Kids, cats, and what the crap?

A while back, I found some soaking wet socks in my son's bathroom. A few days later, I found six soaking wet socks hidden in his bedroom. I asked him what was going on. "I had a dream once about a monster attacking people. I've been showering in my socks so that I can throw them at him to chase him off." Of course, my response to this was, "Son, you are ruining your socks because of an imaginary situation that is never going to happen." At least, that was what I said out loud. In my mind, I was thinking How can I possibly incorporate this into my next book?

On any given day, my cat goes also-freaking-lutely insane. For no apparent reason, she will run sprints all throughout the house. She seems to be attacking bugs that no one else can see. She howls late at night at nothing. She figures out precisely where you intend to sit and decides that is the very place that she intends to nap. I suppose that it shouldn't surprise me that my son loves the cat almost to the point of obsession.

The thing about both of these individuals, my son and the cat, is that they live a lot of their lives in their own imaginations. It's something that can make each day very difficult for those around them as people that don't live in their worlds try to figure out what is going on. However, for my son and the cat, it is a perfectly equitable arrangement, and why shouldn't it be? They might live in their own worlds, but everyone there knows them. The imagination is where they find peace, joy, excitement, and whatever else they are seeking at the moment. Who should deny that?

The truth is that I tend to benefit from it as well. Of course I work to make certain that my son can interact and function in the world. That is my job as his father. However, he as well as the cat, remind me how to make use of my own imagination. They help remind me how to find some of the more simple joys in life that cannot be discovered on a television screen or computer monitor. As a teacher, he reminds me of the youth that I interact with daily, even if that youth left me (chronologically) a while ago. As a writer, he brings me to a place in my imagination that helps me to create the universes needed for a good story to be told.

If you are a writer, or someone that just needs a smile, consider things from the point of view of a child, or even look at the world as a cat. If neither are an option, then think of the last time that you wanted to say, "What the crap was that?" You would be amazed at the direction that this can lead you in.

Remember What is Important

I had the pleasure of getting to be there when my best friends became parents recently. I have watched over the last few days as the things that they think are important have changed. It is a great lesson in life as well as a great lesson for writing. Watch my vlog to see why.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8xoJv5wVBY]

Where to find ideas for a side story for your novel

So you have come up with a wonderful idea for a novel. You have it all planned out. You know every detail of what is going to happen with your main characters. You know what plot twists are going to throw your reader for a loop. You're set! Then you start writing and find a huge problem. It isn't enough. Your plans for a novel have resulted in a short story with dreams of growing up into a novel. You add more details to your characters, embellish a little on the story, and even get creative with your spacing. Still not enough. You need a side story. Where are you going to come up with a side story? You fried out all of the creative circuits in your brain imagining the main plot. It's all over! The book is ruined! Time to go back to watching Star Wars way to much and living off of popcorn! (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Before you format your hard drive and burn your printed copies, you should realize that a side story isn't that difficult to create, and it can make a world of difference in your characters realism. Think about it. Do you do only one thing all of the time? Even people who are obsessed with something take a break from it now and again. Your characters should, too. That is where a good side story comes in. It transforms your characters from characters into people. So where do you find a good side story? My suggestion for that would be the same suggestion that I give for most things. Open your eyes! The perfect side stories are all around you or have already been a part of you and your life.

One of the favorite approaches I have seen some authors use is to make the setting of the book a side story. That is a tried and true technique. It's especially useful if you are very familiar with the setting yourself. When this happens, the setting becomes a character all its own. Could Batman take place anywhere other than Gotham City? I really enjoy the Dresden Files series. In it, Jim Butcher often uses the setting of Chicago as a source for side stories. He takes common sites in the city and twists them to fit into his paranormal world. You can certainly do the same.

Of course, everyone doesn't want to use the same formula for creating side stories. That would make for boring literature. So what else can you look to for side stories. Think of your own life. I don't mean that you should make every story a biography. I mean that everyone can look back on an event in their life and imagine how it could have been different. You can positively or negatively change how things are handled by your characters in the same situation and create a good side story that will be very believable. After all, the situation did occur in real life, right? You can also look to your own activities. Why not incorporate some of your own hobbies, your job, or some of your interpersonal interactions into side stories. Once again, reality creeps into fiction, and it makes for a better story.

So, if it is big cities or family reunions, career moves or airsoft games, you can find lots of ideas for side stories for almost any book. Just look around, remember, go through a photo album, or talk to a friend. Personally, I am using airsoft in the book I am working on now. It gives me a good side story and an excuse to go and play!

Family is a great source of influence in writing

I will preface this by saying that I am not a poet. I have read some wonderful poetry in my day, and none of it was written by me! I accept that limitation without complaint. However, there are times when you feel the need to express something, and you do so however you can, even if it is not in your area of strength. Such was the case several years ago when it was the anniversary of my grandfather's passing. Family can be a great source of stories, but it can be a great source of pure inspiration as well. PawPaw

He would not have read this poem

Even if he were still here.

Poetry was not his style.

He would have put it on that table next to his chair

But still talk about it with that crooked smile.

I tried to tell him in my own ways.

I think that he still truly understood.

There had been so many things

Some others couldn't forgive him for,

But all his grandson saw was good.

He knew how much that day meant

When we drove around for hours

And how his opinion was everything,

But was he speaking the day we laid him down

When there was thunder but no showers?

My son shares your name now, PawPaw,

But he doesn't have your crooked smile.

That is something that you gave to me.

I will place this next to your stone,

But you don't have to read it.

I still know you love it. That was your style.

