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Comicality

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  1. Comicality

    Weight And Impact

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Weight And Impact As many of you guys already know, I have always been a huge fan of the horror film genre. Even when I was probably way too young to be watching people gutted with a machete, hehehe! I was the kid with the ‘Fangoria’ monthly subscription and the B-Movie fetish growing up! But I loved every minute of it! Those flicks were just plain fun to me, you know? Excessive gore and all! The more blood and guts, the better!
    Well, it wasn’t until a couple of my college roommates actually made the big move out to California and wanted to make a real go at being action/thriller/horror writers in the industry that I noticed something different. They were so proud of what they had written together, with dreams of it being one of those new classic movies that people would be talking about decades later as one of the best. But you know what? All of the studios they offered it to turned them down. But not for the reasons that you might think. The biggest complaint that they had was, “Your characters are too likable, too memorable, and relatable for a horror movie.” Ummm...what? But this was their major issue with the story as a whole. You simply can’t have likable people getting stabbed and chopped up and tortured! That would be traumatizing! Which is a really weird way to look at it (I mean, is anybody who is really deserving of a horribly gruesome death?), but that’s what they kept telling them as writers. Which is why, when you see most horror movies, the victims are either unlovable, brainless, or simply lack much personality if any at all. And that gave me a slightly different perspective on how these stories are written and how they are made in this day and age. Not just for horror stories...but for stories in general. It is the same in every genre. The connection to the characters and the situations that they are involved in can allow you to use your writing to turn the dial up and down as necessary when it comes to how you readers to feel about what’s going on. That relatable quality greatly influences the weight and impact of their journey and how your reading audience reacts to it. And that’s the topic for the day. Creating weight and impact, and how to moderate it. When to turn it up to 10...and when to maybe dial it back down to a 2.
    It’s not an exact science, but it’s something to think about, no matter what it is that you’re writing about. So, let’s get started.
    When talking about horror flicks, there’s this sort of trope of having what I would call a ‘horror movie memory’. This is when you’ve got a bunch of people running from the masked killer, or the demon, or the monster, whatever...and, naturally, casualties happen along the way. And it’s shocking to the other characters on the screen initially, and they scream out, “Noooooo!!!” Hehehe, and then two scenes later, it’s like it never took place. I mean, shock and survival instincts aside...didn’t your brother, sister, parents, best friend, boyfriend, JUST get violently murdered right in front of you less than an hour ago??? That’s kind of a big deal, don’t you think? But the movie has to treat this extreme incident like, “Oh well...that just happened. What’s next?” In order to lessen the overall terror involved with such a thing. WTF???
    This would be an example of an event with little weight and less impact. Great for a gore fest of a horror movie...but not so much with other stories in other genres when you want to bring attention to the emotional battering of a serious or even devastating scene in stories of your own. Heartbreak, parental divorce, suicide, being outed at school against your will...these things all have drastic consequences that I always feel should be dealt with in ways that takes up more than a few random paragraphs in an author’s story. If you’re not going to really concentrate on it...then why add something so apocalyptic in your plot to begin with? There are smaller problems for your main characters to deal with that you can use for dramatic effect and still get your readers engaged with their situation. If it’s going to be the kind of issue that you want your protagonist to get over and move past in a rather short amount of time, then maybe not have him burn down a house full of screaming orphans! Obviously, that has lingering consequences that are going to last a lot longer than one or two chapters. You need to find a way to gauge your problems and solutions in your stories where they ‘question and answer’ of it all kind of match up at some point. Otherwise...you’re just going to end up with a bunch of WTF moments that can’t be undone later without some kind of a miracle. And miracles are lazy. Hehehe! So let’s not, shall we?
    Psh! Like I’m one to talk!
    I’m not saying that you can’t still use this strategy of a ‘horror memory’ in some cases to navigate your way through your story quickly and efficiently in order to keep things moving and avoid any lag time in your pacing...but take a moment and think about how that would be in real life. I mean, I could meet a total stranger on the bus...and if he got off and was suddenly hit by a truck and killed after I just spent the last two or three minutes talking to him, that would kind of mess me up emotionally. And that’s a random STRANGER! Imagine if it was someone that I knew extremely well and spent time with on a more personal level. But that’s just how movies go sometimes. “He’s dead, oh well. I mean, I can’t stop now. We’ll be fine.”
    Hehehe, really? Will you, though? No intense, paralyzing, fear is setting in? No emotional distress, no trauma? Years of therapy, maybe? No? Ok then. Good for you, sole survivor of a horrific tragedy.
    If you’re just looking for people to kill off or punish emotionally in your story, that’s your choice. But the real question is...how much weight will it have, depending on relatability, time spent with the character, and the severity of the actions both leading up to and coming after the dirty deed is done? All of these things matter. Lord knows, I definitely put my own fictional characters through the RINGER sometimes! But there are levels to manipulating the impact that these events are going to have on the rest of the story, you know?
    This is the space that you’ve been given where you can play with the scale or weight and impact and set it to have the desired effect that you were going for. This can be a matter of infidelity from a beloved partner, or the betrayal of a trusted friend? A hidden secret brought to light, or the loss of a long time pet. It’s all in how you write about these things before they happen that will determine their impact. What kind of meaning do you want this action to have in your story, and how can you adjust your dial accordingly to have it seem natural? You can’t just toss in some drama for drama’s sake, and then gloss over it as though it didn’t happen. When writing a story, I think it’s important to have a clearly defined idea of how powerful you want certain moments to be, and how to emphasize your intentions in a way that makes sense.
    A few examples to see if I can emphasize how sensitive (or desensitized) your pallet might be for the level of emotion that you’re trying to bring to parts of your story, or to your story as a whole...
    In the 1968 movie, “Night Of The Living Dead”...it starts off in a graveyard, with one of the main female characters and her brother, Johnny. Now, we don’t really get introduced to these characters beforehand outside of some back and forth banter and dialogue...and we don’t have any real reason to care about them, to be honest. But we do. And when they’re attacked, and Johnny meets his end...his sister is completely and utterly traumatized by what happened for the rest of the movie! And it makes perfect sense. I mean, wouldn’t YOU be? This movie all happens in a single night, so watching your brother getting killed right in front of you seems like a pretty heavy burden to carry...even while fighting for your life.
    This is that opening scene...
     
    And that’s just one person...one that you didn’t even know anything about really before the movie started. And yet, that death has such an impact on the other character that she gives it meaning and depth, and a certain significance is born out of her reaction to it. One that people watching the film can understand and relate to. Especially back in 1968.
    The weight and impact of that scene is turned way up on the dial with the goal of having it impact its audience in a major way.
    Now...take a look at this...
    This clip comes from the movie “2012”, about the end of the world (Basically), and a massive, unprecedented, earthquake hits Los Angeles as our protagonist rushes through the city to save his family from being lost forever. The focus is greatly shifted towards just that small group of people and the tension and terror is provided by giving the audience a much more manageable focus as they try to flee the wreckage. However...I want you to notice the difference here.
    This is Los Angeles!!! Take a look at this! Millions upon MILLIONS of people are dying here! Being crushed and maimed and blown up and falling to their death into chasms of an almost infinite depth! All of them have lives, have families, have children...and they are running, crying, screaming, bleeding, burning to death, and suffering, with an unfathomable amount of pain. BUT...how traumatizing would it be for you to actually zoom in and focus on that all at once while it’s happening? It’s almost too much for anyone to handle. So they made the right choice here. Keep them unknown, faceless, casualties. You’d probably be curled up in a breathless ‘panic coma’ somewhere if you had to mentally calculate what was really happening in this chaos.
    But that’s not the point of this scene, is it? Or the movie in general. It’s special effects and explosions and this one family that you can cheer for who’s trying to survive it all. (As thought everyone else on the street isn’t trying to do the same thing) You may cringe or gasp here and there, but ask yourself...do you care? Imagine a majority of the population of America’s BIGGEST city, men, women, and children alike, being completely decimated in a matter of minutes by being swallowed up by the Earth itself! This is a situation when the weight and impact dial is turned way waaaaay down, so as to be more ‘entertaining’ than terrifying.
    Check it out...
     
    Do you see the difference? Can you feel it? If “Night Of The Living Dead” had treated Johnny’s death as a simple casualty with no lasting effects...then he would have so much less of an impact on the story. Like….he died. So what? You know? Then having his sister pretend to be all broken up about it for a few minutes and just move on...it wouldn’t have come off as being authentic or believable. And yet, if in “2012”, we had been introduced to a bunch of characters and their families, knew about their dreams and their ambitions, and really worked to humanize them...only to have them be driving home and have the bridge collapse, or fall out of the top floor of a building...that would have been tragic in a way that would have taken away from the kind of ‘thrill ride’ that scene was trying to take us on.
    There’s a dial. Understand? Learn how to use it in your benefit. Learn how to fine tune it to regulate the feelings that you want your audience to have to the characters and events of your story. It helps to create the desired effect, once you learn how to recognize it and add it to your skill set. Cool?
    I hope this helps! And, as always, I like to have some fun with these! So the last clip is just to make you smile! ::Giggles:: Remember to use that dial correctly with whatever you’re putting out there, k? Happy writing! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
     
  2. Comicality

    Elements That Do not Work

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Elements That Don’t Work There are always going to be times when an artist, in any genre, is going to run into a few problem elements in writing their story. It happens. There’s no reason to panic, and certainly no reason for you to give up on your project. It’s a normal part of the process. Sometimes you have ideas that seem so exciting and engaging at the time while you’re planning things out...and then, once you start writing, you realize that those ideas aren’t as supportive of your story as you initially imagined. It’s totally normal. The question is..how do we deal with it now those elements have been woven into the very fabric of the story that you’re trying to tell? I mean, it’s there now. It can’t just be made disappear, can it?
    This is something that I’ve struggled with since I began writing my own stuff online, and there are ways to sort of fix things to get your story back on track without having these unwanted parts of your narrative appear as a glaring example of a major mistake that you just want the readers to forget about. Hehehe, but it’s not always that simple. Especially if it’s a part of your story that has been lingering around for an extended period of time. That can be the worst! ::Giggles::
    As with almost everything else that requires time, effort, and an emotionally draining amount of creative energy...you’re going to have to leave a lot of this up to whatever natural instincts you’ve developed over time to find your comfort zone and work with it in your own special way, but it won’t take much practice to know what you’re looking for and recognize the way it feels to have your current plot slightly lose focus or derail itself as you dive deeper into parts of your story that you’re not really enjoying as much as some of the others. The key is to be aware of what you’re doing, check it against your original game plan, and catch these mismatched mistakes as quickly as possible so you can massage that particular ‘cramp’ out of your story before it becomes too much of a problem for you to deal with in a graceful way.
    After all, you can’t have every character that you don’t like in your story suddenly get mauled by an escaped tiger from the zoo, or abducted by cannibalistic alien hordes, every time you want to get them booted out of the plot. Hehehe! Well...you’re the creator, so I guess that, technically, you can! But it’ll look weird. So let’s look into some other options.
    The first order of business is to look at what your overall goal was for the story. What are you trying to say? What are the most important parts of bringing that message and those emotions to your project? And which characters do you really need to support this strategy of yours? What are the most essential parts of the plot, and which characters embody those parts in purpose and personality? If you have a character or a plot device that simply isn’t working out for your narrative, ask yourself if you could lose them completely without fundamentally changing the story as a whole. You’re going to have to be brutally honest with yourself here, and have a serious ‘kill your darlings’ moment, in order to gain clarity and remove the problematic parts of your writing that are holding you back. Again, this is something that I’ve had to do many times myself in the past, and it never gets any easier. But sometimes you’ve just got to cut some of those ideas loose and keep them from staining the rest of the story.
    Whether it’s slowing things down, confusing or complicating the plot, is emotionally out of tone with everything else going on, or if it’s just not a fan favorite in terms of what connects them to the story and the characters within...you need a keen eye, and detach yourself from your work long enough to see when you’ve got a proverbial splinter in your paw, holding you back. Easier said than done, I know. But if you’re going to be putting your best foot forward, then this is what needs to be accomplished. Maybe these ideas would be better suited for a future story further down the road. Who knows? For now, though? Find clever ways to write them out of your story. Lose them. Boring your audience, even briefly...can get them to turn away from your story before you ever get a chance to get to the good stuff. Obviously, you don’t want that. So much of your hard work won’t ever be seen if you lose them early on. Keep a balance that lasts from beginning to end. It helps.
    Now, me personally? I love posting my chapters online for everyone to read as I finish writing, editing, re-editing, and polishing up, for everyone to see. I get feedback on each chapter, and I always read and absorb reader feedback and comments as they come in. And sometimes I make mistakes or have inconsistencies that I can go back and improve, further explain, or correct, right away as they come up. But if I have parts of a story that really aren’t working for a majority of readers, I’ll look deeper into what’s going on with that, and see if maybe those elements need to be improved, or erased entirely.
    Maybe I’ll agree, maybe I’ll disagree...but I’ll have a different perspective to use and build off of that I can use to my advantage when it comes to figuring out whether or not this part of the story is working or not. And if I’m truly connected to that specific plot point, and decide to fix and structure and steer it back on course to make it a more enjoyable part of my story, then awesome. But if it turns out that it just isn’t working out and I can’t ‘force’ it to behave and fit in somewhere it doesn’t belong...then the next step is trying to find a way to effectively drop the cumbersome baggage holding it back.
    Again, it’s already a visible part of your story now, and readers are paying attention whether they love it or hate it. So how do we do that? Well...let’s talk about it!
    If identifying the problem was the first part of the process...then the second part is identifying why that particular part of your story is a problem. What is it doing that you or your readers don’t like? Maybe you have a deeply dramatic story that needs sympathy and a deep affection for your protagonist...but you also have a close friend that you wrote in who might act as a bit of comic relief to keep things from getting too dark and depressing. Well, that can be a difficult balancing act in your writing. The tones are in direct opposition of one another. If you feel like you’re enough of an expert to both characters somehow, then you’re more than welcome to try. But if it’s causing problems in your writing, that best friend might have to go. Or at least not be around whenever something serious is happening...which is pretty much the same thing, isn’t it?
    I’m not saying that you should have him suddenly get struck by lightning or anything, but if he’s not working within the context of the rest of the story, then maybe you need to ask yourselves the appropriate questions. Why is he here? What impact does he have on the story? And why has his presence suddenly become so uncomfortable. If you cant immediately answer those questions with total confidence...there might be a problem there.
    Imagine that you were taking a fishing boat out to the middle of a deep lake for a nice catch, and you need an anchor to hold your boat still. Think of this character, or a particular scene or event in your story, and think of them that way. If the anchor is too big and too heavy...you end up sinking the entire boat and ruining your day. If it’s too small and too light...it’s not enough to hold your boat still, and you end up floating away, set adrift with no direction or purpose. Your scenes and characters and the plot lines they affect are no different. Are they going to drag you down, or are they too ineffectual to allow you to maintain your focus?
    Since I write about gay (and often closeted) teen characters...I’m always asking myself how big of an anchor each one of my main characters are. Should I add them? Should I not? How much is their presence going to weigh in the rest of my story. If you’ve read a bunch of my past stories, you’ll notice that there are a bunch of times that their parents are barely mentioned at all, outside of the fact that they exist. I mean, of course they do! They’re not living in that big house all by themselves. They all go to high school and have teachers and homework. It’s safe to say that they have friends lurking around somewhere. Or at least people to talk to once in a while outside of the main love interest. But...the question is, do they need be detailed and interacted with in ways that might interfere with the point of the story? It depends on how heavy I want that anchor in my fishing boat to be.
    Now, in stories like ”New Kid In School” or the ”Secret Life Of Billy Chase” Ebooks...the parents are much more evident. They don’t play a huge role in the story, but they’re much more present than the parents in a lot of my other stories, and I need them there to create a three dimensional vision of what I want to say with those stories. However, in stuff like ”A Class By Himself” or ”My Only Escape”, the parents are just as important to the main plot as the main character and his love interest. They can’t just be in the background or invisible in order for me to tell my story...they need to be a feature.
    Why is this? Because I’ve taken a long long time to sort of learn an effective balance between characters where I don’t run into the same problems that I’ve had in the past. Like...remember when Billy Chase a girlfriend for a short while? Remember Randy’s abusive father from “New Kid”? Hehehe, no? That’s because I wrote them out of the story. I was trying something out, and decided to go in a different direction after they were already a part of the story’s canon. Now, I didn’t suddenly have them ‘vanish’ without reason...that would have been jolting to my audience, and that would make my mistakes all that much more evident in the long run. So I still maintain the idea that, like, “Yeah...that happened.” But, as I said above...once you put something in your story for everybody to see, whether you like it or not...you can’t just take it back and fix it in post. Hehehe, not without a bit of backlash.
    Writing elements out of your story, I believe, is simply an art of gradually shifting focus from the things that you want to get rid of, and shining a brighter spotlight on the things that will turn your story around and get it back to what you wanted it to be. Not right away! Take a few chapters, have those unwanted elements appear less and less in the plot, and then shift over to concentrating on something that is more beneficial to driving the story forward. If your writing focuses on that, more times than not, your readers will have no choice but to do the same. Especially if they’re having fun.
    Now..there are times when this practice can kind of bury any past mistakes or poorly working plot lines completely, and you can move forward without looking back. But I often try to keep them in mind, just in case I need to remember that they happened once, and try to figure out if I need to give that particular character or storyline some closure so I’m not left with loose ends. Sometimes it can even work to my benefit, if I’m lucky. Bringing back an old character that people had forgotten about, or a single problem that was never resolved properly.
    The best example of this is in ”New Kid In School” though, as it was my very first story, and I’m still writing it to this day. So there have been a lot of retcons and reboots and inconsistencies littered throughout that entire series that I’m STILL trying to find and bang out so I can release it as an ebook series someday! But that will take a long long time! Hahaha! Trust me!
    Basically...if you have something in your story that you feel isn’t working...lose it. It’s ok. Losing a few ideas is like losing a few drops of blood. Your heart will make more. If you can fix it, or somehow find a clever way to push those elements into the background until your readers forget about them? It’s a cheat...but do it. Don’t allow your entire project to suffer for it as a whole. Let it fade away and try to create a stronger narrative moving forward. Cool?
    It’s all about finding your ‘balance’! What moments are important? What characters are important? Sometimes you need a teacher or a coach to take on a highlighted role. Sometimes you need a parent, guardian, or co-worker, to do the same. Maybe you have a kid that writes all of his thoughts down in a private diary, or talks to his pet hamster. Just remember that everything comes with a certain weight to it in your writing. Too little sets you adrift, too much sinks the boat. Keep that in mind, and you’ll do just fine.
    Learn from my many MANY mistakes, people! Hehehe! And then go out there and do it better than I did!
    I hope this helps! And I’ll seezya soon with more! K? Happy writing!
     
  3. Comicality

    Writing Arguments

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Writing Arguments When creating a compelling scene in your stories that will really work to hold the attention of your readers captive, it’s always important to remember what elements you can use, and what tools that you have at your disposal, that can elicit that particular emotional response in your readers. And one of the most powerful spells that you can cast as a wizard of words...is the amazing power of confrontation.
    When I say ‘confrontation’, I’m not talking about conflict. Conflict can simply be an opposing point of view or a motivation that grinds against the motivations of another character. Which is also an important part of the process when it comes to writing an intriguing story for your audience to read...but confrontation is different. And it can really be effective in riling your readers up if you take time to build the tension and the frustration to the point where an eventual clash of conflicting ideas or emotions becomes inevitable. And when it finally happens...you’ve got the readers too invested to look away from the train wreck that you’re about to toss their way!
    So, let’s butt heads for a little while...and let’s talk about writing arguments!
    I believe that the first part of any major conflict between your characters should come from the actual characters themselves, and not just from opposing positions on whatever it is that they’re fighting about. People are different. Similar, sure...but we all have different ways of seeing the world. However, how we handle those differences is what determines the potency of whatever flare ups we happen to be dealing with. Just as in real life, so as in fiction. When you have two characters, even if one of them is your main protagonist, that have made these differences a fundamental part of who they are as a person...arguments are destined to occur. Don’t glance over this in your writing. That’s a dynamic that you, as a writer, can use to your advantage. Begin by defining these differences and letting your audience know what they are, and allow the friction between those two ideologies to build over time. Little by little. Maybe both characters start off by biting their tongues for the sake of keeping the peace...then little hints and comments are made to let one another know this random conflict is a bother and a burden...and escalate things even further as the actions and dialogue between them gains with hostility and bitterness...until, finally, the gloves come off, and a heated confrontation ensues.
    By establishing the friction as a deep seeded part of the characters themselves, and then stirring that pot until it bubbles and boils over until one character or another has finally had enough of the bullshit...you are simultaneously creating a sense of anticipation in your audience that is also expected to reach a similar boiling point for themselves. When I mention it being a part of the character, it’s for a more dramatic effect. It’s not just a verbal disagreement, it’s a ‘game’ of sorts where one of the combatants will have to give up a part of themselves in order for there to be any peace. There’s something more personal about it, in my opinion. It can be difficult to ask someone to step away from a part of themselves, instead of simply walking away from a random argument.
    Hmmm...let me see if I’m saying this right...
    When writing an argument between two people...your readers should still feel, and prioritize, the personalities of your characters over the words being shouted at one another. There should be a familiarity there that makes them go, “Yeah, I can see why he’d feel that way.” Not because they know the argument, but because they feel invested in the people delivering your dialogue. There should be an understanding of why this person is so triggered, annoyed, or threatened, by what’s going on. And yet, they should feel out of character by reacting that way. It should make perfect sense why these two people don’t get along, or at the very least agree on this particular issue at hand. Does that make sense? I hope so. ::Fingers Crossed::
    So, now that you’ve set the stage for a verbal (Or possibly, even a physical) showdown between your characters...how do plan to approach it? A well written argument is a story structure in itself. Remember us talking about story structure as a whole in past articles? The same rules apply. You have an inciting incident, a rising conflict, a climax, and an eventual solution. Although, in this case, the only solution maybe someone rushing in to break it up and scream, “STOP FIGHTING!” Hehehe! When people argue, things tend to get rather heated very quickly. People cut each other off, they raise their voices, they get animated, become more intimidating...think of some of the really bad arguments that you’ve had in your life, and try to see if you can remember where it even began and where it ended. And if it was even worth it or not. Keep that in mind when writing these things out.
    For the sake of fiction, there’s no better argument than the ones where your audience can see both sides of the equation. Creating a conflict within them as well makes them a part of the fight. And sometimes they’ll talk to one another about it and begin to take sides. But that’s what happens when you’ve grown attached to the characters involved. It’s kind of like that urge you feel when you have someone you love and care about get into a fight with someone else...and whether they’re in the right or in the wrong, in that moment...you kind of want to take their side anyway. You know what I mean? You can yell at them in private later, but right now, you’ve got their back.
    So, when planning out this big collision between characters...keep their personal traits in mind. How they argue should match who they are. Are they the kind to give someone the silent treatment and refuse to talk to them anymore? Are they the kind of person who is quick to get angry, ball up his fists, and explode at a moment’s notice? Do they argue from a place of self defense, a place of pure anger and rage, or from a place of pain and suffering? And as this angry back and forth continues to linger on and escalate...how long until one of these characters crosses the line?
    I’d like to show this short scene from the third season of “Stranger Things” as an example of an argument that is coming from a place of hurt. These boys grew up as being the very best of friends, and while Will’s sexual has always been subtly hinted at from the very first season with a little teasing or awkwardness from the kids at school...it’s never really been addressed directly. Well, they’re all growing up now, and he’s the only one of his friends who doesn’t have a girlfriend yet. Leading to this little altercation in the rain...
     
    What I really like about this scene is the moment where, just like I said...they’re two best friends who are getting more and more aggravated while trying to prove a point...until one of them crosses the line. When writing an argument, don’t ever forget that some characters, friend or foe, can resort to a few low blows. Even if they end up regretting it later. A fight between friends or lovers can be the most hurtful experience that they’ll ever go through, because they know what buttons to press. They see the softness of your underbelly, and that can make for deep cuts when things get out of control. What you have to think about now is whether you want this to be a problem that can patched up later on in the story. Don’t go TOO hard with the hurtful comments if you’re planning for these characters to ever see eye to eye again. What effect do you want this to have in your story? Think about it, and mold a convincing argument around it that won’t come off as either being meaningless, or overly harsh.
    Something else to think about when adding a serious confrontation to your project is the power dynamic of the two characters engaged in the fight. Two teenage buds might be able to see eye to eye and hold their own...but how does this change when it comes to dealing with a bully that’s much bigger or meaner than your protagonist? How does it change when they’re much smaller? Or if one of them has been holding on to a damaging secret that they’ve been waiting to play as an ace the second he has a reason to think he has to? Leverage is a power tactic too. And what if it’s an argument with someone that your protagonist is madly in love with, or sworn to protect? Once the equal standing is thrown out of balance, the fight changes. Sometimes drastically.
    This scene is from the movie “Fences”, where a growing boy is having a major disagreement with his father. The build up warranted this kind of reaction from him, but right or wrong...his father holds dominion over that household. Fighting with your friends and fighting with your parents are two completely different battles. I find that these conversations are best demonstrated with a tense ‘shut up and listen’ appeal. Even when it’s mean, abusive, or cruel...the difference in the power dynamic creates another layer of respect or lack thereof, of fear and intimidation, or maybe just brainwashed obedience, to the situation as a whole. Give it a look...
     
    Can you see the difference here? In the “Stranger Things” example, neither one of those boys is going to stand there and allow himself to be lectured by the other. But being approached by your father in such an authoritative way changes the direction and the overall feeling of the argument. You’re almost left with no other weapons than silent defiance and resentment at that point. Something else to keep in mind when writing a heated confrontation between your characters. Power matters. The anger management is different. The words being spoken are different. And if you say something that’s totally out of line...you’d better mean it. Or you can find yourself in a really bad spot! Whether it be a parent, a bully, a teacher, your boss at work...whatever. So temper that fury and choose your battles wisely.
    And one more example before I go...
    This is an example of a really slow, simmering, gravy or sauce on the stove. One that will ruin itself eventually if you just leave it to fester and burn for a long long time without doing anything to work on it. This is the deeply wounded argument. Or, as I like to call it, the ‘limp’ argument. (Hehehe, no, not sexually!) It’s like...you twist your ankle, break a leg, smash one of your toes...and you don’t want to go to the doctor to get it taken care of. So, even though it causes you a ton of discomfort and pain...you never repair the damage done. You simply learn to walk with a ‘limp’. There are a lot of arguments like this in a variety of different stories, where the wounds have been there for so long that the characters have grown numb to their effects and simply choose to ignore them. Until...you add your magical ‘inciting incident’ that brings all of those hurt and angry feelings to the surface, and both characters end up vomiting it all over the place until they can find some relief. Arguments can sometimes be used to heal the extended damage that’s been done over years of silence...or it might end up revealing a few truths that tell the characters that this simply isn’t a problem that they can’t fix. You can play with both sides of this equation to see which one appeals to you more, but the main point is to give your readers a feeling like these people have been on a long and tortuous road, and are possibly reaching the end of it at long last.
    You accomplish this by having the dialogue surround a myriad of unrelated events, always referring to them in the past tense, and then having this almost chaotic back and forth between whoever’s talking. Remember, the idea is that this has been going on for a long long time, and finally, enough is enough. Again, the argument is going to come off as a bit different because they’ve let it linger for so long. They’ve been avoiding a confrontation for so long that the confrontation becomes inevitable. Both sides are convinced that they’re right, and have been the only one keeping the peace while their combatant has been skating away with all of the offenses, scott free.
    Give it a look...
     
    In arguments like this, everyone has a reason, an answer, or an excuse, for everything. This one is more lighthearted than the others, showing that these arguments can be used in a comedic way as well as an angry or violent one. But this is a fresh new clash over a bunch of very old problems. When watching the three videos, try to feel out the difference, and how you might be able to incorporate that particular vibe into your next big throwdown in your stories. Cool?
    Anyway, as always, I hope this helps a lot with future projects of yours! Have fun! And always remember to have fun with your art! Hehehe, even when the shit hits the fan!
    Take Care!
     
  4. Comicality

    Formatting

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Formatting Now...this article may come off as being a bit weird to many of you, but it’s a big part of me doing what I do with my own stories, and how I do everything that I can to create an immersive experience with everything that I write. I wanted to include it in my collection of writing tips, because as long as I’m giving my secrets away, I might as well give you everything, right? Hehehe!
    See...to me, formatting isn’t just a matter of putting the paragraph breaks in the right places, or following some sort of mechanical blueprint to keep your text from looking like it’s falling to pieces or spinning out of control. I mean, yes...that’s a part of it, because you don’t want your text to appear as some big block of words without the proper breaks in paragraphs, or overlapping dialogue to the point where you don’t know who is speaking and who they’re talking to. You definitely want to separate those blocks of text to deliver a coherent and focused project that your readers can easily follow without any difficulty or confusion.
    However...I feel like there’s more to formatting your story than the simple basics of making it ‘readable’ in a structural sense. Let me try to explain...
    When you’re presenting your work to your readers...you’re putting on a performance. Right? I mean, at least, that’s how I’ve always seen it from the very beginning. Even when I write these articles...formatting is a part of the show. It may not be a part that most people notice, but it’s definitely something that I think about. Maybe this will get you guys to start thinking about it too.
    Provided that I can find an effective way to communicate it to other people, that is! LOL! It’s hard to describe what’s going on in my brain sometimes, but I’ll do my best. K?
    Some of you may have heard this from me before, but back when I was still an aspiring actor as a preteen boy, I used to watch the “Wonder Years” on TV, and even though I was sort of lost in a schoolboy crush (It was Fred Savage in the 80’s! Give me a break! EVERYBODY had a crush on him!), I was fascinated by some of his acting choices, and there were these well timed ‘pauses’ in his dialogue that I really loved. It’s hard to explain, but they added this genuine sense of humanity to his performance. Once I noticed that and began to mirror that in some of my own performances for auditions and stuff, I found myself getting more call backs and interest from casting directors. And soon...I began to hear those same pauses and artistic choices in music as well. They were subtle and they were hardly noticeable unless you were actively seeking them out...but they kind of made this slight difference that I really connected to and learned to appreciate. Artists like Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Prince, or Michael Jackson...they knew how to use these little breaks and formats to really bring you into what they were doing. The way that Frank Sinatra could hold a note and drag it out just a SPLIT second longer than you might be expecting him to, could make all the difference between a good song, and an AWESOME song! There’s a coded language hidden within those graceful instincts...and you can tap into them, once you understand what they are and how they work.
    It’s that tiny added flavor to your mix of talents that will enhance your writing and possibly bump it up to the next level. With practice, of course.
    The question is...how can you create that same feeling without the benefits of an audio or visual experience? Well...let’s talk about it. Literary ‘charisma’ actually CAN be expressed with words alone. And formatting can help.
    When writing, you guys who have read my stuff already know that I use caps, italics, and pauses, in order to get the stories to read the way that I would want them to read. The way I would perform them in front of a mirror, or would want to deliver a certain way when it comes to put them on screen or on stage. There are certain words that I want to put emphasis on, and some that I would want to bring forth with a level of extra power or volume. By doing this, I can convey a sense of anger, or desperation, or uncontrollable joy. Between those little quirks and the punctuation that I use to enhance those sentences even further, I’m being given an opportunity to see and hear me through my words as if it was an actual performance.
    And then...there’s the formatting.
    (That, right there...is what I’m talking about. That paragraph break that I just tossed out there.)
    Hmmmm...how can I explain the instinct?
    You know how people write poetry? A talent that I wish I had, but simply can’t grasp for the life of me. Hehehe! But they know how to break up their thoughts into spaced stanzas and format their work in a way for maximum effect, whether the poem rhymes or not. There’s an art to it. There are spaces between thoughts as they switch and change, rise and fall, speed up and slow down. Pay attention to those spaces when you’re writing, and find out how to effectively use them to their full potential when you’re writing. It’s not really something that anyone can teach you, because it’s not really a tangible part of the creative process. You have to feel it out for yourself. And the only way to develop those instincts is to notice what you’re looking for, and then find a way to weave those moments into your conscious efforts as your telling your story.
    For example...
    I might be typing away on my keyboard, and write...
    “Even though Brandon seemed to take the big confession of my deep feelings for him well, blushing and smiling to show me that he was truly flattered to have me be so overwhelmingly attracted to him that I couldn’t hold my infatuated swoon for him in secret anymore, I still didn’t know whether or not to take that as an acceptance of my feelings or not. At least not yet. Oh God, what do I do if he tells me that he’s not interested? Like, “Thanks but no thanks.” What do I do then?”
    Now, that paragraph said everything that it needed to say, and I could leave it like that without thinking twice about it. It’s fine just like it is. BUT...what if I added a little bit extra by formatting that small excerpt in a slightly different way, for the sake of emphasis? When I look at it...I see ‘spaces’ that I can further take advantage of without changing a single word. (Hehehe, I told you this article would be weird! But hang in there with me!)
    Going back over it...I would format things a bit differently. And it would probably look more like this...
     
    “Even though Brandon seemed to take the big confession of my deep feelings for him well, blushing and smiling to show me that he was truly flattered to have me be so overwhelmingly attracted to him that I couldn’t hold my infatuated swoon for him in secret anymore, I still didn’t know whether or not to take that as an acceptance of my feelings or not.
    At least not yet.
    Oh God, what do I do if he tells me that he’s not interested? Like, “Thanks but no thanks.”
    What do I do then?”
    What I’ve done here is separate the main character’s thoughts into more of a...ummmm...chaotic mess. If that makes sense. Instead of one constant thought about his confession and ‘Brandon’s’ reaction to it, the paragraph breaks in the formatting has now given the reader the feeling that my protagonist is switching from one major thought to another. He starts by thinking about Brandon, then switches to not knowing yet how he feels...implying a feeling of hope. But then, once that thought is completed, he switches to a more pessimistic idea of failure and rejection. And then the question of what his next move would have to be after that happens.
    It’s subtle and difficult to tell you guys why I would make the choices that I do when I’m writing...but this is what is going on in my head when I’m trying to create the best experience that I can for my audience. I can see it. I can feel it. Those little formatting glitches can sometimes add a bit of extra glitter and polish to your story once you tap into it. Every paragraph that you write is designed to be a complete thought and should convey its own emotion. Each paragraph is a story in itself. By optimizing your use of these paragraphs, you can add a feeling of humanity and relativity to the words that you put on the screen. Those ‘spaces’ that so many of us take for granted can give us an edge when it comes to drawing your readers in and highlighting the best parts of your story. But, like I said, it’s different for every writer. It’s an unspoken sixth sense that evolves for all of us over time. I can’t teach you how to do it. I can only draw attention to what you should look for.
    If you have a part of your story that may feel a little ‘flat’ or like a lull between major events...seek out these spaces to see what you can do to bring attention to the ideas that you’re adding to your fiction. “Sometimes, loving someone means giving them the space to love themselves.” That one sentence? If you wrote that? That can be a paragraph all by itself. Don’t let it get lost in a block of text and less profound dialogue. Give that sentence a spotlight. You know?
    If your main character is panicking over a confusing variety of infatuated thoughts...figure out what you want to highlight and let it shine. You can use formatting to add some extra weight or gravitas to a statement that you’re writing, or to create a feeling of drama or loss. You can use it in sex scenes, in action scenes, in moments of despair, or in moments of anger boiling out of control. Formatting counts for a lot more than you may think that it does. And I definitely use it to my advantage as often as I can.
    It just makes a story more engaging in my opinion. And it allows more of the true ‘me’ shine through when I’m putting it all together.
    Anyway, I hope that this makes some kind of awkward sense! All I can say is check out some of my stories on GayAuthors some time (Ask your GA friends for suggestions) if you want to get a better idea of what I’m trying to explain here. When you see those paragraph breaks and spaces here and there...those aren’t by accident. They’re by design. That’s my writer instinct at work. And if you look at your own work, you might find those special little spaces too. Make use of them! The next classic story is in your hands!
    Take care! Thanks for reading! And I’ll seezya soon!
     
