Hello all! Welcome back to this blog… Let’s talk about writing.
November came and went, and so did NaNoWriMo. You know, the challenge where we corner ourselves into writing 50 000 words in one month, and then get pretty upset when that shit doesn’t happen.
This year, I came up half short on the word count — 25 400, was the tally at Nov.30th.
But there’s no problem AT ALL.
The previous book took two NaNoWriMo’s to get to it’s “final” form, so I’m kind of used to taking a really long time in completing a writing project.
I’m currently working on my second novel for The Shapeshifters World. First book took three years in the making and it’s pretty much done. Just a bit of fiddling after the third book is complete, so that I can erase the unforeseens. Yes, I am a detail tweaking maniac, but I intent to produce the best book I can, so… to tweak it is.
At this point in time the status of the situation is:
The Shapeshifters #1 (which has a secret book title only to disclose if I’ll manage to publish) is complete and I’m very happy to have finish it. Truth be told, I did not imagined it could be such a arduous ride. And it is subject to final tweaks, as previously mentioned.
The Shapeshifters #2 (also book title is a secret) is on the way, almost halfway written, on his zero draft. It has diverted from the initial idea plot wise, but these characters have been talking to me… And I will listen! We should listen to our work (tip for future me) before it starts talking in batshit mode and get us stuck on a “and now what?!” type of conundrum.
The Shapeshifters #3 is also growing. Initial plots and plans have altered, and grew a bit, as it should. But this one is a future me problem, so… onward.
So, this is the plan, for now: just keep going.
To be able to write this story has been something very powerful. Time, effort, skills, learning… it all enters the pot before something (a book) can come out of it. I have been playing with some fears, some stories, some happenings, and it’s one hell of a ride home.
To find my Home in my Writing, and make it my Work, is a magical force, made of all the on goings, the smooth, the tempests, the it is what it is moments.
And it’s all worth it.
∞
What have you been writing? Tell me everything in the comments section below!
I’m a huge fan of J.R. Ward’s writing. There. I’ve said it, again and again.
I’m a fan. And not because of the steamy scenes. Even though I like those. They were kind of a slap in the face back in the day.
I’m an enthusiast of her so distinctive writer’s voice. She’s a badass writer. The work shows it and the fans know it.
I have been an admirer for more than a decade, since her “Dark Lover” first came out. I have induced others to read her work, and it didn’t disappoint. I know men that read Ward’s work. And I find her writing-craft-personality very masculine.
And now?! In this moment of my life?
Now, I’m a huge fan of J.R.Ward’s as a person-writer… to the extent of what I can perceive about her (which I may say it is not much on the personal side, but enough in the writer’s one).
I did not pay much attention to her online presence over the years. I don’t remember her to be that present there.
I usually don’t go down the rabbit hole for most writer’s that I know. Too much time to waste in that. If I’m am intrigued by something, or I admire their work and want to know more about them, I’ll go investigate their website or blog, or buy some kind of Memoir or Letters written.
The rest? The YouTube and social media stuff? I figure that, it’s just stuff to occupy idly the time I have. So I try to avoid that.
Quaint detail about J.R. Ward: her looks kind of surprised me.
It was not what I was expecting. And, at first, I couldn’t wrap my head around how a vanilla-like-lady could write so many cuss words, hard-core relations and witty remarks. The lesson’s on me.
Her works had been a constant in my life, since I first bought the first book.
I collect the Portuguese editions every time-o-money I can. Also, I buy the English originals every time a book truly speaks to me.
Because I am all in for an original.
The Black Dagger Brotherhood had been a constant, but also the Jessica Bird’s books and The Fallen Angels. I have still The Bourbon Kings saga to pick up… and now there’s a new pet project of Ward’s, in a more Dark Academia theme, which I’m putting in my tbr.
Then Ward got herself a YouTube channel. It has two videos, and two shorts, in a bit of insight into herself and her life.
The simplicity, and fun in them got me wandering if I had been missing something online about her work and her author’s mindset and routines. Did I ever…
It has been a while since I searched for anything online about this author so this came as a surprise: There are basically two types of content about J.R.Ward on YouTube: fan made videos about books and characters AND J.R.Ward’s interviews and public events.
