I have been approached by a publisher of educational texts to include one of my blog articles in a text. Totally out of the blue, but very flattering that they liked what I have to say enough to want to use it.
And that is it for the day, as I just don't feel like posting. I'm flailing a bit on the blogging thing this past year. A lot of life changes, I'm told, can do that to you. And, wow, have I done a lot in the past year.
I have placed a deposit on an English Setter pup! There's a picture of the little guy, who they are calling Luger. (The litter--all boys-- was named after gangsters...possibly because his daddy's litter were all named after Wild West outlaws. I know the guy who bred the dad, so I know the story.) I don't know if I'll keep that name Luger or not, but it's got a good sound to it. However, don't you think that sometimes you are dooming yourself if you name a pet something that isn't what you really want? Or maybe that's me being superstitious. Anyhow, he's five weeks old in that photo, and, after talking to the breeder, Luger is the pup best suited to me. Apparently he's smart, unflappable, and strong minded--and thus best suited to a strong-minded, former military dog handler like myself. (That said, you know I'm going to spoil him rotten, even if he does mind when I actually tell him to do something.)
Other than that, life is going along well enough. Did a bit of home improvement stuff this weekend, and also did the sleeping half the day away on Sunday. I must confess to failure in the NaNoWriMo challenge, but that's to be expected. I did make some progress, however.
What really is nice is that my neurologist had me up my migraine preventative meds and the light sensitivity is nearly gone, and the ice pick to the eyeball is gone, likewise the headache that was distracting me beyond belief. Even the frequent migraine auras have slowed nearly to a half. Not that the auras were really bothersome.
And on that note, enough with the oversharing! I'm going to write now.
There's an amazing array of equipment out there about which most of us are unaware; and a lot of it can make for cool plot bunnies in near world stories, at least.
I have been hearing a lot in the news about means of identification and scanning options, to include airport body scans, iris scans, fingerprint scans, facial recognition and other things.
Like cellular phones, it is important to keep in mind for near world stories what the tech in use now is and how it may change in use and function. This is both to keep the story feeling current longer and to keep your readers interested in how you use the technology. It wasn't so long ago that we never had cellular phones in stories, and now we have cell phones used all the time.
Tech can change writing conventions, too. It used to be that a 'rule' was never to have a phone conversation in your stories, but now we pretty much have to use them or the plots will have big, gaping holes. So you either have to explain these days why the persons do NOT have cell phones, or you have to actually use them in the story.
Thus it follows that things like identification technology is going to be important in near world stories. I heard the other day that there is a hand held device that can read your iris from as far away as 30 feet-- and that is frightening. But it's a useful tidbit for writing.
So anyhow, be sure you consider and extrapolate upon the current technologies we have and how you can use them in your stories. Because (as I said in the last article on the blahg) if you don't do it well, your story will feel really dated or stupid in the near future. And longevity in your story is always preferable.
Recently, I have been (unbeknownst to me) spamming the hell out of my Facebook friends' walls with bizarre junk links that may or may not be giving them virii or spyware. Facebook has nothing to say except "run a virus scan program" and "it is technically not possible for your Facebook account to be compromised." But I think I figured out how to deal with this.
Good luck and good hunting.
Speculative fiction that is set in near-world time or setting is going to have a dated feel very quickly if the tech is not predictive enough or if your guesses as to future tech trends are off.
But urban fantasy and near world science fiction or science fantasy need not feel too outdated if we are smart in our strategies for worldbuilding with current and speculative technology. It's not just guesswork.
Here are my thoughts as to how you can make your best attempt at avoiding that dated feeling a few years after your story is out.
First, you can avoid the problem by a complete end run: avoid a serious sharing of the world and the tech. This is most appropriate for romance category novels or short stories, as these focus on different elements than a proper spec fic novel. In romance, it's all about the love, the sex, the interactions of the characters and the inevitable misunderstandings. In a short story, you must settle for giving the world a feel that suits the situation and setting, but you don't have the space in which to engage in real details...so you can gloss over the tech to a large degree.
However, if you are going to make me love your story, you are going to build a world in which I want to set up camp and return to again and again. And that takes details, baby! and, like Jules Verne or H.G. Welles--or more recently William Gibson's 1980s cyberpunk--you want your novels to stand the test of time...or at least a few decades. So, my thoughts on how to do that follow:
Determine cultural trends or outlooks that influence how technology is used. In Dune, for example, Frank Herbert proposes a loathing of thinking machines, so anything that isn't run by the human mind is verboten. If the world in which you are writing has an abhorrence, a fetish, a focus that is a strong undercurrent, give some thought to how that will or can affect the way people behave, the items that they use, or other matters such as how the government uses the technology. Perhaps your government in the story is using invasive technology to determine your role in life (DNA testing in Gattica); or perhaps the military has started using cloning technology to create soldiers for battle. (It might be expedient to build the army in the solar system where they are being used, for example, rather than expend the resources to recruit and train and then ship bodies where they are needed.)
