taglines for their novels? I do occasionally (I created one not too long ago for Snake: “How far will you go for love and revenge?”), and they really are fascinating marketing tools. Sometimes they even become more than what their creators intended, and become part of our collective pop culture.

For my twelfth article on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, I decided to write on taglines and how to create your own. It’s a quick read, but I think the tips are very informative, and I spice it up with my own weird brand of humor in and around the article. If you’d like, please check it out by following this link.

And if you’re a self-published author, you should definitely take time to peruse Self-Pub Authors and see the articles we have there. The blog is written by other self-published authors and has articles on many, many different subjects involved in DIY writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. You never know what article might give you the gem you need to create, publish, or market a wonderful story.

That’s all for now. I’m heading for bed. You have a good night, my Followers of Fear.

Snake: Three Months Away

Posted: March 10, 2014 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Yes, this is the novel's cover layout. What do you think of it?

Yes, this is the novel’s cover layout. What do you think of it?

Hard to believe with the new year already in March (how did that happen?) and so much else going on in my crazy life, but it’s already three months away from when my next novel Snake is released on June 10th. And as I’ve said in previous posts, that’ll be two years to the day I started working on Snake, which is both symbolic and more proof that time just seems to fly by.

For those of you who haven’t become familiar with Snake yet, it is a thriller novel I wrote back in 2012 and which, with the help of author Angela Misri, I edited throughout 2013 and January of 2014. It is the story of a young man who becomes a serial killer in order to save his girlfriend from a powerful organized crime family. It’s definitely one of my darker stories, at times even scaring me. I also think it’s one of my best stories, and I hope people like it and the characters as much as I do. Oh, and there are no actual snakes in the book. I’ve had people tell me they won’t read it just based on that title. I’ve heard you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (especially when it has a naked lady on it) but that’s ridiculous.

If you’d like to read an excerpt of Snake, you can click here to read the first chapter. And if you look below this paragraph, you’ll find the book trailer for Snake, which I created through iMovie after school one day. It’s very dark and gritty, which I think reflects the novel very well.


I’ll bring up Snake again when we get a little closer to the release date. I’m looking forward to it. Are you?

The Day The Tigers Came To School: Finished

Posted: March 9, 2014 in ideas, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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This particular short story could also be called “My tribute to Stephen King’s Carrie without any psychic or telekinetic elements”. I basically took the idea of a girl getting revenge on the bullies in her life through supernatural means and wrote a dark and powerful story around it. And it involved tigers, too (my favorite animal), so I definitely had fun writing it.

The Day The Tigers Came To School is a story with a very interesting evolution. It merely started out as a story about a school being invaded by tigers and wolves with some sort of strange twist about how they got there. Then I dropped the wolves because that’s just too much for one short story and I like tigers more. Then I added the bullying/revenge theme. Then I played around with different ways the plot could go, even while I was writing the story. 4,159 words later I have a new short story that pushed boundaries even for me.

By boundaries, there were a couple of moments where things got incredibly graphic in detail. It was enough to make me wonder if I shouldn’t hold back a little in writing something so terrifying. But then I reasoned, if it makes me a little hesitant, it will probably scare the pants off of anyone who reads it. And that’s basically my goal in writing. So I relaxed the restraints and just went with it. I’m glad I did, because the story’s much better that way.

Well, I’m going to let a friend give me some feedback on it, and then I’ll…save it for my next short story collection. Yes, I’m doing another short story collection, which I’ve tentatively entitled Dead and Dying (it was going to be Dead and Dying Teens but I thought that since some of the stories might not involve teens, I dropped that part). I can’t confirm content or release date, but I can tell you that this time around I want at least eight short stories, this one and a couple of others among them. When it gets closer to me actually releasing the book, I’ll make sure everyone knows.

In the meantime, tomorrow evening (work and homework permitting, of course), I plan to start up again work on Laura Horn. It’s been put on hold long enough and I want to get it at least halfway done before I leave for my study abroad trip. Then this summer I can edit it along with Video Rage. Wish me luck on the project. I still have more than half the novel left to write! It’s not going to be easy.