First, were the usual stuff being filtered through magnifying glass search. The fan videos are fun. And that’s it.
The second type of content out in the virtual world consists of interviews and public events. And…
She sure can draw a crowd in. Entertain it too.
In these, we get to know a bit about the writer behind the successful writing. Commercial success, as she puts it. But I figure it’s a Writing success with no bullshit about it.
I have been listening attentively to her answers. She’s big on giving insight to her listeners. And not just about her routines and creative process.
No. If we listen carefully, we find an inspiring kind of justifiable obsession with writing. A true, not emphasized by wanting to sell books on the craft business side of things, genuine life experience on devoting herself to writing.
Writers Write and that’s it, isn’t it? And she puts it as it is.
All the career stuff, and public relations stuff, and fame stuff is an expensive accessory that entangles an author in a too-self-important trip… instead of writing.
All they have to do, their first and foremost activity, is Writing.
All we have to do for our Writing is Write.
And own our shit frankly.
She has a big kind of speech in this video that culminates in:
Not ourselves… of course, it kind of means know thyself and not just know others but…
Why? Why is it important to know human minds and not just the gist of how a human mind works? Why is it useful to understand the different ways each one of us has to perceive, and act upon something, in our lives?
To write is to convey in a page how individuals think and interact with the happenings in their lives. It’s to respect and bring to life their differences. It’s to extrapolate, using what we know to be basics human behaviour and possible mindsets.
It is important to pay great attention to this because it’s how we get to write believable characters, how we are able to imagine coherent plots, how we create a good story, how we make the people in those stories freaking interesting.
And not just for the hero’s, and the lukewarm characters in there, but for the villains also.
If something feels not feasible, hard to imagine, or simply not in accord with what we know to be possible, maybe this is the reason why: We do not know Our Humanof that story very well.
To understand human minds is hard, and usually, we get to imagine every other person in light of what we think we know about them, and in light of what we believe to be true about ourselves. We see others as we are and that gives us hell.
To write fiction, and non-fiction alike, we need to know people directly. To experience others perceptions. To live through situations that make us question why some people are, and act the way they do.
To make all that research into how an inexistent, or ficcional, being could come to be in this book of ours.
To have some accurate grasp on the well studied disciplines that provide scientific knowledge is adamant.
To study philosophy, psychology, and sociology, can give us the tools to understand people, and use that knowledge in our fictional constructs.
It’s not that we can’t write good characters without some measure of understanding in these areas. After all, writers tend to be good observants of others practicalities. We can do it, but it will be harder, and with a more drastic learning curve while doing it.
Maybe you do have a natural tendency to understand other people’s motives and actions. Maybe your passion has been to be a History devoted pupil, and it had given you the much needed foundations for your fictional writings.
Maybe you have lived through way too much hard/different/instructional or just plain shitty stuff, and have a first hand knowledge of the hard parts of life.
… Even then, to keep hungry for understanding it all a little bit better is what keeps most of us glued to this writing practice. I know I’m here in part to make reason out of no way in hell this is happening that is thrown at me every single day.
But what if we don’t like what we find about Ourselves?
And, let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t appreciate the scrutiny to begin with.
What if we find too much pain in our History, too much nonsense in our Sociology, too much of everything in Psychology and Philosophy? Too many misconceptions?
Now it’s the time that you’ll say: that is a given not an if.
Looking closely at something means that, we will find all the dark periods, the wrong choices, the massive unreasonable and unfair truths. We will take stock of diseases, influences, beginnings and mistakes, and a lack of answers for why it happened (and keeps happening still).
We will see unwilling relations, power moves and collective mind actions. Erasing all common sense and good judgement.
We will recognise logic but not heart.
… Like in the racial theories spread in the wake of the slavery business. Or the worldly religions distributing death, fuelling up conquests of power and riches. Or how pandemics took hold of large territories, killing people even at hands of the common cold. Sexuality being squashed under the heavy boots of the exploiters of others… there are lots of major trends like these throughout the centuries of human evolution.
