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Comicality

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  1. Comicality

    Sexual Pacing

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Oh yeah, I'm bringing out the dreaded 'S' word for this one! Hehehe, calm down...take a few breaths...and smile for me, k? I won't make it too painful for you to read. Promise. Loosen up a little bit, geez.
    Now...I've been writing for over 20 years in the gay erotica genre. And thanks to Myr and the folks at GayAuthors, I KNOW that a vast majority of you guys read the sexy stuff on this site! Polls don't lie! LOL! It was something that I was actually kind of curious about, as trends change and interests vary depending on who's reading the stories on this site. But, as it turns out, sex is still just as popular now as it was when I started. So that's awesome! Hehehe! I love it! It is for me too!
    I do understand that a lot of people still have a lot of...well...I don't want to say 'hang ups', when it comes to sex...but I understand that it can be a little awkward for some people to comment on publicly. Even more awkward to write for some authors who get to the naughty parts of their story and suddenly pull all of their punches for fear of being judged for it by their peers. And, of course, there are people who just aren't interested in detailed, graphic, descriptions of sex because they just don't feel the need to. Opinions vary, I suppose. And to each their own.
    However, hehehe, when I'm in that 'sexy trance' where I want my characters to get together and strip naked...don't expect me to hold back too much. You will be getting it live and in full color. Believe me!
    And I enjoy writing those sex scenes, and allowing my past memories mix with my current fantasies to create something truly special between my main character and his love interest. I work hard to make it as hot as I possibly can, but I also try to make these scenes an emotional and erotic experience for everyone involved, and everyone reading. I want my sex scenes to be intimate. Touching. And visceral in the best possible way. I know that there are people who skip over my sex scenes, and that's cool...but I do include a lot of detailed emotional inner dialogue during these scenes as well. An experience that ties in to the rest of the story as a whole.
    In the story, "My Only Escape", the main character, Zack, is being penetrated by his dream boy...and he is a victim of horrific domestic abuse. But tied in with the sexual experience, I go out of my way to mention the contrast of being hurt and abused at home with the gentle and sensual plan of having his lover moving in and out of his most private area. The sex takes the spotlight, yes...but if you skipped over the whole thing...you might be missing some of the little intricacies of story that I throw in there to give the story a few extra layers here and there. Hehehe! Don't be afraid to be horny once in a while! It's a good thing!
    But this article isn't just about writing sex. It's about sexual pacing. It's about knowing when and where it's necessary to give a drawn out, detailed, description of it all, and when to hold back and maybe give just enough suggestive detailed info to leave it up to your reader's imagination.
    Some of you fall into one camp or the other, and that's fine. I, personally, like to dabble in both. Sometimes I just want to 'close the curtains' and mention that my two favorite boys had the afternoon of a lifetime! Hehehe! And other times? It's like...come on in and watch. They like it when you watch. But it depends on the timing and the relationship that you've built up in the story up to that point. I don't really like to make my audience wait TOO long for them to share their first kiss, their first touches, or their first sexual experience. I don't want to give them blue balls if I can help it. But...even though I will admit to loving a few hot 'quickies' from time to time, when it comes to my own writing, I'm not a fan of thrusting two cute boys into bed after the first few paragraphs either. Not unless that was an intentional plot point. But...more on that later...
    Let me begin by saying that it can be a bit intimidating for some authors, especially first time authors, to plan out and execute a sexual encounter for their story. I get it. Trust me. But...at the end of the day, you're going to have to toss that awkwardness aside. Get rid of it. At least for a little while.
    What are you afraid of? Use 'erotic fiction' as your shield for an hour or two. Don't tell me that you've never thought about all of the things that you would do to that extremely hot guy you saw at the gym, that cute boy that dresses next to you in the locker room, or that pretty model boy that you see on TV or in that new music video. You've thought about it. Hehehe! Well...hold that image in your head. What do you see? What magical scenario have you worked out in the back of your mind where you two get together in a private room and finally spend some time alone. Don't be shy! This is YOUR fantasy, right? Well...what are you seeing right now? What are you thinking about? Describe it for us. You've got an audience to entertain. You're already writing gay erotica. So...who's gonna judge you for making it even hotter than what your audience might be expecting from you?