Layering: Be aware of other options for your technology. You should consider at least a couple of other applications besides the one you originally develop, or where they will have an effect due to their lack. If you integrate a technology into the world, you need to give some thought to how it can be used in other areas. Why? So you round out your world just like a character. And if the tech is top secret, then you can show how there is another option to that secret tech in civilian use, for example. If the military docs have special regeneration chambers, but the civilians do not have access or knowledge of it...what DO they have access to? There should be some tech that is approaching that level, a few generations behind, perhaps, but approaching regeneration. It might be something like a liquid skin patch infused with nanotech that speeds clotting or tissue regeneration, but cannot replace limbs or fix major damage. (Your guess is as good as mine.) but there ought to be a level of tech that is in the ballpark with the other technology in use in the same society.
The basic areas that we generally see technology from one field used in another are
Of course, if you choose to have a gap in tech, for example one based upon the strata of society, that is also a legitimate choice, and you will have to extrapolate from there who has what and why this is so. Which leads me to my next point: extrapolation.
Extrapolation. Consider social and personal implications of the technology at hand. If you suddenly had a world were every second counted, literally, you would be extrapolating from our current society and it's passion for being in touch and minute by minute accountability of what we are doing. Now we see Facebook and other things that show real time where you are and what you are doing; and in a future society, you could have something as weird as people who share (instead of web cams) their visual perspective of their daily activity. Virtual reality of people riding along with someone doing something. That idea has great merit, and could work in military, police, social, sports or what have you for applications. (I'm going to use that one some time; it's too cool.) But if someone can make money from it, you know that there will be an application used to make money.
So, extrapolating further, where could that particular idea bear fruit in your spec fic world?
Your world is a character. As I mentioned above, by integrating tech in layers and rounding out your world, you're making your world deeper and more meaningful. It's far more gripping and your readers can engage with the characters more if the world has more detail and feels more realistic. Just like a flat spear carrier type of character, a world that's filled in will engage readers more. And I believe that readers of speculative fiction prefer detailed worlds. It makes them happy to engage with the world just as much as the story.
So, those are my thoughts on the matter. Any more ideas from the bullpen?
Happy writing!
"...[W]hen you explain dialogue that needs no explanation, you're writing down to your readers, a surefire way to turn them off....[T]he reader who feels patronized is likely to close the book.... [R]esist the urge to explain." p85, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
"If you tell your readers [your character] is astonished when her dialogue doesn't show astonishment, then you've created an uncomfortable tension between your dialogue and your explanation. You dialogue says one thing; your explanation, something slightly different. True, your readers probably won't notice--truth is, only editors and reviewers really notice these things. But your readers will be aware, if only subconsciously, that something is wrong. And that awareness will undermine their involvement in the scene." p86, Ibid
I bring this point up about redundancy because I inevitably have to redact a bunch of telling from my writing when it comes to dialog tags. I don't do a whole bunch of it these days, but it's still something that happens. I think it's because when you are writing the first draft, you are more or less making notes to yourself by doing that sort of thing. Which is one of the reasons why the first draft needs revising.
Everyone who writes and has any clue at all is going to be aware of the general "rule" that telling is bad, and that reliance upon dialog tags to tell readers what's going on is poor writing. But I think the point in the above quote is that the effect upon readers by telling them what to think is a very important psychological point.
We need to take psychology of the readers into account in our writing, too.
The past week I've read several books. And there was a theme of sorts, that of plot holes. I really liked all three books which had plot holes. They are really enjoyable and really well written...but they have major plot holes. And I have to wonder how that could have gotten by editors once it got past the author.
One book, by Katie McAllister, is her newest Dark Ones book. It's great, so go read it if you like paranormal romance. But there was one glaring plot hole which really struck me. Her character Fran is supposed to go somewhere with a friend, but she disappears due to being shanghaied, and when she returns home later that day, there is zero mention of it by her friend. It's like the problem never happened. And that's bad because it's such a glaring oversight. It bothered me the rest of the book, and a couple of other minor slip ups really caught my attention because of it, which mildly reduced my enjoyment of the interesting plot, cool characters, and funny, snappy dialog.
Similar sorts of things in the other two books, and it's inexcusable, if you ask me.
I'm wondering: Is it the result of Ms. McAllister being a best selling author, or is it because the publishing houses are spending less money on editing services?
