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Comicality

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  1. Comicality

    Trailblazing

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Trailblazing I think, as a creator, we all want to appreciate the honor and prestige that comes with the idea that we were able to tell a story that is truly unique, original, and just completely out of the blue...blowing your audience away in the process. It’s a lofty and ambitious goal to reach for...but it’s a high branch on the tree, believe me. So reach for it, but don’t be discouraged if you create something awesome while still falling a bit short.
    That begs the question...is it even possible to come up with a story that’s new and has never ever been done before?
    I mean, it’s a crazy to think about sometimes. Right? I have to admit that I go spiraling down that rabbit hole sometimes, myself. How can you escape your greatest creative influences when it was your greatest creative influences that inspired your passion for writing in the first place? How weird is it to think that the very concept of a ‘new’ story is simply the product of an illusion that you may never be able to escape from? Wild.
    I always quote one of my writing teachers in college and what he told me back then. “There have been no new stories since the Romans.” And in a lot of ways...he was actually pretty accurate with that statement. Between the Romans, Greek Mythology, and Shakespeare...they’ve tackled almost every single corner of the human condition in all of its many forms and expressions. Man versus man, man versus self, man versus society, the heroes journey, love, betrayal, paranoia, anger, murder, forbidden romance, war, karma coming back around to bite you in the ass...where else do you go from there? Especially with thousands upon thousands of other people already building off of that already solidified blueprint for storytelling in general. It’s a difficult task to tackle. Believe me, I know! And I keep trying really HARD because there’s a stubborn part of my psyche that truly thinks that it can be done! If anything, if I can write just ONE story that can be fully immersive and one hundred percent original...that would be the Holy Grail of my entire existence. Hehehe! Seriously, I am always trying to get around that impenetrable barrier of ‘been there, done that, seen it all before’ with the stories that I write...but so far it’s been an unreachable fruit on the vine.
    If any of you guys have tried to get around this barricade yourselves, or have been struggling with the same ambitions of making it happen...please let me know down in the replies down below. It would be really awesome to hear everyone’s thoughts on this issue. Who knows? We might be able to help one another reach the peak of that particular mountain and come up with a few new formulas. And then relay the message back down to the rest of us who were climbing up behind you. Hehehe!
    Brand new ideas in writing can be extremely difficult to come by sometimes. And that’s not even including the entire expanse of all of the stories that have been told over the course of fiction history...but even with the amount of stories that I’ve written personally over the past decade or two. And that’s just my catalog of stories alone, how can I not expect to make a definitive impact, regardless, when all I have is the same guiding light as everyone else? And even more so, ever hope to maintain that pace or possibly evolve above and beyond it?
    It’s a tough question...but still...I believe that it can be done. I just haven’t found it yet. Let me know if I come close!
    So, for me, the search for that literary Ark of the Covenant continues...and here are a few ideas that I’ve been able to formulate in my journey when it comes to maybe finding the real thing.
    First things first...it’s not the idea of the story, but your personal perspective of the story that will make all the difference. We’ll start with this one, as I think it’s probably one of the easiest ways to look at this...well...I don’t want to call it a ‘problem’, because it really isn’t. But it’s an obstacle. One that you are going to have to put some effort in trying to get around. I know that you don’t want to hear it...but it’s going to be a real chore to write a story of forbidden love between two people without touching on some of the tropes that were set up in and well executed in the story, “Romeo And Juliet”. There have been a million takes on it, a million different endings, a million different conflicts...but, chances are that somewhere along the way...you’re going to unintentionally trip over the Shakespeare classic. Even in this day and age. BUT...that doesn’t mean that your story isn’t original or a product of your own personal genius. It’s just a matter of being a product of of, what some might say, one of the greatest tragic forbidden love stories of all time in many literary circles. So don’t sweat it. It’s not your job to compete as a writer. It’s your job to share your own experience, evn if it may be with something similar. That’s all.
    The first movie of, “The Predator”, is great! I love it! Always have, and I always will. But is it a high tech science fiction version of “The Most Dangerous Game”...maaaaaybe. Hehehe! Doesn’t make me love it any less. Not because it was some mind-blowing new concept of fiction...but because they’ve taken the concept to a whole other level that I never could have expected. And I give them credit for that. It’s all in how you bring your own specific twist to the table.
    There are a lot of times when I started “Gone From Daylight” (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) where I was constantly trying to check and control myself from past influences so that I could avoid them and make this series something of my very own! And it’s a challenge sometimes! It really is. I have to stop my thought process and think, “Ugh...this sounds too much like ‘The Matrix’!” or ‘No...this sounds too much like ‘X-Men’!” And I try to change course and try my hardest not to borrow from a lot of my own influences. I wanted something unique and innovative, and was way outside of my comfort zone. And even to this day, it’s hard to do. But If I’m writing that sounds or feels too familiar to me, I’ll go back and try to make my own creative spin on it and wrack my brain trying to trailblaze forward with something more genuine instead. It can make your head hurt sometimes, hehehe...at least it does for me...but the last thing I’d ever want to be is a copycat. So always remember to make your story your own vision of the events that are happening and sure to come, and how YOU would see them if you’re going through them yourself. The biggest difference between anybody else’s story and yours...is YOU! Don’t ever forget that!
    Another way to achieve this that I’ve been playing around with is in the formatting of the story itself. For example, I’ve written many ‘boy meets boy’ type of stories on the site...but, what if I changed the formatting from my usual prose to the idea of it being a day to day diary from a teenage boy who was living in that particular moment. Every feeling, every misunderstanding, every struggle, every school based fear of being discovered, every parental punishment? This is where “The Secret Life Of Billy Chase” came from. Now is this a trailblazing story that’s never ever been done before? I don’t know. I highly doubt it. But trying to tell one of my stories in an entirely different way was brand new to me. And I was hoping that it would open up the doors needed to make something truly unique out of it. And it feels like a new idea...but I still think that I can do better. Hehehe! The search continues.
    Ways of telling a story can vary drastically from one idea to another. There’s the whole flashback approach, there’s the “Princess Bride”, I’m reading a fairy tale to someone else approach, there’s the “Memento” telling a story backwards and out of order approach….if you ever find yourself getting tired of telling a story in the same old linear way and running out of ways to do so...try a different format and see how it works out for you. It’s a challenge, definitely...but you may find talents within you that you didn’t even know that you had. So what have you got to lose by switching up the format a little bit, right?
    And the third way? The devil is in the details, right? So make the details your focus and tweak and twist them in ways that you’ve personally never seen it done before.
    I remember that people online were telling me that I should do a zombie apocalypse story for the site, but at the time...”The Walking Dead” and its spinoffs were at their peak, and there were more zombie movies that you could shake a stick at. So...I wrote ONE chapter of a story that took place during an outbreak, expecting that to be the only one. But many fans of that first chapter wanted more, and kept asking about it. So, the first question that I asked myself was...how can I possibly do something new with the whole zombie genre and the people hiding away from it? I started taking notes and the biggest detail was...the zombies were always the same. Whether they were slow or fast. But what if they were just as different and varied as the people that turned in the first place? Which later became a matter of whether or not it was just a dormant gene that hit certain teenagers once they entered puberty? That became a metaphor for sexual awareness. When does it happen? Age 12? Maybe 14? Maybe 18? It can be so random...how do you track and make a blanket law about such a thing? And by varying the threat as well as the potential victims of the threat gave me an edge that I could work with. Who’s safe, and who isn’t? And even though...how do you know who’s a ticking time bomb or not. That’s the idea that made me want to continue on with “Shelter” as a series, and it’s still a very popular story on the site to this day! (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/shelter/)
    And from there, it led to a host of new characters, who each have stories of their own on how they survived the breakdown of civilization and find their way to the shelter in the first place! Hehehe, they’re GOOD individual stories! Promise! So please excuse my shameless promotion! Hahaha!
     
    (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/)
     
    But again….is this the most revolutionary idea to ever be added to the pot? Nope! But give me time! Hehehehe! I’ve done different things with vampires, different things with werewolves, different things with “The Boys From Widow Lake” just for an ebook exclusive….but trying to com up with something that’s NEVER been done before? That’s a tall order. Perhaps too tall for me to climb over. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to work my brain to total exhaustion trying. And if any of you have got that secret key within you...feel free to share! LOL! Or...just keep it to yourself and write that next revolutionary, “1984”, “Lord Of The Flies”, “Hamlet”, that we all wish we could use to beat you to the punch. Might as well, right?
    Don’t let the next “Catcher In The Rye” be buried with you! Write it! And share it! Whqat you have to say might end up inspiring millions! So what are you waiting for?
    I hope this helps, you guys! Go searching for those original thoughts in your head! There’s gotta be something that hasn’t been said or expressed yet, right? Find it! And then come back and let us know how you did it! Hehehe!
    Love you lots! And please stay beautiful!
     
  2. Comicality

    Monologues

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Monologues Do you guys remember those old James Bond movies, or hell...even the new ones, where our hero has finally been captured and somehow strapped into some super convoluted contraption that is sure to bring about his very slow, very painful, demise? A laser aimed at his penis or whatever...hehehe, something that looks like it took longer to build and test than anything else that our villain had been working on in his dastardly plan to take over the world. You know the ones. Now, of course, Bond villains are mostly narcissists beyond repair...so they can’t just kill him off and succeed where so many others have failed. So, when most authors think of writing a monologue into their story they always picture it as a long, drawn out, detailed description of the villain’s ultimate plan and a braggadocious way of putting their high level of genius on display. But there are other effective ways of using a character monologue in your fiction than as just an info dump for your readers. Monologues that can create a real bond between your audience and your work that really sticks with them and with the characters that you attach them to. And that’s what I want to focus on today. It really does come in handy, after all.
    Monologues can really be used for a variety of different functions when it comes to crafting a story. And I’m not just talking about using it for the sake of exposition. Not every monologue has to be thought of some easy to deliver an explanation to clue your readers on what’s going on. Many times, they’re pretty clued in on what’s happening already if your ‘show not tell’ skills are up to par and they don’t need the extra help to figure things out. And one thing that can slow down your pacing and bore your audience is giving an even longer explanation of something that they already know. However, monologues can be used to define and expose character. They can be used to set tone, or change tone if necessary. They can also be added to your project in a way that draws your audience in even closer than before and further invest their time and energy into a story that wasn’t really there before. It can be a bit difficult to explain, but it isn’t just a massive delivery of information all at once. It has a different vibe all its own, and I hope that the following examples will give you guys a better feeling of what I’m talking about so you can feel the difference too.
    First of all...when it comes to the kind of monologues that I’m describing are meant to be more for the story and the interaction between fictional characters than it is for the reader. I think that’s the biggest highlight of using this particular method in your story. It’s not like I’m trying to find a sneaky way to talk to my audience. It’s more about using the monologue to uncover the traits, flaws, and emotional position within the rest of the of the story. It’s a monologue, sure...but it’s not for giving any extra information in a static way. Remember...’show’, don’t ‘tell. It puts the character delivering the monologue in the spotlight all alone, but the purpose is to expose the character and allow my audience to grab all of their inferences and knowledge they need on their own. Not because I told them so, but because they can see it in my words. In my tone. In the actions and reactions of everyone in the scene. Does that make sense?
    For example, this is a really amazing monologue from Ben Affleck in the movie, “Boiler Room”. (Awesome movie! Check it out when you get a chance!) It’s a film about someone who decides to try to get hired and work for a stock brocking firm, and while Ben Affleck has a pretty small role in the movie as a whole, he KILLS this scene! He marches in, he commands the entire room with confidence and power, and you are immediately glued to the screen and perked up to hear every word that he says.
    Now, he’s not really hitting us, the audience, over the head with an info dump. This monologue isn’t about giving us extra details or treading over any of the previous information that we already know. It’s a very minimal part of what’s being accomplished here. Give it a look, and see how it’s more about him as a character, how other people respond to him, and how it heightens the level of intensity in the story just by having him there.
     
    One of the things I love most about this is the very simple line, “Don’t waste my time.” That fits in perfectly with what he’s doing with this monologue. There’s no back and forth going on here...this is what I’m telling you, and that’s all there is to it. Period.
    How does he get the opportunity to deliver his monologue, uninterrupted? Because this speech immediately commands a sense of authority. Who in that scene would dare to cut him off or ask a question? They sit back, almost in shocked silence, and attempt to absorb all that they can without missing anything. And that is part two of this process...authority.
    If your characters are going to suddenly lock themselves in and become a highly interested spectator in this scene, then the character ‘preaching at the pulpit’ should make it clear to anyone who might be reading your scene that they are deserving of their attention. It should be evident that this is someone who is in control and will be the centerpiece of that moment.
    It doesn’t take any yelling or aggression on their part either. Allow the scene to reveal your character and give off this vibe of someone who is in charge. Not just by giving readers a hefty dose of new information or by repeating or rephrasing old information. Even with most gentle voice and calm demeanor, you can create the same feel. Watch this scene from Patrick Swayze’s movie, “Road House”. (Also a great movie! Hehehe, I love it!) Very cool, very calm, but it still inspires a sense of authority and control. You want to hear what he has to say, and it’s not because you’d be lost or confused without whatever information it’s giving you. But because you’re now being brought in as a part of this world and being given a solid sense of character and tone through the monologue.
     
    For a monologue like this to work, the character speaking has to create an illusion of complete control. They know what they’re talking about, they’ve been through it all before, and if everyone else keeps their yap shut and pays attention...they just might learn something important. That’s the beauty of non-expositional monologues. It’s not really mean for you as a reader. You’re not there. At best, you’re a fly on the wall, taking a look behind the scenes at the interactions between your characters. Not a whole lot more.
    This doesn’t mean that the conversations have to be meaningless or disconnected from the rest of the plot. No, not at all. At the end of the day, you’re still attempted to concentrate on a fixed plot and move things forward in a certain direction without too many offshoots or distractions. But where exposition is using a character to push the plot forward...these monologues are meant to be closely connected to eveloping the character themselves.
    This scene from “The Rock” contains a bit more information for the sake of the plot, but more than anything...it reveals a lot more about the character himself, all while revealing his goals and motivations from that point on. Intimidating and threatening in its subtext, but delivered with the same calm and collected authority that says a lot about the villain that they’re dealing with here. And yet, it’s like there’s this underlying fury in his demeanor that he seems to be doing his very best to keep a hold on. Very well done, in my opinion.
     
    I hope that, when you watch these clips, you can get a sense of the difference between plot mechanics and character development. Between adding these monologues for the reader’s benefit and keeping them informed...and adding them to present a feeling of in your story that builds upon the feelings and tones that you want your story to have without just coming right out and flatly saying it with written text alone. There’s a big shift from one to the other, and they can work to paint a very different picture, depending on how you use them.
    I’m just adding this one last clip because it’s one of my all time favorite monologues in movie history. And it’s just a conversation between a troubled college kid and his therapist from the movie, “Good Will Hunting”. It has so much heart, so much meaning, delivers a bit of extra info that the audience didn’t have before (through hints and subtle language alone), and this is how you can really make an effective use of a great monologue between two people and really have it hit home. One of the most amazing examples that I can think of when it comes to plot, tone, and character. Again...the authoritative voice, the stunned silence in his response, and an expert delivery.
    This one monologue alone could be an article in itself.
     
    Alight, ladies and gentlemen...that’s it for now. When you get some quiet time, give it a little bit more thought, and maybe think about how you could create a meaningful monologue of your very own. In dialogue, I mean. Not in narration. Hehehe, that’s a whole other ball of wax, and much easier to explain.
    As always, I hope this helps! And fel free to share any thoughts or comments down below. K?
    Best of luck! And there will be more to come soon!
     
  3. Comicality

    Underwritten

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Underwritten The characters that we create with our fiction are meant to be treated with the consistent notion that they all have something to say. That they all have certain motivations, needs and wants, flaws and problems, of their own. At least that’s how I always think of them in my head as I position them in different situations throughout my own stories. Now, it would be impossible, or at the very least...incredibly distracting, for a writer to go through each and every single character and write out their entire life stories for everyone to get attached to while still sticking to the full main story that you’re trying to build from scratch. Even attempting to do so will leave you with a giant heap of useless prose that neither deepens or progresses the plot in any way and dilutes the focus of what’s supposed to be directly in your spotlight. So why is it there? Get rid of it, unless it has some unseen impact on the story in the future chapters before it comes to an end. But...just because you haven’t made any efforts to add these details to the story, doesn’t mean they don’t still need to be there somehow. But only if it’s necessary.
    Hehehe, Let me explain...
    I’m sure you’re all familiar with the term, ‘one trick pony’, right? It’s like...you advertise this amazing pony, a wonder among wonders, and smarter than all of the other animals like him. And people get there to see this magnificent creature, you say “Stamp your foot three times!”, and the pony does it. Amazing! What else can he do? “What do you mean what else can he do? That’s it. That’s the trick. Thanks for coming out, have a good night, folks!” Hehehe, wouldn’t you feel a bit cheated? One trick, and not one that’s all that mind-blowing to be honest. I have read stories, seen movies and TV shows, where some of their characters definitely fit into this category, and it comes from one of those mistakes that authors make from time to time. Exchanging the personality and humanity of an actual character for the practice of simply using them as a plot device to fill in the little holes in your storytelling that you need to tell in order to keep things moving.
    You may think that most readers won’t be able to tell the difference...but I assure you that they most definitely can. So don’t make it one of those bad habits that you train yourself to find comfort in. More often than not, it doesn’t work. And it ends up taking points away from a really cool story if you lean too heavily on it. I’ve done it myself in the past, and now that I look back and see it so clearly, it really does bug me. Ugh!
    Think of it this way...if you have a character in your story that provides a decent amount of comic relief to the rest of the story...ask yourself if that’s a character trait or a plot device? What’s the difference? One is an actual person with a humorous streak in them, and the other is something the story uses as a tool every time they feel the current situation needs a touch of levity to combat and control the readers’ attention. If you engage in pulling off the latter throughout the entire story, you’ve succeeded in taking a living, breathing, human being...and draining all the life out of them until they’re just a tool written in for the story’s sake. No more animate or ‘alive’ than a hammer or a screwdriver. You take it out when you need it, put it back in the drawer, and don’t think about it until you need it again. What this does is eat away at the very purpose of having this character exist anywhere in your story at all. Any one of your more well developed characters can tell a joke or two, but if you created an entire fictional entity to act as a vessel for that one particular trait, then you have to support their existence with something that isn’t quite as flimsy.
    Like I said, I’ve definitely written characters like this in the past and I’ve learned to avoid doing it if at all possible. It was all about how I was feeling about the story as a whole first, and then telling myself that this is what I needed to carry the story from beginning to end. What that led to was me building characters that were flat and not really interesting at all beyond their usefulness of the context of the story itself. I found myself thinking in terms of, “He can be the best friend, she can be the angry one, this guy can be the smart one...” Etc. Well, what does that mean in terms of them being a character? Smart about what? Best friend to who? And why? Angry because of what? These are all questions that I should have been asking myself when I thought them up. People who ‘felt’ as though they had a life and a reason for living outside of this one plotted story. I think it’s important to make the distinction between characters and plot devices to keep your story on track and eliminate wasteful writing on people who, ultimately, don’t matter in this world you’ve built. Meaning that the readers won’t care, and it’s just blank space being filled up with the echoes of a better story and more important characters. Keep that in mind at all times.
    I was watching a horror movie some months ago, where the main character was a photographer who was following the murderous deeds of a killer on a local subway system. He was checking his pictures, searching for patterns, trying to figure out what was going on, sharing his discoveries with local authorities, being completely affected by everything that was going on. He was the driving force of the story, and what I was most intrigued by apart from the actual killer himself. It turned out to be a pretty cool movie in the end. But then...he had a wife at home. And honestly, it kind of sucked a lot of the enjoyment out of the rest of the movie for me. Why? Because she was just sort of...there. You know? Like...she didn’t really enhance the plot in any way, she didn’t have any level of expertise or connections to help him solve the mystery, she wasn’t in any danger that she needed ‘saving’ from, she didn’t team up with her husband to look for clues or give him any ideas...she was just there. He would come home, and she was cooking something and said, “Hi, honey. Love you.” when he came back home, occasionally adding, “You look tired.” or a “This is taking a toll on you.” And that was it. And it began to annoy me after a while, because if she’s going to be a part of this movie and written into the plot...give her something to DO! Why is she here, other than to slow down the pacing and distract me from the main plot while I’m expecting her to be the key to...SOMETHING in the grand scheme of things. But nope. She was just there to be a wife and act as a exposition plot device to tell the audience that his obsession was changing him and that he should slow down. It was the quintessential underwritten character, and if she hadn’t been in the story at all, and the protagonist had just been a bachelor with a manic fascination with a deadly hunter on the subway, I think it could have made for a much better story. This is why underwritten characters have such little use in the stories we write. They fill such a tiny spot in the bigger picture that it’s often better to just erase them altogether and let the rest of story jut glide right over it.
    A great example? Lois Lane! Anybody who’s a fan of Superman knows who Lois Lane is and why she’s important. You feel like you know her. She’s got spunk, and wit, and she’s smart. And she’s a reporter, so if she’s in harm’s way, it’s often because she put herself there following he passion for investigative reporting. Lois Lane is an AWESOME character, and much more than a plot device to give Superman a familiar damsel in distress to save every week. You get a feeling that she exists outside of whatever story she happens to be a part of at that time. She has a backstory and a future. The character can stand on its own and you believe it because there are other facets to her personality that have nothing to do with that one twenty page comic book issue, you know?
    Now...who can tell us who Batman’s girlfriend was without going back to watch the movie? Don’t worry...I’ll wait.
    Vicki Vale. Fun fact...Vicki Vale was originally added to the Batman comic books, especially after adopting ‘Robin’ to be his sidekick, because everyone was worried that Batman might look too ‘gay’ for the market. That was basically her only reason for being there. No ambition, no real motivation, nothing in the way of helping Batman out or even hindering him by searching for his secret identity. Nope. She was just there to keep him from looking gay. There’s nothing to say about her at all. Nothing memorable or impactful. She’s just Batman’s girlfriend. His one trick pony. And nothing else.
    Whenever you’re writing your own stories, do everything that you can to create or give ANY attention that you can to your one note, underwritten, characters so that they shine a little bit and can add something to the mix. Or, quite simply...lose them. Send them all packing. You’ll thank me for it later, and your story will seem so much tighter and on point if you just avoid the fluff.
    I have stories where it’s obvious that my characters have other friends outside of the plot. They have teachers, some of them have jobs, all of them one or two parents or guardians at home...and I might mention them every now and then to the point where readers are aware of their existence...but that’s pretty much the beginning and the end of it. Why take the time to treat them like an actual character when they’re not serving as anything more than a cardboard cutout for the background. I have some stories where the parents are an actual part of the plot and have an important role to play in the development of my protagonist...but if they’re just going to be standing around doing nothing the whole time, then why bother? It’s a plot device that serves no purpose. Underwritten characters may have a function...but no purpose. And the story would be more focused without having to deal with them at all.
    Alrighty then...underwritten characters. Are you guilty of leaning on them yourselves? Let us know your thoughts down below. And I hope this article helps you out whenever you need it! Have a good time, you guys! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
  4. Comicality

