In my entire writing career, a good majority of my stories have been pretty strict in one genre. Typically, the genre I like to keep close to is that of realistic/fiction. You will find that most of my stories have some kind of a plausibleness to reality to them. Then, about four months ago I started writing on something that took me deep into the heart of the paranormal. I am a huge lover of the paranormal, and I believe strongly in it. But, as far as my writing goes I never thought that I could bring myself to write an actual paranormal type of story or Hell, for that matter a novel. The idea started off basic, and from there blossomed out into something that completely took my full attention and I began to work furiously on it. The initial idea was dealing with Ghosts, and in this particular setting it wasn’t hard to manifest something like that up. But as I wrote, I found that a lot of the chains that held you in Modern/Realistic either had eased up or had completely gone away. Now, with that said though the story maintains a very realistic tone to it and offers up everything that you might see in a investigation. What kind of investigation? Well you will have to wait and see when it’s released. To me, it seems to take a certain kind of writer and imagination to pull off something paranormal. I’ve seen many movies, tv shows, and other various writings that had a paranormal tone to it but the problem was, they couldn’t quite deliver to me what exactly the writer was trying to get across.
That was always my fear. I have this wonderful idea about a paranormal book, and I want to write it out. The characters are going absolutely nuts in my head, describing to me everything that is happening. I can see clear visions of the scenes, interactions, and characters that I didn’t even knew existed at that very moment. As I started writing, I didn’t want or need something that a person who is into these kinds of novels going Well this appears to be very cliché. I didn’t want a predictable storyline, I wanted something that would scare the absolute hell out of someone and keep them drawn in. Keep them drawn into these world and afraid to turn away, or afraid to put down the book. I feel that the current upcoming story will do exactly that. I’ve already told some of my readers to be tender when it comes to reviews because this is the first time I’ve attempted a book of this nature. Overall? I am very pleased with the product that came out of it. I added enough realism to keep things seated to where the plot wasn’t floating off into the wind, but then turned and added such a paranormal presence to it that it would give you goose bumps during scenes. But again, what makes a cliché horror or paranormal book? I think the over emphasis on the blood and guts of the creatures can be made to a cliché point, but not always the case. I think the predictability of a paranormal story is ultimately what will make it go down in flames. In the story I’m just finishing up it takes several twists and turns. Some of which you might not see coming.
Is there a great possibility that you may or may not see more paranormal novels coming from me in the future? I would confirm that if the idea arises and it happens to be paranormal I think this time around I will not be as hesitant to write about it. Being in the right state of mind really helps as well, I found that having a herbal tea of some kind really helped with the flowing of the ideas. It seems that Muse loved it greatly. I’ve gotten several pages of notes around the office here, about another potential paranormal story involving another time period. A friend of mine and I have talked about possibly doing some kind of a collaboration of minds on a paranormal series but that is still in the very very infant stages. Another fun, exciting idea that we’d pondered. I’ve never co-wrote anything before and I would be curious and excited in the same instance. The thoughts I had for this particular paranormal series would be very awesome to have it in some kind of a graphic novel. As of lately, I’ve been getting into the graphic novel series. I’d always kind of shied away from them but the more I read, the more I realize how deeply covered in detail they are and how the different storylines all can either vary from each other? Or they eventually will all tie into one another it’s amazing. What I love is the fact there is no kind of limitations to writing something paranormal other than one’s own imagination.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Really? That’s it?
To everyone, who has been looking forward to the next blog, I apologize immensely for not being able to get it out sooner that it had. Between life, health, and other medical things it made it hard to sit down at a keyboard to get it typed up. I am confident, and hope that everyone understands this. Now? Onto the main portion of the blog.