  5. Comicality

    Catering

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Catering Ok...let me start this entire article off with three simple words when it comes to catering to your audience. K?
    DON’T...DO...IT!!!
    Please don’t. The temptation is going to be there, and you may even get a lot of praise and admiration for trying it out...but at the end of the day, the ONE thing that is going to separate you from a billion other writers online is going to be your personal voice. Your thoughts, your feelings, you sense of humor, your drama...you have a chance to tell your story, here. So tell it. Catering is only going to drop you into the ‘crabs in a bucket’ category, and you’ll never be able to effectively stand out as a writer trying to follow the popular crowd or mimicking what’s ‘hot’ in the storytelling racket right now.
    Today, we talk about ‘catering’, and why it’s just a bad idea, overall if you want to treat this seriously...even if it’s only a passionate hobby of yours.
    Now, if you happen to be thinking from the other side of the brain...there’s going to be this business model mantra constantly playing in the back of your mind that’s going to be telling you that you need to ‘give the people what they want’. Hehehe, I hear that voice all the time. And it can be really persistent to the point of annoyance sometimes, but I sort of listen to what it has to tell me, and usually just tune it out until it starts getting in tune with what I’m excited about working on. There’s got to be a compromise, you know? How can I just go out there and give the people what they want, when I don’t even KNOW what they want? Hell, there are many times when even they don’t know what they want. It’s like those days when you have the munchies for some kind of snack, but can’t find out what you have a taste for. You just know that you want something, and you don’t have it. That would make anybody miserable. But you’ve got to keep something in mind...
    ...If you’ve been true to yourself with your writing and the stories you had to tell...then what they really want...is YOU!
    They want you doing what you do, to the best of your ability, and giving it all the heart and energy that it deserves. That’s how they found you online, isn’t it? So why take over all of your ‘control’ and ruin what made it awesome? There will be a lot of times when people will do everything short of throwing a full blown tantrum, trying to convince you that they just want you to write what THEY want you to write...but that is a trap. Because what they think they want is an illusion, and they will bitch and moan and complain with every sentence that you commit to your story, only to quickly get bored with it and move on to someone else’s story without warning. The experience simply isn’t fun when they’re manipulating the outcome and know what’s going to happen every step of the way. No...that’s not your job as a writer. You write your own story, and if it’s not good enough for them, there’s plenty of other stories that might be more to their tastes. Let them go find it.
    I don’t want you to think that everybody who has ideas about your story is doing so with any sort of malicious intent, or that they’re trying to take over. Some do, but I’m willing to bet that a vast majority just enjoy what you do and want to read more. Just don’t allow yourself to be bullied into being a tool for somebody else’s story. You’re not just a conduit for them to channel their fantasies through. They can write a story online and post it just like you did. Don’t make it your mission to speak for them just because they’re looking for something that’s tailor made for their own satisfaction. Not only will you need get it completely right where it’ll read exactly the way they’re hoping it will, but you’ll be alienating an entire audience full of people who might be looking for something different.
    Remember...your readers are here for you. Ok? The stories should be an extension of you as a person. The should be able to feel your personal DNA in everything that you write, and in the way you create characters and plot out a story. Take pride in that. It’s important.
    There were a few writing contests in the past, here on GayAuthors as well as a couple of other sites, that I joined so I could support the sites and participate in what they were trying to do. The problem was...everybody reading at that time kind of knew who ‘Comicality’ was for the most part, and I was sort of trying to hide myself and my writing style so the story could take center stage. I didn’t want anybody voting for me just because I was Comicality. I wanted them to vote for the best story.
    Unfortunately, many readers figured out that it was me, regardless. Even without my name attached. But it was because my voice is woven into everything that I do. And that comes from being genuine. I sacrifice a bit of that when it comes to trying to write someone else’s story instead of one that I feel really in tune with. And if you want your work to stand out and end up being something special, both to yourself and to your readers...then you need to hold on to that. Enhance it. And don’t let anyone persuade you to do anything different, no matter how loud they scream. Keep your mind focused on the game plan and stick to what your heart is telling you.
    Beware the ‘idea guys’.
    Writing a story from beginning to end takes a lot of character building, dialogue, plot choices, connected events, and many many moving parts to pull off. It’s hard work! Trust me, I hear ya! Hehehe! You have to pour a lot of emotion and brain power into pulling off such a magnificent feat. And while there are a ton of readers that have a lot of ideas, some of them really AWESOME ideas, in fact...they’re just that. Ideas. A spark for a single scene or two that they’d love to see in your story. They might be in a constant state of, “Oh man, wouldn’t it be cool if…?” But if that’s not a part of your story, or not what you planned on...keep this in mind...
    ...What happens when that one scene or two is finished, once you write it into your story? Does it fit? Is it consistent with your characters’ attitudes and the experiences that they’ve been through so far? Coming up with a cool idea here and there is the easy part. But what are you going to do if you decide to ‘give the people what they want’ and find yourself painted into a corner with no idea of how to resolve that particular problem or continue on with your story as planned? It sucks being stuck. Even more so when you’re stuck trying to resolve a problem that you didn’t originally plan to add to your narrative to begin with. Like I said...it’s a trap. Avoid it at all costs, and concentrate on your own ideas until things play out the way you originally planned.
    Most readers with ideas or predictions really are being cool, and they have no intentions of taking control of your story. They’re just fans with great imaginations of their own. Every last one of those people are a blessing.
    But then...there are the other kind. And you’re going to have to have to brace yourself when dealing with them, and eventually realize that their threats aren’t really threats at all. Easier said than done at first, but it becomes easier with time.
    If they’re not your actual employer, contracting you for a particular job that you agreed to and signed your name to...then stay true to yourself and keep writing what you’re writing. There are some people out there who will HATE it! LOL! But it actually becomes funny after a while. So who cares? They will use tactics to psychologically bully you, but those people are all the same. Nothing changes. Recognize the signs.
    They’ll criticize your choices in ways that may come off as unnecessarily rude at first, but you can just let them know that you have plans for how you want your story to go, and you’re working on it. It’s a simple as that. Next, they’ll get angry and try to pressure you into doing things their way. They may even threaten to rage quit because you won’t give them what they want. “I’m not gonna read your story anymore!” Or “This is stupid! Your main character is an idiot!” Or “PLEASE add this to the story, otherwise you’ll just be ruining everything!” Stay focused. Don’t cater to them. You know how you want your story to go, right? If they don’t like it, that’s ok. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read their messages to see if they make any valid points or are giving any constructive criticisms that might help your story elevate itself to something better...but chances are, anybody that uses that kind of language to approach you and your creative efforts doesn’t have ‘helping you out’ on their to do list. Anybody with constructive criticism will respect your creative choices, and make suggestions..not DEMANDS.
    If these two actions don’t work at first, their next tactic is to make their frustrations public. A tactic that is used to shame or humiliate you into surrendering to their barked orders, and to hopefully get other people on their side to gang up on you. And it can be both intimidating and hurtful at times...but, as I always ask...
    ...Is this YOUR story? Or THEIR story?
    The people with a few grand ideas aren’t putting in all the hard work and effort that you are into working your magic. They’re not staying up late at night, avoiding family and friends for silence and solitude, creating three dimensional characters, formulating a plot, connecting all of these events and writing dialogue. They’ve got three or four sentences worth of ideas and want you to do the rest. Hehehe...you trust yourself. Writing takes courage. So make choices and be decisive in your plans when it comes to the story you set out to bring to life for your readers’ enjoyment. Don’t sacrifice that for anything.
    At the end of the day, writing (or art in general, really) isn’t meant to be controlled. It’s merely meant to be shared. It’s yours. It’s a part of your heart that you chose to expose for the benefit of anyone and everyone who happens to come across it. If you were putting together an art gallery...it’s a collection of everything that you had to offer. There isn’t someone standing over your shoulder telling you how to paint. You weren’t worried about what’s popular or what’s trending right now. Don’t ever feel like you have to be a conduit for other people. You’re a conduit for whatever divine inspiration that you happen to be feeling at that particular moment, on that particular day, to channel whatever feelings you’re feeling. That’s it.
    The people who love you what you do, will ALWAYS be happy with what you put out. Because it came from you. And that makes it golden. Every single time.
    The people who get upset and want more, or something different, or something more relatable to their own experience….can either appreciate what you give them, or go elsewhere. It’s the internet. They’ll be ok. Hehehe! Why bully you when they have access to the same equipment and have the same amount of hours in the day as everybody else? If they’re so knowledgeable about what it takes to write the perfect online story...then why aren’t they writing it? I’d, personally, applaud them if they did! Go for it. And go do it better than I did. Nothing wrong with that.
    When I first found Nifty online, I started reading stories three or four at a time. Hehehe! I couldn’t get enough! But there were some that I thought were promising and I wish that they had gone another way. I wish they had ‘this’ in it...or more of ‘that’ in it. And when I got tired of wishing that somebody else could just write a story that I could really get into...I started writing my own. And the rest is history. I think everybody should give it a try. See what it’s like, and put some of those awesome ideas in your head to good use. You might just be the next big thing out there.
    As for me, though? I know what I love to write, and I’ve found my home in terms of writing what I want to write. Make sure that you do the same as you keep growing with every project you put out. K? Never stop striving to hit that next level. And never let someone anchor you back to Earth in order to cater to what they want. Sometimes, you just have to let that be their problem.
    Anyway, I hope this helps to give some perspective on the whole idea. Trust your instincts. Even when you feel like you’re the only one. Trust me...somebody out there really needs to hear EXACTLY what it is that you have to say from your heart. Don’t deprive them of that.
    Take care! And I’ll seeza soon!
     
  6. Comicality

    The Hero Protagonist

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    The Hero Protagonist When writing a story...there needs to be a main focus.
    Naturally, there can be many characters and many different events and situations surrounding that character, but I truly believe that it's important to keep things primarily concentrated on the thoughts and actions of a single protagonist in your narrative, in order to keep things tight and interesting without wandering off into La La Land. Your protagonist should be the first thing that you think about when you begin writing a story, or even start planning a story. This is your anchor. It's your number one actor on stage who gets more time in the spotlight than the rest of his or her supporting cast. And that means that this character needs to be a stand out performer. Nobody is coming to read about a secondary or tertiary character, hoping to find some kind of enjoyment in your passion project. Who is your number one 'voice' in the story that you're trying to tell? Figure that out, and assign a massive amount of the plot's heavy lifting to him or her in order to create a 'home base' for your readers to hold on to. Not only will this literary anchor keep your story from sliding off the rails and losing track of what you originally intended...but you'll be able to better use any other outside characters and their personal stories enhance that of your protagonist. Allow them to act as extra hands to work and squeeze and define your ideas when it comes to molding and shaping your main character into whatever entity you want them to be by the end of your story. That's where the magic lies. That's where you will find your greatest success in your writing, and where you'll find the strongest connections with your audience, because that is exactly what readers are looking for...and nobody else can do it the way that you're going to do it. You are a creative architect that exists outside of the realm of possibility when it comes to other writers. Use that to your advantage. Make your main character an undeniable 'hero' in your tale. Give them growth, struggle, triumph, and tragedy. This is what will keep people fixated on the story itself. It's the rope that you attach to their ankles and keep them following your main character until the very end of their journey.
    How do we accomplish that? Let's talk about it! I'd love to hear your thoughts, instead of the demonic voices in my head all the time! LOL!
    The 'hero' protagonist is the subject today! Let's sit in a semi-circle and get ready for story time, shall we?
    The thing about a 'hero'...is that they can be viewed from multiple perspectives, by a variety of people, each one looking at them through a different filter that is most familiar to their own point of view. You really can't expect to please everybody...but you can greatly maximize your appeal to your fanbase by attaching your protagonist's goals and motivations to emotional bonds that actually apply to all of us. Telling a personal story is golden, and I applaud that effort to be very specific and personal in your artistic expression. I think we all need a few of those stories from time to time. But if you're looking to speak to wider audience? The key is to tap into emotions that I dare to say are a bit more vague, and easily digested in mixed company. This is something that is easier said than done...but it CAN be pulled off! And if that's what you're feeling...and its the story you want to tell...then go for it. You might get some love for it...you might get some hate for it...but stick to your guns and do what you feel yo need to do. (Look for the article, "Against The Grain" soon for more on this!)
    The thing about heroes...they're about more than themselves. They are representing something bigger than themselves. Or, even better..."A hero doesn't just stand for something bigger than themselves...just something other than themselves." You don't have to be writing action or fantasy or even romance to prove this point. No matter what genre you're involved in...you create heroes by simply focusing on one main character, having your readers bond with them, and then tossing them in the meat grinder to have them come out all shiny and new on the other side! Hehehe!
    Trust me...if God was watching and decided to punish me for all of the hardships, heartbreaks, and devastating levels of unwarranted abuse that I've put them through over the years? I'd be speeding my way to Hell in a pink Cadillac right now! Hahaha! But...truth be told...suffering builds character. And that is the blueprint that I've been using in all of my stories from the very beginning.
    You may remember hearing me say that I've always used a variety of tough life lessons in order to give my main characters the kind of story arc that I want them to have from beginning to end. Experiences...you know? The journey needs to be present in my narrative in order for the proper lessons to be taught and for the story to make sense. None of us just wake up with all the answers to life's problems. We have to 'walk the path' for ourselves. Trying to avoid it only keeps us from the self reflection and blossoming wisdom needed to deal with more difficult problems further down the line. You can't just skip and jump from chapter one in a book to chapter seven and expect to know what's going on, right? I treat my writing the same way. And I often go back and make mention of the many crazy situations that my characters have been through in order to bring them to that exact point in time. I use it as a point of reference. Another plus when it comes to planning a story out WAY ahead of time instead of just 'winging' it! It makes a difference. Believe me.
    What turns your protagonist into a hero can only be built from his or her experiences as the story progresses from beginning to end. You can't just 'tell' your readers what's going on and why they should care. We've been through this before. Show...don't tell. It's like the difference between showing people pics on your Facebook of your trip to the beach, and them actually having them JOIN you on the beach! It's not the same thing! Even if the journey is hindered by obstacles and rocky roads...take your readers along with you. Don't cheat them out of the experience. Bring them in. I can't stress that enough when it comes to your writing. They can't feel what you feel unless you give them the opportunity to feel it for themselves. So don't be stingy with the details. And don't rush past the 'side story' stuff that you think is junk that's holding you back from the parts of the story that you want to get to further on in the story. It makes for flat characters and dismissive plot points that won't have any real impact without the proper context needed to make them stand out the way I'm assuming you would want them to.
    Hero protagonists aren't about being awesome people with a pure heart. I mean, I'd personally love to see where a charming and understanding and beautiful person came from and what made them that way, as opposed to just having them appear in a story, like, "Hi! I'm a good person! Can't you tell?" That immediately puts me on defense. Hehehe! Because that's exactly what a psychopath would say.
    Instead...take your protagonist, the one in the spotlight, and take the time needed to build them up through their good deeds and their need to help the characters around them by being strong role models for whatever thoughts and beliefs you may hold to make them the hero of this story. Take a few moments and think about what moments in your life made you who are today. Not just the happy moments...but the others too. Maybe a heartbreak or two. Maybe the first boy that you fell in love with in Junior High School, or the loss of a parent, grandparent, or guardian. The times you got into serious trouble, that time your best friend moved out of town, that job that you never got, that college that sent you a rejection letter...whatever it is...focus on it for a minute or two. And think about what it did to alter your path from that very moment until now. Capture that moment. Hold it. OWN it. And think about how it made you who you are today. For better or worse.
    That's the hero journey. Going beyond what you know and what's expected of you, to chase something bigger. Sometimes you succeed...sometimes you fail...but it's the journey and the motivation that makes your main character a hero. Even when it HURTS!
    This is something that you can weave into your stories and give them increased depth and meaning by connecting your readers' thoughts and emotions to the thoughts and emotions of your protagonist. And you can achieve this humane and sympathetic bond by putting your main characters through the most heartless pitfalls that you can think of! Hehehe! Sad, but true!
    But you know what? That intense and insane amount of pain and suffering that you attach to your main characters...it ends up being the shiny object that most readers gravitate to the most. Sometimes, misery, insecurity, imperfection, and struggle and strife, become the best tools at your disposal. The building blocks of an entity that is worthy of being admired and protected, simultaneously. The struggle is everything when it comes to having your audience choose and cheer for your protagonist as they would a hero...
     
    The thing is...we're all heroes of our own life stories. We always have been. I believe that it's an integral part of who we are as human beings, to seek truth and to feel as though we're all doing the right thing and fighting the good fight. Even through hard times and adversity...we carry on. Creating that in the characters that you write about has the same affect on the people reading your work. That's something that you need to understand and keep close to your heart while you're putting your project together. There is true literary 'magic' in this ideology alone. So don't let it slip past you.
    No amount of flashy drama, well written sex scenes, or flowery language, can take the place of a sincere connection between your audience and your characters. They should laugh when your characters laugh. They should cry when your characters cry. Use those chosen moments and details to not only inform your readers of the journey...but to include them as an active PART of it. This is where your fiction is going to find its greatest strength, because this is where the real heart and determination of your characters lie. It's not just in the obstacles facing them, or the problems that they're being forced to deal with...but in how they HANDLE those challenges as they grow and evolve from their experiences. This should be your main focus.
    We all have random hardships that blindside us from time to time, and there's nothing that we can do about that. But what separates us from everyone else in the same position or something similar...is how we take those situations and persevere, using our personal experiences and past mistakes to deal with it. Something that we all do in our own unique way, no matter what. Tap into that energy source, and use it to electrify your story in ways that will appeal to your audience in ways that they weren't even expecting. Trust me...you have the voice inside of you. USE IT!
    Who you are is a product of your past experiences, and your passions and dreams for your future. Bring that to your art, and let us all share in it with you. The struggles and disappointments and heartbreaks that you've had in your past? As bad as they may have seemed at the time...they built the person that you are today. Your friends, your relationships with your family members, the jobs you worked to pay the bills, the toys you might still have on the top shelf of a closet somewhere in your house….hehehe...they're a part of you. And a part of every life that you touch with your fiction. So take notice of it, recognize those golden moments, and own them...to fully understand what its like to be the hero of your own story.
    Remember...a hero's journey is originally about what has chosen your protagonist...but it's what your hero chooses from that point on that makes all the difference. An active motivation. Create compelling actions where difficult decisions need to be made, where stakes are clearly identified, and your hero is forced to navigate his or her way through it with as much skill and wisdom that they have at their disposal in order to make it safely to the other side of whatever obstacle course you've put in place to test them...and make them really earn the title of a hero. Cool?
    That's all for today. I hope this made some sense to you all, and that it helps you to write characters and build stories that you can be proud of in the future. Or, perhaps, to further appreciate stories that you've written in the past...simply by looking back and thinking, "I definitely had an internal instinct about this kinda thing WAY before Comsie said anything!" Hehehe! I love it! Good! Keep it up! The world won't ever reach a point where good stories aren't needed! LOL!
    Take care! And I'll seezya soon with more! I'll give away every 'secret' that I have, as long as it means the art of great gay fiction continues. Go! And do it better than I did! ((Hugs))
    Laters!
     
  7. Comicality

    Character Empathy

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Character Empathy As a 'self proclaimed' writer...I've found that there is no stronger, no more engaging, tool in your arsenal than character empathy when it comes to truly crafting an immersive experience when it comes to your readers' involvement in your story. This is something that a lot of writer's believe they can 'tell' their audience, and they'll obviously fall in line and agree with the author, because how you can not feel bad for people (fictional as they may be) going through such a rough time.
    But I think there's a lot more to it than that. There's a bigger difference between sympathy and empathy than most people can really recognize until you directly ask them to define the difference. One example always comes to mind when I think of this subtle/but not-so-subtle space between the two...
    I can remember driving downtown one day, and there was a church at one of my stops. And someone was getting married, and the family was there, and they were all happy and smiling and wishing them well as they were walking towards their limo to start their new life together as husband and wife. And the sympathetic part of me was like, "Awwww...that's so cute! Good for you! Whoever they are, I wish them all the best that life has to offer!" Hehehe, I'm a big softie at heart, but you guys knew that already. That's my sympathetic emotions rising to the surface and sort of putting me in their particular head space at that moment. It's awesome.
    Flash forward a few years...and one of my very best friends EVER was getting married. He asked me to stand with him. We've known each other since we were about thirteen or fourteen years old, and still talk often to this day. I fell sooooo hard for him in high school, and I can guarantee you that parts of our long lasting relation are threaded into the stories on this site in more ways than I could ever hope to count. Hehehe! But, even though he was straight, and I knew that I'd never get my very first dream boy like I had always wished I would...it filled my heart to the point of bursting to know that he was happy. And I balled like a baby! LOL! I really did!
    That was 'empathy'. I'm using both sympathy and empathy in a positive way, because I think a lot of people often look at those words as feeling 'bad' about tragic events, and it's not always about that. To put it simply...sympathy is feeling for something that's happening outside of you, and empathy is about feeling something that is inspired inside of you. To feel good or bad for something that someone else is going through is a special and lovable trait to have. Always keep that, and hold on to it for as long as you can. But...to actually be sucked IN to the situation in a way where you feel a symbiotic bond with a character's plight and truly relate to what is going on, whether they've shared the same experience or not? That's a whole other level, indeed. And it can be reached once you know what you're looking for, and build a game plan around that goal.
    So, let's talk about character empathy today folks! It comes with a few handy tricks that you might want to use for later. Especially if you're writing romance or erotica themed stories. Sex is just sex, no matter how amazing you might be at writing it, no matter how graphic or how metaphorical you are with the details. But if you can create an emotional space around your characters and sync yourself up with your fictional lovers and your real life readers...you'll create gold. Every time. Promise!
    I've found that...for a lot of people...feeling bad for someone else can be a very deep emotional involvement...but it's also temporary. Maybe I've gotten old and a bit jaded about it all...but I can remember the "We Are The World" video was the most important thing in the world. People are starving in Africa. We need to help. And then I remember AIDS being the big thing. Then breast cancer. Then the war on drugs. Then 9/11. Then Hurricane Katrina. Then the Haiti earthquake. But, let's be honest...when was the last time any of these issues led the news highlights? Do we really think that these problems have magically gone away? Cyber bullying? Teen suicide? Matthew Shepard? George Floyd? The #MeToo movement? Not 'popular' anymore? How long will it be until everybody forgets about Covid-19 and goes out for a crowded beach party? That's not a judgement on anyone who was there to give time and effort and money to those causes, and God bless those who did so! Honestly. I only use that as an example because...deep down...we're all grown up children. Caring about other people only lasts so long until it becomes all about 'me' again. It's a noble gesture, but I feel like hardly anything becomes a passion until it affects us directly. Agree or disagree, but that's truly how I feel. And I'd be a hypocrite if I tried to remove myself from that equation.
    Don't worry...it doesn't make any of us bad people. But it's something to take notice of when it comes to figuring out the balance between sympathy and empathy.
    To write characters and storylines that will ultimately get your audience to truly be involved in your narrative...you can't just tell a good story from the outside. You have to connect. It has to be about THEM, and not just the characters themselves. I don't want to insult any of my readers in any way, shape, or form...but the brutal reality of gaining a captivated audience comes from making your project somewhat of a selfish experience.
    (Ugh! I feel so dirty saying it like that!)
    It's a part of the art and the craft that you have at your fingertips. Readers who feel as though they are participating and living through the story that you've laid out in front of them will be the most loyal and most helpful (and occasionally, the most critical...but in a good way) readers that you will ever have. Don't ever be afraid to include them in ways that will compel them to form a symbiotic bond with your characters. Even if they haven't been through the same experiences in their lives, the emotions will still snatch them up, regardless...and truly force them into investing all the emotion they have into every word that you type out on that screen.
    When I was writing "My Only Escape" about severe childhood abuse, many of the comments that I got from the first few chapters on the site or the library or in my emails drifted between, "Oh God! That's EXACTLY what it feels like! How did you know?" and "Oh God! This is to much! I can't read this anymore!" But both are the greatest compliments that I ever could have hoped for. Because it touched the nerves that I wanted it to touch. I wanted to tell my story and have people really gt a sense for what it was really like to live that life. Not just as a bystander feeling for sorry for some poor kid who was living this way (Which could have also been successful in the long run), but as an immersive and visceral experience that really puts you in the mindset of the protagonist and SHOWS them what a life like that would really be like. This creates more than just sympathy. This is where empathy comes from. Knowledge of self leads to knowledge of others. Period. If you can bring your audience into that space...they'll understand things on a whole other level, and they'll come looking for more until the story has been told.
    Let me use this as my first example...
    Like I said, I don't want you guys to think that character empathy has to be all about tragedy and pain...and that's why I wanted to keep things light in the beginning of this article. But, since pain is a much more 'recognizable' emotion for many people...I'm going to flip the script and head in that direction to hammer home my point.
    Now...I've never been to war. I can't even imagine it, to be honest. I've had friends go overseas, and some of them came back changed forever. But they all came home. So, I can easily sympathize with all of the stress and harsh situations that they had to deal with. Even for people that I don't know and have never met. I salute every last one of you for being involved in whatever mess you were enlisted for. However...watch this scene from Sylvester Stallone's movie "First Blood". And if you've ever had any doubts about him as an actual actor… I think this is one of the finest performances that he's ever given in his entire career. It still brings tears to my eyes, to this day. Because there's something there that I relate to and truly understand. A soldier, coming back from war...disrespected and hunted. A true hero who's just trying to find his way back to a normal life again, and having people look down on him without having any IDEA what he had to go through to even be alive in this moment. It's so heartbreaking that it's worthy of tears. And begs the question...
    What would YOU do if you were in this position?
     
    Let me say that one of the most brilliant choices made in this scene is simply having John's commanding officer stand off to the side in complete silence and not say a single word. It could have easily been a 'back and forth' dialogue between the two where you have one character trying to get the other one to calm down and return to suppressing those feelings long enough to disarm him and walk him out of that place alive. But I feel as though that would have really robbed us of the humanity and the connection that we needed as an audience to really feel immersed in that situation. He's able to give a heartbreaking monologue that draws us in and creates empathy for his situation. Remember...'sympathy' comes from outside...'empathy' comes from inside. That's the difference. In the four or five minutes that it takes him to tell that story...uninterrupted...we aren't just listening to him. We BECOME him. And that makes for a much more powerful experience.
    I'm sure that we all have stories to tell, regrets, problems, and parts of ourselves from the past or even in the present, that we wish we could scream out loud to the rest of the world. We want to scream and cry and bare our souls for someone who's really willing to just sit there and listen...but we don't. We feel like a burden, or a maniac, or like we'll be made fun of, or have our problems minimized by people who we could never epect to understand. But you watch the scene above...and you see someone who is finally able to bleed all of that emotional poison out of their system for, what might be, the first time ever...and it becomes a cathartic sigh of relief for us all. Yes, we sympathize...but on a more 'selfish' level...he's speaking for us. He makes ME feel better! And that's what tips the scales from a great story towards it being an unforgettable moment in our lives.
    Master that skill with your writing? And you are bound to create classics that will stick with people of all ages long after you're gone. And isn't that the goal of every creative mind in some way? To create something that will outlive the creator? It is for me.
    I don't want to leave a trophy behind. I'd rather leave a footprint.
    The entire time that I was writing the story, "My Only Escape" (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/myonlyescape)...I felt like I was learning more and more about how to truly manifest a series of emotions that not only spoke to my readers, but could actually drag them, kicking and screaming, into the reality of it all. Pretty much the same way that I was, growing up. There was a scene that I vividly remember actually happening to me, where I was thrown out of the house in my sock feet in the rain, and my father refused to let me back in the house. No shoes, soaking wet...and I stayed out there in the freezing cold for a long time. Until I finally got the courage to walk a few blocks, puddles and all, to have my friend take me in for a while. But where the cruelty of that could be easily observed and understood by the people reading...what I really wanted to emphasize was the utter shame that I felt, having to make that choice. That was a chapter that took me a long time to write, because even putting myself back in that space again...it hurt. I could have skipped it...but what good would that have done me, or anybody else for that matter? It was a part of the story that needed to be there. Because, whether or not the members of my audience have ever lived through abuse...shame is something that I think we all have a shared of understanding of. And in an emotionally charged story like that, that's the kind of empathy that you would want your audience to bond with. So why not, right? Put it out there. Dig deep and bring as much honesty to your work as you're comfortable with...and then, maybe a little bit more.
    Alright, one more example, and then I'll stop yapping. Promise!
    This is a scene from the movie, "Schindler's List"...and it's another one of those specific choices in a movie that I feel was a stroke of absolute genius. Taking place during the Holocaust...this scene is jam packed with chaos and hysteria and blood and murder on an unfathomable level. Soooo many lives lost, and brutally unflinching in its depiction of the horror that those people had to go through during that time. And our protagonist (Played by Liam Neeson) is looking down on this main street with all of this going on...and the movie is shot entirely on black and white film...but there is a little girl who's wearing a red jacket. It's such a powerful moment, and it makes a huge statement about what is really going on here. That ONE flare of color draws your eye to her, and it works to give her a sense of humanity. Without that that particular attention to detail, she might just blend in with the rest of the horrific pandemonium going on all around her. The kind of violence that we, as an audience, are now becoming accustomed to and nearly desensitized to the point where we become numb to it all. But this is different. This singles someone out as being special, and we're reminded that all of these people are special. At least to somebody! Right? They're not cattle. It's not like pulling weeds out of a garden. It brings a sense of empathy rushing up at you in a really visceral way. Sure, you have sympathy for everybody involved, but human emotion can be overwhelmed at a certain point...and it's like our brains attempt to protect us by blocking it out or at least dampening its affect on us. But when you see the red coat in this black and white world...you can't help but to be drawn to it, and recognize this little girl's importance. You want to help. To protect. And now you're involved. Again...in an honorable, but somewhat selfish, kind of way.
    It's not an insult. It's a human trait that we all eperience from time to time.
     
    Anyway, that's my talk about character empathy and how to make that a part of your stories. It's hard to pull off sometimes, and even harder to explain with any sort of expertise, believe me...but examine your own projects and see if you can tell the difference between making your readers feel bad for a fictional character...and making them feel bad, in general, because there's no separation between them and the character, thanks to your storytelling finesse. There's a difference. And a balance. As with everything else, this all comes with hard work and practice. So the more you write, the easier it'll be for you to achieve the level of empathy the you're looking for. K?
    Bring your readers into your world, and keep them captivated by making their concern for your main characters a selfish pursuit. Hehehe, it's not a bad word. Selfish can work wonders when it comes to holding a reader's attention hostage for a little while. Use it to your advantage!
    God, I sound so manipulative right now! LOL! Let me go before I say too much! Happy writing! And I'll seezya soon!
     
