As many of you are plenty aware, I recently decided to do reviews of the "Alien" movie novelizations. Now that I've completed all four, I wanted to address this as well as what is to come.
Getting started:
Why did I do these? In short, I myself had been on a reading binge of exactly those books and felt inspired to share. It was definitely outside of my normal writing habits and, to be candid, I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of it or not. However, it got my writing bug itching so I had to scratch.
Were they any good? I suppose this question is more to be directed at others. I'll be candid in saying I haven't ever really tried to do book reviews before. I did video game reviews once upon a time and those I truly understood how to break down. With regards to books, I feel like I was less reviewing them as much as I was just prattling on about things that caught my attention (both good and bad). That said, I'd love to get your input simply because the reviews never seemed to have much commentary (which, in my mind, means they likely weren't worth much).
Am I going to keep doing reviews? I guess that is kind of coupled with the last question. While I started the first two simply because I had the itch, the second two were done simply to complete the group. I feel like I have a lot more inspiration to do stories other than the Alien series, but I'm not sure if it was worth it. Again, I received very little feedback and commentary on these reviews and I'm not sure if they were even considered worthwhile. While this might be an inspiration for some to improve, my focus has always been more fictional works than reviews. I'm simply not sure if it's worth while to continue.
What else would you review? Should I review, the initial stories that come to mind are simply the ones that I enjoy. That said, that's a very mismatched pile of fiction, sci fi, and fantasy, some I'm again not sure if it's worth it. As previously mentioned, my focus has always been on fiction production more than reviews.
So, with everything said, I'd like to hear from all of you. I feel it's unlikely I'll do more reviews. Or, at the very least, it's unlikely I'll do them with any real consistency. However, as always, I'd love to hear your opinions. Did you particularly enjoy these glimpses? Would like to see more reviews? Is it worthwhile to pursue.
Thanks everyone! Let me know your opinion. It will help me for moving forward.
The other day, I had an interesting question directed my way. I have actually had this question asked a number of times over the last few years, but it's one I never quite understood what the answer actually was. I've reflected on it for a while and think I've come to an answer.
In short: What is your obsession with Aliens?
First to clarify: For the longest time, I've had a veritable hunger for just about anything other worldly and powerful. The Xenomorphs from Aliens and Yautja from Predator are definitely two of my favorite 'big baddies', but I've maintained a fascination for as long as I can remember with monsters, demons, creatures, dragons, zombies, ghosts, vampires...you name it and I probably studied and or obsessed over it during some period of my life. That's not to say this is hugely uncommon, particularly for a literature nerd who reads, writes, and plays dungeons and dragons. But I never understood why.
At first, I thought my like of any of these given creatures, alien or otherwise, stemmed from a sense of power. Of seeing something strong or strange and so unlike those around me. But, after many years of playing with this concept, I realized that the concept of a perfect, powerful character was incredibly boring.
What made them interesting was using them as a foil. A twisted mirror.
I've realized that my love of different threats for lack of a better term, be it paranormal, alien, or otherwise, stemmed not from the creatures themselves but the reflection of humanity that was shown back. What are zombies without survivors that are making it against all odds? What is an alien loose on a ship without men or women fighting to regain the control that is rightfully theirs? What is a dragon without the knight who slays it?
One of my favorite stories as a child and still one of my favorite stories to this day is Beowulf. When introduced to it, I found I was one of three people in my entire class that even liked it and I was the only one who loved it. "I was too simple!" some said. "It's so black and white!" others said. But that was the beauty of it...it wasn't something twisted or strange. It was a story of a man overcoming a monster. The triumph of humanity over the wiles of the world. At least until he got eaten in his old age, but what is the act of being human if not being bound by mortality?
Surely, there are stories out there that expand against these basic concepts. Grendel is an excellent example compared to Beowulf. But I ask you: "Why do we empathize more with Grendel in his own book than we do in Beowulf?" In short, he is given his humanity. A state of being. Of thought and emotion and a scale that we can weigh ourselves against.
Now, I'm likely not saying anything particularly new. Plenty of people have come to similar realizations but there's one thing that I feel gets skipped over often. While it's very easy to paint the canvas with the brush of "reflection" based on observations of mortality, morality, and a basic man compared to beast motif, there's something that seems to be forgotten: imagination.