Most of us are kind of trying to deal with some iteration, or other of this, by writing about the big issues. Stuff that happens to us, in our lifetime, but could easily be found in other ages.
But being the big issues, we need to keep them as small as possible. As unaffected, and manageable, by focusing on the details, instead of the impossible task of tackling the huge issue.
Learning from the Sciences always means you have to take it with a grain of salt. Nothing is infallible and trial and error has always been the way to go.
So we will never find definitive answers in science. We will find possibilities and scientific studies that work at some extent, and that may, or may not, be proof of some theory devised but another human being.
But even without absolute, one hundred percent, certainty it’s better to be aware of all that, and make it work in our Know Thy Human practice. Information can be power.
In my opinion, Science keeps being better than to believe in the belief.
If we believe it’s because it’s not true. Truth is a matter of being, not a belief… I read this a few days ago.. not recollecting where it was. But it is an interesting concept and was duly noted.
To understand a tiny bit of the human mind (and use it wisely) is to accept this difficulty in taking in the Big Picture, and find alternative, corroborating stories in it. Find its truth while writing about it… or imagine it.
At least, this is how I like to go about it. Collect info, try to give them some rhyme and reason, and then make the best out of shitty situations. Learning and Creating and trying never to forget how important it is to Know Thy (My) Human.
So… how’s that going for you?
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Wondering about what means to be a writer seems to be part of this thing that I have chosen to be.
We choose and we become that which we have chosen. Even if it seems a dream. Even if it doesn’t seems feasible. Even if it’s so damn hard to do.
But the Truth is, if we choose to do it, an put in the actions to have it, we are it.
This argument is part of a few books. Works about the writing craft, books by those who struggled in the pursuit of this work, even philosophical, and religious spokespersons believe firmly in this idea: We are what we believe ourselves to be.
It took me a while to understand it.
After all, we are told that, it is through outside validation of our work, through making money with it, that we believe ourselves to be validated in our choices.
But should it be? Are we what we believe we are?
Is it not by doing the work itself that we become professionals? Is it not by writing that we become writers?
Is it not that by writing, I become a writer? That I am what I believe myself to be?
This is a rationalisation that I find myself drawn to, for the good and the bad parts of it.
Good because we feel that we are something, and feel proud by being it, getting ourselves more motivated to pursue it.
It’s kind of fulfilling our dream without actually having the solid proofs to back it up, but building the structural base as we go along.
Bad because, if we are not willing to put the work in, we end up convincing ourselves that we have already achieved it, we are already writers, and we want what is due to us… without actually becoming the thing that we want to be. Without actually Writing and learn to write.
It’s not without great effort that we try to find our own answer to this question. Specially if we consider all the writing-for-hire and AI-knock-off’s out there.
I know I keep searching for my particular answers.
What does it mean to me to be of service? What does it mean to be a writer? What can I consider Writing?
I do write loads of blog posts. Are they, in due legitimacy, Writing? – is one of my most asked questions.
We have served by writing. We will continue to be of service by writing. We might find other venues that support our writing efforts. We might teach, perform, add other means to one’s end. But we will be contributing through Writing.
Each one of us have to find our own answer to what means to be of service to mankind.
What means to be of service to people? What means to contribute to this big, huge, world of ours?
And how our own experience will provide something for others to discover their own questions and answer them.
For me, it’s being here, writing my way through books, articles, poems, short-stories, videos, notes, journalling and all that brings this activity alive.
For me, it’s to provide entertainment, to pass inspiration along, to connect and feel connected, to share my journey and hope it will be useful for other’s pursuit.
To be of service is to serve our passions. So that, through them, we may be here for someone else. We may be here, and let them know that they are not alone.
We believe so we can serve, and that is what has some chance to make a difference in this weird world.
***
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A few years ago I took a short online training called Every Day is a Poem, with Jacqueline Suskin (on Commune).
You may say ‘I don’t write poetry‘ or ‘why poetry matters when writing fiction?‘. Or not. If you write, you have a sense of musicality, or lack thereof, about the words you use.
