How To Write Like A Professional: Fantasy

May 21, 2012

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Writing fantasy may be considered redundant. When an author creates an environment, all aspects are controlled. You can choose to limit that environment by historical reality or the geography of the earth, but it is still all imagination. The Fantasy genre specifically relates to either historically impossible conditions (say a Nazi regime in western United States at the end of WWII) or unknown location. Mars and the Moon have always provided locations with unlimited possibilities, even after successful exploration of those locations debunked most of the stories that have been written or are being published today.

Both the moon and Mars were used by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his Moon Men and John Carter’s Chronicles of Mars. He also invented places on earth, such as Lost World and The Land That Time Forgot. Burroughs is the epitome of the fantasy writer as he invented Tarzan, sent adventurers to the center of the earth, invented creatures, brought the dinosaurs back to life and even invented optional ways for evolution to work.

In my installment on series, I commented on George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Both of these authors chose to invent completely new worlds as well as new inhabitants for those worlds. They are all of these authors are successful in the fantasy genre because of internal consistency, completeness and the ability to weave a grand story. But fantasy can also be short stories that grab your attention. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Richard Matheson’s I am Legend are good examples.

Fantasy can be graphic, but is separated from horror or by the story being about the “Fantastic” rather than the “Horrific”. Shelley’s story is a blend of fantasy and horror. Most of Matheson’s other works are more focused on horror or at least the bizarre rather than fantasy.

Reading these works and seeing how the stories are knitted together will help you in your drive to write better yourself. The fantasy world can come from any dream or even a different examination of the common world. There have been stories of abnormally small or large creatures and people. Just changing the color of something common to something uncommon can blossom into a complete idea.
 

 

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How To Write Like A Professional – Autobiographical

May 14, 2012

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Cover of "The Diary of a Young Girl: Defi...

This installment of discussions about types of writing and using examples of successful writer will focus on Autobiography. Autobiography should be the simplest form of writing, after all it is the author writing about him or herself. Who better than the author would know what happened and why? Actually almost anyone else is better at capturing real events. Every author writes with a bias. When writing about oneself, the intentions are always pure, the outcome always tainted by a preconceived notion of what is right. It is easy to see in someone else’s writing, but your own is the true.

Autobiographies usually depend on the success of the personality being captured. Some autobiographies define the author who would otherwise be unknown.  The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is one such book. In ways, she avoids the narcissism that is rampant in books by/about politicians. Her youth makes the writing simple, almost as if she is righting a journal for school. That is also what makes it so compelling.

There are autobiographies about entertainers such as Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. This book is almost one of his routines with some insights (or distractions) from his real life. Ozzy Osbourne wrote (?) I am Ozzy. Not to be harsh, but this is not a life with a lot hidden from view. Chelsea Handler has released at least one book that can be considered autobiographical, although most of her books could fall in to the same category as Steve Martin, comedy with some real life.

Recently we have been bombarded with autobiographies from American politicians. Some of these are entrance pieces such as Dreams From my Father and The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama, while others are exit pieces justifying actions such as My Life by Bill Clinton and Decision Points by George W. Bush. Although these books can be enlightening, they are usually tailored to a specific audience, primarily people who support the author with out additional explanations required.

The autobiographies that remain the most entertaining are written by the most entertaining people in history. Abraham Lincoln actually wrote three separate autobiographies. Benjamin Franklin also penned his own. My Life in France reveals how much more there was to Julia Childs than her cooking show on PBS. Some let you see just how hard life can be and how surprising it can be for someone to succeed. Frank McCourt wrote two books. The first, Angela’s Ashes, could be considered a biography of his mother, but paints a detailed picture of his own youth. He followed up the with Tis about himself as an adult in the United States. Both are very well written, at times you are compelled to talk to the characters to get them to avoid pitfalls and disaster, but to no avail. He is one of the authors who can report the good choices and bad with somewhat less excuse or justification than most.

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How To Write Like A Professional (Part 4)

April 23, 2012

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This installment of discussions about types of writing and using examples from successful writers will focus on Historical Fiction. Fiction alone is far too broad of a topic and must be broken into several parts. Earlier, in the discussion of series, the focus was on fantasy fiction. Some of the works of historical fiction are also available in the series format.

Historical fiction is specifically stories built around historic epochs. This is different from period fiction, which occurs in but is also written by authors of that period. Examples of this would be Tolstoy with War and Peace or any of the Jane Austen novels. A better example of historical fiction would be Shogun by James Clavell. Published in the 1970’s, the story is about a pilot of a tall ship and his adventures in 19th century Japan. Obviously Clavell was not alive in the time period of his work, he used the historic evidence to build a framework around his story. The historic structure provided both unique opportunities and restrictions on his characters and plot.