    This is your world. You built it from scratch. What are you getting all squeamish for? Hehehe!
    Understand...this isn't my way of saying that all stories have to have super detailed sexual encounters in order to be successful or capture anyone's attention. If that's not the story that you want to tell, and prefer to simply allude to anything sexual in your project, then definitely stick to that and write your story however you want to write it. I think this is more for some of the folks that I've heard from over the years who have purposely shied away from writing anything sexual for fear of being looked down upon, judged, or were just insecure about the idea in general. Because it takes time for a lot of us to open up to sharing our sexual fantasies with complete strangers. As it should be! Hehehe! I'd like to think that we weren't whispering these things to random people on the subway or on the school bus!
    I think the first step is accepting your 'writing world' as a separate space from everything else in your every day life. Relax. You have total freedom here when it comes to your writing. Just think about "50 Shades Of Grey"! LOL! You can do whatever you want, no harm, no foul! Start off with something simple, and then dig deeper with each additional story or chapter. Get comfortable with your sexual desires. We've been taught to suppress and keep them under lock and key for so long that it takes some work and real effort to unearth them to the point where we can write about it. So don't feel like you have to rush into it. But if there's something that you really REALLY want to write about...then make that your goal and work your way up to writing that particular scene. I don't care if you want to dress up like a circus clown and have a chicken lay an egg on your face while getting a lapdance from a freshly sheered, five legged, sheep and listening to Justin Bieber remixes on repeat! Hehehe, if that's you're thing? Write about it! Why not? You're a creator of worlds when you're writing! Sky's the limit, right? You make the rules. Hehehe! Seriously...somebody out there has been waiting his whole LIFE for that story! Share it with him! Get the email, respond, and find a new friend! There might be a whole chicken egg, sheep lapdance, Bieber, community out there! LOL! Stranger things have happened.
    That being said...let's talk pacing...
    When I first started writing these stories online, I was heavily influenced by what I had already been reading online on Nifty and a few other places. To the point where I was really worried about posting a first chapter of anything without a really descriptive sex scene included. "New Kid In School", "A Class By Himself", and most other short stories...all had the boys get together and have sex in the first chapter. It wasn't until years later that I began the story, "On The Outside", where that wasn't the case. I was taking a risk, as I kind of saw the whole gay teen erotica genre as a demand to have some sort of 'payoff' before anyone would want to read any further. Understand...there were very few writers even attempting to break that mold at that time, and the few that did inspired me to start writing stories of my own. I just decided that I wanted to be one of them. So huge thanks goes out to those pioneers for giving me the courage to do what I'm doing now. They made all of this madness possible.
    The thing is...times have changed. And we kind of live in a 'swipe right' generation right now. Something that I never could have imagined when the Shack first started. Hehehe, I have to say...thank GOD I didn't have this hook up social technology when I was a teenager! Omigod...I can't even imagine what mistakes I would have made! LOL! It's fine for other people, I guess...but I know that I would have gotten myself into a lot of trouble. Dick pics and all. No thank you.
    When I'm writing, I definitely make an effort to sort of stay in my lane and write teen relationships realistically as I, personally, remember them. That doesn't mean that I was an angel when I was 14 years old or so....HELL no! Hehehe! But there's a balance that can be found in the pacing when it comes to writing stories of my own when it comes to sex. I try to really concentrate on what it was like to be a teenager, horny ALL the fucking time, and just wanting to stick my erection in ANYTHING that would stand still long enough for me to get off! That's how bad it was sometimes. ::Giggles::
    What??? I'm being honest here! See? You're still being squeamish! Climb down into the gutter with me for a few minutes! It's not so bad!
    Ok ok...let's brighten things up for a little bit. Many of you might have seen this already, but I want to share one of my all time favorite gay boy animations of all time! Top three, definitely! I can totally relate! But, getting back to the 'sexual pacing' idea for your stories...watch this, and remember what it was like to be wide eyed and excited and in love and feeling like..."I WANT HIM!!!!!!! Like NOW!!!! Like...like RIGHT now!!!"
     