Well, I’ve got work tomorrow, so I’m heading to bed. You all have a lovely evening and have pleasant nightmares. Goodnight, my Followers of Fear.

Conversations With Becket

Posted: March 7, 2014 in Author Interciew, Journalism, Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Writing
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becket

Today’s interview is with indie author Becket, whose books include The Blood Vivicanti series and the Key The Steampunk Vampire Girl books, including the recently released The Tower Tomb of Time. When not writing, Becket works for author Anne Rice and is supplementing his education with a degree in psychology.

I had the chance to email Becket and learn a little bit about him, his books, and what it’s like to work for Anne Rice. It was definitely an enjoyable correspondence.

RU: So Becket, you’ve had quite the interesting life, working as an author, working for an author, and at one point you were a Benedictine monk. Makes me curious about what else you’ve done, so could you give us a brief history of yourself?

Becket: I entered the seminary when I was 21 because I wanted to deepen my relationship with God as well as be a minister of hope, faith, and love. I spent three years in the seminary, during which time I also finished my BA in music composition. Then in the summer of 2000, I entered a Benedictine monastery, St. Joseph Abbey in Covington, LA. The spiritual charisma of the monastic life appealed to my personality type. The monks lived a very silent life, guided by two principals of work and prayer. During my first year in the monastery, Anne Rice requested a harpsichord for a book signing in New Orleans. We monks had a very nice one; and the abbot asked me to deliver it because of my musical background – I had studied the instrument in college, along with several others. That was when Anne and I first met. We developed an email rapport over the next few years while I was earning my MA in theology. When I completed my degree in 2005, I decided that it was time for me to re-enter lay life and, needing a job, I emailed Anne, asking her fi she had a job on her staff for a former monk with a few degrees. She replied with a job offer. I’ve been with Anne ever since, studying the craft of writing under her guidance while also earning an MS in psychology.

RU: What is it like, working for Anne Rice? Besides the amount of jealousy you must receive from fans including myself, I mean.

Becket: What is it like, working for Anne Rice?

Working for Anne Rice is like working for a childhood hero. I first read Anne’s books when I was a teen. Being a lonely adolescent, an outsider, Anne’s words spoke to me powerfully – because her words have a wonderful way of showing empathy for the outsider/reader. Many days she and I talk about literature and the book publishing business. It is a continual learning experience. Every day I learn something helpful and significant about my writing, about the publishing of my own books, about my own capacity for problem-solving, about many things. But every day is a new experience because every day I’m presented with a new challenge. Before I started working for Anne, I had never used Photoshop. So to assist her as best as I could, I learned many new skills, such as photography, shooting video, proper lighting, sound engineering, etc. I also learned several programs in the Adobe Creative Suite, namely Photoshop, Illustrator, and even Premier Pro and After Effects. Most of those programs I use every day, whether it is creating an app for Anne, or posting an image, or editing a video for Youtube. And today all those programs have helped me greatly in my own work; they are invaluable book publishing tools. A successful indie author cannot live on Word alone.

RU: Tell me about it. iMovie and Photoshop have been great tools in the past for me. Now, you’re new book is the latest adventure for your character Key the Steampunk Vampire Girl. Tell us about her and the new book.

Becket: Key’s new adventure picks up where the last book left off: Key has just escaped from the Dungeon of Despair. Yet unlike the last book, which takes place over the course of 250 years, the course of this book happens in a single night. Key gets to do what she has not done in over two centuries: She gets to explore the City of the Dead. She rides a Hobbeetle, she meets the Worm King, she visits the Grave of the Grim Goblin, whose not as grim or dead as some people might think, and she does so much more! Ultimately she finds herself at the Tower Tomb of Time, which allows her to visit the moment when she was first made a vampire. She discovers the mystery behind her mom and dad’s disappearance, as well as the reason she was taken to the City of the Dead in the first place. In other words, The Tower Tomb of Time explores questions that were raised in The Dungeon of Despair.

RU: Some people would hesitate to write a vampire novel these days when most people associate vampires with Twilight. What made you decide to write about vampires?