No matter the beast, the monster, the alien, whatever...all of it stems from the imagination of man. Many can argue that some stories and superstitions have a basis in nature (creatures like a Werewolf), a basis in true human monstrousness (like a Wendigo), and many more...but I ask: "How many of these things do we actually deal with?" Fiction, by definition, is outside of reality. Whether or not something turns out to be true is up for debate, yet everything supernatural, paranormal, alien, monstrous, etc. has a basis not necessarily in reality but in the power of our imagination.
Everything ever. Everything you've ever known and seen and loved and thought of and read and watched and imagined. Everything was born of and created on our little blue and green marble in the sea of nothingness that is space. While they might be formed from observations of worlds beyond, even those observations require leaps of imagination until we can actively get there. Nothing is from outside our own realm of creation. No matter what we find, similar or not to our 'monsters', everything we've ever known or imagined about the world came from us. It came from humanity and their understand of the world, the universe, and themselves.
And I'll be damned if I don't think that's the most amazing thing.
It's incredibly easy to be calloused and cynical; to let yourself swim in the rivers of hate, animosity, and ignorance that have been poisoned by a select few terrible people. But when you really stop and look around and consider what WE have done. We as a species have accomplished so much! We have built and created and helped and done more than you can imagine...more than you could even learn in a single lifetime. No matter what you believe, consider that humans have risen from the dirt and now have their eyes on the stars. On other planets and suns. On other places who have never heard of us or even considered creatures like us.
So, to come full circle: Why do I love Aliens so much? Because it shows me a distant reflection of that which we will become. Survivors. Explorers. Humans who will see the light of another sun and will bend the very fabric of space and the horror of the worst monsters we can imagine to our will. We will be greater than the sum of our parts and those monsters out there are nothing compared to us.
Ever since I've started to try and rededicate myself to writing and creating, one of the major problems that I run into is having something to write ABOUT.
At a glance, it's very daunting to think "I'm going to try and produce SOMETHING everyday". You wonder if you will have the ability. If you're going to produce anything worthwhile. You stress whether or not you can even keep yourself going to do it more than a few weeks.
I can say that one benefit I've given myself to ease my concerns is giving myself a day off on Friday so that I might have a bit more of a set schedule with a day I can rely on. Aside from that, providing myself the "Open Book Discussions" as well as the "Don't Break the Chain" posts gives me a way to break up my thinking so that I'm not dead set on HAVING to produce a constant flow of narrative every day.
Of course, the ironic part is that the more I fall into the habit, the less daunting it seems. In fact, I'm starting to experience something I haven't for a long time. Inspiration. Not twinges of desire to create, but a real, solid hunger to write based on something I see or hear.
Kaleo - Way Down We Go
Here's a great example:
Way Down We Go was a song I heard on the radio that got my blood flowing. The song is amorphous enough that I don't doubt many people might here different things, but the feel for it for me was "Bogs". Maybe it's because of growing up in the Southern United States, but the song makes me think of twisting, overgrown water ways and dark, moonlit swamps with hoodoo witches in the mist. It makes me think of longing and loss and night and monsters hidden in the deep places of the waters and woods.
To that point, it's got me currently beating around SOMETHING inspired by it. Not sure if it's a short story or a flash fiction or what, but you should see something come of it soon.
That brings us nicely to the whole point of the Open Book Discussion:
What are some things that really inspire or have inspired you to create?
It really could be anything. Maybe it's a song (as seen above), or a movie, a book, something someone said, something you saw...really anything! What out there has or does set your soul aflame and make you want to create something new? I'd absolutely love to know!
Today I wanted to talk about one of the major blocks you will run into when it comes to writing. Many people out there like to write about a number of different factors. Some popular ones include: how you must ALWAYS write to avoid writer's block, write what you know, how you must write for yourself like no one is looking, etc. However, today I'd like to talk about some problems with these foundations. Additionally, I'd like to address accepting what AND how you want to write as well as simply letting yourself do so.
To explain, one of the things that I often see is encouragement to young writers to constantly write. Write like you're going to die tomorrow. Never let the words stop pouring from the tap! If you make sure to write a thousand words a day, you'll be a published author by next week! But where is the reality in that? Inspiration and motivation aren't an ever flowing stream and, much like water from a well, will simply run dry. That's not to say that a well stays empty forever, but having the understanding enough to LOOK into the well first to see if there's water sounds like a pretty good start.