    Hehehe, do you guys remember those days? Hell, you might still be going through those feelings now, no matter what age you are. Love is a hell of a drug!
    But, the thing about this animation (As CUTE as it was!), is that it shows both sides of the kind of sexual pacing that I'm talking about. Of course, there's no sex in it, but this is what I'm talking about. You've got the emotions going haywire, the desperation, the endless craving. The heart is like...I need this boy in my life right NOW! Let's go! Let's go get him!
    But...on the other hand...there's fear. There's doubt. There's public ridicule. You can't just run up and kiss him and tell him you're gay and you love him and then go off somewhere to have sex. That's not how these things work. Not when it comes to someone you really care about. There's an excitement and an urgency to chase him down...but there's also a hesitation and a fear of rejection involved. These two emotions are very powerful motivators, but they are in direct conflict with one another.
    When it comes to setting up the sexual pacing of your story...USE that. Because that conflict will be much more interesting than the lazy line of, "Wanna fuck?" I mean...if you're trying to keep the word count down to 2000 words or less, I guess it's ok. But anything more meaningful than that? You're wasting your opportunities. I'm just saying.
    Look...sex happens. No need to be afraid of it, or intimidated by it. Especially when it comes to horny teenagers, college students, or adults finding their first gay boyfriend. Don't avoid or shy away from that. If writing sex isn't your thing, that's fine. But if you're just sidelining it because you're worried about...I don't know...whatever you might be worried about...DON'T be! K? Find a balance in your story where you feel like a sexual encounter is needed, and follow your instincts.
    Don't force it if you don't want to write it. But don't hide from it just because it makes you nervous. The beauty of writing is knowing and finding confidence in the idea that this is your world, and you can make it into whatever you want it to be. Everybody else is just a visitor.
    Give them a show that they'll remember.
    Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this little dive into the gutter. Hehehe! It's kinda cool down here, don't you agree? Drop by anytime! I kinda keep my mind in the gutter most of the time anyway. So I'll be around. Happy writing!
     
