Living the Fictional Dream

I want to write a sequel to “The Widow and the Stranger” (Allegory e-zine, May 2008 issue). I love Sarah Kirby, and I want to write about another of her adventures. I like that she’s reserved and old fashioned, but at the same time she’s a liberated feminist.

When my writing group did the Story Every Day contest back in June, I actually wrote a sequel to tWatS, but it was too much of a sequel. It relied heavily on background that someone would only know if they read the first one. One of Jadon’s enemies tried to steal the amulet that he made for Sarah in an attempt to find him.

Sadly, while that might be interesting if I ever wrote a novel about Sarah and her Atlantians, it wasn’t going to work for a short story. Maybe if the same e-zine published it, but you can’t count on that. And even still, in the short story game, each story really needs to stand on its own. The characters can have more adventures, but they shouldn’t have continuing adventures (unless you’re lucky enough to have the chance to publish a short story collection like Mercedes Lackey’s Tarma and Kethry stories or perhaps if you have a market that’s committed to publishing them all).

Recently, I wrote a few paragraphs of the next Sarah Kirby story. The title popped into my head fully formed, and I actually kind of like it — “The Widow and the Lord” — it stands on it’s own, and yet it still harkens back to the predecessor for those “in the know.”

Sadly, that’s as far as it’s gone. I have a good setting and a new character for Sarah to interact with (and bring her common sense business acumen to), but I have no plot! Don’t you hate that? Great concept/idea/character, and no plot. I know that romance is the wrong way to go — Sarah had enough of that last time, and she’s not a woman who opens herself up that easily. So, I need a plot with a speculative twist to involve Sarah in the life of this lord. I want her to somehow save the day this time in a decisive way. But… how? Nothing is coming to mind.

Ah well… I guess I will just have to let “The Widow and the Lord” linger for a while. Perhaps one day, out of the blue, the plot will come to me like the title did. It’s strange, though. Usually I suffer through the title creation process. I never start with a title! Weirdness!

I finished watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night (the day after they came out on DVD), and man, this is a really good series! If any of y’all like sci-fi and/or the Terminator movies, you should definitely check this series out!

First of all, the series rocks at continuity. In a world with such complex plotting, it’s amazing how many details they remember. Of course, they made movie 3 obsolete, but no one saw that one anyway, right? And it supposedly sucked (though I actually never saw it, so I can’t say). But, since this is a time travel concept, even rewriting history (or, perhaps future history?) makes sense in the ‘verse.

Second, this series has great characters, and, to me, characters are the most important part of any story. I suppose, on a basic level, the SCC characters are basic sci-fi trope. We have a robot struggling with what it means to be human. There’s an angsty teen who is supposed to grow up to be the “chosen one” (though, not a mystical choosing, like with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter). There’s a lioness mother struggling to protect her cub, a law enforcement agent who is against us right now but might become our friend in the end, and an embittered soldier in mourning for a lost loved one.

But SCC takes these standard characters and gives them all a fresh feel. Sarah kicks butt and takes names, which is awesome, and yet, she doesn’t like to kill. Derek has a grudge against terminators and possibly a death wish, but there’s a surprising soft side. He’s had some great moments with John, and when he teared up watching Cameron dance… great acting! Cameron has more depth than either Data or the Voyager holographic doctor had at the beginning of the series. She is a strange combination of mystery (what is she doing? whose side is she on?), humanity (feeling like making conversation is the thing to do, appreciating ballet), and machine (killing or allowing humans to die). And John, while he has those whiney teenaged moments, he often surpases them, and that future greatness glimmers underneath all the while.

These characters really do make SCC a great show. Anyone can take an element and tell a story about it — the thing is to give those elements their own skins, their own personalities. It’s the trappings that make a story unique, because there are only so many plots out there in the world. It’s a testiment to the series that it’s this good and, really, it has nearly the same plot (at least at a concept level) as the second movie!

And, of course, I love a show where female characters get to be strong fighters. That always rocks! If you haven’t watched this show yet, if you can get your hands on the DVDs, you should definitely give it a try. The first season was only nine episodes thanks to the writers’ strike, so you can even watch it now and be done in time for the 9/9/08 premier of season two!

