Bleeding Through The Pen

I’ve always made it clear that I love to talk with other writers. I do believe that we all bleed through the pen a little different than the next writer, graphic novelist, screen play writer, etc. We’ve all had experiences, educated ourselves on subjects that fascinate us, and took paths in our lives that would lead us down the road to write what we do. What makes it right? What makes it wrong? Well, my friends, that would be completely up to the writer who is writing the content. There is absolutely nothing out there that says what a writer is writing is wrong! We are all entitled to our opinions, and feelings to what we put into our work. It’s been said time and time again that writers will often write what they know. For me? This is true. A major chunk of my career has been based around civil service. I know civil service. Not every aspect of it, but from the aspects that I do know I can piece together a story and weave it so that it is interesting for not only those who may have been involved with the same branches of civil service, but for those who haven’t had any experience can understand what is happening in the story. I’ve had characters that have come my way and approached me at what I like to call the bargaining table. Sometimes I know little about their backgrounds, or even when they tell me an occupation that they are interested in I don’t know one hundred percent of it.
    In the latest story I’m working on, there has been a lot more gun play as well as dealing with backgrounds and occupations like technology involving security systems, and hit men/women. I’ve had to research it all because I don’t have all the information that is required for the accuracy of the story. This was a giant step out of my comfort zone but found it thrilling and exciting. Not only for the accuracy for my current project but also getting a chance to delve into mysterious levels of unknown. I’ve had several ideas come to me while researching some of the topics above and even the lead assassin character in this story has spoken to me louder and given me a few ideas for maybe a book of her own. But the other thing that has been particularly exciting for me is getting to talk with other writers who know the ins and outs of writing a good book about assassins, hitmen, and mafia type characters. Sitting down, listening to them, and asking them questions even when I feel stupid about a subject I can see they are excited to have someone asking and talking to them about a subject they know much about or are intrigued in. Of course, some of the questions I am corrected on or told that it’s a common misconception that A and B would be related. I tend to get over zealous or excited when it comes to learning new subjects that grab my attention. I recently had the opportunity to read a story by a good friend that involved a subject I knew very little about. But he’d told me the concept of it and I was almost instantly snagged by it.
     However, after reading the story I felt I had gained some ground on the subject matter. He, himself, is very knowledgeable about sailing, eras of the time that the story is thought to exist in (which I later found out was the 1300’s off the coast of Ireland). I walked away confident in the story and knowing what exactly I had read. There was no room for speculation, and I could visually see everything in my head that I needed to. I would consider him a very valuable source if I were to begin writing in that era. The characters were very well defined, and I even began to have doubts on some of the characters and how they were presented because of their actions. I had almost instantly a thousand questions for him in regards to where the story was going to head next because it grabbed my attention and thus far has not let go of it. Low and behold? A character has come to the bargaining table and has wanted to talk with me ever since I’d read that story. It goes to show how important world building is and that as writers we need to always have open doors to other realms that we haven’t been to yet. Characters do not always present themselves as flesh and blood humans. They come in a variety of different forms, shapes, attitudes, looks, etc. I think that as a writer it would be wrong of us to listen to a character that comes to us out of the blue and begins talking to us.
     Instant example, would be that of Malakai, my wolf character in my novel In With The Pack. Malakai would not be considered a normal character. While you may incorporate wolves into a story that you are writing about, very rarely would the primary focus be on an animal. But, Malakai talked to me several times and as I sat down and began to write and explore his world with his Motley Crew pack I grew excited to see the character growth and how he expanded out from his beginnings to where he is present day. Again, wolves at the time, were not a subject that I was very educated on and began to reach out to those who were matter subject masters. They were excited to talk with me about wolves and the animal in general. I walked away more educated, and explored various traits that I could give Malakai because of the information I had gained. Of course, during writing this book I got some odd looks because it is non-traditional, and a challenge to read from the point of view of an animal. However, after I finished the book it brought me much joy, and Malakai is still one of my favorite characters who have come to the table. Though, for a while now he’s been increasingly silent.
     I think as a writer, one of the hardest things to do, and accept as a challenge for writing is writing about content or something that is out of the scope of normalcy in fear of being branded because of the content you are writing. For a long time, you would have been considered a nerd or a social outcast if chose to write about super heroes, or people with abnormal abilities like vampires, werewolves, etc. But, look at the popularity of ALL those subjects today. There is a lot of hype a lot of fans in those communities that are not afraid to express themselves as belonging to that community because there are others out there that understand. I think that is where we need to help support each other as writers. Not every writer out there is going to create, or write content that is going to be something you are interested in. I think honest feedback, and integrity in handling those works is imperative if we are asked to help beta read something or even look over a rough draft. Like I mentioned above, not all characters come to us as flesh and blood human beings. Sometimes they are creatures from other worlds, other dimensions, hell even different realms. While it might be scary or embarrassing or uncomfortable to want to reach out and let your characters go into the world, you should be proud of what you’ve created and what road you’ve started down. Past experiences or even events that you’ve encountered often work themselves into the stories I’ve written. Even ole Malakai and I have some things that we can relate to.
     I realize that I’m kind of all over the place with this blog, but what I’m really trying to reiterate is that as writers, and being a small community of those who are either trying to strike out on being published, self-published, or just doing it as a hobby with no real aspirations of wanting it to go further we need to be able to support one another. Whether it’s fan-fiction, or an original concept we will never be able to benefit from someone being over critical of every point in the story. Take suggestions in stride, and if you can offer up ideas or perceptions of what you see coming down the storyline. Even if the creator doesn’t use it, it helps with the feedback to know from an audience of which way they think that the story is going. The pirate story I read, I couldn’t quit talking about it for days because the author made so many open doorways that I had to ask him when I saw him of all the possibilities. For those writers out there that want a second opinion on what they’ve written, or are unsure of where they are going I am always willing to read and give honest feedback. Please feel free to contact me on Facebook by either private message or you can E-mail me at: AuthorGraysonMichaels@Gmail.com. While I may not be a fan of all genres of writing, I’ll always be a supporter for the writer who chose to write about the subject. It takes a lot to communicate an idea and with passion.