The topic for this blog is Story length. Let me ask you this first, what exactly constitutes as proper story length? What do you feel is necessary for a story to be a story, have depth, plot, character development, all of the things that a good story needs in order to survive and attract readers? Should it be limited by only what you put into it at first, being the original plot? Or is it possible to add in more details of a story. Perhaps a sub story? I think the only thing holding a writer back IS themselves. We all know, and have delved into our imaginations. We can come up with a thousand different scenarios for our characters. Perhaps each scenario for the character is different. But is it a good idea to leave items in the story unresolved or skipped over? It’s always exciting to be writing a novel, novelette, short story, poems, and want to get it out for your readers. But what’s the proper length in which you should stop? At what point should you limit your imagination or limit the characters to what they are doing? Maybe, give them a way out of a scenario that could bring the particular piece of work to a grinding halt and make it hard for not only you, but for the character to trudge through. I will be the first to admit that in my imagination, and stories at times I get a bid wordy with ALL the characters details.
However, I know that I’m not the only writer out there that would do this. I think it’s incredibly important at times to add to the story what the characters are doing every time they are in a scene, what they are thinking, etc. However, I’ve read over some of the scenes in my upcoming novel “Whispers” and see where I have been almost too wordy with what is going on in the scene. A quick resolve, but at times it’s dropped me about a ½ or even a whole page of writing. To me? It’s irrelevant on how long a story should be. If I cut out a page or two pages of writing that drops my story to maybe twenty three or twenty five pages that is ok. To me, it’s more important to keep your idea to the point, instead of wandering off track and getting lost with something irrelevant to the story. Whenever I read scenes, and notice these wordy situations I can always imagine my readers sitting in a chair, with one hand propped against there hand. My book would be open and a sigh escaping there lips as they flip the page. The story should be enthralling, it should be riveting, it should keep them interested to the point that they are wanting to turn page and page because they are excited for what is happening in the story with the characters. Short stories are still stories. They can be entertaining, and enthralling as a thousand page novel.
But with that said, a story can be a thousand pages and full of crap. Either the plot development is horrible, slow, maybe irritating? Characters don’t click as well as they should or maybe slapped together too quickly? Editors can be a WONDERFUL help in this department and be able to tell you if you are being too wordy, or maybe not wordy enough. When is detail too much detail? That is up to the individual writer. I think the amount of detail you put into it should keep your writer enthralled and hanging on, instead of making it feel like your reading a dictionary or a quickly rushed idea that has the potential to have a ingloriously awesome idea. It’s important to listen to your muse while your in that frame of mind. Whether your sitting in a police car listening to your characters talk? Or if you are sitting at an Inn in the corner listening to various conversations amongst characters it’s easier to write all of it down as it happens and then go back and read it again later. Really, it’s no different than having a tape recorder walking out in the general public and recording what you hear. At least this way, you’ve got it all documented on the scene and what’s happening. Perhaps there are irrelevant things you can cut out along the way that doesn’t make it into the MS before it goes to editing.
Perhaps, those details can be used for another story, time, or setting. With this said, and since we are all friends here. What is one thing in your stories, poems, etc. that you tend to go on in almost too much detail that you feel? Please, post in the comments below to share with everyone!
The topic for this blog is Story length. Let me ask you this first, what exactly constitutes as proper story length? What do you feel is necessary for a story to be a story, have depth, plot, character development, all of the things that a good story needs in order to survive and attract readers? Should it be limited by only what you put into it at first, being the original plot? Or is it possible to add in more details of a story. Perhaps a sub story? I think the only thing holding a writer back IS themselves. We all know, and have delved into our imaginations. We can come up with a thousand different scenarios for our characters. Perhaps each scenario for the character is different. But is it a good idea to leave items in the story unresolved or skipped over? It’s always exciting to be writing a novel, novelette, short story, poems, and want to get it out for your readers. But what’s the proper length in which you should stop? At what point should you limit your imagination or limit the characters to what they are doing? Maybe, give them a way out of a scenario that could bring the particular piece of work to a grinding halt and make it hard for not only you, but for the character to trudge through. I will be the first to admit that in my imagination, and stories at times I get a bid wordy with ALL the characters details.
