Well I got my homework for today done, so I decided to work on a chapter of Video Rage. It was actually a chapter I started on Wednesday, but I’ve been so crazy busy lately I’ve barely been able to spend any time working on it. I finally finished it this evening while eating dinner and watching the Ohio State-Wisconsin game, showing that on occasion I can multitask (though I wouldn’t do it while in the car).
The thing is, this chapter that I just finished is a very important chapter in the book. At the end of Reborn City, I revealed something about a certain character that left a big mystery for the next book (I’m not going to say what that mystery was or what happened at the end of the book, but trust me when I say, it is big!). Here in this particular chapter I reveal the answer to this mystery, and it killed me that it took so long to write it! I mean, I really wanted to get this big-mystery-reveal down on paper! And the fact that it took nearly four days makes me want to freak out like Eminem in a feud with another rapper!
On the bright side, I did get the chapter written. It’s about 9 8.5″ x 11″ pages, and a little under twenty-four hundred words. And I think I did very well resolving the mystery. And with the completion of this chapter, number fifteen to be exact, I have about twenty-two left to write. At the current rate I’m writing, I might finish VR at some point between late December and mid-January.
Now I’m going to take a little break from writing and maybe take up Chapter Fifteen of Laura Horn later in the evening. I’m getting close to writing a very important chapter of that novel as well, though I’m a few chapters away from doing so. I hope I get to it soon, it’s going to be worthy of a blog post when it gets written.
Today I was walking back from running an errand. The streets were packed with people here to see the game between Ohio State and Wisconsin and drink and have a good time. There were people selling food and T-shirts and Buckeye gear all over the place. I barely noticed any of it. My mind was turning over other things: money and school, my two biggest worries in life these days.
I’m not going to unload my problems on this blog, at least not this post. That’s not what this post is about. But I will say that even with a job and some side gigs and the little money I get from writing, life’s still expensive. Tuition, rent, and groceries is what I pay for the most. And I wonder, as plenty of other people around the world and from all walks of life wonder, how I’m going to write it all.
And as I’m turning all this in my head, walking to the ATM to make a deposit and then head home, an idea for a short story pops into my mind. It’s more magical realism than horror, but I think to myself, this sounds like a crazy good idea for a short story. I can base it around my own life, giving it an authentic touch. And I get to include some monsters in this story too! Imagine how much fun it’ll be to write that sort of story! A bit therapeutic too, that’s always good for the mind, body and soul.
Now I’m at home, writing up this post before I start on a paper for my English class. I have to say, writing about this had made me happier, even as it had occurred to me that it make my family worry about me because I’m blogging about money woes while talking about an idea for a short story involving my money woes. But like I said, I feel better writing about this, and if it guilt trips someone into buying my work, all the better.
I probably shouldn’t have written that last sentence. Oh well.
Now I’m wondering, does anyone else write about their problems? Do they use fiction of any sort to release and share their problems? I’m pretty sure there are plenty of literary authors who do just that, but I don’t usually read literary fiction. I bet there are plenty of other writers who include their problems in their genre work,, but none come to mind at the moment. But I think that stories like those are probably some of the best. It’s someone sharing their life, having a conversation with themselves and with others through a fiction story. It feels real, even if there are vampires or knights in shining armor or other weird things in their stories. And those sort of stories are the ones where people can really identify with the authors and the characters, because they’re thinking to themselves, I’ve been in that situation before, and it sucks.
Well, I’ve got the idea stored away now, so when I’m done with Video Rage and Laura Horn I’ll be able to remember it. I’ve got a little over thirty different ideas for short stories written down right now, so I’ll definitely have plenty of stuff to write about when I finish my two current works-in-progress. I could even write another, longer collection of short stories if I wanted to.
Hmm…another collection of short stories. Not a bad idea.
Until then though, I’ve got a paper to work on. Wish me luck! I’m aiming to get an A on this paper. I’ll settle for a B if I have to, but an A’s the goal at the moment.