  8. Comicality

    Story Endings

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Story Endings “A part of the journey...is the end.” - Tony Stark
    As I’ve been working more and more on finally bringing some of my longest running stories to their grand finale at last, I can say that I’ve actually been pretty proud of taking my time and pretty much taking my time and making sure that it was done right. Or, at least the way that I had originally imagined it from the very beginning, without having to really compromise in terms of how all of the events got wrapped up. Naturally, there had to be some flexibility involved, seeing as times have changed since I first started some of these tales, and my writing abilities have also grown and evolved from what they once were. Going back to fix old mistakes and inconsistencies has been a daunting and tiresome task at times...but so totally worth it, in my opinion. I look forward to updating a lot of my older works to fit them in with the new stuff that I’m doing now. I’m expecting to have a lot of fun with that.
    However, while I can honestly say that there’s no better feeling in the world to an author to actually finish off a story, stand back and look at it, and see your completed work in a way that allows you to say, “Wow! I did it! I actually did it!”...there’s also a part of the process that almost doesn’t want to say goodbye to the characters that you gave birth to and raised from a little spark of an idea to the point where you can trust them enough to just let them move on and take things from there. Hehehe! I always feel it, myself. I’ve spent soooo much time with them, watching them laugh, and cry, get angry, and struggle through the awful problems that I put them through during their journey from the beginning of the story to the end.
    But...when it’s time...it’s time. Period. The worst things that I think a writer can do to a really good story is drag it out well beyond its welcome. It taints the genius of it by burning yourself out or allowing it to fade away as it gets stale and loses that magic that made it so special to begin with. That should be avoided at all costs, if you can help it.
    So let’s talk story endings today! What they mean, how to handle them, and how to send off your favorite characters with a satisfying wave and a smile to their biggest fans.
    The first, and most important, part of writing a decent story ending is simply tying up all of your loose ends! The exception being for those of you who are looking to continue the story with future tales or chapters later on. Otherwise, it comes off as kind of rude. Now, I’ve been guilty of doing this a few times myself in the past, mostly because I opened a can of worms in an earlier chapter that I had forgotten about by the time I had gotten to the end. Hehehe, it happens. Believe me. But I’ve learned to keep a much closer eye on such things since then. Watch for that. If you think your audience won’t notice...you’d be wrong. Put in that extra work, and make sure that you address all of the questions that you posed to your readers, all of your characters’ motivations, all of your issues and conflicts...gather them all up and make sure that you sufficiently deal with them all. Write them down if you have to. I, personally, go back and read through my entire story from the first word to the end of the final chapter (taking notes) before I sit down and work on wrapping it all out, so I don’t forget anything. I really like for my stories to come full circle in most of my work, so that everything reads as a completed work of art once it’s done.
    Being able to do that leads me to the next helpful tip in writing a successful finale. And that is...use ‘call backs’ to earlier chapters. Use them sparingly, but it’s always been fun for me to remind my readers that they’ve actually been on quite a journey this whole time, and all of those events, those conversations, those intimate moments between the protagonist and his love interest, have led up to this moment. They were all necessary. Lessons that needed to be learned in order for things to fall into place. So I might make a call back to something that happened waaaay back in the first chapter, or some major event that changed the whole course of the story at some point, and how they got through it. This is a technique that I often use throughout a bunch of different chapters along the way, in order to show the effects of everything that happened and giving my readers an idea as to why all of those moments were needed in order to climb up to the next step. The reason that I feel this helps the ending out by giving it a bit of extra significance is because...even if it has been an ongoing project for months or even years at that point, it still solidifies the entire story as a single cohesive experience. That’s something else that I learned from reading comic books as a kid. You’ve built an entire history here with what you’ve written. A history that you can share, and your readers can look at it like, “Oh yeah! I remember that!”
    Hehehe, of course, they can’t remember that, because it never happened. But in terms of writing fiction...it feels that way, just the same. That touch of story nostalgia can act as the glue that keeps everything together if you use it to your advantage.
    The next tip? And, hopefully, you began thinking about this at the very beginning of your project so that all of your events could somehow build up to it...but things change over time, so you may have a different outlook on things by this point. And that is...figure out whether this is going to be a happy ending, or a not so happy ending. Now, it can sometimes be cliché to have a gay fiction story end in misery and/or heartbreak...but these things do happen. And not every story has a ‘happily ever after’ when it’s finished. It’s your creation, so you get to decide how you want to handle the ending in your own way. I definitely like to wrap most of my own stories with a somewhat happy ending, or at least have them end on a ‘bittersweet’ note...but all of them won’t end that way. And I’m prepared for that, but it is what it is.
    I’ve found that happy endings often last longer in the hearts and minds of my audience, as they’re usually rooting for the main characters and want to feel as though all of the time and emotion that they invested in them was justified. However, sometimes you just don’t want your story to have that glittery fantasy ending that people might be hoping for. A tragic ending isn’t a bad thing. If anything, it enhances all of the good moments that come before it. (Word to the wise...have some good moments come before it! Hehehe, don’t depress your readers. Allow them to have something to appreciate and treasure in your story. Every storm has a few breaks in its severity.) Truth be told, sometimes heroes lose. Sometimes life isn’t fair, some relationships end in heartbreak, sometimes...lives are lost. It’s a part of life. And if that is your intention with your story, then stick to it, and tell it the best way that you can. I find that it’s easier for your audience to take when the pain involved with a dark or unhappy ending to your story is presented with a reflection of the good times and hope that was present in their lives before the bomb was dropped on them and screwed everything up. To create a sense of fondness for the love that was shared and the romantic giggles, nervousness, and cherished moments where only hope and magic existed throughout the earlier chapters of the story. You know...the GOOD stuff! The fun parts of being in love. So, if I’m writing a sad ending, I sort of take a ‘look at what we’ve been through together’ approach to the idea. Like...at least we had a good time while the good times lasted. You know? I think it softens the blow of an unhappy ending, without diminishing the impact of the sucker punch that is sure to be experienced by your entire audience when things don’t go the way they were expecting it to.
    I suggest trying to write an unhappy ending some time. It’s a challenge that I think will expand your skills and your instincts as a writer. Give it a shot. It’s an entirely different experience from the whole ‘happily ever after’ vibe. And the more your writing evolves, the more room you have to experiment with a ton of different options when it comes to finishing off your projects.
    Another tip? Please...have the end of your story become a culmination of everything that came before it. I mean...MATCH it up with how your story started out!
    Ugh! I was watching a movie not long ago, and I was totally into the premise of it and where it was going. I was invested, enjoying myself, intrigued by the mystery of it all...and then they totally didn’t stick the landing on the end of it! It was like...they didn’t even try, you know? The last twenty or thirty minutes of the movie got really weird and existential and it completely lost the feel of the story that they sold me on in the beginning. WTF??? I was more than disappointed. I was actually kinda pissed, to be honest.
    Imagine if someone was like, “Knock, knock!”
    “Who’s there?”
    “The theories of time travel and physical consciousness are flawed at best and need further evaluation.”
    Ummmm….WHAT???? What the fuck does that have to do with the beginning of the joke? Is it a joke? Did you present this as a possibility from the start? Does this ending make sense? Does this have anything at ALL to what you’ve been showing me for the last hour or more? How does this finish the story or fix anything?
    I was so outdone. The director like...I don’t know. It’s like he started drinking whiskey at the beginning of the movie, and by the time it came to the end he was too lopsided and drunk to make sense anymore. That’s not to say that you guys can’t be artistic and use symbolism and metaphor to make some big reveal that you feel will have real depth and meaning according to your personal definition of such a thing...but the ending didn’t ‘connect’ to anything that came before it. There were no hints or clues towards that revelation provided beforehand. None. It just came out of nowhere, and it didn’t make any sense at all. Which was upsetting, because the first two acts had gotten my attention and I was all involved now. And then you just toss me some bullshit to say, “Here. This is what it was all along. Now the movie’s over. Peace out!” Grrrrr!
    If you’re going to craft an effective ending for your story, I think every writer should start doing that from the very first chapter. And you craft it with the story you’re telling. Even if there’s some big plot twist or something that you want to throw in there along the way, or some kind of trick to subvert expectations...you need to build up to that in earlier chapters. You can be secretive about it, sneaking around with hidden mysteries, secrets, lines of dialogue...but make it a part of the whole story. Think of it like a math problem where your teacher wants you to show your work. Don’t just body slam your audience with a quick audience with no build up or clue that this could even be a possibility. I feel like that’s a cop out. Nobody should be reading the end to your story or series and think to themselves, “What the hell was that about?” You know?
    Connect your ending to the rest of the narrative. Try to avoid screeching into a 180* turn at the last moment, because that comes off as a massive stumbling block, and it’ll take a lot of your readers question whether or not the rest of the story will now mean what they built it up in their heads to mean. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be free to take chances...but if you’re going to pull something like that off, it had better connect to something that happened previously in the story. Otherwise, you negate the entire purpose of the story itself. I mean, why read the previous stuff at all if you’re just going to completely flip everything on its head at the very last minute and make the first two acts of your story irrelevant? That’s not fair to your readers. I feel like endings should have a definitive ‘cause and effect’ appeal to them. This is what brought us here to this conclusion, this is what we’ve been building up to, and this is why things happened the way they did.
    Without that, it feels like you’re adding the end of one story to the foundation of an entirely different story. Which feels disjointed and weird. So I’d recommend avoiding that unless you’ve got some brilliant plan to snatch the rug out from under your readers’ feet without leaving them bewildered and angry. Hehehe, and if you can figure out that particular magic trick with your writing, please share with the rest of the class! Because we’d all love to know! Me included!
    My last tip? Set your ending where you truly feel that it needs to be. Don’t cut it too short, and don’t drag it on for too long. There’s a balance in between, and your instincts will tell you where that balance exists if you put your faith in it and listen to what it’s saying to you. If you’re wrapping up the climax of your story, the height of the whole story, and now you feel like you’re just in a big hurry to cut it off just so you can be done with it and put it behind you? There’s a chance that your story is going to ultimately feel incomplete to your audience. Don’t just figure, “The best part is over! Now get me out of here!” You can take some extra time and settle into a satisfying ending that will be pleasing to everyone who has enjoyed the journey so far. Think of it like a parachute. Jumping out of the plane is the exciting part, sure...but you need to deploy the parachute while you’re still up high enough to safely slow down and drift down to the ground below. You don’t want to just SLAM down in the dirt and break all of your bones by coming in too hot, do you? Hehehe!
    Also...know when you’ve told the story that you wanted to tell. Whether it be a short story or an extended series, there’s a point where the goal has either been reached or it hasn’t been reached. It’s important to know the difference. If you have gotten past your big climactic event, then focus on showing the impact that it has had on your characters and your story as a whole. Then let it wind down naturally. Don’t keep things going when you don’t have to. It should feel like a decline in the story’s expression. Like...right after an orgasm. You’re calming down, catching your breath, feeling good...but the main event is over...until the next event begins. Hehehe, so don’t fall into a “Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King” movie type of ending, where it’s like, “Jesus...there’s MORE?!?!” It’ll make your readers restless. And the longer you drag your ending out, the more you take away from the impact of your climax. So find your balance, listen to your instincts, and give your literary opus the grand finale that it deserves.
    Anyway, I get a real sense of joy and relief from now being able to finish stories that I’ve been working on for years and years now. Time to make room for the new class. And believe me, I’ve got PLENTY more ideas coming that I hope will be in the same caliber as the stories that I’ve told before. But those stories have now been told, and it’s time to let them rest, once and for all. It’s a good feeling. One that I’m sure you can all relate to.
    I hope this helps you guys out with your writing process! And before I go, I wanted to share this one particular Creepypasta story that I listened to online, which I truly had one of the most satisfying endings that I’ve experienced in a long long time! I know that it’s long...but it’s definitely worth listening too. So if you listen to audiobooks at the gym, or when you’re walking, or just cleaning up around the house or driving back and forth to work, give this story a listen. It’s not really a horror story as much as a thriller, but I highly recommend you listen to it all from beginning to end. Now THAT’S an ending to be proud of! You’ll like it. Guaranteed.
     
    Seezya soon! Take care! Love always!
     
  9. Comicality

    Venting Machine

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Venting Machine It'll happen at some point. Don't try to dodge it, duck it, or outrun it. You can be the nicest, most docile, most hard-working person on planet Earth...you can back out of conflicts, you can work yourself to the point of utter exhaustion trying to avoid an argument or attempt to keep the peace...but that sinister beast is going to creep up, raise its head, and find you every single time. It happens. It's never a matter of 'if'...but 'when'. And all you can do is try to find healthy ways to deal with it when it comes knocking. Hehehe! Because it WILL come knocking! Trust me!
    But hey, we've all got creative minds here! And as writers, I believe that we have the most potent, most explosive, and most effective, forms of expression when it comes to letting that savage BEAST out of its cage! Because some people don't appreciate fucking ANYTHING! People who can't even be bothered to hit a 'like' button or give decent feedback, but still feel entitled to your talents whenever they feel like it instead of developing any talents of their own to give back. It's not right, and it's not fair, and it can make you sooooo fucking angry sometimes! ARRRGGGHHHH!!! But...don't let it get to you when you can guide that energy into creating something that you're truly passionate about instead. Use it to make you stronger. Anger weighs you down like you wouldn't believe. It burns and it rages and can ultimately cause you to destroy yourself from within if you don't learn to deal with it properly and find ways to get your sanity back. It's not a strike against you to get angry. Let's be honest...when you're an artist, no matter what your field of expertise might be...you can be a bit sensitive about the projects that you pour your entire heart into. I believe it happens to all of us at one time or another. We're all fully exposed for the world to see, and there are going to be a high percentage of readers who don't understand that. But...if you really feel like you need an immediate outlet for the feelings inside in order to keep yourself from reaching a boiling point, and are willing to put your true emotions on display without feeling as though you're being judged or looked down upon...you can channel that energy into your work and really create a visceral experience for your readers that they will definitely be able to relate to and engage with in a way that will keep them GLUED to the screen lie never before as you get that weight off of your shoulders and finally find some peace of mind simultaneous. It can be a win/win situation. You can really use that inner fury to generate emotions that you simply can't do with fictional characters and plot points alone.
    Something that I've learned from being pushed to the very edge of my sanity over the years myself is that it feels so much better to get rid of it. There are so many people who don't have a goddamn thing to say to me unless they're complaining about something. Not happy birthday, not Merry Christmas, not, "I heard you were sick...I hope you feel better." Nothing. And that's cool. Whatever. I'm just a faceless entity on the internet. But don't come rudely knocking when you want a new chapter of something and act like I owe it to you! Are you kidding me? Now *YOU* fucking want something, so decide to speak up??? If you want to be a silent observer, then stay silent! Fuck off! Suddenly you want me to entertain you for free just because you asked me to pop up like a genie every time you rub the lamp? No. That's not how this works. You have no 'emotional currency' with me at all. I get busy, tired, shy, and lazy, too sometimes. Go bother somebody else for your free shit before you shoot any rude comments my way. I have an infinite amount of love for people who stick with me, support me and the site and participate every once in a while. I LOVE it when they get excited! But some try to be online bullies and I really couldn't care less. I'm seriously baffled by the nerve of some of these people, I really am. Because I would never do that to another human being. Not ever. Like...what do these people see when they look at themselves in the mirror every morning? Really.
    It's so damn pathetic. It really is.
    Let me stop before I start ranting on this subject...hehehe...
    The more honest you are with your writing, even when it makes you feel exposed or embarrassed...the more your audience is likely to vibe with everything that you have to say. It's a part of the process. One that I think every writer should embrace and fuel with their major frustrations in life. Whether it's heartbreak, humor, or in this case...raw anger and loathing. Just remember...being able to 'vent' your wrath in a story, that comes with a few upsides and downsides as well. Hehehe, as with everything else...this has to be used with a certain level of finesse. And finesse only comes with practice. So consider this an exercise, and give yourselves time to get good at it before you just start vomiting up paragraphs of hatred all over the place. K? Remember...you're still writing an actual STORY here! Don't get too lost in an unstable tirade if you can help it. It feels good to get it out of your system...but readers can tell. Hehehe!
    (And if you figure out how...can you maybe give me some tips too? Because I could definitely use some. Hehehe! I've ventured off into some very dark places many times myself, and had to pull myself back together.)
    For anybody who hasn't been on this site for any length of time...I'll be totally honest with you and address the elephant in the room. ::Giggles:: I have a temper! A BAD one, at that! It's one of those things that I inherited from my father that I wish I could have gotten rid of years ago. No such luck. So I have definitely had my fair share of nuclear meltdowns online when someone really pissed me off. And that comes mostly from me doing everything that I could to AVOID the conflict, walk away, talk in private as opposed to making it public, going silent and letting it go, and...if they just keep pushing...I'll just let them know to knock it the fuck off and leave me alone before I make them regret it. Beyond that? I've given you every warning in the book, and you wanted to keep going...so you just get what you get at that point. Too late to play the victim now. Because I gave you a hundred chances to back the fuck away from me and stop. Now...you just get demolished! Period. So take pride in knowing that you EARNED the tears that are sure to follow.
    At least...that's how I used to be. Hehehe! Believe it or not, I've matured a lot since then. And I now know when people are just deliberately trying to push my buttons and pull triggers in order to get a reaction, or when they just feel entitled to my full, undivided, attention whenever they feel like it without giving anything back in return. It doesn't affect me anymore. Like....at all. It's weird, hehehe!
    I've had friendships dissolve, falling outs with family members, had my heart broken more times than I can count, and have been criticized and insulted in the worst ways imaginable, over the years. But I am nowhere near as angry as I used to be. And a lot of that came with me being able to channel that energy into my stories and finally dealing with parts of those conflicts that I had with myself in the past. I can go back to those stories right now if I want, and I can see my brain working to stitch up the parts of my spirit that I once thought were all damaged beyond repair. And that pain, that anger, was transformed into something positive that I could actually use to entertain and inspire others instead of swallowing it down and holding onto it. It was like having a sack full of bricks sitting in the pit of my stomach...and I finally got rid of them. They don't hurt nearly as much they did before. And I think that's the biggest benefit of allowing yourself to be open enough to tackle those furious parts of yourself, and thread them into your story so that you can explore and expand your knowledge on those feelings in an unrestricted manner and really vent in a way that might be more healthy than you ever could have fathomed. It's just fiction at the end of the day, right?
    Just feel the fury...and start writing. What's on your mind? What are you holding it back for? Let it go. BLEED for your art! It makes for the best creations ever!
    ::The Emperor's Voice:: “Let the hatred flow through you, Anakin! Gooood! Goooood!” Hehehe!
    I've even found that I begin suffering with moment's of writer's block while trying to get through one story or another, simply because I had something really fucking with me mentally in ways that I couldn't let go of, because I was so ANGRY!!! How can I possibly be expected to write something 'romantic' or 'cute' when all I want to do is punch a hole in the whole world???
    And...over time...the answer revealed itself to me. 'Write what's in your heart right now, Comsie. And don't compromise for anyone'. Take that frustration and that pain...and feed it into your stories. You've only got one life to share your voice with other people, and that's it. So use it! I won't lie...there's nothing more theraputec than being free to do that. This is your contribution to the world. Make it count.
    Try it out some time if you find yourself in that particular frame of mind. Let loose once in a while. Give your civil tongue a rest and shout your personal bullshit out to the rest of the world when you feel you've had enough of holding it all in for the sake of somebody else's attitude. Fuck that. It feels good to get highlight it. Write it out, and let people know how you feel about the absolute horror that they constantly put you through when you're just trying to live a normal life like everybody else! DO IT! Why not?
    And if they feel offended by it...GOOD! Now you know how I feel, asshole!
    See? Isn't that much healthier than chopping your spouse up into little pieces and burying them in the woods, or shooting up your local Walmart? I certainly hope so. Hehehe!
    I was working at a record store when I first began really writing a lot of new stories for the Shack. It expanded my sense of expression of everything that I was writing before that. Life experience and all that. But...music and movies is what I really know best when it comes to giving you guys a more interactive feel when it comes to me trying to explain how I found out the many ways that I do what I'm able to do with my stories. So I'll start there.
    I can't lie...there was a time in the beginning when the whole 'Comicality' persona had completely overwhelmed me to the point of not being able to function in my normal life anymore. That seems like an ice age ago now, and the whole internet has changed since then...but I was dealing with heavy bouts of anxiety and paranoia and panic attacks on a daily basis. And on the other side? Severe hatred and judgment and criticism and online threats. I JUST wanted to write stories and be left alone! I did everything that I could to muster up the courage to keep going, but the amount of utter disgust and pressure and then the unbelievable praise and expectation to keep up a certain standard at all times...it was too much for me to deal with at the time. How am I going to top what I've already done with my stories? How can I not disappoint my readers? Will I ever be good enough? Am I safe? Will people out me to the whole world? Am I as sick and perverted as they make me out to be for my attractions? I wrote the story, "Untouchable", and you suddenly turn your backs on me? I'm controversial now? Now you hate me? That's fucked up! Did you even bother to read it? Fuck you TOO!!! 25 People talking to me all at once in a chatroom get mad at me for missing a message? I'm not a fucking celebrity! I'm a normal person! "You must *HATE* me, Comsie, because you won't give a total online stranger your home phone number and address and where you work and allow me to come visit you in person!!! And now I'm gonna HURT myself!!!" What do I do?
    There was a time when the harassment was constant. And it was a lot for me to deal with while just trying to live a normal life. I was just a fucking abused kid who had gown up and was JUST finally finding a way to heal himself for the very first time ever...and now I'm responsible for hundreds of other people who are willing to carve me up like a Thanksgiving Turkey the SECOND I make a mistake? I didn't know if I was loved or hated and those feelings could turn on a dime, any day of the week. I remember being so ANGRY during that time, and I had to channel that into my stories in order to keep from going completely crazy. But those writing sessions ended up being a really cool therapy session for me. Because that anger had to go somewhere...and it was such a relief to not have to hold onto it any more.
    My inner turmoil at that time? The anger, the 'celebrity' treatment, the idea that I needed to top "New Kid In School" or the "A Class By Himself" series, the hate mail and sick, bullying comments that I got over "Untouchable" from people that I once considered my friends...? It broke me down in a lot of ways. It really did. And I was trying to keep smiling through it all so I could still do all of the good things that I set out to do for those that really needed and appreciated the effort.
    I think this Eminem and Marilyn Manson remix reflected my emotions during this time PERFECTLY...and this was during a time when I was close to having a total mental breakdown from being a 'personality' online. I just...wasn't ready. You know?
     
    It was too much, too fast for me. And I really had a lot of problems trying to deal with it all at once like that. I was a very different person back then, but I think I had to go through that hell to find my way home again. If that makes any sense. But it was the variety of lessons that I learned during that time that allowed me understand the value of channeling my deepest, darkest, and most vulnerable, emotions into what I was writing. I think that anger is really easy to translate into words, as it doesn't care about subtlety or pulling punches once it gains momentum. And I've probably pounded my fingers against my keyboard enough times to be truly baffled that it even works anymore! Hehehe! But...as always...let me give some examples of my older work where some of my 'fictional anger' was clearly on display for everybody to see!
    You know...because...'honesty'!
    I think the first example that comes to mind for me was what I wrote in "My Only Escape" chapter 13. (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/myonlyescape/13), where I was literally working my ass off to put new chapters out and run the site, and keep up with the forums, and post to Nifty, and just...UGH!!! If only you guys knew how HARD it is to do this shit sometimes! It would blow your mind!
    Well, I was writing this story as well as many others, and I had some hardcore critics that just kept looking for something to nitpick or bitch about, no matter WHAT I did! I was really putting forth a champion effort with every chapter that I was putting out. I was working soooooo hard. Like..."Come on! Can you at least give me some credit for the emotionally draining work that I put in?" But...haters gotta hate. You know? And I really got so fucking SICK of the backhanded comments that I couldn't hold them in anymore. So I exploded and wrote my truest feelings into the story, which does play in to the ideas I had for an ending to the entire series, but this particular chapter was unexpected. Enough is enough, you know?
    I stopped arguing with these critics one on one, and I unleashed it all in one go, where the main character, 'Zack', was being hounded and disrespected and crushed by his writing teacher. Even though he was doing his best despite what was going on in his real life. It was a moment where I felt that I had to just let it all out and get a lot of that bullshit off of my chest. Again...anger weighs you down. And I was so fucking SICK of dealing with these people. So yeah...I used one of their favorite stories to spill my anger and disdain for what they were doing to me. And I hope they got the message. Because they pissed me the fuck off...and that's not easy to do. LOL!
    Another big change for me as an author concerning this topic actually came from Book Six of the ebook favorite, "The Secret Life Of Billy Chase" series!
    (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/)
    This became one of the most controversial and divisive chapters in the entire "Billy Chase" saga. And, I'll be honest...I was updating on weekly basis at the time, writing Book Five...and all people did was complain. Too much sex, not enough sex, Billy's so STUPID, the 'secrets' are pissing me off...everybody had an opinion on how much they just HATED Billy Chase! But a majority of people just forgot that he was supposed to be a TEENAGER, you know? He doesn't know everything, he makes mistakes, he has selfish tendencies, he's vulnerable to lust and carnal pleasures...but people kept complaining about how fucking STUPID he was for a sweet kid who was just trying to live his life and figure things out the best way he knew how on his own. You know? But I reached a point where I was like, "OK!!! You fuckers want Billy to be a total asshole? Then let's do it! Let's go for it!" And my entire plan for Book Six changed from what it was originally supposed to be. Instead, I gave the readers what they thought they wanted from the story that I was trying to tell.
    Let's just say that a vast majority of them ended up NOT liking the 'Billy' that they told me they wanted me to write. In fact, every week there was a huge discussion on the Comicality Library every week where people were super angry and rage quitting over what was going on at the time. "Ohhhh...the story sucks now, huh? Boo hoo! Maybe you should just let me write things MY way and stop bitching all the time about how you want it done YOUR way all the time."
    If you have a story to tell? Then tell it. Stop trying to force other people to do it for you. You've got a blank screen, an idea, and a keyboard, just like the rest of us. So do your OWN dirty work. Ya know? Stop stressing out the creators who are trying to provide some literary fireworks for you guys, and maybe take thirty seconds once a month to say THANK YOU instead of feeling like your emotional tingles aren't coming from the extremely hard work of creative people who are trying to entertain you while hoping to get a pinch of validation every now and then.
    If you think this shit is so easy? Then why don't YOU do it? See what it's like. Maybe then, you'll get it.
    For those of you who were around the Shack Out Back at the time...you may remember that I actually 'quit' for a while some years ago. I made a public announcement, and tried to finish up whatever stories that I could...I had a countdown clock and everything. I seriously felt used and corrupted beyond anything that I thought would ever be possible from just being online, and I didn't know what to do with the emotions that I was dealing with at the time. Confused. Angry. Depressed. I felt like the site and my interactions with everybody online...was doing more harm than good. I know that most of you won't remember this, but I really did leave the 'Comicality' mantle for a couple of months, where I just didn't communicate with anybody at all. No stories. no chatroom. No emails. Nothing. One night, I just realized how much my online 'Comicality' personality was draining me and making me weak inside with no payback. So I just....'quit'.
    I know that it came without warning, but I couldn't take any more. I was holding the anger and the sadness inside instead of pouring it into my stories where those feelings belonged.
    I just wanted my life back, you know? Like...why am I doing this to myself? It's not like half of them care. And I felt like I was hurting people that did care by not giving them more than I was able to give. I had a teen boy actually cut himself because I couldn't meet him in person in Chicago. People who were heartbroken because I didn't answer their email fast enough. People who just...wanted more from me than I was willing to give for the sake of my own security and safety, you know? And that took me to a really dark place, because it was like being beaten by my father all over again. I'm not good enough. I suck. I'm no 'hero'. I screw up, daily! I just...I can't be what they need me to be. I can't call you on the phone every day, I can't be some 18 year old blond surfer, I can't buy you fancy things to make you happy. I just...I CAN'T! And that sentiment found itself into a lot of my stories as well. It was like a tight knot in the center of my stomach. And I lived with it every single day as it kept getting tighter. It was killing me inside.
    When I left the Shack...no other song captures my honest feelings about that whole situation better than Fort Minor's, "Slip Out The Back". I mean....it just expresses soooo much of what I was feeling at that time. I wanted to keep going, but I kept getting hurt. I wanted to help other people, but I felt like I was hurting them instead. And I couldn't live with that. So I needed to vent my feelings into my stories in order to make sense of it all. Ugh...just listening to this song again, especially the third verse and chorus...it makes me a bit emotional, even now. It's like...you have so many people depending on you, and you don't know how to NOT fail, you know?
    I mean..."Slip out the back, and at the worst, you'll see that nobody cares" is already a defining statement. But the rest of the lyrics just...wow. Yeah. That's what it felt like.
     
    Hehehe, don't worry...we're almost done for this week! I know this is super long, but I'm going somewhere with all this, and then I'll return you to your regularly scheduled program.
    The whole point of posting these songs here like this while talking about writing methods this time around is because...the artists that made these songs were really FEELING something when they made them. There was a venting process that they simply didn't want to hold back any longer, and they unleashed those emotions in a way that comes off as unrestricted and unapologetic. It was the fuel to their fire, and I could feel every last bit of their frustration when I listened to them. And, when I heard them for the very first time, myself...I felt a certain kinship with every lyric and the way it was delivered. And even though some of these songs that I keep on a personal playlist that I can now listen to and tap into that deep part of my feelings came after the situation that I went through...they still mean the same to me. I still get chills. And something about them gave me silent ‘permission' to channel my own emotions into my work the same way that they did. There are things that I can talk about now that I couldn't talk about before. My fictional version of self therapy saved me a TON of money from not having to go in for the real thing. Hehehe! And that's not endorsement to avoid professional help if anyone reading this feels that they should pursue it. Mental health is important, and should be handled by the professionals. But if you want to begin by simply finding an outlet where you can be honest about anything and everything that might be bothering you, or corrupting you from the inside...sometimes writing it down can be a gateway towards getting better. It forces you to organize your thoughts and actually define what is causing you so much pain and anguish. It makes you come up with a clear vision of what's hurting you...as opposed to imagining some kind of invisible monster and saying ‘life sucks'. Well, why? When did it happen? What caused it? Etc. Take some time to explore yourself when you're angry, and find the culprit. Then explain. Show your work. Hehehe, like a math problem.
    Again, like I said...there's a responsibility that comes with this form of expression. Both to others and to yourself. If you want to fictionalize something tragic or painful in your life...then fictionalize it. If you had a break up with your current partner, and you write about someone with his look, and build, and name, and you put the whole situation out there where anybody reading can easily figure out who you're talking about? Well, that's not self therapy. And it's not fiction. It's an attack. Basically a declaration of war that will more likely than not end up making your situation much much worse than it was before. So...hehehe, don't. Just...don't.
    It's going to be tempting, I know. But try not to slander another person, or overpower them with your perspective of what went down in the first place. I think, in a lot of ways, that's an abuse of the power we wield as writers. It can be a slippery slope, and fiction should be more about your emotional expression than simply airing your dirty laundry for everybody else to see. It's a fine line, but one you can walk with perfect balance if your intentions are pure. Even when you're angry.
    Don't aim at ‘targets'. Captivate readers. There's a difference. Leave enough room for them to relate to your feelings while comparing it to the things they've been through. Stories work better that way, in my opinion.
    Alrighty, I'm done. Hehehe! That felt like a rant in itself, didn't it? But for those who didn't know where some of these pieces of my past stories came from (and possibly future pieces as well), so that you can possibly begin building a guide for a few emotional releases of your own in whatever it is that you may decide to write next. Cool?
    It can be a really useful and relieving tool for both you and your readers! And the personal growth that you experience in the long run is unfathomable. I speak from experience.
    Nowadays...I think I appreciate the complaints, the criticism, the supposed ‘triggers', the public humiliation. Because I'm free from a lot of the baggage that I was carrying with me when I first started. I've been called every name in the book now. The well's run dry. And I'm still here. It's not my fault that some people are perpetually miserable, and it's not my responsibility to make them feel better with the next chapter of a story of their choosing. Hehehe, I've been around for 25 years now, you guys. Those tricks are soooo stale now. A shrug of the shoulders, a roll of my eyes, and I'm right back on task where I need to be.
    There was a time when I forgot who was in control here. But I remember now. And they can deal with it...or not. Not my problem anymore. It never was. And I don't miss those emotional tantrums of mine. Such a waste of time.
    This song from Jill Scott? Every single lyric speaks to how I treat the whole situation now! Hehehe, and the inner misery of the people who caused it! LOL! It feels so good! You have no idea! MWAH!!!
     
    I hope this helps you guys out when it comes to your writing! I know it reads like I'm just talking about me me me, but honestly...it's about finding an important link between rough times and the artists experiencing them. It's not something that can be taught. It can only be noticed, and then developed by creating a process of your own to weave it into your work when you sit down behind this keyboard. There's got to be something within you that you want to get off of your chest. Something angry, something sad, some regret...weed it out, and try building a story around it. Something honest that will help you deal with it and, eventually...let it go.
    Take care! And I'll seezya next time!
     
  10. Comicality

    Genre Fatigue

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Genre Fatigue ::Giggles::
    Really? Are people out there trying to make that a 'thing' again? It doesn't exist, you know?
    No, seriously...it's a business based illusion. Its not real. The idea that you cant write and release an awesome story because the 'idea' has been done to death and nobody wants to see it anymore…? Its all bullshit. Don't ever buy into that brainwashed mode of thinking about the stuff that you write. Your story is your own. Period. If there are 150 fantasy novels being released this Summer...so what? Make yours original, and there's a chance that you might surpass every last one of them. You just concentrate on telling the most potent and most exciting fantasy novel that you can. I mean...what…? What if you want to write a zombie story, or a romantic comedy, or a spy thriller? Who's to say that people have had enough of that kind of thing? Who's the judge of that sort of thing? I can guarantee you that its none of YOUR readers, if that happens to be the genre that you happen to love and feel the most comfortable with. There will be some stubborn folks out there who will dismiss your hard work just by looking at the genre alone, because they've seen it a bunch of times before in other writers fiction (And possibly done poorly), and they want to avoid your project like it's poison ivy or something because of their previous experiences with it. But you cant allow that to discourage you. Not if you really believe in what it is that you're writing. Building up writing confidence is soooo important in this game of being noticed and appreciated for your efforts! If you think you have something new and unique to offer, no matter WHAT genre you write in...then DO IT!!!
    I can't stress that enough! I know that a lot of people will tell you the same, and it may even be a conversation that you have with yourself from time to time...but let me speak up and tell you, definitely, that you really need to do it. Write what you feel, and do it the way YOU want to do it. If you're writing from the heart, then that means that you are going to have a slightly different take on a tried and true genre of writing? Go for it! There have been so many interpretations and variations on every kind of character, conflict, and story, that has ever been written for the sake of prosperity...that there simply can't be any reason why your own perspective shouldn't be included as a part of that human connection. No way!
    You've been given a voice. Use it. When you think about it...Christianity is the probably the BIGGEST widespread religion on the entire planet...and even THEY can't agree on any one way to believe or worship with anything. Christian, Evangelical, Baptist, Mormon, Catholic, Episcopalian...interpretations differ from person to person, and therefore...from group to group.
    So how can there be any 'fatigue' involved in any genre of storytelling? You go looking for what appeals to you on a personal level. And your readers will always remain loyal to whatever it is that you have to say with your work, no matter what. So please...PLEASE...don't fall for the smoke and mirrors trap of thinking that people will ever get bored with the stuff that you write and the way that you write it. Its a trick. And while I always encourage writers to broaden their perspectives and try writing in different genres from time to time...you don't have to leave your particular niche of writing in order to feel relevant or to chase the attention of the fanbase that you've gathered over time. You're not following them, ok? They're following you. Just do what you do, give it your all, and (popular genre be damned)...and you will succeed.
    Let's talk about the idea of genre fatigue today! Because its something that keeps popping up, time and time again...and I'm being serious when I say that it doesn't exist outside of what some big book publisher or movie studio can suck out of it while trying to make money.
    An awesome story is an awesome story...period. How do people not understand that?
    Now, I understand that the whole super hero movie genre thing is making billions and billions of dollars right now at the cinema. And there are people who keep saying that its all going to end and come crashing day 'any DAY now'! But...why would you wish for that to happen? Seriously. When I was a kid, comic books were everything! And the people who didn't like comic books...just didn't buy comic books. Done and done. WTF is the problem with them being popular? I grew up during the video game revolution, with mainstream rap music, with Stallone/Schwarzenegger action movies, with 'Magic: The Gathering' cards...and if you personally didnt like it...then fine. Why does it bother you so much that OTHER people like it? It seems so silly to me.
    I write gay teen erotica online. Thats my niche. That's what I'm most comfortable with. That is where I excel and where my fanbase comes looking for me. Is that supposed to get tiresome and repetitive to the point where nobody wants to read my stories anymore? Or at least have a sense of curiosity when it comes to how this 'new' story is going to be different from all the ones they've read before?
    Doubtful. Really...I highly doubt that this scenario will ever play out. Mind you, it is basically 'not-so-softcore' porn, and that will always have an audience no matter what. Hehehe! And Im well aware of that fact. But there's no fatigue involved for most of my diehard fans when I comes to the new or the continuing stories that I write online. Even the folks who holler and scream that it is...they are always right back here to complain about the next chapter within 48 hours of it being posted on the site. So….what happened to the fatigue? What happened to all of the stories being the same and having the same characters and the same plot? I thought they were tired of that stuff? Am I right?
    The system counts the number of views, you know?
    If there's a fatigue or some sort of limit set for any genre of writing, movie making, music, or any other creative endeavor...then chances are that I'm not going to live long enough to see it.
    Check out this short video, celebrating 75 YEARS of Superman! Comic books, TV shows, video games, movies….and you tell me if you wouldn't go out and see another Superman movie right NOW if they came out with one! Hehehe! That iconic music alone got me all emotional!
     