    Violence

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Violence All stories...or at least the interesting and memorable ones...have one thing in common. And that is an element of conflict. There has to be some sort of motivation for your protagonist to chase after, a goal has to be established, and the conflict is whatever obstacle or antagonist that stands between the two of them. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Ok, but where’s the story in that? Maybe there’s heavy traffic that makes crossing the road a dangerous task. Maybe the chicken has a broken leg. Maybe the chicken is being hunted by a predator and putting itself out in the open can mean certain death. Hehehe, whatever. It sounds like I’m thinking about this too much...but am I though? A story without conflict isn’t really a story. Conflict is the fuel that a story has to burn in order to propel itself from point A to point B. Without it...well you just kind of have a series of words floating around in the ether with no direction or purpose. And most people aren’t really interested in reading that. What could they possibly have to gain, you know?
    Now conflict can come in many different forms, from financial hardships, to fear of rejection, to a love rival, to a somewhat hostile environment. But that’s not what we’re going to focus on today.
    No matter what you’re doing or what genre of fiction you happen to be writing in...there may come a time when the major conflict in your story may reach a level where actual violence becomes a part of it, and depending one what it is that you’re trying to say with this violence...the devil is in the details. It’s important for every author to define for themselves and their audience what kind of effect scenes like this are supposed to have on the rest of the story going forward, or just on the story as a whole. It’s essential that you set the tone and the emotional impact, and that it matches what it is that you’re trying to do with everything surrounding it. Because if you get it wrong, the entire exercise of crafting your project can quickly and easily begin to spin out of control and send mixed messages to your audience. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get down and dirty with the concepts of violence in your fiction.
    Just as with any other conflict in your story...violence can be represented and delivered in a variety of different ways, depending on the theme and the situations surrounding. Violence can be a short punch to the face out of sheer frustration and anger, or it can be a drawn out battle as is typical in an action or fantasy based story. It can be as tame as a threat from a grade school bully...or as gruesome as having a monster rip someone to pieces in a horror based ghost story. There are levels to violence that all have a very different ‘feel’ to them, and if you practice using them all at one time or another, you begin to recognize that feel, and develop an instinct on how to determine what level is appropriate for that scene as it fits into the rest of the story.
    The first rule is to understand and plan for the impact you would want any scene create. In the story, “My Only Escape”, the abuse was meant to play a major role in the story...and so I wrote the violence in a way that would be very visceral and disturbing to the reader because that was the kind of impact that I wanted it to have. You could almost say that the violence is a character in itself, and it’s designed to be unsettling as well menacing throughout the entire series. However, I also wrote a vampire story spinoff called “GFD: Blade Of Shadows” involving a samurai who is wandering the lands and doesn’t want any trouble at all. He wants to leave the violence behind him and be done with it once and for all, but when his hand is forced...it ends in bloodshed. This is a case where writing out the details of the violence wasn’t meant to be disturbing, but I wanted the reluctant nature of this character to remain in the mind of the audience. Entertaining? Sure. But it was almost like a cut on his enemies was comparative to him making a cut on himself. If that makes sense.
    Then I have a horror anthology called “Darkness Waits” available as an ebook (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) where violence was an actual part of the process, where I definitely put some effort into building up the ‘protagonist’ (if you can call them that) and giving them a sense of character that my audience can engage with...but even though the violence is dialed up higher than normal, it almost feels justified. So one feeling sort of plays a game of tug-o-war with the other, and they balance each other out. Every bit of violence that I’ve added to one of my stories was crafted in such a way where it ‘fits’ with everything else that’s going on in the story. I might have one of my high school romantic stories boil over at some point and end in an angry fist fight with someone else...but I wouldn’t have my protagonist stab the other teen in his stomach with a friggin’ butcher knife, as that would be a bit extreme. Those two vibes don’t necessarily match unless it’s something that I’m deliberately doing for shock value. So learning about the levels of violence and how to mold and manipulate them in ways that I can use to effectively express its purpose at that particular part of the story is what helps me guide all of the events surrounding it.
    One of my stories that I think best describes my point is “Gone From Daylight”. My protagonist, ‘Justin’, has never killed anyone in his young life. It’s not who he is as a person, and why would it be? He is, for intents and purposes, a sane and rational person. However, he has now become a vampire and dragged into a world of danger and darkness where such an insane idea has become a part of his character. Throughout this series I’ve used many different types of violence to move the story forward, varying in tone and intensity. Justin has become a very powerful vampire in an extremely short amount of time, and is forced to face many challenges in order to protect himself and the ones that he cares about. So...if comes down to some big battle with other vampires, soldiers, fighters...Justin gets to let loose and break them all down with whatever skills and weapons that he has at his disposal. The details are quick, savage, and to the point. It’s a fight, and the story treats it as such. However...Justin is still a vampire. And there are moments when he needs to feed on the blood of the living in order to survive. I definitely don’t want to demonize my main character or have him come off as some kind of monster...but I didn’t want to treat the issue with kid gloves either, as though the act itself doesn’t matter. So when writing those particular moments of violence in the story, the details tend to be a bit more graphic, the effects are more drawn out. The utter horror behind having to take a human life in that way while they helplessly flail and go limp in his embrace gets highlighted, and you really get a chance to feel the dark side of who he was and what he has become. That was something that I definitely wanted to concentrate on. And yet, he can walk into a room full of enemies, break arms and legs, bite throats, set them ablaze or electrocute them from the inside out...and it comes off more as ‘action’ instead of horror. More of a heroic assault than a traumatic crime. So, with this series, I travel back and forth between the levels of violence and their feel to hopefully create a sympathetic character that my audience can root for...despite the fact that he really is a serial killer now. Hehehe! And the way to adjust those levels is with the amount and the nature of the details that you use in your writing.
    To have someone fall out of a tree and break their arm is a painful experience, but depending on the story you’re telling...you can describe that moment in different ways. From simply hearing a ‘snap’ when your character hits the ground, to describing how the arms looks when it’s bent in an unnatural shape or even backwards, or you could take it up a notch with the sound of the character screaming in agony and looking at the arm in disbelief as bones poke through the skin and blood runs down to their elbow. How you explain the injury is what sets the tone. That’s what creates the feel, and determines whether or not it fits in with everything that you’ve written before it and what you might after it. Ask yourself if you want to crank it up to sound more shocking and painful in order to have a greater impact on the scene and the character. Or...ask yourself if it’s seems like a bit much and should probably tone it down a bit in order to keep it from sounding like it just came out of left field. If you’re reading ‘Golidlocks and the Three Bears’...I mean we get the gist of how that original story ended, hehehe! But you don’t want to suddenly go from comfortable beds and warm porridge to, “And with a single swipe, Papa Bear took the skin off of Goldielocks’ face while the other two hungrily lie in wait in to maul her to death.” Ummm...yeah, that’s a bit of a change up that some readers might find somewhat disturbing. So be sure to use your words in a way that conveys more than just what you’re picturing in your head, but in a way that either continues the tone of the rest of the story...or completely causes it to break and shift gears if that’s your intentional. But whichever way that you go with it, just make sure that your choices are deliberate and not just a mechanical reflex that ends up taking your readers out of the moment. That would be a bad thing.
    Anyway, I’m sure that there are many of you out there who have never had a reason to use violence in anything that you’ve written so far, and may not feel the need to use any in the future. And that’s fine. Plenty of great and epic tales have been told without it. But if you do come across a moment in your story where you feel it’s appropriate and don’t want to hold back or skip over it...whether it’s abuse, a war torn battle, or standing up to a school bully...I’ve found that discovering and maintaining certain levels of brutality though the details you use and the length of time that you spend lingering on the moment is definitely the way to go. It can be as harsh or as tame as you need it to be. Just make it ‘fit’.
    I hope this helps, you guys! Enjoy your writing, and absorb all of the tricks that you can along the way! K? Have fun! Stay beautiful! And I’ll seezya soon!
    Don’t hurt me! I’m fragile! Hehehe!
     
  5. Comicality

    Story Intrigue

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Story Intrigue I consider it one of the most difficult challenges that I have to face every time my fingers touch this keyboard. I definitely want people to remain invested and keep them riveted as much as I can from beginning to end, but I still want to give some hints, clues, and a touch of foreshadowing along the way. Going along with the principle of Chekhov’s Gun in crafting a story, “If a gun shows up in the first act, then it should come back for use in the third act.” I’m paraphrasing, but the idea is creating a rather nonchalant setup for future events that will serve a satisfying payoff to your readers at some point. One that they might have never seen coming. That used to be the fun part, you know?
    Not so much anymore. Hehehe! It’s a massive headache. Seriously. But I’m constantly trying to navigate my way around it. Any advice would help me out a lot, you guys.
    When I first started taking classes about film, I remember being really worried that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy and appreciate movies in the same way that I had been for my entire life up to that point. I got soooo much enjoyment out of being able to relax and let a movie take me on this incredible journey that I could be surprised by and explore as it pulls me along towards a climax that would be worth the energy and emotion that I put in to get there. I lived for it! (Still do!) Not only that, but I often watch reaction videos to movies on Youtube because many of them have a way to revive that energy within me when I get to see some of my all time favorite movies for the first time all over again through their eyes. Like, for example, there’s a channel with villagers (from deep in India, I believe) who have never ever seen ANY of these big budget, American made, blockbusters before. Some of the concepts alone are absolutely mind-blowing to them! Can you imagine them watching “Avatar” for the first time? Or “The Terminator”? Or “Back To The Future”? Indiana Jones, Predator, the Exorcist...it causes gasps of shock and surprise and when I see them watch something like “The Sixth Sense” all the way to the end, it gets me all excited again too. Just like they are.
    These are a bit long, so watch at your leisure if you like, but look at how they reacted to their first viewing of “Jurassic Park”! Not only had they never seen it before, but they didn’t even know what the movie was ABOUT! No idea! The shock of seeing a true to life dinosaur on screen for the first time is priceless! And that’s the kind of awe and inspiration that I wish I could create with the stories I tell.
     
    000 What I love about stuff like this is that they still feel something as they’re following the story. They still get worried or scared, get sad, get angry, feel joy, smile when two people fall in love...there’s room left in their hearts to be amazed. And that means that every last ounce of effort that went into these movies and the writing gets a chance to really be center stage and appreciated to its fullest. So...why do I consider this such a horrendous challenge these days? It shouldn’t be so hard, right?
    Well, it’s because this is no longer the case for a lot of people who dive into media in all its forms and outlets and gobble it up multiple times on a daily basis to the point where I fear the act of letting the storyteller take the lead and guide their audience on this creative journey is becoming a lost art. Everybody has already seen everything before, or at the very least they believe they have. What can I possibly do?
    Creating mystery, secrets, plot twists, and intrigue, has become increasingly difficult in my opinion because the key to all of that lies within the unpredictability of the story. People can’t just involve themselves and ride along as a passenger anymore. They’re constantly trying to mentally jump ahead of the writer, and figure everything out for themselves before it happens. Hehehe, any of my friends or family members that sit down and watch a movie with me that I’ve seen before will tell you, I will NOT be an accomplice in that game! “What happens next? Is he the killer? Somebody’s going to show up to help aren’t they? How does he get out of this? Go on, you can tell me.” NOPE!!! Hehehe! Somebody put all of this effort into crafting a story and leading you down a particular path in whatever way they saw fit in order to entertain you. So it’s not my place to get in the way. If you relax and pay attention to what’s going on instead of mentally skipping ahead to the last page in order to cheat yourself out of the experience, then I’m sure your questions will be answered in time. Until then….shhhhh! Calm down. Answers are coming when they come. Geez...
    But it’s hard to get a lot of readers to do that anymore. Granted, it often takes me an unnatural amount of time to bring out a new chapter of the story they’re looking for, and it might be better to drop a whole story at once so they can race through it before they have too much time to really think about it...but still...I want to create a level of curiosity and intrigue in my stories as often as I can. I don’t want to be predictable, but sometimes I can’t help but to project some of my typical Comicality tropes and give the whole game away within the first chapter or two. So it’s something that I sort of wrestle with, but I’m trying.
    I can’t really create any intrigue without a bit of mystery and anticipation for getting a peek at what might be around the next corner. I can’t just have things happen at random, but the second that I try to set up future events...the story begins to fall in line with a particular ‘formula’. I mean, we all have an idea of how stories work, and it’s nearly impossible to get out of that format and not end up have things get really weird and unorthodox in ways that may not appeal to a wider audience. So how do you get around this?
    One tried and true method is the act of setting up red herrings to throw your audience off the scent of your true intentions...but, unfortunately, some readers have gotten hip to that trick as well. So, if your red herring ever gets revealed AS a red herring...the whole effect begins to immediately fall apart, and you find yourselves in the same predictable quicksand that you were in when you started. It’s like putting on a magic show for a group of magicians. They know the deflection, they know the slight of hand, they know the tilt of the mirror or the concealment of the chosen card in the deck. What do you do? It’s so exhausting sometimes!
    So...here I am, giving you a hint at a the very FEW tricks that I have left so that maybe you can perfect them and use them in your own writing. I give away my secrets...because I’m so smart.
    One thing that I try to use to my advantage is crafting a narrative that has two big questions or directions to go in, seemingly of equal importance. They’re not, but I try to keep up the appearance that that’s what is going on here. For example, I may have a teen who is happily devoted to his boyfriend and might be dealing with a rival for his affections...and at the same time, he may be struggling through the threat of being outed to his parents by a next door neighbor or family friend. Now, this is an extended way of going about doing this...but I can piece together the parts of the story that I want to focus on most, and just when readers start trying to ‘hack the system’ and begin thinking, “Ohhh, ok. I see where this is going. It’s probably going to be this, that, and this, then probably that”...I can switch to the other main focus of the story and let them tackle that one for a bit. And if I’m lucky, I can keep things bouncing back and forth for long enough where I get to tell my story and still, hopefully, have some surprises left to put together a decent and crowd pleasing ending. It doesn’t always work, but I’m still learning. Only practice will help me find the instincts I need to develop.
    Something else that I’ve found to work on occasion is to practice putting out a quick reveal and a quick payoff multiple times throughout the story. Before my readers have too long to really overthink anything. I mean, nobody can read a whole story all at once, right? They go page by page, minute by minute, from beginning to end. That’s what I’m trying to maintain in my storytelling. I obviously have a major arch in the whole story, but I try to get people to focus on one little condensed problem at a time, cause, conflict, and solution. Solve smaller little mysteries for now and then have them build up to a climax where everything comes into play and hopefully with a few surprises along the way. Basically, it’s just me trying to leave the appropriate breadcrumbs behind for an audience to follow...without really giving any hints towards the big picture. The struggle with this method, of course, is to keep things on track and not take any detours from what you’re trying to accomplish. You don’t want to let your story wander aimlessly and then try to waste time reeling it back to the main point. You just want the readers to work on how to solve smaller issues while you head towards your ending in the background. Attempting to avoid the curse of predictability is no easy task.
    Hehehe, do you see what I mean when I said it was a process that could be exhausting? And it’s getting more so by the day, it seems. But, as writers...we just do what we can. And maybe carry a few people on a fun journey along with us.
    Now, understand...sometimes people will pull out their Batman charts with the red strings and the thumbtacks and attempt to beat you to the point anyway. And sometimes you’ll just want to write a story that’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t need any intrigue to work. Especially if you’re writing erotic fiction. Just do what you do and hopefully you’ll interest and excite your readers either way. But if you’re trying your hand at a mystery, a thriller, or even just some big moments in a well written piece of romantic fiction...these are a few ways that I’ve been trying to perfect in order to make that work. If you’ve got any other ideas, I’d love to hear them! Because my bag of tricks feels a bit on the light side when it comes to this particular problem. I’ll learn one day. Just you wait and see! Hehehe!
    I hope this helps you guys out with your own writing, and that you’ll keep some of the useful parts of this post in mind and close to your heart. Feel free to discuss down below! And I’ll seezya soon!
    Or will I? Dun dun dun!
     
  6. Comicality

    The Passive Character

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    The Passive Character Roller coasters can be a lot fun, can’t they? Hehehe! Unless you’re deathly afraid of them like I was when I was a little kid, and then had to try them out and find a love for them a bit later on. That was when I learned to appreciate the twists and turns, the highs and lows, and the overall speed involved with the joy of getting onto one of those massive monsters and being tossed around like a rag doll for a little while. And whenever I’m writing something that I want to be thrilling or exciting or dramatic or packed full of action...I make it my goal to somehow find ways to recreate that same feeling in the hearts and minds of my audience. It’s almost as if they’re sitting in the roller coaster seat next to me and is following along for the ride. A very cool skill to have when it comes to creating a memorable addition to the world of storytelling.
    Sounds like a good time, doesn’t it?
    Now….let’s compare that to one of you guys hopping into a classic muscle car, revving up that loud engine, and slamming your foot on the gas to race top speed through an open area, gripping that wheel with both hands until your knuckles are white, screeching tires across the pavement, sliding around with the danger of possibly making a wrong move and flipping the whole vehicle over on top of you. Wind fiercely blowing through your hair as you finally stomp on that brake pedal and slide to a stop just inches away from a brick wall!
    They could both be fun, sure. But from a writer’s perspective, and especially from a reader’s perspective...there’s a pretty big difference between the two. Between enjoying the ride and controlling the ride. And that’s why I want to have a somewhat balanced conversation about the ‘passive voice’ in your projects when it comes to your main characters, and some of the weirdness that comes along with it. Because there’s just...a touch of weirdness. Hehehe, I won’t lie. But you can still use this to your advantage once you’re able to see it, even if it’s more practice to be used in the editing process than it is when you’re writing. So, let’s discuss...
    I’ll try to talk this out without sounding like a madman...
    I know that there are lot of experts that really discourage and condemn the passive voice when you’re writing, and they really do have good common sense reasons for avoiding it when you can, but I still find occasional uses for it when it comes to building your narrative up to what you want it to be. It’s that roller coaster effect, but taken a bit more literally when it comes to your protagonist and the other characters surrounding them.
    What is ‘passive voice’? I believe we talked about this once before a long long time ago, but it’s a voice that you use that turns your protagonist into a bystander or a passenger in their own vehicle. The vehicle being the story itself, of course. You sideline them, and might end up making them forgettable or even just plain boring. They’re called the ‘PRO-tagonist’! We’re supposed to be following behind them as they fight their way through this particular adventure or whatever. You don’t always want them to look like a bunch of rewards and consequences are just random things that ‘happen to them’ throughout your story. Basically, it makes for a much less engaging story if your main character is just standing out of bounds and watching everything around them without actually interacting with the rest of the story. It gets bland and it makes it harder for your audience to really get on your protagonist’s side. How can you sell them on a hero who isn’t really doing anything special to earn the title? You know?
    More times than not, ditching the passive voice for a much stronger showing from the characters that you’ve built your characters around is going to be the best way to go. Don’t allow their forward progression happen accidentally or just become some kind of fortunate stroke of luck. Have them get in there and do the work. Have them make things happen, and motivate them in a way that will demonstrate to your readers that they’re intelligent, or reckless, or driven in some way to take further steps towards their ultimate goal. This is all done with the way you write it out. Just a few words, here and there, can make a big difference. Tiny little details that most people won’t notice when they read them, but will ultimately give them a feel of control and purpose.
    Find ways to connect your words and the actions of every single scene to your main character somehow. It’s difficult to recognize the passive voice sometimes, because it’s written correctly, it feels as though it’s focused and still on task...but once you see it in your own writing and learn what to look for, you’ll begin to shy away from using it as often as you do. (Assuming, of course, that you use it at all)
    What you want to avoid more than anything is to have a main character that people are constantly watching as things are happening to them...instead of having some kind of action where they’re actually doing something themselves. Otherwise, your narrative becomes a spectator sport that gets old very quickly if it becomes too obvious. It puts your readers back in the passenger seat, watching the scenery go by without any sense of being involved or encouraged to take a part in what’s going on. One of the reasons that people talk about the ‘video game curse’ when it comes to making movies is greatly due to this very fact. How is that possible? Video games have extremely compelling characters and intricate storylines to go along with them. Not to mention a whole mythology and amazingly detailed amount of world building already done and locked into place. So just take all of that storytelling gold and create a movie based on a near carbon copy of the source material, right? How hard is that?
    Well, here’s the thing...you watch movies. You play video games. So you’ve basically taken an active character and made them a passive character. That’s the glaring malfunction in a project that believes it will be the same experience for old fans and new visitors alike. Bring your readers and have them be a part of what’s going. There will be many that might not agree with your protagonist’s decisions, but even if it causes them a great deal of frustration and disbelief...at least you’ve got their attention. And if they’re arguing everything out in their head, they will still feel like a part of the process. That’s the power of having an active main character. Even when they’re not fully in control of what’s going on around them...they’re still in control of what’s going on around them. And they achieve this by being an active participant instead of a bystander in their own story.
    In my story, “My Only Escape” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/myonlyescape), my protagonist is only a young teenager and suffering his way through horrible physical and verbal abuse on an almost daily basis. Obviously, he’s not in control of what happens to him, and he doesn’t have any options like ‘leaving home’ or anything open to him in the story. But despite his powerless position, his mind and his actions and his defense mechanisms are in place to actively deal with the pain and fear that he’s trying to protect himself from. He’s not just sitting there allowing his circumstances to overpower him repeatedly while my audience looks on in horror. Do you know what I mean? There has to be something for him to DO while everything is going on. Even if it’s something as simple as trying his hardest not to cry out from the pain, refusing to give his father the satisfaction of knowing how close he is to being totally broken from the torture of it all. Connecting my character to the action, connects my readers to the action. And that makes for a more interesting experience than simply absorbing details and plot points through some well written prose. Not that the other way isn’t ‘functional’...but is it memorable?
    Ask yourself what the action is in the scene. Doesn’t have to be anything major or overly dramatic...just...what’s happening. Little additions or reworded sentences can make big differences. Something tiny, like...”There was an open window to see out of” can be strengthened just a bit by writing, “I walked over to open the window and looked out of it.” The first sentence is functional, but the second sentence has your character actually interacting with his environment. He’s doing something as opposed to just taking notice of something in the background. You want to deliver the same amount of information, but you want to give it a slight feeling of momentum when doing so. Does that make sense?
    Find the ‘action’ in every scene that you write into your story and focus on connecting it to what your character is doing to interact with it or react to it. Not just the details. The door is open, the car won’t start, the spider crawled up the wall...ok, so now how is your main character going to somehow become a part of that scene? Are they just there? What are we doing here?
    Bottom line...active characters are more dynamic than passive characters. Even if it’s only in a very quiet and subtle way. If you’re going to have one of characters take a passive approach during one of the moments in your story, make sure that you have a valid reason for doing so. And make sure that it doesn’t become that particular character’s defining trait. Because, ultimately...if they’re just going to be background noise, then why have them there at all? A few scenes are fine, if that’s what your writing instincts are telling you...but if one of your main voices is constantly wandering around in the shadow of other characters for no rhyme or reason...then that’s a waste. One thing that readers don’t have time or patience for is waste.
    I hope this helps, and at least made a little bit of sense...as it gets more and more difficult to write tips about things that you just have to ‘feel’ and learn to recognize on your own. It’s not really something that comes with a blueprint that I can give you. It’s just something that I notice and do what I can to avoid in my own writing as I continue to grow and change over the years. Never too late to evolve in a brand new way, after all. Hehehe! Happy writing, you guys! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
  7. Comicality

    Ambiguous Endings

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Ambiguous Endings Now, there are many many times that I get razzied by my readers for not having all of my stories wrapped up with a pretty little bow where they’re all finished and done with and folks can read them and then roll over and go to sleep without saying anything or even clicking a ‘like’ button. Hehehe! I’m always writing on all of them as quickly and as often as is humanly possible, and always try to put forth my best effort each and every single time. No shortcuts. I’d rather not release the story at all if it isn’t going to be a sincere struggle to complete it and have it be something special. You know?
    BUT...when I do finish off a short story, or even a longer one, and I give them what they want...hehehe, it’s like I’m still in the wrong. I just can’t win. “More, more, more! What happens next? Can’t you just add a few more chapters?” Ummm...no. The story is finished. It’s done. I said what I had to say, and I brought the plot to a close. Period. Don’t ask for any more...that’s the story. If the story was about a teen coming out to his parents and that was the point of it all...then him coming out to his parents will accomplish that mission and finish the thought. To go much further than that would mean having to come up with new conflicts and drama and a host of other challenges that will ultimately detract from the impact of what I was hoping to do with the story in the first place. That would be a bad thing in my opinion. So let’s put this baby to bed before it wears out its welcome, right?
    And this is where I might be much more likely to use the method of an ambiguous ending to achieve my goal. In this context, it’s basically my way as a writer to tell my audience, “The rest is left up to your imagination.” Done.
    It’s about being able catch that moment when the tale has been told. Learn how to spot it, understand it, and use it effectively in your own work. Not as a cheat or a quick escape from your own work...but as a way of knowing when the main mission of your story has been reached, the problems have been solved or at least dealt with, and the need or desire to keep going will feel overworked and gratuitous. I’ve seen stories ruin themselves that way, and it’s never pretty. Believe me.
    I wrote a story not all that long ago where the main character’s main battle was all about finding enough comfort within himself and his family, even in his community, and now that he had found himself a secret boyfriend to be with...he wanted to gain the courage needed to break that frustrating wall of paranoia so they could finally be truly happy together. Of course, I wanted to make the characters somewhat lovable and relatable so my readers could latch onto them and stay engaged from beginning to end. And once the threshold had been reached, the protagonist decides to take a huge leap of faith and just do it and the struggle takes a back seat to what he has to gain by giving it his all. Enough is enough, right? And that was the level that he was trying to get to. That moment right there is where a ‘wrap’ up was needed. So I made the creative choice to do exactly that.
    So...did I take the extra time to write out the dramatic showdown between him and his parents? No. I could have, but I didn’t. The story actually ends with him nervously taking his boyfriend’s hand outside of the house...and the two of them start walking towards his front door to make the big confession, with the love of his life promising to be there by his side through it all. THAT is an ambiguous ending to a story.
    Sure, there are people who might have wanted more, or wanted to sit in on the big revelation and the drama to follow, or wanted another ten to fifteen chapters to see both boys happy and enjoying their time together as an openly gay couple. More giggles, more kisses, more sex...yeah, I get it. But none of that other stuff feeds into the actual point of the story. The story was about the triumph of my main character over his biggest fear of coming out regardless of scary it may seem. Finding the strength to make a leap of faith. Mission accomplished. Beyond that, I didn’t want to open up any new gateways or possible issues for future chapters. I wanted it to end and leave it where it was most powerful in its impact within the rest of the narrative. Sometimes, that’s just the best way to go with a story that has already said what it needed to say.
    “But Comsie...what happens after that? Do they stay together? Do they come out at school? Do they get bullied? Do they grow into adults and get a house together in the suburbs?” My answer is always the same...
    ...I leave that up to your imagination.
    Don’t get me wrong...it is never my intention to cut a story short or to cheat my readers out of a satisfying ending. That would just be mean, especially after asking them to give me their time and attention to invest in the lives of the characters I’ve created. I would never advise anyone to do that with their work. What I’m saying is that there are going to be times when your story’s climax doesn’t have to be all explosions and fireworks. It won’t always result in a tragic death, or a marriage proposal, or the hottest sex scene that you’ve ever typed out on a computer screen. Sometimes it’s just a solution to the main problem that was introduced earlier on, and a proud sigh of relief when things work themselves and the idea of ‘then they lived happily ever after’ is implied. Period.
    I mean, I’ve seen enough happily ever after Disney cartoons where I just sort of let the idea drop there and I consider it a happy ending. But, at the end of the day...I don’t really know that for sure. Hehehe, for all I know Sleeping Beauty could have ended up being a total bitch and the prince spent the rest of his life miserable with the choice he made. Pinocchio might have danced himself out into the street as a real boy and was run over by a bus. Who knows? The end gets to be whatever I want it to be. But, due to the usual goodhearted nature of your average human being...it’s usually just assumed that everything turned out great for our favorite characters, whether that’s true or not.
    But the happiest of couples sometimes break up. The bad guys don’t always get punished for being awful people and are often rewarded for it. People get sick, people get hurt, and unforseen circumstances get in the way. Think of your typical zombie movie. How many of them actually have a ‘happy’ ending? Seriously...the most you can hope for is having your favorite protagonists get out of their current situation to escape to another place where...there is still an apocalyptic number of zombies still roaming the streets. But, you know...for now, the ambiguous ending brings that particular story to a close and allows everything else sort of fade into the background, depending on the reader’s interpretation.
    For me? My very first gay teen story, “New Kid In School” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/newkidinschool) has been going on for many many years now, with a variety of different conflicts and issues and moments that can be seen as both good and bad over the years...but there IS an actual end coming for that story. And when it happens, I’m sure that it will feel like saying goodbye to some very dear friends of mine, and it will probably feel like that for a number of readers as well. But when the story has been told and I’ve touched on everything that I always imagined that I’d be able to tackle with their relationship...that will be the end of it. So, if you were looking for a “New Kid: The College Years”, or having them open up an antique store together on Main Street, or having them peacefully sharing a lemonade in a couple of rocking chairs on their front porch when they get old and gray...it won’t happen. Hehehe, just letting you know now. Not that it wouldn’t be fun to write that out, that wasn’t where the story started and it wasn’t the story it set out to tell. It’s about young love. First love. And figuring out the pitfalls of their very first relationship as best as they could without any kind of road map or open advice about how to handle it. After that, it becomes a different story altogether. And if it’s going to be a completely different story...then why not just write a completely different story? You know?
    The thing to always keep in mind when writing an ambiguous ending to your narrative is whether or not the story is actually finished with it’s potential. Whether or not you’ve actually covered all the bases for each and every one of your characters and wrapped them up as well. And then have a certain mood or vibe that will somehow guide your audience towards whatever assumptions they may have when thinking about it. If you’re looking for a happy ending, end on a happy note. One with a sense of hope and love and a positive outlook on the future...whether it was meant to be or not. You’ve done your job as a writer, and now you can push that spotlight into a place that lets your readers believe that the sky is the limit from here. Then again, if you have a story that ends on a down note or with some level of heartbreak...you can still guide your readers towards the feeling you want your narrative to have. You can focus on a long road back to ever getting over the pain and rejection of it all, or you can concentrate on a ‘Guess you can’t win them all’ idea, and have it hurt but still instill hope that your main characters will get past it at some point and love again someday. It’s all in your tone and the words you use to bring the emotions involved to life. However you see it, however you feel it...put it out there, and leave your audience to fill in the rest of that fantasy blank as they see fit. All you can do is give them a bit of a nudge and see what happens.
    What I think is so useful about these kind of endings is not at all about bringing the story to a close, but allowing it to live on by glorifying the story’s true intention and preventing myself from dragging it out to the point where the main highlight becomes deluded, or ends up as a faded spark in the background. Does that make sense? I hope so.
    Anyway, I hope this gives you guys a little something to think about when you’re writing and coming to the end of you your story, looking for it to come out with the goals and purposes shining as brightly as humanly possible. Find your main focus, decide the point where an appropriate ending should be, and then pad the landing without letting it linger beyond it’s welcome. Cool?
    Take care, you guys! And happy writing!
     