Do you ever incorporate your life’s problems into your fiction? How do you do it? And what has been the result of that?
In a recent interview for his new book Joyland, Stephen King mentioned that one way he starts a story is that he starts with an image. In the case of Joyland, the image was of a boy on a beach with the sun setting. It took a couple of years apparently, but that image expanded to include a theme park and that’s how His Scary Highness came up with what would become a summer bestseller.
These past 24 hours I had a similar experience that allowed me to come up with an idea for a story. It started last night as I was going to bed. I was hypnotizing myself to sleep (yes, I know how to do that) and one of the commands I gave myself to help facilitate sleep was to let random images form in my head, “as if from a dream”. And among the images that formed was one that just struck me in a deep, deep way, like a line from a book that seems to resonate with you on so many levels, that for reasons you can’t understand, you find that becoming your favorite line in the whole story.
I wish I had an illustration or something to show you what I saw in my head. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to draw an illustration, let alone draw one and scan it into my computer, so I’ll try to describe it for you as best as I can: a girl, in her mid-to-late teens, with shoulder-length blonde hair and a black crown on her head with two twisting spires poking up to the sky. She wore a glittering black dress, like Glinda the Good Witch gone Goth. She stood on a glowing white staircase made of glass, and stars were shining aroundher. Her smile was warm and confident, and her eyes were alive with happiness.
Amazing what sort of things you can get from dreams. Am I right?
Well, you know me. If I can get an idea for a story, I will. So I quickly added to those hypnosis instructions, “If you see something you think you can use for a story someday, you will remember it in the morning.” When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t remember the image at first, but I did remember as the day went on. And as I had a rather unusual day (don’t ask, you don’t want to know), I had plenty of opportunities to develop a story from this image.
I thought that the image would work best at the end of the story, I had to figure out how to get this story from the beginning to the end. For that matter, I needed a beginning! Not too hard, I have a way with coming up with sh*t situations to put characters in at the start of their stories. I thought of a way for this girl in the black dress to start out, even gave her a name that I thought suited her. Then I worked on a catalyst…how about she meets a guy? No, it’s been done. Attacked by a monster? No, I’ve used that for stories before. Let’s go back to meetings. What meeting haven’t I used yet? Oh, that one will work (I can’t say what because that would give away just too much).
So what next? We’ve got a set-up. What happens after that fateful meeting? Something happens, something scary. Should I use an original mythology of my own making or taken from someone else’s mythology? Let’s go with the latter. Greco-Roman? Jewish? Celtic? Egyptian? Japanese? Native American? Okay, why not a combination? Mix and match…now we’re cooking.
In the end I manage to come up with a pretty nice story that uses some interesting monsters from mythology, come up with some interesting ideas for characters, conflicts, and even a monster or two (or three). And I wish I could go into details here, but that would give away too much. You wouldn’t want to read the book when I actually write it.
Did I actually do something he couldn’t? Probably not. But it’s nice to think so.
But isn’t it amazing? One image, and I have a wonderful idea for a story. I wasn’t sure exactly if you could come up with a story like King said he did, but I ended up doing the exact same thing…while saving a lot of time. I mean, King took years to come up with Joyland! I’m glad I saved the time on coming up with the story. And I hope someday I can do it again.
In the meantime, I’ve got a chapter of Laura Horn to start. I seem to have all the time in the world to come up with ideas, but none of the time to actually turn them into full-length novels. I should use the time when I get it.
Has this ever happened to you? How did it work out?
It’s time again for my Weekly Exercises. These flash fiction pieces are part opportunity to practice my craft, part sounding board to hear from readers what they think works and doesn’t work, and part shameless plug to get people interested in my published work. Remember, the Weekly Exercises rely on reader feedback, so whatever your thoughts, please let me know. I like feedback, positive or negative.
This week’s exercise is brought to you by Water. “Water: You need it, so why not take a dip?” It’s also brought to you by Fear. “Fear: the makers of ‘What was that?'”
Enjoy.