June was a hotbed of writing goodness for me. Acceptances and published stories all over the place. Since then, things have been pretty slow. Molassas, even. Though, as always, the rejections trickle in.

I’m waiting to hear about another semi-related gig, as well. No details on that right now, but if it pans out, you’ll be sure to hear about it here!

I don’t know where the summer has gone! I can’t believe it’s August already. I swear I just blinked at it was June! Of course, my day job as a technical writer has been overwhelming lately, so that is the reason behind some of that. And it looks like things at work will stay hectic throughout the fall (as fall is our traditional “busy season”).

But, I shall perservere and find time to write. On Monday, I finally wrote that new superhero story that I’d been ruminating on for a while. It’s about a girl with the power to change her appearance (face and body type). It turned into a nice little flash piece, if I do say so myself. We’ll see how it does at the market to which I sent it.

I don’t know that I should call the girl a superhero, specifically — at least not with all the baggage that term implies (Alex wrote a really interesting post about that recently… read it!). It’s more that she happens to have this amazing power — the term superhero seems to suggest that she is all about using her power for the forces of good and justice, and I’m not sure this character has such pure motivations.

Of course, characters who fall into the shades of gray are inherently more interesting than those who are black and white, in my opinion.

All right, that is enough babble from me today. I hope you all have an awesome Thursday!

One of the things I really love about a writer is when their supporting characters have just as much spark, as much life as the main characters. Without good supporting cast to round out a story, the story can feel flat or limited.

I think really fleshing out the supporting cast is a skill that can take a while to master, too. I know when I’m writing, I get involved in the main plot and with the main characters. The other characters aren’t always a high priority.

But, let’s look at to examples that illustrate how important the supporting cast is. First, look at the Batman movies in the 80s and 90s. They were all about the comic book stereotypes and the flashy action. Big names, too. But character depth? Not so much. Especially for the supporting cast. With Keaton’s Batman, some. Jack’s Joker, too, a bit. But Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl? Why was she even there? Commissioner Gordon? I don’t even remember who played him, he was on screen so little. Harvy Dent was played by someone completely different than Two Face, and you had to really listen to even realize they were the same character.

Now, look at the new Batman movies — Batman Begins and the recently released Dark Knight. These movies know how to use all the characters to create a world that feels incredibly real. Part of it is the writing, that we get to know all of these characters. And part of it is the incredible acting that allows the characters to make the most of every small moment, every glance, every movement. Alfred, Lucius, Gordon, Dent… they were all amazing. The Joker, of course, was blow-away, but in some ways you knew he would be going in. The Joker is one of Batman’s biggest rivals, if not the biggest. He had to be great. But the awesome thing is, none of the characters in these movies are wasted.

Return to Me is a move that does the same thing (though light years away from the subject matter of Batman). Bonnie Hunt wrote an incredible love story between two unusual people, but what really makes the movies pop are the people the hero and heroine surround themselves with. The quartet of old guys playing poker in the back of the restaurant. The loyal, obnoxious, ladies’ man vet. The pseudo-sister, her husband, and their passel of kids. This movie could have been just another hum-drum romantic comedy, enjoyed and then forgotten, but the memorable cast of characters sets it apart from the pack and makes it something special.

So, that is the lesson that we must take to heart today. Don’t just use those supporting characters as plot points — give them personality, give them uniqueness, love them!

P.S. In other news, I want to give a quick shout out to Jens. Congrats on finishing that novel! Way to go!

Lately, my muse is whispering superhero fiction in my ear. I believe I blogged a little about that a few days ago. I’ve written two superhero stories already, one of which was published by and the other accepted by A Thousand Faces. I have two more written and in the revision process (sadly, I haven’t been able to get a lot of feedback on them — everyone is so busy for the summer — but I shall muddle through), and ideas for another one or two.