Influences of a sort: Part 4- Firefly

I do admit to being a bit of a sic-fi geek. I saw the original Star Wars trilogy twice a week every week throughout my entire childhood. Modern sic-fi just can't compare, with one exception: the short-lived series Firefly. I stumbled across reruns of this show and was so depressed to discover that it only ran for the one season, but I've learned so much from it. I understand why the fans of the show, known as Browncoats, are so dedicated. Firefly is, in essence, a sci-fi western. Some hi-tech, lots of low-tech, and no aliens. This show was very character-driven, and boy did they have some characters! The young, spoiled doctor. His schizophrenic yet brilliant younger sister. The much less brilliant and trigger-happy fighter. The list goes on, but the character that has influenced my writing the most was the main character, brilliantly portrayed by Nathan Fillion, Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Reynolds had fought on the losing side of an interplanetary civil war, and now he just wants to take his cargo ship and stay as far away from the central government as he can. He can be very witty and charming, then turn right around and be violent and insulting. As one of the passengers on his vessel once said, she never knew which personality she was going to have to deal with.

I learned something important from Captain Reynolds and Firefly: you don't have to make people love, or even agree with your main character in order to have them cheer for them. I'm fairly certain that if Captain Reynolds and I had met in real life, he probably would have shot me, or at least hit me with a pool cue. I doubt we would have seen eye to eye on much. Even so, I cheered for that character throughout the show and the follow-up movie, Serenity. He was a character you would follow anywhere just because you felt that you should. I try to remember this whenever I am writing a new character. No character is perfect, so put a little bit of a bad side in them. They will be more real to the readers and they will still cheer for them. As Captain Reynolds once said, aim to misbehave!

Influences of a sort: Part 3- The Princess Bride

Today I find myself with an unexpected snow day off from work. Since my brain is a little slushy working on my new story, I thought I might as well go ahead and share another influence on my writing and even a little bit on my personality. It is a movie beloved by several of my co-workers and almost every student that I have taught: The Princess Bride! If you have never read the book, I suggest that you give it a try. It is quite good. If you have never seen the movie, what is wrong with you! Run out and buy a copy immediately! I watched this movie dozens of times as a child, but the VCR tape that we had it on (no age jokes, please!) was damaged, so I never saw the ending until I was in college. The Princess Bride is not especially hilarious, it isn't especially action-packed, and it doesn't bring tears to your eyes. Sure, it has a few memorable lines (Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya...), but there are other movies whose lines have become more of a part of our culture. Nevertheless, this is one of the most beloved movies that you'll ever watch. Inconceivable? Not really (see what I did there?). If you watch this movie, you will get done with it and then go on with your day wondering why I thought it was such a big deal. Then the next time you see it on television, you will watch it. It doesn't matter what else is on, you will decide to watch The Princess Bride. You won't be able to explain why, but you will do it every time. And you will thank me for it.

So what influence did I receive from this movie? Chemistry. I learned about chemistry between all parts of the story. The Princess Bride may not have one characteristic that sets it apart from other movies, but all of its individual characteristics combine to gel into one story that is so memorable and so instinctive to appreciate that you will watch it over and over. So your story doesn't have to have one unbelievable character or event, it just needs to coalesce into one unbelievably good tale. The individual parts might be junk, but put them together and you have a story, and it will keep flying in people's minds if you have an audience even half awake. If you recognize that paraphrased last line, then you might guess my next influence. Want me to tell you later? As you wish!

 (Yes, the featured images are getting spookier. I'll try to work on that!)

Influences of a sort: Part 2- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Middle school must have been a good source of literary influence for me, because my next influence comes from a book I read in middle school as well. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was a book that I read a few times before I could say that I truly appreciated it. It wasn't that I didn't like it at first. I did. However, I didn't appreciate some of the dynamics of the characters before I had read it a few times. When I was assigned to read Huckleberry Finn, there was some controversy around the nation from people trying to get the book banned. I agree that there is racist language in the book. It was truly uncomfortable to read at times. However, I have to remind myself the importance of its historic setting. Besides, there is a moment in the book where Huck Finn has to decide if he would be willing to commit what he had been taught was a sin in order to save Jim. If Huck still saw Jim as property, a slave, then he wouldn't have taken the chance. But Jim had changed him. Huck didn't see Jim as property anymore. He had grown to see Jim as a person. A friend, in fact. He was a friend worth saving, even if others would condemn him for it. What I took from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a lesson about people in real life, as well as characters in a story. Change can be a necessary and amazing thing. People can grow and see things in an entirely new light. Sure, Huck was still an immature, troublesome boy, but he had grown to see some people for who they really were. I learned that it is important to have your characters grow and change just like people should.

I promise my next influence is more entertaining. In fact, it's inconceivable!

Influences of a sort: Part 1- The Outsiders

I had someone recently mention to me that I should try writing about my influences. I also read recently that blog entries should be kept short. Well, I'm usually convinced that no one wants to know what makes me tick (I'm kind of scared to know myself!) and I am in the habit of being long-winded, so this is going to be a new challenge for me. Here it goes! (no duct tape handy)

I always read as a child, but the first novel that I remember reading and truly appreciating was in seventh grade. We were assigned to read the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I'm sure that most of you are very familiar with this book, and if you aren't then you should certainly go and get a copy. I still have the same copy that I read originally in seventh grade (yes, the printing press had been invented by then). I think that the thing that stuck with me about this book is the fact that it was so real. S.E. Hinton said that she was annoyed with all of the books written for young people showing some idyllic life that most of the people that she knew had no chance of ever achieving. She wanted there to be a book about how things really were. I would say that she achieved her goal. Students in my eighth grade class have to read that book each year, and I have never known of a student to complete it and say that they hated it. All these years later, it still resonates with the young and with those that remember being young.

So what did I take from The Outsiders? I took reality. Whenever I write, I don't look at what the invincible movie protagonist might do. I try to imagine how true, everyday, regular people might react and, more importantly, how they might feel. It surprises me how often that is missing from our stories.