~~~
She’d been kidnapped on the way home from her last class. He’d taken her to his home, tied her up, done things to her. He said there’d been news reports about a missing co-ed from the local college, a pretty redhead whom nobody could think of why someone would want to hurt her. He’d laughed all the while he was hurting her.
Now he’d tied her up, put a gag in her mouth, and thrown her into the pit behind his house, naked as the day she was born. He said he was done and had had his fun. She screamed up to him through the gag, begging for mercy. He said he’d installed a drain in the pit that could only be opened from above. Then he closed it and snaked a hose in.
Cold water fell from above. She cried, begging for her life. She’d do anything for him. But all he did was laugh and watch and film it with his camera, like he’d filmed everything else he’d done to her. The water was up to her ankles. She tried to break her bonds, but they were too strong. The water was up to her waist now. There wasn’t room to move, and she couldn’t swim. Up to her neck now, very little moonlight left. She cried a tear, but it was lost in all the water.
Adam & Eve: the original sex story that’s been denounced as evil and immoral.
I’m actually kind of sick while I’m writing this post, so if it’s not up to my usual quality, I apologize. Also, if you want to make me matzo ball soup or something, please make sure it’s prepared in a manner that is acceptable under the laws of kashrut. For an easy guide to cooking kashrut, please contact your local rabbi or read a guidebook to Jewish cooking.
Okay, enough rambling that unfortunately we cannot blame my current condition on. I don’t know if anyone’s noticed this, but the horror genre–whether it be books, movies, comic books, or TV shows on FX–has a lot of sex. It’s one of the draws of the genre, and it’s also one of the things horror authors are criticized for the most (besides the whole–you know–the fact that we write about scary, bloody things that often kill/maim/cover us in blood). Sometimes it seems that there’s more sex in a horror movie than there is horror.
The question is, why? Why is there so much sex in horror stories?
Well, I’m not exactly sure. Besides demons that use sex as a weapon in ancient legends and folklore, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of material on this subject before the 19th century. I do know that works by early horror writers like Edgar Allen Poe and Mary Shelley, who wrote around the same time, didn’t have a lot of sex in their work, and any that did was only subtly hinted at (for example, “The Fall of the House of Usher” hinted at an incestuous relationship between Usher and his sister, but never exactly came out and said it). However things started to change around the turn of the century. Dracula contained several themes about Victorian sexual mores, and theater productions of horror stories often used sex to draw crowds in. I’m not as familiar with the works of HP Lovecraft as I should be, but I bet there might be some naughtiness hinted at in those stories.
(And if I am wrong, I apologize and ask that you please notify me immediately of the fact)
“Bleh! I am so chaste! Bleh!”
Early horror films like the original Phantom of the Opera film with Lon Chaney, Nosferatu, the Universal horror films and some others skirted around sex (mostly because Hollywood had much more stringent censorship back then), but it was still present in books and comics of the time, which led to comic books being censored as well. However with the fifties and sixties came the sexual revolution, and mores surrounding sexuality loosened. This started being reflected in horror, with Stephen King in the seventies debuting with Carrie and Salem’s Lot, which had plenty of sex and sexual themes in them. Slasher films made use of sex as well, showing sex alongside blood and gore well into the late eighties and nineties. Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted in the late nineties, during which the connection between sex and horror was often explored and commented upon within the show and by its viewers.
Fast forward a little bit, and you have the Scream movies, which poked fun at the supposed “rules of horror movies” (see video below), the Friday the 13th remake which had so much sex, it kind of lost the point of the film till near the end (but still couldn’t salvage the story), and American Horror Story, which actually manages to use sex in an artful way without taking away from the terror of the show.
(If anyone feels my history lesson in horror and sex is lacking something, once again I apologize.)
But like I said, all this sex in the horror genre has its consequences. Some will say that horror is using sex to draw in its audiences, like when you have a pretty girl being tortured while in her underwear (I think that’s a new way of looking at torture porn). Others say that horror authors are making a morality statement when they say “sin” like sex, drugs or booze causes you to die horribly, and the sweet virgin is the only one who survives (albeit with severe trauma). Plenty of critics believe that all the sex, along with the gore and killing, are warping the minds of children and teenagers (I don’t believe that for one minute). And feminists criticize horror authors for objectifiying and sometimes demonizing women and their sexuality in their work.
