There's nothing quite like listening or reading someone else's interpretation of your work. I don't mean that in the sense of someone reviewing it or giving their opinion on it, but simply by relating the information. It really helps you see what stood out, at least to that person.
I recently began character profiles for a set of eight new characters in my next novel. They all have had general concepts for a while, but my wife recently challenged me to flesh them out, so, I went with it. For the entire day I chatted with her about each and every one of them and, while I don't have names settled yet, their character backstories are great. Well, I think so, anyway. Now, the wife and I have a little agreement where I prattle on endlessly about a topic and she later emails me notes about all the garbage I spewed so that I can just concentrate on the mess in front of me without worrying about writing it down. She's awesome like that. I was looking over the notes and it occurred to me that, while I was genuinely happy with the characters, reading her notes and impressions about them made me want to see them. I'm not sure what it is, but the way she related the pertinent info that I spewed for around 12 hours of that day in a concise and readable format made these characters pop. There's nothing in there she invented through creative note keeping, so I know that what I did is good, but seeing how someone else sees it... that's really the important part here. Her relating of these characters back to me, her record of the important bits amongst the strings of incoherent gibberish I recited all day made these characters sound amazing. I genuinely am excited to write these guys and I really hope you'll love them, too. Wait... am I forgetting something. I feel like there's something that needs to come first... Hmm... I'm sure I'll remember it eventually. Don't Forget To Be Awesome!
0 Comments
Okay, knocked out a podcast and a YouTube video... Now I just need to do some filming tomorrow, review two games by Friday (one of which is an RPG), and, oh yeah, host a couple table top groups. Wasn't there something else in there I was supposed to do? Jeez, it seemed really important. This going to nag at me ...
Yeah, so my writing is lagging a bit. Not for terrible reasons, but I really need to refocus and quickly. I'm going to go full speed this week and knock out everything that's getting in the way of my writing, that way I can at LEAST start the new rewrite of The Paladin by the end of the month. I've got a short story, which will hopefully take some of the pressure for the daily blog off me, so I really need to get that finished up. Once that's done, it's all Paladin, baby. And you know what, I'm excited. I need to get this finished and out there. I need to send this out to agents and publishers and finally move to the next (metaphorical) chapter. I've got a metric crap ton of ideas for the next story and as long as both my short story and The Paladin are unfinished, I can't move on. Oh, and there's all those other things. And wait.. did the semester just start? Guess I'll be doing some filming on top of all that, too... Soon, Paladin. Soon. DFTBA I've been talking about literary tips, conundrums, and ideas since I started this blog almost a year ago. But today I wanted to try something a little... parallel. You see, I've been playing A LOT of video games since the start of this year, thanks entirely to DLH.net and Geeknifty taking me on as a reviewer. Today I wanted to talk a bit about what I think makes a good game, something I'm sure I don't need to tell you is completely subjective.
Games have something that books rarely do. Not even television can touch it. Addiction. Sure, people can claim there reading addicts, and people can watch a lot of television, but never one show. Well, I suppose that's called bingeing, but it runs out. Games are always there. On demand. Different as you need them to be. The right game in the wrong hands can breed a tough addiction. I know, I've lost countless nights in my college days to games I shouldn't have. Further more, I can't say that that addiction meant the game was entirely good. Some games are designed to addict, they feed your reward system and they don't have a linear story, so finding a good stopping point is hard. Obviously, if you're playing something like Final Fantasy, there are moments, there are chapters, but Minecraft? I'll stop after this day. Well... my base needs tending. Oh, lemme just grab some crops. You know what, I saw a vein of iron I really need, it'll just take a minute. Wait, is that gold? Well I can't stop now! I'm playing a game much like this at the moment, for review purposes, and I'm finding it hard to prioritize. I need to get the game reviewed, but at the same time, I don't think there's much left to experience that will change my review. So... I could just stop and write the review now. Except that I just got a new weapon... and I'm really close to researching a new technology. Is the game good? Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm enjoying myself, I think, but at the same time, I don't feel like I'll look back on this game in ten years and remember it fondly. I still love Majora's Mask or Final Fantasy X (fight me!), but I have no desire to replay them. They exist as an experience, a story, that I'll treasure forever. They're good games. Are they addicting? Yes.. but not in the same way that something like Minecraft is. There are places to stop. Comfortable pausing points. These are games I can put down, not touch for months, and then jump back into. And you know what? I think that's the quality I like the most about them. DFTBA Man... I feel like I have a weird playlist. Everything from Rob Zombie to Diana Krall. Still, we take inspiration from wherever it may emanate. And you know what, today's song is a good one. My friends over at Smash Fiction already Dr. Facilier is surprisingly good, so of course it's not accident that today's song is from The Princess and the Frog, Keith David performing Friends on the Other Side. With all the stuff about demons and ghosts throughout my story, is it any surprise that this song fell onto my playlist? Now, of course, the whole turning someone into a frog isn't anything I care about (yet... making a quite note though...) but the ties to spirits. the use of dark magic, the voodoo, it's all so perfect for what I want to feel when I'm writing certain scenes. And let's not forget, this movie, the final traditionally animated movie from the Mouse, was freakin' amazing and underappreciated. I absolutely loved it and songs like Friends on the Other Side are an amazing reason. So, please enjoy from my writing playlist to yours, Friends on the Other Side. Keith... you're amazing. Be Excellent To Each Other Things have been hectic as of late. Lots of unforeseen expenses, projects getting piled on my plate all at once, and through it all I'm still fighting to write a little whenever I can. I will say that I did successfully add to the word count of my short story over the last couple days, but it's not where I want it.