  2. Comicality

    Non-Villainous Villains

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    There is a light that I truly believe shines within each and every single one of us as human beings. Whether we believe in it or share it with others...it's there. We know it. We feel it. However...the brightest of lights can cast the darkest of shadows, and sliding from one side of the spectrum to the other can be a very short trip, depending on the current circumstances. And when it comes to creating villains in your writing, being able to blur the line between 'good' and 'evil' can truly create a threatening opposition to your protagonist. One that will end up being menacing as well as he is memorable. Remember...every villain is the hero of his own story. At least the way he sees it. This is an important part of building an epic conflict between your main character's motivations and the villain's, with both sides trying to succeed in reaching their goals while beating out their opponent for the desired outcome that they've been working towards.
    In the last article, we talked about the 'Anti-Hero'. This time...let's take a bit of a stroll on the wild side of the equation. I want to talk about creating compelling, maybe even sympathetic, antagonists in your work. I think that it makes for a much more captivating narrative in the long run, personally. It connects your readers, not only to the conflict within your hero, but with your villain as well...forcing them to eventually pick a side. Eagerly waiting for one of them to do something awful to make the choice easier for them.
    Hehehe! This is something that you can play with for quite a long time if you see fit! It makes for a fun, albeit frustrating, read for a lot of people.
    The thing about villains...it's not always enough to simply make them the 'bad guy' anymore. I mean, sure...there are people who are mentally ill or have severe issues in general...and there are people who just kill people for the sake of killing people. Sad but true. But when writing your own stories, especially if it's a series told at length through multiple chapters, this can come off as lazy or uninteresting. Even when the hero and villain have already been defined as such, such black and white thinking can cause your antagonist to appear flat, cliche, and underwhelming. You want to avoid that at all costs if possible. What kind of cheering section is your main character going to have if he's going up against someone who's just...there to give him something to fight against? How long is that fascination going to last before they ultimately get bored with the idea? You need a little bit more than a maniac with a bloodlust to be your bad guy, right?
    So...how do we accomplish this?
    For starters...let's take a second to take the roles of your protagonist and your antagonist...and reverse their points of view. This is a surefire way to begin figuring out why your villain doesn't exactly feel as fleshed out as they should be. Imagine this...
    A guy has gone out of his way to infiltrate a gathering of elites in a skyscraper party on the top floor. He passed all the security checkpoints, went through the trouble of falsifying a badge and an invitation, and when he gets to the party, he blends in with the other patrons, hoping to get close enough to put a bullet in the head of the billionaire who happens to be hosting the gala. Now, your protagonist is there to protect said billionaire, and he dives in to take on the assassin and save the day! Your readers have spent the better part of your story with your protagonist, and so it's assumed that they know his motivations and reasons for trying to thwart the attempt on his client's life. Right?
    Ok...now, imagine what this story would look like from your villain's point of view.
    Why did he do that? He can't just be some two dimensional nutcase, right? It's not like he's some screwball stabbing people on the street at random, right? I mean, that guy needs to be stopped too! Hehehe, but that's not the main villainous psychopath of your story, is it? Try to see his actions through his point of view...even if you don't reveal his motivations until later in the story. Why would he do that? It can't be that he's just crazy or evil. He planned this. He got dressed up for it to blend in. Found the time and place. Infiltrated security. Brought a weapon with him. Found a way to select a specific target, and made his way through the crowd to execute his plan to perfection until your protagonist stopped him. Well...a LOT of thought had to go into that ahead of time. In your villain's mind...your protagonist is the villain from his point of view. So...what happened there? What would make someone go through all of that trouble to commit such a dastardly crime? He's NOT just crazy. He's not just a bad apple that fell from the tree. What was his motivation? What pushed him over the edge? What events came before this murder attempt that led to this particular moment?
    If you don't have definitive answers to these questions already floating around in your head while you're writing...then your main villain needs work. He'll become forgettable, uninteresting, and virtually unnecessary in the scheme of things...because your main character doesn't have a viable threat to fight against. It will cut fifty percent of the tension out of their conflict, and that will weaken your story structure in the long run.
    This all comes down to MOTIVATIONS. Why are these people doing what they're doing right now? Both your protagonist and his rival should have strong and well defined motivations that make sense and appeal to your readers, even if they are in direct conflict with one another. Each character thinks of themselves as the hero, and their opposition as the villain. If you can pull that dynamic off in your writing...you can create some of the most amazing and compelling villains ever! Thanos, King Kong, Dr. Frankenstein...they all have certain relatable intentions that readers can identify and relate to...even if they never go quite that far with their pursuit of it. This is how you can create a 'non-villainous villain'...and it works. Believe me.
    The most engaging and captivating part of getting to know the villain in your story is figuring out where he came from. What happened to send this person down such a dark path? Or...at least a dark path from the protagonist's point of view? (As well as your readers'.) This is where a competent backstory for your characters can really come in handy. Remember...the BEST villains, the ones you remember most...came from somewhere. You get to see the change in them along the way. You get to find out where they decide that their evil deeds are necessary in order for them to survive or accomplish their ultimate goals. If you ask me...there is nothing more terrifying than a villain who can't be reasoned or bargained with because they truly believe that their cause trumps any and all compromise. Even if it's a crazed serial killer stabbing me with a butcher knife, and crying and apologizing, like, "I'm sorry...but if I don't do this...the voices in my head won't stop!" That's a horrifying concept in itself! Yikes! But it actually builds bridges between your antagonist and your readers...and, if done with the right amount of finesse...creates a serious conflict within them as well. Because they get a glimpse into the villain as a somewhat normal person who just so happened to wander off of the civil path. Instead of embracing that 'light' that I talked about earlier...they found more comfort in the darkness instead.
    When I talk about this sort of thing, I'm brought back to the same principle that I used in previous articles. Pain, fear, heroism, and villainy...all come back to the same two categories. Justice, and injustice. These factors greatly influence the ways that your readers see the characters that you use to populate your writing projects. So learn how to wield those ideas as weapons when setting up whatever plot you have in mind for the two to inevitably face off against one another. Because there are a lot of major villains that really started out as good people. People who just wanted to do the right thing, and have enough faith that other people would do the same. But that's not always the case, is it? We wait, and we struggle, and we swallow our emotions whole, and we fight off those dark shadows for as long as humanly possible, because we KNOW right from wrong! But...
    Eventually, something crosses the line...and we're left with nothing but sadness, pain, disgust, and rage! When you experience this in a well told story, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing the origin of an iconic villain! Hehehe! You just kind of shrug your shoulders and think, "Those assholes DESERVED it!" I mean...it's not like he didn't try to stay a good guy, right? He really did!
    I want you to take a quick look at the videos below....
    In the first, while "Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones" is probably one of the slowest of the prequel trilogy, it definitely has its high points. One of them being a young Darth Vader who was trying to keep himself under control but was pushed beyond his limits and ended up doing something seriously evil! The deed was evil, but he wasn't. (At least...not yet) The second clip was taken from the "Gotham" series, where we got to meet a young teenage 'Joker' for the first time. I, personally, think Cameron Monaghan was one of the best live action representations of the Joker ever put on screen! Hehehe! He fits right in the middle between Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger! His portrayal on that show was phenomenal! But again...this was a character that was pushed over the edge by his circumstances, and ended up becoming something that the world wasn't ready to deal with later on. That brings us to the third video...another one of the most iconic villains of all time, Magneto from the "X-Men" comics and movies. A Holocaust survivor who discovered his powers during times of extreme stress and anguish, but was still just a boy and didn't know how to control them yet. The man who brought him in tried to force him to move a metal coin with his powers...or he's going to kill his mother on the count of three. An innocent child, who had no criminal or sinister plans at all...suddenly transforms into the X-Men's greatest enemy for future battles that will ultimately cause a lot of damage and death along the way.
    For all three of these clips...imagine what could have been if these iconic characters hadn't been driven to this painful extreme. Keep that idea in mind...and enjoy...
     
