Here Comes The New

Well hello.
I'm back.

It's been more than three months of silence from my end, and for that I apologize.

Life has been... a rollercoaster for me, lately. I've had a lot of ups and downs. Some of the most wonderful experiences of my life have occurred in that time, and some of the hardest.

I am... pushing through.
I always do.


This post, however, isn't supposed to be about me.
Well, it is, but not like... in that way.


I'm here to tell you very briefly what I plan to do with this blog.
In short: nothing.

In long:
I believe my work with this blog is reaching it's end. Two years was a good run, and I'm glad I had the chance to do it. I learned a lot, I grew, and I hope everyone who ever read this blog grew as well. My life, however, is moving away from this blog. I was gone for three months, and while at first it felt weird not to write anything for this, it was simultaneously freeing.

So.

I'll no longer be posting.
I won't get rid of this blog (at least not until the time comes where no one will miss it), but I won't be updating it. It'll be consigned to the oblivion of the interwebs.

I suppose... this is goodbye.

It was a wonderful run. I'm sure most of you who end up reading this are people I know outside of this blog. If so, I'm sure I'll see you around. For those of you who I don't, well... thank you.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for reading after three months of silence.

And...
Goodbye.

I'm not done writing, not at all. On the contrary, I've started three novels since we last spoke, and I'm working on finishing one of them so I can focus on the other two.

So I'm sure you'll see my name again.
Someday.


Until then, keep forging. (ha look I'm tying in the name of my blog how cute am I?)
Don't stop.

The Art of Life

Balancing life is hard.

I know I keep posting these non-writing, short pieces about taking time to enjoy life, to invest in it, to create art, but there seems to be a recurring pair of themes I discover in my everyday activities: life is the busiest art. And sometimes change is okay.

These two things are with me each day, as I create art in various forms (most recently, in the form of mathematical proofs) and as I ponder the fact that I haven’t posted in two weeks now on this blog.

I’m sorry.

Yet… I’m not. Life has changed. A few months ago, I would have been horrified at the idea of not posting at least once a week.

Life changes.

To be totally honest, I’m considering taking an extended break from blogging.

I’ve run dry.

In fact, while sitting here thinking “what should I blog about”, I came up blank. Sure, there’s all sorts of areas of writing that I could write about, but… I don’t feel any of them right now. I don’t… care. Right now.

That sounds awful, but it’s the most honest truth I can give you.

So I’m going to do it.

I’m not ending this blog. I’ll try to post every once in a while as I step away, but it won’t be every week. I’m anticipating the break lasting until December or so. Three months.

That’s not lot.

Three months is the blink of an eye in the scope of eternity.

I can take three months. You can take three months.

Life is something to be lived. Explored. Seen, felt, touched, heard, tasted.

Find a story.

Your own story, someone else’s. A real story, a fictional story, a story of hopes or fears or dreams or dangers or life or death or victory or defeat.

Find a story.

I’m out to find several. I want to find my own story, the stories of my friends, and the stories of the art I want to tell.

Perhaps my story will cross paths with this place again.

Perhaps not.

I… suppose I should apologize for those who were looking forward to the next writing tip I had for them. I guess… patience is my next tip.

Be patient as you find your story. But never stop looking.

Returning to the New

Next week, school starts. I'm going back to college. Chemical engineering 'bout to get lit up in here. Woot.

Personally, I'm excited. I get to take physics 2, organic chemistry, statics, dynamics, health and the body, and stagecraft. It's gonna be a busy semester, a hard semester. A good semester.

In many ways, I'm going back to a second home. There are people there who I care about very deeply, and I can't wait to see them again. In fact, I can't wait for any of it. The math, the engineering, the writing, the theatre, the design, the campus itself, the people. Things will be amazing.

It's a return. I'm returning to things I know.
At the same time, it's all going to be new. A new year, new freshmen, new theatre productions, new classes, new subjects, new adventures.

It's a little intimidating.
But...


It's also good.