So, first and foremost, if you're sitting at home stressing about writing your next thousand words, I have a recommendation. Don't. Take a moment. Take a breath. Get a coffee. Go for a walk. Talk to friends. The wellspring of writing is fed by the waters of life and experience and if you simply whittle away in front of a keyboard aching to be a writer than it's unlikely you will get anywhere if you have nothing to draw upon. No water equals no well. No motivation or experience equals weak, if any, writing. Let yourself live. Let yourself breathe.
That brings nicely into another core rule: "write what you know". Now, some people understand this and some people don't, but the idea behind "writing what you know" refers to the idea of drawing upon your own experiences, as mentioned above. Some people take this very literally, thinking that in order to be able to write about a racecar driver, they must race themselves to "get into the character's head". Other people understand this to be a much more metaphysical concept. "I have felt heartbreak and therefore will share a story about having one's heart broken," this writer might say to a friend. But hereso again, we must examine the wellspring of experience.
Maybe your own life was pretty easy? A mom, a dad, a dog and a car. A good job later in life and a significant other that treated you well. Happy friends and happy life. Nothing noteworthy whatsoever. What do you draw upon? At the end of the day, writing what you know is a recommendation based on the idea that experience and tragedy breeds the ability to tell a good tale. And they aren't wrong. Those with experience have EXPERIENCE that others don't.
BUT, what this concept ignores is the power of imagination. It ignores that most writers are what they are because they are so very thirsty, not just to share their experiences but to experience more. They want to see and do and know things that they've never done. To use the well analogy again: trying to limit yourself solely to your own experience is like having a well full of water and only allowing yourself one glass of that water. It may be sweet and tasty, but it's limited. Let yourself dream. Let yourself imagine. Explore worlds and realms and feelings you never thought possible. If you don't like the taste of the water, dump it out and try a fresh glass.
The last bit is probably the most subjective. "Write like no one is watching." This idea comes from the fact that many people feel judged when they write. They often believe that their work has little to no merit and sharing it will result in mockery of the work they've done. They worry that people will discount their tiring hours of labor and everything they hope to achieve. Therefore, many writers feel very nervous about sharing or the idea that their work will be shared. This is well and good, but discounts one major problem: some writers are simply motivated by the opportunity to share.
Ironically, this one really rings home for me. Anytime I've been encouraged to "just write" I generally ignore the recommendation simply because it won't have an audience. Authors like myself are fueled by the commentary. By the criticisms and praise. By the good and the bad. This is one of the truest examples of "no one size fits all". Some authors do well never sharing their works. Others will be unable to get off the ground because they need the motivation and the criticism and the compliments to validate what they are doing. So, if you find yourself writing at home and questioning "Why am I doing this?" that very well may be your answer. You might need to switch it up so you can make SURE you have an audience versus the other way around.
Last, but not least, this brings us to the point that isn't spoken about so often: accepting what and how you write. Every author is different. Everyone has different needs and wants, motivations and experience, goals and end games. For some, they are satisfied by scribbling away in a basement with a journal. For others, their ego-maniacs with blogs telling others what to do. But for many, it's somewhere in between, and trying to force yourself into any one role based on any one expectation can easily be one of the most damning things you do to yourself. For many of us, the very act of writing is a learned process that we use for our own gains to share our experiences. We take what was given to us and make it our own while simultaneously making it like those writers and books we look up to. We ache to make a place in the world through the unique alteration of 26 letters that every other writer has used.
But, many of us limit ourselves based on the ideas of what should or shouldn't be written. Perhaps you are a science fiction enthusiast with an ache to write some romance? Do you go for it or simply wait because you're busy and it's not your normal genre. Perhaps, as noted earlier, you are motivated by being able to write for others, but something occurs to you that you aren't able to share. Do you write or let the feeling pass? Maybe you're just a giant, dirty pervert who likes penning down your most horrible fantasies yet you never, ever want to share it. Do you keep those thoughts in your head or put them down to enjoy later?