But let me tell you, that first lesson of Every Day is a Poem, truly stuck with me.
It was called ‘Be in Awe of Everything‘. And it was a wake-up call to recognise all the awe inspiring things that surround us.
An invitation to find reverence in daily life, as an inspiration to express ourselves through poetry.
I have found this lesson very useful not just for poetry practice but for all types of writings. The subject of this lesson never seemed to slip my mind entirely.
And not just because I frequently catch myself wandering through Aweness on the most unexpected situations (i’m the weird adult that, in a social gathering, keeps staring at the ceiling because she saw something interesting there), but because I find it a sound advice in any creative writing practice.
A small example of awe: check the huge thistle on the church roof? It’s half the size of the artichoke statue! It is blurry because it was very windy…
São Bartolomeu do Beato Parochial Church
It was not supposed to be there, after all the church is remodelled and in full use, but Life always find it’s way around obstacles, doesn’t she?!
[Yes, Life is a She, a Mother, a Creator of all sorts… just saying.]
Awe is what I aim for when I write for this blog. To inspire through awe, and get it on the page, and through to you.
I find that when we write with feeling, from the depts of our convictions, from the heart, we access to a part of ourselves that can be kind of lyrical, and truthful, and inspirational to ourselves and others.
When we let feelings flow through words, and scenes, and characters, we get a noticeable emotional experience. A powerful one, if done in awe.
It’s not about telling people that these characters are in love, it’s showing them what their love looks like, in a recognisable and inspiringly way. It’s to produce emotional imagery that readers can relate with.
To convey powerful feelings like these, we need to access to that part of ourselves that sees the awe in it. That recognises the feeling. That knows what Love may look like. That can envision the world shattering power of feelings.
And that’s what this process is all about: write to inspire, to enlighten, to soothe, to support, to help, to just be there when the words are needed.
The same goes for fiction, and for non-fiction also. Both aim to bring something more to the lives of the one’s who read the words.
Fiction moves through emotion and subtext.
Non-fiction lives in the realm of possibilities and inspiration.
To construct we need to have understanding of what is, and non-fiction serves this purpose. Its job is to convey awe in dealing with more down to earth subjects.
But to be in awe, in such a cynical world, and to write in awe are not simple tasks.
Sometimes, it takes all we have just to get through a few sentences. And other times, it just doesn’t come to us at all.
We keep getting to that point when we feel empty, bare of all awe induced mindset, uninspired.
Letting go of what is, the pain, the daily stress, the pressure, to find that feeling of reverential respect, of dazzle, can be a hard task.
And exterior inspiration can only take us so far.
To find within ourselves our will to create is to find awe in what is, and in what we are, and in what we desire to put forth in this world.
It’s to find our rituals, our creative processes, all the things that nurture an awe mindset. And to find this is adamant to be well, feel well, and create awe inspiring work, whatever that work might be.
***
Here’s a suggestions of a creative writing exercise for your practice:Awe Narrative
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Telling stories is all about creating awesome characters.
Think of it like this, in a world of our own volition, even the dog can, and must, be a great character.
An awesome character is not just the more likeable, or the most evil, or the better constructed. An awesome character has something in him that captivates the reader.
It’s like when we meet someone and we get all these vibes about who that person might be, and all the secrets that are hers, and the little details that make us wonder who, what, and how she really is. And, ultimately, why someone is the way she is.
The process that goes from those first impressions, to knowing a character a bit better, to understanding him, and where he is coming from, is kind of comparable to knowing a new person in real life.
All about the characters
In some stories, it’s all about the characters. This reminds me of the characters of a movie I have seen recently: ‘Elvis‘, 2022, with Tom Hanks and Austin Butler. Just, UAU!
I guess it’s a truth well acknowledged that Tom Hanks is a spectacular actor. At least, I think so.
And that any movie made about Elvis would be well loved by the fans.
But Tom Hank’s ‘Coronel Tom Parker’ is something else. I just couldn’t hate the guy. Not as he is being portrayed in his glorious simplicity by Tom Hanks.