  8. Comicality

    Writing About You

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Writing About You As an author, writing can really be a personal activity. It takes time, patience, and tons of emotional energy, to really put together a great story with a good plot and populated with interesting dialogue and engaging characters. However, I have always believed that the one element that holds it all together and provides it with that particular shine is...quite simply...you. You are the adhesive that keeps it all focused and concentrated into a series of moments in time that radiate depth and feeling. Every story can have a bunch of crazy stuff going on all at once, and it’s supposed to be entertaining no matter what. As long as you’ve got the right formula, it should work, right?
    Not so. Stories need a ‘voice’. They need a perspective. They should feel as though every last piece of it is coming from somewhere, and not just a bunch of themes and tonal changes being slopped together on a plate like edibles at your local afternoon buffet. I believe that every author should be deeply threaded into the stories they tell. I definitely exist in some form or fashion in all of my stories. In my characters’ personalities, their sense of humor, their pain and how they try to deal with it as best as they can. All of that is in there. And you might think that this is going to be an article about how awesome it is to see yourselves in your own works...
    ...But that’s not what this is about. Not this time.
    See...the thing about writing about yourself means being extremely and unapologetically honest with your audience. Both with the good parts of yourselves and the bad. Nobody is perfect, and it makes for an unrealistic story that is certain to lose people’s interest after a while if you pretend to be. Maybe even if just a short while. So, while your story may get some bad feedback or criticism, it’s important not to take it too personally. I realize that this is a task that is easier said than done, but you can’t let that scare you away from the truth of who you really are. You’ll get through it, hehehe, promise!
    I say this because it’s very easy to kind of slip out of an honest presentation, and directly into our ego. It happens. No apologies needed, just make sure that you keep your eyes open when it comes to that kind of thing.
    I can be hopelessly optimistic more times than not. I love to smile and to laugh, I appreciate romantic gestures, I’m intelligent and outgoing enough to hold my own in a conversation, and I’m eternally grateful when it comes to compliments, gifts, or small acts of kindness. But...I can be a dick sometimes too. I get frustrated, I get depressed sometimes, I can be really isolated from other people whenever I’ve got something weighing heavy on my mind. Piss me off, and I’ll stubbornly do things just to spite you. And if I’m not in the mood, I can keep the whole world at arm’s like until I feel like dealing with them again. It’s a part of who I am, and if you read my stories, I’m sure that you’ll see all of the negative stuff too. But, so be it. More often than not, I’m probably using my writing to correct some sort of temporary damage in me that won’t leave me alone in that particular moment.
    But hey...better that than lie about the parts of myself that I’ve added into one of my stories and have it come off as being disingenuous. You know?
    I think that it’s a problem for some writers to pour themselves into a story and not completely paint themselves through the lens of rose colored glasses. It’s not really ego so much as it is a strong sense of self confidence...but it clouds your perspective sometimes. As I said, a story needs a direct vision for both the writer and the readers to focus on...but there’s a very thin line between having a distinct point of approach to a ‘fictional’ situation, and a matter of written self stroking, if you know what I mean. Hehehe! Knowing the difference can really help when you stand back and try to look at things from a distance. If that makes sense.
    I really do try to stay away from taking another author’s hard work and throwing it under the bus, but for the sake of having a clear cut example to use for you guys to know what I’m talking about...I want to talk briefly about Stephanie Meyers’ series, “Twilight”. I understand that it’s meant to be safe vampire fiction for young adults...like...I get it. But I just remember reading some of it and watching the movies, and that didn’t feel like a ‘new girl in high school’ story at all. I mean, has high school changed that drastically since I was there? I’m not one of those jaded people that thought high school was the worst, most horrible, experience that any adolescent could ever possibly go through growing up...but it certainly wasn’t like what this book was presenting as reality. God help any tween girl reading that and anticipated showing up for their first day of high school expecting it to be like that.
    Our protagonist, ‘Bella’, joins a brand new school...shy and alone...and on the first day she makes an entire group of best friends that are in for the long haul. And they all think she’s funny and so pretty and incredibly interesting. Boys want to date her, teachers are impressed with her, everybody knows who she is, the hottest boy in the whole school immediately gives her all of his attention, she has another shirtless hunk not far from her house who also wants her all to himself...it’s like, what the hell is going ON here??? Brand new school, brand new town, shy and standoffish? You’d be lucky if a group of high school kids even let you sit at their cafeteria lunch table without frowning and getting up to walk away. Or teasing you for your shoes or your clothes. Or just giving you the cold shoulder in general for no other reason than they don’t know you. What happened to all of THAT stuff that came with the teenage high school life?
    If you really look at “Twilight”, the entire series is just completely ‘Bella-Centric’ from beginning to end. Her friends instantly care about and love her, vampires are willing to die for her, werewolves are willing to die for her, her father outdoes himself trying to make her happy, the whole town is enamored by her...hell, even the villains are immediately fascinated by her in a really unnatural way. There’s a whole TOWN full of potential victims for them to feed upon...but nope! They want Bella. No other new girl will do when it comes to satisfying their lust for blood.
    It makes for a fun high school fantasy, I suppose...being the most beautiful, sought after, and popular, girl...well, EVER! But in terms of putting out a narrative that feels somewhat natural and realistic, I think that there’s got to be a little bit more balance in the storytelling. Some flaws, some mistakes, some self doubt, a few enemies. These are elements that all contribute to a feeling of connection between your audience and the characters that you’re writing about. How else can they invest a whole lot of emotion in someone like that, unless of course you were one of the most popular girls in school for four years straight?
    I’m not saying that Stephanie Meyers definitely modeled Bella after herself, who she thought she was, or who she always wanted to be. That’s not the point. The point is...we all have a true sense of self when we’re writing, and we can’t just cover our scars and blemishes with makeup and keep going. There is real gold in our flaws. Drama in our hard times. True lessons to be learned from our mistakes and our disappointments in life. Don’t horde them all to yourself. Thread them into your story and let people see them for what they are. You’d be surprised how many fans will end up relating to a flawed character much more than they would a perfect specimen who always wins without fail. Bottom line, no one wants to spend all of their valuable time looking waaaaay up at someone standing on a pedestal. Bring them down to Earth for them to meet your audience face to face, eye to eye. It makes for a better story.
    It’s easy to build a huge altar and a magical temple to someone who comes to you in the guise of absolute perfection, but to see someone’s flaws and insecurities being put on display and finding that you love them just as you are without judgement...how special is that? I think that this makes for an incredibly engaging story. And it comes from this deep seeded desire to be loved and cherished and good enough. But the truth is...I’m not perfect. And anybody who WAS perfect, or at least thought of themselves of being as such...probably wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me. Hehehe, or would exhaust me to the point of simply running out of the energy it takes to be with someone like that. So self confidence and ego aside, my big dream, and a dream shared by a lot of my readers, comes from the idea that we’re all good enough right here, right now, to attract and impress the unfathomably beautiful people, no matter what. Beautiful in our eyes, at least. That’s what it’s all about. Allowing me to be me in my writing without feeling the need to go overboard in order to have those same emotions reflected back at me or strive to live up to some weird idea of being so far above average that there’s nothing for me to latch on and relate to. That’s weird to me, hehehe!
    This is a song from an artist named JoJo called, “Joanna”. And I remember when she came out years ago, and she was singing and did some acting...not a huge mega star or anything, but definitely talented enough to raise a few eyebrows. She should have been more well known in my opinion, but that’s just how the fame game goes sometimes, I suppose.
    Anyway, this is like an open letter to herself and her career, and there’s just something about it that I really connect with. It’s honest. It’s heartfelt. And it’s not a braggadocious song about how awesome she is, or how she was ‘cheated’, or how everybody missed out on what she had to offer. You know? It’s just a humble vision of what she’s been through, and probably mirrors she’s had with other people over the years when she started as a young teen. I respect it. It’s a display of talent, and yet a touching moment of vulnerability as well.
     
    I would much rather hear a story like this than one where the protagonist is so nice, and so perfect, and so lovable, that anyone bringing any trouble their way must be a villain or simply misunderstand them for some reason. That’s not reality. People have flaws, they make mistakes, they get nervous or clumsy on occasion...and that’s far more entertaining than constantly reading about perfection. Give me something to latch onto. Give me a real human being, and not a fluffed up version of what you see when you look in the mirror every morning when you feel like you’re on top of the world. It gets old very quickly, trust me.
    Anyway, just keep in mind that conflict is interesting. Even inner conflict. You want to hold the attention of a mixed audience? Make your flaws your treasures when you’re writing. It always creates a bond between your story and its readers. Every time. K?
    That’s all for now. I hope this made a bit of sense, and that you can use it in your own work the way I use it in mine. Happy writing, folks! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
  9. Comicality

    Callbacks

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Callbacks As I might have mentioned in previous writing articles...I really am a fan of having my stories come full circle at some point in time. Usually, this takes place in the beginning of the story, and then at the very end. But not always. Sometimes you can create an entirely different flavor for some of your previous scenes and interactions, and even redefine the meaning that other characters and hardships that you focused somewhere (anywhere, really) within your fiction. And an effective way to do that is through the clever use of ‘callbacks’.
    Now, while there are many times that I purposely plan these things out way ahead of time, sometimes they work even better when they’re a bit more spontaneous. Whichever works best for your writing, that’s up to you decide while practicing your skills and challenging yourself when the opportunity presents itself...but it can have a major impact on your story either way. So I recommend trying both methods and figuring out which one works best for you. Or, at the very least, when to use one method or the other. Consider it literary exercise for the creative mind.
    I love to have fun with my characters, and I enjoy creating scenes where they seem to be having fun with each other. A ‘callback’ is like taking these scenes of character and story development in an earlier part of the story, and then mirroring that particular moment at a later point in the story. It doesn’t have to be something from the beginning of your story, and it doesn’t have to wait until the end or the climax before you call back to it. Nor does it have to be an incredibly significant event for it to be worthy of the effort. It merely has to be understood and displayed as a part of the story’s progression. It’s like...building blocks, laying down the foundation for what’s to come later, but being a little bit sneaky about it. Hehehe...you can build the most magnificent skyscraper on the city skyline...but nobody really thinks about important it was to lay those early foundations in the ground to make sure that the thing won’t fall over the second it gets hit by a heavy wind. So being sneaky doesn’t have to be all hamfisted and weird, it just has to be somewhat clever.
    For example, I was once watching this vampire movie called “30 Days Of Night”...and early on, the film made sure to show and focus on this machine with all of these incredibly sharp, rapidly spinning blades...and then they just went back to the rest of the story. Hehehe, well...OBVIOUSLY, somebody is going to get pushed into that thing and get totally shredded to pieces! Everybody is expecting it, so why even bother to hide the fact that they’re going to call back to bladed death machine? I mean, you can have fun with it, sure. Nothing wrong with that. But you won’t be fooling anybody, so don’t even try to trick yourself into thinking that you can. It’s technically a callback, but it’s a bit of a lazy one.
    Hmmm...a cool example of this would be from the movie “Real Steel” from 2011. There are actually a bunch of effective callbacks in the movie, from certain scenes and actions, to simple lines of dialogue. (And if you’ve never seen it before, I highly recommend it! SO underrated!)
    This one is fairly simple, but extremely effective. Makes me smile and laugh every time! I love it!
    So, the short version of the story is an estranged father and son are forced to spend the Summer together, while the father has a great amount of skill with operating fighting robots, and a horrible gambling problem that keeps him broke as he loses one match after another. The son finds an old abandoned robot in a trash heap and wants to rebuild him and teach him to fight. So, if you look at this scene below, you’ll notice that the robot hasn’t really learned much yet and has no real ‘moves’ to speak of. All it can do is shadow and mimic the movements of its user. As long as it can see the boy, it can copycat his motions to a tee, and not much else.
    So here we have the boy trying to get it to learn how to move in the ring, and while listening to some music, just as he’s getting frustrated...they have this really fun and sweet bonding moment where things begin to work in his favor. And...he’s a kid, so of COURSE he’s going to play with it like a brand new toy!
    (Just hit the ‘Play On Youtube’ link! They’re being….difficult.)
    The thing is, this could have been left alone and would have existed as a really cool scene in the movie, where a boy and his robot pal discover a certain connection and a kinship for one another. It would have been great.
    However, how much more of a bonus would your story have if you called back to it a little bit later?
    As the movie goes forward, and ‘Atom’ the robot begins winning fights, the boy develops an unshakable faith in him and his abilities (Notice how the robot went from an ‘it’ to a ‘him’ in the way I describe him now?), and the father begins to bond with his son. Bringing us to this moment below.
    The boy helps Atom learn how to loosen up and movie, and the father teaches his son a couple of moves so he can learn how to box like he did. And when they get their first big professional fight in front of a giant audience...they need a gimmick to hype up the crowd and get them on Atom’s side. So you’ve got the robot knowing how toge and weave, and a dancing boy who now knows a little bit about boxing himself. All of these elements come together in a badass introduction the immediately gets the people cheering and on Atom’s side. They’ve both evolved significantly since that first scene, and combined both levels of character development to create something truly special here. The callback? Wildly successful!
     
    By putting this callback in the story, you’ve accomplished a lot more than you may think you have. Either scene can probably stand on its own, but when you mirror the two scenes against one another...you change the effect and the impact that both scenes have on your project. Like I said, that first scene could have existed as a fun moment in a cool movie. And the second scene, by itself, could have made for a grin worthy surprises to suddenly see them come out dancing in front of the crowd, even without any build up to it. But as a callback...you instantly create a sense of history and connection. The first scene has now become a starting point for future events, and the second scene now has its own origin story, explaining where all of that came from. It adds another layer of depth to your writing that readers can ‘feel’ as they’re bearing witness to it. And we all know that layers are a good thing, right? Right! Hehehe!
    There’s a brief sense of nostalgia that comes along with it. Or perhaps it could be used for comedic effect. And sometimes it can be a part of a burn that is used in your story to point out a certain hypocrisy. It has quite a number of applications if needed as a part of your storytelling. For example...I have a series called “Untouchable” where the callback was meant to express a moment of pain and unfairness between a twenty three year old, Eric, and an underage teen. Earlier on in the series, Eric accidentally loses his driver’s license and has to go and apply for another one. Unfortunately, I speak from experience when I say that this can be one of the most frustrating experiences you’re ever likely to have on this planet. Because you’re trying to get a new ID, and the first thing they ask you is to let them see your ID! Hehehe, ummm...if I had an ID, I wouldn’t need an ID. Which isn’t an answer for them because they’re like, it’s hard to prove who you are without an ID. Yeah...tell me about it.
    However, in a future chapter, when he is fighting the shared feelings he has with this teenager...there are a ton excuses being tossed around as to why this shouldn’t happen and why they shouldn’t be together...one of which is that he has no idea what he’s doing and he can’t really process the matter of being in a relationship at his age because he’s never had one before. To which the boy shoots back at him with, “Oh, I get it. How can I get an ID unless I already have an ID.” Or something to that effect. I’m paraphrasing. But the idea is the same. The story is using a callback to an earlier moment, and it is now using that moment as a point of reference to connected to a progressive part of the story later on. Similar, but different. For anyone who was paying attention to the fun and playful vibe of their earlier interaction will see those words in a different context and will see how they relate to one another. You see where the comment came from, and you see how it’s applicable here. That’s how callbacks work.
    They can be challenging when it comes to using them effectively, but they’re far from being difficult to adopt into your writing style if you ever find a use for them. They work considerably well when you change the context or the emotion wrapped around them. From anger to sadness, from despair to silliness and joy, or from heartbreak to romance. This is another technique that I’ve used in plenty of my stories as well. I like to call back to past events or lines of dialogue for readers to think about and say, “Hey! I remember that!” I like the idea that my characters have this sense of history that connects them and creates a fully fleshed out collection of shared memories and events that binds them together. Even if it’s just a short story, it can be just as effective. Use them to give your audience the same opportunity to be a part of that connection in the same way that your characters are. You’ll be surprised how well it works when you add them in at just the right time. Consider it an added piece of flair.
    Take it to heart. And if you haven’t tried it out, I suggest giving it a shot. Another movie you might want to watch is the animated “Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse”. Now, that movie has a ton of callbacks in it (almost TOO many), and they are all expertly done by the end of the movie. That is a masterclass in how to do it right. If my explanation here doesn’t make any sense...maybe that movie will help. Hehehe!
    Alright folks! I send you back to your keyboards to start writing again! There are always a million ways to approach the art of crafting a story of your very own. Why not try them all, right? Enjoy! And stay beautiful!
     
  10. Comicality

    Author Bio

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Author Bio I fully understand that there are many of you out there reading this right now who might just be writing stories for fun or treating this as a fun hobby, or maybe even as a method of self therapy...but stick around, as this article can be a major win for you too!
    However, if any of you are looking to make some side hustle money by publishing your work professionally or perhaps self publishing online...there is one part of the process that seems like it should be easy enough to pull off without having it take up too much of your time. Then...you actually sit down to write it out, and you have that blank screen staring back at you...with the added frustration of that blinking cursor, practically asking you, “What are we doing here, genius?”...and you realize that even though it’s a short block of text, it’s nowhere near as easy as you, or many authors for that matter, might have expected it to be. Especially if you’re a first time writer who never really meant to make this a big part of your life and income. And even if you’re doing it for free, it can help to self promote your work when you need to.
    We’re talking about the easy/not easy practice of writing an author bio, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s get started!
    The whole idea behind an author’s brief bio might seem like a daunting task to some people, because you just want to write your story, leave behind an email address, and then be done with it. But there are some readers who really become engaged with your work and your characters, and they just want to get a peek at the person who’s behind it. Can this person really exist in real life? What are they like? How connected are they to the fiction that I’ve come to embrace and know and love sooooo very much? Where did their ideas come from? What if I wanted to get started on my own stuff? Would they read it? Inquiring minds want to know!
    I actually love talking to people when I can. It’s a lot of fun for me. But I write so much that it’s actually a bit difficult for me to get to my chatroom as often as I’d like to, but I’ve been told on multiple occasions by a variety of people that being able to chat in real time is a lot like talking to ‘Billy Chase’. (Shameless plug opportunity! Hehehe, sorry! Can’t help myself! https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) But there is a piece of ‘me’ in all of the characters that I write, and if my audience can relate to them on some level...then I’m hoping that they can relate to the real me on some level as well. And that’s what you want your author’s bio to reflect when you’re putting it together. You want to present yourself that’s honest, and yet will feel familiar to the people who appreciate your writing. Chances are, they won’t be all that far apart from one another.
    It doesn’t have to be all that long or super detailed. It doesn’t have to be fancy or poetic. All it is meant to do is connect you to your work, make it available to an interested party, and deliver some added information that people couldn’t find in your personal influence on the story they just read. And if you’re pursuing writing in any kind of professional capacity, it can introduce you to an agent or publishing house in a way that’s effective enough to give them a hint on how they might be able to work with you in the future if they choose to take you on. Geez, that was a long sentence! LOL! Yeah...don’t do that in your bio! Doesn’t look good.
    I can do it here because you guys already know that I’m an idiot, so mistakes are no surprise. But professionally, I would definitely be much more careful about stuff like that.
    So...author bios. What you’re trying to build here is a focused, close knit, overview of who you are as a person...but in a way that pertains mostly to your writing. That part is important. Adding some personal and interesting information is a bonus, and I wouldn’t really discourage you from doing so. But keep in mind that you’re not here to write your entire life story out on the screen. If your author bio takes up an entire page or more...then chances are you’re doing way too much. You’re either bombarding the reader with too much random detail that doesn’t have anything to do with...well...anything...or you’re beating around the bush instead of getting to the point. People don’t have all day. They’ve got other shit to do too, you know? Say what you need to say and let the info and the story speak for themselves. You’re not writing an extra chapter here. This is just a way to let people know that you’re a real person and your story didn’t just spontaneously spawn itself out of thin air. Take some credit. You deserve it for all the hard work you put in.
    That moves us towards the obvious question.
    What do you want to add to your text? What can you say that will give people some insight into you as an individual and convince them to maybe look for other work from you in the future? Well, first of all, you want to let people know what credentials you have, and why should the person reading your bio care about them? What have you written before? How was it received...meaning any awards it’s won, what reviews has it gotten, what successes have you had with one of your projects in the past? Now, this is a bit of a hassle if it’s your very first major story or possibly your first story period. So if you don’t have a list of writing degrees or story accolades to mention, don’t sweat it. Everybody with a long list of writing victories had to start off as a first time writer too. It might even help you out, as some folks are looking to discover new talent over falling back on tried and true favorites. Some people actually end up burning themselves out before taking a shot at going the professional route. So if this is your big debut as a writer, then use that to your advantage, and simply write about writing.
    What inspires you? What drives you? What are your goals and aspirations when it comes to your stories? What genres do you like to write in? Who are some of your influences? These are all questions that you have the answers to in your head, whether you’ve ever spent any real time thinking about them or not. So dig into that and find ways to put it on the page. This isn’t just for those of you trying to break into the professional market, but to all of you. For what you put here on Gay Authors, or on Amazon.com for ebook sales, or what you add on your personal websites or social media outlets. Let people know you as an author, and draw them in to be curious enough to see what the fuss is all about.
    Some people really do read the author bios first. Before they get into your story and waste their time with fiction that they don’t really enjoy, they may look at your author bio first and try to pre-judge your work by seeing if they like you first. It’s true. Sometimes, a well written (or poorly written) author bio can make or break you in the eyes of a potential new reader...especially if it’s on a professional level. So if you decide to put one together...make it count.
    You don’t really have to add any details about yourself that are extremely intimate if you don’t want to. You don’t have to ‘shock’ anybody. You don’t have to bring up your battles with alcoholism, childhood abuse, time spent in prison, or anything like that. Remember, you want the bio to be personal, but you’re trying to concentrate on the writing aspect of your work. That’s what they came looking for, give your audience that instead, and maybe just a little bit more. If you want to set up a blog or start a communication with one of your readers, then that’s fine. But despite the fact that you really really want to talk about dedicated work with the Peace Corps...I’d say that you leave that out of your initial author bio, and then maybe talk more about that in a place for people who come searching for other fun stuff to know about you. I’m not saying that your bio has to read like a static and boring police report or anything. Just try to avoid bringing up any parts of your life experience that requires more extensive explanation. That’s either going to make you ramble on for way too long to keep things concise and focused, or you’re going to have to cut it short and leave people who might be interested in hearing more feel like they’re lacking something. Stay in the pocket...and treat it like a job application. Even if it isn’t one.
    Be personable, but don’t try to be too friendly. Write your bio in the first person if you’re doing it yourself, but don’t waste time being friendly. Don’t start by saying, ‘Hello’. You don’t need to start with a joke, you don’t need philosophies or gems of wisdom, and being somewhat professional will help you out much more than being likable. Having both is a bonus, but you can be friendly later. The point of a bio is to deliver information and paint a picture of an author that this reader has never met before. Stay in that particular lane when it comes to that initial interaction. Hook them right away, give them the goods, and let them move on to reading your story.
    Feel free to add details about how long you’ve been writing, and if you want to add your age or gender, great. You definitely want to add you contact info and social media outlets. This is important, as you want readers to be able to give feedback, ask questions, offer some constructive criticism, and maybe even offer you some opportunities if they decide they really like what it is you do. So make that a ‘must’, and add it near the end of the bio so it’ll be the last thing that they read and remember.
    You want to be informative...but you don’t want to necessarily advertise. Meaning, this isn’t the place to go for the hard sell. Like I said, the story can speak for itself. And if you have a blog or social media presence...you can push your merchandise there. But save it for elsewhere, k? Otherwise you come off looking like a grifter or charlatan. Also...do NOT downplay your own work! I understand that there are many people, me included, who sort of have a self deprecating sense of humor on occasion. Not in a harmful or unhealthy way, but it’s a touch of humility with a bit of cynicism tossed in. It can be fun and charming in real life...but in an author bio, get RID of it! When you downplay your own work in front of new readers...they tend to believe you. Don’t do it. You don’t have to be grandiose and make it out to be the best story ever written, just don’t take anything away from it. Let them read it and make that decision for themselves.
    Last tip? When you’re finished writing it out and you think you’ve gotten it just right...edit the HELL out of it! Hehehe! No mistakes! Your author bio is a direct representation of what your readers can expect from your story. If you’re giving them spelling errors and missing punctuation in a small bio blurb, what is it going to be like to read a whole book from you? If you get ONE part of this whole pursuit right, it has to be the author bio. Mess that up, and everything else comes crumbling down around it.
    Alrighty then, and this is what I’ve learned about author bios so far. They matter. If you’re going to do one, do it right. I know that libraries and bookstores are a lot more rare these days than they used to be...but if you find any books near you, turn them over and take a peek at the author bios provided. I’m sure there are some on the books you see online as well. See what tips you can pick up from there. You never know when they might just come in handy.
    That’s it for now! Happy writing, you guys! And I’ll catch up with you soon! Seezya then!
     