He followed up with several more books that marched through time, not quite getting to the present. These works could be considered a series, as Clavell was comfortable in the epoch he chose to use, but the story is not continuous between the books. Tai-Pan and King Rat followed. Together with Shogun, they became television miniseries. In this way, Cavell’s works are similar to an even more famous book turned to mini-series, Roots by Alex Haley. [Editor’s note: here are links to the videos for Shogun, Tai-Pan, and King Rat.]

Roots is fascinating no just because of the story, but also because of the genre that it covers. It is biographical, autobiographical, historic, period, fiction and non-fiction all rolled into one. Haley moves easily between the genre as his story progresses. It is a simple story of a man searching for his roots to help define himself. The story progresses through each of his ancestors, until he get to himself searching for that beginning.  [Editor’s note: video link for Roots.]

One of the best historical fiction works comes from a man who spent most of his life studying the historical period in question, then filling in details that give you the feeling that you are actually there. This book, actually two books, are I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves. It is the story of the Emperor Tiberius Claudius (know as Claudius to differentiate him from his uncle the Emperor Tiberius). Claudius grew up under Augustus, his step grandfather, and survived the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula (his nephew) to become the emperor himself. He was lame, stammered and was considered an idiot by most historians, but he survived, became emperor and wrote more documents, histories, and books than any other roman emperor. It is written in the first person, and although all of the dialog and action are conjecture, all of the story fits within the known historical context.

 

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How to Write Like a Professional (Part 3)

April 16, 2012

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This installment of writing like a professional will concentrate on biographies. Just as in other forms of writing, biographies have several types that are related. A good example of what could be described as a trans-generational biography is “The Arms of Krupp” by William Manchester. This book traces the life of a corporation through the several generations of the family who founded and ran it over close to 400 years. It is a true biography of the company with many mini-biographies of the individual players spread through the pages. What makes this particular biography so useful as a reference, is that it satisfies both the supporters and the critics of the subjects.

The Krupps were a family in the steel business. They made things from table wear to cannon. They typically supplied both sides of any European conflict with arms until World War II where the limited their efforts to supporting their native country, Germany. This book was embraced by the family as a magnificent testimony of the good that they had done over the centuries. People who wanted one of the last Krupps to be convicted and executed for his role in the Nazi regime also found what they wanted in this same work.

It could be said that Manchester had an easy time, since the people described had been historic figures in his lifetime and those that were not were very colorful. One of the leaders invented the precursor to post it notes by leaving messages on his engineer’s chairs overnight. One leader had his wife put into an insane asylum to hide his homosexual liaisons. The WWII leader convinced the Nuremberg tribunal that his senile father was the one who used the slave labor during the war. All of this is great fodder for writing the story. But Manchester had to do a lot of research to write the book and had to master story telling to be acceptable to both sides of a debate.

Biography is not just depicting a life. Biography is bringing that lifetime back to life for the reader. One of the more famous biographies is James Boswell’s “The Life of Samuel Johnson”. This subject could be very interesting as Samuel Johnson is a significant figure in the development of English as a literary language. Johnson provided one of the first dictionaries and wrote essays and critiques that high school students across America still read. This is an example of a contemporary (Bosworth and Johnson were friends) writing the biography. In this case, the lifetime is exposed with intimate details, private conversations and confessions of fears.

Biographies of famous people are of course the most common, and are usually written well after the life has passed. These works very often carry the personal message of the writer portrayed in the structure of the life being addressed. An easy example of this is Thomas Jefferson. If you call up Thomas Jefferson Biographies on Amazon, there is a list of 454 paper back, 309 hardcover and 29 Kindle versions available. These books have titles such as “The Jefferson Lies”, “Undaunted Courage”, “American Sphinx”, “American Emperor”, and “The Real Thomas Jefferson”. How many of these works actually portray Jefferson accurately is up to the reader and the writer to determine.

There is yet another type of biography to consider. Fictional biography could be the most colorful form of biography available to a writer. In this style, the writer invents the person without having the annoying real person and documentation mucking up the story. “Emma” by Jane Austin is a good example of such a technique. The writer creates everything about the subject, knows all and presents what is most important to the story. It is not political, it is not judgmental, although judgments and political views can be conveyed. This is the best venue to write and not have critics say “it was not that way”. In some ways, any work of fiction includes fictional biography, as the writer must develop characters so that the reader can accept them as real persons.
 