I’ve been trying to figure out what is so interesting about superhero fiction. I’ve always been interested in superheroes, but I’ve never been much of a comic reader. I find the characters in comics fascinating, but I never really got hooked on them. Even though I think that comic art can be gorgeous, I personally prefer more meaty prose to pictures. But I definitely appreciate the art of comics. And I’ve always enjoyed the various superhero movies and TV shows, even before special effects got good enough that Marvel started selling rights to Hollywood willy-nilly.

After thinking on it for a while, I’ve decided that the thing that makes superheroes interesting is how they put the normal life stuff into a grander more life-and-death perspective. If I have a bad day, I suffer, and maybe my friends or family suffer a bit. If Superman has a bad day, Metropolis and even the world suffers.

It’s especially interesting to me when superheroes have to deal with the mundane. We’re so used to that image of the perfect superhero — the one who swoops in and saves the day without wanting anything in return, the one who thinks of others first, the one who fights for truth and justice because it’s the right thing to do.

But what happens when s/he is out of the public eye? What do they really feel? What is their life really like? Do they hate cleaning the house, or is it no big deal since it’s done in five minutes anyway? Superheroes doing housework, superheroes having issues with their spouses, superheroes on blind dates, superheroes feeling like they aren’t part of the “cool” superhero crowd… all interesting to me, as is how they might deal with it.

And, let’s face it, it’s also awesome when superheroes toss those emotional mundane issues aside and show up to save the day despite their personal lives. Also, with superheroes, anything can happen — the possibilities are endless with that amount of power at your disposal.

Though, how is all this superhero stuff so different than, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer? That show was founded on the premise that “high school is hell.” We saw all the traditional teen stories — the prom, losing one’s virginity, dealing with a divorced parent dating again, having friends suddenly change on you to hang out with a new group — but we saw them through a filter of the supernatural. It was looking at the same thing through a different lens and finding a story there there that resonates.

Despite having more supernatural origins, Buffy herself was a superhero of sorts. Not in the traditional cape-wearing, radioactive-spider-bite way, but she had superpowers of her own. She had mundane things to face, and she had to burst in and pummel her way to saving the day on many occasions, despite boy problems, friendship issues, and anything else that came along.

So really, superheroes are another realm of genre fiction, just like fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Probably some of all of those. So, perhaps my muse’s new interest in superhero fiction is just another facet in a life-long interest in genre fiction.

Either way, I’m definitely enjoying the flight, and I’ll ride it out however long it lasts. Maybe when it’s over, I’ll have enough superhero short stories for a collection. I think, though, that eventually I’m going to need to give my superheroes’ city a name. I can’t keep calling it “the city” forever!

So, if you’re out there and have read this long, what do you think makes superhero fiction so interesting? Or, if not superheroes specifically, what is it you like about genre fiction in general?

The SED contest continues. I’m proud of myself because I have, thus far, written a story every day. Just six more days to go. Here’s hoping I can keep it up!

This contest made me realize just how many fictional worlds exist in my imagination. When I can’t think of something to write for my daily SED story, I find myself turning to these fictional worlds and writing about an aspect of them that I haven’t yet explored, perhaps a small subset of the culture or a minor character who deserves his/her own story.

Of course there is Tyden, the medival-style fantasy world from the novel that is in a constant state of revision. That one is the most fully formed of all of them. But in the past year or so, several more have sprung into being.

There is my science fiction universe in which the Moon has several self-sustaining colonies. Sadly, none of the stories I set there worked out quite the way I had planned, but that world is really vivid to me. I’ve named all the colonies, worked out where they are and what their resources are, and everything. Maybe someday it will actually see the light of day!

I have two urban fantasy universes (distinguished from a fantasy world because they are layered on top of the real world instead of being created completely from scratch). One is a Y/A universe inhabited by Sirens. My 2006 NaNo novel was set in this world. Sadly, novel revisions aren’t coming along quite as swiftly as when I wrote the whole first draft in one month!

The other is a world of Thropes (short for Therianthropes, which means shapeshifters of all kinds). My shapeshifter universe has a whole Thrope society made of of werewolves, werecoyotes, werepanthers, werefoxes, wereleopards, wererats, and more. I’ve written two short stories set in this universe, one of which, “Alpha,”  will be published in Electric Spec at the end of the month.