However, I know that I’m not the only writer out there that would do this. I think it’s incredibly important at times to add to the story what the characters are doing every time they are in a scene, what they are thinking, etc. However, I’ve read over some of the scenes in my upcoming novel “Whispers” and see where I have been almost too wordy with what is going on in the scene. A quick resolve, but at times it’s dropped me about a ½ or even a whole page of writing. To me? It’s irrelevant on how long a story should be. If I cut out a page or two pages of writing that drops my story to maybe twenty three or twenty five pages that is ok. To me, it’s more important to keep your idea to the point, instead of wandering off track and getting lost with something irrelevant to the story. Whenever I read scenes, and notice these wordy situations I can always imagine my readers sitting in a chair, with one hand propped against there hand. My book would be open and a sigh escaping there lips as they flip the page. The story should be enthralling, it should be riveting, it should keep them interested to the point that they are wanting to turn page and page because they are excited for what is happening in the story with the characters. Short stories are still stories. They can be entertaining, and enthralling as a thousand page novel.
But with that said, a story can be a thousand pages and full of crap. Either the plot development is horrible, slow, maybe irritating? Characters don’t click as well as they should or maybe slapped together too quickly? Editors can be a WONDERFUL help in this department and be able to tell you if you are being too wordy, or maybe not wordy enough. When is detail too much detail? That is up to the individual writer. I think the amount of detail you put into it should keep your writer enthralled and hanging on, instead of making it feel like your reading a dictionary or a quickly rushed idea that has the potential to have a ingloriously awesome idea. It’s important to listen to your muse while your in that frame of mind. Whether your sitting in a police car listening to your characters talk? Or if you are sitting at an Inn in the corner listening to various conversations amongst characters it’s easier to write all of it down as it happens and then go back and read it again later. Really, it’s no different than having a tape recorder walking out in the general public and recording what you hear. At least this way, you’ve got it all documented on the scene and what’s happening. Perhaps there are irrelevant things you can cut out along the way that doesn’t make it into the MS before it goes to editing.
Perhaps, those details can be used for another story, time, or setting. With this said, and since we are all friends here. What is one thing in your stories, poems, etc. that you tend to go on in almost too much detail that you feel? Please, post in the comments below to share with everyone!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Where does the Muse Find You?
In the last blog, I talked about character development. This blog is taking a step back really from what I talked about last time. Before you can sit down and come up with a setting, a plot, characters, anything of that nature you have to be able to actually sit down and do it? How do you sweet talk your muse? Let’s face it, The Muse will not be completely compliant every time you sit down at your computer, your favorite chair, a writing desk, or even on the back patio. Sometimes she’s rather arrogant and blocks the process and all you can do is stare at the computer screen and admire the blinking cursor. But as you look at that cursor you scowl a bit and think to yourself The only one getting any work done here is the cursor itself blinking and making sure you know where you’re at during the time you have your processor open. Other times it takes a little bit of coaxing to talk to her. Keep in mind, that like cars not all muses are created equal and some are male? Some are female. I often describe my muse as a female, and often times as a very strict boss. It takes a lot of negotiation sometimes to sit down and try get around the wall she puts up. What do you use to get your Muse to let down those walls to allow you to step into your character’s world? Or for this instance, the ability to maybe build one? For me there are several different resources that I use to channel that inner creativity.
Most often times, I will reflect on the scene to see what is exactly going on in it. Is the scene extreme? Is it character dialogue?, Is there something complex going on? Then I will set to work at looking for either movies, music, art, or even cruise the internet letting the Muse have her way momentarily. Typically for me being in certain settings is what allows me to find the best relaxation to write. As described earlier this week in one of my Twitter’s I talk about the Snow. It seems that the muse becomes most active during snow days, snow storms, or just even a general snow shower. But again, going back and talking about negotiations with the muse. Sometimes, the snow is nice and all but other times it requires a little bit more to be settled. It maybe other adverse weather reactions, Holidays, or Sometimes it’s a certain recliner, sometimes it’s animals present in the room. Other times it’s music turned down low. Often other times I can find inspiration in other ways. For me another huge source of Inspiration can be found through that of music. I tend to listen to the harder music of today some of the band’s including: Rob Zombie, Disturbed, Metallica, Breaking Benjamin, Skillet, and the list goes on. The music can help inspire scenes? Or it can help get me through scenes depending on what is going on with them. Now, on the counter balance of that I have listened to older music to get me through as well. Some of those bands include: Foreigner, Styx, Patsy Cline, The Highway Men, Boston, and again the list goes on from there.