In any case, as writers, we need to take care of plot holes before they go to the agent or publisher. My suggestions are
There are a lot of great books on writing out there; but my all-time fav is "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers," by Renni Browne and Dave King.
Saw on Facebook about a web show by SyFy, Riese: Kingdom Falling. It's supposedly steampunk, so I sat down and watched it. Gah. Typically, Scifi channel stuff has been bad...but perhaps the silly name change has infected the newer productions, making them even worse. Because, no bones about it, this show is bad. There's a lot of potential here, but the production values, acting and scripts are pretty darned poor.
We have the good princess who's apparently been on the run since she was six or seven, with only a wolf for companion. And then there is the "steampunk" which is mainly showing in the evil henchman, named Magister, whose "steampunk" paraphernalia is a bunch of stitched on gears in random patches all over his uniform. The guy is also a heavy breather and wears a face mask, like a Darth Vader done badly. Unmitigated evil bad guy. So banal and cliched that it's an affront to people who like this genre.
And the evil usurper is a spoiled brat who does nothing but criticize and yell. There is no apparent reason for her being in power.
I could go on. But if you don't mind wasting an hour or so, check out what I mean here. I gather this webcast mini series is designed as a test to see if they want to do a full blown series.
A good idea here, but so badly executed!
One of the coolest things about technology is how the internet allows you to share cultural things like music and art. I remember the moment I first realized the potential of the internet: in 1992 or 93 when a friend showed me how you could look at the Dead Sea Scrolls online.
Now, you can do things like see the cleaned and restored Sistene Chapel. This is just amazing. Thank you, Vatican Museum (Musei Vaticani) for sharing.
When you're creating your spec fic world, don't forget that your dark urban fantasy landscape can have some awesome, even joyful, sides. Technology is not, by nature, dour; it's how you use it.
I like it when a writer shows both sides, doesn't essentially preach progress is evil. I like it when the world is amazing and the tech is magical, even though the problems humanity faces may be the same. Sometimes it's valuable to show the tech is neutral, just like religion should be. Sometimes you can show it as the problem...But I think that we often see the portrayal of our technology as essentially evil like a virus that's killing its host...when the real issue is the things inside mankind that has us using this really great stuff in ways that are shortsighted and harmful.
Here's one way to look at it. If you use the point of view that tech itself is the problem, you are painting mankind as helpless against the things it creates, like that stuff forces us to make it, use it, become dependent upon it. But if you show the choices mankind makes to use, create or depend upon technology, and show those issues as flaws or poor choices or stubborn irrationality (or what have you) you are making a more realistic choice that has more options in terms of plot or theme.
Of course, when talking theme, a little goes a long way. It should (mostly) all be subtext anyhow.
If you haven't read The Silver Metal Lover or Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee, I recommend you do so. Ms. Lee has created two seemingly utopian societies with magic-like technology--and two protagonist who struggle to define themselves against their worlds. You'd think that, in a world that denied you nothing and allowed you to explore any avenue, you would have a utopia...But it isn't, which is why the self-derailment of the main character's lives is so true. Both stories pretty much exemplify my thoughts on the matter of how a writer can use gorgeous technical developments and yet show the failures, too. These books ARE a bit theme heavy, though, which books from the 70s and 80s tended to be; but they don't quite beat you over the head.
And, you know--perhaps my long-winded point is that future tech doesn't have to be cyberpunk depressing with cesspools of toxic waste dripping down the crumbling walls of the inner city. It can have bunnies and butterfiles, too. Really, though, it's better if you find a more realistic happy middle...rather like we live in here.
Which brings me back to the Sistene Chapel. We can have really wonderful things like being able to study the art of the ages virtually, and still have cybercrime and identity theft. There are ups and downs to tech, and we should embrace all the possibilities in our stories. We dont' need to show them all; but a reasonably mix to make the world feel real is a good idea...don't you think?
You know I am a fan of finding ideas where I see them, I am sure. Well, I had an epiphany of sorts the other day while laying in bed trying to get rid of my migraine. I watched a lot of shows that I thought would be educational and get me more up to speed on some military issues. So I watched that sniper show, Border Wars, and military history ad nauseum. (I really hate watching military history, although I love the shows about technology.)
At any rate, I found a show on snipers (which name escapes me) and this was on Coast Guard snipers. (I know, right? A doggie head tilt moment.) The thing is, they are a relatively new thing, and they only shoot out the engines on fleeing boats, not people. What a genius idea! Fascinating stuff. I have to extrapolate that for my military sf as my guy is a sniper with a twist on the sniper equipment I haven't seen done before, but which the idea of the Coasty tactics can be used with. Heh.