Today, I'd like to talk about a little about that idea: returning to new things.

The Importance of Going Home

Everyone needs a home. Home is a sense of belonging and purpose. At home, you mean something. Whether you something to someone or to some ideal, you have purpose. Without you, something's not right.

Adventures are good. Leaving home is important. Without those things, you won't grow as a person to be full and colorful and passionate. However, if you never come home, you don't have roots. You won't have a place to take that colorful passion and mature it into your art. Coming home gives you a chance to breathe, to evaluate the changes in yourself and keep those which benefit you and those around you.

Home is valuable. Having a home (or multiple homes) fills you up for the next adventure. I'm fortunate enough to have three or four places/groups I would call "home". That's so valuable to me. I need those places. I hope you have those places, too. How many can vary, but I hope you have at least one. 

Home is a wonderful place. Returning to it is wonderful.

But so is going out.

Striking Out into the New

Staying home is great, sure. Being able to be in a place where you are wanted, needed, and loved is precious. Nothing can compare to it, and nothing can replace it. 

Staying home forever is... well, not so good. New experiences feed our souls with passion. Adventures and lessons and forays out of our comfort zones push us forward in maturity. There is great power in stepping out of the known into the unknown and facing it head on. 

When you leave home, you gain. When you return home, you prepare yourself for the next great adventure.

For me, I'm about to do both at the same time. It's an exhilarating thought. I get to go home, and I get to go on an adventure. 

What about you? Where is your home? Where are you going on an adventure next? What do you hope to gain? I'd love to hear about it.

NOTE: there will be no post next week, as I transition into a new schedule at college. I'll be picking up two weeks after. See you then!

World Blip – Education (vol. 2)

Today, I’d like to go back to a type of post I haven’t done in a while: the world blip. Hey, remember these? Where I’d spout off about a part of worldbuilding people probably didn’t care about?

Well, sit back, cause I’m gonna do it again.

Today, I’d like to talk about something that can have a vast impact on the characters in your story. Not just the setting, but the people in it. In fact, your choices regarding this aspect of worldbuilding will hardly affect the setting at all.

Education.

Why Education Matters

Can you read?

If you can comprehend that question, then the answer is yes. Obviously.

Here’s a better question: can your characters read?

Ah, and have an interesting twist: if they can, should they be able to? You see, if you’re writing historical fiction or fantasy, the odds of characters being able to read are much lower than if you’re writing sci-fi or contemporary. Schools weren’t widely available in the past, nor might they be in fantasy settings. Or maybe they are.

And that’s why it matters. If your world is built to have few educational systems in place, your characters shouldn’t be able to read. That will directly affect what they can do in their story and how they interact with the world.

Now, education goes far beyond reading. It reaches into math, science, writing, philosophy, religion, and all aspects of life. These things can deeply affect what your characters do, think, and believe. If you look at people today, education is an integral part of their lives. Young people spend most of their days in school, and adults spend their lives working at a job they qualify for based on their education. Education affects the progress of technology and culture.

Characters Interacting with Education

Education is something you can develop very quickly, if you wish. You could also spend days creating complex systems for your world, but the speed is nice for those of us who don’t have days for it.

Answer these questions:

Who is educated?

What sorts of educations do they receive?

What establishments exist?

Answers to the first may include people groups like “nobles” or “nobles and merchants” or “first and second class citizens”, and so forth. The second question is more about the subjects focused on. For instance, most education in a society may be apprenticeship: trade school. Therefore, people may be educated, but not widely knowledgeable. Their experts in their fields and ignorant elsewhere. The last question is very simple: are there universities? High schools? Grade schools? Trade schools?

Once you have decided on these, you’re done. That’s all you need.

Nice.

The work comes in deciding how your characters fit into this education system and training yourself to write them according to their level of education. First, you have to match them: are they educated? Where? How much? What do they know? What don’t they know?

Then it’s a “simple” task of writing them that way.