Still, if there's anything I see around the writing communities on Facebook and Reddit, it's that people just can't seem to find the time to write. I understand that. And there's nothing wrong if you just don't have the time. But if you find yourself with even a few minutes free, do what you can. Don't shoot for extravagant heights. I know Stephen King suggests 1000 words a day, but even that just isn't in the cards for some people. So you know what? Whatever you can put down, put down and be proud of it. Five words today is five words closer to your goal. If you can make 500 do it. 1000? Magnificent. 2500? Incredible! But if you can only find five minutes to spare and can only throw down a measly 50 words don't feel ashamed. Do what you can. I know I'm going to be taking this advice straight to the heart, something I'm not exactly known for. I did some game play for the latest review I'm doing, now it's time to make dinner, then write a little. Will I get 1000 words? I hope so. If I only get 10, I'll still be that much closer. An inch is still an inch away from where you started. DFTBA Of the many things I've learned as a writer, digging through archives of internet sites and videos of people with more knowledge than I'll ever possess, it's that reality isn't always realistic. And by that I mean that popular media, be it books, games, TV, movies, or what have you, have tended to depict things in certain ways. We've grown so used to these depictions that , often, the actual process behind things can seem wrong.
When I was a journalist in Las Vegas I covered more than a few trials. If I can tell you anything about them, it's that they are BORING AS HELL. Law & Order, NCIS, or any of those other courtroom dramas take severe dramatic license with what happens. No one shouts. No one makes random objections. The judge often takes breaks with confer privately with both prosecution and defense. Nothing surprising ever happens. What goes down feels almost rehearsed. I bring this up because I'm caught, at times, in my decision to make the events in my stories real. Deep down, I always want to error on the side of accuracy. Yet at the same time I understand that my audience may not be familiar with how things actually work. If I depict things accurately, I may bore them. Or I may make them question why it isn't happening the way they "know" it's supposed to happen. Do I focus on realistic scenarios that will please the two or three people familiar with what I'm relating (let's say, not cocking guns to make a threat) or just play into the tropes that readers expect and, to some degree, take comfort in? I'd like to think that if I depict things accurately, maybe I'll educate my readers. Maybe they'll look at what I've written, then, giddy with curiosity, research why their favorite TV show doesn't do it that way. I understand that's likely a fantasy, but what the heck, I'm a fantasy author! Be Excellent To Each Other. I absolutely love writing my current short story. You wouldn't know it by how seldom I seem to be making progress, but I'm falling prey to something I've warned others about countless times and, if I'm being honest, today's blog is a way of forcing myself to address that.