For that last one, I have to admit, we’ve been guilty of that a few times. So has certain evangelists and nutcases and whatnot, but yeah, horror authors have done this a few times. The video below provides some examples on this.
But this still doesn’t explain how sex has gotten to be such a part of the genre of horror. Maybe it serves as a relief for audiences. After seeing something so scary, a little sex can actually serve to relax people. In some funeral parlors, they’ll actually have lewd statues or paintings in order to make the grieving feel a little better (not kidding). At the same time, sex could act as a way to ramp people up, show them a little nudity, and then when they’re excited, scare them silly with some blood and death.
Personally, I’m of the opinion that if there’s more sex in a horror movie than there is horror, it’s probably because the filmmakers realized they have a pretty weak story to begin with, and need something to draw the audiences in with. I don’t know if anyone else shares that opinion, but I definitely believe it. And it certainly would explain a lot.
And occasionally, sex serves as part of the plot, like how in AHS: Asylum Kit and Grace having sex is used to further certain elements of the story. So occasionally sex can be used in a good way in the horror genre, instead of just making us worry that the people behind the story you’re watching or reading about just needed something after a very bad dry spell.
Here’s another question to ask yourself: Is my story more likely to get this rating than an R or PG-13 rating if I use sex?
I’m still not sure why sex is so intrinsically a part of the horror genre. However, because it is, I think it should be used more wisely. If you write horror stories, unless you’re trying to use sex as part of your story in a tasteful way or as a tool to further character development, then you should probably leave the sex out. Ask yourself this: what does this story gain from me using sex in it?
If you can’t think of a valid reason, then don’t put the sex in. (You can also ask this question for gore, and I highly recommend that you do).
Well, I’ve got some news. You know how I created a page for The Quiet Game a while back? Well, I decided that since I’ve got Reborn City coming out in November and Snake coming out sometime next year and whatnot, it didn’t make sense for me to have pages for all of my books. It’s just too much work for a college student who already has a pretty big workload, and I can’t afford an assistant (plus I don’t really need one). So I decided to condense everything into a single page: Rami Ungar the Writer.
Yes, just like this blog. Makes sense, right? I plan to post links to my blog there, as well as some updates and other things happening in my life that I can’t put into a blog post for a variety of reasons. And I’m hoping to get plenty of people interested in my new page, talking not just things in my life or my writing, but also thinks happening in the media and in the world, links to the works and blogs of friends, and…well, the possibilities are endless.
If you’d like to subscribe to my Facebook page, you can follow this link here. Also, I still have a Twitter account, so you can click on this link here and check that out if you wish. You don’t have to, but I’d really appreciate it if you did. I’ll also be setting up the links on the About Me page, so they’ll be there if anyone wants to check them out after reading future posts.
All for now. I’m going to try to get some work on Video Rage done. Maybe even get half a chapter written! Let’s see how I do.
Boy, it’s been a crazy day. I was afraid I’d never have a chance to write this post. But I’m in front of my computer, my homework for tonight is done, and I’ve called back everyone who’s left me messages, so here’s the post to celebrate the two-month anniversary of The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, my collection of short stories and first published book.
So far, I’ve sold about 41 or 42 copies, which isn’t too bad given I’m still pretty new to the indie-publishing scene and this is my first book. In addition, I’ve got a 4-star average on Amazon at the moment based on four reviews, which makes me happy. I like to think that people like what I write, so the reviews are proof that at least some people like the book.
I’ve also gotten some interesting responses to my book. For instance, the first short story in the collection, “Addict”, has turned quite a few heads with its content. But it’s a story about a man with sex addiction, so I can see why that might attract some attention. I’ve also gotten some great feedback on some of the other short stories. My dad thought the titular short story, “The Quiet Game”, was very creepy and well-done, and coming from him that’s some really awesome praise. And of course Jason Haxton, author of the book The Dybbuk Box, loved my original dybbuk story, “Samson Weiss’s Curse”. He’s the one who gave me my sole five-star review.