It doesn't matter what YOUR answer is, so long as there is an answer. One huge writing block that often doesn't get addressed is simply the fact of accepting the feelings you get and writing what and how you want. Don't be forced to follow a code and don't ignore your desires because they are outside of the norm. Some of your greatest ideas can come simply by playing with something you don't often touch. Maybe you want to create something completely different and just haven't had the heart to admit it yet.
Writing is expression. Whether that's an expression of yourself or an expression for others to see, denying any given facet of it will limit you the same as removing one's arm. You may be able to function without it, you may not, but you will not function the same as if you had both arms.
With that said, go out that and do what you want. There are rules to live by, but writing isn't one of them. Use them as a guide. Use them to help. But never use them to limit your own love and creativity. Let them drive you forward, never backwards. While you might trip or stumble, you will never fall.
Today, I would like to talk a little bit about the importance of Character Descriptions and how their presence or lack their of can greatly influence how a reader interprets the character in question.
While wandering the internet the other day, it was brought to my attention that there are a group of individuals that feel that Hermione from the Harry Potter series is a young, black woman. This grabbed my interest as I always associated Hermione with Emma Watson due to the movie series. As such, I decided to dig into it a bit.
What I found was that there are a number of arguments for why Hermione (and even Harry Potter himself) are individuals of color, unlike their portrayals in the movies and a large majority of artwork. The ideas are related not only to a lack of direct description but a number of very small asides in the stories that might be taken in a different context. This, coupled with a cross-examination of racism and bigotry (mudblood referring to an individual of dark descent versus simply half-blood wizard), inspired me to tap up this article.
Character Descriptions as a whole can be incredibly important. What is or is not present will either paint a picture or leave a character up to the reader's imagination. Based on how you introduce them, how they are revisited, and how others react and interact will lead your readers in the direction you want them to go.
The style that you utilize will depend on whether or not you have any kind of an agenda for the character or story in question. To use myself as an example, I have a tendency of leaving my character descriptions exceptionally open except for base, important details. Things like notable strength or speed and maybe one or two defining features like eyes or hair make up the majority of physical description. Instead, I favor social and psychological interaction to allow for more engaging characters. This is not necessarily a good OR bad means of writing, just one type.
Instead, where problems arise is when there is either too much or no description. Let's take a look at the first:
"Tony walked up to me. Looking at him, I had to marvel. He was easily 6'5, white, clean shaven, and built like a fullback lineman. Based on his appearance, he was was about 24. He wore a leather jacket over a red shirt with blue jeans and military boots to match. On his neck hung a silver pair of dogtags and a glittering gold ring on his right, middle finger. His pearly white smile shone through and his periwinkle eyes glittered in the sunlight. Running his hands through his blond locks, he laughed at the expression on my face."
Now, this is EXACT. You know exactly what you are looking at and there is little to no room for interpretation. The obvious problem with this is that a description like this slows the story to a halt in favor of over-consideration of what a character looks like. It doesn't leave any wiggle room and often makes the story boring or tedious for the reader. On the flipside...
"Tony was a male."
Yea. Not much better. Now we have NOTHING to work with. Ok, he was male. How old? How young? Is he athletic? Overweight? White? Black? Obviously you don't have to answer ALL of the questions, but a reader should have some kind of an impression of your character. Let's revisit Tony one last time...
"Tony walked up. He was clean shaven and heavily muscled. Everything about him screamed military service from his crisp clothes to the way he carried himself."
Now, as a writer, I picked out a few ideal things that seemed important to me to portray for "Tony". It's all about First impressions. Everything else can be built up through the remainder of the story. Was the ring in the first description important but not something you'd really grab in a first impression. Bring it up later in the story. Do you want to make sure your character has blue eyes? Address it. You have an entire story to bring the strings together.
The last thing to consider, and this rolls back to the Hermione as a young, black woman point, is with regards to race (or other defining characteristics). IF it is important to you that a particular individual have a particular description whether it be race, gender, sexuality, or otherwise than SAY IT. You don't have to be blunt and go "Hermione was white, so there!" but simply work it into your description somewhere in the story (first impression or otherwise). The more wiggle room you leave for readers the more they will interpret the story their way. If that's a problem for you than correct it, otherwise you're going to get a whole host of fantastic new ideas as more people read your story.
People will bring their own life experiences and expectations to the stories they read and it's that imagination that allow them to enjoy the tale laid out before them.