    Yeah...it's easy to forget, sometimes, that some of these characters and franchises have survive years and years and YEARS of changes and updates, successes and failures, fans and haters. But the KEY is to touch on something that is consistent and relatable to everybody watching and reading your work, and you keep soldiering on. Being able to plug in to this universal thread that is a part of all of us. If you can do that...then your story lives on, and can last for years and years, while still having a deep impact on whatever generation you might be able to talk to through your narrative.
    My personal expertise is young love. And whether my readers tap into that through their current experiences as teenagers, or through a strong sense of nostalgia as older readers...the feeling remains the same. And it NEVER gets old. It never gets stale. Not if you treat your stories the way they were meant to be treated.
    One genre of storytelling, whether it be erotica, horror, action, or science fiction...has a limitless variety of stories that can be told within it. New characters, new adventures, new motivations, new questions with new answers. No matter what you write...you're working with a blank canvas. Don't ever let somebody use broad strokes to classify your ideas and try to put you in a certain box or category. That's a mistake. You're a writer! The world is yours to create as you see fit. You can have a TON of different narratives existing in the same space, or within the same genre, without even breaking a sweat. And anyone who says otherwise? They simply haven't been open minded enough to have seen it done yet. Prove them wrong.
    Because every stroke of genius has been weighed down by the comments of people who said that it cant be done. I say, AWESOME! That means Ill be the first! Hehehe!
    There was a time when I never ever EVER thought that the comic books that I enjoyed as a kid would ever be made into movies that all crossover with one another! That was unfathomable to me! WTF??? But here we are...and its possible! And now they can deliver nearly THIRTY movies and TV shows to you in a row, with people still stomping their feet and hoping theyll fail, or that fatigue will set in and they'll just go away. But they DON'T go away. Is nearly fifteen years of quality material not enough? Psh...ok. Maybe you're not getting it. Hehehe! It's not up to you. It never was.
    Comics are where I discovered how to write stories and develop characters and crossover storylines...so maybe I'm messed up in the head too. But hey…I've been around for 25 years now. So what do I know? ::Shrugs::
     
    Hehehe, we live in a time where there have been long running franchises that have lasted our entire lives. Why would they suddenly tire themselves out for no reason? Because this guy or that lady said they suck and don't want to be a part of the fandom? K. No sweat. More enjoyment for me. Good luck on finding something that makes you happy, instead of telling me why everything sucks all the time. What do YOU like? Have you ever asked them that?
    Where your personal creative touch as a writer comes into play is in your view of the situations and the characters involved. You want to write about love? Well...how many people over the countless centuries have written about love??? Forbidden love, jealousy, betrayal, romance, sacrifice? Was there ever a time where you thought you'd be the first? No, of course not. But where there have been a mind-blowing number of stories written about love since the beginning of time...your story still belongs there as one of those perspectives on the idea. This is what you have to understand before you let that weird 'crabs in a barrel' idea take a hold of you and intimidate you into thinking that you cant truly create something special from pouring your heart into a story or genre that seems saturated or over-hyped at the time.
    There's no fatigue on love stories. No fatigue on action. No fatigue on erotica. So why would your particular genre of choice be expected to be wearing itself out when the only reason it was so popular in the first place is because have gotten so EXCITED about looking for it online? They want to read more. And if you are confident in your abilities as a writer, then you can provide them with the goods that they've been screaming for while the 'posers' are out there are constantly trying to chase the next big thing. Hehehe, build a fortress and let it stand strong, you know?
    Fatigue? Psh! Do people have any idea how many stories and characters have continued on and on over decades and decades, touching and including one generation after another? Its not a 'surface appreciation' of a single part or a chapter. Its the idea and the theme and the deeper engagement that keeps people coming back for more and more. It doesn't matter if it was one movie, or a trilogy, or 25 movies! That's not what makes it work! And folks who are looking for box office numbers don't seem to be able to understand that for some reason.
     
    There's no big secret when it comes to having your stories having a sense of extended longevity during the run of your story, no matter how long it takes for them to read it all the way to the end. A huge part of that comes from getting your audience to be truly invested the main character and the other characters surrounding him or her on their journey. Even when telling a short story, Ive had readers tell me that they want more or that they hope I continue on beyond the point where I stopped. This is a good thing. That is the story beyond the story, and it creates a craving in your readers to peeking in and seeing what those characters are up to now, long after that particular story is finished and done with.
    What are they doing? What are they up to? Where do things go on from here? The world that you've built for your readers, as seen through the eyes of your protagonist, has become engaging enough for them to invest a piece of themselves into, where...even if it never continues...there's a tug on their heartstrings that will forever be searching for more from the story that you've written and the world that you've built around them.
    To accomplish that...ensures a long and successful shelflife for anything that you've shared online as a writer. Not only that, but it leaves the door open if you ever decide that there's more of a story to tell later on. It may not seem like it at the time, but you are the author of actual mythology with the stories you write. Take that in and absorb it for a moment.
    To this day...we are still well aware of the myths of old. Beliefs from a long forgotten era. Books that are thousands of years old, The Bible, The Greek Gods, American folk tales, Buddhist texts...they're still around. Did they 'fizzle out? Does any good story?
     
    Bottom line...write what you have in your heart, even if you have people grunting like, "UGH! Another vampire story!" Or "UGH! Another K-Pop Fanfic!" Whatever. Hehehe, do what you want to do, make it your own, and carve out your own space in the vast ocean of online mythology that we're all building each and every single day. Why hold it back? You may be the next big thing!
    If you have one of those idea that could possibly revolutionize the entire genre and flip it over on its head? Then SWEET!!! Do that! But if you just want to add your own take to something that's already well established in that genre of writing, hey...go for it. You're MORE than welcome to scratch out a place for yourself among the greats! You never know...you might be the stand out champion of it all.
    For me, personally...I always try to do something new with whatever genre I happen to be tackling at the time. Im constantly trying to find ways to bring something new to the table. But that's on a personal, writer to reader, basis. It has nothing to do with genre. Like I said...there are always an infinite amount of ideas that become possible once you get settled into a certain spot and decide to spread out.
    Now, I have gotten a lot of flak over the years for writing a vampire story for the Shack, especially during that whole "Twilight" phase of vampire lore...but I stuck with it, no matter what. And when the vampire genre was considered played out and overdone..."Gone From Daylight" still remained. There are sooooo many spinoffs and alternate stories surrounding that main story, that it would be difficult to keep up with them all! But that's exactly what I mean with this article...the genre never gets old or suffers from any sort of fatigue. No more than the typical 'boy meets boy' romance stories that I've written. But a change in the theme, the tone, the circumstances, the characters motivations, their history...the whole mood changes from story to story, and they will always come off as brand new and appealing to readers as long as I stay true to the ideas and the dedication that I had to the many many stories that came before them.
    Hehehe, anybody thinking that I could ever possibly run out of "GFD" themed stories and characters has obviously never read the stories on the "GFD: Worlds" section of the site! LOL! Yeah, they could very well go on forever. So if you're waiting for it to die off...don't hold your collective breaths!
     
    And now that my unasked for, amateur, advice is done (along with my shameless self promotion tag), I leave you all to hopefully use some of these tips to truly get into your readers bloodstream and live long and prosper throughout the rest of your writing endeavours! Remember, it's not just the story. Its not the characters. Its not your skill with words, metaphors, or symbolism. Its being able to discover and 'touch' those fundamental emotions and world views that exist within all of us. The flaws, the conflicts, the love, the anger, the sorrow. Strike those touchstones, and the masses will understand you on a level that you may not even understand yourself.
    Give it a shot! See what happens!
    Seezya soon with more! Take care! And happy writing!
     
  11. Comicality

    Heartbreak

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Heartbreak It hurts.
    If any of you guys have been through it, and I'm assuming that you all have at one time or another, same as me...you know just how much pain it can cause when it comes to experiencing a really painful heartbreak. I think the most damaging part behind the psychology of heartbreak itself is the fact that you have to willingly lower your defenses to truly love or be loved by anybody else. You have to break open. There's no way to truly enjoy and embrace love, while still keeping enough of your guard up to remain 'safe'...just in case you end up getting hurt. And that is, I believe, what is at the very core of writing about heartbreak. It's the foolishness behind leaving yourself so vulnerable to such a devastating attack, mixed with the utter betrayal of it all once it's over. And if you can re-submerge yourself into that feeling, even if only for a little while...and translate it into words that truly explain what it is, where it came from, and where you're afraid it might lead in the future...then you will be able to snatch the breath away from every last person who might be reading, and carry them back to that very same place with a sense of understanding, all while giving them something that they can truly identify with.
    Like I said...most of us have all been through it before. So today, we're talking about heartbreak. And even though this is your story that you'll be writing, and you control the over all outcome of what happens or doesn't happen in the end...don't expect to be any less vulnerable when you go back to channel some of those feelings into your story, experiencing them all over again as if for the first time.
    It can be a bit painful, I know...but when I'm writing, I still feel as though I'm doing so within a place of safety. It doesn't make it any less emotionally draining for me...but it's kind of like jumping over rooftops in a "Matrix" simulation for me at this point. I might miss a step or fall or crash through a window...but it's not all the way 'real'. I'll be ok. A few moments of self torture for my art is worth it. LOL! Omigod, how pretentious does that sound right now?
    Basically, the impact of adding a truly horrendous heartbreak into your work goes back to an earlier article that I wrote here for the 'Writing Tips' section of GayAuthors called, "Kill The Dog". To sum it up, it talks about really evoking the deepest of emotions in your readers when it comes to sadness and sympathy. And when writing heartbreak into your story, the same two basic rules apply.
    It comes down to the feelings of justice and injustice. It's not natural for us to really want to see our favorite characters hurt and heartbroken...but the weight of the heartbreak depends on their actions and what caused it to happen in the first place. For example, your audience might feel extremely bad if their boyfriend cheats on them for no apparent reason and leaves them a sobbing mess in the wake of it. But...if your protagonist was the one doing the cheating in the relationship, and it ends up costing them their boyfriend when he finds out...well, that sucks...but you kind of reap what you sow in that scenario. Do you see the difference in the impact there? Justice and injustice. Playing with the emotions that exist on either side of that fence can have very different effects in your storytelling, depending on what angle you approach them from. And I've tried to write my true feelings of heartbreak from as many angles as I possibly could so far. But there are always other avenues to explore on that front. And with this article, I'd like to go more in depth into how I look at heartbreak in fiction, and how to get as much emotion out of it as your story will allow.
    Full confession here...
    I wrote a story called "Save Or Sacrifice" (Completed) about a really bad heartbreak that I was dealing with at that time. I was sort of coming out of it when I began, but basically I had really strong feelings for someone who was gay, and I had a very close friend who was also gay, and all three of us got together to have fun for a weekend. And...basically, the two of them paired up and I was sort of booted out of the whole situation. I had known them both separately for months and poured all of my energy and my humor and my personality and my caring into both of them. Then they meet for the first time, click right away, and all of that heart was wasted. Poof. Gone. This was absolutely soul destroying to me at the time, and my heart felt like it had been completely obliterated in a single evening. To the point where I just left them to be together and went home alone in the middle of the night, in the snow. Heh...you should have seen me. I was soooo pathetic and hurt! LOL! Shivering on a late night subway train while fighting the urge to cry my eyes out. The only thing that was missing was an abused puppy and Sarah MacLachlan's "Angel" playing in the background. I mean, I can look back at it now and kind of smirk at the memory, but at the time...it felt like my whole world was coming to an end. And it had been a long long time since I hated myself that much for not being good enough. You know?
    But time passes...wounds heal...and when I finally got tired of feeling like shit all day and all night long for weeks on end...I channeled that pain into a story, and spilled it all out (in a fictional way) while the hurt was still fresh. Looking back at it now, I'd like to think of "Save Or Sacrifice" as a stepping stone for me as a writer. I was focused on trying to express an unfathomably bad heartbreak into words that my readers could somehow understand and possibly relate to. That part was really important to me. However, something else that I didn't want to do was demonize any of the people involved if I could help it. So instead of attacking the narrative like some kind of 'frothing at the mouth' savage...I used it as an opportunity to tackle the situation from all three sides, and create something a bit more sympathetic and somewhat emotionally 'educational' in terms of the characters involved. And that's when I began to look at the concept of writing heartbreak from three different perspectives. Something that evolved over time and a method that I still use to this day.
    Trust me, I've had my heart broken many more times since then, and it never gets any easier to take. But I don't want a shield from it. I don't want to build a callous and block out or numb myself from the amazing feelings that love, or even just a strong infatuation, can bring with it. But for those times when I made the wrong choices, screwed something up, or just got kicked to the side for somebody else, I often think about writing those feelings in three different manners.
    The exterior approach, the interior approach, and the F.Y.I. (also known as...the 'Fuck You Initiative'! Hehehe!)
    Let's begin with Exhibit A...the 'exterior heartbreak'. This is often used when the heartbreak is a betrayal of trust, or some sort of problem that is actually caused by someone other than the protagonist himself. This taps into the 'injustice' part of the equation, and therefore makes for a really heavy emotional part of your story. This is something that you would use for a character that you really want your readers to sympathize with. They were doing their best to do everything right, be romantic, or fun, or beautiful...and in the end, the other person just doesn't feel the same way. Whether it's unrequited love, a nasty break up, or something that simply faded away without any real explanation...this is the kind of heartbreak that your main character has to take like a sucker punch to the stomach. And it's coming from someone else, so there's really nothing else for him to do but bear the brunt of it all and wait for the pain to go away. I find this method to be really useful when the story you're writing is actually about the heartbreak itself. If that's the major focus of the project, this perspective works very well. It all depends on how you approach it in the long run. But it has a very, "What did I do to make you not like me anymore?" vibe to it. Like, how could you do this to me? And why?
     
    The second method is an interior heartache. I find this kind of perspective to be very useful when you have a character that is expressing feelings of regret, but it can be used in a variety of different ways. The interior heartache is when your protagonist swallows all of the pain and it begins to eat him alive from the inside. Instead of concentrating on someone else breaking his heart, this method is more of a sad and sullen, 'curl up in a ball and die', kind of feeling. Heh...I've been there too. Believe me. It's a method of explaining the ugliness, self doubt, and weakness, within. When your main character takes the blame for everything falling apart the way it did, whether he's really responsible or not. This is probably one of the methods that I use most often in my own writing, seeing as I'm most familiar with the feeling. This is a good way to get the emotions flowing for certain scenes, and even extended parts of your story...but I wouldn't advise using it for an entire story. Not like the exterior heartbreak maneuver.
    Heartbreak hurts, yes. And there are a lot of painful tears involved in struggling through it. But when you internalize that pain in your story and let it drag on for too long...there comes a point where the story begins to suffer from it. You want the pain to take center stage and have it be significant enough to get your readers to be invested and empathize with your protagonist...but you don't want your story to be downright depressing to read. I think the interior heartache method is most effective when used in short bursts here and there. Some inner monologues, some rainy days, a few tears...but don't lay it on TOO thick or you could end up losing some of your audience. At least with the exterior heartbreak, they have somebody that they can look at and find some level of emotional 'balance' and still side with your main character. There's an external enemy there, even if he didn't really do anything wrong. But with interior heartache...it's all doom and gloom, and that gets to be really heavy after a while. So be careful with how you add that to your story.
     
    Now...the F.Y.I. is a much angrier approach to the heartbreak scenario, and one that is best used for characters or former love interests that you plan to sideline or use as a motivating factor to get your protagonist to overcome the heartbreak and find something better. This is how you get your readers engaged in a way where they are cheering for your main character and push the pain aside. It's the hero's tale that many of us all wish we had whenever it came to having our hearts broken in two by someone we had deep feelings for. Tell me that you haven't thought about it! Hehehe! Somebody treats your heart like garbage, and you find yourself a perfect ten, who truly adores you for everything that you are. And even though you got hurt in the process of growing up, it's the other guy who ended up missing out. Enjoy your karma, you heartless son of a bitch!
    This is a method that is best used at the beginning, or at least early on in your story, in my opinion. And out of the three, this is the one that I would use most sparingly. Even if it feels fun to punish the proverbial bad guy by being the one to come out on top, you don't want to keep doing it too harshly or too often, or you end up demonizing your main character. Remember, the idea is to have your readers to cheer for your main character. And that's kind of hard to do when you turn them into a total dick. You don't want them to inflict the kind of pain on other people that was once inflicted on him, otherwise it kind of defeats the purpose of putting in the work needed to get your readers to empathize with him in the first place.
    When used correctly...this kind of heartbreak in your story can really push a much bigger story forward, and can be inspiring to a lot of people who have been deeply hurt before in the past. This doesn't necessarily free you up from actually addressing the heartache that your main character originally went through to get to that point, as I think it makes for a better story if you don't skip over that part of their growth and story arc...but if you've got any lingering bitterness over a past heartbreak and want to get rid of it? I say, have fun with this one. Hehehe!
     
    Anyway, when it comes to writing heartbreak into your fiction, take some time to really go back and remember what it was like to have someone do that to you in your past. Don't be scared of it...really feel it. It might hurt for a little bit, bring up some bad memories, and may even bring up a few old tears that you didn't know you had left concerning whatever happened there...but once you get yourself in the moment, take all of that emotion and all of that pain...and put it on the screen. It really does feel good in the long run. It might even help you to get the kind of closure that you were looking for.
    Just remember that some methods of expressing heartache hit your readers differently than others. Some should be placed at different parts in your story. And some have to be used sparingly, depending on how much of a focus they're going to have in your writing. Play around with the balance a little bit until you find something that you're comfortable with, and use it to your advantage.
    I've been doing this for a long time now, and I'm still learning. So don't expect everything to come to you overnight. But give it your all, each and every time you start a new story...and that skill, and those instincts, will evolve all on their own. Cool?
    I hope this helps! And for all of us who have had our hearts carelessly tossed into a meat grinder in the past...let's all share a group hug! (((HUGZ))) Love you all! And I'll seezya soon!
     
  12. Comicality

    Subverting Expectations

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Subverting Expectations You ever see one of those race car lengths on a full track, with everybody is trying to get ahead of their other opponents? And there's more to it all than just slamming your foot on the gas pedal and going faster than everybody else. There's a strategy involved. A little gas here, a little brake there, how you take certain turns, etc. So...you've got somebody ahead of you, and you're trying to find your way around them so you can move up from fourth to third place. And then from third place to second. And then you find yourself fighting for umber one. Well if all of the cars are capable just as fast as you can, what do you do? You've to find a way to fake them out somehow.
    The way that you do that is make the person ahead of you think that you're going to go left...and quickly dodge right. Or you make them think you've got a wide opening on the right, but you suddenly shift left. While one driver is compensating for all of the moves that he thinks you're going to make...you play the smart game and do the exact opposite. Basically...you subvert his expectations in order to try to score a win.
    And that's the topic for today's article. (Obviously) Subverting expectations in your writing. A couple of do's and don'ts that we can all think about so we can pull this off as effectively as humanly possible. Because, much like that race...trying to take the lead can either lead to sweet maneuver and success...or it can lead to a serious misstep and a massive wreck.
    Let's try to avoid that second one as often as possible. K?
    So the actual idea of subverting expectations with your writing doesn't just mean a clever plot twist or a surprise character or revealed secret. Sure, those can be parts of it, but I'm approaching this as a way to throw your audience off with your story as a whole. Or at least in a few major scenes that leave your readers a bit uneasy when it comes to trying to predict what's coming next. Not an easy task, but far from being impossible. Especially if you use a few of the techniques that I talk about down below. I'm still learning when it comes to this particular practice, but I've picked up a few breadcrumbs of wisdom here and there over the years. Figured I'd share.
    I can remember seeing "Jurassic Park" in the theater for the very first time, and by this time, I was pretty confident in my movie knowledge to figure out the whole 'formula' works. You've got your heroes, you've got your villains, you put them in an isolated, potentially deadly, situation, and then you eat popcorn as you wait for everybody to make it out of there alive.
    Then came the T-Rex scene...
    And "Jurassic Park" became one of the very FEW movies that actually made me doubt certain elements of everyday storytelling tropes that I had become so used to. I distinctly remember my thoughts going from, "Oooh, this is gonna be good!" to "How the hell are they going to get out of this?" to "Psh! C'mon now! I'm not buying it! Stephen Spielberg isn't going to kill a couple of kids in a PG-13 Summer movie! That's crazy!" To "Wait...he's not really going to KILL a couple of kids in this movie, is he?" Hahaha! Now I'm riveted, because that doesn't seem like it would be possible for a movie to do that...but it also doesn't seem like there's any other way to keep the story moving.
    Back to the racing analogy...is he going right, or is he going left? Either way, he might just slip something past me. And I'm loving every last minute of it!
     
    Now, of course, this movie did end up sticking to the formula...but the events depicted were getting so bad, and kept getting worse by the second, that for a moment there I actually BELIEVED that they were going to break away from everything that I could have ever expected and start wiping out main characters left and right, kids be damned. Hehehe, can you imagine?
    To subvert your audience's expectations is to suddenly yank the rug from underneath the and put them in a state of discomfort where they're lost and become more engaged in the moment and less engaged in how it's all going to end. It's an art to figure out a set up and present it to your readers, only to change gears and send them into a literary freefall where they don't know up from down. At least for a little while. Don't worry...they'll be looking for something else to grab on to as quickly as possible...but imagine how fun it'll be to just have them just drop aimlessly for a little bit. I love being able to do that every now and then when I can figure out how.
    It's just this confusing state of, "What NOW???"
    For example...when Alfred Hitchock's "Psycho" first hit theaters, Janet Leigh was being billed as the big starlet of the movie. Beautiful, a singer, a dancer, an actress...they put her on the movie poster and a lot of people were going out for a night at the movies just to see her, specifically. And very VERY early on in the movie...well...we all know how that turned out...
     
    This was seen an INCREDIBLY bold movie by Hitchcock, killing off the perceived main character of the entire movie so early on in the script. It was absolutely shocking to the audience, and once she was gone, many moviegoers had no idea where their feet were going to land concerning how the rest of the story was going to go. Expectations subverted. Right?
    And there have been a lot of movies that have used this tactic to truly throw their audience a curve ball when they least expected one. (No spoilers) Movies like "The Sixth Sense", "The Usual Suspects", "Hereditary", "Fight Club", "The Green Mile", "Se7en"...and even the original "Scream" by Wes Craven, where Drew Barrymore was displayed proudly on posters and all of the promotional material, only to end up paying homage to the original "Psycho" in the movie's opening scene.
    The idea is to have a very solid red herring from the very beginning, and to stick to it. A faked sense of importance that will be strong enough to be perceived as 'plot armor' for that character or situation. You have to have your author's poker face in place, not showing your hand until it's too late for the readers to start figuring things out for themselves. This is how you get around the savvy nature of your audience. Find a certain consistency that is leading them in a somewhat 'predictable' direction...and then holler, "NOPE!!!" And switch things up on them. And be sure to do it fast! Blindside them with it and keep the story moving as if that's what you meant to do all along. Because...well...that's what you meant to do all along.
    A few things that make for a great red herring in my opinion...
    1 - Don't spend too much time on foreshadowing. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do any foreshadowing...but if you do add it earlier on in your story, I find that it's best to treat it as an afterthought, personally. A few lines of dialogue here and there, a couple of actions that may seem a bit out of character, stuff like that. Say...you have your main character getting into his car to drive in the mountains, and suddenly the brakes don't work. The car flings itself off of a cliff, and your protagonist jumps free just in time to survive the impending crash. Maybe you can add a friendly conversation between him and his best friend earlier on in the story, and he just happens to be sharing a laugh with him...while he's wiping his hands off on a rag and has obviously been working under the car. Focus on their civil dialogue to the point where nobody finds it weird that he was working on the car at all. Unexpected, maybe even unwarranted, betrayal makes for a good red herring.
    2 - Build up a secondary character as though they were meant to be the main focus of the story. This can be very effective when trying to subvert expectations. I've seen in this in movies, books, video games as well...but I won't name any as they give away the best part of the story. But imagine how shocking it would be for your readers to have them learn all about one character, their backstory, their motivations...and then have something terrible happen to them where their major involvement is completely taken off of the table, and now it's time for that secondary character to step up and take the role of protagonist. This is one of those techniques that takes a little finesse to pull off, but done right...it makes for a really cool shift in the story's original theme and tone. Maybe that first character was righteous and noble and pure of heart...and it gets them severely hurt, or even killed. And your secondary character was a total loose cannon, and now he has to find a way to change and adapt and mellow out in order to get the job done in his partner's place. Whatever the plot may be, give it a try some time. See how you.
    I've done this with a few of my own stories in the past, and I'd love to do it again now that I have a bit more experience with the idea. In those earlier stories I focused on one character, or one love interest, and then came the reveal that they weren't meant to be the focus of the story at all. And since it's really obvious, I can tell you that one of those stories (Completed) was a miniseries called "Between The Lines". And it begins with a college boy making love to his very first boyfriend, and early on it becomes clear that they're having a few problems connecting in a relationship that seemed to be more of a chore than a mutual bonding. From most of the other stories that I had written up to that point, it seemed like the focus would be on these two finding a way enhance and express their love and run off to live happily ever after. But the protagonist's boyfriend gets pushed into the background as a new potential love interest shows up in one of his elective classes. Someone with common interests, and a sense of humor, and a sense of caring and kindness that shows him how effortless love and romance could be, if given the chance to blossom and is shared with a more compatible partner. I invite you guys to check it out some time when you get a chance. Just remember that I wrote this one many years ago, so...hehehe, so don't judge me TOO harshly.
    3 - The corruption route. If you want to surprise readers and subvert expectations...corruption is also an option that you have at your fingertips. Literally. The idea that they can truly get an idea for your protagonist, follow them on their journey, through good times and bad...only to have them slowly steer their lives out of control and change into someone completely different along the way...it can be devastating. Someone that they were once cheering for has now become the very thing that he hates. I can tell you, I had absolutely NO idea how many people were reading my very first gay teen romance story until one of them fell into temptation and ended up breaking up with the main love interest. Suddenly I was being yelled at by people I had never even heard from before! LOL! What the...? Who are you again? Another big example from my own experience was one of the books of "Billy Chase", when he completely went off the rails and went through a phase of simply not giving a shit anymore. It got to the point where the whole Comicality Library was full of reader 'wars' taking one side or another. Anger and sadness and threats to rage quit if the story kept going in that direction...it's a powerful tool in your tool belt. Believe me. (More on the real reason why I did that in a future article, "Venting Machine"...but that's for another weekend discussion!) The thing about corruption, temptation, severe loss and depression...a lot of people can relate to it. But it can be frightening to see it on display in a story, because we all have a need to feel that we'd be better than that. All that aside, we kind of want to know what happens if Luke Skywalker were to turn to the darkside. Hehehe, all of "Star Wars" could have been a very different story today if he had. But the idea is intriguing, isn't it?
    These are all methods of deflecting your readers' focus away from your real intentions, while still giving them a good story in the process. Subverting expectations can be awesome, exciting, surprising...
    ...But don't forget...there's always that possibility for a massive wreck, lying in wait right ahead of you. So you'd better be prepared for it.
    And that brings us to our three tips on what not to do if you're going to try to pull this off. Ease up off the gas for a bit...and use your brain, not your speed.
    1 - DON'T pull a bait and switch on your audience! I, personally, have a lot more patience with the written word than I do with movies...but for movies? I want to see something that comes 'as advertised'. If you billed this as a horror movie with ghosts and demons and boogeymen under the bed...don't give me a super slow gothic romance with hardly any horror elements at all except for what I saw in the trailer. If you're trying to sell me on a comedy, don't exchange it with a heart wrenching drama that just happens to have a few elements of comedy thrown in...jokes that you showed me in the trailer. Please don't do that. If you're writing a romance, but add some deeper philosophical elements to it? Then cool! GREAT! But at least the people get a taste of what they came for. You can only enhance the flavor by putting in a little bit extra.
    I remember getting all hyped up for a new "Godzilla" movie some years back! Hehehe, and I came for two things! Bryan Cranston! And Godzilla kicking ass and destroying shit! Well...spoiler alert...both of those big draws put together adds up to about fifteen minutes of a two hour movie. Well...expectations subverted...just in a bad way. I'm not saying I hated it...just...ugh, if I had known, I wouldn't have left the theater so frustrated. So whatever it is that you're trying to do with your story...if you're promoting it as one thing...then give your readers that one thing! Please! Even if you change stuff around and decide to subvert expectations later on, at least have the initial draw to your story laced throughout the entire project in some cohesive way.
    2 - If you're going to do an ensemble cast, or decide to switch the secondary character to the main protagonist...do what you can to make both characters equally as interesting. So when you pull off the big surprise, fans of your work won't feel slighted or cheated out of a great story, and are now being sold on the idea of accepting the 'second best'. I think it's cool for them to have different, and maybe even conflicting, ideologies on how to handle things...but, as writers, we always have to reember that the 'Back Button' is our worst enemy. If you kill off their favorite character and switch the focus to someone that they don't know or have no emotional investment in...they'll stop writing. Even if you have an AMAZING story planned that will end up being rewarding in the end...some readers don't get to the end. So even though you're building one person up as the main character, and decide to divvy up that focus further along in the story...make sure that you invest as much time and effort into all of the characters that you plan to have take the reigns when you pull the switch. K? This is something that I'm experimenting with a lot in my "Gone From Daylight", vampire themed, story, "GFD: Dead Language", where both parties have a strong and abrasive conflict with one one another, but may have to end up getting past their differences to work together and get the job done. What begins as a fight between two people who have sworn to never get along, no matter what...will eventually create a conflict within the readers as well. (Or so I'm hoping, hehehe!) And even if I were to switch one character out for another, I would hope that the other could continue on to the end of the story, and that that conflict and that loss be a part of their personal story arc. So that's something else to think about. Don't kill off your best asset, or somehow take them out of the picture, unless the character that will be taking their place is equally as interesting.
    (That's not the plot or plans for "GFD: Dead Language", but if it had been...I'd like to think that I could pull that off after years worth of writing practice.)
    3 - If you're going to subvert expectations, especially within the same story...don't attempt to do it without the proper build up. Now, I realize that I said you shouldn't do too much foreshadowing, and that you should blindside your audience with the big reveal when the whole story changes over to an entirely different theme and tone from what it was before...but that doesn't free you from the burden of a proper build up. When the change happens, no matter how shocking or crazy it may seem...during that reader freefall they should be able to have some idea as to who, what, where, when, and why. They don't need to know all of the answers all at once...but you can't just have things happen for no reason. Well...I take that back. You CAN...but it can sometimes come off as clunky and confusing. It creates a stumbling block in the minds of your audience, and the goal is to have your writing flow as smoothly as you can possibly manage it to be. Think of it like the difference between a popcorn kernel and a blossoming flower. If you planted a garden, and all of your roses or tulips or whatever just 'pop, pop, pop, popped' open instantaneously all at once...that would be freaky and weird. Hehehe! But if you see the blossom growing, day by day, and then it changes color, and then it slowly begins to spread...it's a little bit more comforting. I hope that makes sense.
    This is where the idea of 'balance' is really important. You want to hide your intentions, and make them obvious at the same time. There's a scale that's difficult to navigate, depending on the story...but you guys can do this. It's not as hard as you may think. You just need to practice until you find yourself in a comfortable place with the idea.
    So, all of that being said, I'd like to suggest a movie where almost all of these methods come into play all within a ninety minute space, and that I thoroughly enjoyed MUCH more than I ever could have guessed that I would. And that movie is...
    ..."Coyote Ugly"!
    Hehehe, surprised? Well, whenever you get a chance, wherever you can find it...give this one a chance. I gave it a try years ago, still in 'college boy' mode...and I watched the trailer which was full of beautiful women and liquor and dancing on bar tops...why not, right? (I hope that doesn't sound sexist! I didn't mean for it to.) But I thought that was all I was in for. Some laughs, some dancing, some booty shaking, and that was it. But what I got from this movie was sooooo much more!
    I don't want to say too much...but I was thinking of a small town girl who's moving to the big evil city for the first time, trying to blend in, and having to work as a sexy dancing bartender to make ends meet. Just like with "Jurassic Park", I was pretty confident that I knew the formula ahead of time. However...the movie is actually about a young songwriter that is following her passion and trying to pursue her passion and her career, but deals with a bad case of stage fright. The job at the bar helps her pay the rent, but ends up helping her get over that stage fright and find a way to let loose and truly understand what it is to live without restrictions like she did before. And the other ladies she works with become more than just her friends, they become her family. It's got music, it's got drama, it's romance...it gives you everything that it promised, and then it becomes bold enough to give you SO much more on top of it. HIGHLY underrated movie, in my opinion! And that's just what I'm talking about.
    It subverts expectations (by going beyond them), it gives you everything as advertised without a bait and switch, it has a subtle yet effective build up throughout the whole movie, it sets up a few events without too much foreshadowing, it has conflicts that are clearly defined and all have a payoff, and the story that I thought was going to have this one female lead be the star of the show turn out to be a part of a family by having all of the other characters be strong and standouts in their own rights, while still letting you know where the spotlight i supposed to be. I LOVE this movie! So check it out!
     
    Anyway, I hope this helps! These aren't things that any of you aspiring writers HAVE to do or even try if it's not your thing. But if you're ever looking to expand your talents or attempt to write something a little bit different, if for no other reason than you want to truly surprise your growing fanbase, or perhaps catch the attention of a brand new fanbase to add to the one you already have...this can be a valuable exercise when it comes to changing things up a little bit.
    I've, quite literally, written hundreds of stories all my own at this point...and nobody is going to stick around to watch me write the same 'boy meets boy' story over and over again, one hundred times in a row. I'm constantly changing up the formula, the situations, the characters, the tone, the themes...and attempting to create something new. If you ever feel the need, I think you can too.
    Take care! And I'll seezya soon!
     