And Austin Butler has made this story/character justice. He gives Elvis character some unknown animated spirit that just takes control of who’s watching.
I’ll leave a sneak peak here:
These are strong characters, in a real life inspired story, but never forgetting that ultimately, it is entertainment and fictional factors bringing this movie to life.
It is not a documentary. It’s a living, breathing, piece of art, full of color, sound, feelings and dazzle.
And so much has been said by Elvis and his life, work and career, that I never thought it could be done in a so inspiringly new perspective.
And this movie experience serves the theme of this article, because these characters are truly well constructed, whole, amazing in themselves, and in this particular rendering.
Characters and Character-driven story
In a character-driven story (with a special focus on characters, instead of plot), having a clear notion about who the characters are, what they desire most, what they want, and what they really need, how they will evolve throughout the happenings of the plot, is imperative to create an epic story.
We need to know them profoundly in all their shortcomings and awesomeness.
An awesome character has a je ne says quoi, something in him that reels us in, in his very private, very demonically, very growth needed existence.
Usually, this is achieved through feelings.
We get an awesome character and make him ignite feelings in our readers. Through our words, and concepts, and delivering them the right way, we are able to nurture specific feelings in our readers. Positive or negative feelings.
Even if the character is weird, out of the box, totally wrong for common sense standards, if we make people feel for him, understand him, have compassion or/and even hate him profoundly, we have created an awesome character.
Even the dog needs to be a great character
In a story all characters should have this dept. Even if they are not the focus (the main characters), they should be well constructed and feel real, instead of just a random prop, popping up here and there.
So, even the dog needs to be awesome. And not just for the empathic statement of the ‘save the defenseless to create empathy‘ scheme.
The way he looks like, how he behaves, the role he has in the main story. But also the meaning that his presence partakes to other characters, and their own needs and actions, growing along while the plot is unravelling.
As a great side kick, or as the main character, even an animal needs to be imagined in awesome, plot contributing ways.
But these are just a few ideas to consider about creating awesome characters.
There are so much more. More practical, or inspired, and even formulaic ways to create and develop a character.
But to make it awesome, I believe we must infuse them with the power of evoking feelings. And I’m sure we will get an awesome fictional being.
So…
Make them special. Make them known to you. Make people feel for them. Work them thoroughly.
And it’s: awesomeness achieved.
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The Idea is everything. Or is it? When working on some art project, the idea, the first concept is the most important. It’s what make us hooked on the work.
But…
All have been done one thousand times. Plus one.
I grew up listening to my father say: “It has all been done before” or “there is nothing new, because everything has been invented” or “We just need to see the variables” or “there is a finite quantity of musical notes and we are bound to find similar combinations in different songs“.
All different iterations of the same thought: It is all finite and it’s a matter or reorganising the material we have to work with.
Or is it?
I still struggle with these teachings, as my insecurities play their part in the evaluation process of the ideas for my writings.
And even though I agree with the principle of this (we have a group of stuff that we use in repetition), I’m not quite convinced about the part that it has all been done before. After all, between his time and mine lot’s of new things got worked on and created.
And I’m not convinced because it lacks the personal fingerprint, the noninterchangeable factor that each one of us puts in all that we do.
We keep evolving and there are things today that didn’t existed back in the (his) day. So I figured there is no argument there.
The same goes for all literary creations. New versions of old stories keep showing up and there are good iterations, bad, awful and so-and-so.
There are repetitions and do overs but are they similar to each other? Or is there novelty in them?
And does this matter? Does it matter how many times somebody reiterates the story of ‘The Beauty and the Beast’? Or that the retelling is being made?
I confess that, I have been caught mumbling my dislike about the lack of originality, and constant reiteration of the same stories. This process of recycling the same old entails a lack of novelty that frustrates me, when there are so many choices out there for making new films, books, and art in general.
But the truth is, there are different ideas, concepts, ways to create something. There are different views that we can take on an old matter.
Okay, we do not start from scratch. We have concepts, reorganisation of ideias, our own experiences and inputs, that we tap into in order to create an art work.