Just because you listen to one particular genre doesn't mean that you will be able to write to it. Please, I encourage you to listen to any and all kinds of music.
What about fellow writers? Let’s venture away for a moment from scene creation. When you first picked up that pen, and you touched it to that paper and you let your imagination began to wander. Is there any particular author that stands out alone that you first started reading? That, once you started reading, grasping at the concepts of there stories, and realized the flow pattern of characters, ideas, and overall concepts that you snapped your fingers and went “A Ha! That is who I want to be like there?” Just like the music any particular concepts of other art? What about the respect of other Author’s? George Romero for his inception and creation of the Zombie and walking dead, Bram Stoker and his creation of the Vampire. Stephen King and all of the movies, tv shows, and even comics, Michael Crichton perhaps? All of those are excellent authors, Is it Shameful for anyone to admit if anyone particular writer, singer, dancer, etc. inspired someone to carry on with there dream or find a new one? I’d have to say no. Reading any of the above authors could influence you. For example, if one where to start a paranormal book about Vampires, but you really didn’t know much about them. Where could you go? Bram Stoker would be an excellent reference, What about Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake Series again. It’s all dependant on what you want to write. But I would recommend experts of the genre and maybe reference to those who created and opened the worlds for everyone else. Doing research on different genres of Vampires, Zombies, Were animals, and all of the likes.
Who knows, maybe you will create something that will spark an interest with a fellow writer, or maybe even start them down the path of something great. Maybe your story will be like that of Bram Stoker’s and it’ll carry through generations of which everyone will know them. It just takes a little inspiration is all. I encourage everyone who reads this to leave a comment down below. What inspires you? Don’t be bashful!
Most often times, I will reflect on the scene to see what is exactly going on in it. Is the scene extreme? Is it character dialogue?, Is there something complex going on? Then I will set to work at looking for either movies, music, art, or even cruise the internet letting the Muse have her way momentarily. Typically for me being in certain settings is what allows me to find the best relaxation to write. As described earlier this week in one of my Twitter’s I talk about the Snow. It seems that the muse becomes most active during snow days, snow storms, or just even a general snow shower. But again, going back and talking about negotiations with the muse. Sometimes, the snow is nice and all but other times it requires a little bit more to be settled. It maybe other adverse weather reactions, Holidays, or Sometimes it’s a certain recliner, sometimes it’s animals present in the room. Other times it’s music turned down low. Often other times I can find inspiration in other ways. For me another huge source of Inspiration can be found through that of music. I tend to listen to the harder music of today some of the band’s including: Rob Zombie, Disturbed, Metallica, Breaking Benjamin, Skillet, and the list goes on. The music can help inspire scenes? Or it can help get me through scenes depending on what is going on with them. Now, on the counter balance of that I have listened to older music to get me through as well. Some of those bands include: Foreigner, Styx, Patsy Cline, The Highway Men, Boston, and again the list goes on from there.
Just because you listen to one particular genre doesn't mean that you will be able to write to it. Please, I encourage you to listen to any and all kinds of music.
What about fellow writers? Let’s venture away for a moment from scene creation. When you first picked up that pen, and you touched it to that paper and you let your imagination began to wander. Is there any particular author that stands out alone that you first started reading? That, once you started reading, grasping at the concepts of there stories, and realized the flow pattern of characters, ideas, and overall concepts that you snapped your fingers and went “A Ha! That is who I want to be like there?” Just like the music any particular concepts of other art? What about the respect of other Author’s? George Romero for his inception and creation of the Zombie and walking dead, Bram Stoker and his creation of the Vampire. Stephen King and all of the movies, tv shows, and even comics, Michael Crichton perhaps? All of those are excellent authors, Is it Shameful for anyone to admit if anyone particular writer, singer, dancer, etc. inspired someone to carry on with there dream or find a new one? I’d have to say no. Reading any of the above authors could influence you. For example, if one where to start a paranormal book about Vampires, but you really didn’t know much about them. Where could you go? Bram Stoker would be an excellent reference, What about Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake Series again. It’s all dependant on what you want to write. But I would recommend experts of the genre and maybe reference to those who created and opened the worlds for everyone else. Doing research on different genres of Vampires, Zombies, Were animals, and all of the likes.