  13. Comicality

    Plagiarism

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Plagiarism It was a very very long time ago but I can remember the whole issue vividly, because when I really sat down and gave it some deep thought...I was kind of conflicted about the idea. And maybe I still I am to a degree where it's still pretty hard to decide whether or not I'd be willing to say 'never say never'. And that had to do with a few Diet Coke commercials on TV and a rapidly growing technology that was suddenly brought to a screeching stop just as it was becoming something unheard of up to that point.
    But...before we even get started on all that, I'm going to make the vague assumption that we all know that plagiarism is is just...wrong. And I'm talking about direct, deliberate, theft of someone's creative output for your own gain. I mean, can we agree on that? I've only had it happen to me two or three times since I started the Shack, and I can honestly say that it was a serious WTF moment, every time. I think the worst one was having someone take my entire story, change the names of my characters, and then just post it on Nifty under his own email...giving me no credit at all. That wasn't an accident. That story was re-edited and re-posted for the distinct purpose of making it seem like my story never existed at all. Luckily, I had already posted that story on Nifty, and could easily write to them with a link and a timestamp, that proved my case, and the other story was removed immediately. There's no hard feelings about it, really...but what would even make somebody think it would be ok to even attempt to do something like that? That's just baffling to me.
    I have had some of my ideas stolen, posted on other websites without my consent, and even downloaded and sold on a disc for their own profit and the praise of their paying 'customers'. Oh, it does happen, believe me. My one saving grace has always been that I give, like, 95% of everything I've written over the past 20+ years away for free. And everybody knows that. If anything, anybody that has read my stuff (even in different languages) will not only report back to me about it right away, but they will tell everybody who read that story where to find more of my stuff for free, and let them know who the real author was all along. So it's basically free advertisement for me and my website, basically. But people still suck for doing it.
    How hard is it to come up with your OWN ideas and characters? It doesn't cost you anything but a little bit of time and effort. So why not make it on your own instead of leeching off of someone else's brainchild? Just...TRY, you know? Sit down, put your fingers on your own keyboard, and stare at that blank screen until you come up with something original to say. Don't tell me that it can't be done, because I surpassed the six MILLION word count mark a long long time ago! So don't tell me those folks can't come up with one or two stories of their own every few months. That's ridiculous. They just need to stop cheating all the time, that's all. Show your heart. You've got a personal story to tell of your very own. No need to snatch one away from somebody else. It's insulting.
    That being said...that isn't quite what this article is about...
    I know that sounds strange, considering that I just made this big case about how awful and wrong plagiarism is. How can Comsie possible be conflicted about this? And that takes us back to the Diet Coke commercials that I spoke about earlier.
    In the early 90's, technology was doing some amazing things with computers and film composites on screen. Naturally, we had things like Mary Poppins, Mr. Limpett, and Roger Rabbit...but that was always combining live action with animation. Movies like the original Tron, upped the ante a bit more in the late 80's, and so on. But...believe it or not, the tech existed to start putting actual celebrity performances into commercials and combining the in a way that was almost flawless in its delivery. I can remember being so AMAZED at what I was looking at when these commercials first started coming out! Especially since I had such an affection of the old black and white movies growing up, even though I was still in early high school at the time. I had just never seen anything like that before.
    The old time silver screen movie stars had been colorized and were brought into modern day to interact with real life people like they were actually there. Hehehe, Paula Abdul and Elton John??? Really? I just thought it was all so cool!
    Give these a look...and keep in mind, these were made thirty YEARS ago before the...ummm...backlash...
     
    00 You may have enjoyed those, and you should! They were awesome! Hehehe!
    But the question is...and I'd really love your feedback on this...is it ok to do this sort of thing? Like ever?
    This was in the 90's, so I'm pretty sure that all of these stars had passed away before these commercials were made. It's not like they gave consent to have their likeness used to sell Coca Cola products. This was an era where CGI was advancing at an alarming rate in terms of what it could do on screen, and there was an uproar over the idea of using some of these cinematic heroes to dance and smile and hock snake oil for whatever corporation that was rich enough to buy the rights to them. "You want Forrest Gump to meet JFK? Sure...we can do that! Just sign the check!" And once I really thought about the concept of it all...I began to wonder where the line was drawn between paying a fun 'homage' to something that you love and appreciate, and 'abusing' it for your own purposes and personal grab for attention. I think things got blurred back then for a moment back then, and questions of morality and ethics came into play.
    That's what I'd like to talk about this time around, because I'd love to hear your take on it. I've got more questions than answers on this one. I still find it hard to find a place where one stops and the other begins. Because I highly doubt that those commercials were done with any level of malice, nor were the people who invented the technology to make it happen. So where do you guys stand on this?
    Me, personally...I've always been honored, flattered, and overjoyed, to have another writer want to use one of my characters or write a spinoff to one of my own stories. That has always been a thrill for me. It brings out my ego and gives a few gentle strokes. Hehehe! I only ask that they ask me for permission, and list me as an inspiration for the original story. Like I said, almost everything that I do is for free. I'm not looking to get rich off of this I just want to make a difference. And as long as someone doesn't copy me, word for word, and pass it off as their own work...I'm cool with it. Even if they decide to publish it and make a fortune, it's like, "Don't forget me when you reach the top!" Right? Just give me a little credit, and I'm fine with that. But if someone is just going to straight up steal my idea and make it their own? I mean, I've got thousands of witnesses who will say it's not your story. And now you've got problems.
    But, again...I wonder where the creative license lie? Stephanie Meyers wrote the "Twilight" series as a collection of novels, and then turned it into a series of movies. Good for her. But the whole "50 Shades Of Gray" novel series, and subsequent movies, originally started out as "Twilight" fanfiction. And whether you liked those novels or movies at all...they both made heaps of money off of what was essentially the exact same idea, just with a bunch of the details changed. So is that allowed? Again, there's no animosity or malice involved...but does that actually count as plagiarism? Is that theft? Or an homage? And can it be an homage without direct permission from the original artist? Its not like it doesn't happen all the time.
    One of the main quotes that I always bring up from my writing teacher in college was, "There are no NEW stories since the Romans." Every aspect of life, love, betrayal, conflict, horror, comedy, war, revenge, and suffering, has been tackled before. "The Most Dangerous Game" has man hunting man. But so does Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Predator". Can you say that was a rip off? Batman is one of my favorite heroes of all time...but I know that the creators based him on Zorro mixed with The Shadow. Superman was a baby that had to be put in a capsule and sent away to be found by another pair of loving parents who would raise him and help him free the people of Earth. That's the story of Moses. The baby sent down the river to escape destruction and raised to free the slaves. And let's not even think about how many times "Romeo And Juliet" has been told, time and time again. It's practically woven into every romantic comedy you've ever seen at one point or another. Certainly in my own stories like "A Class By Himself", "On The Outside", "My Only Escape", "Gone From Daylight"...stories about love between two people who want to be together but outside circumstances won't allow them to be. And things reach levels of desperation where thy have to choose between staying together or staying apart, no matter what their differences may be. But is it plagiarism every time I write a tragic romance story?
    I mean, if I write a story called "Rodney and Julia", with a similar idea...does that come off as a shameless copy? Even if I drastically change the details? Maybe it's the intent, and not the story itself that makes all the difference. Because there ARE people out there who really do try to beg, borrow, and steal, from everybody around them in order to make themselves look good...simply because they have nothing of their own to say. Wolves among sheep. With no shame at all.
    And yet, I'm still on the ropes about the issue. Hell, even I would love to make "Waiting Outside The Lines" an ebook after all of the hard work that I put in to bring it to life. But that started off as a fanfic too! Between a teen Greyson Chance, Asa Butterfield, and Chandler Riggs. I even made an announcement for it last year to let people know that I was changing up a ton of the details to make it my own. But the original fanfic takes place on the acting set of "The Walking Dead", which was one of my favorite zombie TV shows ever at the time! But I had also written a zombie story of my own called, "Shelter" before even starting the fanfic, and it's drastically different. So, how hard would it be to take those characters over to a new story, change their names, tweak a few details here and there...and bring them all into a fictional "Shelter" TV series instead? With fictional actors (The main character is already fictional anyway), and a fictional boy pop star? Is that cheating? Is that...plagiarism?
     
    Or is it still my own creation, being melded together with another one of my own creations? See? This is where I get stuck in a gray area. And I need a few differences of opinion to maybe give me direction to lean in, one or the other. Because I cant say that I'm really sure.
    Even when I use pics for my stories on here on the site, it's never a case of me trying to rip somebody off or steal something from them. They just fit the character description that I was imagining at the time. You want credit for it? You got it. Talk to me. Give me a link if you have a site. I'm not getting paid for ANY of this. I'm broke all the time! LOL! But if you can get paid for your work, go for it. When have I ever refused to promote someone's work? It's never happened. I LOVE promoting other people's work! I do it on the site, I thank them on the mailing list, I do it in Imagine Magazine...everywhere. Every single week on the Shack, I promote movies that people may not have seen, music they may not have heard, stories they may not have read. Talk to me. You can get all the free advertisement you want. The only reason that I don't ask for permission ahead of time is because I don't know who to ask.
    As popular as my huge variety of "Gone From Daylight" vampire spinoffs are in the "GFD: Worlds", there are many MANY more in the 'Vampire Scriptures' section of the "GFD: Blood Bank" website, written by a TON of different writers who just liked the series and wanted to write stories of their own! And there's also the 'Vampire Sightings' section that is full of photoshopped interpreted pics of the main characters and some really talented artwork from artists all over the world! I love it! TAKE it! You know? Give me and the main story a footnote, and then go wild.
    People will tell you...anytime they ask me for permission to write something going on with my story, it's very RARE that I don't immediately say yes! I say go for it, and let me know where you are so I can guide people your way! The only time I might say no, is if it's a really big and important story to me personally (Like "GFD", "My Only Escape", "Jesse-101", etc)...and I kinda worked my ass off to make that my own thing, and to draw people into my site...not somebody else's. That's just a thing for me. The big stories are the gemstones in my Thanos Gauntlet! Hehehe! Those aren't for you! Write your own! But if you're writing your own story, and any of my characters happen to show up, or it's hooked into a certain mythology that I created for that story...than you're more than welcome to it. TAKE IT!!! Hehehe!
    I've got a lot of love to share in this life, and I don't have any plans to be buried with any of it left when it's my time to go. Not ever.
    So, this is the part where you guys tell me what you feel about plagiarism and paying homage to an author you like or maybe even writing a story that may be linked to his or hers out of sheer love for they're doing, and maybe seeing if you can improve on it in the long run.
    The last thing that I would ever want to do is plagiarize someone else's work. I think that's despicable in a bunch of different ways. But I've seen people take pictures of the MOON...and try to 'privatize' it and own it and cover it with watermarks, and it's like, "Come on, dude. Really? You own the MOON now?" I mean, spending an hour on your own personal artwork with pencils and ink and paint...I get it. That makes total sense to me. But, like...'click'...here's a picture of a tree. Five hundred dollars, please! Get out of here! I don't know...there's got to be a line somewhere where people can see a cute pic of a squirrel and use it for one thousand memes on Google, and you calling it your own specific hard work just because you grabbed it from somwhere else first. Let's be honest. You'd be a millionaire if it weren't for someone borrowing a phase from Shakespeare? Or quoting a Prince song from the eighties?
    What are your ethics on this? I'd love to know. Because the line gets blurred more and more every day. Hehehe, thinking back on those Diet Coke commercials seems like an eternity ago now! Imagine if the tech had kept evolving nonstop from way back then? I mean Marvel can take Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, and Michael Douglas...and de-age them a full 30 or 40 years now, with ease! We can bring actors back from the dead for movies and video games! And we can have full blown 3-D holograms of 2Pac perform live on sage in front of a crowd of thousands at Coachella! (Seriously...look it up on Youtbe! WTF???) At what point does morality get thrown out the window for the sake of something awesome here? Or is it just...something to be pissed about?
    Look at this! Hehehe, Sylvester Stallone as Macauley Culkin in "Home Alone"? The Avengers in the Wizard Of Oz"? (Actually...hehehe Tom Holland makes a pretty hot, 'Dorothy'! Just sayin'!) But none of these people gave any consent for this. So...is it a joke? A copyright violation? I reason to get pissed? A reason to feel used? I don't know.
     
    00 And now we have THIS happening! Where you can barely tell what's real and what's digital! This is an actual video game right now! But the real actors are involved. And yet, if they hadn't been...would that be a violation of some kind in your mind?
     
    Maybe you'd be honored by it. May you wouldn't think it was no big deal. Or maybe it would be offensive. What would you think if somebody used your likeness and your voice to sell Ramen noodles, or Jack Daniel's whiskey, or the new ad for investing in Bitcoin, without your consent?
    I'm just curious. I'd like to think that I wouldn't care, personally. But after being taken advantage of in the past, I wonder if I would still feel the same way.
    Any thoughts?
     
  14. Comicality

    Plotting

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Now, I know that there are people out there who hear me talking about planning and plotting out a story, and they might gloss over it and think that this is a simple part of the process. But it isn't. In fact, it's one of the most important parts of the writing process that there is, and it's something that we all need to really concentrate and focus on before we even begin writing all of the other elements of our story. It will tell you what you're most excited about writing, how to connect one event to another in a thoughtful and realistic way, and how to get rid of some of those scenes that you can probably toss out before you waste time even writing them out beyond a few notes.
    I wish that I could tell you how my brain works when it comes to expanding on an idea and putting all of the experiences together in a sequential order that will make sense and draw in your readers to follow your story all the way to the end. But the truth is, I don't really know how I do it. I just gather my thoughts, look at the blank screen and the keyboard, and it just makes a certain kind of sense to me. It would be like asking someone how they're able to play the piano, or ice skate, or dance. There really isn't a science to it, but you can develop instincts that will make things easier and easier over time if you keep practicing. As always, practice is everything. Putting a story plot together isn't always easy, but it's essential to know how everything is structured from beginning to end. So don't downplay its importance when you get started.
    For this article, we're talking about story plotting, and how to make it work for you in the most effective ways possible. You see...most people go into a story with a very vague idea of what they want to accomplish by the time they finish writing their story. Nothing wrong with that. I used to do that too when I first started out. But over time, I learned how to sharpen that focus and become more detailed in guiding my ideas in certain directions when writing a new project. Or even just a single chapter in a much larger series. I truly believe that it makes a difference in the overall presentation. Think about it like the difference between walking towards a specific tree in the middle of a wide open park...and wandering aimlessly through an entire forest of trees at random. It just helps to know where you are, where you're going, and what your goals are, ahead of time. Done right...you can use that as a literary compass to create an engaging experience for all of your readers, and really use your fiction to make a significant impact that will last long after the story ends.
    So...buckle up, folks! Let's talk about story plotting!
    On the site, I have a story called "Jesse-101: Online Celebrity" that I want to use as my example for this particular exercise. Now..."Jesse-101" isn't finished yet, so...to avoid spoilers for future chapters...I'm just going to throw in some ludicrous bullshit along the way to fill everything in and make it sound like a completed story, even though it isn't...YET. Hehehe! K?
    Now, for those of you who don't know, I once had a week long contest on the main Shack Forum (https://www.voy.com/15900/), because we love to play games over there! Hehehe! And I decided to test everybody's 'gaydar'! I posted videos of really cute boys doing vlogs and skits, etc...and I asked everybody watching whether or not they thought the boys were gay or straight. Just by watching their mannerisms, listening to their content, and getting a feel for who they were in a series of videos. I knew the answers ahead of time, of course...but I kept it a secret. Just to see what my readers would guess for themselves. Some were a little off, and some did better than they thought they would. Anyway, it was this exercise and these Youtube channels that led to the creation of "Jesse-101". It's a story about a teen boy that develops a huge crush on a big Youtube influencer, and discovers that he's not only openly gay, but that he only lives a quick bus ride away from him, and is definitely within reach, if only he could find the courage to go for it and take a chance at finding that dreamy boy that he randomly saw online.
    So...how do I plot this story out? I know what I want to happen, and I have an idea of how I'd love for things to play out, right? I get some ideas in my head, and I come up with some kind of basic idea of the story that I want to write. I'm creating a daydream scenario for my readers...and I want it to really touch on things that makes the whole fantasy feel real and enjoyable. So I begin taking notes. Nothing too specific...just notes. Where do I want to start? Where do I want it to end? And what am I trying to say? It's all about emotion. How would I feel in this particular situation? It's important to think about this stuff, because I'm trying to get my audience to feel the same way, right? And that means making a game plan that I can look at and actually SEE in order to complete my 'mission' of putting a good story together.
    There are people who don't need to type their plans out for their story...but I, personally, like to see the words on the screen. I like to take handwritten notes on paper. I want to have a visible document of what I had in mind when I was trapped in the moment and locked into the creative process. Even if I don't use half of those ideas in the actual story, I like having a representation of where my head was at during the creative process. So I suggest that you keep a 'junk file' somewhere in whatever word processor you use to write your stories. If you get an idea online, or a witty 'back and forth' moment of dialogue, or an idea or concept for a new story and you decide not to use it right away...open that junk file and save it for later. You'll be surprised at how many random and fleeting ideas just hit you out of nowhere...and have the potential to be seen as an absolute GENIUS choice for this story (or possibly another one, entirely) later on. So keep that junk file close and ready to go. Label you random thoughts, and save them to come back to another day. Or month. Or year. Hehehe! They matter! Trust me!
    This doesn't just mean a whole story, or a chapter. It can just be a sweet scene between two characters. I remember one moment that I thought up where I was like, "Wouldn't it be cute to have two boys make out while going through an automated car wash? Almost as if in desperation, because it was the only privacy they could get away from their parents and friends?" I wrote it down in my notebook, and didn't use for the story that I planned it out for, but got to add it to a different story later on, and it worked remarkably well. It went from a random thought to actually being a truly tender moment in one of my other stories that I didn't write until a long time later when I probably would have forgotten about it. And that's what 'plotting' is all about. Taking specific moments...emotionally impactful moments...and stringing them together between your main characters, in order, to tell a great story.
    I'm guessing the we all have a grasp on the 'three act' structure of writing a story (Beginning, middle, and end), but I'd ike to go a bit more in depth with that idea today. There's soooo much more to it than that when you really stop and think about it. There are a lot of moving parts in a single project, and while the three act rule still applies...I personally go further than that when I'm putting things together in my head. What you want to do is put many different events in their proper places and design them in a way that will work to highlight the emotions and situations in your story in the best way possible. Peaks and valleys, conflicts and rivals, surprises and plot twists. That's the secret to good plotting, in my opinion.
    Hmmm...now this is where I stumble around trying to explain things in words that'll make some sense as I think about them. So bear with me for a bit, k?
    I saw something in a writer's magazine many years ago, where the author actually used file cards to plot out their story. They were using pushpins on a board, but I gave it a try by just laying them out on the floor. Hehehe! I can honestly say that this method really helped me to think about plotting a story out in a very vivid and professional way. Basically...you get an idea for an event or a conversation that you want to take place in your story...you write it on a small file card. Just one idea. Then...when you get another idea that takes place at any other point in your story, you write it out on another card. now you've got two. You just keep going until all of your current ideas are now written on a collection of small file cards, each one separate from one another. Still following me?
    Ok, cool...
    Now, what you want to do is take those same cards, look through them, and put them in an order that makes some kind of logical sense in terms of your narrative. I can do this in my head now, but sometimes a visible, physical, representation of your thought process can be really helpful in developing those instincts that will come in so handy later on for those of you who decide to keep writing as long as you've got that creative bug under your skin. Hehehe! Especially if you're writing this story over multiple days or weeks. You don't want your brain to get all jumbled up and concerned with keeping it all in order. Give the note thing a try. It worked wonders for me.
    So...the question is...how can you take those engaging random events and put them into an order that won't feel awkward, boring, or confusing? Well, you do that by breaking your story down into its individual parts, and understanding what each one of those parts mean when it comes to storytelling. Having a knowledge and building up a gut feeling about the purpose and reason for each of the scenes that you've written down, will make plotting a whole lot easier than you may think. It's all about what the events mean, and what their purpose is when it comes to the art of storytelling.
    Think of it in measures of ten points, like this...
    - The Hook
    - The Inciting Incident
    - The Goal
    - The Plan
    - Obstacles And Challenges
    - The Build Up
    - The High Point
    - The Low Point
    - The Climax
    - The Future
    Now, this is a tried and true story structure that I usually use with my own work, and I often use these ten points to sort of contain and control my writing ideas, occasionally deviating from the script whenever my personal muse gives me the appropriate nudge. Hehehe!
    Again, I'm going to use the "Jesse-101" story to demonstrate my point here. But don't worry, I'm not giving away any spoilers about Tristan and Jesse here. Promise.
    So, let's say that I'm taking random notes on what I want to happen in this series. Write your notes down on your file cards and spread them out in front of you. They might look something like this...
     
    Now, I'm just sort of brainstorming at this point, but I'm trying to think of some major plot points here, twists and turns that might happen along the way, and a possible outcome. So now the question is...how do I begin putting these in order? They're there for you to play with. Rearrange them into some sort of system that works for you, and read through your story plot from beginning. And if you still feel like something feels a bit awkward about the main order of events, keep switching them around until you find something that you can be happy with.
    If you keep stumbling on one of your cards, and it doesn't feel like it really fits in anywhere, see if just getting rid of it will solve the problem. Sometimes I try to hod on to something that I think would really be cool...but no matter where I try to add it, it ends up coming of as clunky, or it distracts from the main plot and the characters. So I have to ask myself, if I just got rid of it altogether, will my writer 'flow' seem much smoother in its delivery? If the answer is yes...then it's gone. 'Junk file' for now, and maybe I'll update it and write it even better later on for something else.
    When putting events in order, think about the ten points above. You don't have to have all ten right away. Just try to see where the notes you have so far fit into your story.
    Ask yourself...what is the 'hook' for my story? That's the first part of the equation to figure out. For "Jesse-101", it was the fact a high school boy who's in the closet, was lucky enough to find another boy to be with and satisfy his need to find someone special to be with...only to have his heart broken later on as he discovers that he's been used and then tossed aside by the first person he trusted his heart to. Anyone reading the beginning of this story is going to immediately find themselves drawn in by the very idea of it. I'm starting off with an event that will immediately create an emotional understanding between my readers and the main character. So let's move that up to be my top card, and shuffle everything else around accordingly, like so...
     
    So where do I go from here? I've got four file cards left, but they don't really seem to 'connect' just yet. Again, I have to ask myself where these situations should land next in the story. The idea is for each event to have some sort of an end result due to the scenes before it, and an impact on the scenes to follow it. It should heighten the emotions being presented and increase the stakes. Looking at my last four cards...I can already tell that I've got a *LOT* more work to do. Why? Well look at them for yourselves...
    Here's why...
    - We've got 'Lori pushes Tristan to talk to the boy of his dreams'. Well...who is the boy of his dreams? Jesse? But we haven't even met Jesse yet. We don't know anything about him. It's safe to assume that he's cute, but nothing has happened yet to get the readers invested in him or his personality in anyway. Not only that, but that completely undercuts the pain of having heart broken if he can just go out and fall in love all over again with somebody else. So that wouldn't be the way to go. We can set that card aside for now.
    - Next, we have Tristan meeting Jesse for the first time and thinking that he's beautiful. Okaaaay...so? So what? He's at the mall on a Saturday. There are cute boys everywhere! What makes Jesse so special? This scene has no set up. It's right there with the second card. So let's put that one aside too. And if they fall in love right away and have a first date...that falls flat as well, because nothing was given to your audience to have them earn that special moment. Even if I'm writing a short story, I try to give some backstory to my characters and their interactions to make it seem like this moment has been a long time coming. Otherwise, it carries no weight. No stakes. So we can put that aside for now as well.
    - One card left. And that says Tristan comes out to his mom. Well...that was anti-climactic, don't ya think? If him telling his mother that he's gay was going to be that easy, with no real reward, or real consequences...then why even take the time to suggest that it would be a problem in the first place? I could have just had Tristan be out and proud from the very beginning and saved myself from wasting time even focusing on it. If there's not going to be a significant payoff to this reveal, then it's a distraction. Either build up to it, or toss it aside. You know?
    So...it looks like I've got a 'hook' for my story, and a handful of situations that don't really have any meaning or substance yet. I still want to keep them in the project, but let's work on a few things that we want to happen between these events to make them a little bit stronger. K?
    Don't get frustrated. This is how it starts. You've got to temper and fold that sword to make it sharp! It won't start out that way. Keep going!
    Let's say I think things out for a few minutes, examining what I've got so far, and I add another file card like this one...
     
    Ok! Now we're getting somewhere! So now I can introduce Lori into the beginning of the story, slip in some exposition about who our main character is, what he wants, and what happened between and his former jerk of a boyfriend. We get to see what their relationship is like by demonstrating it through their dialogue and sense of humor, as well as their real affection for one another. Also, we get a solid introduction to the story's love interest, and we get to see him in action as Tristan laughs along with his videos, blushes at his comments, and begins to obsess over the idea of taking the time to watch them all. Now we've got a few block pieces that actually 'fit' together without having to guess as to why they should care. The connection begins! What next?
    Do I want to jump forward to Lori finding out about how much Tristan likes this random boy on Youtube and then just have them drive out to the mall to seek him out? I could do that, sure. But I think I can make things a little more potent by extending that anxiety for a bit longer while taking my readers along for the ride. Maybe I let him sigh dreamily to himself for a while and then readdress some of his issues to explain he doesn't just run out there and tackle the poor boy in the mall. Maybe he thinks about the fact that he's in the closet still, or that Jesse is just too far out of his league. And keep the idea going that he's afraid of making the same mistake that he made with his first boyfriend when he went charging in blind without thinking about the heartbreak that could follow. These are all details that can add depth and emotion to your story as a whole. But...since we're just in the plotting stages right now, how about we add a moment like this one?
     
    Now we have our 'inciting incident'! This is what puts your story into motion. For anybody who wants to know, "What is this story actually about?" This is the time to show them. Put it right after the set up. Don't let it linger for too long, or it begins to get boring.
    This introduces elements of hope, excitement, confusion, and joy. You readers have something to work with and can start cheering your main character on as a definitive goal is brought to light. And this would be a good time to bring in one of the cards that you put aside, where Tristan's best friend, Lori, pushes him to go chasing after the boy of his dreams. We know who she is, we know who Tristan is, we know who Jesse is and why he would be so alluring to our main character. We have a goal in place, and we know why Tristan would be so hesitant that he would need encouragement to move forward. Is this starting to make sense now?
    I could have things move forward from there, but you guys know me and my need for teen angst! He's never been this much in love before, he's coming off of a heartbreak, he's not 'out' to anybody at school or at home, Jesse is famous and could find another boy at any moment...forcing him back to square one all over again. He's got a lot to worry about. And angst is a weapon that I wield like a battleaxe when I have to! Hehehe, so my personal choice would be to have Tristan panic and freak out and crawl back into his shell almost immediately. It's much easier to be infatuated someone when you don't have to worry about them ever finding out about it, meeting them in person, or having to actually find the courage to give them your heart while asking for theirs in return. So I might add a file card that says...
     
    Now I've got conflict involved. What's in my main character's way of finding true love right now? He's been given something to overcome. That's important.
    From there, you keep rearranging your ideas, finding the gaps and holes in between them that need to be explained, and seeing what you can add or take away to strengthen your most important moments so they really get to shine in the story's spotlight when you need them too. Keep adding notes, and before you know it...you'll have a whole story plotted out from start to finish. It should look something like this, with labels beside each scene to describe their meaning and purpose throughout the narrative as a whole.
     
    00 Now, this is a bare bones plot of the "Jesse-101" series, as there is a lot of other stuff that happens, more characters, more big moments, etc....but this is something that I can use as a map so I don't find myself lost at sea with nowhere to go. Take notice of how every scene on the list is both a result of the actions preceding it, and a build up of the scene that's next to come. That's exactly what you want. It makes your story read as one cohesive piece, and not like a 'bunch of disjoint things that just happened'.
    I can add more notes along the way as I think of them, I can change them any time I want, and I still have the total freedom mold things the way I want to, even in a spontaneous moment of delight.
    You can make as many notes/cards as you want. Make thirty! Make one hundred, if you're feeling ambitious! But I think if you can come up with enough quality events to hit these ten major plot points in your writing, everything else is a pleasant bonus in the long run!
    Whew...that was a lot! Sorry for talking so much! Hehehe, but, as always...I hope this made sense. And I hope it helps. Cool? Have fun! And I'll seezya soon with more!
     
  15. Comicality

    Dialog Variety

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Now this is something that I've always had a bit of a problem with, myself, when writing modern day characters in my stories. So if any of you guys have any ideas or hidden secrets about how to pull this off in multiple stories, or just from a variety of different characters in a single story....please feel free to add some of those tips in the replies below as I can always use more help in this area. And why not learn from my peers, some of the best there is, right?
    You see...and I've heard this from many of my readers as well...
    Many of my characters sound alike in their dialogue. Sure the situations change, and I can get away with giving their conversations a bit of a different tilt or flavor every now and then...but for the most part, I think that most of my characters really do sound alike when they're talking with one another. Because they're all individual parts of 'me', you know? It's something that I sort of struggle with from time to time, but I'm always trying to grow as a writer, and that means tackling all of the parts of my fiction that I see as problems, or potential blindspots, when I'm working. It's kind of a tough issue to tackle, because I pretty much write the way that I speak. Like...if I was sitting in a room with any one of you, and telling you that story face to face...that's would it would sound like. This is ME...talking to you and conveying a message with each and every word that I write. And that's exactly how I want it to sound. Natural. A bond between a writer and a reader where an understanding is reached and understood. I think that I've done a somewhat decent job at accomplishing that with a story for two. I'm so very proud of that.
    However...over time, I have written conversation after conversation, chapter after chapter, story after story...and I often worry that my main characters are all starting to sound the same, despite my massive efforts to give every story it's own feel, tone, and dialogue, of its own. I mean, I'm only one person, with one set of experiences in my own personal history...how can I possibly keep changing my speech patterns, my sense of humor, or the way that I speak in general for, yet another story on the list? It's not easy. Trust me.
    So...the topic for this article is about how to play with different dialogues and dialects to keep your characters separate from one another, and hopefully prevent them from all sounding like they're talking to themselves all the time instead of other people.
    Again, I have trouble with this myself. But I'm definitely willing to share what I've learned so far since I started, and maybe you can fill in some of the gaps on your own in the future.
    Since most of my stories take place during current (or at least 'modern') times...the practice of differentiating my characters through their speech has been quite a challenge for me. I wasn't really sure how to get around it or move past it as a writer. Especially since I write about teenagers. My best defense against the monotony of having every character sound the same was simply to tie their personal dialogues into the most obvious forms of their personality. Something that has been fairly effective for me over time, but...much like the dialogue itself...the personalities that I add into my fiction will eventually run out as well. The ones that I understand enough to write about with any sense of expertise or nuance, at least. So what happens then?
    I have characters that are very cynical, some that are selfish or angry, some that are shy and clumsy, some that are insecure and paranoid...and by matching their dialogue to those aspects of their personalities...I've been able to get readers to know who was speaking without me even having to say so in the text. Some of my characters are very energetic and somewhat childish...and I allow that to present itself in their dialogue. Other characters are very pessimistic or sarcastic, and I can do the same with their speech patterns when involved in a scene. And it was then that I realized that I wasn't getting the whole, 'all of your characters sound the same' comments that I was getting before. It gave me a few ideas, and I tried to go back and investigate things to find out why that was the case.
    My current conclusion?
    Subtle exaggeration.
    THAT was the missing piece of the puzzle! Now, mind you...this was many years ago...but as I was putting a ton of period pieces together for this new "GFD: Blood Bank" website that I was trying to build online, and began writing a variety of other stories that would all eventually weave themselves into the "Gone From Daylight" vampire series, all being from different eras throughout time...I started to play with the speech and interactions between my characters by trying to do a little research and hopefully capture the vibe of the era that I was writing about.
    The dialogue was meant to be a little exaggerated, but not by MUCH! I wanted it to sound natural, you know? Not like a cringe worthy presentation of something that sounded lame when you read it out loud. There's a balance to be maintained there. And you have to get a real 'feel' for it before you dive in head first and have your dialogue sounding like a late night B-movie on TV. But, as with all things, this is possible once you know what you're looking for and figure out what you're trying to do with it.
    This is a craftsman's work. Knowing your tools is the most important part of using them to work your magic.
    So, attempting to capture the vibe of the era that I was trying to write in, I feel like I picked up a few pointers in accomplishing what I was trying to do. When you really look deeper and figure out the language and how it has changed and evolved so much over time, you begin to see the differences in how we all relate to one another.
    That's why period pieces were so effective in teaching me what I needed to know in terms of switching up the language and rhythm of the dialogue that I was using when my characters spoke to one another. You have to be able to see it in action...and truly understand what makes the dialogue different. You have to have to be in the right head space when you're writing this stuff out. You've got to picture yourself there, and submit to the rules of that time period, that culture, those characters, and those circumstances. And I feel like entertainment, music and movies and literature, are the best ways to see this in action. For this particular, I want to use movies. Because I always do. Hehehe, what? It's the best audio/visual way that I have right now to demonstrate my point. Deal with it.
    When it comes to dialogue throughout the decades of cinema, where recreating a certain moment in time, there are differences that you can pick out and examine on your own to find out why it stands out, and how it affects the dialogue, and thus...the story itself.
    In the examples down below, I went through and tried to personally analyze the dialogue and figure out what the true 'essence' of it was. Like...I found the older dialogue from the film, "The Last Legion" to be almost poetic in its presentation. It's almost as if every word is crafted to impress the person you're talking to. Every line is delivered with so much depth. Epic...as if it were all being recorded for prosperity on stone tablets for later. Watching many other movies that takes place during this time period, there is a lot of dry wit, a lot of metaphor, a lot of hidden innuendo. Which is in line with what people were doing with language at the time. However, in the second example...taken from an old black and white detective perspective...the whole rhythm is different. It's more like a rapid fire witty banter type of communication. It's almost as if all of it was written to be comical or flirtatious...even when it isn't. Everyone has just the right words to say at just the right time. There's this clever back and forth that brings an energetic pace to even the most mundane of conversations. Which I think is cool as hell! Hehehe! Heavy on unspoken narration, there's a certain charm to it all that I can appreciate. Then we come to the third example from "Talk To Me", which takes place in the late 60's, early 70's. The dialogue here is much more laid back. There's a certain 'slide' to it that just feels natural and comfortable when you hear it. The slang is different, the vibe is different, the interaction is more affectionate here. It's empowering, and comes with its own sense of swagger and grace. And I love that too.
    Check out these three examples, and see if you can pick out your own clues to define what differentiates the three types of dialogue. Being able to recognize these differences will help you to apply the same sort of finesse to your own dialogue when it comes to whatever you writing.
     