  11. Comicality

    Writing Comedy

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Writing Comedy You know...if you were to ask most actors what’s really the most difficult emotions to pull off on screen, you might think that it would be intense anger, or being able to cry on screen during a sad or dramatic moment...but actually, it’s laughing. All blooper reels aside and how fun it looks behind the scenes, finding a way to convincingly laugh in front of the cameras...especially while adhering to a script that you’ve read and memorized a million times, is a true skill among some of the best actors out there. And they deserve applause for it. It takes a genuine feel for comedy, it takes timing, expert delivery, and a sense of humor that reaches way outside of the current situation.
    Humor is a very fickle taste for a lot of people. You can get your audience to rage with a fury, or tear up and cry over an injustice, as anyone with any sense of empathy can easily tune in and gain access to those emotions without much effort when given the proper context to the story itself. Humor is a bit different, though. Not everybody finds the same things funny. Some have a different sense of humor, some have to really be caught off guard to laugh, some people get offended easily...it all depends. It’s such a versatile area to work within that it can be extremely difficult for any writer to find a sense of balance that will be surprising and refreshing, while still being non-offensive.
    Does this mean that your sense of humor has to be ‘safe’ or tamed to the point of being completely sterile? Of COURSE not! The subjects that people laugh hardest at are the ones that people know they should probably feel BAD for laughing at! Hehehe...if comedy is a sin, then I’m sure that I secured an extra hot spot in Hell by the time I was ten years old! So don’t make that your number one concern when it comes to writing a comical story, or simply adding comical parts to a story that you’re already involved in.
    Honestly, the people that I’ve met and used to hang around with...who always have a smile on their faces and make fun of everything around them, much to our entertainment...they tend to be very dark people once you actually get a chance to sit down and talk with them. People with horrific pasts and issues that they have yet to deal with. This is the honest truth.
    Think about all of the comedians that you know and love in the public eye who can’t hold a family life together, or are dealing with mental issues, were abused or molested as children, or struggle with alcohol addiction and drug abuse. The cast of Saturday Night Live alone has had more overdoses, murders, suicides, sexual assault cases, etc, than you would imagine a cast full of fun loving, charismatic, and hilarious personalities would ever have. But the truth is...at least for a lot of the most popular comedians...it isn’t always an art. It’s a coping mechanism. It’s the shining light in a dark room of shadows, and it works. The darker the shadows, the harder they work to make the light shine brighter. No matter what.
     
    I don’t want you to think that everyone with a sense of humor is a deeply disturbed or depressed individual! Hehehe, that’s not true at all. There are plenty of people who are just naturally funny, and if you’re one of those people, then add it to your stories and let that part of your personality shine! Go for it. But for some...being able to make light of a truly fucked up situation, or to just use humor to deal with a severe amount of angst and anxiety that your main character may be going through at that moment, can often make for a few fun moments in your story, despite the implications of a much deeper problem. If your readers are fully invested in your characters and what’s going on with them, then the humor will come through naturally and make them smile. Tickle their funny bones! Hehehe, that sounds dirty. But it is what it is.
    Me, personally...I have a lot of bad history behind me. Some very sad and hurtful memories, a bunch of scars and attacks on my psyche, and probably more insecurities than I’d ever want to know about if I ever sat down and tried to list them all. So for me, my sense of humor was sort of born out of that madness...and it helped me survive it all. Which is probably why I joke around as much as I do and make fun of pretty much anything that there is to make fun of. And life is stupid….so there’s ALWAYS something to make fun of!!! But it was developed through my need to escape the pain I suffered growing up. And now I find the humor in everything, and it really helps me get through almost anything. Even when times are rough. And you can see that in my stories...in varying degrees, depending on what the story is asking for in order to work. But it’s there. You might see bits and pieces of it in more serious stories like “My Only Escape” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/myonlyescape), but in something more lighthearted like “Jesse-101: Online Celebrity” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/jessie-101onlinecelebrity) the humor is much more evident. I can really play around with it more because of the playful theme and all that’s involved with it. I would really love to take a chance at trying to write an outright comedy, you know? Like...full blown, just to see if I could pull it off and have it be a success. But for now, I’ve been sticking to just having humorous moments in my other stories instead. Especially when it comes to comic relief characters like ‘Preston Miles’ in the “Shelter” series, or ‘Wilson’ in “New Kid In School”. They work to sort of add some levity and fun to my writing whenever I feel things getting a bit heavy, and it’s a temporary break in a story with a darker theme, but I think a full blown comedy would be super fun to write some time!I’d love to try it out, you know?
    My first attempt at doing anything like this was a parody on the very genre of erotic stories in general. LOL! It was called “A Fool In Love”, and it was posted as an April Fool’s Day joke. I even got others to post replies and spread the word after they read it to say that it was the best story that I had EVER written, and that more people should check it out right away! Hahaha! Yeah, I had fun with that one! Read it if you ever want to just have a few giggles on me for free!
    (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/afoolinlove)
    Now, there are different kinds of comedy out there, and depending on your own personal taste and the overall theme and character personalities that you’re working with to bring your story to life should play a part in which flavor of humor you decide to go with. Make sure that it matches up with the people involved. Some people like jokes that are waaaay out of left field and come off as so downright ridiculous that they can’t help but to laugh. Just something random. Other people like slapstick humor with people falling down the stairs or getting hit over the head with a big wooden hammer. Others have a taste for something full of insults and sarcastic burns, and some like subtle dry wit. Then you’ve got dark humor, satire and parody, self deprecating, and more. You have to decide what you feel most comfortable with writing (usually whatever is closest to your own personal sense of humor), and attach it to the characters that embody that part of what you find funny. A shy and reserved teen boy isn’t likely to suddenly start making snarky remarks, nor is a dignified gentleman going to turn himself into a total goofball for no reason. Consistency is key when it comes to this kind of this thing, so be sure to stick with it. The one exception being one of your characters delivering a big zinger out of nowhere, which should be as much of a shock to the other characters as it does to your readers. It might be completely out of character...but in that one brief moment, the reaction itself becomes a part of the joke. So it works.
    Hehehe, is any of this making any sense? I hope it is...
    Basically, if you’re writing a comedic piece, or simply adding a few lighthearted moments to a regular story (Which I would recommend if you can pull it off, as it just makes things fun)...there are a few rules to keep in mind...
    #1 – The first, and most important, rule of them all? Learn to laugh at yourself before laughing at anybody else. I think this is a crucial part of having a comical effect in your work. If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. Plain and simple. It’s not just a matter of being bulletproof when it comes to offensive remarks, and it has nothing to do with being a snowflake. Being able to laugh at yourself can act as a comedic ‘compass’ when it comes to engaging your audience. It allows you to draw your own lines in the sand so you can be aware of what you’re doing or saying with your writing. Self awareness sets boundaries. Stick to them.
    #2 – Make it quick! A great joke can be delivered with a single line of dialogue. The truth is...adding comedic elements to your story should carry along with it the illusion of spontaneity. You can have a little bit of build up if you feel it’s warranted, but overall...get to the punchline already. Don’t stretch a single joke out to the point where it needs to be a story in itself. After two or three sentences, it ceases to be funny. Get in, deliver the punch, and get out again to keep the story moving forward. K?
    #3 – Know where to place your humor in your story. Telling a joke at a birthday party, telling one at a wedding, and telling one at a funeral, are going to have different ‘feels’ to them. Don’t break up tension or an important emotional moment with a joke if it’s going to ruin the involvement with what’s going on. There are a lot of writers who use this technique to relieve some of the heavy themes being dealt with, and they end up sucking all of the life out of what is really important about that particular scene by adding humor where it’s in direct conflict with the rest of the story. Avoid that at all costs. There will be time for humor before or after it...but sometimes you have to allow other emotions to take center stage and do what they were meant to do. Don’t get shaky and start using humor to shy away from the heavy weight of the scene you might be writing at the time. In real life, this might be a coping mechanism. In fiction, its a wrecking ball to the scene itself. K?
    #4 – Understand that not all jokes are in good taste! If that happens to be a character trait, then fine...but make sure that you address that in your fiction. I understand that some people want to be edgy with their humor, and it may come off as being dirty or offensive. But don’t delude yourself into thinking that the rest of the WHOLE fucking world is just being oversensitive and don’t understand humor if they get upset over it. People need to stop that. You know what you said, whether it was because you can’t be funny without it, or you just did it for shock value...there’s a line. When you’re joking around like that, do so with a sense of ‘grace’. You’re in mixed company when you post this stuff online. And if you feel restricted or censored because you’ve offended more than half of your readers with your ‘jokes’, then I’m just going to assume that you’re an asshole. Hehehe, sorry, but it’s true. You’re a writer. And if you’ve got any real talent at all, then you should be able to deliver your comedy without pissing everybody off, or maybe not use it as a crutch at all. Practice. Entertain. And never think that you can just say ‘anything’ without challenge. Do you want a loyal readership or not? It’s up to you.
    Just be authentic with your sense of humor and have some fun with the material that you write. I LOVE to laugh! But, for me, the first step was learning to laugh at myself. Once I climbed my way to the top of that hill, everything else came easy. Comedy is just ‘surprise plus exaggeration equals giggles’. Keep that in mind, and use it to your advantage. Even if you’re not naturally funny...life is funny in itself. Point it out. Trust me...you’ll start laughing too. It’s inevitable.
    Hope this helps, you guys! I’ll always have humor in my stories no matter how dark or depressing they may seem from the first paragraph. I can’t help it. I have this vivid memory from when I was a little kid, and it was snowing outside, ice on the ground...and my dad slipped and fell on his back while I was sitting in the back seat. Hahaha, and I mean...this was like a full blown, Jerry Lewis, Looney Tunes, slip! Omigod! I couldn’t stop laughing for nearly an HOUR!!! I tried! God knows, I tried! Because I knew that he was going to beat me up and hurt me sooooo bad the next time we were alone. It was going to be an EPIC beating in terms of childhood abuse. But...for that ONE glorious moment...I laughed my fucking ASS off until I had tears running out of my eyes! And it was totally worth it! It really was! I took my angry beating with pride after that.
    Humor exists everywhere, in everything that we do. In everything that we are. Even in the darkest of times. And once you realize that, you have the power to translate it and put it into your fiction. So, yeah...do that. Hehehe!
    Just understand the nature of humor...what it is, and what it isn’t. Because using it wrong will cause more harm than good. Does that sound ‘funny’ to you?
    Seezya soon, folks! I love you lots! And keep smiling for me, k? It’s good for ya!
     
  12. Comicality

    Loose Ends

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Loose Ends There is one thing that I think can be horrendously frustrating in a story! And I’m guilty of doing it a few times, myself, despite my efforts to avoid it at all costs...because it makes you want to tear your own hair out at the roots! Hehehe, but for one reason or another...I changed my mind on a few major plot points in my story that took me in a different direction, and it left a lot of plot points left to dangle without any answers. Now that I’m re-doing my stories to put them in ebook form, I’m correcting a lot of those unforgivable mistakes. But it sucks that they were ever there in the first place, you know? It’s just a scar on a story that didn’t need to be there if I had planned things out a bit better before I got all ‘deep in the weeds’ with it.
    I’m talking about loose ends in your storytelling. So let’s discuss, shall we? Because this can be a serious problem in some of the stories that I’ve read in the past.
    I can remember watching the third “Matrix” movie in theaters for the first time, and I was one of the biggest “Matrix” fans out there (Including “Matrix Reloaded”, which I still think is highly underrated)! So I was glued to my seat and doing my best to absorb every word. Now...there’s a scene in that third movie where some of our heroes go to this elaborate nightclub, and they’re trying to get to our protagonist. And one of the other characters basically says, “Fine. I’ll give him back to you...but first...if I’m going to help you, I want the eyes of the Oracle.” Oooh, what does that mean? Where is this going? Explain!
    And then they’re just like, “No!” And we have a shootout and an action scene...and it’s never mentioned again. But wait! What the fuck was that about??? You can’t just bring up something like the ‘eyes of the Oracle’ and not ever address it again. Wait! How? Why? What did they just do? How would he have benefited from this? What are the consequences of not performing that one particular task? What the hell is going on here? It’s like there’s an entire reel of this movie that is missing that should have been expanded upon and shown to the audience. Or at least built up to or foreshadowed ahead of time. It might have made for a cool plot point with a little bit of thought and unraveling. But it ended up being just an idea that kind of got tossed aside without any further elaboration at all, and so now we’ll never ever know what he meant by that or why the hell he mentioned it in the first place. It’s so weird, and I hate it because it’s all that I can think about now! Hehehe!
    This is the sinkhole that your readers fall through when it comes to having loose ends in your fiction. You end up leaving the story incomplete in the long run, and you seriously drag all of the life and meaning out whatever scene you put it in. All it does is leave people scratching their heads, wondering why you would take the time to think up and then write that scene out when it has no impact on the rest of the entire story beyond that point. The details that you put into your story are all about two things...introduction and payoff. You can’t really have one without the other. Not in any significant way. So why do it?
    Trying to have a payoff with no introduction feels like being blindsided or senseless sucker punched without warning. Where did this come from? And why? But to have an intro without a payoff is worse in my opinion, because it leaves a reader hanging...and going back to it makes it seem like fluff or filler that never needed to be there to begin with. Either way, it sucks all of the importance out of the major moments that you want your story to have. It’s fictional ‘pollution’. Not a good idea.
    So, in order to avoid this...what you want to do is plan these things out in pairs. Like bookends during certain moments in your plot. If you include some kind of big detail earlier on in your story...you want to make sure that it has some level of impact on the character or the story itself as a part of the evolution of your fiction. If it happens to be a point of interest for your readers, it’s natural that they’re going to commit these details to memory. Remember that your audience is reading the details of your story with a sense of forming an investment in what’s going on there. If you give a minor character a name...they will try to remember it. Almost as if it’s going to be on ‘the test’ later on. So...if you’re going to make it a part of your project, then you’ve got to have some sort of significant payoff further down the road to make retaining that little bit of information worth their while. You know what I mean? Don’t leave elements of perceived detail to dangle in the wind when you’re done.
    Like...let’s say that one of your characters was once a heavy alcoholic, and you want that to be a part of his back story. Ok, that’s cool...as a random mention or just a bit of added detail to give some depth to their character it works. That works just fine. BUT...if you’re going to concentrate on it in a major way, and on more than one occasion...then you’ll be missing one of your bookends if the story ends and it never comes up again. Not only does it leave your project dangling at the end...but it dismisses the whole point of you writing it into your narrative. And that part of the character you attached to it begins to crumble and burn itself out. Readers feel cheated. Wouldn’t you?
    Now...if you’re going to make it a focused part of that character or the plot of the story...then justify its existence in your text. Maybe your character is struggling with sobriety and has now fallen off the wagon...having a big impact on the story. Or maybe...you main character needs someone who can drink somebody else under the table in a shady bar as a distraction, and he’s the only one with a high enough tolerance to pull that off. Who knows what you’ve got in mind...but do you sort of understand what I’m saying here? You made the introduction into your narrative, and your readers got all engaged and invested into this being a part of the story that you’re trying to tell. Not a random bit of conversation or a minor backstory detail, but something heavier than that. So now you have to pay it off. Have it make sense. Why is it there? Why did you add it in such a not-so-subtle way? People will ask themselves about this...and hopefully, you’ll have an answer to give them.
    This is where the ‘bookend’ method comes in most handy. When you’re plotting your story out...and you come up with a spontaneous idea here and there (It happens sometimes, and it’s a good thing) always try to keep in mind that it has to ‘connect’ to something somewhere else in the story. Where is this going to come back and add something to the plot? How is it going to somehow explain its mention and focus earlier on in your story? It should be a fairly easy question to ask yourself and answer without too much mental strain. Hehehe, that should be the easy part, right? Why did you add it? What did that little bit of detail do to move the characters involved or guide the story forward? If you can’t immediately answer that...then what you have in your fiction is ‘fluff’. Pointless prose that doesn’t really go anywhere, and therefore serves no purpose other than padding the page count when you don’t really need to do that. The more attention you pay to that detail in the beginning...the bigger the payoff has to be in the end. Even if it seems like it would be cool for a few scenes here and then, adds depth to your character, or is a fun part of you doing some world building...if you bring attention to it once, bring attention to it twice. Don’t just allow it to be a loose end with no resolution. It’s frustrating.
    Something else that I’ve wrestled with in the past with my own work is the fact that my writing can sometimes be rather spontaneous in its presentation. Now, if you’re that kind of author...I definitely applaud you for that, as I feel like it often adds something organic to a writer’s work and brings readers into the moment. However, by making that a practice of mine, I’ve had to train myself to stay on point and not change the story’s path and my protagonist’s journey later on in the project. Because what happens is I start to set things up in a way that will send the story down one path...and later I end up impulsively end up following my gut instinct down a completely different path instead. So going rogue...it’s not always the most effective way of putting a story together. What that does is cause the plot to take on a whole new life of its own and you get an entire domino effect of events to end up as loose ends in a narrative that you’re no longer thinking about. I’ve done that a lot in my older stories, and I’m constantly watching my storylines to keep it from happening again. Live and learn, I suppose. Hehehe!
    Basically, you just have to keep in mind that minor details are fine...great even...but the more major defining traits of your characters, your plot, or the world that they inhabit, need a reason to be there. Well, technically, everything in your story needs a reason to be there...but certain highlights can’t just be mentioned in passing and never come back around again later to prove their merit as a part of your story. Think about how much certain details are going to stand out and possibly intrigue your readers and raise questions that they might want answers to at some point before you wrap everything up at the end. Those are the ones that you need to bookend with something else so it doesn’t feel pointless.
    It’s all guess work, so there’s no foolproof way to get it right every time. But you can improve your odds by improving your natural instincts with stuff like this. So keep it in mind, k?
    Anyway, as always, it’s good to see you guys again! Feel free to give your thoughts down below, and I hope this helps out a little bit! I still learn something every time I try something new. It keeps me somewhat sharp, ya know?
     
  13. Comicality

    Character Empathy

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Character Empathy
    So what is the strong adhesive that keeps people glued to a story once they start reading? What can writers do to evoke emotion and conjure up the craving needed to keep reading all the way to the end without stopping? What makes them think about your story during the day when they’re away from the internet, in the car, on the train, or even while they’re hanging out with friends? It is such a powerful skill that you can wield as a writer to have your words and your ideas actually carry over into the real world and into the lives of people that you’ve never even spoken to before. It’s an incredible feeling. I can live the rest of my life off of that happy buzz alone. Hehehe! If you’ve never tried writing before...give it a shot! It’s a thrill that you seriously can’t match with much else in your everyday life! It truly is something special!
    The big question here, though, isn’t why...but HOW? What universal element can you tap into that can reach out and make contact with total strangers? They’re just words one a screen, representing emotion and reader involvement. Right? They’re not real.
    Ok, first thing...lose that whole frame of mind. I mean it. Get rid of it, as it doesn’t belong here. I think a lot of writers, even the phenomenally talented ones, sell their abilities short when it comes to the question of working this kind of magic. And a great deal of that comes from not understanding the impact that well written story can have. Which means that they probably don’t read enough to study the scenes, characters, and dialogue, that touches them in the same way. Hehehe, lord knows that I don’t! I keep trying to read other people’s stories and leave comments, and my life gets so damn tangled up that I either can’t read the stories I wanted to, or I get so far behind that it’s nearly impossible to catch up to where I was in the first place. This is something that I’m desperately trying to correct within myself...so I’ll be doing better by the time you guys read this, k? It just takes me forever to do much of anything these days.
    But the one thing that I think makes for an excellent story...is the woven in presence of empathy. Plain and simple. Even if and one of your readers is separated by distance, culture, religious beliefs, age, financial status...whatever. Empathy is a constant, and it is the gateway drug to everything else that you can add to your fiction. Whether it be for good or for bad or anywhere in between...empathy is the magic elixir that can make any story work and reach up to it’s fullest potential. That has been one of the most complimented and praised parts of my writing over the years. So definitely hear me out here! Because, no matter what you’re writing, no matter what genre, no matter if it’s a short story or an extended series, empathy is the skeleton key that opens all doors. Figure out how to use that magical tool in varying degrees...and your stories will always succeed in drawing in a loyal fanbase at some point. Always, no question.
    So...what is empathy? We all have a pretty vague idea of what it is and what it entails, but what is it, really? I mean the dictionary definition says “The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Which is very simple and right to the point, so it makes a lot sense, right? But, here’s the magic trick...how can a writer ever hope to create that for the characters that they have included in their current project? I mean, no matter what your characters are going through, it’s not like you could really force a single one of your readers to give a shit from the text on the screen alone. Your entire audience has to decide whether or not they want to offer that up to you of their own free will. All you can really do is inspire them to do so. And that means stepping your game as an author to make that happen. Right?
    Getting someone to empathize with your characters is a lot like introducing them to someone else at a massive party for the first time. It starts with an exchange of names and a few awkward handshakes and all, but moves into finding something a bit more relatable to talk about that goes beyond the weather outside and a few chunks of casual small talk that I’m sure we’ve all used to be somewhat social at one time or another, and then abandon all that for a conversation that impacts us on a deeper level than that once you get to know each other a bit better. Then you move into the realm of common interests….movies, music, video games, artwork, etc. In my own stories, this is something that can instantly bond two people together and start building a playful or meaningful interaction with one another. If they agree on certain things that they think is absolutely awesome...then GREAT! It takes my love interest beyond just being somebody who’s really cute, and therefore is only of a sexual interest to my main character. Not that there’s anything wrong with that...but I feel like people can read that anywhere. I want something more engaging. I want to empathize with the character and care to the point where I’m fully invested in seeing them get some kind of reward from the interaction. I want to be ‘touched’! Hehehe, get your heads out of the gutter! You know what mean!
    And creating that empathy in your story comes from one thing. Intimate knowledge of your main characters, inside and out. Both their attributes and their flaws. Both their goals for the future, and their embracing of their past. Their hopes and regrets. And then finding a way to connect to that to something that is essentially familiar to every audience. Something that they can really relate to and understand. When you’re able to do this with your story...you immediately shift gears. And it’s almost like you’re no longer just telling your own story...but you’re telling their story as well. This creates an empathetic vibe between the readers and your characters that will instantly give your fiction an instant boost that it might not have without it. And this is a big plus in the ‘win’ column.
    You do this best through their interaction with one another. Remember, show don’t tell. Even if you’re really great with your prose and imaginative descriptions...that can develop the plot and move the story forward, but it won’t create a sense of empathy. It can be used to introduced the characters to one another, but not to your readers. Try to avoid writing things like, “He was so shy. Soft spoken with a blush.” when you’re in the process of building them up as a character. There’s nothing wrong with that sentence, and you can effectively toss a sentence or two like that in your story later on with no problem. But during your audience’s initial introduction to that character...display their personalities in action first. Why is he shy? Show me. How is he soft spoken? Show me. Allow them to interact and ‘feel each other out’ in real time. By building that connection from the start, you begin to create empathy for anything that they may face throughout the length of the rest of your story. Having people discover an intimate knowledge of your characters is what builds the bridges needed for them to really engage with them...even if they don’t exist.
    It’s sort of like having someone hand you a super cute puppy. Hehehe! How can you not fall in love with a sweet little puppy, you know? If the puppy is happy...you’re happy. If the puppy is being playful and weird...you feel playful and weird. And God forbid if anybody were to hurt it or make it whimper and cry. It doesn’t matter what’s happening at that particular moment, because your empathy is tuned in. If you’re writing romance, if you’re writing a murder mystery, if you’re writing fantasy...these stories become more exciting and more impactful through the tension and confusion created by the stakes involved. And people aren’t really invested in the stakes if their not invested in the characters dealing with them. That’s why empathy is the gateway to everything else. Because being able to have people care (Not FORCE them to care...that’s not possible, remember?) is what keeps these characters, and thus the stories themselves, so close to their hearts. And why they think about them like old friends, even when they’re not reading new chapters about their personal journey towards being happy.
    Take the endearing traits, or possibly even the aggravating issues, that you want your readers to know about the people in your story...and spread them out. Leave little breadcrumbs behind for your audience to find as they piece together their own connections to the entities that you’ve created. Maybe they like them, maybe they don’t. That’s for them to decide. Your job is to make them memorable enough for them to affect the story in whichever way you see fit and have it matter. Even if readers totally loathe this character and are only sticking around to see him punished and finally get his comeuppance in the end...you can consider that a mission accomplished. Because they’re invested now, and they won’t let go until the story is over. And if you really want to up the stress factor...take the empathy that you’ve built up for the other characters in the story and how much pain and damage this one asshole has done to them. Hehehe, it’s a negative emotion...but it works. Just try not to ruin everybody’s day TOO often with your story! You don’t want them going off the deep end...because they will be thinking about it. So don’t make them too miserable, k? Throw a few puppy dog moments in there every now and then to balance things out. Think of it as a stressful mind massage.
    Bottom line, creating a sense of empathy in your stories is just a matter of making your fictional characters and you critical readers feel as if their of one mind. Bring them together and get them as close to one another as humanly possible. They should feel as though everything that is going on in your narrative is happening to them. Or, at the very least, to a good friend. And since the most intersting part of any story is its struggle and its conflict...you want to tug on their emotions and get them to feel it too. You can figure out your own methods on the most comfortable and natural ways for this to work for you, personally. Just know the goal, pick your method of travel, and allow your instincts to take you there.
    That’s my piece for today, ladies and gentlemen! Hehehe! Hope it puts you in the right frame of mind and gives you some ideas! Take care! And, as always...stay beautiful!
     
