Art of Noise - Moments in Love

 

Mystic, calming, intense, and ultimately satisfying: I describe this track as tribal jazz with a progressive trance song structure. It expertly builds upon its moods in gradual strokes but takes a couple of daring steps in the process. An absolute classic and must-recommend.

Christmas Forest

 

We only get a glimpse of some red leaves during the Autumn, but how about a whole FOREST of fire-engine/burgundy leaves with some green grass? I thought the scheme would make for a cozy Christmas setting.

Characters: Your Hero

Let’s talk about characters! Most importantly, the hero/protagonist who’s going to carry your story.

The hero may be the cornerstone of inspiration for your novel, trilogy, series or whatever your endeavor is with writing. Sometimes that foundation may be built off of a plot device or a worldbuilding device, but if the hero does not shine in your reader’s hearts or memories as they are reading the book, prepare for the book to miss its target when it hits shelves and reviews.

Readers generally want a hero who is: smart, imperfect, and 3-dimensional. 

Let’s address each point. I’m going to start with imperfect first.

• Imperfect. Readers want imperfection in a character so much that there’s a derogatory term applied to those who don’t follow this rule: Mary Sues. (Or Gary Stus). While success is often exciting from a real-world perspective, no one wants to read about a character who has it all in talent, intelligence, wealth, strength, approval/respect and integrity. Even combining two of these qualities can make for a risky move. No one wants to read about a rich valedictorian award-winning ballet dancer who was bullied in high school despite her good looks and heart of gold. Now, most people online talk about Mary Sues like the solution is to “add a flaw”. Okay. Would you really approve of the rich valedictorian cute ballet dancer, if she was insecure? Bad at sports? Unwise about decision-making? Naive about love? My guess is no, not really. The best way to write an imperfect character is not make a flaw on an otherwise perfect character, but just don’t make the character the cream-of-the-crop overachiever to begin with. Make them good at a couple things but not record-breakingly so. Give them strengths, but make it sound like they’re still “figuring-it-out” on a day-to-day basis especially if they’re 20s or younger. Make them an average that balances out, where the reader analyzes what their strengths and weaknesses are rather than saying it outright. If they have to overachieve (and in multiple fields), make their flaw deadly or crippling. Maybe they have a disease/mental illness, or are an alcoholic, or are secretly losing hope in themselves, or are a wild partier/spender that forfeits responsibility, or just really needs someone else’s help.

• Smart. Readers want a smart character, and I don’t necessarily mean book-smart. By that I mean, unless the character is to be regarded as stupid (like Patrick Star), then they want the character to be able to make common-sense decisions. They don’t want your character falling for the obvious horror-movie cliches when there was an easy way to call for help or get out of a situation. This is where you do the legwork as an author to stage your circumstances that eliminates the common-sense decision and forces your character to go into it head-on. It's safe to say that readers enjoy a clever character who can devise their way in and out of conflicts more than an intelligent character who knows his academics.

• 3-Dimensional. People like learning as much about your characters as they can. They don’t want to know a stereotype or archetype. You don’t want your character to be described with just a couple of adjectives. Readers want to know how deep their opinions & train of thoughts go, how flexible their skills or weaknesses are, how complicated their motivations are and how wide/narrow their capacities are for emotion or self-control. And rather than make a checklist of all the subjects your character can have an opinion on, I find that after you establish their identity and interests, one of the best forms of character development is just how they can react to diverse situations and interactions with the environment or other characters. Arguments, encouragements, acts of kindness, heart-to-hearts, problem-solving will say volumes about the character while advancing the plot. And using nuances to address these in slightly variable ways can break cliches and add bottomless depth to your character.

What kind of qualities or traits would you like to see in a leading character? Comment below!

Book Review: Machinehood

 

As I continue to write and post about writing, I will also be sharing thoughts on the works that I read--which is largely science-fiction, young-adult, and action/adventure books.

I finished reading Machinehood! Though I'm a little late to the party, if you want to read a cerebral AI techno-thriller with a strong military slant, this book is for you. Below is my full review, at Goodreads!

https://www.goodreads.com/review

 

Scenic Route

 

 

Sometimes I just feel like I need a breath of fresh air. But I wanted to express that in a picture. So how about some dandelions and wind turbines backed by a waterfall?

Originality

 Continuing on the themes of starting out with an idea, I think it’s going to nourish your inspiration and exercise your brain if we have a little talk about Originality. I’ve gotten into numerous debates with creators about the definition and application about this word, so first I’m going to encourage you.

BE ORIGINAL. Make sure that at the end of the day you can cast your proud signature on your masterpiece with the complete knowledge that it is utterly yours, something researched, developed, manufactured and strategized in your brain. 

Now I’m going to shed some light on the subject.

Let’s define originality first, shall we?

The top Google definition result for originality defines it as: “the ability to think independently and creatively” OR, “the quality of being novel or unusual.” Dictionary.com, Cambridge, Vocabulary.com, and Merriam Webster all express this definition in a similar way: A quality, a power, or a trait. But…uh oh. Macmillan takes it farther by saying “the quality of being new, interesting, and different from anything that anyone has created before”. 

So herein lies the debate. We have a divide between a relative and absolute interpretation of the word.

Macmillan Dictionary, as well as a large population of artists, writers and the general public, argue that originality is only applied in the absolute context. It is only a yes or no. All or nothing. This means that if one iota of your manuscript is derived from something else, even if it’s lavished with groundbreaking territory, it is not original.

But consider this, almost none of the adjectives we use in the English language convey an absolute purity or coherence to its word. You can call a movie “good” even if it has some improvable spots. You can call a sundae “sweet” even if it has some chopped walnuts. You can call your day “hectic” if the first 30 minutes was mellow, and You can call a shirt “red” even if the hue isn’t R: 255 G: 0 B:0. See? In the same way, content doesn’t need to be perfectly original to be original.

Consider I want to paint an “original” concept. I’ll paint a horse. Been done a million times before. Let’s make it a blaring red-orange Pegasus whose coat was made of fire. On top of that, let me paint some tortured and wounded farmers who were attacked by said Pegasus for their unethical treatment of animals.

 See what I did there? Have you heard of an equestrian incarnation of a Phoenix who served as a vigilante to exact justice on abused farm animals everywhere?

Though if you broke up the parts of the concept: Horse, Phoenix, Vigilante, some may say it isn’t “original” because I didn’t invent any of those concepts. But the combination certainly has not been conceived or illustrated by the vast vast majority of the population.

THIS, here is originality. And with continuing your train of thought and letting your imagination run wild, you can take a very very simplistic concept and transform it into something marvelously original over time. So keep writing and keep scheming!

The Thrillseekers - Song for Sendai

 

This for me is one of the quintessential and personal favorites of techno trance songs.  Its classic club production is soon contrasted by a more meditative melody which underscores the tragedy that inspired it. Energetic synths meet an emotionally haunting piano both of which demand your attention. And the result is a piece that feels profound and hopeful.