And another spot for finding ideas is to search out calls for proposals by the government. Look up what they are looking for, and you can get a few ideas for futuristic technology. This is one example. It's fascinating to see the types of R&D that DOD is looking to get contractors onboard for, and if you are willing to extrapolate for plot bunny ideas, you might get some good stuff.
Well, who's got plot? Anyone want to talk plot?
Moi, I am writing a military sf story set many thousands of years in the future during a time when the human Imperium (highly xenophobic) is fighting to encompass (e.g. 'repatriate') all human colonized worlds under their banner. Like it or not. And their enemy is a group descended from the first interdimensional Pilots who enabled humanity to first reach the stars. Problem is, that group rebelled and they disagreed with the Humancentric approach to galactic civilization. This spawned a millenia long war of sorts. Given the vast distances of space and the high cost of resources, the war is not so much pitched battles as it is insurgency and the winning of hearts and minds through social engineering.
But violence does occur, and our hero is a new private in the military, who discovers he's got a talent for snooping out Pilots--one which puts him in a very bad spot, as it looks like he might be one of them.
I'm trying to get a new name for the Pilots, but cannot think of anything. Nor can I as of yet think of a cool gang sign for them. Any ideas?
What plot problems are you having?
Sandra Cormier had an interesting post the last month about her bucket list, and it has had me thinking, off and on for the past few weeks, about what use a wish list like that can be to a writer.
I can think of a couple of things. First, make your list items pay for themselves. So, if you want to learn to fly a helicopter, figure out a story plot that requires some knowledge of helicopters, and take a class. *You can write it off.
Second, use your bucket list for inspiration. It may not cost you anything to do or learn or experience the thing on the list, but obviously you have some attraction or enthusiasm for that item, so it has some emotional attraction for you. Use that in your writing to either infuse your character(s) with interest for you, or to give you an excuse to research the thing you have never gotten around to doing. (This is similar to the above, but a different focus.)
In any case, what is on your bucket list? And, more importantly, what have you done that you have always wanted to do and dreamed of doing? I think it's vastly more important to acknowledge good things and challenges met than most people realize. So recognize your achievements.
My bucket list is currently short:
But what I've done that I always wanted to do? Quite a few things, actually:
A few things fell off the list, though, as life experience taught me I no longer was interested. For example, although I wouldn't mind learning to fly a helicopter, I don't have the time or interest in spending the money. And it isn't logistically possible where I currently live. And I don't like heights and decided against learning to parachute for that reason.
It's interesting to contemplate what you thought you'd like to do on paper and then what you later on have changed your opinions about.
What's your Bucket List?
*Check the IRS or your nation's rules on that first, though. There are lots of codicils, I am sure.
What is the current issue that is sitting in the back of your head as you are writing this NaNoWriMo project? By that, I mean what keeps nagging at you, be it "how to fit in this cool idea," "what's with that character doing X?" or "Damn, I'm running out of plot, what do I do now?"
What is nagging at you?
I guarantee you guys, if a thing keeps coming up like that, you need to pay attention to it.
Write it down, then think about what your thought/idea is trying to tell you. See if you are possibly heading down the wrong road in the story, or look at what the problem is and make notes as to how you can fix it in edits.
If it's something that makes you realize you have a problem, strike through the parts you know you will have to delete later (but do not delete them now!) and make notes for what you think you will be replacing that section with. (For example, MAKE PROTAG MEET CONFLICT HERE INSTEAD, DECIDES TO GO LEFT INSTEAD OF RIGHT, BRINGING HER TO SUBCHAR2 WHO PROVIDES INFO FOR SUBPLOT A WHICH ALSO GIVES PROTAG [IDEA] WHICH DETERMINES APPROACH TO MAIN CONFLICT.)
But, whatever you do, DO NOT go back and rewrite the scenes you decide must go. That way leads endless revising. (I know; it is my typical ADD must-neaten-all-edges-and-fix-all-grammar-issues habit I constantly struggle with.)
So, listen to that little voice that's nagging at you. It's your muse/subconscious/higher self/what have you telling you that there is something that you need to attend to. You are smarter than your conscious mind will allow. All you have to do is practice paying attention.
Listen to that nagging little voice and save yourself some headaches down the line.
OK, not the best shot, but they are very hairy.
You ever notice how some of the cutest things in the universe are really strange when you put them into perspective? Molly is about 2 now, and she's got her winter coat in. As a Maine Coon Cat, she is rather like a plushy toy. Not to mention she's got lots of fur grown out between her toes. It sticks out a half inch and it's black, unlike the dun tabby that's the rest of her. It's Uh-Dor-Uh-Bulls*. And yet it's really a strange thing to find abso-freaking-lutely cute. But there you have it.