If you’re interested in reading The Quiet Game, please check it out on Amazon and Smashwords, available in both paperback and e-book versions.
In addition to being the second-month anniversary of The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones (post to come later) this is also the day I do my weekly exercises. These flash fiction pieces are chances to practice my craft, chances to hear reader views, and shameless plugs to get you interested in my published fiction. And today’s the fifth one, meaning I can stick with this.
Remember, the exercises depend on reader feedback, so whatever you think, please let me know. I love hearing from you.
~~~
He had killed them all. A year ago, he and his wife had left a restaurant and they had jumped him, beaten him and given him a Glasgow smile, so now he always looked like he was smiling. He’d lived, but his wife hadn’t been so lucky. She had been raped and killed by the punks who’d cut his face open. The autopsy had revealed she was three weeks pregnant with their first child.
The police couldn’t find them. Didn’t have the time, with all the gang crimes in this city. But he hadn’t stopped looking for them. And he’d found them. And now they lay all around him, with eternal smiles full of blood on their faces. He looked at their pitiful faces, and then he left. He was going to put flowers on his wife’s grave.
I’m on a writing craze lately. In the past two days, I’ve finished a chapter of Laura Horn, wrote an entire chapter of Video Rage, and even did an entire article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. This time around, I did a little research on The Length Debate, seeing all the opinions on how long a piece of flash fiction, a short story, a novel, and/or everything in-between should be. It was a fun article to research, and I hope you read it and share your thoughts on the debate too.
And as always, I encourage you to subscribe and follow Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. If you independently publish, it’s a wonderful site full of information for authors on everything from creating your own cover to information on developments with CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing to just general tips on writing fiction of any sort. I’m sure you’ll find it extremely helpful and informative, just like I did the first time I logged on.
Oh, before I forget and sign off, I just wanted to let you know I updated the About Me page on this blog. It’s just a little bit more general information, but if you’re curious, go ahead and check it out. You’ll find my somewhat-funny bucket list among the material I’ve added there.
See you in the morning, everybody. Have a good night, and I hope you don’t have any dreams about people with schizophrenia performing exorcisms in the street like I did last night (yes, I dreamed that. It seems even in my dreams I can’t escape the weirdness that is my somewhat macabre interests and hobbies).,
(This is the sequel to my previous post The Rabid Fans. In this installment, the fans are nuttier, the anger is much more bloodthirsty, and the references to Charlaine Harris’s work…is basically not part of this post. Sorry, but it’s an old story, and frankly there’s more to this phenomenon than vampires in the Bible belt. Onto the sequel, which may or may not be better than the original, depending on your opinion)
He’s Batman, deal with it.
Hollywood is being terrorized. Well, not really terrorized. More like annoyed. A few weeks ago, Warner Bros. announced that in the Man of Steel sequel, good ol’ Bats will be played by Ben Affleck. Now personally I have no problem with Affleck. He’s a capable actor, I liked him in Daredevil, and I’m sure, given the chance, he will break new ground in the role of Batman (if they force him to play a Bale copycat or something else that’s been done before, then God help the producers of the film). However, some fans were not so happy with the casting decision, taking to Twitter to voice their discontent in a tweeting storm. Many sent angry letters to Warner Bros. to tell them they hated their casting decision, and some even started a petition on the White House We the People page to get the White House involved.
That petition was taken down because, for all the obvious reasons, the White House isn’t going to take part in a casting call in Hollywood. They’ve got some bigger problems to deal with, in case you haven’t noticed. But then things got crazier, when this past week Universal Pictures and Focus Features announced that Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam and Ben and Kate actress Dakota Jonston were cast in the roles of the leads for the upcoming film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. Moms and middle-aged women and a former neighbor of mine who just happens to be a fan weren’t happy when the announcement came out. Instead, they started a petition, this one on Change.org apparently, asking that instead of Hunnam and Johnston, Matt Bomer and Alexis Beidel play the roles.