Becket: Before there was Twilight, there was Anne Rice. She was ground breaking (and indeed she still is) in the sense that she made the vampire a Byronic hero – someone whom we could easily identify with. Moreover, being a vampire isn’t the story of Key the Steampunk Vampire Girl – which is fundamentally the case with Bella, the heroine of Twilight. Bella actively seeks to become a blood drinker. Key, on the other fang, like Anne’s Louis or Lestat, never wanted to be a vampire at all. Becoming what she is happened to her, and then lots more terrible things happened to her, and so she has to make the best of her situation. That kind of narrative ambience is what I strove to create when I wrote Key. I hope readers will associate with her story and say to himself or herself, “I know how she feels being in the Dungeon of Despair, or confronting the Worm King, or revisiting a past that was hitherto forsaken.” Additionally, I hope readers would also feel inspired by Key’s successes and victories over personal demons. Key’s story is a coming of age story.

RU: What is your writing process like for you?

Becket: Generally my process begins with an idea, which usually comes to me while I’m writing another book. I write down that idea, and if it stays with me for some time, I will jot down notes about potential plot development, prose style, themes, and so on. When I finish one novel, I immediately begin another; there is no waiting for me. I write every day. It is a routine. And the routine for starting new novels is grounded in two goals: (1) the long-term goal of my book, and (2) the short-term goal of my daily writing. My long-term goal is the size of the book that I want to write, and I generally determine that by comparing it with other books. For instance, I know that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is about 25,000 words. So if I am seeking to create a children’s story, such as Key the Steampunk Vampire Girl, I will make the long-term goal of my first draft comparable to 25,000 words. My short-term goal is the amount of words that I will write in a day. On average my goal is at least 1000 words a day; usually I write more, often twice as much; and some times I write fewer words. The point isn’t perfection: It’s progress. As long as I am writing, I am coming closer to the completion of a book.

RU: I admire your tenacity. Now what are some tips you might have for other self-published authors, such as myself, on writing and getting your work out there?

Becket: The beauty of indie-publishing is in the word “indie” – independent. This is a quintessential word to keep in mind because, if a writer gets embroiled in the industry of professional book publishing, that writer would lose some degree of control. The writer would usually not be able to control, for instance, interior or exterior formatting. In other words, you would probably have little to say in the creation of your book jacket. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard professionally published authors complain about their book jacket, how it does not look like the story they told. Other authors have complained about the struggle they have with their editor or copy editor, how important words will be edited out, or how sometimes sentences or pages completely rewritten. There are some authors who want to be controlled like that. And that is good! Great books have been written with the help of excellent editors. But finding such an editor is like finding love in your life: It usually happens when you least expect it. Being an indie-author means controlling every element of your work. I like this, not micro-managing, but being purposeful and meaningful with every element that I produce.

RU: I love that independence too. It’s gone well for me. So what’s next for you, Becket?

Becket: The Blood Vivicanti Parts 5 and 6 will come in March and April. And after that, I will be publishing a book titled, The Door to Heaven, which is about a boy whose life is changed forever when he encounters an old man’s face on the doorknob to the Door to Heaven.

RU: That “Door To Heaven” sounds very Stephen King-ish. Last question: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take three books with you, which books would you take?

Becket: Well, I am a man of faith and prayer, so I would probably take the ESV Bible (because I like that translation), The Imitation of Christ, and a book of blank pages, so that my mind could fill it up with my own stories.

RU: I love it when authors say they want to bring a blank notebook with them. Shows their true writing spirit, in some ways. Well, thanks for joining us, Becket, and best of luck to you.

If you’d like to find out more about Becket or check out some of his books, you can check out his website, his Facebook page, Twitter feed, and get personally autographed copies from the Changing Hands Bookstore.

Our next scheduled interview is March 31st with author and dear friend Angela Misri, who will be talking about her debut novel Jewel of the Thames. So get excited for that!