Who knows, maybe you will create something that will spark an interest with a fellow writer, or maybe even start them down the path of something great. Maybe your story will be like that of Bram Stoker’s and it’ll carry through generations of which everyone will know them. It just takes a little inspiration is all. I encourage everyone who reads this to leave a comment down below. What inspires you? Don’t be bashful!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Don't tell me what to do!
That’s a funny way to start a blog isn’t it? Probably thinking that I’m making a reference to an editor, or publisher, or something of that sort. Actually, what I’m talking about is the characters I often come face to face with in my short stories, or my novelettes that I’ve written. You are probably asking yourself, What in the hell does he mean. Most of the time when you think of characters you think of the basic principal of one. Male, Female, tall, short, skinny, fat. Are the characters nice? Or are they cruel? The kind that if they unexpectedly had something happen to them in the story it wouldn’t hurt your feelings at all if something where to happen to them? For a moment, I’m going to step beyond all of that and describe a little bit about my characters. With all of the classifications above, I would they could be just that easy to put into a group. Come up with all of my heroines, my bad guys, and the rest of the supporting cast that makes a story good. Unfortunately, in my stories it doesn’t always work that way and about ninety nine percent of the time characters tend to come half-hazardly stumbling into a scene that as I recalled in the initial draw up they weren’t there.
Does the scene still work? Yes and No. It would have always been a lot smoother if the scene could have been without this particular character or in some cases characters but it adds to the story and it adds a lot more development to it. But on the flip side of this very own coin is that it sometimes can hinder scenes if characters don’t show up at the right time, or in many instances not at all. Reading through this already I’m willing to bet, that you are thinking that I am a complete nut case. Someone who treats these invisible people as if they where truly flesh and blood. That, just like any new age television show, or movie I treat them with delicacy and make sure that they stay happy. But as any writer will tell you it’s not always about what you want the characters to do, they’ll do what THEY want to do. A story will not always have a happy ending, nor will it always have a bad ending. The more time you spend working on any specific character or characters the more likely they will “talk” to you. Again, there you probably think Wow, Grayson you have truly lost your mind. I bet you had an invisible friend as a kid growing up that you shared your toys with. Truth be known, no I didn’t have a invisible friend growing up as a kid. But the more time you spend with a particular character the more of a tendency to let you in.
But with that said, there are also many instances that a character may or may not talk to you through the entire story. They may want the attention, but will not say anything to get it. I have one character in particular right now that has said very little in the means of development or letting me in on any of his secrets. The character keeps himself well guarded with very little to say all of the time. Even in the current story he gives off a vibe to the rest of the characters that are creepy to them. With all of this said as well though you’re going to find that any one character may not want to be put into a particular situation or later in the story you end up finding out that they refuse to do something. One character in the up-coming marshals story you find she is a huge risk taker. Well when I had originally designed her she hadn’t been that way at all. It’s always fun to see characters evolve into something or make more out of themselves as you had intended to. It’s like watching a child grow and take pride when they do something great in the scheme of things (No pun intended). Or shake your head and cover your eyes when they get themselves into situations that you think they should know better. But always on the other side of this you have a character that is screaming for attention, waving there arms up and down frantically as they try to flag you down. But with this comes the possible chance that they don’t even belong in the current project you have going.