I’m surprised this is being made into a movie, but hey, if it makes money, why not?
Obviously, Hollywood ignored both outpourings of fan reactions. And I’m not surprised. After all, a lot more goes into a casting besides good looks. Talent, availability, willingness to play a role, chemistry, and a bunch of other factors go into the casting of a single character. And if the fans don’t like it, that’s their decision. In a meantime, there’s a movie to make, and not enough time to bother with annoyed men and women on their computers.
That’s Hollywood’s line of reasoning, anyway. But honestly, I think even the elites in LA are a little annoyed and worried. Heck, I find it worrying. Fans these days seem so…entitled. It’s not just casting calls, but demands for sequels (or threats should a sequel/remake be made), certain characters be made couples or else. It’s insane.
So let me take this moment to let all you rabid fans out there know one very important thing: THERE’S A F***ING LIMIT TO HOW MUCH OBLIGATION HOLLYWOOD HAS TO YOU, AND YOU’RE BLOODY WELL OVER THAT F***ING LIMIT!!! I mean honestly, the people who make these pieces of entertainment don’t have to make these films/shows/books. They could easily find other things to do or make. Yes, they’ll try and stay close to the original vein of the story, and they will do what they feel is best. You may not like it, but to assume that you know better than the producers and directors and writers is just plain snobbish arrogance. I mean come on! They have money and creating a brilliant story on their minds when they make these things. To assume they’re not trying to make the best story possible or that for some reason a simple fan knows better, well before the story is even made, seems imbecilic to me.
Yes, I understand there are people who want sequels to John Carter or Dredd 3D despite their miserable box office intakes (I wouldn’t mind the latter personally). And I know you want the characters you love to be portrayed by competent actors who look like they would fit the parts (I’m a little skeptical because the person playing Sue Snell in the Carrie remake isn’t a brunette). And I know you want certain characters to end up with each other at the end of the series (I was a Harry-Hermione supporter until Book 5 or 6, I’ll admit it now). But listen, you’ve got to let these things go. Give the filmmakers and writers and directors a chance, and stop thinking you know better. I’m willing to see if the new Sue Snell can impress me. I want to see if Affleck can break new ground at the Dark Knight. And I think Harry-Ginny and Ron-Hermione has a sort-of harmony to it.
There will not be a sequel. Harassment must cease. Failure to comply will result in the ultimate punishment provided by law.
Besides, the world won’t end if there’s no sequel to your beloved film. People won’t die if the favorite actor/actress plays a certain part. The universe won’t cause a storm if Character A and Character B end up in love and having cute babies together. The world moves on, because everything I’ve listed above–50 Shades, Superman vs. Batman, Carrie and John Carter and Dredd 3D and others–they’re all FICTION. Not real, fake, born from the imaginations of people who are paid to lie. Yes, they feel real and I understand that, but at the end of the day, it’s all fictional and therefore irrelevant to the workings of the world.
Help those being treated like mutants now.
Stop Assad with me!
If you must get angry about something, then think about this: people in Syria are being killed like humans when faced with General Zod. In many nations, LGBT communities and women are treated like Marvel’s mutants. In many nations, women can’t decide between two hunks who look good without their shirts on or have sex with mysterious and tortured partners. They get married off to men sometimes much older than them by their parents and if they protest they can get tortured or killed without any protection from the law.
Now that’s something to get upset about!
But if you still disagree with me on all that I’ve discussed above, I’ve some friends I want you to meet. They’re very animated, but I think they’ll take good care of you and you’ll learn a lot from them and their foundation.
Get the picture? Good. Have a lovely evening, everybody. Hope you’re not planning on sending me hate comments or discussing casting and writing decisions for the latest Star Trek movie (yes, there were obvious flaws in that movie, but that’s a post for another time. Probably never).
Rami Ungar The Writer 