    0000 To paraphrase an old saying...'I love my enemies...because I made them.'
    In those examples above, I believe that we get to the root of a lot of fictional villains who end up being memorable parts of many classic stories. A villain with a purpose, and a clear motivation, and a goal that they feel is worth fighting for. Even if it means severe damage on sacrifice on his part as well as the lives of many others who stand in the way. Your writing should explore a bit of both sides, even if you have clearly chosen a side as the author. Never be afraid to give your readers something to think about. In the clips above...what would you have done in those particular moments? How would you react? What murderous action would seem 'justified' to you? Think about it...hold on to that idea...NOW, write your villain with that in mind! Emotion and all!
    One story that I've written where I really play around with this concept is a werewolf based story called "Savage Moon", where the main character (My protagonist) isn't meant to be a villain at all. But the whole theme of the story is the idea of being seduced into evil without even knowing. It's about temptation and acceptance and how easy it is to be corrupted when everything that is supposedly so 'bad' is actually working in your favor. The main character, Wesley, is a teenager living with his parents, his father is a preacher in the local church, his little brother is the perfect example of sweetness and joy for the parents, as well as being the baby of the family...and Wesley is the one who feels left out. Alone. He's gay and in the closet, the teenager, the rebel who gets blamed for everything. And he meets up with a group of other teens like himself who show him freedom, tolerance, and embrace him as family...where his real family falls short. You'll have to read it to see where THAT goes! Hehehe! But, evil isn't something that you're born with or without. It's a constant struggle. The light and the shadow. And it's human nature to follow the path of least resistance, sometimes. This is where yourbest villain ideas can be found.
    From a reader's standpoint...nobody wants to think of themselves as being evil or irredeemable. This idea will (even if only subconsciously) disconnect them from your antagonist. They won't want to relate to someone who is just an asshole for the sake of being an asshole. Nobody wants to be that person. BUT...if you can give your main villain a motivation that makes sense, even if they are going to evil extremes to reach those goals...your audience will feel a bit more in tune with what the villain is trying to accomplish. Even if they don't agree with their methods of getting it done. It creates a bridge of understanding that doesn't exist when it's just somebody who's a psycho and wants people to feel pain because he likes it.
    Again...there are stories out there that are like that, and some of them are awesome. But I prefer to add a little complexity to my antagonist's motivations wherever and whenever I can.
    Something that I also want to stress before I wrap this up...is that when I use the term 'villain', I'm not just talking in comic book terms. K? This works in all genres of fiction. No matter what you're writing or how you're writing it, the concept of there being a villain present still exists. For fans of my "New Kid In School" series, you might remember that there was a time when 'Tyler' was the villain of that story. But as the chapters progressed, I allowed people to have a glimpse into his life as a human being, and his motivations and reasoning became more clear. Something that eventually made him a hero in the series over time. When I say that a character is a villain, it simply means that it's someone who has goals and a driving motivation that directly conflicts with the main character of the story. Nothing more.
    Sometimes, good people do bad things. And vice versa. It depends on how well you set up the situations surrounding them. What creates a so-called villain? Past trauma, maybe? Heartbreak? Bullying? A feeling of powerlessness? A major tragedy? Sometimes villains aren't really villains at all...except for the fact that they've allowed a sense of desperation and fury dictate their current actions, and therefore have to be stopped before things go too far to ever be set right again.
    That brings us to our second short series of video clips...
    The first comes from the "Daredevil" Netflix series, where The Punisher is portrayed as one of the main villains...but here, you get some of the backstory on who he is and why he does what he does. The second clip is from "The Rock", where a general is also explaining his motivations in detail. The third clip is from the movie, "John Q", where a desperate father just wants to save his son's life by getting him a new heart. In all of these examples...you have people who have tried and tried and TRIED to do the right thing...but it just ended in tragedy. It wasn't effective enough. They couldn't get people to give enough of a shit to DO SOMETHING! And that's when desperate measures become necessary. So...they're technically villains here...but the readers can't say that they don't understand where they're coming from. Again...if it was you...what would you do?
     