Creating That Dread Feeling

Posted: March 4, 2014 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Recently a fellow horror author and blogger I admire brought up a good point about horror, one that I’ve made in countless other posts. The point that he made was that a lot of horror out there is actually pretty terrible because of an over-reliance of gore and gross-out elements (blood, knives, etc.). Real horror is made not by grossing people out continuously over the course of a horror story, but by creating a feeling of dread, that feeling that something bad is going to happen and that it is going to get worse. That feeling builds and builds, until (hopefully) the reader is scared stiff by ensuing events.

Creating that dread feeling is difficult, to say the least. Like I’ve said in previous posts about terror (and I’m not yet convinced that they can’t be the same thing, depending on the circumstances), it’s one of the hardest parts of creating a good horror story. Creating that feeling takes time, precision, keen insight, and skill, cultivated over years and years of practice. It’s why plenty of would-be horror writers and filmmakers just opt out of trying to use terror in favor of just plain old blood and guts and gore as a so-so substitute. And when that doesn’t work so well, they add in sex as well (don’t believe me? Watch the Friday the 13th remake in all its crummy filmmaking and see how much dread there isn’t and how much sex and blood and gore there is. And no, I’ll never stop harping on how bad that film was).

Here’s an exercise that can help authors of all kinds visualize creating that dread feeling for your story: close your eyes and imagine yourself in a dark, dank, eerie hallway. This hallway goes on for some length, so far that you may not be able to see the very end. And it also takes many twists and turns, so that doesn’t help. As you walk down this hallway, you get the strange feeling that something horrible is going to happen just around the next corner or right behind that table or from that ceiling lamp with the crackling bulb. And as you get farther along, this feeling that something bad will happen grows and grows. Sometimes the places you think something will happen prove to be harmless, but other times you are correct and you’re only just able to get away with your head still on. Even so, you continue on, even though the feeling of ill-boding keeps growing, and you wish you could turn back or even just stop and stay where you are but you can’t, those aren’t options. The only option left is to continue on, reach the end with hopefully all your body parts still attached, and find a safe room located at the end of the hallway.

That hallway is your horror story. And it can be as long as it needs to be, have as much furniture under which monsters can hide as needs be, and have as many twists and turns as needs be. You just got to find a way to create that feeling of ill-boding, which is the feeling of dread that all the best horror stories are able to create. The exercise above is meant to help give people an idea of how creating that terror and dread can happen and to give them something to work with if they need help or practice creating that dread.

I hope that helps in some ways. Also, if you want to check out some books, TV shows, or movies that do a great job creating that feeling of dread, I highly recommend Stephen King’s IT, The Amityville Horror, and the first two seasons of American Horror Story. They do a very great job with creating dread in the reader/viewer. Trust me, I was afraid to go to sleep after I encountered one or two of these titles. They’re that scary.

All for now. I’m going to try to get some of my own fiction written and full of that dread feeling. Goodnight, Followers of Fear.

WordPress Tag!

Posted: March 3, 2014 in Living and Life, Writing
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I’m tagged! And yes, that’s a good thing. author Lorna Dounaeva just tagged me in a game of WordPress tag, which means I answer some questions and then I tag at least three other writers to answer the same set of questions. So excited! So let’s get started:

What are you currently working on?

At the moment, I’m just working on a bunch of short stories, though I plan by at least the fifteenth to get back to my WIP Laura Horn. I’m also working on getting my novel Snake published on June 10th (assuming the copyright office doesn’t screw with me in any way, shape or form. As a government office, they’re likely to do so, I’m afraid). I’m also trying to publish some short stories, so we’ll see what magazines accept them. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

How does your work differ from other authors in the genre?

Well, that’s really kind of a loaded question. Every author is different in terms of style and content, no matter what genre. However if I have to say, it’s that I try to make crazy concepts seem believable. At least, in theory I do. Ask my critics on how I’m doing in that department.

Why do you write what you do?

I’ve always loved scaring people, ever since a somewhat traumatic event in my past. And I love writing, so it’s fun to combine the two together.

How does your writing process work?

I work best in my room on the bed, so I try to write there mostly. When I work on novels, I usually write an outline of what happens in the story, and then set about writing the story out. It’s a torturous process, especially in the beginning. Tackling a whole novel gets easier as the story moves forward, but at the beginning it’s almost like rolling a boulder up a very big hill. Eventually I finish the story, and after several edits and feedback from a beta reader or two, I try to publish it. For short stories, the process is similar, except without the outline phase.