I’ve recently created a super hero universe, as well. The first story, “Zero to Clean in Ten Minutes or Less,” was published in A Thousand Faces, issue 4, and the second of which, “Bridge Club,” will be published in a forthcoming issue of ATF.

There is my fantasy world (loosely based on 18th century Earth) in which people who survived the fall of Atlantis roam the Earth, first seen in “The Widow and the Stranger,” published in Allegory e-zine. And I have another medieval-style fantasy world about immortal sorcerers who devote their lives to a mysterious Game. One story set there has reached round two in a flash e-zine, but I haven’t heard back about it yet. Oh, and there is my Christian vampire hunter world — more urban fantasy — only one story so far (scheduled out in Afterburn SF early next year), but ideas for several short story ideas have occured to me. And, there are a few others, less well defined than the ones mentioned above.

All these ‘verses beg the question — how much room do I have in my imagination anyway? If my imagination is anything like the Book World in the Thursday Next series (which  highly recommend if you’re looking for smart, funny, highly literate fantasy), things must be going amok in there!

But, that’s why we’re in this writing game, isn’t it? Because these worlds and characters are there in our minds just waiting for their stories to be written down on paper (or via the keyboard). We don’t do it for the money or the glory (there isn’t much of either of those to be had). We do it because we enjoy it (at least sometimes), and because the stories are out there waiting to be told.

If I don’t tell the stories of all my imaginary worlds, who’s going to?

I wrote a little flash piece a while back about two ex-lovers having a confrontation. Of course, there is magic and a fantasy world, as well, but the crux of the piece is the painful relationship between the two characters. The woman in the piece, Viola, is the villain, in as much as one can be in that situation. It was her choices that forced the friendship between the two to end after the love affair was no more.

When I first wrote the story, I really hated this character. Viola was total scum in my mind, her only redeeming quality being that she did actually love the guy in her own selfish way. But, since then, Viola has surprised me. She inspired the SED story that I wrote today, which was from her point of view.

There is something about her — some spark, some flash that makes her leap off the page — and that surprises me, because she wasn’t supposed to do that. She was supposed to lose, however ungracefully, and then go away, leaving her ex to his own happy ending. But Viola was not content with that.

One of my graduate school writing profs gave the class a bit of advice that I’ve never forgotten. He said that everyone is the hero of his (or her) own life story. If you approach creating a character from that perspective — the perspective that in the character’s mind, he or she is justified in her actions and deserves to win in the end — it makes the more well rounded, more real. And, apparently, once the character is that real, she’ll take on a life of her own in your imagination and on your pages… like Viola.

Last night, Stephen and I watched the last three hours of this season of Lost, and I really enjoyed it — probably more than any episodes of the show since season 1. If you gave up the show during the downturn of season 2, I would highly recommend catching up. It just gets better and better. That said, while this post is going to talk about writing, there will also be some spoilers for Lost, so read at your own peril.

Sawyer has long been one of my favorite characters on Lost. Since we first met him, I was sure the character had something more than a cocky attitude and a charismatic smile. I knew there was a hero underneath, masked by all the hurt he’d endured over the years, starting with what happened to his parents. However, my opinion was met with vociferous resistance in some quarters of my acquaintance, especially because every time he did something “good,” he would soon follow it up with something selfish or his self-serving motives would be revealed in the end.

But in the current season, Sawyer has finally been revealed as a good guy, albeit, reluctantly so. The other people on the island have become his friends (at least some of them), and he actually cares about them. He’s done many things for Kate, just because she wanted/needed him to, proving genuine feelings for her. He left the safe house to rescue Claire in the commando attack. He trailed her into the woods and took care of Aaron when she was gone (I will never forget that scene of him holding the baby in the clearing where Claire disappeared!). When Locke and Ben wanted Hurley, Sawyer wouldn’t let them take him, only backing down when Hurley told him to. Despite antagonism in the past, he refused to let Jack go to the helicopter alone. And when all he had to do was jump on the helicopter and leave, he organized the search party to find Hurley. And his bad-boy-gone-good thing was cemented when he took that flying leap from the helicopter and swam back to the island on the off chance that without his weight Kate (and the others) would be able to make it to the freighter before the helicopter ran out of fuel.