 

How To Write Like A Professional (Part 2)

April 9, 2012

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 18:  George R. R. ...

Why is George R.R. Martin apologizing?

This is the second of a series of articles to look at professional writers and how reading can help your writing.

The first part of this series focused on Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.  His specialty is scientific writing both for professional scientist and the general public.   This week the author of choice is George R. R. Martin.  He has penned a series of books that are best described as fantasy.  This series called “A Song of Fire and Ice”, but it is more popularly known by the HBO series taking the title of the first book, “Game of Thrones”.

These books provide an excellent example of continuation of story line.  Although most authors have complete ideas that can be conveyed in a single book, there are time when an idea is so grand that it must be provided over a long sequence of books.  The most difficult part of this type of writing requires the author to find break points, stops in the story that provide some closure but also drive the reader to return for the next installment.  This is where the author starts to become a screen writer.  Other examples of this type of writer (staying within genre) are J.R.R. Tolkien with his “Lord of the Rings” series, and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series.

As you read each of these works, there is always a breathing space, point in the books where the action slows down for the reader.  These breaks or relaxations of tension are needed to give the reader a chance to set the book down.  If the action is non-stop, like a Bruce Willis film, the reader will get burned out.  The difference between a well written book and a movie is that the movie has the attention getting sight and sound distractions that a book cannot provide directly.  These breaks are in addition to the breaks that signify the end of one book, with enough of a cliff hanger (or unanswered questions) to lead into the next work.

The selections identified here have all been made into movies or television mini-series.  Most book series are actually tailor made for just such a transition.  Of course, if you actually have the opportunity to have you work transfigured into another media, remember that there will have to be editing.  Where you describe a scene for 300 words, is but an instant on the screen.  Your effort to build a tension between two characters may come in just a few words but may take much longer, with actors positioning and delivery much more important than the dialog you created for your reader.

The examples given are all novel length stories in a series.  Short stories can also be used for this type of activity.  Some series are only drawn together by a single character rather than a theme or grand overall vision.  All of the works discussed here are series of six or more books ranging in length from 200 to 800 pages.  Others, such as the James Bond books by Ian Fleming are about 100 pages each, with one being a series of short stories.

The point of this discussion is that if you think you have too big of a story, you can still write it.  This effort will be long, and finding break points will be hard.  All writing is noble, even if the result is not presentable.  Work your ideas knowing that you may have to present them to your audience a course at a time.  Going back George R. R. Martin, he has had to apologize on numerous occasions to his readers.  He takes a long time to get one of his books put together.  He has had to break the story in ways that some readers have not liked, such as ignoring some characters for an entire book to concentrate on them in the next.  In interviews, he has admitted that he just has too much to present.  He is extremely successful at writing and still has the same problems the rest of us amateurs face.

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How To Write Like A Professional

April 2, 2012

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Writing (and speaking) like a professional

Dr. at the November 29, 2005 meeting of the NA...

This is the first of a series of articles to look at professional writers and how reading can help your writing.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is a writer.  He also happens to be the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  He has a new book out titled “Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier”.  It is not exactly an historical review of the space program (although there is some of that), it is more a discussion of why we have stopped.  This could seem to have a limited audience; space buffs.  Although space buffs will be interested, it is actually a broader discussion than just space exploration.  Dr. Tyson dives into the political, philosophical and practical implications of space exploration and the lack there or.

Dr. Tyson is not just a highly intelligent, highly educated scientist, he is also an excellent writer.  That title is applied because of his ability to explain complex ideas in ways that almost any reader can understand.  In addition to the readability, it is also entertaining.  He understands and can actually execute the salesmanship required by writers.  He follows in the foot steps of Carl Sagan.  Most people can picture Dr. Sagan immediately upon hearing his name.  He popularized Astronomy including the exploration of the solar system with the Pioneer and Voyager missions.  Dr. Tyson has that same ability, to popularize without marginalizing the intellectual basis of the topic.

Dr. Tyson is also a very good speaker.  He spoke about his latest work on C-Span. There are a lot of writers who want to just write and have people read and appreciate their good work.  Unfortunately, this is not the way the world works.  As a writer, you have to seek out and engage your public.  To be successful as a writer, you will have to get in front of people and talk about your books.  Learning to speak in public is just as important as learning how to write.  Reading other successful writers and watching their public speaking will provide hints and pointers to improve your writing and speaking.
 

 

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Political Speech

March 26, 2012

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This last week, there were several politically charged gatherings.  The Occupy Wall Street group celebrated six months of continuous protests.  The Tea Party group started their now annual rallies leading up to tax day and anti-Tea Party groups protested the Tea Party.