  14. Comicality

    Burger, No Burger

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Burger, No Burger When I was in college, I got myself a job right there on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, where I packaged up stuff and got it ready to be mailed out to that company’s customers as quickly as possible. It’s not like it was Amazon or anything, but they prided themselves on being rather swift with their deliveries. And I was getting paid, so I had food and groceries and stuff that I needed to survive...and it worked out. However, let me tell you younger guys out there, you don’t know what ‘broke’ is until you go to college! LOL! Omigod...the best thing you learn after high school is how to struggle and ignore a hungry stomach! Trust me on this!
    Anyway, the buses and the trains in downtown are some of the best in the country, and run regularly no matter what. But they cost money. Money that adds up pretty quickly. So I knew where I had to go and what time I had to be there...so I started walking to work every single day. It was like...a thirty to forty five minute walk there, and after being on my feet all day...it was a thirty to forty five minute walk back to the dorms. Exhausting, yes...but I took my Walkman and got my tunes together to take my mind off of the trip, and streets were always full of cute boys and tourists, so my city pride kept me going from one day to the next.
    But after about a month of doing that...I began to carry a pen and a pocket notebook with me. That’s where this practice of mine came from. Because I started having ideas for stories, movies, TV shows, etc during these long walks, often fueled by the music that I was listening to, and the people that I saw walking all around me. The atmosphere was filling my head with so many ideas that I just couldn’t contain them all and remember them for later. I still have that notebook, but I couldn’t tell you how many awesome ideas I might have forgotten before I started writing them down in the moment. I remember when they first opened up the dock on Navy Pier for people to walk through and all, and I would sit on one of the benches and just write all of my ideas down in that notebook and try to get them down so I wouldn’t lose them all. And this was BEFORE Comicality! By a few years, at least. This was while they were still building the Ferris wheel and building spaces for the shops inside. Had I been writing Comsie stories at that time, I might have filled up too many notebooks to carry with me all at once. Hehehe!
    The goal was to come up with a brand NEW idea that I had never seen before between the time it took me to leave the dorm and walk to work, and then another one between leaving work and getting back to the dorm. A new idea...a new concept...new characters...twice a day, five days a week. My brain just sort of adapted to that level of thinking, and I started absorbing everything around me and keeping that mentality going as a matter of habit. And to some degree...I think it’s still there. As Morpheus would say, “It’s like a splinter in my mind”.
    Here’s the issue though...
    Every idea isn’t a tasty burger. Hehehe, or as I like to think of it.
    You have to look at all of your spontaneous ideas, even if they appear to be absolutely brilliant from a certain perspective, and see if they’re a ‘burger’...or NOT a ‘burger’. And this is the subject of the day. Because sometimes, the most incredible concepts don’t always make for the best stories. Don’t take your ideas and throw them away, as you might find ways to create great fiction out of those ideas later on. But for now, let’s focus on trying to determine the difference between a burger and nothing burger. Cool?
    The idea for “Gone From Daylight” actually came from one of many trips to a Pier much further North, but Navy Pier was clearly visible from there, and I called it “Midnight’s Child”. Justin was a heroin addict, who was now going to learn the meaning of life by becoming a vampire and being forced to take human lives in order to feed...and he was seeking out a group of vampires who were running a night club and could psychically absorb the life energy they needed from the dancing crowd, draining their lives without their knowledge. A skill that had to be learned over time through meditation and training to keep from drinking blood. That was my initial idea for the story, and like I said...this was a few years before the Comicality stories came about. Things changed, the details morphed into something that was much more ideal for the story that I wanted to tell, and ‘Taryn’ became a love interest that changed the entire vibe of the whole story. Not that my original ideas were all that terrible, and might have worked out just fine...but I felt MUCH more connected to this new version of the series, and I think I made the right decision in switching out the old ideas for the new ones. Why? Because the old version didn’t taste like a burger to me. That’s why. And by standing my ground on those changes, “GFD” has become one of the most insanely popular stories on my website. And I love it!
    But when I look back at my original notes for the series...they were actually pretty thin. There really wasn’t a lot to build off of in the long run. It might have made for a decent short story, or possibly two or three chapters of me doing something different from what I usually do...but nothing like the saga that it is today. There’s no way I could have carried that concept for more than a few chapters without it becoming tired or weird in ways that I wouldn’t be able to fix later on. That’s not to say that the “Midnight’s Child” idea is completely off the table and won’t ever get written. In fact, I’ve been thinking of resurrecting the idea to somehow tie into the “Gone From Daylight” lore further down the line...which I think would be really cool! But the point is...I had originally allowed the idea of a sweet concept get in the way of me wondering whether or not it would make for a good story. Which is fine when it’s just scribbled down in a mini notebook, but it’s different when you invest some real time and energy into writing out an actual narrative and making it more concrete and permanent. This is a problem that will not only show up later in your writing, but it can end up damaging your whole project and cause it to collapse in on itself if you’re not careful, or it might even cause you to abandon it altogether. So, like...DON’T! K? Hehehe!
    This reminds me of many of the Saturday Night Live skits that were fun to see on television and giggle over every now and then...and then they tried to make a movie version out of them. And they were, more often than not, pretty terrible. Hehehe! Because the premise and the concept was created for a five minute cold open and that was it. It wasn’t meant to be stretched out over a period of ninety minutes. It doesn’t really matter what the story is that you craft for it...the skit itself can’t last very long without wearing thin and running out of things to say. There are only so many ways to tell the same joke before it gets tiresome. The same goes for action. The same goes for drama. Even the hottest erotica has its limits. So, when you start taking notes and you feel like you’ve got this really awesome idea for a story...examine that idea and the most important parts of it...and think of it like the punchline of a joke. How long can you keep this joke going before it wears out its welcome? And if it does...do you have enough other situations going on to fall back on and round out the rest of the story? If the answer is no...then that’s not a burger. Keep the notes, and come back to it when you have more to say with your project.
    If I was writing a story about an assassin, there are many different adventures that I can add to my story and many different secrets to be revealed. But it can’t just be all action and intrigue for the sake of action and intrigue. He finds something out, he fights, he wins. He finds something else out, he fights, he wins. You can change up what’s going on in the scenes from time to time, but the concept remains the same. ‘He finds something out, he fights, he wins.’ And stories that cling to that formula don’t last very long before they get stale on you, and on your readers.
    What motivations are you working with? What hidden twists might you have waiting in the wings for your main character? What’s going on with their backstory, and how did it set him out on this path? What are the stakes? What does he stand to gain if he wins? What does he stand to lose if he fails? Allow these ideas to beef up your burger and swirl around until becomes satisfying enough to pen a really cool story from beginning to end and have it actually go somewhere. If the end of your story drops you off at the same level as where you began, then you’ve wasted a potentially great story. Always a no no.
    Basically, when building and smoothing out a story, I think it’s our job as writers to ask ourselves all of the questions that the readers are sure to ask once they settle in and get invested in the narrative. If we come up with very few answers, and they don’t really feel like they connect in any significant way...then your going to end up writing a very brief and simple concept, and then try to stretch it out and give it some meat by adding a lot of unnecessary ‘fluff’ that doesn’t mean much and doesn’t go anywhere in terms of giving the rest of your story some depth. Either it’s worthy of a lengthy or medium sized story, or it’s not.
    The other option is to break the story concept down into a much smaller piece and concentrate it on a single situation or a moment in time. Go for the short story instead. I have a couple of ebook compilations called “Daydreams & Lullabyes” on my ebook page (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) where I did exactly that. One quick, short, story that takes place during a single moment in time. Those ideas fit perfectly in the space that I’ve given them, and then I make sure to end the story where it needed to be ended. Making them any longer than that dilutes the overall effect. I’d much rather have a contained experience than a bloated snoozefest, you know?
    Anyway, I’m hoping this was some much needed food for thought, and that all of you future works turn out to be the thick and juicy burgers that they deserve to be! Hehehe! Hungry yet? Keep those new concepts coming! You never know when you might find the project that will become your personal opera! Have fun! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
  15. Comicality

    Generic

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Generic
    The thing about writing stories is that we all kind of build on our earliest experiences with the art of storytelling itself. Whether we were writing them ourselves, reading them out of a book, or having long cherished fairy tales read or told to us as children. We absorb it through the movies and TV shows we watch, or hear those particular cues, twists, and turns, in the tales someone might tell us at work about their weekend, or maybe at the family barbecue. We have learned to accept that there is a ‘way that stories go’, and that’s a part of our expectations when it comes to having these stories play out the way they’re supposed to in our minds. At least that’s how it is after hearing so many of them over an extended period of time. But that begins to create an actual formula for us when it comes to writing much of anything at all. And formulas can be predictable. Bland. Boring. As an author, you don’t want your work to sort of be a direct representation of this ‘paint-by-number’ expression of your true feelings, do you? I certainly wouldn’t.
    I’ll admit to wanting to be noticed on other story sites in the beginning when I first started writing gay fiction, and I read, and I studied, and I tried to get myself into a frame of mind that would allow me to force fit my own little piece of the puzzle into what everyone else was doing at that time. And I won’t lie to you...it WORKED! Mistakes and all! Hehehe! But it really didn’t take me all that long to realize that my full potential could only exist on the outside of that particular framework of what I thought my stories had to be in order to get people to pay attention. I just felt like I had so much more to say, and I quickly began to feel boxed in by the easily forseen nature of the fiction that I was putting out back then. So...I began taking a few baby steps outside of my comfort zone to see if anybody might actually latch on to it and involve themselves in wanting to read more. Call them my earliest adventures. And I was able to test the waters with stories like “On The Outside”, “Gone From Daylight”, “My Only Escape”, and others...where it wasn’t just a ‘super cute boy meets another super cute boy and then they hook up’ scenario. I began to expand a bit on the world that they existed in, dived a little bit deeper into their emotional states of mind, and stopped worrying so much about actual sex scenes when it came to making it an erotic piece of work. To be honest, I’m glad that I learned that the hard way. It just allowed my whole thought process to find paths around the norm when it wasn’t necessary, wasn’t warranted, or seemed repetitive or patronizing. Every chapter didn’t have to follow the formula of being in love, having a minor conflict, fixing it all up, and then having some hot sex at the end. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that particular formula...especially if you’re blowing off steam and that was your intention for the story...but after a short while (much shorter than you may think), that formula becomes generic and predictable for everything that I was attaching my name to. And that can be a problem.
    See...here’s the issue with following a generic formula time and time again...
    Even readers that might really like your writing...they’ve already been clued in on what it is that you do with every story, and it quickly dissolves any faith that they’ve ever had in you to do anything different. It ends up diluting the rest of the story, with the exception of the short parts that they’ve come searching for whenever they see that it’s one of yours. Ok, like...watch this scene from “Rumble In The Bronx” down below...
     
    I LOVE Jackie Chan! Hehehe! I love the speed, and the rhythm of the movements, and the comic timing, and the stunts...I love it all! Now, tell me...what is “Rumble In The Bronx” really about? Does it matter? Do you care? I mean he is an actual actor...but I don’t go to a Jackie Chan movie to see him act or for a dramatic plot. I go to watch him kick ass, throw a bit of humor in there, and see him nearly kill himself by doing his own stunts! Nothing wrong with that. He’s damn good at it! But do you sort of see what I’m saying here?
    If you’re exceptionally good at writing sex scenes...then that’s what people are going to come to see. It’s a generic formula that will get people to read just enough to get an idea of who the characters are...and then make them extremely impatient for the ‘main event’ while you’re trying to give your story some depth and a three dimensional feel to it. You’ve created a generic formula for your writing that people will come to expect in everything you write. Anything less will be an instant disappointment from their point of view...and that’s fair, because it falls short of what they were initially looking for when they started reading.
    The same goes for snappy dialogue, or heartbreaking drama, or M. Night Shyamalan level plot twists. The moment you try to deviate from the formula that YOU yourself created...your audience begins to rate it a lot lower than they would if it was the first project that they had ever read from you. Obviously...this isn’t a good thing. And that’s why I’m constantly trying to emphasize the importance of varying your material, themes, and characters, if you tend to write a number of different stories in the future. And why it’s necessary to abandon the notion of stories having a particular formula in general when it comes to pulling off a great narrative. If anything, I think that it’s breaking that formula that will garner the most attention, and make you a little less predictable as a writer.
    Now, me myself? I tend to be stuck in many of my personal habits after all these years, and it’s hard for me to plot out a story without certain beats and events that many might find cliché or commonplace in your average erotic story. But I always fight to add a few twists to it and some extras to make each story or series feel unique and special in its own way. At least that’s the goal. Hehehe, the results are up to my readers, but that’s the ultimate intention with everything that I try to write. Because being generic can be a death sentence. Like...’don’t skip my story just to get to the sex’. I want my audience to hear me. I want there to be a semblance of a moral to the stories, and maybe a few notes of inspiration. You won’t find or understand them if you just get the character names and descriptions in your head and then skim through everything else until people start getting naked. I see that as being a lot of time wasted on my part. It’s not that I’m avoiding the golden opportunity to entertain, I just want it to be more of a memorable experience that readers can keep with them, you know? Something of substance. That’s all.
    So...what makes a story generic?
    The typical everyday tropes...try to get rid of them, or at least present them in a different way. These are things that you’ve seen a million times before, and will probably see a million times again in the future. The obvious romance born out of shared conflict. The last minute rescue. The roguish double cross. Now, this is probably the hardest part of the process, as these story beats are tropes for a reason. They’re hard to get around, and even harder to come up with new ones. Not impossible, but extremely difficult. So if you find yourself in a position where you have to rely on something tried and true...try not to telegraph your punches too far ahead of time. Try cutting the distance between the realization of the trope and actually putting it into action in half if you can. It works, and it helps...if only a little bit. If the readers know that someone is going to swoop in and save the day, then have it happen sooner than later. It takes some of the predictability out of it.
    The tropes surrounding the types of characters that you have in your story? Maybe try changing them up. The redemption arc of an untrustworthy thief or crook on your team. The prophecized coming of the ‘chosen one’. The guidance of the wise old sage or mentor. The death of the sacrificial lamb. The sly and sarcastic bounty hunter. They’ve all been done before, and I’m guilty of every last one of them myself...but I keep trying to add a new angle to their place in my stories and in the way the interact with the other characters. Sometimes just a few curve balls in this category can go a long way. Try out different attitudes and attributes to practice and see what you can come up with.
    Another way to accomplish this...get rid of the plot armor. If you’ve ever seen shows like “24”, “Game Of Thrones”, or “The Walking Dead”...then you know that getting attached to much of anybody can end up being a big mistake. Having characters deeply wounded, outcast, or killed, can be a bit of a shock to a lot of your readers. Whether it’s an illness, a murder, or something as simple as the break up of a deeply beloved relationship...it throws a monkey wrench in the works and separates your work from the more common and generic formats of other stories in your particular genre. Give it a shot. It might take your audience to places where they never expected to go.
    None of this is easy, and the only goal is to stand out beyond the whole needle in a haystack category. Don’t take this to mean that you have to force yourself to go crazy trying to beat the system, k? Hehehe...the whole idea is to not allow yourself to fall into a rut or get trapped in a comfort zone that causes your writing to weaken and blend you into the monotonous habits of mediocrity. We’ve all got to keep ourselves sharp and think about these things so we don’t end up writing the same story over and over again one hundred different ways.
    If your stories are getting to be too easy to drop, one after another...then you might want to look at your own work and try to figure out how much of it is skill and practice...and how much of it is just habit mixed into a cocktail of laziness. Because it happens sometimes. Sad, but true.
    So grab your swords, my fellow warriors of the screen! Raise them high! And charge out into the fray of new adventure with me as we battle the menace of the ‘Generic Dragon’! May we all return home in victory!
    Anyway, I’m curious to know...do any of you guys think of some of your past stories or even just a few chapters that came off as being kind of ‘blah’ or generic? Lord knows that I have plenty! Let the rest of us know in the replies down below.
    Take care, one and all! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
  16. Comicality

    Lagging

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Lagging Have you ever been writing a new story, or perhaps just a new chapter...and you really want to enrich the characters, or pour some more emotion into the scene, or you feel like you could pack some more detail and dialogue and world building into what you’re doing...but you begin to wonder if maybe you’re doing too much of it?
    It’s something that I sort of struggle with from time to time, and my decisions on the matter sort of flip and flop back and forth depending on how I plan to be feeling on that particular day. I don’t think that I’ve ever really found a definitive answer for this one, so please feel free to comment down below when it comes to your own experiences with this phenomenon. Because I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a rule here for this...or if it even needs a rule, to be honest. Not everything does, after all.
    The problem is ‘lagging’...and I’d like to talk about it today! So let’s get into it, shall we?
    See, when I’m writing chapters for my stories, I try to keep them roughly the same size in terms of length or word count. Usually between 3,000 and 3,500 words per chapter, give or take. And that’s mostly because I’m writing a lot of stories at the same time, so I set that standard for myself so that I can continue them with new material much faster than I could by writing much more every single time, or by making them too uneven in size. It kind of taught me how to streamline my ideas and actually trim a lot of the ‘fat’ off of my writing so that I could just get to the point and keep things moving forward. However, this eventually led to a different perspective on what I was trying to do with my fiction.
    With every chapter that I write, I have an idea of what I want to accomplish with that one particular section of the story, and I try to keep my thoughts concentrated on meeting that personal goal. But...the problem is that I really ENJOY writing! LOL! I get wrapped up in a certain scene or two, and I keep adding to it to really flesh it out and make it the best chapter that I can. Not only to ‘express’, but to ‘entertain’. To explore. So I might say to myself ahead of time, “Ok, I’ll wrap up this sex scene in the first half of the chapter, and then I’ll move on to the next day, and then end with them saying goodnight to each other on the phone.”
    But as I start ‘wrapping up that sex scene’, I might start adding a bunch more details, and then have it last through the entire chapter, until they’re laying side by side and just smiling and sharing a bit of intimate dialogue with one another...and I’ve reached the end of the chapter without moving things forward as quickly as I had planned to. And this is where I have to make the call...am I just enjoying myself by drawing that scene out? Or am I slowing down the pace of the whole story itself with the extra details? Thus the idea of ‘lagging’.
    You never want your story to lag when it doesn’t have to. It’s the internet, and you have to understand that a lot of people are operating with a humming bird’s attention span...so don’t bore them. Lagging is NOT something that you want to make a habit out of, as it may feel like one of your chapters isn’t really saying anything or serving its purpose….even if it is. The question is...how do you know the difference between lagging and enhancing your story?
    This is where I may need a consensus from the peanut gallery here, hehehe! But I can tell you what I’ve learned so far over the years.
    As many of you guys know, I’m a sucker for details! I think a writer should explore them all to the fullest when they’re putting a story together. Touch, taste, smell, sights, sounds...I try to use them all. Especially when it comes to eroticism in fiction. Stimulation is a full body experience. At the same time, I like for my readers to feel the bliss, the nervousness, the doubt, the confusion, and every wild and random thought that comes along with it. So emotional senses are a part of it too. Sometimes I can accomplish all of that in a condensed space and get my point across. Other times...I let the scene breathe and I spread out every sensation to give it more meaning and feeling no matter how long it takes. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think it makes for GREAT writing. But I also know that I have many examples of times when me being wordy and overly eloquent has slowed my stories down to a snail’s pace, damaging that part of the project and folks want to skip over it to get to the next big revelation, or whatever. And that’s not a good thing.
    I wrote a story called “Never Again” a long time ago while I was going through a troubling situation and a really nasty heartbreak of my own (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/neveragain), and even though it was my plan to sort of write it in a way that mirrored the kind of obsessive thoughts that were going through my main character’s mind the way that it was through mine back when it happened. Reading it back was just...ugh! Hehehe! Total failure! I had obviously overdone it, and the story lagged and limped its way through four depressing chapters of my personal pain with a lot of repetitive feelings and screwed up pacing issues in a major way. I kind of wish that I could have written it for the first time today, knowing what I know now. Hehehe, but I was hurting at the time. That boy really damaged me!
    However, some years later, I started to re-edit and recreate my older stories for release as Ebooks and I saw where the story was lagging most and tried to repair and cut back on what I had done before. (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) This is when I began to learn the difference between dreaming and dragging. There really is a separation between the two, and once you see it...it’s like you can’t unsee it. Some writing will enhance your project, and some will drag it down. The difference, as is with most things in writing...comes from your story’s goal. Your guidance and your character’s motivation...and how you use it.
    If you’re sticking with a certain situation, adding dialogue, or digging into the emotions of that particular moment, I’ve always found it best to sort of focus on details one at a time instead of a scene as a whole. The reason I say that is because it keeps my ideas from floating away or scattering in all directions. Like...if I try to write about a first date all at once, I find that it’s really easy for me to sort of derail my train of thought and stretch that scene out for a lot longer than I should. I can feel myself almost ‘wandering’ around the situation and capturing a bunch of needless sights and sounds that aren’t really warranted in that moment. This causes me to simply talk way too much in my fiction, and it takes up a lot of room, slowing everything down when I could be building up a decent amount of momentum for the next scene instead.
    Now, I try to be a little bit more careful, and not color too far outside the lines. Instead of trying to describe a first date in drawn out detail...I start breaking the date up into smaller parts. Maybe they meet up at the same restaurant. Ok, so I might talk about how they’re dressed, or where they get seated, and what might look good on the menu. Finish that off with just a few sentences without getting into anything else, wrap it up, and be done with it. A much smaller scene doesn’t really take a whole lot of description to paint a picture. Then...once that’s finished...maybe there’s a short dialgue between my main character and his date for the evening. Maybe they’re nervous, maybe it’s comfortable, maybe they share an instant connection, or maybe the awkwardness of the situation is making it hard for them to talk much. That tiny piece of the first date becomes the focus, and get that wrapped up and move on to the next one. Maybe they have drinks. Maybe talk about the food. Maybe show a progression in their comfort level. Take each piece and don’t go too far into the future with it. Obviously, you want your writing to have a certain flow to it where they don’t sound like a bunch of scenes from separate stories...so you want them to blend together in a soft and natural way. But the key is to not go traveling off road with a bunch of other ‘cool, but ultimately’ unfocused details that peel away from your main focus. And once you wander off road...you have to find a natural way to wander back before you can start moving forward again. If that makes sense.
    That’s been my self reflective experience with the idea so far.
    I’m a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, for example...and there are a lot of memorable conversations that take place within them that can be really interesting. But they have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie. Like...at all. They’re just people talking to one another about topics that don’t tie in to the story, that don’t really elevate the characters in any particular way, and often don’t move the move the story forward. They’re just sort of...’there’. They can be entertaining, sure...but there have been times when the actual focus of the movie gets started up again, and I’m left wondering, “Well...what the hell was all that about, then?” Stay in the pocket when you’re writing. Where are you going with the scenes you write?
    I’m not saying that every single written word has to be a race or rushed through so you can hurry up and get to the end of the story. Like I said, I LOVE details and little extras. And I think it’s ok to slow down your momentum a little bit to explore your characters and the themes they’re dealing with in that part of the story. But don’t go too far off the beaten path with it. Take a bit of a ‘plot recess’ to have some fun, and then get back to reaching your goal. It’s easy to get lost when your story starts lagging, and then you’ll end up spending even more time trying to get your audience back on track again. Cool?
    This is something that I’m still trying to figure out for myself, but I’m always trying to see what parts of my writing I can strengthen here and there, and the only way for me to find a way to pull that off is for me to experiment and see where it takes me. I hope you guys will do the same.
    I hope this helps you guys, or at least gives you a little something to think about! Feel free to add your two cents down below if you’ve got any ideas! I’ll seezya soon! And stay beautiful!
     