My growing enthusiasm for Sawyer’s character got me to thinking about characters in general. What is it about Sawyer that makes him such a great character (to me anyway), and how can I think about that in light of developing characters that other people would feel that way about? And while I was thinking about all that, I read this article at author Shanna Swendson’s blog. Check out number 3 on her list of why it’s important to talk about TV, which discusses characters who earn their fans love.

This is totally Sawyer — he started out a snarky conman with only a charismatic grin to cover up his selfishness, and over four seasons, he’s become a guy that you can count on in a pinch. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a reformed bad boy, but his heart has finally been tapped, and watching him you get the feeling that once he cares for you, he’s going to be behind you all the way.

But I think there are other lessons to learn here, too. Stalwart and true heroes and heroines can be good characters, but it’s that flaw that really gives a character oomph (at least for me). The flaws humanize them, give us something to relate to, and, darn it, just make them more interesting. It is way more fascinating to watch someone struggle than someone who makes the “right” choice as a matter of course and without thought. And a story of being redeemed is so compelling.

Who is more interesting? Max or Michael on Roswell? Jack or Sawyer on Lost? Logan or Duncan on Veronica Mars? Luke or Han in Star Wars? The Phantom or the Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera? The list could go on and on. And in my experience, in the fannish communities out there, it is the scoundrel or the reformed bad boy who have the passionate fans.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like all of those characters I listed. They all have their place — sometimes you need the stalwart hero type. And some of my closest friends eschew the scoundrels and are devoted to the heros. So, in that sense, it’s all a matter of individual taste. But, there is something to be said for writing what one enjoys. If you don’t, it’s more like work, and who would get into this fiction-writing business if they weren’t doing it for the love. No one is doing it for the money (at least, not until they actually land an agent and a six-figure book deal!).

Another thing to consider is that we need all of those types of characters in our arsenals as writers. There are some things that a stalwart hero is just not going to be able to do, and that’s precisely when the scoundrel is needed.

In any event, as a writer, I would love to create a character that makes someone else as excited about a story as Sawyer makes me about Lost — if I can do that, then it’s definitely worth it.

So, if you’re out there and still reading this, which one do you prefer? The stalwart and true hero or the reformed bad boy/scoundrel? Or someone else entirely? Who has you screaming at the TV or paging through the book faster to find the next page where s/he appears?

When I start a story, I’m not the type to fill out endless character profiles. I have a basic idea for a character, and then start writing. Afterward, though, when the first draft is done, those kinds of tools are invaluable. The help me to make the character more consistent. This is for novels. Short stories… character consistency is a little easier to get… or at least to see when you don’t have it.

The more realistic the characters are, the better the story is. Over the years, I’ve found help with smoothing out those fictional personalities in what might seem, at the surface, a couple of unlikely places.

The first one was a book called What Color Is Your Aura by Barbara Bowers. Now, I don’t know much about auras and I’ve definitely never seen one, but it has an interesting way of categorizing and describing different personality types.

When I read the descriptions of the different personality types, orange jumped out at me. I didn’t know it when I wrote the first draft of a novel-in-progress, but I had created an orange character — a minor character who was a physical being, an adrenaline junkie who lives for physical challenges like fighting. Realizing that about the character, I was able to refine him. Even more, I was able to understand why he did some of the inexplicable things that he did. Understanding his motivation made me better able to write from his point of view. And the aura book helped me do just that.

The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman gave me more insights into familial relationships, especially sibling relationships. I found it an interesting read as a sibling myself, but it was also fascinating as a writing resource. It helped me get out of the older sister compliant point of view and to understand some of the other possibilities.

So, I guess the point of this post is that you never know what’s out there that can help you better your writing. Neither of these books is about writing per se, but both have helped me in that area. So, as writers, we should keep our eyes and ears open. Anything might be just what you need for a particular story, even one later down the line.