I’d like to give you an example before I end: in Agram Awakens and its sequel, my character Deyu is a slave. She has no education. She cannot read or write, and she knows the numbers one, two, three, four, and ten (though she doesn’t understand what ten actually is). She doesn’t know what science is, nor philosophy, and has a hard time understanding how religion works.

She’s also fifteen.

It’s difficult to write her, sometimes, because her education makes her sound like she’s four. In fact, she often acts like she’s four, because she doesn’t know better. No one taught her how to act less like a four year old.

However, it’s also a very interesting character detail that I’ve had several beta readers congratulate me on. They love the details when she refers to things in groups of four, when she gets frustrated at not being able to read a sign, and when she confuses herself with religion and philosophy.

That’s a powerful thing. It makes us empathize with her. Even though most of us can read, we can empathize with ignorance. That’s a powerful tool.

Examining Styles – Plots and Characters

When we think of style, we think of prose, don’t we? We think about how we use certain words, or phrases to form a certain style. It’s in the state of mind, it’s in the description, it’s in the dialogue. Right?

What if… what if style was more than that? What if style encompassed every part of a book, from the words in it to the story it tells?

Today, I’m back to examine more styles. This time, however, I’d like to focus on two areas where style is usually never talked about: Plot and characters.

The Style of Plots

Who knew? Who knew that there could be style in plots? Aren’t plots just… things that happen because of a conflict? Where is the style in that? Sure, maybe the villain is classy and the protagonist has no style, but that isn’t exactly… stylistic choice. That’s just happenstance and the fact that words have various meanings.

The style of a plot is found in its archetype. As I’ll talk about in a minute, the same thing is found in characters. You see, there is always another plot similar to the one you want to write. Always. They’re probably not identical (unless plagiarism is involved, in which case someone needs a talking to about intellectual theft), but they are similar. They fit the same archetype.

Some archetypes include “the heroic quest”, “man who learned better”, and some other phrases I’m sure you’re familiar with. These archetypes are not clichés. They’re styles. The most interesting thing about the style of plots is this: your plot style is constantly changing. While all style choices you make are fluid, plot style is far more versatile and prone to erratic change than any other type of stylistic choice.

You see, plot style is dependent on the story. It’s an amorphous creature that is constantly changing. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s good that your plot style changes. If it didn’t, people would get tired of reading your books. Not because they’re boring, but because they’re all similar. Using various plot styles keeps away the doldrums of identical plots and stories.

So. How do you become aware of your plot style? And how do you use it to make your personal style stronger?

First, boil your plot(s) down to the simplest it (they) can be. One or two sentences. It doesn’t have to encompass all of the story, just the main plot. Ignore the subplots, or do them separately. The main plot. Then, go online somewhere, and find a list of plot archetypes. Match it up. Find yours.

Second, exploit the strengths of your archetype and shore up the weak spots. No plot archetype is perfect, but all of them have strengths. Use the strengths, and borrow from other archetypes to get rid of the weaknesses. Flip some cliché plot elements, stir in some good characters and ta-da!

Your plot style.

Stylish Characters

No, I’m not talking about a villain with class or a protagonist who wears only designer clothing.

Ew?

I’m talking about the archetypes you use in your writing. I’m sure you’ve noticed that you use similar characters in different stories over time. Sure, each individual is (or should) be different, but their overall type is similar to others you use.

It’s a trend I’ve noticed. Across all of their books, authors like to pull from the same pools of character types over and over.

That’s fine.

That’s… good, actually. It’s writing what you know. It’s using what you can write well to make a good story. Good. Go you. Well done, keep it up.

However, varying what type of character archetypes you use can vary the style you write. Try writing a character type you’ve never written before. I won’t list all the types here, because there are great lists out on the internet, but I encourage you to find a list you like. Use it as you create characters. Don’t make the straight out archetypes (they’re a little cliché done that way), but borrow parts from all of them. Make new archetypes, if you want.

The characters you use influence your style. After all, they’re the ones doing the things your words say, and sometimes they’re even the ones saying the words you write.

That’s power.