Along the same lines, I give to you Death by Puppy.
*I also like to blow raspberries in her belleh, which she endures with good humor. Mikey runs away when I make kissy noises. He's my milquetoast 22 pound cat.
Tony Hunt linked to this on Facebook (probably also on his blog, but I haven't had time to delve through his many posts) and I thought it worth reposting and spreading around. Basically, a printed magazine brazenly lifts people's stuff off the web and defends themselves by saying the internet is a free for all and you don't have copyright on stuff posted there. Not kidding, peeps. Here's the original post at Illadore's House of Crack:
The story:
I was contacted early last week by a friend of mine who lives in the Northeast about my "As American as Apple Pie - Isn't!" article that was published in Cooks Source magazine, mostly to inquire how I had gotten published. This was news to me, as I hadn't ever heard of this magazine before.
However, some basic Google-fu lead me to find them online and on Facebook. In fact, after looking at the Cooks Source Facebook page, I found the article with my name on it on on "Page 10" of the Cooks Source Pumpkin fest issue. (No worries, I have screencaps.) The magazine is published on paper (the website says they have between 17,000 and 28,000 readers) as well as being published on Facebook as well.
So. I first phone the magazine then send a quick note to the "Contact Us" information page, asking them what happened and how they got my article. (I thought it could have been some sort of mix-up or that someone posted it to some sort of free article database.) Apparently, it was just copied straight off the Godecookery webpage. As you can see from the page, it is copyrighted and it is also on a Domain name that I own.
After the first couple of emails, the editor of Cooks Source asked me what I wanted -- I responded that I wanted an apology on Facebook, a printed apology in the magazine and $130 donation (which turns out to be about $0.10 per word of the original article) to be given to the Columbia School of Journalism.
What I got instead was this (I am just quoting a piece of it here:)
"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.
But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"
I got nothing.
Scratch that. I sure as heck do. Let's go over the major points:
I have some ideas of where to go from here but I am more than willing to listen to other suggestions. |
Seems like everyone has an idea where they want to end up when they begin a scene, story, chapter. It may be a vague image of novel's ending, of some purpose the character wants to accomplish, or a love scene where two of your characters end up together. But you likely have an idea of some scene or event that will be happening later on in the story.
If you run out of plot, here's a great tip: Write anything you pictured happening. Even better, write that particular scene that inspires you to write toward it, such as that great love scene.
It's okay to jump about in time. You can write scenes out of order. What you write may not be a keeper; it may change when you get all caught up. But it's something you can write to get you moving again when you just don't know what happens next.
So long as you keep on writing, it's all good for NaNo.
Obviously I have been slacking on the daily blog posting for the better part of the past year. I'm going to "go dark" several days a week from now on so that I actually get some writing done. Writing is a slow and tender process for me, and I have been abusing my writing time by blogging for the past 4 years, resulting in really minimal prose production. And during NaNoWriMo, you can see me here. I won't be doing much posting here so I can hopefully actually "win" NaNo this year. (Comment at the link to get added to the blog. We welcome anyone, even if you don't actually participate in NaNo, just so long as you intend to write.)
I love blogging, but I'm going to keep it down to 3 posts per week, Mon/Weds/Fri with a What Is Wyrdd Up To sorts of maundering on the weekends if I feel like it.
I apologize, and I really see the slippage in my blog's rating and visit rates (not to mention comments, which have always been pretty dismal!) but it has to be done if I'm ever going to get a book published.
Meantime, go read a good book or write something! See you!
NaNoWriMo is here again. I hope you guys all join, too. I mean, wouldn't it be cool if everybody wrote 50k words in the month of November? Think of all the gas that would be saved, the seal pups that wouldn't be clubbed, the octopi not caught and swallowed alive by epicurian masochists???
Aaaaaat any rate. As per usual, I signed up. As per usual, I will work on something already in the works seeing as I already have too many beginnings without endings. And, as per usual, I'll end up not completing 50k in a month. But that's okay, it's still motivational to join and gets me at the very least thinking about writin gnad plot and a project...just like the Koala Claw Avoidance Challenge, which I encourage you to also join, if you have not yet done so. (My virtual ass is already hanging by a thread and I've lost a couple of toenails courtesy of Goblin. But you know you want to join me as writerly barrel scrapings there, and we can have fun! Fun, I tell you!)
I'm a writer of science fiction & fantasy who dreams of the day she can run screaming to the bank with the advance check for the next Great American Novel.
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