Tea Party protesters fill the National Mall on...

Tea Party protesters fill the National Mall.

The Tea/Anti-Tea protests are very well-defined.  The Tea Party thinks that Americans are taxed enough already and do not like some of the programs that are being funded by the federal government, specifically the new health care legislation that is now two years old.  The Anti-Tea Party groups think that rich people are not taxed enough and that too much money is spent on the military.  They also specifically support the new health care legislation as a way to save money in the future by guaranteeing that everyone has affordable health care.  The arguments on each side are well articulated and, in general, are civil.

Protesters at the Occupy Wall Street protest i...

The Occupy Wall Street protest in New York.

The Occupy group is still rather nebulous in their message.  They have returned to the “forgive my student loans” issues.  Why the banks are evil on this issue is confusing.  The students chose to take the loans and knew the expectations of repayment.  It would be like charging for tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert then expecting the credit card company to forgive that short term loan.  The argument could be made that a college education is different than a concert, but the basic premise is the same.  If you cannot afford the college costs, is it the bank’s fault or the college?  If you cannot afford the concert ticket, is it the credit card company’s fault or the entertainer’s?  Or in both cases, has the borrower made a bad financial decision and gotten into debt that they should not have taken?

We as a nation have bailed out car companies, financial institutions and certain people with bad mortgages.  The occupy group wants to add to this list people with student loans or apparently loans of any kind that they do not want to have to pay back.  Although most people would like a freebie every once in a while, there will be a cost if the occupy group is given what they want just has there has been a cost for the bail outs that have already occurred.

The previous bail outs have driven the national debt higher.  Unless the federal government pays off the loans that the occupy group wants forgiven (which will add even more to the debt), then the people who deposit in the banks will lose.  Even if they do not lose their actual deposits, the will get extra fees, reduced rates on their investments and many other costs.  The banks are not individuals, they are corporations.  Corporations sell products, in this case, interest to attract deposits and loans to make money.  If the money source does not make money, they will stop providing the product (meaning the next group of college attendees will have no loans available) or charge more for existing products to recover the lost revenue.  Getting the loans forgiven may seem like a good idea for the moment, but it will not get those people jobs, income or opportunities, in fact it will limit opportunities for a very large group of people who could include the protesters themselves.

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Touring Our American Heritage

March 19, 2012

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Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC

I took the opportunity of Spring Break to visit several historical sites.  This was not just an educational tour, but a family visit that was fortuitously located on the east coast.  If you ever have the opportunity, you should visit the various historical sites that have been protected across this great country.

My tour started in Philadelphia.  This city is surprisingly accessible.  The roads are rather tight, so avoid driving, but there are a multitude of Taxis and almost everything is within walking distance.  Independence Hall and Liberty Bell are part of an immaculate park with Betsy Ross’ house near by.  The architecture throughout the city is spectacular.  Most of the houses are from the 1800s, but there are a couple of streets with houses from the 1700s that are kept authentic.  Of course there are  more modern structures, but the old stuff is what caught my eye.

On the way out of town, we dropped by Valley Forge.  The Parks Department keeps the entire area in pristine condition.  They have replicas of the sheds the men made for themselves and Washington’s headquarters is set up for tours.  It is a small building that housed 23 people, that is once Mrs. Washington showed up.  Of course, once she was there, they had to set up a dining tent.  It seems that it was pretty much a scouting camp out until she was there.  The men were housed 12 to a shed, triple bunks set up in each corner.  There are monuments scattered around where each of the troops were bivouacked.  There is also a triumphal arch listing all of the commands.

Next we headed to Washington DC.  Again, there is plenty of access.  Again, having a vehicle is not recommended.  There is so much to see just on the National Mall, that you could spend a week just there.  At one end is the Capital, at the other is the Lincoln Memorial.  I cannot think of a more impressive walk any where in the world.  We only visited four of the Smithsonian museums.  I personally was impressed by each of the war memorials.  The WWII memorial is awesome in its scale and location right beneath the Washington Memorial.  The Korean War and Viet Nam Memorials straddle the reflecting pool on either side of the Lincoln Memorial.  Right now, the Mall is a construction zone as they are replanting the grassy areas to allow more tourist traffic and they are fixing the reflecting pool.

English: View of Monticello from the West Lawn.

Out of Washington, we headed to Charlottesville Virginia, the site of Thomas Jefferson’s house, Monticello.  Even though it is only one house, we spent an entire day there.  This site is run by a private organization rather than the parks department.  The facilities are very well-kept, as is the house.  The tours are very personal, with the guides allowing a lot of questioning from the group and allowing the group to steer the discussion.