    000000 Recognizing the subtleties of language, slang, and era appropriate terms and references, helps to understand dialogue in a completely different fashion. It's something that I've had a lot of fun playing around with over the years, because it's an exaggerated display of how people speak differently in real life, and that helps me to translate that into my fiction.
    I've done a lot of experimenting with "GFD" series spinoffs, and there are more coming that you'll see by the time you read this. With a story like "Piece Of The Action", I was able to take on the character of a 'Capone' era group of Mafia gangsters. In "GFD: Children Of Sunset", I was able to use the dialect and expressions of characters that existed of the wild Westerns that I've seen in the past. "GFD: Disposal Of Flesh" is a story that takes place in the current day, but I wrote it to read like one of those old Humphrey Bogart type of film noir stories with the language that I used and the rhythm that I wrote it in. And "GFD: King's Order" that takes on an old 'knights of the round table' vibe the entire time. All of these experiments have been really eye opening to me, and I think it would be for you guys too if you gave it a try.
    There are also other stories like "GFD: Ammo Nation" with a current day (But still old school) British criminal flavor to it, and "GFD: Streets Run Red" with a more urban gangster feel to it. I have more stories that I've been working on, but that's where I kind of run into a few problems, here and there. I definitely want to finish "GFD: Daylight Squad", which has a bunch of kids in the 80's who find vampires living in their neighborhood...but since I'm an 80's kid myself...it's hard to have the dialogue sound 80's without sounding cheesy. Does that make sense?
    Like, I can write about something from the 50's, or from ancient Japan like "GFD: Blade Of Shadows", or a dark serial killer story from the 70's like "GFD: Bloodstained Duet"...but when it comes closer to the current day, I find it harder to get my characters to really sound different from one another. I don't know why...it's just difficult. I remember 80's slang, I know 90's culture...but it feels like 'cringe' for me to try to put it into a story. It feels forced. Maybe that's just me. Hehehe, but the key is to be subtle with the language and the references to avoid that problem. You don't want to be stereotypical...but you still want to exaggerate certain aspects of conversation to capture the feel, mood, and tone, of the era.
    In these last three examples...pay attention to the hidden flavors involved in creating the dialogue here. How are they talking to one another? Whether it be from 60's gangster speak, 90's inner city speak, or from the old West...pay attention to the words, the slang, the rhythm of their speech, and the way it's presented in each scene. They have different appeals to them, but they're not overdone. You hardly notice the dialogue differences at all when compared to how you talk to your own friends and family at all. Not if you're not looking for it.
    Take some time, and really study this. You'd be surprised how much insight you can gain into writing dialogue by experimenting with more exaggerated expressions of speech, and then teaching yourself to use those instincts to skillfully create engaging character dialogue on a much finer and nuanced level without having to write a period piece or shine a spotlight on character differences.
    It can be done. And who better to do it than you? Right?
     
    000000 Anyway, this article is centered around the more 'amplified' ways of writing dialogue, but the point is to get you all to notice how speech can define character. And through this overemphasized series of examples, I hope that you can use that lesson to your advantage.
    Having your characters sound alike when they're speaking to one another isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just means that you're really connected to them and to the story itself, where you may not even realize that you're doing it. But if you can break away from the 'sameness' of having your character dialogue come off as predictable or repetitive...then that would be awesome. And it will make us all better writers in the long run.
    Like I said, this is something that I have problems with myself, and I'm always looking for ways to break the mold and possibly evolve beyond everything that I've done online so far. It's like I have the voices speaking aloud in my head, and I want to capture that in my writing if at all possible.
    That's all for today! Thanks for reading! And I hope this helps you when you're writing your next big project! I'm always in the corner for creative minds sharing themselves with the world! So go for it! And make sure to give me a wave when you hit the top! K? Hehehe!
     
  16. Comicality

    MacGuffin Devices

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Shhhh....hehehe, there's a deep, dark, secret that I need to let you guys know about. And I'm going to reveal it all in this article! It'll blow your mind! ::Giggles::
    So...the big question is...what the hell is a MacGuffin, and what the hell does it have to do with my story and how I write it? This makes no sense at all.
    This is a writing device that most people credit Alfred Hitchcock with, but it has existed in the art of storytelling long before he came along and gave it a name. Basically, a MacGuffin device is something that everybody in your story is trying, desperately, to get their hands on and keep it as their very own. For whatever purpose that they have in place to use this magnificent 'thing' to accomplish their ultimate goal. Adding a MacGuffin into your work, no matter what genre you're writing in, can add a sense of urgency and increase the stakes of whatever story it is that you're trying to tell. But there's a big secret involved that every writer should know when it comes to using this method in your writing! HUGE secret! And it comes from a few simple questions like...what does the MacGuffin do? What is it? Why do we need it? What impact will it have if it falls into the wrong hands? How powerful is it? How can the protagonist find it? How can they keep the antagonist from finding it first? What obstacles are involved? And what happens if your heroes fail?
    You want to know the secret? Do ya? Are you ready? Get your pen and notebook ready, so you can write this down. Because it's a REALLY big secret! Ready? Ok...here we go...
    It doesn't matter! Hehehe! Like...not at all!
    MacGuffin devices, while you may have seen them in many MANY movies, TV shows, and literary works, before...they are an interesting distraction at best. They exist as a rather cheap method of giving both your protagonist and your antagonist a direct and focused objective and motivation to guide the story forward. That's what they're there for. But while many critics act as though this is a bad thing...it really isn't. It's a plot device, just like any other. One that you can always use to your advantage if you do it with a sense of finesse and skill. It's like the hammer, the screwdriver, or the wrench, in your tool box when it comes to putting your story together. And, when it's used right, it can be an effective way of telling a really great story that you can be proud of, and can draw your audience further into your story for a fully engaging experience. But...at the end of the day, what it does and why is pretty much secondary to the device's main purpose in your project...and that is a guided motivation for your fictional cast to follow from beginning to end.
    So, let's talk about effectively using a MacGuffin in our stories, when needed...
     
    MacGuffin devices are a way to give your story meaning, and your characters purpose. I'm sure that a lot of people and critics comment on these devices and speak about them as if they're a 'cop out' or dismiss them as an important writing device entirely. I'd like to challenge that theory by saying that this is a method that has real merit when it comes to writing a good story. The trick is...to focus on the character growth and their intentions as they chase this random 'thing' and learn what it takes to reach the end of their personal story arc without losing what makes them the hero that they started out as. It's just a matter of balance, and slightly pushing the MacGuffin device out of the spotlight instead of having the device do the opposite to the character. Again, it's all about motivation.
    Basically, the MacGuffin is what everyone in your story is searching for, and is ultimately affected by. If you watch your typical bank heist movie...the MacGuffin is the big treasure or the untold riches that they're trying to get a hold of and get away scott free in the end. That's what is bringing all of your characters together, that's what is pushing them forward them, and (depending on how you use it) how they evolve or devolve during their quest to get it. THAT should be your main focus if you're going to try to write this kind of story. It will come off as more genuine, more insightful, and ultimately more interesting, than just people chasing something that they want and will inevitably get by the end of the story...simply because they're the protagonist, and that's how these things work, nine times out of ten.
    It doesn't matter if it's a magical sword, or a crystal, or a treasure, or a killer virus, or the launch codes for a nuclear war...it may seem like it should the most important part of the story, but don't be fooled by the suggested brilliance of the pursuit of the proverbial 'Holy Grail' in your project. It isn't. Or, at least in my opinion, it shouldn't be. Always make it about your characters. Their growth, their failures, their conflicts. That's what is going to really sell your readers on the story that you're writing. How many movies have you seen where the MacGuffin device, by the end of the movie, didn't really matter at all? Do you even remember what they really did or why they were important? "Oh no, we have to go out and find and grab the 'whatchamacallit' device or millions of people will die!" Was it the secret agent spy list, or the Horcruxes from Harry Potter, or the Hatori Hanzo sword from Kill Bill, or the magic frisbee thingy from Tron? All of these things might have been at the center of the story and the plot, but the goal was simply to provide a clear motivation for you to be more invested in the characters that are going after it. And it's important to focus on that part of your story. Because that's going to be the driving force between your fiction. Otherwise, it's just going to be another drawn out story about, "Oh...we all have to go find the 'blah blah blah' device before the world comes to an end." Hehehe! It doesn't really readers' interest for as long as you think it might.
    Have you seen "Pulp Fiction"? Do you have any idea what was in the glowing briefcase or what it represented? In the "Indiana Jones" movies...does he ever really get to keep the major reward at the end of the movie? No. It gets destroyed, or hidden away, or given away, or vanishes into space...whatever. But the MacGuffin is never the point. The adventure is the point. Does Frodo get to keep the ring? Does anybody remember what the Joker was really after in "The Dark Knight"? I'm one of the biggest James Bond fans ever, and I can't even remember what most of the Bond villains were actually trying to accomplish or what their massive weapons were going to do if the antagonist were to succeed. But, again...it didn't matter. Character A and Character B are both chasing 'C'...and we're rooting for the good guy to get there first. Done. We've got our motivation.
    The skill comes into play when you recognize a MacGuffin device for what it is as a writing method, and remember that once you've properly set it up...you still have an actual 'story' to tell. That can't be it. It makes for a really weak crutch, believe me.
     
    Now, don't make some of my rambling here out to be something repetitive for the sake of drilling the point home. I feel that it's really important for you guys to really understand how MacGuffins work so that you can find ways to use them to your advantage in a well told story. As I said before, the very term itself is often used with a negative connotation, but it shouldn't be. Because it can be used to thread your scenes together in a variety of helpful and productive ways. You simply have to see them for what they are and twist them in ways that can make your narrative stronger without becoming the main focus of the story itself.
    I began writing a story called, "Tell Me How", not long ago...and while things are moving towards a teen romance story, the love interest, 'Corey', actually starts off as a MacGuffin. It's about a high school boy who has completely fallen head over heels for another boy in his Woodshop class...but there is also another boy in the same class who has become infatuated with him as well. The problem, this other boy is much more social, popular, and approachable, than our main character. So he has to end up coming out of the closet to one of his best friends in order to ask him for help when it comes to getting Corey's attention and being able to have a shot at maybe asking him out some time and winning his heart. In this situation, Corey is the MacGuffin, because he is the motivating for both the protagonist and his rival. It also creates the need for him to grow, learn, and change. It means that he has to sacrifice his biggest secret to his best friend in order to ask for help. And it makes the antagonist a formidable enemy when it comes to attaining his goal. That, in my opinion, is how MacGuffin devices in stories should be used. The way the first few chapters are plotted, Corey is pretty much in the background the whole time. He's 'present', but at the end of the day...he's a shiny and pretty object to be chased after and hopefully obtained by the time the series is over. Will our protagonist be compatible with his dream boy? Is he as amazing as he imagines he would be? Is Corey even gay?
    Answer...doesn't matter. At least not for now.
    For now, it's the journey of our main character going from a shy and awkward closeted teen to making his very first move towards finding love and affection with a boy of his choosing. That is where you're going to find a majority of the heart and interest in this series. And it doesn't have to be a magic medallion or the shard of a crystal or a book of powerful spells or locating the 'chosen one'. It is simply a focal point for what your characters are trying to achieve. The sooner you understand that part of the process...the sooner you can begin developing instincts on how to use this method to add depth and urgency to your work. You can even use it to bring together an entire ensemble cast of different characters together for one adventure, with their own (even conflicting) motivations of their own. Maybe one wants the magic 'thingy' to take it home to protect their village from being destroyed. But another character might be there to use it as a weapon. One may be there to protect it, because power like that is too dangerous for any one person to wield without becoming corrupted by it. And someone else might be a thief who is pretending to be a friend, but was actually contracted to steal the item and trade it in for a handsome reward. You can go in a million different directions with the idea...just remember...the magical thingy' isn't the point. It's everything that is going on around it that will enhance your story and make it something truly special. Cool?
    As always, I hope this makes sense, and I hope it helps you guys out when you're writing your next big project! We're all rooting for ya! So best of luck! And I'll seezya soon!
     
  17. Comicality

    Not So Hot Potato

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Hehehe, now, it's no secret that I am constantly typing my fingers to the bone on many different stories at once. And that means that I might finish a brand new chapter of one story, but it might take some time for me to cycle through a bunch of the others before I pick that story back up again. It's something that I've been really working on fixing for a long time now, and I hope that I'm getting better at it.
    However, I'm sure that there are some of you dedicated authors out there who have simply let one or more of your own projects linger for one reason or another, and might want to get back to it and finish it off, once and for all. Who knows what happened there? Maybe you lost some of your enthusiasm for the story, maybe life got in the way, maybe you found yourself in the middle of a new relationship, or are suffering the heartbreak of an old one. The point is, our work is a product of our current mood and mindset, and it takes time and energy and effort to create the stories that we do. It can't always be forced through our determination to finish it off and a craving from our fanbase. Sometimes you have to just wait for the creative expression to blossom like a flower growing in your garden. Yelling at the seed isn't going to make it grow any faster, so why even try? Hehehe!
    This is what creates long lapses between chapters for me, personally...and sometimes for others as well. But when you began writing that story, you truly had something to say. And that will remain a splinter in your paw until you finally get the chance to say it. Luckily...there is always an opportunity to go back in and pick up right where you left off. There's no real trick to it. Just dive right back in and make it happen. For any of you who have some unfinished stories that you've been procrastinating on, or worried about tackling again, this article is for you. It can be done...and that's what we're going to talk about today. The 'Not So Hot Potato'!
    I think that this becomes a lot simpler when you are personally invested in your own characters. That's an important part of this process. Because if you're invested in your characters and treat them as though they were real people, chances are that your readers are going to feel the same way. There's a bond and an emotional investment there. That will work in your favor. Every time. I've been asked countless times, "Comsie, how can you keep track of all of these stories at once and continue them all the way you do?" Well...how do you remember all of your friends and family members? They all have different stories of their own, don't they? Your mom, your dad, your siblings, your cousins, your aunts and uncles, your grandparents, your classmates from high school, you co-workers from a job that you quit years ago. How do you remember all of them? You might not have seen your best friend's wife's second cousin in ten years...but if you had a good experience with them and recognized them on the street as you were walking past them...you'd be able to greet them and pretty much pick up right where you left off, right? You might want an update on what's happened since then, but it's not all that difficult to remember what you originally liked about them or what interested you in their personal story or influence in your life. When it comes to picking up an old story of yours to rewrite, re-edit, or continue...the idea shouldn't be all that different. These characters may be fictional, but you created them from parts of yourself, your life, or your past memories. Reconnect with that, and try writing a new chapter. You might be surprised just how easy it is once you get started. The hard part is realizing that getting started is the most intimidating factor. But it doesn't have to be.
    I grew up in an era when things took time and people had to be patient with their entertainment. You didn't get seven new movies released in theaters or streaming services every week. No binge watching TV shows for nine hours straight to hurry up and get to the end. No...you got a satisfying piece or tasty morsel every now and then and you waited until the next one was ready. I don't know, something about that made me appreciate my entertainment much more back then. Now I just gobble, gobble, gobble, and devour everything in a day and then I ask, "What's next?" It's just not the same experience. But, if you do it right, and you get your audience invested in your characters to a point where they think about them outside of the boundaries of your current plot...even if it's been days, weeks, months, or even years, since you last updated it, you can pick that story right back up, blow some of the dust off of it, and finish your original work of art with just as much enthusiasm and creative energy as you had when you started it.
    The secret is in capturing that magic that made you start writing in the first place. And I've got a few tips on how to do exactly that. But first...a few examples of a single story (franchise) that can easily be continued in a successful way, no matter how long it has been between chapters. I have always loved "Alien", it's one of my favorite movie franchises ever, despite a few missteps here and there. But, the point is, every major chapter can literally go YEARS without any continuation whatsoever, and yet I can watch a new movie, and it's like I never missed a moment. In the blink of an eye, I'm right back into it. It's like revisiting an old friend, you know?
    The first "Alien" scared the living shit out of me as a kid, and that came out in 1979, so I was probably WAY too young to be watching that movie anyway! LOL! Thankfully, I was at home, and this was years after it had been on the big screen. Otherwise I would have been traumatized for life. But the second chapter, "Aliens", came out in 1986...and I think I was ten or eleven years old...so I handled it better, but that movie kind of freaked me out too when I first watched. That's a seven year gap! But the feelings that I invested in the first movie still lingered within me, and within the first five minutes, I was right back where I left off. And much later, when "Prometheus" came out in 2012...I'm a full blown adult now, and yet, I'm still tethered to the old movies even after all this time. So I was teleported back to watching those and now I'm getting a prequel that wasn't the best of movies, but my heart is invested in it just the same. It's weird.
     
    0000 Again...the key all lies in the investment of the characters and the situations that they happen to be going through at the moment where you left off. No matter how long it's been since your audience has seen this story...the moment they get something new, if you've bonded them with the people populating your fiction, they will be eager to sit down and re-engage with them on a personal level all over again. Don't let the time lapse intimidate you out of writing that new chapter. Just write it. And follow these five tips when you're going back to an older project and breathing life back into it so that your readers can have a sense of closure.
    #1 - Don't feel bad. That's the first, and maybe the most important part of this process. Yes, it's been a long time. Yes, people are going to hound you, criticize you, or make passive aggressive comments about it...but you need to get past that. When you started that story, you had something that you wanted to say. What was it? Focus on that. Where were you going with it? What were you trying to express in terms of your feelings at that time. Maybe you were going through something difficult when you started it, and you've dealt with it and are trying to move on now. Whatever the reason...your story exists because you had something that you felt you needed to get out of your system. So get it out. You're not finished yet. There's no reason for you to feel bad for taking time to work your emotions out and translate them into a fictional story. It's ok. Stop beating yourself up and get back to the story whenever you feel up to it. It'll come out better if you don't force it. Trust me.
    #2- Start from scratch. Especially if it's been a really long time since you've worked on a particular project. Don't just read it and start writing again. It might have only been a couple of weeks or so, but you've changed as a person since then. Your views on life may have been altered. You skill at crafting a story may have changed. Your vocabulary might have grown. These seem like little things, but they aren't. And if you try to match the writing of the 'new' you to the writing of the 'old' you...it's going to be noticeable to everyone reading. Re-open that file, read your own story, and re-edit it as you go through. One thing that I've really enjoyed when going back through my stories while making my ebooks (Shameless plug! Comicality ebook 'director's cut' versions of the stories are available at https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/ Just so ya know!) is going back to stories that I wrote years ago and seeing them from a different perspective. Adding details, rephrasing certain sentences, putting in new scenes and dialogue...I mean, I was a totally different person back then. And it took a reread of everything that I put out to realize just how different I am now from the person I was when I started. So if you're picking up an old project and getting ready to work on it again, make sure to really go through your previous work with a fine toothed comb and mold it to match who you are now, as opposed to who you were when you started.
    #3 - Keep the same vibe that you started with. Even if you're writing has changed, or if you've evolved as a person since your last chapter...it's key to make sure that your story keeps the same theme and tone that you had when you started it. A drastically obvious shift in tone can be a stumbling block for your readers. Ir's almost like...'false advertising', you know? Remember, keeping your readers invested in the story and your characters is what's going to make this work. So if you've got a story that has been on a particularly long hiatus, and you suddenly switch gears to change the fiction and deliver an entirely different narrative than the one you started with...there's a chance that you could lose the fans that you started out with. Some of this can be smoothed out during the rewriting process, to match your previous work with your new work...but there's a limit to those adjustments. Make too many changes in the overall 'feel' of your story can be confusing. And you don't want that.
    #4 - Update where necessary. While your story may be frozen in time until you get back to it, the passage of time in the real world keeps going forward. Always keep that in mind. I've written stories in the past where there are things like 'video stores' or 'public arcades'...and obviously, these things don't exist anymore. Not really. So, to continue those stories, I would either have to make them retro (which could be fun) or update things like the music, the technology, the activities that my characters get involved in, etc. Every couple of years, certain aspects of life either vanish, evolve, or take on a different meaning. So you have to accommodate for that time jump.
    A great example of this is the movie, "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"! This is a story that has been told over and over again in the movies, but it evolves and changes to fit the times in which it's being told and what's happening in the world at that particular time in history. For example...the original movie came out in 1956, where the science fiction story was basically a metaphor for the big Communist scare during the Cold War. They could be your neighbors, your friends, your family members...oh no! (We always have people telling us that we have something to be afraid of, don't we?) Then, the movie got a remake in 1978 during the rise of interest in Occultism and cults and the whole Jim Jones Kool-Aid era. It showed up again in 1993, where everybody was a gangster or a drug dealer or had AIDS or something. Again, the fear that it could be your next door neighbor, co-workers, or even your spouse, was the driving force behind it. And then we got "The Invasion" in 2007, where people were living in a post 9/11 era where you had to watch everybody to make sure they weren't secretly a terrorist. The movies are all different, but the theme and tone of the movie was all about suspicion and paranoia, and keeping that element in tact is what made all of the remakes work in one way or another.
     
    000000 #5 - Commit to an ending. If you're going to pick up an old story and start working on it again...you need to promise yourself that you're going to finish it this time. You're being given a second chance by your fans to bring things to a close. Don't waste it. Figure out where you want to go with your story, get your thoughts in order, and then get it all together. Set it in motion, and this time stick with it while the fire is in you. Don't let it linger. Sometimes, a spontaneous burst of creativity and nod from your personal muse is the best time to really get things finished. So plan some time to sit down and think about the first four phases of this process...and then get to work. Like I said before, I know that it can be intimidating sometimes...but once you push yourself to get started and find your rhythm and flow again...you'll find yourself getting right back into that same head space that you were in when you were inspired the first time. Use that to your advantage. And bring your unique brand of magic to the rest of the world. It's needed out there.
    Alright, so that's it for today. I know that some of you guys have older projects that you were really excited about when you started them, and somehow lost track of them after a while as other aspects of your life kind of took control and kept you from devoting the kind of energy that you needed to make it something great. But those stories still live in your head, and they deserve to be told. Just as much as they deserve to be read by your audience. So blow the dust off of those older ideas, read what you wrote, update and revise where necessary, and then pick up that not so hot potato right where you left off so you can complete the project and the vision that you originally had in mind. K?
    It's SO worth it!
    I hope this helps! Take care! And I'll seezya soon!
  18. Comicality

    Guidelines

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Now...I know that there are authors out there (or artists of every kind, to be honest) who hear the word 'guidelines' and go into a state of immediate shock, shaking their fist like, "Oh nooooo! They're gonna try to take control and limit my artistic freedom! Don't put me a box!"
    Hehehe, I'm happy to say that I've never really been one of those people. That's not to say that I want to sellout or have my creative abilities to be bound and gagged in order to fit into a mold that was built by somebody else. Because I don't. But I've always seen the idea of writing a story within a certain set of guidelines as a really fun challenge for me, and I enjoy it immensely. Nothing could be more satisfying than trying to come up with an idea that fits into a structure that was put together by someone else, and actually finding a way to figure it out. It's awesome.
    The best example of this would be GayAuthors Antholgies right here on this site. I truly loved getting involved with those, and hope to keep doing so in the future. This is where a bunch of story themes are submitted and voted on by the collective readers of the site, and then the most popular themes become the guidelines that all of the participating authors have to adhere to in order to be added to the anthology. But DON'T worry! Hehehe, it's not limiting at all! If anything, I think it forces me to be more creative and more clever than ever with the stories that I want to add. And I have to say that some of my favorites, and some of my readers' favorites, have come from the anthologies that I wrote for GA!
    So don't be afraid of writing within certain guidelines! It can be a good thing, trust me!
    Let's discuss...
    What you have to do when it comes to writing with guidelines attached is truly understand the concept being presented to you, and make that your literary 'anchor'. For example, one of the anthology story themes was 'Road Trip'. Ok, got it. I want to write about a road trip. What does that entail? What happens on a road trip? How can I write a story about a road trip? What creative spins can I put on the theme without losing sight of the theme itself? I can't just have a road trip happen for a few paragraphs in the middle of my story and then have the rest of the project be about something else. The theme is a road trip. So that needs to be the main focus of the story. So I thought it over, took some notes, tried to make sure that I was sticking to the idea presented to me, and I came up with the story, "Not Enough Road". It was about two boys who were going out of town to visit their older brothers on a college campus, and this was their first time taking a long bus trip out of town without supervision. By doing this...I can still have that beautiful stranger, boy-meets-boy, idea that fits right into my particular niche of writing, and the actual 'road trip' theme remains the lion's share part of the story at the same time. Once the theme has been tackled and fleshed out in your mind...the rest of the narrative is wide open for you to create whatever you want to create. You're free to go nuts from that point forward.
    One Summer anthology theme was 'Out Of This World', which could be taken a bunch of different ways, but I decided to take a slightly sci-fi, literal, approach to the idea...and I wrote, "Light Reaches Earth" for that one. A story that I can say that I'm really proud of, and have re-edited and turned into an ebook afterward because of the joy that I got out of writing it in the first place. Again, the real freedom came from finding ways to fit within the guidelines that I was given, while breaking the rules at the same time. Hehehe! I loved it. And it became one of my absolute favorite stories.
    Whether you're writing something for a competition or contest, a fanfiction, or trying to get something published in a particular magazine or online website for the sake of promotion...the art of finding your freedom within the guidelines that you've been given is an excellent skill to develop and keep under your belt. Not only does it train you to focus and control your output, but it also diversifies your talents to a point where you can write almost anything that comes to mind without worrying about whether you'll be able to pull it off or not. It comes in handy. Especially for those of you who want to make a career out of this sort of thing someday.
    SO...how do we accomplish this, and still feel like we have the freedom to write what's in our hearts at the same time. I think that it's simply a matter of finding your comfort zone within the boundaries that you've been given, and then pushing those boundaries further out, all while sticking to your 'anchor' and not floating away into something that has nothing to do with the guidelines you've been given.
    I would break this down into five simple rules to think about before you even get started...
    #1 - Theme And Concept - This is obviously the most important part of writing a story with guidelines placed upon it. What are you writing about? What's the theme? Look at it. Study it. What do you think about it? What does it mean to you? How can you concentrate your creative energy around that one idea? This can be really fun once you get your wheels spinning. Hehehe! At least for me it is. What you're trying to accomplish here is basing your writing talents on a single subject or event while still making it your own. It makes you narrow certain aspects of your writing process while expanding on others. What would other people do with this idea, and how can you do it differently? Spend some time thinking about a single situation that is theme related, and then create characters that are best suited to carry out the tasks involved with bringing this situation to life. Believe it or not, this is the easy part. Ideas are infinite at this point...you just have to choose one that you think will be the most potent and relevant to the people reading it. Something that will have a significant impact on an emotional level. That story is out there somewhere...and if you plan it just right, you get to be the one to write it down and bring it to the masses. So choose an idea that really speaks to you, and apply it to the story you've been given to write.
    #2 - Word Count - Now, this is where you might begin to feel the walls closing in on your project. Not by MUCH...but a little bit. If what your writing is constrained to a suggested word count, you're going to have to adjust your thought process and control your narrative to fit within a certain space. It's like going on vacation in a lot of ways. You can't pack your entire closet full of clothes into a single suitcase. That's too much. You remember the discussion that we had on 'scope' earlier? That will come in handy here. Don't rush into an anthology or contest with a giant, century spanning, narrative that simply can't fit into a much smaller space without you cutting a lot of it out in the long run. Don't do it. You're either going to commit to a story that is way too elaborate and complex for you to finish in time, or you're going to end up with an incomplete story that will lack depth and meaning because you had to rush and cut it short. Neither one of those is a good idea. It's good to be ambitious, but don't tackle a challenge that you can't handle if you think it'll be a burden on everything else that you've got going on. As we all know...'life' tends to get in the way.
    #3 - Deadlines - One thing that I am, personally, terrible at...is meeting deadlines when it comes to my creativity. My muse is a fickle master, believe me. But I will push myself and try to meet them as fast as I can. If you're writing for a publication, for instance, and they need all submissions in by June 15th...try to get your story finished a week ahead of time! That way you have time to give it a rest, then go back and look at it again to see if you can re-edit, add, or subtract, certain elements in your story to make it as awesome as you possibly can. But you've got to meet that deadline. Try as hard as you can. I don't always make it, and I've missed out on some great opportunities because of that...but when that writing bug gives me the appropriate 'sting'...everything else just seems to fall into place. So be aware of your deadlines! Mark them on your calendar. Find out how many days you have left to work on your project, and how many hours you might need to put in on each day to get it ready in time. I know that authors don't like being rushed to completion, but if you plan far enough in advance, and don't have too many outside influences working against you...then it really shouldn't be much of a rush at all. Planning is everything. Writing it out is the easy part.
    #4 - Read The Room - I think it's important for every author, when writing for a collection, a publication, a contest, or anything else with guidelines included...to be able to read the room. Who is your audience? What are the other stories going to be like? Can you find past works from the source and maybe get a feel for the type of fiction that they may be looking for? Again, this isn't meant to limit you or your imagination. It's just a good idea to keep in mind that most of the time, in these situations, when you're writing for mixed company or a wide audience. It's basically a way to tell what could help your story's presentation, and what might hurt your story's presentation. If most of the audience is looking for something sweet and subtle and romantic, don't just kick in the door with some hardcore fetish porn! Hehehe, I mean, you might turn a few heads and raise a few eyebrows, but you'll be causing more harm to your story than good. And the same goes for the reverse situation. If they want something, ummmm...'hot n' ready'? Don't try to win them over with puppy dogs and rainbows, ending your story with a bashful kiss when the readers of that particular genre are waiting for them to get naked already. Teach yourself to be versatile. You should be able to operate on a self made scale of what will and won't fit into the guidelines that you've been given. That's one of the beautiful parts of using this as practice. Turn it up, tone it down, explore some different genres...figure out what works and what doesn't. You're an artist first...but coming in as a close second...you're an entertainer. So entertain. And make it count.
    #5 - Test The Leash - Once you've gotten all of those other issues out of the way, and you're about ready to start writing, test the leash. Think of it like a puppy wearing a leash for the very first time. They tug at it, shake their heads, bite it...it takes some getting used to. Hehehe! Do this with your writing. How far can you take things and still stay in your pocket? What can you get away with? What's going to be your edge when it comes to matching your story up with everybody who might be writing about the same topic or within the same theme? Use your instincts and your personal voice to find as many opportunities as you can to spread out and create your own experience within the space that you've got to work with. Switch genres. Be creative with your main character. Add a plot twist. Change story formats, like go from first person to third person, or put it in a diary format, or whatever you come up with. Guidelines don't take away your freedom to be yourself as a writer. It merely focuses it and directs your ideas in a certain direction. As with all of your other stories, once you know where you're going and what your character motivations are...everything else is free game. Your ideas are as limitless as you want them to be. So why not take the challenge, you know? Show your readers what you're made of!
    Now, these lessons can work for any kind of creative fiction that you decide to pursue on another platform, but I really think that the GayAuthors' Anthology projects are the best place to try your skills out among friends and a cool audience of readers who are looking for the kind of work that you can manifest and present to them in an entertaining way. There's usually a number of themes or topics for you to choose from, the deadlines are more than fair and give you enough time to work your magic without feeling pressured about it, and you've got a lot of room to interpret the ideas any way that you want. So try it out some time. You might just like it. And it truly helps to hone your skills as an author to find your strengths and weaknesses to involve yourselves in this community and match wits with your peers. It's a good feeling! It really is!
    That's it for today! I'll see you guys next time with more! Take care, and I hope this helps!
     