We do not start from an empty vessel…
…or toddlers would be creating full symphonies at the piano, and writing new future classic stories.
But it’s our time in this world, our own personal flavour that makes us grown upon an idea, and infuse it with our own way of work it into a specific creative work.
This is why some creators are so well attached to their initial ideas. They believe in the uniqueness of them, detached from the surrounding world.
They do not share them, afraid they would be stollen and maybe done better by other creator. (Ego scam right here, isn’t it?)Even if it’s not in their best interest to keep them secluded.
Yes, plagiarism happens. And there is a big fish pond out there, just waiting to take advantage of any crumb tossed into it. Mainly in some quick and easy scheme. More usual than not, it get’s eaten pretty quickly and disappears for never to be seen again.
But for the bigger part of my experience, a good idea isn’t fundamentally new. Somewhere, somehow, it had been imagined before. Even if it is a quite clever idea. Clever ideas do not mean successful art pieces.
The idea per se isn’t worth much if it’s not masterly executed.
More, it might be fairly new, and interesting, and well executed, and still end up in the trash can of humanity (of our fellow readers), for a multitude of possible factors.
A fenomenal idea isn’t any guarantee of a well accomplished art work. But it’s a start. And backing up that start with good working skills, a personal style, and some natural tendencies to network, and sell, it might be a success as any other with the same characteristics.
Is it special? Hell, yeah! For the creator, it’s always special.
For the world? Maybe not so much. Not at first and maybe not ever.
But with time, effort, and a grain of magic, it could transform itself into a worldly special.
Having great art concepts, interesting ways of exploring the idea, different backgrounds and experiences to support sources of inspiration, and contributing references, being moved by the need to create good work and devote ourselves to it, is as important as having a great idea.
An example of a frequent failed experience: to successfully transpose an art work into a different means of presenting it.
Let me be clear, so you know where I come from in this subject: I dislike playing highly stressful games. And to me, they’re all that: highly stressful.
They make me lose my calmness, and get me riled up, when there is no logical reason for it. I just don’t handle stress well.
So I do not play video/computer/phone games EVER.
Exceptions were made, occasionally – after I experimented some games and got myself hating the activity, – to Tetris when I was a pre-teen, and the recent Words Of Wonder game, that I enjoy moderately, but rarely play on my phone.
I do like board games, and again, Scrabble is my favorite, even though I rarely play it.
***
I enjoyed The Super Mario Bros. Movie immensely. It has color, action, plot, strong and evolving characters and I know it had a lot of game references that were kind of lost on me (even if my daughter was giving me some tidbits on that).
I specially loved Princess Peach, doing all kinds of fighting exercises in her gown, riding a motorcycle, and basically leading the way. That’s a badass Princess over there!
Also, loved the depressed star, Lumalee:
“In an Insane World, the Sane are called Insane.” – Lumalee
Lumalee…
But how many good ideas like this end up falling short?
Inspired in great works, how many films (reiterations of some art form or another) end up frustrating people’s expectations, for a lack of something in the making process?
It isn’t just the idea behind it. Because the initial idea is known to have had success previously under some other form. It’s something in the current work, in its process, in this particular project, in the people infusing it with a new life.
It’s this specific vision, for this particular iteration of the work, that doesn’t work.
ForThe Super Mario Bros. Movie it did work beautifully. Game to movie resulted in a very good entertainment moment.
But just look at how many Spider Man movies have been made, to finally achieve some measure of success – even if, to me, it still seems very far from my best experience from those comic books. (Nop. For me, they still haven’t nailed it.)
While working on our special kind of art-poison, listening to our instincts is paramount.
It’s not just having an idea but expanding upon it. It’s working in finding our personal style. It’s knowing what we love and let it lead us to a good iteration of the idea. It’s devoting ourselves to our process. It’s never giving up as long as we see the magic in it.
And having compassion for ourselves as creators. Find common ground between what we know about ourselves as artists, and what we need to be and do.
Ideas are great. Developing the mastery is a messy trip.
But we are here for the long haul. True?
So let’s keep having creative ideas and working on them.
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