And now I tag three writers:

Matthew Williams, author of the recently released Papa Zulu.

Raymond Esposito, author of You and Me Against the World.

Pat Bertram, author of Grief: The Great Yearning.

Once Again, A Rewrite

Posted: February 27, 2014 in ideas, Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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I started a short story this past Sunday, a science-fiction story with LGBT characters and themes about how complicated relationships can get. It had a great concept, and it was an exciting story. I’ve been looking forward to writing it ever since I had the idea for it, and I made sure it was on the list of short stories I was going to work on when I decided it was time to limit how many more I was going to write. And I was making great progress on it too. I mean really good progress. Except for Tuesday night (I was busy that night with other stuff) I was getting 500-1000 words written each night.

But as I got further in this evening, I realized that I was slowing down, that something wasn’t working. I realized that the way I was going I was going to hit a wall with this story, so I had to stop and figure out what exactly was bugging me about this story. And I realized: like Resurrection, the way this story was going it’d be better off as a novel or a novella.

Normally I’d be okay with that, but for many reasons I don’t want to convert this particular short story into a novel. Not only do I already have so many ideas for novels to write that I’m not sure I want to add this story to that list, but I feel that if I can find some way to keep the short story as a short story, it’ll be a thousand times better than any novel I could ever write based on it. It’s a very strong feeling, too. So I’m not going to turn this particular story into a novel.

Instead, I’ll go back to the beginning. Most likely I’ll end up rewriting this story, and instead of writing a whole bunch of expository lead-up to the main scene, I’ll write that main scene, which is what inspired and excited me about this story in the first place. I feel overall it’ll be a better story that way, one that a sci-fi magazine would be proud to host within its pages.

So tonight I’ll end my writing spree by saving the short story and taking a break to think about how I can improve it. I have some ideas now, but nothing I want to act on just yet. I just need a little time to let the ideas cook and see what works and what doesn’t work. After all, this is one amazing short story idea I have. And it deserves to be written in a way I can be proud of.

That’s all for now. I’m going to watch something I’ve taped, and see what my brain can come up with in the morning. You all have a lovely night, and a fantastic weekend, my Followers of Fear. And I hope wherever you are, you’re warmer than I am. It’s Arctic temps here in Ohio. Trust me, I’m looking forward to spring and summer a lot more than most. Good thing I’ve got my Snuggie to keep me warm.

Spring Semester 2014: Half-Time Report

Posted: February 26, 2014 in Living and Life
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O-H!

It’s Week 8 of the semester, which means it’s time for me to check in and let you all know how I’m doing this semester at Ohio State. And I’m very happy to say, I’m doing extremely well. My classes are all going well, I’m on track for my study abroad trip, I may have a thesis advisor for next year, and work is going very well. Things are great!

First, starting with classes. As I said at the beginning of the semester, I’m taking five courses, four of which are related to my study-abroad trip. Those four courses are a course in American history centering around the period between 1921-1963, a class to learn some basic French, a seminar specializing in World War II-related topics, and a class on French-American relations through the years. I’ve been getting good grades in all of those classes, though the French language class has a lot of words I sometimes have trouble remembering (go figure, and I’m still better at German), and the research seminar requires a lot of reading. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but I need five primary sources and at least five secondary sources for my final paper, which is to be about the Nazi obsession on the occult. I have three secondary and one primary so far. Oy vey.

As for the fifth class, I’m taking a class on Deaf Literature. I thought that would be the class that would be difficult for me (there’s always at least one), but it’s been a delight. The teacher is someone I’ve had before (though she was a TA then), and she even bought a copy of The Quiet Game, definitely a plus. I also got the chance to write a short story for class, which I blogged about in a previous post, and I’ve been really enjoying the material. Heck, I’m learning so much more about Deaf culture than I thought possible. It’s pretty mind-blowing.