A lot of the times, the characters will be from either a different series? Same series (That is not relevant to the plot), or a completely new idea. How do you wrangle these characters up and keep them quiet so you can work on your current project? I find that writing the idea down, the character, basic description, and what they do is a simple way to quiet them down. It’s like putting them on hold during a phone conversation. It keeps them quiet and waiting patiently. What’s the point of my blog? My point is this: For any writer out there, that is brainstorming characters, having a hard time coming up with characters, or struggling for plot development. The best thing you can really do is just sit on it. Get a pad and paper and just think on the idea. A lot of the times, the characters will find you before you find them. Once you have a character in mind, or just a basic outline of what you think you want in one. Jot down notes, how can this particular character come into play in either this story? Or a separate one in itself. Many-a-times in my work you will find that my characters have a tendency to overlap in the different series. But in my defense, the characters jobs often overlap which you will seen in OceanView, which will hopefully be online and available by the end of February 2013.
Nobody wants to read about a two dimensional character that comes from a cookie cutter mesh. If you have an easier time with doing backgrounds or histories? I’d recommend starting there. If you have a easier time with names and jobs? Start there. Either way, the more you brain storm on a particular idea the easier the characters will come to you.
Does the scene still work? Yes and No. It would have always been a lot smoother if the scene could have been without this particular character or in some cases characters but it adds to the story and it adds a lot more development to it. But on the flip side of this very own coin is that it sometimes can hinder scenes if characters don’t show up at the right time, or in many instances not at all. Reading through this already I’m willing to bet, that you are thinking that I am a complete nut case. Someone who treats these invisible people as if they where truly flesh and blood. That, just like any new age television show, or movie I treat them with delicacy and make sure that they stay happy. But as any writer will tell you it’s not always about what you want the characters to do, they’ll do what THEY want to do. A story will not always have a happy ending, nor will it always have a bad ending. The more time you spend working on any specific character or characters the more likely they will “talk” to you. Again, there you probably think Wow, Grayson you have truly lost your mind. I bet you had an invisible friend as a kid growing up that you shared your toys with. Truth be known, no I didn’t have a invisible friend growing up as a kid. But the more time you spend with a particular character the more of a tendency to let you in.
But with that said, there are also many instances that a character may or may not talk to you through the entire story. They may want the attention, but will not say anything to get it. I have one character in particular right now that has said very little in the means of development or letting me in on any of his secrets. The character keeps himself well guarded with very little to say all of the time. Even in the current story he gives off a vibe to the rest of the characters that are creepy to them. With all of this said as well though you’re going to find that any one character may not want to be put into a particular situation or later in the story you end up finding out that they refuse to do something. One character in the up-coming marshals story you find she is a huge risk taker. Well when I had originally designed her she hadn’t been that way at all. It’s always fun to see characters evolve into something or make more out of themselves as you had intended to. It’s like watching a child grow and take pride when they do something great in the scheme of things (No pun intended). Or shake your head and cover your eyes when they get themselves into situations that you think they should know better. But always on the other side of this you have a character that is screaming for attention, waving there arms up and down frantically as they try to flag you down. But with this comes the possible chance that they don’t even belong in the current project you have going.
A lot of the times, the characters will be from either a different series? Same series (That is not relevant to the plot), or a completely new idea. How do you wrangle these characters up and keep them quiet so you can work on your current project? I find that writing the idea down, the character, basic description, and what they do is a simple way to quiet them down. It’s like putting them on hold during a phone conversation. It keeps them quiet and waiting patiently. What’s the point of my blog? My point is this: For any writer out there, that is brainstorming characters, having a hard time coming up with characters, or struggling for plot development. The best thing you can really do is just sit on it. Get a pad and paper and just think on the idea. A lot of the times, the characters will find you before you find them. Once you have a character in mind, or just a basic outline of what you think you want in one. Jot down notes, how can this particular character come into play in either this story? Or a separate one in itself. Many-a-times in my work you will find that my characters have a tendency to overlap in the different series. But in my defense, the characters jobs often overlap which you will seen in OceanView, which will hopefully be online and available by the end of February 2013.
Nobody wants to read about a two dimensional character that comes from a cookie cutter mesh. If you have an easier time with doing backgrounds or histories? I’d recommend starting there. If you have a easier time with names and jobs? Start there. Either way, the more you brain storm on a particular idea the easier the characters will come to you.
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