  17. Comicality

    Importance Of Continuity

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Importance Of Continuity Believe it or not...well, you probably do...hehehe, I used to be MUCH worse about story continuity in my own work! I mean, as hard as I tried, it was always a difficult task trying to keep everything all together the way I really wanted to. And that was while I was working with handwritten NOTES to help guide me and keep me on track. (Keep an eye out for my article on personal story notes soon!) But that’s one of the traps of trying to keep all of your story’s details in your head, and attempting to keep writing from beginning to end. Let me tell you…it doesn’t really work like that for most writers. And that’s even if you’re just working on ONE story, much less a variety of different tales of fiction all at once. No matter how much truth there is to the story, or how close the characters may be to your heart and soul...the idea that you can write an entire story of any real length and remember all the details without the occasional slip up here and there, is pretty much unfathomable. If any of you guys know how to do it, please share your magic trick with the group! Because I had to resort to taking enough notes constantly to know where I left off, where it came from, and where I was going with it. I was starting to think that I was going to give myself a full blown brain aneurysm trying to keep everything catalogued in my head somewhere so I’d be able to draw from it when I needed it. Hehehe, but no such luck! I forget to do stuff in my own life sometimes! It’s even harder to remember what’s going on with well over one hundred fictional characters on top of it all. But I can’t stress how important it is to do just that when you’re writing your work out and presenting it in front of you audience. Because the truth is….it can be really confusing for them at best, and extremely annoying at worst. So we all need to make the concept of story continuity a priority at all costs.
    I really do believe that everything an author writes should have some kind of ‘flow’ to it in order for it to really work. That’s my opinion, as it just makes for a better reading experience for me. It should be smooth, it should have a certain level of natural momentum, and it should be engaging in a way where it doesn’t feel as though you’re reading words on a page or a screen instead of being a virtual part of the story. When readers get caught up in the flow of what you’re writing, the words almost seem to disappear completely, and their imaginations are left to roam free, creating all of the sights and sounds and feelings in their hearts and minds that you worked so hard to develop with your storytelling ability. You hold them captive in your fictional world. That’s the absolute best feeling in the world. Well, that and sex!
    However...when your continuity falls off or goes astray...you create stumbling blocks in that natural flow, and it immediately crashes the immersion of the story itself. As I believe that I’ve said once in the past...the immersion is everything in your fiction. It will forgive all technical and mechanical mistakes, even spelling errors (as long as they’re not TOO excessive) because they just want to pass over it and get back to the story. So these perception stumbling blocks are guaranteed to ruin that experience, and often much faster than you would assume that they ever could. Continuity errors are the absolute worst one of those stumbling blocks that could put a stranglehold on your story. Especially if you continue on with them or that change for any length of time. It can be a very jarring experience for your readers...and not at all in a good way.
    It’s almost like telling an outright LIE, you know...and then you build the second half of that story off of that same lie...which does terrible things for the beginning of that particular story. Remember...problems like this force your readers to stop, and readjust and re-imagine your story from scratch. And while they’re doing that...they might be losing interest. Sad, but true. Screw up your continuity, and you could end up causing you story and its fanbase to collapse in a single chapter. Hehehe, so I suggest you try to avoid that.
    It’s no reason to panic...just try to fix these issues out in your editing process before releasing it to the public. If you have a good Beta reader on your side...even better! They might be able to catch these things that you might not notice while you’re lost in ‘writer mode’. Listen to their advice. They’re there to help you out. Stay focused.
    And if you post or publish with these mistakes included before you’re able to catch them...then you might just have to take a big loss on that, and fess up to your mistake while you keep moving forward. There’s really not much else that you can do. ‘Fix it in post’, as the movie folks say.
    The easiest part of going back to correcting continuity errors is simply a name change or change in spelling. Something that I have been absolutely HORRIBLE about in some cases, until recently, now that I’m trying to fix everything up for the ebooks! I can’t even tell you why. It’s like my brain sees things one thing on one day, but it sees something else completely different the next day. This something that I’ve really been working on when I’m writing, and I definitely look for in my ebook versions so I can make sure that I can keep everything consistent. Like I said, I didn’t even realize that I was flipping and flopping back and forth with the spelling of my own characters’ names until I went back to edit the story for the third or fourth time. And I cringed every single time. Lesson learned!
    For example, the main character in my story “My Only Escape” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/myonlyescape). Sometimes I was spelling it ‘Zach’ with an ‘H’...and other times, I was spelling it with a ‘K’, which is what I had originally intended. So I made sure to go through all of the books in the entire completed ebook series to have everything line up like it should. Also, there was a character that I created in the “Shelter” prequel, “Rotting Apples” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/rottingapples/) who later whows up in the main story of “Shelter” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/shelter/) and his name kept changing from ‘Stephen’ to ‘Steven’, and that’s still something that I have to fix as of right now on the site to keep from embarrassing myself even further. I really REALLY hate doing that! It’s such an amateur mistake, but sometimes, it’s just unavoidable. The idea is to catch it in the editing process before anybody else gets to see it.
    Hehehe, obviously, I didn’t! So, I suck for that! Sorry. But I’d like to think that I’m getting better at looking for these kinds of mishaps!
    That might seem like such a minor thing and an easy fix...but it counts. Why? Because it’s interrupting the natural flow of my story, and it’s a stain on my brand as an attentive author who’s always trying to put his best foot forward.
    Do you see it? Can feel it? That stumble can toss even the most invested reader out of my carefully crafted world and sends them crashing back down to Earth again. I don’t want that.
    Now….let’s move onto something a bit more detrimental a story’s continuity. And that is the plot and intimate details of the story itself. This is where an author can really cause a significant amount of damage to what they’re doing. Where your only choices are to completely re-edit everything out, try to find a way to weave the differences together in a way that explain what happened...or to totally ‘cheat’ and pretend it never happened at all. Hehehe, to anyone who’s read all of my stories, then you’ll already know that I’m guilty of doing all three! So you make your own choices where you feel you need to...but here has been my pseudo-expert experience so far.
    When I started my very first story on the site, “New Kid In School” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/newkidinschool), I was much younger and a complete novice at writing these kinds of stories. Or anything even remotely gay, to be honest. My only way of trying to openly express myself in that way came from following the Nifty Archives’ blueprint to get started...and I made my main characters really YOUNG. When I started, Randy and Ryan were only thirteen years old. And as I continued to write on (I never really expected my very first story to go anywhere after that first chapter) they were aged up to high school age, and then Ryan was taking driving lessons...meaning that they were now sixteen at least. Unfortunately, it was too late to go back and correct that error on Nifty, even if I fixed it on my own site. But they were still supposed to be new boyfriends, so I couldn’t just magically say that they had been together for three whole years and the gap in time had just whizzed by without anybody noticing. Not their friends or their parents or anything. So that huge time gap still exists in the story and probably always will until I turn it into an ebook series and start all over from scratch. It’s a continuity error that makes me cringe every time I think about it. And anybody reading it is going to know the glaring difference between the earlier chapters and the later chapters. That continuity in my storytelling is just going to have to remain forever broken until I start all over again. You know? Shame, shame, shame.
    There have been other mistakes where I’ve accidentally called a character by the wrong name and didn’t catch it in editing. Where blue eyes turn brown or hazel. There was a time in “A Class By Himself” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/aclassbyhimself) where in an earlier chapter, Derrick couldn’t afford to just ‘go out and buy a new laptop’ which put him at a severe disadvantage from the other students in his class...but in a later chapter he was getting emails or texts from his boyfriend Tanner without explaining how he was able to suddenly afford the equipment to be able to do that. There is an entire treasure trove of mistakes and inconsistencies in my work that I’ve really had to work hard to not draw attention to and hope that I can somehow keep writing and moving the story forward from when I discovered the continuity mishap in the first place. I just wish I was able to catch it ahead of time.
    I was lucky enough to get a second chance to make a first impression with my work by painstakingly going through my stories and correcting these mistakes before releasing them as ebooks, where they’ve found a whole new life with a much better and mature and experienced version than what I originally released anywhere else online. (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) So...like, in the original “Gone From Daylight”, I had a group of people go off to speak in private on a rooftop one night. One of those characters was named, ‘Doc’, who I wanted to be there because of his knowledge and studies of what was going on. But, he’s in a wheelchair...so how did he get to the rooftop? In the original version, I wasn’t thinking about that. I just wanted him there in the scene. In the ebook version, I created an entire scene of an old elevator with my main character and his boyfriend getting him to the top of that building. And that part of the story make much more sense now, and doesn’t act as a stumbling block to anybody enjoying the natural flow of the story and don’t have to stop and readjust to question what’s going on and why. Now that I’m able to look back and act on that whole ‘hindsight is 20/20’ principle...I can smooth out all of the rough edges and work towards creating a work of fiction that makes sense. And one that won’t confuse my readers with continuity errors.
    Don’t end up with the kind of regrets that I have from not being more careful when I started. You have a chance to get it right the first time, and put that best foot forward with confidence and advice that will save you from some of those pitfalls that I had to experience by getting it wrong. K?
    That’s it for now! Go out there and show the world what you’ve got! Just make sure that you keep your story focused and as void of those continuity wormholes as you possibly can. They’re easy to fall into, and very hard to get out of! So skip that part of you writer’s journey at all costs.
    Seezya soon! Happy writing! And stay beautiful!
  18. Comicality

    Character Combos

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Character Combos As many of you guys already know...I absolutely LOVE to work with ensemble casts in my own work! It gives me so much freedom and extra room to build characters up (or tear them down) without having to resort to long bouts of exposition to do it. I’ve always thought that the true identity of a character was more impactful by centering on their positive or negative interactions with the other characters in my stories then just talking about them, second-hand. It says soooo much more than simply telling the audience that ‘this is who character is. And you should just believe me because I said so.’ That’s not really effective in my mind. I’m always like, “Show me!” Why should I just believe the writer because that’s who they need them to be in order for the plot to work? It’s not enough to simply say, ‘because I said so.’ I want to see your claims about this fictional person in action. I want to not only see your assumptions of this character worked into your story, but I want to see how it bounces off of other personalities in your fiction and find it’s own special niche spot among the rest of your characters. Who are they, and why are they a part of your story?
    Now, if you write gay teen romance...you really only need to include a protagonist and a love interest to work with. And that can be a beautiful thing if you focus on the love and relationship between those two people. Maybe you add a friend here and there, or a parent if you feel it’s necessary...but the story is really about the bonding of your two main characters. And that’s awesome. You ‘stayed in the pocket’ with your focus and told the tale that you wanted to tell. Great! Thumbs up for that.
    However...if you ever look back at your own work and find yourself doing more ‘telling’ than ‘showing’...you may want to see if there are places in your writing where you can add a few scenes or examples of the very suggestions that you made considering one character or another. When describing a certain character, whether it be in your story, or just in your notes beforehand...you should always always always be asking yourself why? This guy is a badass? Why? This guy always makes me laugh? Why? He’s such a sweetheart, or he’s so angry, or he’s such a pest? Why? Don’t explain it to me...show me the evidence, and let me come to my own conclusion about it all. Allow me, as a reader, to be a part of building my perception of this character and take it to heart. You know?
    It makes a difference. Trust me. I speak from experience, despite having to learn it the hard way in the beginning.
    The beauty of having an ensemble cast when I’m writing is knowing that I have multiple avenues to expose and explore these characters by showing my readers how they act and react in certain situations or interact with other characters with different personalities in my story. And character combos have become a BIG part of everything that I write for that very reason. I don’t want to narrate from an omnipotent position and tell the readers how to feel about a certain character ahead of time. I want them to be a part of the experience when it comes to developing their feelings and personal investments in the characters that I create. And sometimes that comes from the simple act of seeing them in action with other people. You know what I mean?
    Character combinations are very easy to put together once you ease up on your complete and total control over your fictional characters’ lives and just let them exist with one another as you know them. The key is to concentrate on their individual personas, and allow them to blossom and display themselves through their actions and dialogue as the story progresses forward. Separate them! When you create a character for your story, make sure that there’s a real reason for them to be there. And USE that reason to your advantage! Even if it happens to be a side character.
    This is where the power comes from when it comes to character combos. A combination of personalities and abilities all coming together at once. Sometimes peacefully...sometimes not so much! But the idea is very simple. As they say...”Teamwork makes the dream work!” Which basically means that everybody has something to offer in terms of a cohesive storyline. As I’ve said before, if you have a character in your work that can easily be taken out without affecting the story in any major way...then he/she doesn’t belong there. It’s fluff. It’s like having cotton candy for dinner. It’s not satisfying or fulfilling at all. Lose it. Always keep this principle in mind while you’re writing. If you have a protagonist with an obligatory best friend, a teen with an oblivious parent with no impact on the story, or a boss at work with no real effect on your protagonist...then lose them. If you can or have no future plans for them, that is.
    The thing about character combos is the idea that you can get an ensemble cast of characters together all at once, but they all have a special skill, or knowledge, or a unique mindset, that will come in handy in the major scheme of things. Something that no one else on your fictional ‘team’ can do, or do the same way, than the character that you’ve picked for that particular task. THAT is exciting! That’s what people love to see! Hehehe!
    I want you to watch this clip from “Wakanda Forever” that displays a lot of what I’m talking about here. Now, all three of these characters have the exact same goal in the long run, but they are still acting in ways that sort of conflict with one another, which I thought was BRILLIANT! Here, you have a young college student whose a tech genius who has been hiding out, so when the cops show up for a surprise raid, she just wants to burn the evidence and fly out of there so she can’t be caught! And looks like she’s having a blast doing it! Hahaha!
    Meanwhile, you’ve got Shuri...the defiant and reckless princess, who immediately wants to go after her. BUT, she’s being heavily guarded by the Queen’s own General Okeye, who’s only priority is to protect the princess and get her out of there at all costs! No matter what! So, our college student, Ri Ri, flys off, and Shuri sneaks behind the car to basically lock the female general in the car and turns on the computer remote controls to spin her off in the opposite direction to get her out of the way! (Something she had obviously planned for beforehand, just in case) Leaving Shuri to jump on a motorcycle and chase after her target without being restricted or worried about her safety. Something the general would NEVER allow if she had known ahead of time.
    Conflicting methods, but all trying to reach the same goal by using their specific gifts to make this happen. Gifts that can finally match one another when they work together. There is so much GENIUS in how this scene was put together...but more on that after you watch it...
     
     
    The thing about the previous clip is all about the switch off. One is young and naive but highly intelligent, one is extremely smart but reckless, and one is dedicated and loyal to the throne...but can be easily tricked if the warrior lets down her guard. Strengths and weaknesses are all on display here when put it into the proper context, and it says something that’s very simple. ‘Everybody has something to do here.’ This is a character combo. It gives importance and interest to everyone in your story, and this is crucial when it comes to keeping your story tight and concentrated, because you’re not wasting time trying to find a purpose for one of your other characters in critical situations. If they’re there, show us why. What are they bringing to the table? What particular skill set or bit of knowledge are they adding to this particular scene? Again...think about what their strengths are, and what their weaknesses are...and how can they work together to fill some of those holes where they might be lacking.
    In the story, “New Kid In School” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/newkidinschool) I have a cute couple that just want to be together, but I also have someone else who wants to separate them and take one of the boys for himself. But I have another character that knows all of this boy’s sneaky tricks and deceptions who can step in and fend him off with the insults and sarcastic remarks needed to keep him at bay while our couple remains solid. He’s the character that can fill in that spot of weakness or inexperience for our favorite boyfriends...and that’s why he’s there. (Sorry if that’s vague, but I was trying to avoid spoilers) He has a reason to be there. There is something that he can do, that he can know, or that he can see and anticipate...that the other two can’t. So I focus on his special skill with this story, and he’s obviously bringing something unique to the table. And this makes for a more interesting character who’s there just for the sake of trading dialogue or being a random plot device. He’s woven into the very fabric of what is going on there, and readers will connect to him because they will clearly understand why he’s needed in this part of the story. In the “Savage Moon” story, every single member of the wolf pack has a specific role to play. In the story “S-K-Y-L-I-G-H-T”, everyone has a different personality and a different collection of attributes that might help them all survive. Same with “Shelter”. By having everyone be a part of the solution, or even a part of causing more problems, not only do you connect your audience to them as individuals, but it keeps you away from Mary/Gary Sue characters who can seemingly do everything all on their own without any help from anybody. That erases tension and can sometimes make for a boring main character. Spread the problem out a little bit, and let a few of them show your readers what they can do.
    Sorry to bash and batter you guys with Marvel stuff as much as I do...but I grew up reading comic books, and they taught me how to handle character, action, drama, plot, etc. It’s how I learned to write at all. Hehehe, so sue me!
    This clip is from the first “Avengers” movie. Just watch this scene. You’ve got your team leader who’s capable of quickly putting a plan together, you’ve got a tech genius who can fly and guide the enemy in the right direction, you’ve got a couple of spies/assassins who can help to save civilians in harm’s way, you’ve got the muscle, you’ve got the muscle...each and every single person on this team has a skill that is specific to them and them alone. Nobody feels left out. Nobody feels wasted. They’ve all got a killer hand to play, and this is exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to your own projects!
     
    Develop your characters earlier on in the story, and when it comes time for them to put their advantages to use...it means something special, and it sets them apart from your other characters. For example, in “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”, the first time we meet her, she’s drinking a guy nearly twice her size under the table! That’s more than just a random scene, that’s character building. Because that talent of hers shows up later in the movie, and you believe it because it’s already been introduced as one of her attributes that even the main character might not be able to pull off. So she’s proven herself to be more than a worthy member of the team she’s working with. You’ll see examples of this in movies like “Mission: Impossible” or the “Oceans Eleven” remake! Get everyone involved, flaws and all. Make it work, and you’ll have an easy time of letting the story build up around them. Get it? Good!
    That’s it for now! I hope you guys have fun! And I’ll be back with more soon!
     
  19. Comicality

    Endgame

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Endgame There was a time when a majority of people saw the world in black and white. Well, some still do...but, for the most part...we’ve all grown to realize that things aren’t always that simple. The days of some mad scientist doing awful things simply because he’s crazy and terrible are kind of coming to an end. There are reasons for people that do the things that they do. Sometimes they’re selfish reasons, yes...but it’s not just a matter of good and evil all the time. Everything can’t be, “This person is all good and pure of heart” and “This other person is all bad and wicked to their core”. That’s a very flat and surface level of storytelling. I mean, I’ve seen the very best of friends do some awful things where I had to tell them, “You were fucked up for that, dude.” It’s true. At the same time, I’ve seen people that I absolutely hated with every fiber of my being...being capable of incredible acts of kindness and understanding. And it’s hard to figure that out on either side, but it happens. Often at random, with no explanation at all. Go figure.
    The thing is...if I want to build a complete story and be able to deliver a message of understanding and meaning, the whole ‘random’ motivations thing doesn’t really carry as much weight as I want the story to have. There’s no power in that. I can’t really just have events happen without rhyme or reason. There are no more morally corrupt warriors, evil wizards, or people who are bad just for the sake of being bad. It may take some time and some digging to figure out what their trigger is or why it works...but on a deeper level, it’s in there somewhere.
    So, whether you expose it in the actual story right away or not...you should have one question in mind, whether it be for your protagonist or their enemy. And that question is...what’s the endgame here? What is this person trying to accomplish and why? It’s something to think about and, at some point, share with your audience so the plot feels as if it has some kind of direction to it. And that direction, just like everything else in your story, should make some kind of logical sense.
    Have you ever heard one of those super in depth conspiracy theories that a lot people immediately buy into and expand upon...but they have no actual endgame in mind that would accomplish much of anything? Muahahaha...I’ll raise the price of eggs at the grocery store, and then people will, ummm...have to pay more for eggs! Ok. And then what? What’s the reasoning behind that? Or, I’m going to blow up this entire country with a nuke! Annnnnd…? Go back and salvage something valuable from the wreckage about twenty or thirty years from now? Nukes do a lot of damage, it makes the area and all of its resources pretty much useless for a very long time in most cases, and a strong wind might end up blowing harmful chemicals and radiation right back at you. At least, that’s what I think happens. I’d have to do some heavy research to even figure out the benefits of something like that. What’s the endgame?
    While some writers try to come up with these intense and elaborate plans in order to make their protagonists or antagonists seem as if they’re really genius opponents who are always twelve steps ahead of their opponent...sometimes it just gets waaaay overdone. Sometimes, unless the antagonist is constantly trying to go up against a bunch of his or her high powered, highly intelligent, obstacles of their own...things don’t have to be quite that complicated. So don’t over play your hand, you know?
    I was watching the news a few months ago, where somebody was talking about how the US government was trying to kill him because he knew too many secrets. ::Snickers:: I mean...really? Trying to kill you? The most high tech, overly expensive, military force on the planet is really having that much trouble trying to take you out? What...are you Jason Bourne? John Wick? James Bond? Do you know how easy it would be for just me to kill him if I really thought it was that serious? LOL! Why would I use the entire might of the military and create a big cover up about it, when I could sprinkle rat poison on your burger the next time you go through the drive-thru at your local fast food spot? That guy watches too many movies.
    There are people who really do believe getting a shot will inject nanobots into their system so they can be tracked everywhere they go. “Really? Where’d you read that?” Right here on my cell phone. Like...you know there’s a tracking device on that, right? See...these endgames don’t make much sense. Nobody is spending millions of dollars to watch you run out to Walmart as a little blip on their high tech computer and come back home with some frozen hot dogs and toilet paper. They could honestly just follow you there with a dollar’s worth of gas in the car. Better yet, they can just choose not to give a shit about and go looking for somebody important, you know? These aren’t good endgame scenarios.
    Have you ever seen the movie, “Batman V Superman”? Check out this video, mostly the part that happens at four minutes into the video. This is actually the plan of the main villain and all that entails. Feel free to pause it and read through it all to understand how utterly convoluted and confusing it is over all. It’s actually fascinating that an evil genius could possibly ever come up with something like this...even lost in a fever dream or in the middle of a cocaine binge! What the hell…?
     
    Can you imagine having to write all of those plot points, involving all of those characters, and all of those moving parts...and still having it make any sense at all? The first thing to do is ‘simplify’. Find out what each character is trying to accomplish, why they’re motivated in that direction, and then stick to it. Get from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible.
    There are stories with really elaborate plans that need an entire team of specialists to pull off...but you have to learn to aim all of these things in the same direction. They need to make sense and every action needs to have a definitive purpose with a clear and understandable motivation attached to them. What are they going to put into action, and how are they expecting it to work out the way they planned it. That’s how you develop a really awesome endgame for your story.
    Great examples of this would be movies like 2001’s version of “Oceans Eleven”, or “Se7en”, or even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Total Recall”! And they have really complex plans that will take an excessive amount of planning as well as an unpredictable amount of luck to pull them off...but they still work in the terms of telling a great story. Because every part of the plan has a clearly defined endgame in mind, and as things begin to unravel and are revealed to your readers...you’re able to see how they all came into play from the very beginning. The distractions, the double cross, the heist, the secret agendas...if you want to make them a part of your story, then make sure that you’re able to focus on a singular goal and how to get away with it. Introduce, put into motion, and reveal along the way. This is how they all work in the long run.
    Don’t set up a bad guy who wants to take over the world. And do what with it? Govern it all at once? Rob it of untold riches? Why...you own the whole world, what would you need money for? Maybe destroy the world? Ummm...don’t you live on it too? Unless you have a motivation that’s like, “Mankind’s reign is over. We’re a cancer here and all need to be wiped out, me included.” There’s got to be a reason for your antagonist to feel this way...and that feeling had to come from somewhere in their backstory. Even if you really want your villain to just be a heartless bastard from beginning to end...that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a goal of some sort, right? Even the most ruthless and savage serial killers are aiming to satisfy some sort of sick urge or to accomplish something with the evil deeds that they commit. Find it. Concentrate on it. And use it to add a layer of depth to your character that will (hopefully) make some kind of sense.
    In my series, “Savage Moon”, even the pack leaders Cyrus has a dark reward that he’s trying to attain, and while I may not reveal his plan more than a little bit at a time...the audience gets it fed to them more and more until they begin to piece it together for themselves. Naturally, I wanted him to be a frightening antagonist for my main character to have to face over time, and maintain a sense of tension and conflict, and I could’ve just had him be evil incarnate for no other reason than he’s the bad guy. But that wouldn’t really make for a compelling story in my opinion. It’s flat. It’s one note. And that makes him predictable as a character...which quickly becomes boring. Unpredictability is much scarier. And that comes from knowing that he has some kind of master plan in the works...and my main character can’t figure out what it is just yet. He has to figure it out, and take my readers along for the ride. That already sounds better than the good versus bad scenario that we’re all so used to, where the good guys always win.
    Hehehe, do they, though?
    Always focus on the endgame. No matter what you’re writing. This works for fantasy, for romance, for action, for drama...it’s simply a way of you marking off a beginning point, and an end point, and making sure that you can reach them both without going too far out of your way. You have a guy at a bar that’s having an awesome conversation with the person next to him, and he’s thinking that he might want to get out of there and maybe talk for a while longer without all the noise? Well, what’s his endgame? Does he just want a friend, and it turns out that he develops feelings for him later? Is he just looking for a quick one night stand that turns into something more? Is he just being spontaneous on that particular night to see what happens? Figure out his endgame. What goal is he trying to reach, and then use that as a guide to lead your writing in that direction.
    Has he asked him yet? Is he nervous? Does he think the other person is out of his league? Is he out of the closet yet? Is he dealing with the aftermath of a nasty break up? All of these scenarios should be put in place to answer the question of ‘why’! What’s his motivation and why does he feel this way? Add this to your characters, no matter the genre, and they will begin to take on a much more interesting shape in the eyes of your readers. K?
    No bad guy is all bad. No good guy is all good. Keep that in mind, and you’ll have a much clearer vision of what it is that you have to do from beginning to end.
    Food for thought! I hope it helps! I’ll be back soon with more! As long as I’m gabbing, I might as well give it all away, right? Take care! Happy writing! Seezya soon!
     