  19. Comicality

    Retcons

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    One of the many pitfalls that a writer might face when taking a more 'organic' approach to writing a story is possibly running into a flurry of decisions that you made in the heat of the moment and may change your mind on those decisions later on. When I talk about an organic approach, I mean having a certain structure and plot in mind...but still giving yourself room to create on the spot as new ideas come to mind. I definitely write that way, and I feel like it connects me to my stories in ways than trying to stick to a rigid game plan without any deviation, whatsoever. I don't know, it just takes a little bit of the freedom out of the process for me.
    However, that puts me in a few difficult places from time to time...and I'm sure that some of you have experienced this as well. Who knows? Maybe you come up with a much better idea further into your story arc. Maybe you have elements in your story that you feel just aren't working for you, or maybe they're not being received well by your readers. There might be whole characters in your story that end up doing more damage to your story than good. Whatever your reasoning might be as an author for taking a sideways look at your work and decide that you want to fix it...it can be done.
    Now, what I'm about to talk about this time around...I want it to come with a 'Comsie Disclaimer'. 😛
    If you write your stories in full before you start posting them in public, or even if you have beta readers and usually give them all of the chapters, from beginning to end...take some extra time to be sure that you want to make these new changes and won't end up running into the same problem further down the road. And then...make all of your changes before putting it out there for other people to read. Even if it's just one or two trusted editors. Straighten it out, and smooth as many of the rough edges as you can before you make it available. K?
    However...I happen to be one of those authors that releases my stories one chapter at a time. And I know plenty of authors who have completed stories already and also only release them one chapter at a time. For anybody in either one of those categories, you may run into a few of these issues somewhere along the way. And sometimes, your only salvation may be trying to turn into the skid and correct course before you end up flying off of the road.
    But beware! Only use this technique if you absolutely have to and don't have any other way out of it. Otherwise, it can end up putting a bunch of dings and dents in your story as a whole, if not potentially ruin it altogether. Obviously....that would be a bad thing. So only use it as a last option. And if you do...be smooth with it. Trust me, it matters.
    So today...let's talk 'retcons'!
    I've written some stories in the past where I attempted to add certain elements into the series that ended up not really fitting in with a lot of the other plot points that I had going on at that particular moment, and I wanted to write those elements out of the story so I could focus on the details that were really helping to move the story forward, while some of my other ideas were beginning to hold it back. I had plans for what I was doing...plans that I wanted to stick to...but ultimately ended up writing them out of the story gradually until they just weren't there anymore. Hehehe, I could tell you which ones, but I'm sure that you can pick out plenty of mistakes in my writing without me pointing even more of them. Anyway, I could sort of 'feel' the not connecting with me, or the story, or my readers, the way that I wanted them to. Luckily, I caught them earlier enough where I could pretty much fade those ideas out as quickly as they had been introduced. And with time and practice, you will be able to develop those instincts as well. And then, when it comes to the editing process...you might be able to go back and cut those parts out of your story altogether. This is a method that you can use if you think you can make an easy transition from having it in your story and not having it in your story. But...
    ...This isn't what a 'retcon' is.
    An actual retcon is used when you've completely woven a certain idea or character so deeply into your plot and ultimate writing strategy for that story...that they can't just simply be 'removed' without leaving giant plot holes and changing the nature of your entire narrative with no way to repair or write your way out of it. A retcon is the act of actually moving forward with your story, but altering certain details to correct issues that you've had in past chapters. This is NOT easy! And yet, like I said...it can be done. You're going to have to finesse the shit out of it though! LOL! So be careful!
    If this is something that you need to do to write the best story that you can, here are three things to try to keep in mind while trying to figure it out. After all, half of putting a story together from scratch is problem solving. And this particular problem can be a big one.
    #1 - Identify the problem. That's the first step in this process. What is it that you, personally, felt went wrong with your story? I say 'you, personally' because you are the architect of this whole thing. Just because a particular character or a plot point isn't a fan favorite...doesn't mean that your audience won't understand and grow to love these parts of the story further down the road. Remember...you know how this story plays out...they don't. So examine it and see if there's really a problem at all.
    After that, if you do detect a few problems that you feel need fixing...try to gauge how closely related they are to the main story itself. How much damage do you think it's doing to the rest of your project? And don't be afraid to cut your losses if you have to go back and simply take something out of your story in order to stay focused and tighten your storytelling up a bit? Do it. Just make sure you go back and make sure that you won't have any gaps or confusing jumps that don't make any sense later on. Look for references to events that may have never happened once you're taken them out. Look for places where dialogue or plot points are based on anything that you're getting rid of. If that means starting from scratch and re-reading, re-editing, and re-writing, a great deal of your story...so be it.
    If you do all of that, and you still need to add a retcon in there somewhere? Then things will be a bit more difficult. For example...I saw a trailer for a brand new 'Boba Fett' (Star Wars) TV series not long ago. Hehehe, well...I know that Boba Fett is dead. I watched him die on screen. So...I'd be interested to see how they work that out to bring him back to life again! "Oh...I managed to get out using my, ummm...Lazarus resurrection powder and my super freedom laser!" ::Shrugs:: Ok. I'll buy that. Hehehe, just give me some more Boba Fett! THAT would be a retcon!
    'Star Wars' does this a lot though, so I'm used to it. Which is why Luke can make out with his sister and we just conveniently forget that part in later movies.
    #2 - If you're going to do a retcon on your story...be SUBTLE about it! Or, at least try your best. Remember, you're taking something that your readers has already accepted as a permanent part of the story, and completely turning it on it's head. Changing its meaning. Flipping perspectives. So this is where your finesse comes into play. Instead of forcing your readers to take some giant leap of faith in order for you to alter your own storyline...think of ways to soften the blow by having it make sense within the context of the rest of the story. Remember, every time you alter something major in your story, you're creating a stumbling block for your readers. You force them to pause and readjust their entire vision and understanding of what's going on. The bigger the leap between your original plan and your great new fix for the problems you found in the story...the more distracting it becomes.
    Imagine if you were reading 'Little Red Riding Hood', and halfway through she gets to Grandma's house and sees the wolf...and then she slowly reaches over her shoulder to take a hold of her shimmering katana blade. Wait...WTF??? And the writer was like, "Oh! I never mentioned that Red Riding Hood used to be a ninja assassin and trained killer? Well...yeah, she was. But she gave it up. Anyway...back to the sword and the wolf..." Yeah. That's not subtle. Hahaha! That's one hell of a reveal, but it has nothing to do with the beginning of the story, nor the end of the story. So it sounds like you just threw it in there for the sake of being weird. When creating a retcon, it may be extremely difficult to change past events, but if you're going to tackle that task...you want it to be as unnoticeable as you can make it. It can be done, you just have to find the best way to do it according to your particular story and style of writing.
    Effective retcons are all about how you introduce them into the story. If you have events or characters that you can't remove completely, and you can't write them out afterward...then you have to figure out all the ways that they fit into the story and build a quiet 'off ramp' so you can get them out of there and have them fade away into the background until the more interesting parts of your story slide into the spotlight and take center stage while those other elements are eventually forgotten about. The idea is to craft a sneaky exit for the elements that you don't want without having anybody get struck by lightning, hit by a truck, or ravaged by a pack of hungry wolves, out of nowhere with no explanation, and no ties to the actual story. Hehehe! That comes off as a serious 'cheat'! And, make no mistake...you ARE cheating! But there's no reason to let everybody else know that.
    So...how do you keep things subtle while still changing a major part of your story while erasing their history in previous chapters? Well...that brings us to tip number three.
    #3 - See if there is a way to somehow complete those character arcs or loose ends in your story in gradual pieces. But quickly. What I mean by this is...don't leave stories left to dangle without any kind of conclusion. Whether you, personally, liked those parts of your story or not...chances are that your readers are still paying close attention. And it'll be unsatisfying for them to reach the end of your story and immediately think, "Well, what happened to 'such and such'? i guess I'll never find out." I've read a lot of stories like that, seen movies and TV shows like that too. Not to mention that I've written many loose ends, left wide open without a conclusion. And that takes away from the story in general in my opinion.
    If you have something in your plot that you were all hopeful and excited about adding into the mix, but later decided that it just isn't working...examine it, condense your plans for it, and try to wrap it up over the next chapter or two if you can. Take longer if needed. But don't leave it open or it becomes clear to all of your readers that you clearly were looking for a way to abandon that part of your story. But if you complete that storyline, even if it feels a little short, at least they have some closure for it and can forget it and move on without looking back with the expectation that it's going to come back into play some time later. Or...you know...at least that's the goal. Hehehe, it doesn't always work. But, hey! This is YOUR retcon, not mine! So figure it out. Trial and error is the only way to gain the skills to do it right! So best of luck!
    Anyway, I hope this helps you all out in some way! Just remember that it's better to not use retcons than it is to find sneaky ways to do so. But...if it becomes necessary, these few tips should, at the very least, give you a few ideas on how to pull it off.
    I've failed many times at it, myself...but I can, thankfully, say that I don't find myself in that trap as often as I used to. So the best way to do a retcon is to NOT do a retcon. Just know that if you've gone too far to turn back and start from the beginning again, there are options available to you. So go to work, ladies and gentlemen! And I'll seezya soon with more!
    Happy writing!
     
  20. Comicality

    Story Scope

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    It's something that I still struggle with more often than many of you may think. More times than not, I think in terms of a 'story'...and not in terms of a 'plot'. I've talked about this before in earlier articles, but just to reiterate really quick...the plot is the beginning, middle, and end of the story that you're trying to tell. The story is what exists OUTSIDE of the plot. So that could be a million stories all building up to a culmination of the story you're writing, and then reaches out into the future to tell what happens afterwards. If that makes sense. Hehehe!
    The best example that I can think of right now would be the original 'Star Wars' trilogy. Those three movies tell a rather complete story all by themselves, and it's a three story plot that explains exactly what you need to know to be involved and invested in the world that was built for you. However...the 'story' reaches sooooo far beyond that. You've got prequels and a whole history before that. You've got a whole trilogy that comes after it. Side stories and spinoffs and TV shows and books and comics...it could, quite literally, go forever on into eternity if they really wanted it to. And why not? Because all gripes and complaints aside...people will come back and be reinserted to that world all over again because they want to explore it even more than what you've given them so far.
    The key is...to make a definitive decision about what kind of story you want to write, and how 'big' you want it be. Some stories come off as being too small to really dive into the rich details and potential expansion of the plot that you've decided to tackle. And some stories have a story that gets stretched out sooooo far and wide that the original idea that you wanted to highlight gets hidden and overshadowed by everything else that you're doing all at once. The idea is to find a balance in there somewhere, and figure out what you want the overall scope of your story is going to be before you even start.
    As with everything else when it comes to anything you do creatively, that's not always easy...but a little bit of practice makes the process that much easier. So, today, we're talking about story scope, and how to format it in your head beforehand so you don't find yourself with too little or too much story to write when coming up with your plot. Because, unless you're planning to write "War & Peace" every time you sit down to your keyboard...it's going to take you forever! LOL! Trust me, I know from experience!
    I think one of my biggest problems with scope is that I sometimes imagine these giant worlds full of a ton of characters and criss-crossing storylines for projects that could probably be a lot more self contained. (One of the reasons why I miss deadlines so often. Too many ideas and subjects that I want to touch on, and not enough time to get them all in there) My other problem with scope is when I try to write a much shorter, 'one-shot', story...and I leave my readers thinking, "Awwww, really? That's it? I need more!" Neither one of those scenarios is a very good foundation to stand on, but I do try to work on it when I can. I just happen to lose my balance every now and then and fall over to one side or another. But it CAN be done! Hehehe, I know, because I've done it before! I just didn't understand why or HOW I did it! That takes some self examination, and I hope this will help you guys take the same approach when creating stories of your own.
    It took me a while to try to come up with some sort of visual representation to express what I sort of see in my mixed up brain when I'm trying to determine the scope of each story for myself. I couldn't quite figure out how to do that, but this is about as close as I can come to it. So bear with me, ok?
    Now...when I'm thinking of new ideas and what I want to do with them, I pretty much have 'this' going on in my head. When you look at it...don't start at the top and work your way towards the middle of the picture. Instead...do the opposite. You start in the middle...and you can expand your own story from there. Begin with the simple idea...and then venture out into other rings as you allow the idea to grow bigger and bigger. Stop whenever you feel like you're able to say all that you have to say, and hold steady at that boundary so that you can creatively control how small or how big you want your story to be. Take a look...
    I hope this doesn't look confusing! Hehehe! ::Fingers crossed:: Sorry! My brain is a mess!
     
    In my head, things get a little bit more complex than this, but I wanted to narrow things to seven levels to make it a little bit easier to absorb all at once in one article. Feel free to write me if you ever feel like you want me to elaborate anymore. I'm always bouncing around here somewhere. Hehehe!
    Ok...so let's start from the center!
    Boy Meets Boy - This is the simplest of stories if you want to write gay fiction. That can mean porn without plot and chance encounters, or it can mean a gay teen romance happening for the first time. The whole point of the story is exactly as it's described. One guy meets another guy (Or ladies, or teens, whatever your particular genre is), they get along, find one another attractive, and work towards getting together. I've written a bunch of short stories like this...some with sex, and some without...and it was meant to just capture a single moment in time and describe it for your audience in a way that brings them into that moment so that they can experience along with your main characters. This formula is perfect if you're writing a short story, either for an online contest, or to promote yourself on another site, or to add a submission to a GayAuthors' Anthology or something like that. It's short and sweet, and self contained. Depending on how much or how often you get the chance to write...you can easily find a balance to bring these stories to life without really exhausting yourself or cutting it short at the last minute when you'd rather keep going. But that's for all of us to gauge for ourselves. The point is to always put out your best work. No matter what. Find your balance, stay in the pocket, and write a quick and concise story that can stand on its own without floating too far out of the box.
    Friends And Enemies - Ok...so now we're going to expand a little bit. Not a LOT, but a little bit. Most of my earliest stories stay right in this realm. This isn't just one cute boy meeting another cute boy. Now you're adding a few other elements into your story that need fleshing out as well. If you're protagonist has a best friend...what is that relationship like? How do they tie into the story? Are they there as a method of support? (Lori and Michelle in "Jesse-101", Tyler in "New Kid In School") Or are they someone that your protagonist has to hide or keep secrets from? (Adam and Sam in "My Only Escape", Jermaine and the others in "On The Outside") When you add other characters, you've added a whole new dimension to your story, and you don't want those elements to simply 'vanish' as though they were throwaway characters with no meaning. They need to be addressed as a part of your story. Same thing goes for any rivals or enemies that you add to your story. How do they impact your protagonist? And abusive father? A high school bully? A jealous ex-boyfriend? These are all things that you're going to have to flesh out in your story if you want it to feel 'complete' at some point. So if you add them into the mix...you've probably just doubled the length of your story. The scope is much bigger than it was a minute ago. But don't worry...you can go further if you're feeling ambitious. Hehehe!
    Family (Parents/Guardians/Siblings) - There are a lot of people that would lump friends and family into the same category when determining the scope of their stories. I, personally, do not! Hehehe! Do any of you remember the show, "Seinfeld"? With George screaming, "WORLD'S COLLIDING!!!!" LOL! Yeah, that's how I feel about this one. The way that I talk to my friends from high school is NOT the same way that I talk to people that I used to work with. The way I talk my co-workers is not the same way that I'd talk to my Mom or my family members. Etc. This, I believe expands your story even further when you get family involved. Do they know your protagonist is gay? Does it matter at all? Or does it matter in a MAJOR way? Are older/younger siblings going to understand, or get in the way? Are parents going to understand or be stressed out about it? To put it in perspective...how many of us would talk in real life, face to face, with people the way we type words out online? Have you SEEN 'Mean Tweets'? Those people would be starstruck if they had to meet those celebrities in real life. A family dynamic is another added layer to whatever story you want to tell...and you've just increased your writing effort by even more, whether you know it or not. So beware of that...because we are now leaving 'short story' territory.
    Social/Environmental Conflicts - The next level takes us out of the initial love story and brings a much larger, and often more oppressive, element into your story. And if you're going to get into anything deep or heartfelt here without falling short and disappointing your audience...then you'd better be willing to really go for it. Don't cheat your audience. It's never a good idea. On this layer, you're not just dealing with the worries of love, the camaraderie of friends, the threat of enemies, or the judgement of parents and family members. This is a much larger conflict. Such as living in a small town where being gay is not only unacceptable, but dangerous. Or being at war with your own religious or political beliefs. The fear of being outed at school, or at work, or as a Hollywood actor who's in the closet. Forces that can, in no way, be controlled. (Ethan in "On The Outside", Derrick in "A Class By Himself") Or it includes an environment that, whether it's taking center stage or exists as a heavy menace in the background...also becomes a huge threat that needs to be dealt with in your story in some way. (Jake in "Shelter", Nick in "Agenda 21", Jake Gordon in "SKYLIGHT") If you introduce outside forces like financial stability, gay tolerance, or some disaster, into your story...it has to be a part of the story. It can't just be something that you mention once or twice and then write the rest of your story without addressing the fact that, "Oh...there was a massive alien invasion last week! Oh well, at least I'm in love!" Hehehe, no...that's not how that works. This is where a writer has to get into world building, problems, solutions to those problems, tension, despair...you're getting into the thickness of the weeds now. I don't think you're going to really be able to effectively tell that story in ten thousand words or less. And if you CAN...please teach me how! Because I'd love to know!
    Subplots And Side Characters - We're spreading even further out at this point...introducing new characters, each one with a history, a plot line, and a motivation of their own. The moment you begin traveling down this rabbit hole, then I think an entire series is necessary. Not just a super long story, but a variety of chapters that have to be expertly woven into your main narrative and given significance to the point where there are many branches of different stories and characters and interpretations can be made to orbit waaaaay out from that original 'boy meets boy' idea! Don't get me wrong, you can, and in fact SHOULD, still have that be the main focus of your story...but you're dealing with a ton of other factors now. Other characters, other storylines, other conflicts and obstacles that they have to face. And all of these characters should be relevant to the larger story, so you will have to put some thought and effort into fleshing them out as well as all of the issues and characters that came before them. You maybe even TRIPLE the potential of your original idea by adding all of these elements to your story at once. That will be a LOT of writing! And you will need a LOT more time to get it done! You are entering Marvel/DC, Star Wars, Matrix, Lord Of The Rings, territory now. And the most important thing to remember at this level is...you're going to have to wrap every last one of these stories up at some point in time! So don't overwhelm yourself. Every loose end that's left to dangle is a sign of 'not-so-great' writing on your part. I've done it myself plenty of times. But I get better at it every time I jump back in to attack it again.
    Missile Launch - You know how you see those computer screens in movies where they have the nuclear missile launch all over the world? Hehehe, that's sort of how I see this part of the next expansion in storytelling. Like I said in the last level...all of those stories that you built up and invested so much time and energy into...well, they need conclusion now. You may have one MAIN story, but now you've got an entire swarm of side stories orbiting around it, and woven into the very fabric of what it is. So now, the big challenge is finishing all of those stories off in an effective way that will still keep them connected to the point of the whole project. I call it the missile launch because of all of those lines on that screen...where the missile takes off, makes an arc, and then hits the target. Boom! If you've reached this point in the scope of your project, that's exactly what you want. Not just for your protagonist...but for all of the characters that you've created to support and interact with that protagonist. Maybe the father accepts the fact that his son is gay after being so homophobic in the beginning. Maybe the main character comes out to his best friend. Maybe the biggest coward on the team finds the courage to make the ultimate sacrifice. Maybe the angry vigilante decides not to kill his enemy for once and spares his life. All of your story arcs come to fruition in this phase of storytelling, one by one, and you give them the kind of importance and substance and gravity that they deserve. Treat your characters like big name actors when you're writing. "What? I came here just to be an extra, and I don't get my big moment?" Hehehe! Give them their big moment. Spread those moments out however you like, but take pride in having them be a part of your story and display their significance for all to see. Every last one of them. It means more writing, and a larger scope of story, but it'll read better. And your audience will applaud you for it.
    Change - The idea of 'change' is sort of the denouement of the process of writing a full length series or a multi chapter novel. It's more than just a 'happily ever after' type of scenario...this is a broader view and a summary of what has changed from the beginning of your story and the end. Where did your characters start from? What have they been through since then? More importantly, how has the situation of the people and the places and the environment changed around them since the beginning of their journey? Even if only from their perspective alone. I think this is VERY important when it comes to seeing a larger story to completion, as it brings light and detail to whether or not the rest of the journey was worth it. This is your opportunity to display what has changed with your characters or their situation or their interaction with one another or with others. This is when you get to truly celebrate the many hurdles that your protagonist had to jump or how many hardships he had to overcome in order to reach this point. This is, in my opinion, how you effectively reach your 'happily ever after' moment. You can't just cut off your story with a triumph and not set up a hint of continuation for the 'story' once the 'plot' is over. Hehehe, that's just rude! I'm not talking about setting up a sequel or anything...just something to say, "And then they got hit by a bus the next day and they were never heard from again." Do you not know the purpose of the 'happily ever after' trope? Hehehe! Let your readers know that, even though this is the end of this plot, the story goes on. The rest is up to your imagination.
    So...take another look at this weird 'Comsie Diagram'!
     
    Do you see how it works? Small story. Simple approach. Just two characters. And as you add different elements into your narrative...the scope of your story increases. It gets bigger and bigger and more complex...needing more attention and time and energy to fully realize its potential. And you need to sort of find a way to gauge how big or how contained you can keep it, depending on your own style of writing and how you view the story itself. It matters. The more you add, the more you write. The more you write, the longer it takes to pull it off. Keep that in mind, and set conscious limits for yourself when thinking of what you want to put out there.
    ::Giggles:: Like I said, I am still struggling with this delicate balance myself, but if I find out any other tricks of the trade along the way, I'll be sure to come back and share them with you all! Sometimes, my ideas are way too big for a short story...and sometimes my shorter stories aren't enough to satisfy. But I'm learning. So feel free to learn with me. K?
    I hope this helps! Take care! And I'll seezya soon with more! If it's one thing that I LOVE...it's talking about writing! So expect more soon! ((Hugz))
     
  21. Comicality

    Earn Your Moments

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    I can remember a time when this particular term didn't make much sense to me at all. 'Earn your moments'. What does that even mean. I wanted to have a special moment in my story, or my comic book, or my TV show, or my movie...I put it in there...and then you have people out there who are like, "I don't really feel like they earned that moment." Well WTF is that supposed to mean?
    It's been years and years of trial and error, obstacles and challenges, triumphs and failures...and I believe that I'm starting to understand it. Or I'm at least breaching the surface. So, please allow me to share what I've learned with you guys, and maybe act as some kind of a light in the fog of this whole idea.
    'Earning' our moments as writers. Let's give it a go.
    I truly believe that the very idea of earning much of anything is perceived by how hard someone had to work to get it, and the moments in our characters' lives aren't all that different. You can't just decide that you want something one day...and then go out and get it. Mission accomplished, yes...but does it make for a good story? There really isn't anything to tell. If I was just independently wealthy, and I was out shopping and saw a brand new bicycle in the mall that I thought looked really cool and might help me get out more and get some exercise...so I went in and bought it? Well...ok. But where is the 'story' in that action? Where's the journey? What are my obstacles? They don't exist. I wanted it and I bought it. It might make me happy...but it isn't necessarily a story that I would tell at parties.
    So, how can you take something like that and earn the moment of purchasing that bike in a way that would make it special and engaging for your readers?
    What if you had a little kid who sees the bike in a store window? He doesn't have a job or a steady income, and his parents are dealing with rent and bills and can't afford it. Trying to go out and nickel and dime his way towards a brand new bike would take forever, but he really REALLY wants that bike! What does he do? How does he get it? How does he begin his journey, and what setbacks will he face along the way? NOW you have a story! That's something that your audience can invest their time and emotion into, rooting for your protagonist as he struggles to win the ultimate prize. So when he finally gets the money he needs and runs into the store all hyper and full of joy...buying the bike becomes an exhilarating experience that your readers can share in and truly enjoy. It tugs on the heartstrings, and it's relevant to something that most of us have all felt before in our lives. Often multiple times. Reaping the rewards of what you've worked so hard to achieve is a joy that some people have never known before. Let them feel the beauty in it.
    Another way that you could go...
    Maybe I went in and decided to buy the bike on the whim, and I had plenty of cash to spare...but my goal was to actually start riding it around the neighborhood every morning until I lose weight before the end of the Summer. And I start out the first day, and come home all tired and sore, and fall asleep on the couch. The next morning my alarm goes off and I just turn it off. Fuck that, I hurt all over. So the bike sits in the garage for a week before I decide to try again. Maybe I make excuses because I don't feel like doing it, or I'm never going to make it in the time I have left, or I pig out at a family barbecue, or it's raining outside, whatever. BUT...eventually, determination sets in, and I begin to think, "I'm not going to let this beat me!" And I start getting up every day whether I go riding or not. Then the rides get longer and further away from home. Then I start getting faster. Suddenly, the clothes that I used to wear begin to fit a bit differently. I get on the scale and it's less than it was yesterday, creating more momentum for me to keep going. And there's your story. A compelling story. One that inspires confidence, persistence, and a cheering crowd of readers that are looking for the protagonist to triumph in the long run. So when you reach your big moment, the gravitas that goes along with it carries much more weight. That winning moment has officially been earned by the writer and the characters in his or her story.
    The key to pulling this off in your work is by firmly defining a 'goal' early on in your project. What is your character's motivation? Where are they trying to go? And what is their current plan for getting there? This is absolutely essential when it comes to earning your moments, because it will feel like your main character's journey is simply wandering around aimlessly without any real purpose or direction at all. This can sometimes KILL all interest in a story. So be extremely careful about glossing over this step in the process. Let your reader know what your protagonist wants ahead of time, and that will allow them to follow them along on their journey. Are they any closer to achieving that goal in the middle of the story than they were at the beginning? Are they taking any steps forward, or has a recent obstacle caused them to take a few steps backwards in their progress? How are your readers going to know what is what if they don't have a clearly defined goal to look forward to in the distance? How can they determine the stakes? How are your characters going to hold their interest if they just want something and then go out and get it without any problems and opposition at all?
    These are all things to think about when crafting those beautifully romantic, brutally painful, or adrenaline packed epic battles, that you want to add to your fiction. Because if there's no real build up to it...it kind of falls flat in the end. Basically...this is the perfect time to make a mountain out of a molehill.
    As a quick example of what I'm talking about, I want to show you guys this music video. The artist is 'Matty B', who started making videos on Youtube when he was a tiny tyke, hehehe and just happened to gain a lot of attention over the years. And he's still making music to this day. Anyway, I think this is an excellent example of what I explained above. He's (obviously) the protagonist of this story, and he looks back at his younger videos with a touch of embarrassment because he couldn't dance. So...his 'goal' is to learn how. An entire story compacted into a three minute music video, and an 'earned' moment at the end. Check it out.
     
    Very simple, right? Three minutes, and an entire story arc was displayed from beginning to end. Now, how boring would that story have been if he wanted to learn how to dance, then walked into that dance studio, and they were just like, "Wow! You're a natural! We need you on our team to win the international dance finals!"? Like...what? Hehehe! In this very short story, he goes in to try to learn, but he's not really good at it at first. He quits. He'd rather save himself the humiliation and play basketball instead. But he has someone who believes in him, and she comes back to ask him to try again. And he doesn't get it right away. There are some stumbling blocks along the way...but he gets better over time, and eventually he's able to do things that he didn't think he'd be able to do before. There's a struggle and an awkwardness there that compels you to keep watching. And then, when he finally gets the steps right, it makes for a sweet little payoff at the end. That was a moment that was worked for, and therefore...a moment earned.
    You see it in movies all the time. Sometimes on a bigger level and sometimes on a smaller level, but it's there. It's Luke Skywalker finally being able to take on Darth Vader for the first time. It's getting the lift right in 'Dirty Dancing' for the first time, it's Nancy finding a way to fight back against Freddy Krueger in 'Nightmare On Elm St', it's Rocky Balboa shouting, "HEY! One more round!" These moments don't just 'happen', they actually came from somewhere. It's a product of an enthralling journey that your readers were able to be a part of. It's an interesting character fighting against the odds and making it seem possible that they can come out on top in the end. No matter what their enemies, or society, or their limitations, or life in general might throw their way. They are going to keep fighting the good fight until they either win...or simply have no more fight left to give.
    That's how moments are earned in your stories. It doesn't only apply to one genre or type of story. It applies to all of them. The idea is to bring your audience into the journey and allowing them to 'keep score' on how your main characters are doing when it comes to reaching the goal that they set out to grab a hold of from the outset. Whether it be a sweeping romance that they're looking for, a dream job or career that they want, finding a way to display their true potential, solving a particularly difficult mystery, or overcoming a great loss or heartbreak...it is the conflict that's keeping them from it that becomes the most intriguing part of any story that you're trying to tell. That's where the magic lies, so build it up. Don't be afraid to put your characters through hell every now and then when you need to get them where they need to go. Hehehe!
    I also have used this in my own stories when I'm writing. Angst and heartbreak aside, I do try to have the characters' trials and tribulations have some meaning when it comes to any of the story arcs that I'm trying to create. In my story, "Kiss Of An Angel", the character of Ariel is experiencing his very first relationship with his very first boyfriend. And this is something that is extremely difficult for him in the beginning. This is a spinoff of the "New Kid In School" series, and Ariel has a serious problem with being painfully shy, as well as a bit of a klutz whenever he gets nervous. BUT...I can't just have that be his 'trick' from chapter to chapter and no show any forward progression towards his goal of finding true love with someone that he believes is the cutest boy in the entire school. There has to be some evolution in his character over time through little baby steps where it becomes visible to the people who are reading. The people who are riding along through his journey.
    So, in "New Kid In School" and "Kiss Of Angel"...he is so bashful that he can't really make any big confessions or say anything embarrassing without asking the other person to turn around first, because he can't stand to have them looking at him while he's bearing his soul to them like that. It just became one of his unique character traits. However...later on in the "Kiss Of Angel" series...when his new boyfriend prepares to turn around so that Ariel can speak freely...Ariel decides that he wants to say it to his face instead. Without being too scared to do so. It's an affectionate moment that shows growth as well a pursuit to go even further than he ever had prior to that exact moment. And after all the build up and the expected behavior from that particular character...he earned a truly beautiful moment by changing things up and just going for it. It was a moment that would have been meaningless, in my opinion, if he treated it like it was no big deal.
    It was a gesture that didn't fall on deaf ears where my readers were concerned. They really enjoyed that. And I began to dig more deeply into the idea of earned moments, over just adding in dramatic scenes for drama's sake. It's not the same thing. And it doesn't have the same feel. The effect.
    To actually understand how hard it was for Ariel to be able to do that for the first time after failing to gain the courage to do so on many other occasions...made a much more powerful impact on the scene itself. Why? Because Ariel worked and struggled and fidgeted and fought against his greatest fears to earn it. And it paid off.
    That's where those warm fuzzy feelings come from. There's just a sense of 'justice' to it all, you know? Hehehe! And that makes the rest of us feel good about the world.
    One more example. I just want to add this here, because it's another great demonstration of my point in all this. And because it's a gay teen short film that always makes me smile. It's really sweet. But watch it all the way through, and see how the end of the film is earned by paying attention to all of the little moments that come before it.
     
    Again, a very simple story that was beautifully told, with a comedic twist (Showing that you can define your main characters' motivation without putting all of your cards on the table for people to see in the beginning), and a well earned moment at the very end. You're introduced to the protagonists, you're able to see and understand what their goal is, and there are a series of mishaps and obstacles that stand in their way...all while keeping you interested long enough to find out how it's all going to end. If this video had been ninety seconds long, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as entertaining. Not that it would have been BAD...but I think this was definitely the most entertaining way to go with this concept. And they pulled it off brilliantly.
    Bottom line...a lot of people look at the biggest moments and surprises of their story, and rush to get those thrown into their narrative without the proper build up. And because of that...I feel like some of them make for good stories...but not GREAT stories. And you want a series of GREAT stories under your belt if you're trying to create a fanbase that will keep coming back for more. Am I right?
    When it comes to earning your moments in fiction, foreshadowing is your friend. Let it build to a crescendo. Don't give your readers the instant gratification of a big payoff without making them hungry for it first. That's like an afternoon 'quickie'! Hehehe! It's not awful...but don't your readers want a little bit more? Think about it.
    When it comes to getting to the top of a mountain...some people focus on the summit. Others focus on the climb. And the climb is the interesting part of the journey. K?
    Alright, so that's my take on it all as I understand it. I hope it makes sense. I'm still learning more and more with every story I write, so who knows what I might figure out tomorrow! Hehehe! For now, though...I hope this helps. And feel free to comment below if you have any questions or think there might be something that I missed along the way.
    Seezya soon! And happy writing!
     
  22. Comicality

    Soundtrack

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    I've always been one of the biggest movie fans that you will probably ever meet in your life! Hehehe! Just let me throw that out there before I even get started! There is something about a truly engaging, cinematic, experience that makes me squeal with delight whenever I'm lucky enough to be a part of it. It's something that I really wish that I could deliver to you all with my stories as a full experience too when I'm writing. But I'm limited in that respect, unfortunately. I can't show you guys any visuals, or speed, or advanced camera angles...and I can't really provide you with an appropriate soundtrack when you're reading! I wish I could, trust me...but I can't. Maybe someday. Hehehe!
    The thing is...music really moves me. It entices and enhances my emotions in more ways than I can count. And I really wish that I could share that music with you as you read my stories, but i haven't figured out a way to do that. Hehehe...yet! But that doesn't mean that a definitive soundtrack doesn't exist when it comes to my stories. I guarantee you that it most certainly does! And it can for you as well!
    This time around, we're going to talk about how music can influence and enhance your mood, inspire new ideas, and keep you focused on your current project in ways that you may have never thought possible before. Youtube is going to become your bestest friend after this! So start hunting once you finish reading it! Hehehe!
    I'm not sure how many of you are old enough to remember when CD burners first came out, hehehe but that was something that I definitely saved up for and worked my butt off to get one! No more cassette mixtapes! There were CDs now! LOL! And I remember one of the first projects that I ever tackled was making personalized CDs for my stories! True story. I was writing stuff and listening to one song or another on repeat constantly until I couldn't stand it anymore...and then I'd take the CD out and put another one in to play something else that fit the moment. I'd have a stack of CDs next to me, and trade them in and out for 'this' scene or 'that' scene...I had a song for everything. Just to give me that cinematic experience that I was looking for while I was picturing it in my head, and hopefully translating those same feelings over to all of my readers, so that they could somehow feel the emotions that I was feeling.
    Music sets a tone for me. It always has. So when I got that first CD burner, I was obsessed with making lists of what songs I wanted to put together on one CD! I couldn't even work! I was at my job, taking notes on bits of scrap paper, like, "Omigod...and this song! And this one....and DEFINITELY this one!!!" And as soon as I came home, I started making one compilation after another for every story that I was writing. Understand...this was before MP3 lists and stuff like that. Hehehe, at least as far as I was concerned, anyway. I didn't know how to use them yet.
    Right now...I have 14 CDs dedicated to "Billy Chase", all with different songs and different moods attached. I have 6 CDs devoted to "Gone From Daylight", 3 CDs dedicated to "A Class By Himself", 2 CDs just for "Savage Moon", 3 CDs just for "My Only Escape", and many MANY more....yes, these things exist in real life! ::Giggles:: I created the to cultivate a certain mood or feeling within me that would enhance the emotions that I was trying to put on the page. It's not enough to just put my entire playlist on shuffle and get a myriad of different songs and feelings to attach to my current vibe and not really feed the emotions that I'm going for. It doesn't work for me. In fact, it works against me, if anything else.
    Today's 'Comsie Advice'? Make yourself a couple of playlists to write to! Not one, not two...but as many as you need to support the feeling that you're going for. You may think that it doesn't really make much of a difference or that the music is just background noise to help you beat the curse of absolute silence...but it's not. At least not for me. Remember...I picture all of my own stories as movies or TV shows or something with complete visuals and audio. So making a soundtrack to write to is essential for me to stay focused and to put me in a certain frame of mind. Please, allow me to show you how.
    So, now that I've mentioned these phantom CDs of mine...you might wonder what kind of songs are a part of these collections. Well, that would take waaaay too long for me to go through, but I'll try to go through the feeling of these collections to give you an idea. For example, the first CD that I ever made for my story, "Jesse-101"...it was mostly made of upbeat teen pop songs. The beginning chapters took place in a shopping mall with a bunch of cute young teen boys, and I was thinking of the kind of stuff that I used to hear when I was a teen and going to the mall with my friends. But updated. A little Justine Bieber here...a little Cody Simpson there...plus some of the teen groups that I grew up with. Hearing that music brings me right back to a lot of those nostalgic moments that I'm trying to recapture in my stories. So I have a bunch of them playing on repeat while I'm writing. I mean...do you get it?
    For stories like "Final Hour" or "My Only Escape"? I have a whole playlist full of songs that are really sad and melancholy...almost pleading for some level of acceptance. Songs of healing, of heartbreak, of sorrow. And I always arrange them in a way where there's an 'arc' of some sort, from being lost in the abyss...to finally finding hope. I have Christmas songs for stories like "Holiday Rush" or "A Home For Christmas", and I have stuff that's more fun and upbeat for anything that I want to write that's comical or cheerful or just plain 'life is awesome' music! And, naturally, I've got a ton of music for sensual, sexual, naughty moments in my stories too. Like...
     