As for the study abroad trip, it’s coming along great. I’ve received the itinerary, and this weekend (if I have the chance) I’ll stop by my cellular company’s local store to see whether if it’s better to bring my phone abroad or get a prepaid. It’ll probably be the latter, from the advice I’ve been hearing. Now if only I can win some scholarships, I’ll be in heaven.

For the thesis, I’ve got a novel I want to write, one that’s pure horror and that’s got some great potential. I just need someone to advise me. I’ve got two teachers who may be able to help me. One of them is a teacher I’ve taken a class with before who may be willing to be my advisor, provided he can find the time in his schedule. The other is a teacher whose class I might be taking in the fall (provided she likes the pieces I sent her). She seemed open to working with me, so hopefully she’ll be willing to work with me.

And finally, for work I got my first raise. It’s not much, about twenty-five cents more per hour, but it’ll help a little with expenses. And I hope in the future I’ll be able to get some more raises in the future.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be doing another semester update after I get my final grades back. And now if you’ll need me, I’ll be working on a short story. Goodnight, Followers of Fear.

Why I Lost Two Facebook Friends Last Night

Posted: February 20, 2014 in Living and Life, Reflections, Social Activism
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I do not tolerate negative language meant to denigrate a person because of their race, gender, orientation, or ability. So when I see someone using this sort of language flippantly or carelessly, I usually tend to avoid that person. If they’re a friend though, I’ll try to convince them not to use that language before I cut them off.

Last night I was forced to do just that. Someone I’m acquainted with at school was responding to people lamenting about Facebook buying some app or another. He thought it was hypocritical that they were complaining about it on Facebook and said they should reevaluate their lives (though he didn’t phrase it in such nice terms). Where I got upset was when he used the word “retard”. I’ve mentioned before that I have an autism spectrum disorder and I’d been called “retard” or “retarded” more than once by bullies because I didn’t understand certain social boundaries or conventions when I was younger. Not to mention that mental retardation (or intellectual disabilities, which seems to be the preferred term among medical professionals these days) is an actual medical condition, so using it as an insult hurts the people with actual mental retardation worse than it hurts the people having the insult hurled at them.

I asked my friend if he would not use that word because it has the potential to hurt people. He responded that he was using the word without negative connotations and that people should realize that (as if we’re mind-readers!). He also said he uses racial and other denigrating terms, including the N-word, and said he uses them without the negative connotations and that it’s my problem if I was insulted by it.

At that moment another friend of his, whom I’m acquainted with as well, joined the thread and started using the very same terms we’d just been discussing. At that point I decided to leave the conversation, unfriend the both of them, and go to bed (though not before coming up with an idea for a short story based on this experience). And it’s still on my mind, as this blog post makes evident.

The thing is, even if they think they’re not using the words with their negative connotations, it’s not so easy to disassociate a word or symbol from its negative meanings. Otherwise the swastika would still mean good luck and auspiciousness rather than Nazi Germany and the Holocaust as it does for many Westerners. And these sort of microaggressions can have terrible effects on the people being denigrated. If you’ve never heard the term “microaggression” before, there’s a great blog post on microaggressions that explains them in depth. If you don’t have the time to read it though, a microaggression is basically the everyday little forms of discrimination that minorities experience throughout their lives. An example is the continued use of saying “that’s so gay” as a way of saying something’s stupid. It is not only bringing down whatever is being called gay, but it is saying that there is something wrong with being gay in the first place. And while the basic definition of microaggressions means they are small, especially when compared to gay-bashings or other forms of assault and more obvious forms of discrimination, over time they can build up and cause stress, depression, or suicidal thoughts in the person being denigrated.

Personally I only ever use these sort of terms in stories in order to portray a character the way I want him or her to come across to an audience. Even then I hesitate to do it and seriously consider whether I should really use such negative terms and if there is another way to get across the full impression of the character. That’s why within all of Reborn City, a novel about gangs divided mostly on racial lines and with a white supremacist gang, you’ll only see one instance where I use the N-word and other racial terms (though I do have several characters call Zahara a “terrorist” in order to illustrate how ignorant and prejudiced the world of RC is against Muslims).