  20. Comicality

    Art Official

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Art Official There has been a great deal of talk about the idea of artificial intelligence becoming so much more advance these days, that it may be able to create and weave stories all on its own without really having any real need for authors or artists or models or photographers, etc, at all. And I will admit, I’ve seen some passages ‘written’ by computers that have been fed enough information and influences that it can look pretty convincing to anyone who isn’t experienced with reading in general. But am I even remotely worried about being replaced by an AI program? No. Hehehe, not even close. The idea is simply unthinkable.
    Now, if a computer program was enlisted to write other programs, build an engine, create a website, or solve mathematical problems...maybe. Feed it enough info and give it some intuitive freedom, I’m sure that it could come up with a variety of amazing projects that most people would have never thought of before. I could see that happening in my lifetime. But that’s drawing from a whole other different part of the brain. Our most ‘computer similar’ part of the brain. However, I truly feel the complete opposite way when it comes to creativity. Please feel free to chime in with any thoughts of your own on this when you get a chance? I mean...can an AI really make a convincing recreation of a sincere human expression? Even if it’s not for like another twenty or thirty years from now...I just can’t see it. Something would just be missing, in my opinion.
    See...the thing about a genuine expression of emotion is that it has to actually come from somewhere. A feeling, a memory, a regret, a mistake...I don’t think a creative endeavor can exist without mistakes and still feel honest. There’s a wisdom, a personal perspective, a variety of flaws in logic and rationality, that creates a human connection. It’s not something that can just be reproduced at random, or guided in a certain direction by someone who hasn’t shared that experience, at least in part. That’s the whole separation of mechanics and magic. Which one do you guys go looking for when reading a new story?
    I worked at a music store for many years in the Chicago area, and it was a place that actually specialized in music. So we carried cassettes, CDs, vinyl, out of print stuff, box sets, hard to find and local artists, and the like. We even had a bunch of established artists come in to sign autographs and promoter their new albums. We would get free concert tickets, get invited to record release parties...it was soooo much fun! Hehehe! And it was a place for a lot of party promoters and Djs to grab their newest stuff. But one of the things that I remember hearing a lot from them was that vinyl sounded WAY better than CDs ever could. And that was because CDs were made to separate all of the sounds, make them sound crisp and clean and super pristine for high definition players...but vinyl (while thought to be an inferior method of recording music at that time) blended everything together the way it was meant to be heard. The whole song was unified by the connection of voices and instruments...and the super perfection of CDs and now MP3s sort of takes away from that experience. It sounds great, sure...and I’m sure there are a lot of people who have never heard music any other way...but there’s a huge difference between hearing a song from The Beatles on CD or MP3 and hearing it on vinyl. There really is.
    The point is...the attempt to perfect something digitally can create a loss of heart and soul. And heart and soul is what ‘art’ is all about, isn’t it?
    Hehehe, now this is for humor’s sake...but not long ago, this was an example of what an AI movie would look like and how it would read! Obviously, things have evolved by leaps and bounds since then...but this is how it started. ::Giggles::
     
    Now...even considering the fact that there would be a much smoother and intuitive program behind putting a story together these days and even more so in the future...can you really see this becoming a normal way to find, construct, and enjoy, stories? Like...hehehe, really?
    I’m really intrigued enough to see where this new technology goes and figure out how it works, but it really doesn’t seem like something that would be able to give me those warm fuzzies, or those emotional shivers, that I usually get from a well written piece of work. Or even just the personal perspective of a writer who might be able to grab me in a way that no one else ever has before. There’s a certain connection that I feel deeply from a life lived that an artificial source just can’t quite duplicate. And even it does for me or for a few people...it wouldn’t be able to reach out and touch everybody in the same way. That core bonding ‘x-factor’ would be awkwardly absent. The one thing that bonds us all together. The spontaneity isn’t there. And God forbid if it had to cross over from culture to culture, language to language. Hehehe, have you ever read the text from a poorly translated video game or foreign film? It’s like...what the hell?
    It’s advances like this that really make me, personally, appreciate the human element in everything that we do as authors and creators of incredibly heartfelt fiction. You know? It almost makes me appreciate my own efforts even more than I usually do. Because you just can’t replace struggle and pain with something that can be mass produced with the press of a button. This is the kind of tech that you can look at, or maybe even try out for yourselves, and realize just how precious and unique your talents really are. But I encourage everyone to experience and check out this new AI invention for themselves, if for no other reason than to get a grasp on what it simply can’t do that you can generate almost on instinct alone. It gives you confidence. Like...look at how EASY it is for you to create something beautiful, meaningful, and that connects to people in an immeasurable way, without even trying. Programs can’t ‘fake’ that. And I don’t think they’ll ever be able to.
    Even if they come close...then I feel bad for the generation that thinks that’s going to be good enough. They’d seriously be missing out.
    So….you may be wondering, what’s the difference? Right? There are a whole lot of people who can take the whole ‘words on a screen’ approach and translate that into a feeling of genuine emotion and depth that will leave them happy and satisfied once they’re done reading. There’s no reason for it not to. And it’ll be edited and properly worded in ways that never stumble and never waver from correct grammar and punctuation. So why not? What is it about the flawed human element that we’re expecting people to miss once it’s no longer a part of the equation?
    To me...it’s the most important part of the equation.
    I want you guys to watch this video. I think Jennifer Hudson is a PHENOMENAL talent! Her voice is so priceless, and she deserves to be one of the greatest female vocalists of our time. But this is her and another outstanding male vocalist backstage, I think at an awards show, completely improvising their vocals without practice. Without rehearsal. It’s a remake of an old Ray Charles song, and you can tell that Jennifer Hudson sort of knows the melody, but not the lyrics. She’s literally reading them off of a computer screen off to the side as she’s figuring out how to sync herself up with the song, and they’re both just going back and forth...not knowing where they’re even going next. It’s amazing to just see them both ‘feel out’ the song in real time and still be able to harmonize and come together with a spontaneous vibe when most people can’t even plan for a duet this perfect!
     
    I can’t even fathom being able to do something like that with my voice. With my writing? Sure...but never my voice. Hehehe! But some people can do it with a keyboard solo, or a guitar riff, or a martial arts display, or with an acting soliloquy, or with writing a computer program made to imitate all of these things. Hehehe! That’s the difference. That’s the heart that goes unnoticed when you take an artistic passion and try to manufacture it without the core bonding and experience that gave birth to that particular expression. That inner gut feeling that only another person with a similar journey can connect to. It’s not just words on a screen. It’s a life lived, lessons learned, and scars healed. These things matter. If you think that you can truly write a story without this point being evident to you as a creator of fine fiction, then I think you might be missing the point. Or, at the very least...still too afraid to step closer to that line and see where the next few steps can take you. Either way, you can only go as far as your ‘programming’. And since we’re all basically programming ourselves every moment of the day...then all of our triumphs and our limitations are up to us.
    This is something to focus on when you’re writing. Nobody...and I mean nobody...can write this story but you. Not even close. If you’re attempting to create some form of entertainment on an artificial level, then you’re going to find yourselves with an artificial fanbase. Dig deeper. Become the story. Allow your humanity to flow through it with every word, and embrace your spontaneous feelings and unexpected instincts. Enjoy the beauty of your imperfections, and make them your strengths when you’re writing. It’s all about connection. Get your audience to embrace you, and embrace them back with quality work that you can truly be proud of. Cool?
    Alright, I think I’ve said all that I had to say on this topic! Hehehe! I don’t want to bore you all too much if I can help! But, seriously...these are all things to think about when you commit to writing your stories. I really think that the biggest step towards being a great writer is creating a true passion for writing. And then finding a true understanding for that passion. Vocabulary and word mechanics won’t be enough. It’s enough to get by on...kinda like living off of ramen noodles and frozen hot dogs, hehehe! Been there, done that. But if you’re shooting for the stars...find ways to cultivate that passion within you. That yearning that is constantly telling you that you have a story to tell.
    Do that...and no AI will ever be able to copy and paste the kid of talent that you’re bringing to the table. Not ever. Own your craft, and take pride in knowing that it’s all yours...and yours alone.
    Stay beautiful, you guys! And I’ll seezya soon! Let me know your thoughts down below!
     
  21. Comicality

    Invoking Nostalgia

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Invoking Nostalgia Our lives, more often than not, come down to our ability to connect our current selves to our previous selves from the past. Being younger, more naive, more eager and energetic...remembering the lessons that we’ve learned, and the sometimes tragic mistakes we made that we’ve learned them from. Whenever you look at a younger photograph of yourself...you have to replay a ‘story’ in your head that will somehow cause you feel as though you and that person in the photograph are actually the same human being. (How crazy would it be if you couldn’t?) There is a myriad of different stories and and major events that has taken you from that image in the picture to the person that you see now when you look in the mirror, and the same goes for all of us. There’s just something magical about it, you know? At least to me, there is. And when I’m writing, it’s that deep sense of nostalgia that creates such a deep connection to my own content and making it work out the way that I want it to. Hopefully, it does the same for my readers as well. That’s my goal for every last story that I create, no matter what the genre or story might be as a whole. Just to make something that ‘connects’.
    There really are times that I wish I could go back and give my younger self some much needed advice when it came to navigating my way through the life that I was living at the time. Finding a certain sense of pride within myself, and figure out how to stop being so scared and doubtful in my own mind all the time, so that I could maybe erase some of the many MANY mistakes that I made growing up. I wish I could show myself what video games look like nowadays, or what movies I’d be able to dive into...and the idea that I’d be able to write stories online about the boys that I was going to school with at that time would probably blow my poor little MIND! LOL! Anyway, I’d like to think that it might be fun to visit that time again, just because. And despite what anybody tells you, I’m willing to bet that there is a tiny bit of that craving for their past nostalgia lurking within your audience somewhere too. A fun little tale or secret from their own personal history that they’ve been dying to tell someone else and maybe never had the opportunity to have that conversation or allow that memory to really rise up to the surface in a way where it can be shared and appreciated in the way that it was meant to be. I mean, let’s be honest...isn’t that what writing and storytelling is all about anyway? Bringing pieces of your past to life for those who take the time to sit back and listen.
    Everybody has a story to tell. I truly believe that. If you talk to the older members of your family...take a moment to really zoom in and listen to what they have to say. They may repeat some of the same stories over and over again, but don’t treat them with any level of discount. That’s a piece of somebody’s life. And bringing those amazing moments back to them while comparing them to some of your own is a blessing that you can’t even imagine. You just have to know how to do it with your own writing as well. You’d be amazed at how effective it is when it comes to drawing your readers in and captivating their thoughts and memories that truly engages them with your story, and adds elements of enjoyment and familiarity to every single word.
    Sounds vague, doesn’t it? Hehehe, it’s not. So pay attention. Let’s get our methods together and make this magic happen, shall we?
    It doesn’t matter how old or how young you may be...that pinch of nostalgia is still there. Most authors approach it in a favorably, but not all. There are some of us that have led difficult lives in the past, so your view of nostalgia may be viewed in a completely different way. But even that can create the kind of attachment that you’re looking to make with your audience, so don’t be afraid to use that to your advantage if that’s the direction that you want to go with it.
    All you have to do is trade places with the person in that picture that I mentioned earlier. Go back and submerge yourselves in the era where some of your absolute favorite memories lie. People will often latch onto things the same way that you do once you get them hooked, and it creates a feeling of familiarity that existed only in what we may look at as ‘the good old days’. Now, has the world become a completely different place in this day and age? No. Not really. Some new technologies, some new popular trends and fashions, sure...but the world is pretty much the same. What creates the illusion is the idea that you were different back then, and therefore so was your perspective of the world around you.
    I’m always talking about finding the core elements of your writing through emotion and motivations, and that also applies here as well. Being embarrassed, falling in love, getting angry, seeing new places, having your heart broken in two...these are feelings that almost everybody can identify in some shape or form. If you can focus on telling that story with honesty and insight...then the era that you place your story in or the ages of your characters won’t really matter all that much. A kid in the 80’s and a kid during the 2020 pandemic can share the same goosebumps over a gay love story as anyone else. A high school Froshman, a divorced manager of a computer company, and a widowed gentleman in a nursing home, all get nervous and blush when it comes to really being infatuated with someone that they care about and want to ask out on a date for the first time. The core feelings are the same, the nostalgia element exists there in a greater degree than anywhere else. However, it’s always fun to put that extra bit of polish on it by adding a fun bit of what I like to call ‘era porn’! Hehehe! And this is where the devil is in the details. It’s something that I sort of want to play around with in my writing more often.
    What is era porn? It’s usually something that you can add to your stories by decade, but seeing as everything is speeding up these days, even five years ago might feel like a different era altogether. For example I wrote a short story called “Special Delivery” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/special-delivery/) that takes place just two years ago during the pandemic, and already that seems to have a feeling of nostalgia for a world that doesn’t really exist anymore. Thankfully. So, if you wanted to recreate that time period for your story...think about what it was like for you to grow up and go through it. What were the trends of that particular time? What did you wear? What movies or TV shows were you watching and being influenced by? Who were your friends and what were they like at that time? The further you go back, the more you’ll begin to realize how much you’ve changed since then. And with a just few mentions of certain gizmos or music that was inescapable in that era, you can create shades of the period that builds that world for your audience. Little things to make them say to themselves, “Oh yeah...I remember that!”
    Now, I was an 80’s kid, and starting my teens in the 90’s, so something as simple as mentioning a video rental store or an arcade is already beginning to paint a nostalgic picture that a lot of my younger readers have no idea about. Even movies like “The Ring” have my cousins looking at the TV and wondering what that noise is. Hehehe, they don’t really know what ‘static’ is...so I imagine it looks weird to them. This is why I always keep my era porn Easter eggs on the outside edges of the rest of the story, so as not to come off as cheesy or heavy handed with it, as well as confusing to those who haven’t experienced it for themselves. You don’t want to overdo it. You want the references to be present, but not overpowering.
    As for people close to my age or older? They see it. They remember it. Connect to it. And can now be submerged in that world all over again. Congrats! Nostalgia achieved!
    It’s not like we haven’t been targeted with this particular method before, while having someone write about a bunch of experiences that they had growing up in any one particular era...
     
    0000 Whether it’s from “The Wonder Years” or the fluttering frames of the old Grindhouse movies...the idea is to place your characters, and therefore your readers, in an older time and to trigger all of the feelings and memories that comes along with them. Remember, the characters are still the ones driving the story forward and taking center stage...the nostalgia is just a polish. It adds a different palette of colors and a different flavor to your story if used correctly. It affects how they look, how they speak, how they solve problems, and what tools they have at their disposal to accomplish their goals. Maybe they don’t have cell phones yet, or they’re not as widely used or as common. No immediate Google or internet access. Maybe the politics of the era were different. Maybe seeing a twelve year old working in a factory ten hours a day without going to school isn’t all that shocking. Maybe hitch hiking was a common thing. Or maybe this is an era where being gay is not ok...or maybe even illegal. No matter what shade of nostalgia that you’re painting your vivid pictures with...all of these things matter. And you don’t want to brak the illusion by putting something in your story that doesn’t belong there or doesn’t fit. Like I said, the devil is in the details.
    This is something that I have to practice more myself so that I can get a natural feel for it. I will let you know what I find if I get any better at it. Hehehe! Especially since I started another story a long time ago and it has a lot to do with a video rental store, and I would love to finish it. So, instead of trying to figure out to rearrange and write that element out of it...I’m just going to go completely ‘retro’ with it and see how it turns out. You’ll have to wish me luck on that one!
    I hope this helps to generate some ideas for you guys. If you ever feel like you’re writing the same story over and over again, or you want to give it a little extra flare that a lot of other stories don’t have...try switching up the era and invoking some welcome nostalgia change your writing style a bit. Couldn’t hurt to try, right?
    Talk to you all soon! And stay beautiful!
     
  22. Comicality

    A Writer’s Fuel

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    A Writer’s Fuel I think that many of us would probably be absolutely terrified to realize how much of our lives are constantly operating on autopilot on a daily basis. Honestly. Have you ever really thought about it? Some of these automatic actions are pretty harmless. You lock your car doors when you get out to run into the store. You hold the door open for someone with their hands full of groceries. You feel the urge to say ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes, even if they’re a total stranger. There are plenty of things that you do during your daily activities that you simply, ummm...do. It’s habit, you know. You don’t think about it, it’s just following patterns of learned behavior. Or, as my grandmother used to say, “It’s what you do if you were raised right!” But what about some of those other things that you do in you lives on autopilot? Have you ever driven home from work...and not really remembered how you got there? You’ve done it so many times that the mundane nature of the task itself doesn’t take any real brain power or attention at all. BUT...while your mind is pretty much blank or not really absorbing your surroundings and what’s going on within ‘striking distance’...SOMEBODY is driving that car! Two thousand pounds or more of metal and glass, a deadly machine, traveling at speeds that could do a whole lot of damage if anything bad were to happen while you were lost in your thoughts. Luckily, our focus can snap back and forth pretty quickly when we need it to...but unless someone in front of you slams on the brakes, a cat runs out into the street, or construction forces you to take a detour...there’s a virtual ‘nobody’ driving you to and from work, day after day, and you may not even know it. Even then...accidents happen. It’s actually pretty frightening when you think about it.
    Well...the more ‘harmless’ part of that virtual ‘nobody’ is going to be our target of focus today...
    So don’t worry! Hehehe, I’m not going to traumatize you with the other side of that coin. At least not today...
    When I, personally, talk about a writer’s ‘fuel’...what I’m really talking about life itself. Not just distant memories, or wrongs that you wish you could right in your fiction, or a fantasy about that really hot guy that works in the mail room at your job. Life is what you’re writing about, am I right? Even if it’s fantasy, science fiction, romance, action/thriller, or horror...the one element that brings it all home to you and to your reader is its connection to real life goals, real life emotions, and real life experiences. This, in my opinion, is what creates the real connection between a writer and their readers. It’s a part of the bond that makes these stories work...and, more importantly, makes them memorable in the long run. Remember, there are a lot of people reading five to ten stories a day...minimum. Why should you stand out?
    By relating to them on a personal level that other writers can’t on a level that goes deeper than words and plot can provide, that’s how.
    The question is...especially if you’re planning to write more than one of these stories over any extended period of time...how are you supposed to come up with all of this stuff out of, literally, nowhere? Not just once, but MULTIPLE times??? And this is where you go looking for something that energize you and keep you going. It can be major events in your life...but how often do those really happen? Really. You might rely on reader comments and in depth feedback from them...but, again...that’s not always guaranteed either. Hehehe, I lot of people read your story for free, roll over in their beds, and go to sleep. So that can also be a weak source of fuel as well.
    What you need to do is go outside, go to work, walk the streets, visit the park, go shopping, go to church, whatever it is that you do that you love...and learn how to activate your ‘writer’s mind’ while you’re doing it. This is something that I learned to do from the very beginning when I was all young and excited and trying to come up with new ideas on an almost daily basis. I used to save money on public transportation by walking to work every day. It would take me thirty or forty minutes each way, but I was downtown Chicago, so the streets were always full of people talking and laughing and having a good time. So I would just catch bits and pieces of whatever it was that they were talking about, and sometimes that would inspire new ideas for stories, themes, dialogue, etcetera. That was my fuel. And while it may seem like it’s a bit invasive or weird at first...once you develop this instinct, it will become an automatic part of who you are, how you think, and how you absorb and express the details of your life in general. It’s an amazing tool for writing a truly engaging story, but it’s also good for how you interact with people on a social level as well. That’s something that I can promise you!
    The thing that you have to realize and tune into is the idea that your entire life, day after day, is a story in itself. Even the typical, autopilot, ‘nobody’ stuff that you do every day...there is fuel for a story there. Now, growing up in a major metropolitan city, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and then grow numb to the huge wealth of influences around you. There’s sooooo much stuff that I just basically shrugged my shoulders at and didn’t really pay attention to as much as I could have been, and I wish I had. Oh...there’s a fight on the train...that’s typical. Oh...somebody pulled the fire alarm in the mall...ok. Oh...look, a taxi hit a pedestrian? Shit happens, I suppose. But it wasn’t until I started writing that I really began letting all of these details soak in the way they were supposed to. And that made all the difference as brand new story after brand new story started pouring out of me on a daily basis. Now, I don’t even realize that I’m drawing energy from my surroundings and the people in my environment until I feel all anxious and inspired again. That’s the point that I think every writer should reach at some point...where it all comes as natural as breathing. And all it takes is a simple shift in your thinking.
    This is usually where I’d say something like, “Easier said than done.” But not this time. It really is as easily done as it is said. You just have to have to be conscious of the practice. That’s all. Congrats! You got it!
    Naturally, a wealth of my earliest stories were all told from my memories and a heavy sense of nostalgia, but they didn’t really grow from there until I found a way to keep tank constant full with a heavy dose of updated writer’s fuel. New trends, new feelings, new outlooks on life...these are all things that need to be current and ever changing in order for your fiction to be relatable to your audience. That means getting out of the house and constantly examining the world around you. It means seeing pretty faces at your local fast food joint. It means overhearing brief parts of fun conversations from people who pass you on the street. It means seeing someone taking pride in the garden out in front of their house and getting their hands dirty. Each and every one of these people has an interesting story to tell. Maybe even a series of interesting stories from their past. They have motivations, achievements, goals to reach, some might have tragic back stories, or hardships that they’re trying to deal with by engaging in activities and conversations that you may only catch a quick, three second, glimpse of when you walk past them. Not SOME of them...not HALF of them...but every single last ONE of them has a story behind them, creating the foundation of who thy are. And since you don’t have access to what that story might be...your creativity has now been given a free ‘jump off’ point to make one up for yourself. Voila...writer fuel.
    It really is as simple as flicking a switch in your brain, causing you to be more hypersensitive to what’s going on around you at all time. I know that sounds weird, but humor me for a few moments here. You’re trying to get to work, and someone cuts you off in the turning lane, and makes you miss the traffic light that would get you there on time. What’s going through your head in that moment. I’m not just talking about emotion here...you’re probably verbally cussing that fucker out with a passion at particular moment. Ok...that’s not just a random thought. That’s a part of a story right there. Your emotions are involved now. I don’t want to inspire any road rage or anything, hehehe...but think about it. If you could get yourself to a keyboard at that particular moment, without any delay, what would you write? The ‘fuel’ is right there, isn’t it? Feel it. In the moment where your emotions are the most potent, and you want to shout it out.
    As I always say...there’s a serious difference between having to say something, and having something to say. Unfortunately, with social media and self promotion...a lot of people go for the former. I’m not a fan. Nobody has something important to say three times a day, every day, for six months. Get off of Twitter and Facebook, hehehe! PLEASE! Speak when you’re inspired to speak. When you really have something worthy of sharing with others. Tell your story as though it matters...and as if other people really needed to hear it. Not as an ego ‘self-stroke’ where you just want attention...even when you’re not doing anything to deserve it.
    As shameless as I am when I have to advertise the site or the ebooks or the paypal donations (By the way, https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/ and https://paypal.me/Comsie just so ya know! LOL!) I don’t just make random posts unless it’s something that truly interests me, and that I think will interest the people reading my site. I write what I feel...not just with the stories, but in everything that I do. It’s a part of who I am. I share a bit of my personal story and mood when it’s necessary, and if you’re reading or listening...that can be a part of your writer’s fuel too.
    This is what you need to observe and absorb in the world around you. That person that works at your bank, that lady that delivers your mail, those people standing in front of you with a shopping cart full of groceries...they all have stories to tell. Maybe the bank teller has a stain on his shirt from lunch. Where did he go? Where did it come from? Does he know it’s there? What was he thinking about? The lady that delivers your mail...does she look tired? Has she been working all day long? Is she happy? Not happy? Has she been doing this for a long time or is she still learning the ropes? The people in line ahead of you at the grocery store...what’s in their cart? Is it a bunch of frozen meals from a bachelor who can’t really cook? Is it full of soda and candy for the kids they have at home? Is it a gay couple? Is it a lot of expensive stuff...or are they trying to get by on an extremely tight budget?
    The world around you is full of details that can create entire stories for a writer once they learn to pay attention to what those details are feeding them. You have an infinite amount of fuel out there if you look for it. So get away from the keyboard, turn off your mobile phone, and experience as much as you can. Take a pocket notebook and a pen with you so you can jot down any spontaneous ideas that you might have along the way. I use to fill up a page a day, minimum. Granted, it was a small notebook, but I was always sucking in the world around me and looking for ways to add them to my stories. My writer fuels was always...and still is...in endless supply.
    If I can do it, you can do it better!
    Anyway, I hope this helps, you guys! Allow yourselves to draw the rest of the world in on a daily basis. Make it a habit...then make it a discipline. K? Happy writing! Seezya soon! And stay beautiful!
     