We took the long way around through the mountains of West Virginia to get back to Philadelphia for our flight home.  The Shenandoah valley is beautiful.  There is literally a historic site at every exit, either from the Revolutionary War or the Civil War.  There were plenty of attractions on the circuit that I just described that we were not able to visit.  The future awaits.  Again, if you ever have the opportunity to witness out monuments, take it.  And of course, write about it.

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How Did Your Ancestors Come To America?

March 5, 2012

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NEW YORK CITY- SEPTEMBER 22:  The Statue of Li...

How did your ancestors come to America?  Very few of us can claim to be descendants of the people who walked from Asia across the land bridge that is now the Bering Sea.  If you are, congratulations.  I personally can only claim residency for just over 100 years.  That does not mean that I have no relatives that live in America before 1900, I just have not found them yet.

My ancestors are almost all European.  That makes it a bit easier for me to track my heritage before the American experience.  I have found that I come from very average people, not poverty stricken and not nobility.  They left Europe to escape the wars, most of them leaving between the Franco-Prussian war and World War I.

There are all sorts of resources available to track your family.  To actually track where you come from is also available.  I am referring to the source of your family, hundreds of generations ago.  I participated in the Geanographic project sponsored by National Geographic.  I sent in a swab from my cheek and they traced my DNA to common sources.  We are all Africans at some point, but my common source is northeastern Europe in the region of Lithuania.

Is any of this important?  It is at least interesting.  In the long run, it is not that important as all of us are related.  We are all human beings, we all eventually have common ancestors.  Knowing where your family comes from, learning the stories, that is what is important.  You can learn more from the decisions your ancestors have made than from any book on ethics, morals, or self help.  You can also learn more about what real life is than the official histories of significant events and famous people.  The birth or death of someone in your own family has much more direct impact on you and you personal development than any politician, movie start or sports hero.

Besides the personal fulfillment that can be found in researching your roots, this type of study provides a cornucopia of ideas for writing.  These are events that are unique to your family, special as only you can portray them.  They are an opportunity to take some of yourself and become part of your past, sharing it with the world through the written word.

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What is The Hardest Part of Writing?

February 27, 2012

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English: penulis = writer

Starting

Actually getting started is the first hurdle in writing.  Choosing a topic, establishing an outline, actually putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), are all part of that start.  Although this can be difficult, the opportunities are countless.  Any idea floating around in your head is a starting point.  There is no need to have the entire work planned to get started, just the impetus to write.

Finishing

Completing a story may seem much harder than starting one, and it is.  Binding all of your ideas together into a comprehensible whole, knitting a compelling picture with threads of your words can be a daunting task.  Sometimes getting to the end is a marathon, sometimes a sprint.  Knowing when to stop and accept what you have created as being of its own is also a hard.  You have created this thing, yet it has become like a child.  You want it to be perfect before anyone else is allowed to see it.  Just like your living children, you have to let go, let them out into the world to succeed or fail as they can.  This is difficult, but still not the hardest part of writing.

Publishing

Publishing is the one part of writing where you as the writer have no control.  You are dependent on  others to take your work and proffer it to the world.  In the past, publishers were limited to a small group of large houses (if you wanted wide distribution).  They had to be large to take the risks of producing many physical copies of a story that may never pay off.  Small publishing houses existed, but they went for smaller runs, and therefore smaller audiences.

Today is very different.  There are literally thousands of publishers on line.  Although this provides a lot of options and opportunity, there are also more risks for the writer.  Many of these options can result in the loss of your work and someone else earning from your effort.  To pick the right venue, research the publishers you are considering.  What is their policy for sale and protection of your story?  What is their support level?  How long have they actually been publishing and have they been successful?  Remember, even on line publishers are taking a risk when they choose to host you.  That risk is a negative reflection that your work could bring to their site.  This can have the effect of eliminating that site from the internet.

No matter how you publish, build the relationship with your perspective host.  If something is rejected, you have to remember that it is a business, not a charity.  If you are faced with continuous rejection, you should re-evaluate your relationship, just as you would in a personal relationship.  Just as starting and finishing your work are challenges, so is the act of publishing.  Never give up and keep writing.

Editor’s note: I’m happy to announce that Martin has published his debut novel, A Changed Man.  You can buy the Kindle version on Amazon.  Don’t have a Kindle?  A Change Man is also available in PDF format on the Hyrax Publications site.  Or you could buy a Kindle (or download a Kindle viewer for your computer or smart device).
 

 

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