You see, I have this nasty habit of getting on a roll with my writing, then pausing, just for the briefest second, to contemplate the most dreaded question a writer can ask: What if? I've got everything planned out, I have motivations and personalities set down, I'm ready to go. I'm knocking out words, pushing 1k, 2k, 3k if I'm feeling really froggy. Then it happens. I start looking at a certain character and I wonder "would they actually do that?" "Perhaps it would be better if the did this instead." And of course that starts a chain reaction, a butterfly effect of prose and plot, if you will. Because, you realize, that is she does do that instead, well, then obviously that means she won't be over here when the time comes for the big reveal. And that means that he won't have a chance to see her commit a heinous act that forever changes his feelings about her. This means that now I have to stop writing to figure out how this all works. I need to think. And thinking leads to drifting. And drifting leads to YouTube videos about medieval armor vs modern bullets. And eventually old episodes of DS9 that I dissect for no reason. And maybe an episode or two of Aggretsuko. You get the idea. Yeah, I know it's not a great excuse, but dammit, it's mine. And a lot of other writers. Yeah, it's a pretty common malady. But, now that I've put my shame out there, maybe I'll actually do something about it. DFTBA Man, I'm just swimming in projects at the moment. I've been told I seem to be the happiest when I'm busiest. Not sure, but I'm certainly enjoying all the work. I've got final edits for The Paladin coming up any day now (I'm waiting on a single beta and I wanted to give them just a little more time), I've got the short story I'm working on, the next story in The Paladin series, my friend over at Smash Fiction has expressed interest in me doing some editing work for him, I just got brought on by C+ Studios to film and edit their podcast, oh! And I finally found something I've been looking for forever!
While searching around at Bookman's yesterday I finally found a copy of Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic. Now, I only have two experience with the Discworld series: 1. Smash Fiction had a match involving one of the wizards from said series and B) one of my favorite YouTubers Pushing Up Roses did reviews/playthroughs of the two Discworld games. Both were lovely glimpses into the world that convinced me I really needed to get the first book and dive on in. And now, finally, I have it! Jeez... I can't remember the last time I was excited to actually dive into a new series. Still, it's always good to make sure you have something to read while writing. I've been told that reading helps you keep perspective. Plus, I mean, no one would step out into the world and attempt to play concert piano without listening to the greats from time to time. Oh! And I completely forgot I'm still doing my game reviews as well as hosting two table top campaigns on a semi-weekly basis. Jeez... now that I write it all out, I do have a lot on my plate. And once the semester begins anew, I'll likely return to the university to help shoot and teach new, budding journalists how to shoot and edit. So lots on my plate, but I'm a big guy; I'm used to full plates. Let's line everything up and start tackling them one by one. Don't Forget to be Awesome! Woo! Quite a day. It was long and ended with using some skills I haven't touched since Vegas. My friends over at C+ Studios and the Social Vent Reboot Podcast spent the day at NerdCon and I was there to film it.
It was pretty cool. Not exactly a Comic-Con, cosplay, anime gathering, but it was still neat. Lots of art, nerdy clothing, booze, and Street Fighter 5 going on in the background. Add in a little live music and you've got a nice evening downtown. Those weirdos from Social Vent had a ball moving around, interviewing people and experiencing the get together and, hopefully, I'll have a nice video up for it by next Saturday. So... that was my night. Nothing huge today since I was out ALL DAY. But know that I'm still working on my stories and will begin final edits on The Paladin very soon. DFTBA While I was in college, I frequently utilized a lot of different cameras, most often, I would say, were DSLRs, particularly Canon 60Ds. Then I moved to Las Vegas to be a news videographer. The camera was different, but the rules were basically the same. Critical focus, white balance, get your levels.
After two years of using the news camera exclusively, I came back to my little Canon. Recently a couple friends of mine hired me to film and master their podcast, so, of course, the 60D was pulled out of retirement. And immediately my footage looked like crap. There are some out there that won't be surprised, but I certainly was. I know I'm not amazing, but my footage never looked this bad. So... I broke down and went online to see if the camera was damaged or if I needed to change the settings. See, I hadn't messed with this camera in two years. I understood the basic rules of shot composition and lighting, but the camera itself was foreign. Once I set my pride as a photog aside and went through a couple online tutorials, my shots looked great. Why am I bringing this up? Well, writing is writing. And yet... it's not. Writing for my game reviews is not the same as writing for my novel. And writing a mystery is not the same as writing for horror or romance. Of course, the general rules all still apply, but it's the execution that differs, much like switching between my old news camera and my DSLR. Write. Write whatever you want! Go out, tell your stories! But understand that while you probably have a good handle on the generalities of writing, every genre, every purpose all have their own subtleties that set them apart. Don't be ashamed to throw yourself into your field of interest, whether you think you should know about it already or not. Your writing will be all the better if you take the time to understand the rules of your kind of writing. Be Excellent to each Other. |
Matias TautimezKeep your eyes open for my debut novel, The Paladin. Archives
January 2023
Categories |
About the Author |
Contact |
|