  23. Comicality

    The Secret To Writing Horror

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    The Secret To Writing Horror Something that I always found funny whenever I see people online or even my own friends and family when watching horror movies...is what it brings out of them. Hehehe! Like, be honest...how many times have you seen someone get a lucky shot in on one of the killers or slashers or monsters...and they scream, “YES!!! Now do it again! Stab them! Stab them! Stab them! Beat them! Rip their guts out! Yes!!!!” Which seems like a ‘normal’ reaction to most people in these situations...but ummmm...isn’t that a little excessive? LOL! I mean, what would you do if the police showed up and you were covered, head to toe, in blood and gore...and you had stabbed somebody 150 times in the chest? That would look a little suspect on your part, wouldn’t it? Justification be damned. But there’s a certain level of blood lust that exists in even the most well-mannered and docile people among us, isn’t there? Under the right circumstances, they get rather animated about it. That whole, “Keep STABBING him until you’re sure he’s dead! Again and again and again!” Where the hell does that come from? It didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Especially if you’re just watching a movie about someone else being in danger. What is that ‘animal’ within us? And how can we somehow trigger it and bring it out of them with our writing?
    I believe that this is the very nature of horror. Not trying to get people to be scared of what is outside of themselves...but activating that hidden element that lies within...that frightens people the most. It’s not dark rooms or jump scares or bumps in the night that we can’t explain...it’s the idea that the dark shadows that live inside all of us might be freely expressed by people who don’t carry the same defenses and restrictions that we do to keep them under wraps. Hidden away from the rest of the world. What happens if those “Keep STABBING him!” voices were used against us, and we gave in to their demands? How different would we be from the devils we demonize on a daily basis? And how easy would it be...for us to become one of them?
    Now I realize that this particular article doesn’t really apply to what a vast majority of you all are writing right now, and that’s ok. But I urge you to keep reading regardless, as you may find a few good tips here and there that might still help you out with other stuff that you’re writing at the moment or possibly in the future. No matter what genre you choose to indulge in, the rules and disciplines that are put in place for you as a writer still apply. This isn’t just about writing scary stories...but the hidden secret behind writing scary stories. So don’t hit that back button just yet! Hehehe, there might be stuff for you to learn from in the end.
    For my fellow horror fans? This one is for you! >:P
    While many people think of fictional horror as being gory, creepy, and full of frightening imagery from beginning to end...I look at them very differently. I’ve said it many times in the past...the best horror stories out there are, basically, morality tales. Very GRIM ones, yes...but morality tales, regardless. Even the stories that you grew up with as a kid, despite many of them being made into playful animated versions of their former selves for the Disney crowd...with wide eyed innocence and songs about stars and rainbows...their origins are much much darker than anything that you would be comfortable with telling your young children today. The lessons to be learned were noble enough, but the consequences of not learning these lessons are unforgivably harsh. Whether being devoured by a wolf, locked in an isolated tower for life, or drowned in the depths of the ocean...the idea was to literally ‘scare’ children into acting right and obeying the rules out of fear. You may not know about Dorothy and the “Wizard Of Oz” where a tornado has basically knocked her into a comatose state, where her subconscious has trapped her in a hellish nightmare that she can’t wake up from. Or that, at the end of the original “Jungle Book”, Mowgli comes back to the human village with his vicious animal friends to maul everyone in sight and rip them to pieces under his command. Even a nursery rhyme as playful as ‘Ring Around The Rosie’ was written about the deaths that occurred during the black plague. Corpses being burned in heaps to hopefully prevent the spread. “Ashes to ashes, we all fall down.”
    The very nature of horror has been with us for our entire lives...whether we were aware of it or not. The very idea behind “Hansel And Gretel”, where a witch lures helpless children into the woods to shove them into an oven and cook them alive is about as intense as it gets, is it not? Calling horror a ‘genre’ in the sense of fiction is merely exaggerating what was already there all along. It’s simply a matter of pulling the gloves off, and further stressing the point of ‘be a good and smart person...or else!’
    When I say that horror is a collection of morality tales, it means that we all have an understanding and the ability to tap into something truly primal when the situation demands it...even if we think we shouldn’t. There’s a very dark shadow inside of all of us, and to flirt with it, or entice it to come out of hiding, feels uneasy. Dangerous. And yet...tempting. That is the foundation that you’re going to begin working with. That’s the spark that makes true horror work, in my opinion.
    Think about the things that scare you the most. Think about the things that simply make you feel uncomfortable or uneasy. Now...find a middle ground between the two. That’s where horror lies. Something extreme...but can still be relatable enough to draw your audience in and use those fears to create a certain sense of anxiety among them. This doesn’t just have to be used in a supernatural sense, or in a life or death situation. Fears can be very simple. Fear of conflict or confrontation. Fear of loneliness or isolation. Fear of a loss of control. Fears of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of heartbreak or betrayal. These are all things that we can understand, relate to, and tap into when we’re writing our stories. The nature of horror is merely taking these everyday insecurities and dialing them up to ten. Taking advantage of people’s natural fears and exploiting them to lock them into the stories that you want to tell.
    Hehehe! Who said writing wasn’t fun, right?
    The real secret is in the ability to tickle and tease that deep seeded wickedness within the hearts and minds of your readers...creating an obligatory need to react with a sense of repulsion...but still stimulating a morbid curiosity that makes them want to keep going. It’s a double edged sword, but one that more people than you would think would welcome when faced with it head on.
    I’ve written quite a bit of horror on this site since I first started, and even though I’ve had many readers initially dismiss the idea of even giving those stories a try...the ones who take a peek have become the biggest fans that I have for my writing. And not just for the horror stories, but in general. It’s almost like something gets triggered that they can’t understand, but they really get invested in it. I think stories like “Savage Moon”, “Darkness Waits”, and “The Boys Of Widow Lake” (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/), tap into something that many of us would like to ignore or avoid when we look at ourselves in the mirror every morning. The further you dive into that ‘something’, the more uncomfortable they feel. And that discomfort makes the horror real. It allows it to last and linger in the minds of your audience. Which, obviously...is a good thing. Specially if it creeps them out.
    Now, being a big fan of horror movies my whole life, there are very few that I can say have truly disturbed me on a psychological level. I can’t really tell you why, but despite going into movies like “Blair Witch” and “Paranormal Activity” and even John Carpenter’s original “Halloween” when I was maybe four years old...completely blind and not knowing what to expect, one movie that really ‘disturbed’ me was “The Poughkeepsie Tapes”. That one was a little too real for me to handle. It still gives me the shivers, and it’s not that it’s gory or anything...but there’s just something that’s really fucked up about the whole experience. And once I saw it, it wouldn’t let me go. Not for a while.
     
    One discussion that I’m constantly having with some of the members of my family has to do with watching these sort of things. They’re always like, “How can you see this stuff and not be affected by it?” BUT...they love watching crime dramas on TV all the time. “Law & Order”, “CSI”, “Special Victims Unit”, and all of that stuff. They can’t get enough of it, and I view their tastes the same way. Like...I can watch ghosts and monsters and zombies get sliced and diced to pieces all day long, because there’s a ‘detachment’ there for me. It’s not connected to real life. But the whole “CSI” thing? No...that really happens to real people. A lot of those shows are written and based on actual criminal filings and reports. That’s a bit harder for me to swallow.
    Does that mean that there is a morbidly curious part of me that relates to that kind of crime, pain, and torture? I don’t know. And, to be honest, I wouldn’t want to know if it did. But there are parts of these stories that I find myself understanding more than I ever thought that I would, and that’s a scary position to be in. Because I get it. I hear that voice urging me to “Stab him AGAIN!” And that takes me to dark places that I might want to leave alone.
    I’ve had a few readers talk to me about “Savage Moon” and tell me that there were parts of it that really did make them feel uncomfortable. And it’s not any kind of blood and gore that does it...it’s the idea of being able to find something in the darkness of your own soul that you can’t see in the light. This is what makes horror work when it comes to the written word. You don’t have loud noises and jump scares and dark brooding music at your disposal to use to set the mood or force the desire effect on your readers. Just words on a page. And that means that you have to get inside your readers’ heads and create a true sense of dread and danger from that point forward.
    This may sound like it only works for fictional works of horror...but it works for all sorts of inner conflict. Someone who has to perform on stage for the first time with all of his friends and family watching to see if he’ll succeed or fail is experiencing the same level of fear and discomfort as someone running from a monster in the woods. Someone trying to find the courage to stand up to the school bully, come out to their parents, or ask that cute co-worker out on a date for the first time, is dealing with extreme levels of fear and doubt as well. Use that. Where horror is the exaggeration of your skills in this matter...the rules remain the same. You just have to tune yourselves into the feeling as writers, and lock your audience into experiencing that fear along with your protagonist by triggering those places within them that they usually are too scared to approach. Everyday conflicts can be considered ‘horror’ too.
    The key is all in being able to tempt the horror within all of us. Not just the fears that we hold on to...but the horrible things that we’re willing to do in retaliation if given the permission to do so without consequence. Think about that when you look back at the stories that spooked you the most. What did it stir up within you? And why do you still remember it to this day?
    Having your work remembered is the sign of a true classic.
    I hope this helps you guys out. I’d be willing to talk about it more in the comments below if you like. If not, then happy writing! And remember...you don’t need ghouls and goblins to introduce elements of horror into your story. Those feelings apply to everything to your virgin sexual experience to showing up to an interview for a new job. The exaggeration or lack thereof makes all the difference! Take care! And stay beautiful!
     
  24. Comicality

    Subtext In Dialogue

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Subtext In Dialogue It’s something that we all do, and often on a daily basis. We LIE! Hehehe! It’s true! It might be quick and automatic and usually pretty much harmless for the most part...but we all do it. People ask us how we’re doing, and we say, “I’m fine” or “I’m ok”...when nothing could be further from the truth. We go to jobs that we hate and stay in relationships that don’t make us happy and pretend that life is as good as it gets. We interact with people that we, literally, can’t stand...and smile in each other’s faces while doing it all for the other person’s benefit. I mean, think about it...no matter how small or harmless it may be...how many lies have you told today, alone? Even if it’s early in the morning, how many of you had some bacon for breakfast that was a little salty or not crispy enough, and told someone that it was awesome anyway? No judgements. Hehehe, it happens. And we all do it. Often without even thinking about it. Hell, I think you’d be a total asshole if you didn’t! LOL!
    “Yes, honey! You DO look fat in that dress! Ewww! Take it off!”
    Yeah...don’t do that.
    This time around...we’re going to talk about writing subtext into your dialogue when it comes to your character conversations. It’s a fairly simple practice, but the subtlety that you use can save you a couple of steps and add another touch of finesse to your fiction once you learn to understand, analyze, and recognize, what you’re doing with it all. Doing it without thinking is a skill, but always take the extra time to figure out why you do it. Over the years, being able to look deeper into my own process has truly helped me to further elevate the quality of the stories that I put out there for my audience to enjoy. Not to mention that it has given me the confidence needed to stretch out and try new approaches outside of my comfort zone. So it’s a good habit to pick up for any of you authors who are looking to be writers for any length of time, either as a hobby or as a professional pursuit. Never stop growing. I don’t. Or...at least I try not to. Hehehe!
    The biggest part of perfecting the method of writing subtext comes, mostly, from paying attention to original context. Pure and simple. The words of dialogue that you write into your story are supposed to reflect the theme and tone of the story itself and the character relationships that you’ve built up so far. It’s an organic part of everything that’s going on with your creative offering. Woven into its very DNA. And this is expressed through your character’s actions. Their personalities, their own personal stories, and their interactions with one another. So...a simple line of dialogue, like...
    “Sounds like an awesome time to me.”
    Can have a wide variety of different meanings depending on the context surrounding that statement and the events that happened in the story that came before it. And that context becomes the building blocks around the elements mentioned above. Use this to your advantage, and spare your readers any need for wasted adjectives or drawn out exposition.
    “Sounds like an awesome time to me.”
    If you have a shy and awkward main character saying this to someone that he’s absolutely crazy about...it comes off as endearing and special in a lot of charming ways. Awwww, it inspires a heavy dose of warm fuzzies and makes you feel good inside. However, coming from a love rival to your main character who is suspicious of their intentions...then that same brief sentence of dialogue might feel inappropriate and threatening to your readers, as it might be seen as a temptation for your protagonist, or as an attempt to steal the attention of the main love interest. The sentence is the same, word for word...but the subtext is now very different. It takes on a completely different meaning. Then again...having this exact same line, spoken word for word, spoken by one character to another who have a long standing feud and a passionate HATRED for one another...it comes off as sarcastic and almost and sometimes ‘comical’ in nature. Because what’s being said here is obviously not an honest representation of what the character thinks. But you don’t have to take the extra time to say, “He said sarcastically.” It’s already implied.
    Now, there are times when I do it anyway, or I make sure to add the physical action of a roll of the eyes, or a sense of craving, or an awkward attempt to hide one’s emotions...but it’s not really necessary. I could cut those parts out, and the context will still carry the subtext of that one line of dialogue without any ‘help’ from extra writing or descriptions if I choose not to use them. Knowing the characters the way that my readers do up until that part of the story, the dialogue will read the way it’s supposed to read. They’ll get it. They’ll know what the physical actions imply by attaching them to what they already know about the character.
    It’s all simply an indirect form of communication. Just like it exists in real life. The people who know you best can figure out when you’re lying to them, or keeping a secret, when you’re bragging, or when you’re holding back. And you probably know them well enough to be able to tell the same about them too. Gestures, tone of voice, posture, the volume at which they speak...they are all hidden clues relating to what’s going on beyond what they tell you. Unfortunately, when it comes to the written word, we don’t really have all of these cues to use to get our point across. You have to approach with the elusive guidance of subtext, using our word alone and nothing else.
    Writing scenes in your story is all about delivering a message, albeit a small one for that particular moment in time. If the message is delivered...great! You’ve done your job. If you decide to spice it up with a little bit extra, that’s fine too. Season it to your personal taste. Hehehe! But don’t ‘crowd’ the space you’ve been given to say something simple with excess. Let your readers get it and interpret it on their own. You don’t always have to spell it out directly. If anything, the subtext can be more effective and engaging than trying to explain everything outright and having your characters be more honest and straightforward than most people would ever be in real life.  
    If your protagonist is in a bad mood, heartbroken, or downright angry...your audience should already be well informed as to why they feel that way. What happened? What’s going through their heads right now? Are they the kind of person who would express something like that to one good friend but not to their parents? How do those two relationships differ in the way that your fans will read those few lines of dialogue? As always, the key is to show and not tell. By using the ‘tell’ method, everyone that reads the words you added to your story are going to read them the exact same way. And that works if that’s your intention. But not every line you add to your story was not meant to be taken literally. To those who haven’t caught on to the empathetic side of your characters...they won’t have a real insight into certain parts of your story are written. Even if you’re deliberately trying to sneak subtext into your fiction...there’s a chance that a part of your audience simply won’t get it. You need context for to guide them. Are they pouting, are they exquisitely happy, are they horny...you can find ways to write that ut and make it understood without saying it out loud.
     
    For example...’flirting’ is subtext. I mean, I’m assuming that your characters don’t always come right out and tell the guy they’re head over heels in love with that they can’t wait to get them naked in their bed for a long hot night of sweaty sex. (Hehehe, again...I said assuming!) But flirting is different.
     
    “Maybe we can hang out some time.”
     
    “I think it might be kinda cool for you and me to go to a movie this weekend.”
     
    “What? Don’t sell yourself short. I think you’re pretty cute just like you are.”
     
    None of these things are brazenly saying that they want you. They’re not even directly asking anybody out on an official date. But the subtextof what your characters are trying accomplish lie beneath the seemingly harmless and passive words that are being spoken aloud. Or, in an authors case...what’s being written into the text. And you build up that flirtatious tone, the tension, the suspense...by clearly defining the goals, fears, and desires, of the characters involved...both ahead of time, and then reinforcing them afterwards. It’s the best way for you to get subtext to work in my opinion.
     
    You don’t have to force it into your fiction because there’s nothing to force. When you’re writing, get into the heads of your characters, put your readers into the moments that you create...and the subtext will, quite naturally begin to build itself and weave itself into everything that you do. Take notice of what you are doing at all times...even when it comes naturally. Look at your own work...read over it again, and think about how it sounds in your head. What you put emphasis on, how it makes you feel, and why. I’m just talking about words on a screen here. They’re the same for you as they are for everyone else. But they are interpreted differently. Every single line of dialogue and written action is seen as a part of the ‘show’ part of the equation, and this is where the emotion lies. And as I’ve said a million times before...the emotion is what makes a story work. Bad form, structure, and mechanics count too...but mostly because it creates stumbling blocks for the emotional involvement. Always keep that in mind.
     
    Subtext can often craft moments for your story, your characters, and your readers, that simple words on the screen can’t. Just remember to be subtle about it, and build your moments gradually as your fiction progresses. The subtext will build itself if the context for the moment is there, but pay attention to it, figure out it works best for you and your particular style, and then enhance your skills at using it to your advantage along the way. Cool?
     
    I really hope that this helps out, you guys. Almost every time that I go back to one of my older stories, I see things that I think I could have done differently, or probably done better, if I wasn’t just making it all up as I went along. Hehehe, geez! I’m surprised that I even made it this far!
     
    Happy writing, you guys! And I’ll be back with more soon! Until then...stay beautiful!
     
  25. Comicality

    Story Recaps

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Story Recaps As many of you guys know...I write a bunch of different stories all at once, and it really depends on on my mood, my life, my time restraints, and whatever it is that I have to say at that particular. I mean...I really wish I could bottle my emotions up for you guys and sell them to ya cheap, so you could see how much turmoil I go through from time to time, just trying to pour as much of myself into every single short story and short story that and put out there. Most of the time, it’s for the sake of entertainment...but there are also many times that I do it just to get some of these feelings off of my chest. It can be soooo emotionally draining more times than not. Hehehe!
    Have you ever had too much to drink, and it just makes you severely nauseous? And like...you are absolutely MISERABLE until you finally run to the bathroom to pray at the old porcelain altar...and it SUCKS when you’re sick and losing your breakfast...but once it’s finished, it’s like...
    “Omigod! I feel so much better now!”
    There are a lot of times that writing feels like that for me, on an emotional level. Sometimes, I’m extremely hurt, sometimes I’m really angry, sometimes I’m feeling happy and downright goofy, and others...I’m just plain too horny to think straight! And whatever is invading my heart and mind at the time...that’s probably the next story on my list to get released. Just so you know.
    The major problem with this, however, is that it can often become harder and harder to concentrate on what I’m working on, because I’m chasing behind my emotions instead of having my emotions chasing behind me to get things done. I’ll be honest...it’s something that I really try to deal with, but it’s a struggle nonetheless. Because I’m not at my best when I’m trying to force myself to feel things that I don’t feel, which means I have to force myself to write things that I don’t want to write. And this causes big ‘gaps’ between chapters. Gaps that I need to settle down and handle to the best of my ability. Especially when my fanbase has been so infinitely patient with my efforts so far. I always want to give back more than I get from my readers! I make a point of it! But here’s the problem with caps...
    It doesn’t matter if your a true fan of a story or a series...people all have lives and thoughts and problems of their own. And they truly do forget about many of the details that they’ve read about and enjoyed so much. Specially if it’s in a ten chapter series or longer. Most of the time, it really isn’t a criticism of your writing ability or their investment in the characters that you’ve brought to life...sometimes it’s just a matter of the fact that it’s been a while since you’ve updated your story, and their life has been forced to go on without you. So don’t take offense, k? It’s not like they were stuck in cryo sleep or something, just waiting for your next chapter. Trillions of thoughts have gone through their heads since your last offering! Chances are, they’re going to need to go back and reread some of your previous chapters to figure out where they left off. And let’s be honest...for some people, that can be really tedious. So, if you can avoid putting them through that torture, please do.
    I, on the other hand, have too few hours in the day to do the same. But that’s the whole point of these articles, anyway. Hehehe! It’s like my way of saying, “GO...and do it better than I did!”
    However, there is a technique that you guys can use as writers that can somehow minimize the mundane practice of having to go back and re-read your older chapters all the time in a series, and losing steam by the time they get to the new material. And it simply comes with you knowing your characters and the theme and story in general. It’s a subtle/not subtle method of keeping your audience up to date without making a big spectacle of it or a repetitious block of exposition to do so. Close the gap. And mak you readers feel as though they’ve never left the story at all.
    Naturally, there are still going to be a bunch of people who go back and read the older chapters anyway, but by using story recaps, you can take some of the monotony out of the process for them, and possibly even erase from people who just remember where the last chapter ended and want to continue on from there.
    The hardest part is trying to keep it sounding like an actual ‘recap’, or like exposition, at all. That’s difficult. And if you have any tips on how to pull this out of your fiction, please let us know. Because, like I always say...even after all these years, I’m still learning too!
    The recap is not like a “Last time...int this TV show” type of thing. That to me seems like it would com off as a bit cheesy over time. I know that might just be me, but, personally...like, don’t do that. Even if I have mistakenly done that in the past myself. I can definitly be held accountable for that. Hehehe, but I think you guys can do it better, if I do say so myself. The writing on sites like GayAuthors.org have gone way above and beyond than anything that I had to work with when I first started, so pardon me if I expect more from you all.
    A recap is simply weaving an idea into your story that there is an actual ‘history’ between these characters and the things that they’ve been through and experienced since the story began. It’s a nod to past events, but it doesn’t feel the need to rehash or re-explain any of those events all over again. You can continue on your forward journey towards the end of your chosen plot without having to backtrack to re-explain yourself all over again. Avoid that at all costs! I read some of my older stuff, and it’s embarrassing to me, like, “WHY did I do that???” So when I remake everything for my ebooks, I do my best to get rid of the excess garbage if possible and just trust the story to say what it needs to say on its own.
    However, I have a different view of it now that it’s all offered at one time and not in smaller increments. So I had to learn to stop doing what I was doing and get better from here on out.
    What I do these days can be done in a sentence or two. No huge recap of the whole chapter or the story that came before that particular moment in time. I think that’s overkill even after a long period of time. I’ve learned that certain amounts of important ‘catch up’ information can be done with a single line of dialogue, or a quick memory of what had just happened before this brand new chapter began. Like...something major might have happened in the last chapter...say a break up between the main character and the love interest...and you can begin your new chapter (Even if it’s been months since your last installment) with the aftermath of that particular event. If it were me? I would start with “Pain. That’s all I could feel after having Barry suddenly break up with me out of nowhere without warning.” With that simple intro a majority of readers would be locked in and reminded of what happened at the end of the previous chapter. Perfect. And if I wanted to get them further in sync with what had happened even before that, I could add something to say, “I know he thinks that I cheated on him with another boy, and I was definitely tempted to do so...but I didn’t. I SWEAR that I didn’t! But maybe that wasn’t enough to convince him when I told him that.” Now...I just made that whole scenario up in my head just now for the sake of this article...but can you see how this recap of past events acts as a whole story all its own? I mean, this story doesn’t even exist. In fact, I could actually START a story or a series with these few sentences, and give the illusion of a whole past history between the protagonist and his love interest. But, for this exercise, we’re just going to use these tortured thoughts as a form of subtle exposition. I say subtle, because these are events that already happened in a previous chapter. Or maybe even a number of chapters ahead of time. Here’s the benefit of doing it this way...
    ...You have to understand that what you’re creating is a real life journey for all of these characters at once. They really do become real. They become that person that you sit with on your couch, and you’re like, “Hey...remember that time when...” Dot dot dot! Hehehe! How many people do you do with that now? How comfortable is that, to know that you have that history together. KNOW your characters, and who they are, and how they’ve been a part of the story. That way...previous recaps can become much simpler, and people might not even need them, because they know these fictional people so very well. What you are building...creating...is a fictional person with a real presence and life of its own. Use that.
    You don’t have to go, “Last time on this story...so and so admitted he loved this other boy and now what’s he gonna do about it?” Instead, try the approach of having your main character, or maybe one of your side characters react to what’s going on instead. What their inner thoughts are like, whether it be acceptance, rejection, or just more confusion...explore them with your writing. What are you feeling right now...and how would your main character see from being in his position, or at his age, or in his situation? Put yourself in that place and figure it out. Perspective is everything. Use yours to make the story something special.
    The thing with Recaps is that it only catches people up to previous events if it’s done with a certain level of heart. That’s the key, I think. Even if there’s been no literal passage of time in your fiction, people should be able to pick up where they left off without feeling totally lost in the process.
    Stan Lee once said that “Every comic book should be written as if it’s some kid’s very first comic book.” And I agree with that idea. Anybody should be able to pick up your story and jump in and understand what’s going on. Even if it’s MUCH better enjoyed from the beginning of it all and read (or seen, now) in order. Readers don’t have to know every single detail of what happened before the new chapter that you’re posting. They just have to get a handle on what’s going on, who the characters are, and how they got to be where they are. Don’t use your recaps as exposition, k? It doesn’t have to be.
    Paint the picture of a rich history between your characters instead. And people will tune in to that and recognize it as being something special.
    I hope that sounds about right. I’ll be back soon with a level mind! But as many of my secrets and inner thoughts that I can share? You guys can have them all! Hehehe! It’s time for the neext generation to take my place, you know?
    So take care! And I love you lots! Seezya soon!
     
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