    Hehehe, I think she's actually MASTURBATING her lady parts at the end of this song! (I love you soooooo much, Janet!) But yes...sometimes I'm writing something sexy, and this song is playing in my ears on repeat. It's like, "Yeah...that's the vibe I was going for. Right there!"
    BUT...hehehe, it's more than that! And this is where Youtube becomes the best tool in your arsenal! Let's say that you're writing fantasy, or horror, or action, science fiction? There is stuff for you there too! Like...let's say that you have a huge epic war going on in your story? There is free music on Youtube that you can listen to and loop for that! Are you writing a stealthy spy thriller, and need some tactical soldier in the shadows type of music...that's there too. Do you just want some really dark, atmospheric, music to write to for your horror story? That's there too. You can find all of these things on Youtube, open them up in another tab, and have that mood further enhanced by the music that's going in your headphones. Anytime you want them. They are at your disposal...so USE them while you're writing!
    Take your favorite movies, your favorite video games, your favorite trailers....and whatever 'mood' that you're going for...you can find it online. Usually in one hour (or sometimes TEN hour) blocks!!! Youtube search is your friend! Are you a gamer? And you want the score to "Silent Hill", or "Resident Evil", or "Hitman"? Those soundtracks are available online right now! If you need some intense 'chase music'...you can literally type in 'chase music instrumental', and get an entire collection full of instrumentals that can hype you up and play on repeat while you're writing. Movie trailers that you like? Want the music? Look it up! You can find them too. This is what I often use for certain scenes that I write in my stories, depending on how they fit or not. I listen to Samurai music when writing "GFD: Blade Of Shadows", and I listen to Western Cowboy music when writing "GFD: Chicldren Of Sunset". You just have to go through the websites and the songs (be sure to like and subscribe to them too, as it's sure to guarantee you more excellent material to work with in the future!), and figure out what you like and don't like.
    If you want something more atmospheric, look up 'ambient' music. Now this will put you into a giant ocean full of ambient music that will be hard to weed through to find what you're looking for. So be sure to specify when you're searching. 'Horror' ambient, 'Sci-fi' ambient, 'Suspense' ambient...try to narrow things down a bit. Ambient music will be soft background music with no lyrics or singing in it to distract you. But you can listen to it and it will put you in a really dark and sinister mood if you need it to.
    Now, if you go with words like 'hybrid', 'epic', or 'battle' music? That will give you that 'charge the fucking ENEMY' energy! Hehehe! The 'Two Steps From Hell' group is excellent at this! Hehehe so if you're writing an apocalyptic, end of the world, type battle...they truly excel at this!
    And then...you've got stuff like 'stealth' music, if you want to write an infiltrating soldier under the cover of night, type of thing. Whatever it is that you're looking for...you can find it on Youtube, open it under a new tab, right click on your laptop or mouse...and loop it to play over and over again to keep your head in that particular frame of mind and focus to help you visualize things as you describe them and type the details out in your story.
    Now, this can work for everything that you lov listening to. Maybe you have a badass Black Sabbath or Eminem or AC/DC son that you were thinking about when you were putting a certain scene together....you can use those too! I do! Most times, I think the lyrics get in the way of me working, and I end up enjoying the music more than the work itself, so I get all wrapped up and don't get anything done. Hehehe, but every once in a while, they lyrics will help me come up with just what I want to say in my story when I didn't even expect it. So those are cool too!
    Also...if you want to get 'fancy'...you can also find background ambient on Youtube as well. Like...say that you want to have two characters talking in a busy restaurant over dinner. That ambient atmosphere is there, with subtle background chatter, and clinging dishes, and all. If you want the crackle of a winter fireplace? It's there. If you want a heavy rainstorm with thunder and lightning, I guarantee you that you can find a ten hour clip of it on Youtube. So, let's say you want a conversation to take place with some smooth jazz playing in the background. Open Youtube in a separate tab, play that smooth jazz music that sets the mood for you. Then...open up ANOTHER tab...with a thunderstorm going on outside...and you can play them both at once. Again, right click and loop them both. And now you've got a rainy cafe restaurant vibe that will keep your mind focused and locked in that moment. For me, it really helps out a lot. I can see it I can hear it. I can feel it. It's like being in that world, and all I have to do is concentrate on writing what I need to write.
    You can find 'hacker' music, or fantasy 'market music'...hell, you can find ambient music that replicates the experience of being in the middle of Jurassic Park if you want. I truly suggest giving some of these a try, and just let them play while you're writing certain scenes, or just writing in general. Like I said, a lot of these can range from anywhere between one hour and ten hours of atmosphere music. If you need action, find action. If you need a sad piano playing, find that. It's all there. And you will be surprised at how much it helps you with the writing process when you find the ones that you love most.
    Give your readers that cinematic experience by experiencing it for yourself. K? It works!
    Take care, you guys! And happy writing! Enjoy!
     
  23. Comicality

    The Next Project

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    I am sure that there are a lot of people out there who will be quick to tell you that writing your first story is the hardest part of becoming an author. There is so much that is unknown, unpracticed, and an anxiety that builds up before you even get started, not to mention the horror involved with actually getting to the middle or the third act of a story that you've already put some much time and effort into already...only to wonder whether or not you're doing any of this right. It can be sooooo stressful for a new writer to deal with the challenge of penning their very first project. Believe me...I get it.
    However...speaking from personal experience...it's not the very first story that you write that causes you the most grief. In fact, it usually ends up being the second or third that ends up being the real headache. Because that first outing comes with a certain amount of excitement and discovery for a lot of writers. You sort of get into a 'zone' and are just happy to doing something that you've been dreaming about doing for (what I assume is) a long time now. It's fun, you know? Especially, if your story does well and captures a wide audience. It's exhilarating!
    But...that always leads to the inevitable question of...'what now?'
    And that can be an aggravating question for any author to ask him or herself. Whether it's your second story, your 10th story, or your 100th story. Sometimes the anxiety just sets in when you least expect it. So let's take a look at those projects that you may decide to tackle in the near future, and how to calm those negative thoughts down and pursue new projects without feeling like they're taking years off of your life, just trying to get them right. It's easier than you think.
    The first gay story that I ever wrote online was "New Kid In School". I actually typed it out in an email, did the whole thing in one night, and then sent it in to Nifty, making SURE that it would just be listed under the name Comicality, and that none of my private information would be visible to the rest of the internet. Hehehe, the internet was still pretty new to me at the time and I didn't know what to expect, exactly. But I wasn't 'out' to anybody and was afraid of being found out by my friends or family. Still, I took a chance, and that first chapter was the very first gay anything that I've ever written. That was a milestone for me. And within a few days, I found my email filling up with positive responses to my story. I was seriously flabbergasted by that! It blew my mind that people even read it, much less enjoyed it. That was both a surprise and a huge blessing for me. And I love writing and creating stories...so I wanted to keep going. So I followed up with stories like "Boy Next Door" and "Eddie And Me"...and it's not like they were bad or anything, but it was obvious that they weren't ever going to get the same kind of response as my first story did. Lord knows I tried. So, even though "New Kid" was originally written as a one time short story with the possibility for a sequel...I decided to write a second chapter to continue the story right from where I left off.
    Again...responses were all positive. And readers wanted more. Cool, right?
    The thing is...I wanted to be more than the "New Kid" guy. If that makes sense. I had so many ideas and characters and stuff that I wanted to say...but after a while, it was almost like "New Kid" was getting in the way of me being able to express myself fully. It's almost like an actor getting typecast in a role that they can't break away from. You just want some room to spread out, you know?
    So I tried more short stories, something meaningful, something cute, something that I was hoping would catch fire like that first "New Kid" chapter...but nothing really did. They didn't do poorly, but it was obvious that all of my readers were only looking for one story...and one story alone. "When are we going to get another chapter of 'New Kid In School'?" And it was around that time that I really began to realize what I was doing wrong...and by doing so, I corrected course...and that's what led to the huge variety of stories that exist on the Shack Out Back website right now.
    I kept trying to focus on "New Kid" and basically recreate it...but better. That's the biggest mistake that I could have ever made. I could try to make the boys even cuter, the sex even hotter, the stakes even higher...but none of that was going to work. I wasn't trying to build up new characters and creating a new story that could stand on its own the way the first "New Kid" did. I was simply using my first successful venture as a blueprint to repeat what I had already done before. And that kept me in a hole that I never would have been able to dig my way out of, no matter how much hard work and raw emotion I decided to pour into it. If you've written something that people love and appreciate, and you want to keep going with new projects...you need to start all over from scratch. Square one. My mistake was thinking that I could have an army of "New Kid In School" stories under my belt...but why would anyone want that? They've already read that story. And it's still running now. So why read a "New Kid" clone when they can just go read the real thing?
    The main point is that you can't really be free to create new stories and original ideas if you're constantly comparing your next project to the projects that you've done in the past. You have to sort of work to get rid of that mentality. I know that there's this burning desire to always top everything that you've done before and do it better...but it took me a long time to break that habit and understand that every story deserves to be its own entity and stand alone, without being used as a comparison to its predecessor. And realizing that helped to take a lot of the anxiety off of the table almost immediately.
    Whatever you write, however it is received by your audience...whether it be in a good way or a bad way...you have to force yourself to toss it all aside when starting your next project. Get it off of your mind. Build your new story from the ground up. Characters, dialogue, plot, theme...get back down in the dirt and act as though your last project never even existed. Treat every new story as if it was your first. It's the only way to truly clear your head and come up with something original that will (hopefully) capture that same heart and quality that your fans have come to know and love about your work in the first place. Trying to work in a state of comparison to previous works is only going to stifle in one way or another in the long run. I think this is a really important part of the writing process, personally. I was working with the idea of building on a strong foundation to build a proverbial Tower of Babylon over time...when what I really needed to do was strip myself down and build new foundations with each new story so that they could thrive and grow without having to worry about riding "New Kid's" tail the whole way. I know that it sounds weird to some of ou, and I get that...but let me tell you...once I discovered that one principle for beginning new projects with different ideas and different characters, etc...the whole site began to grow in ways that I never thought was possible.
    "A Class By Himself" was the first series to actually compete with "New Kid In School" on my site. And that's because I took "New Kid" out of my thought process completely when I began writing it. Then came other stories that were able to grab equal attention because they existed as their own property. "Billy Chase" led to "Gone From Daylight" and that led to "My Only Escape" and "On The Outside" which later led to "Jesse-101"...and once I had three or four separate stories running, each one of them being special and unique in their own individual ways...the mold had officially been broken, once and for all. Thank God!
    Now, I know that a lot of people have different methods of writing and different vibes that they like to approach in their stories, and that's cool. But for me? I really feel 'trapped' when confined to one story or genre. I write what I feel. Not in general, but in that particular moment when I'm sitting down and placing my fingers on this very keyboard. I can't write something happy if I'm not happy. I can't write something sad if I'm not sad. Not effectively, anyway. My emotions sort of guide me when I'm putting a story or a new chapter together, and I'm not good at faking it. Fiction or not...the emotion is real. You know?
    You're a writer! You have the ultimate power of creation at your fingertips! Explore the infinite space that you have at your disposal and try out a few new tricks when your muse starts tapping you on your shoulder. Why not? Tear your previous notions of story and character down to the ground, and build something new without looking back at anything you've ever written before. Free yourself from reader expectations and any desire you have to top your last story with something even more amazing. Trust me...the very fact that you finished your very first story at all will pretty much guarantee you a better project moving forward. Your vocabulary will increase, your confidence will grow, you will take chances that you might have been scared to take before. Your instinct will grow automatically with everything that you put out there. I truly believe that a writer's natural instinct is a side effect of hard work. You can't just work hard to produce it. The only way to write a GOOD story...is to start off writing a few BAD stories. It's the only way to learn. We might swallow some water while learning to swim, might skin our knees and elbows when learning to ride a bike...but this is how you earn your medals as an author. Explore the space. Start from scratch and see what you can come up with.
    Never depend on previous rewards to mean anything when it comes to your next project. Show the world what you're made of. You've got 'magic' in you! Try experimenting with different characters, or a different dynamic between characters. Maybe your first story had two guys that were crushing on one another but were wrestling with getting the courage to say the words out loud. Classic romance trope. But...maybe in your next story, the main characters start out not liking one another at all. Or maybe there's another obstacle in their path that's keeping them apart. For me...in "A Class By Himself" had a big financial gap between my protagonist and his love interest. In "On The Outside", we had an openly gay teen and a teen that was terrified of being found out, so he was deeply closeted about his feelings. There are many ways that you can play with this idea...so why not try them all. It's certain to speak to somebody out there. And if you can capture an audience with one story...they're sure to check out other stories that you've written as well. And the last thing you want is for them to go in feeling like they're reading the same story over and over again, just with different character names.
    Change up the formula a little bit, while still maintaining a recognizable writer's voice in your work. I'd like to think that, no matter what I happen to be writing, readers can always see hints of 'Comsie' in there somewhere. The voice is present...but I like to stretch out whatever talents I have so I can reach into other territories that I might not be used to tackling for whatever reason. Whether I'm writing romance, or sci fi, or horror...I want readers to still see 'me' in the text. If that makes sense.
    This is how you can try out different things and keep your options open as an author. I, for one, am constantly looking for things that I've never tried before. It's a self-challenge, I guess. But those challenges keep me racing forward instead of looking backward. I can honestly say that I don't have any real desire to recreate something else that I've done before anymore. I definitely want to finish everything that I've started and bring it to a conclusion the way I always wanted to. But I really want to avoid repeating myself if I can help it. My last big leap was trying out a full blown 'fantasy' story for the first time, called "The Plateau". I had never done one of those before because I was worried that I'd totally screw it up somehow...and I have pages and pages of notes for what I want to do with that story! It's like...it's one of those projects that gets me excited and scared at the same time. It's a part of that stripped down, start all over from scratch, vibe that I was talking about.
     
    Now that doesn't mean that I don't still LOVE "New Kid In School" or any of the stories that I've written since then! I just love having enough space to spread my arms out and know that I can take chances and risks on the type of stories that I'm already known for. I want to try something new. Maybe it'll do well, maybe it wont. But find the courage to take those risks as often as you can. You never know when you'll stumble into a niche that really suits you. If you don't have more failures under your belt than successes...then you're not taking enough chances. Spread out. Challenge yourself and see what you're really made of when it comes to new ideas. It's not about success or validation. That's not why I do it.
    I do it as a part of breaking that 'next project' anxiety wide open and reminding myself that I don't have to balance, one-footed, on what I've already accomplished before. No easy wins. I want to drain my creative well dry and see what I can come up with. Even I'll be surprised from time to time...which makes writing fun for me. Let me scrap all of that tried and true for a short while to see if I can catch a whole new audience. Stories with a different tone, theme, plot, characters, and a different style of dialogue as well as a unique perspective on life, love, and anything else that I might want to throw in there for good measure. Hehehe! Develop your instincts. No one can teach you that, you have to learn it on your own.
    The main point is...tear everything down. Treat every new story the way that it deserves to be treated. As a NEW story! Give it its own breath. Its own life. Don't worry about making it bigger or better...just make it 'different'. What is it that you haven't tried before? What do you worry most about failing at when it comes to your writing? Do THAT! Hehehe!
    Never be afraid to reinvent yourself. Take the anxiety out of trying to outdo your first big outing in the writing world. The growth and evolution is there whether you see it or not. I think you create a feeling of trust between yourself and your readers by trying a few different ideas out when the feeling sparks your inspiration. If your story does well, then awesome! You've got another mark in the 'win' column! If it doesn't go over so well...still awesome! Find out what went wrong and learn from it. What does it matter? You're just going to tear it down and start all over from scratch with the next story anyway. So you end up winning anyway. Crazy right?
    Anyway, I hope this helps you guys think about things a little bit differently when starting a new project. I realize that there are writers who really want to tell ONE story and get it out of their system, just to say that they did it. And that's cool. But...for those of you who want to keep going and write multiple stories, or try your luck with multiple genres...always remember to start with a blank slate when you go into it. Don't be intimidated by the idea of breaking your old formula, and don't try to copy and paste a formula that you've used before in the past. Be 'present' in your work. Use your writer's voice to express itself without guidance. What you end up with is a story that is familiar enough to entertain your audience, and yet it will still be different enough to give them something new and unique at the same time. It'll work. Promise.
    Happy writing, you uys! And I'll seezya soon!
  24. Comicality

    Write What You Know

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    I know you guys have heard it before. It's been said time and time again to every writer who's ever taken a class, read a book, or watched a video, on writing before. They all say, 'write what you know', and it is assumed that you can't go wrong as long as you stay in that comfortable little pocket and don't stray too far away from it. It sounds like it makes perfect sense, doesn't it? At the most...you'll have to do a little research on your own to get the terminology, the facts, and the details right. It makes for a believable story, and anyone who has been in that same situation or has worked in that profession will be able to relate, because you're coming from a genuine place and telling your truth.
    Well...the real question is how do you write what you know into a good story? That seems to be the part that a lot of these lessons seem to skip. Don't ever think that something like that can't go wrong, because I assure you...it most certainly can. Writing what you know can add an extra sense of knowledge and credibility to a project, sure. But without the proper finesse and careful weaving of your personal knowledge into a story, it can also create a total disconnect between you and your audience...and that's never a good thing. Always remember that every second that your readers spend getting detached from your story and its characters...it takes them three seconds to get back. Keeping them at arms length will only result in confusion and possible boredom. You don't want that. It's the whole reason that 'Layman's terms' exist. Hehehe!
    So, let's spend some time talking about the deeper meaning behind writing what you know, shall we?
    One of my personal guilty pleasures, movie wise...is "The Fast And The Furious" flicks! Hehehe, it's true! As ridiculous as they've gotten over time, I can't NOT watch the newest sequel when it comes out. I love them. Here's the thing, though...the new chapters of the "F & F" saga are pretty simple. Fast cars, guns, explosions, women in bikinis dancing for no reason, and some martial arts thrown in for good measure. And they've become increasingly popular over time. They're pretty accessible to any and all audiences. Hollywood knows how to use that formula to make a great deal of money whenever they want to cash a rather large check at the bank. Way it goes.
    However, I remember when the first two or three chapters came out. And they were definitely entertaining in their own way, and were still sticking to that same basic formula...but you want to know what was different about that first movie as opposed to the last one? You can tell that it was written by someone (Or multiple people) that were enthusiasts who had a deep passion for automobiles. If you go back and watch it again, you can almost feel it. Right down to the bone.
     
    Watching that scene, you can tell that it was crafted by someone who has a real knowledge of cars, engines, racing, and the whole culture and brotherhood surrounding it. Which is very cool! It makes you feel like you're a part of it, you know? So that's an awesome way to bring your love of a certain field, subject, or passion, into a story...
    ...For a while.
    Now, some of you guys and gals out there might be car enthusiasts and auto mechanics yourselves...but if not...when they lifted up that hood and was talking about the fuel systems and the Nos and engine...did you understand any of that? Hehehe! I didn't. It sounded cool as shit, but I could never look at an engine and break it down like that. No way. Ask me about writing gay romance stories online and I can go on, non-stop, for hours at a time. But cars? My knowledge is extremely basic at best.
    Here's the thing...the people who put that scene together were bringing their particular expertise to that scene, and they made it amazing. It was done in a way where other auto enthusiasts could relate and get excited about what was happening, and yet people who know nothing about cars felt as though they were included in the fun of it all anyway. So high fives for working that out in such a masterful way. But remember...that was just a scene from the movie. But can you imagine if that was the whole movie? Like...if it was all mechanics and tech talk from beginning to end? What would that do to their audience?
    It would narrow it down. Considerably.
    The key to being able to write what you know and about what you love is being aware of your audience to a degree where you understand that your niche may not be their niche. If it's something specific to you and you want to weave it into your story, then I think that's great. But, again...you don't want to alienate a majority of your readers by getting too technical for too long. Not everybody knows how to fix a car engine, not everybody knows tactical military strategy, not everybody knows the ins and outs of complex heart surgery. It's awesome to display your knowledge for a subject and appeal to others who know the same terminology and have the same nuance and experience that you do, but don't forget that you're writing for a broad audience with a wider variety of interests that might not include your one special 'thing'. I'm not saying that you should cater to that audience or aim for the lowest common denominator with your writing. I'm just putting it out there that this is something that every author should keep in mind when they're putting their project together. No matter what you write or who your characters are...you always want to keep your audience connected, fully engaged, and absorbent to whatever information that you're feeding to them at all times.
    I think it's a good practice to center in on the emotion of any given scene first, and then let the specific details leak in to support that emotion to create a more three dimensional picture. The reason why I say that is because emotions grab almost everybody in a similar fashion. Using that "Fast & Furious" example again...you may not know the intricate parts of what makes an engine run or how looking under the hood of one car or another can be all that different, seeing as you don't know what's going on in there. BUT...you know what 'excitement' is. You know what pride, and competition, and respect is. THAT is what is being displayed in that scene. That's what makes it work. I have no clue as to what kind of engine that car is running on...but I know that when he lifted that hood, everybody gasped and gathered around to marvel at it. So my brain is puzzled, but my heart is telling me, "This must be BADASS to get people 'in the know' to react like that!" So I get excited too, you know?
    It's all about how you make your readers feel when you're writing. Take your particular knowledge and expertise, and find ways to weave it into the plot and deeper emotion of your story so that your audience can play too...even if they don't have as deep an understanding of the subject matter as you do. Bring them in. Allow them to explore the same space. You can get a much better reaction from their emotions than you can with a bunch of expert technical jargon. Write what you know, but be mindful of what your audience knows and doesn't know, going in. It's always a team effort...writer and reader. This is a two man sport.
    To give another example of this, I want to display a clip that comes from an older movie called "Hackers". Obviously...computer hacking is nowhere NEAR being this fun! LOL! I don't even know why anyone would spend the time doing it, to be honest. But, then again, I don't have the skill or the patience to even begin to pull off what some people can with a laptop and a few random passwords, so I doubt I'll ever be in that camp of expert hackers who might watch a film like this and really get a thrill out of it. However, what this movie did was use music and visuals and a variety of other tricks to make this scene look action packed and exciting...when really it would just be somebody sitting at a desk, typing code on a computer screen, trying to figure out how things work through hours and hours of trial and error, and maybe getting an occasional breakthrough every once in a while. Now, to a computer hacker...that's a RUSH for them! And if you happen to be a computer hacker reading that story or watching this movie, you're seeing things and getting all jazzed up over stuff that I simply can't understand. But...for those who aren't computer hackers and are just average movie goers looking to see a cool flick on the weekend, this scene was spiced up and injected with a heavy dose of that Generation X adrenaline that the 90's was known for. Hehehe, check it out.
     
    Do you see what I mean? What is probably countless boring hours sitting at a keyboard, eating chips and hardly doing anything at all...has now been made to look like a digital fist fight on camera! The graphics, and the music, and the speed...it brings in the entire audience. What would that scene have been if it was just five minutes worth of tech talk that nobody other than computer security experts could truly comprehend? People would have checked out halfway through...and then your story has to work harder to bring them back in.
    I think the secret to writing a really good story is to have the plot do as little 'heavy lifting' as possible. Bring the readers in and have them lift with you. They should be working with you. If you lose them and then have to go through the process of dragging them back into their literary engagement...a lot of your genius prose is going to end up falling on deaf ears. It's like wasting gas on an extremely off road detour, just to get back to the main highway. Writing what you know can be a bonus...but it can also act as a distraction. Finding a fair balance between the two will ultimately enhance your story and increase its appeal to all audiences instead of a select few.
    Lock down the feelings and the emotions that come with your knowledge. The emotion is where you're going to grab your readers and hold them captive from scene to scene. Everybody doesn't get excited by figuring out computer puzzles. Everybody doesn't hear the intricacies of Jimi Hendrix playing the electric guitar, or understand the difficulty of Eminem's rhyme structure, or can tell the make and model of a gun simply by looking at it or hearing it being fired from a distance. If YOU can do that, and want to add that into your story for a more authentic feel and a realistic take on whatever tale it is that you're trying to tell...then awesome. Go for it. But always remember to do it with a balance, and keep it in mind that not everybody is going to know what you're talking about. That doesn't mean that you can't be specific and add fine details where you feel they're necessary. It just means that, if you're looking to appeal to a wider audience, don't give them enough 'show off' knowledge that will allow them to disconnect from what you're doing with the story itself.
    Remember...for every second that the spend detached from your plot and characters...it takes three seconds to get them back on task. And two or three paragraphs about seeding the ground for farming, solving advanced mathematical equations, or fixing a septic tank...can add up to a LOT of seconds! Hehehe! Add a scene or two, but trade some of that technical jargon in with the emotion surrounding the technical jargon. That's the way to get the best of both worlds. At least, that's my opinion.
    Writing what you know is so much fun, and it allows you to share a personal piece of yourself with the world that you can feel proud of. The key is just to remember that 'the world' is still out there, and they want to play too. They want to be involved. They want to be engaged. And you don't have time to explain everything to them after they've already started reading your work. A big part of being a popular writer is making your work accessible to a variety of different people from all walks of life. Younger, older, male, female, gay, straight...the more you tap into the core emotions of any given situation, the more people you will be able to connect to and hold still...even when dealing with subjects that they don't really have any previous experience with.
    If you're a part of the LGBTQ community...think about this. How many heterosexual romantic comedies have you seen in your lifetime? They may not speak to your attraction directly...but you understand the emotion behind it, right? You might only like men...but you get "Sleeping In Seattle", or "Pretty Woman", or "The Notebook", or any one of a million other movies about a boy meeting a girl and falling in love. Not because you share the attraction...but because those movies tapped into the emotional part of that situation, and the details were added to enhance the picture. The emotion is what we all latch on to, whether we feel the same way or not. Keep that in your heart and mind...and you can write about anything and still draw an audience. It's liberating. It really is.
    Anyway, I hope this helps a bit! Keep writing, and keep expressing your hearts the best way that you know how. You never stop learning new techniques. I'm still learning new ones all the time myself. But, if I can leave a few breadcrumbs for the next big author to pick up and rise up to reach their full potential in the future...then I'm blessed! Hehehe, it'll give me some good shit to read later!
    Take care! And I'll seezya soon with more! Love you lots! And Happy writing!
  25. Comicality

    Word Connotations

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    One of the things that I regret from years ago was my complete inability to understand the language barrier or even the casual slang that people used in their emails or comments when giving me feedback to the newest chapters of stories that I put online. Hehehe, so my apologies if I misunderstood certain phrases or expressions of personal wit and took it as an insult or a criticism. Trust me, I don't do that anymore.
    Weird, right??? Comsie matured? Say it ain't so, Joe! LOL!
    Well...not by much, I assure you! But a little, yes.
    But there were people from overseas that would refer to certain parts of a story as being 'stupid' or 'lazy', and I used to take those as harsh comments, even if the rest of the feedback was mostly positive. It wasn't until later that I understood that some of these were common words used to describe certain things that were meant to be complimentary more than anything else. And I began communicating more with people from Korea, and Russia, and South Africa, and Brazil...and our communications are so different. It's crazy! It took some getting used to...but I think I've got a much better handle on it now. And I kinda feel bad for taking offense earlier for such petty things. Ugh! I suck for that!
    But, that's just a build up to something that I want to talk about here when it comes to our writing. Because where my earlier misunderstandings once lied...there are many more landmines placed for your readers to suddenly trip over when reading your story from beginning to end. Word usage is a huge part of being an effective author. There are a lot of people that will believe that words are just words, and the message will be conveyed the same way, no matter how you say them. But, I'm here to tell you that this couldn't be further from the truth.
    The words that you use have a HUGE impact on how your current emotion, tone, and theme, is received by the people who are reading your work. Don't doubt it for a single second...it's the truth.
    Sexually speaking, there is a major difference between saying...
    "I slid into his narrow opening, feeling it tighten up around my erection as this young beauty presented himself to me, wanting more."
    And saying...
    "I shoved it into his supple body, his ass clutching my cock in a vice grip as this sexy twink slut begged me to go deeper."
    Same action, same scenario...but the mood is different. The feeling is different. There's nothing wrong with either one of those expressions...but you can't deny that they have a completely different vibe to them. No matter what it is that you're writing, the words you use to describe what's happening in your story have a major impact in how someone reads it. So it's something to think about when trying to gain attention from a particular fanbase or market your stuff to a certain demographic.
    So...today, let's talk about word connotation...and how to keep it consistent throughout your story so as not to send out mixed messages.
    I won't lie...this took me a few years worth of practice before I could find my own particular rhythm when it came to this sort of thing. And that's normal. So no regrets. I chalk it up to being a very helpful learning experience for those first few years of me figuring things out on my own.
    For instance...I don't really use the word 'cock' in my stories anymore. I just don't. I've reached a point where it almost sounds a bit vulgar to me when it comes to the kind of stories that I write, personally. Romance and love and a bashful kid kissing his dream boy for the very first time? It feels a little off-tone to then say, "And then he shoved his hot COCK in my mouth!" Hehehe, my apologies if the language caught you guys off guard, but that's kind of the point of this article. Words matter! People are reading. And your poetic and lovely romance can turn into hardcore porn in an instant if you're not paying attention to your word usage. It's something that can drastically change the tone of your whole narrative and put your audience in an entirely different place from where they started. And that's how some really good stories end up slipping between the cracks, where neither side is going to end up being really satisfied with what you're putting out there.
    Is this a super hot story that I can jack off to and explode in the next few minutes? Or is this a romantic character driven story that I can follow and engage myself in over the next few weeks? Instant gratification versus emotional investment. Some people don't know which is which. You either get people skipping the sex to get back to the story, or skipping the story to get back to the sex. And, believe it or not...a lot of this has to do with words you use when you're writing.
    I learned a lot about my own writing when I went back to re-edit and update older chapters to match some of the current chapters that I was writing, and I was truly amazed by how different the feeling was between my most recent stories and the horny, sexually frustrated, stories that I started out with. Hehehe! It was like night and day. That's not to say that I regret those older chapters or how they were written. That's what I was feeling, and it was perfect for what I needed them to be at that time. But, now that I'm finishing up a lot of my long running series...my biggest worry is that they'll come off as inconsistent as a whole project. And that brings us to rule number one...be consistent.
    If you want to write a sex story...cool! Write a sex story. If you want to write a romance story...also cool. Write a romance story. But word usage is key if you're looking to maintain that particular mood throughout...beginning to end. There's nothing wrong in burning up some built up hormonal fury by writing a story about throbbing cocks, tight assholes, sucking, swallowing, and sweaty sexual encounters in an empty college dorm room during a party. If that's what you're shooting for, then use words that will paint that picture and give your readers that particular form of excitement. That's not really a place for rainbows and puppy dogs. You're in an entirely different lane of traffic now. (The fast lane, to be specific) However...if you're looking to create a love story, concerning matters of the heart, passion, fear, doubt, and warm and fuzzy feelings for your protagonist and his love interest...then you need to stay in that lane and maybe slow things down a bit. Avoid a bit of the hardcore language, and try to use phrases and descriptions that are more 'beautiful' than they are 'hot'. There's a difference.
    Create a little online thesaurus for yourself if you have to. Look at all of the words that you might use for a sexual experience...and put the into two different categories, based on how they make you feel when you read them. Read other people's stories to see if you can figure out the difference. If words like cock, phallus, member, or erection, make you think more of online porn? Put that in column A. If words like manhood, shaft, hardness, or length, feel like they take a bit of the 'sting' off and can be used for more romantic stories? Put them in column B. Revise from time to time if necessary. The point is to develop an instinct for how words work and how they affect you. Chances are...they are affecting your readers the same way.
    The best example I can offer you comes in the form of two stories that I wrote, a few years apart. New Kid In School was not only the first gay teen story that I wrote online...but it was the first gay story that I had written ever. And if you read that first chapter now, you can probably see how different it feels from something that I might have just written a few days/weeks/months ago. I still love it, and it will always have a very special place in my heart, but it's clear that my word usage isn't the same now that it was back then.
    Skip ahead a few years, when I was a bit more settled into my craft and learning the lessons that I needed to learn to create something a bit more nuanced and complex...you can read the story, "Ryan's Heart"...which is that same first chapter, but written from 'Ryan's' point of view. Go through and see how the word usage is different. How some things are better off 'suggested' instead of written out. Does it 'feel' different? Do you feel different when you're reading it?
    I have no idea what my word count is on GayAuthors at this point, but I know it's in the millions somewhere...and I've developed some of the weirdest gut instincts about the way I phrase certain things! Hehehe but they work. I stand by them. You see, this doesn't just apply to sexual matters. It works for everything you write. Our connection to words is more emotional than you may think. If you call somebody a rapist...does anything else they say in that sentence really matter? How do you get past the negative connotation of the word rapist? Like...wait, WHAT??? If you say that some drug addict won the marathon for breast cancer this weekend...what feeling does that give you? Mixed messages in your work come from mixed word usage. And it's really hard for me to explain, but if you go through your own work...you might see examples of your own that will stand out as being conflicted in terms of theme and tone. Being consistent is soooo important.
    Hmmm...how can I describe it...?
    Let's say that you're writing a romantic story, right? And your main character reaches down to rub the hard lump in his lover's pants. If everything has been written as a love story up until that point, and then you say, "I grabbed his crotch"...well, that could be a stumbling block for some readers. It takes them out of the moment. In terms of tone, you went from 'date night' to 'truck stop bathroom' in the matter of a single sentence. You have to pick a tone and make it your anchor. Don't try to hop back and forth between romance and porn, it rarely works. That's not to say that porn can't be sweet, and that's not to say that romance can't be naughty when you need it to be...but you need to constantly be aware of what connotation the words you use are taking on for your readers. Remember...the connection is emotional. There's a difference between making love, having sex, and fucking. And you can use either one, depending on what you're writing at that time. But make sure that everything that you're doing before and after that sensual moment matches up. Know what kind of story you're preparing to tell beforehand so you can pull this off.
    Pay attention to how certain words make you feel when you read them. This is why reading a variety of stories other than your own is so important. Find the stumbling blocks and signals in the work of your peers. It's all text...but the text has meaning. Meaning that might go much deeper than you would ever expect it to. Look at the words. The word sadness may affect you and convey a certain message...but what if we crank it up a bit? What about misery? That may give you a feeling of prolonged sadness that has lasted for quite some time. What about torture? What does seeing the word torture do to you? Agony? Heartbreak? Numbness? They all have a different feel to them. Read them, think about them and how they make you feel, and once you get a personal understanding for them...figure out how to best use these words or words like them in your own work. What about being mad? Then anger. Then fury. Then RAGE! Then LOATHING or HATRED! There are different degrees, but the words alone, as well as your audience's connection to these words, can help you create instincts to use just the right word at just the right time. And this will come in handy when trying to convey a certain potency of emotion when writing about your characters' experiences in their story.
    Does that make sense? Hehehe, I hope it does.
    Anyway, the point is finding an understanding of the building blocks that you use to create your story. Go through your own stories, go through the stories of other writers, and try to understand how certain words were just perfect in sending out the message that the story needed at that particular point in time. Why do I feel like this? Why does this description of two boys kissing for the first time make me melt and giggle this way? Why does this character's death make me want to cry so badly? Why does that one sentence make me want to angrily put my fist through a wall? Why does this description make me so HORNY? Find the emotional attachments to the words that are used to convey the strongest of your emotions...and then find ways to use them to your advantage when writing stories of your own. You can manipulate your project in ways that will get everyone to feel exactly what you feel when you wrote it, and you can trigger and pull on any emotional strings you want in order to get the feeling to leap off of the screen and truly affect your readers in a powerful way.
    Words have so much power. When you watch commercials on TV, when you watch the news, when you listen to music...you had better believe that there are people behind the scenes that are working their asses off and getting paid TONS of money to alter your perception to get you to think what they want you to think, and feel the way they want you to feel. Trust me...I've seen it. And it's frightening to witness, to be honest. Hehehe! But your words have just as much power as theirs do. So wield that weapon with caution and grace, k? With great power comes great responsibility and all that jazz.
    Take care, you guys! And I'll seezya soon with more!
     
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