So when I see people using these sort of terms so flippantly, uncaring about the negative consequences of these words, I get pretty upset. These terms are attacks on people because they’re minorities, and because my former friends are white or deeply tanned and don’t receive discrimination for their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, or level of ability, they don’t necessarily realize the damage they’re doing by using these terms. And by calling the rest of us oversensitive for being upset that they’re using these words, they’re proving that they’re insensitive to the problems of others, not that we’re oversensitive.

So I finish this post urging people to really think about the terms they use. You’re not being cool or rebellious by using terms that bring down minorities. What you’re doing is hurting people and causing people to think you’re ignorant or bigoted. If you’re going to use them, use them in a way that won’t hurt anyone, such as using the N-word in Huckleberry Finn is used to illustrate the beliefs of that age towards African-Americans. Or these words can be used to fight discrimination: there is a growing body of literature, music and other media that uses these words to show how hurtful they are and possibly change the way people think. Slowly but surely, some people are changing the way that they think.

That is all for now. I hope my former friends learn that using these words has negative consequences. Especially the guy who actually happens to own an up-and-coming business. How many businesses have failed because of something the owner has done? I hope that doesn’t happen to him someday.

The Story Must Come Before The Theme

Posted: February 18, 2014 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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This evening I went to a very interesting meeting of Ohio State’s Science Fiction Club (a whole other blog post to discuss what we talked about), and I got inspired for a few stories and articles. As I walked home from the meeting, I had another idea for an article, which you’re reading now.

As I walking home from Campbell Hall, enjoying the slightly warmer-than-usual weather and listening to heavy metal on my iPod (the mood music I usually listen to when I’m thinking or brainstorming), I was musing on the sorts of stories I tend to write, which ones were good and which ones were terrible, and what differentiated them. I realized something then: one thing that separated some of my good stories from my bad stories is which comes first, the plot or the theme.

Let me explain what I mean: when I first came up with the concept for Reborn City, it started as a simple gangster story with a science fiction twist. I had no idea of what the story would be like beyond that. I wanted it to be more adventure than explanation of scientific theory, I wanted excitement and sci-fi wackiness and life-or-death fights and maybe some sex (which got cut out after the first draft because it just didn’t fit the plot of the story). All the themes that ended up being woven into the story–the struggles and problems of gang life, Islamaphobia and racism, drug abuse, etc.–were woven in at a much later stage, though they became part of the story well before I started actually writing it.

On the other hand, there have been some short stories–which I don’t want to name–where I write them with the specific intention that they represent a theme or an idea. One early sci-fi story from high school about two technicians on a spaceship was meant to reflect on the loneliness of space travel and of isolation. Another was meant to be a ridicule of patriarchal values in society. And there are a few more I could mention, but let me just summarize by saying they were all conceived with a theme first that subjugated the story to the theme.

Apparently for me that latter approach doesn’t really work. The words feel all wrong and forced when I write like that and I find it difficult to make the story move forward.  And I realized as I walking home, past the library and towards the north end of campus, that my best stories are written when I focus more on the plot rather than any significant meaning behind the story. If the story itself is compelling, then the rest will follow, including any very deep themes.

I’m going to have to keep this in mind when I write stories in the future. And if I do end up writing a story where plot is subjugated to theme, at least it’ll be a good learning experience for me on what stories I shouldn’t write and how to avoid writing those sort of stories. I’m sure that there are plenty of authors who can write those stories and do it well (for some reason I’m thinking Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and plenty of other authors I’ve been assigned to read in my high school and college careers), but apparently I’m not one of them.

But in the end is that not surprising? People who love genre fiction, especially the sort of fiction I write, don’t necessarily read a story because they’re looking for a story that exposes the mindset of a battered woman or because they want an allegorical tale of small towns haunted by ghosts representing the ills of ignorance and a narrow-minded worldview. No, they want a story that scares them, and if the themes in the story make you think as well facilitate the whole scaring part of the story, then great. And since this is what I do when I read a story–to look for a good time, not for a deep meaning–it makes sense that my best fiction comes from focusing on the story rather than on what the story means.

Do you ever have problems with this? What are your thoughts on the subject?

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