    0000 So, in closing...writing villains, or maybe I should just say antagonists, in your stories...if you really want to cause a bit of emotional turmoil and mental discomfort in your readers, gluing them to the screen and getting them even further invested in your characters and your project as a whole...take whatever you find useful from this article and keep it in mind. Everybody wants to win, everybody wants to be loved, everybody wants to be the hero. But the perception of the actions they use to get them there makes all the difference.
    A sympathetic villain with relatable motives will carry you much further than just some sinister bad guy cackling at the top of a tower somewhere with lightning and thunder crashing behind him. Don't take the easy way out of this. Give your antagonists the same attention that you give your other characters in the story. Give it a try. You'll thank me for it later.
    As always, I hope this helps! Take care! And best of luck on your writing! Your masterpiece is always just around the corner! Don't ever forget that!
     
  3. Comicality

    Morally Questionable Heroes

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    What is a hero? I mean, when you think about it, it doesn't have to mean a streak of red and blue racing overhead as Superman gets to his next big disaster in the world. Sure, that's a part of all that, but a hero can a police officer, or a particularly smart detective...or it can just be a loving parent. Perhaps just a good friend. The hero is the one who's willing to make sacrifices for someone else in their time of need. A hero might be someone who breaks up a fight, or a preacher that gives some much needed advice when someone is at the end of their rope. An act of kindness goes a long way. A hero doesn't always have to take on something bigger than themselves. They merely have to take on something other than themselves. Any selfless act will do. When you think about your own stories, who are the heroes in your writing? It doesn't always have to be the protagonist. Side characters and subplots count too. Think about what gives them that bit of an extra shine and how they share it with the people around them, often asking nothing in return.
    Got a few ideas in your head? Good. Because we're not talking about 'heroes' in this article! Hehehe! We're talking about anti heroes. Which, I won't lie, can be really fun to write...but, as with everything else considering your craft as a writer...it takes practice and finesse to pull this particular archetype off without it coming off as overly harsh...or even worse...cliche.
    So, what is the difference between a hero and an anti hero? The way I like to think about it is...
    A hero tries to do good things. An anti hero tries to get good things done.
    What that means is that a hero is constantly fighting the good fight, but there are lines that he or she won't cross. They'll try to find a better way. A moral solution that they can live with. An anti hero doesn't have that same anchor when it comes to his or her actions. That doesn't make that character a villain, as they're still attempting to fight the good fight and reach the same result. But for the anti hero, if that means crossing the line...then so be it. If people have to die, if damage has to be done to the city, if laws have to be broken...that can't stand in the way of them making the hard call to get the job done. Period. (Of course, depending on the genre of story that you're writing and the characters involved, this can mean a variety of different things. You can interpret and re-interpret this idea as you see fit.) While this is something that I learned very young from comic books and graphic novels...I know that not everybody is writing that kind of story. Luckily, this same principle applies to almost any story when you think about it.
    Let me use the example of a teacher to display my point here. Let's say this experienced teacher is the hero or anti hero of your story. In this role, teachers can be strict, distant, judgemental, overly critical...maybe even cold at times. But ask yourself, what is their goal? Their goal is to push and guide their students to become the very best that they possibly can be. To inspire them to go beyond their limits and become something truly great without ever settling for second best or giving up altogether. Point A is to take on the student, Point B is to elevate them to levels of excellence that they didn't know that they could reach before now. Getting from Point A to Point B is what matters, but their approach may be completely different. Heroes try to do good things, anti heroes try to get good things done. Let's take a look at the difference.
    This is a clip from a really touching, feel good, movie called "Akeelah And The Bee". (Awesome movie, by the way!) The little girl in this clip seems to have a phenomenal talent for spelling, and when discovered by a teacher who finds contestants for the national spelling bee competition every year...he sees something special in her and wants to enhance it and get her to believe in herself enough to go for being number one. She's the protagonist, but he is the 'hero' of this story. Pay attention to what he's saying and doing here to begin accomplishing his ultimate goal...
     
    As the hero, the teacher in this movie is tough on her, he pushes her, he tries to get her to focus and discover her inner strengths and talents so that she can prepare for the journey that she must take to get to the place where she deserves to be. He puts pressure on her, he makes demands of her, and she is forced to grow on her own and discover her potential on her own. This is accomplished through inspiration, discipline, and encouragement.
    Now...let me show you a different clip. This is from another movie called "Whiplash" (Again, excellent movie!). This teacher has the exact same goal in mind, for the protagonists as well as for the rest of his students. Take a moment to watch this, and see how an 'anti-hero' may handle the exact same situation, and how he plans to get this done.
     
    As you can see in the second example...the inspiration, patience, and encouragement, is not the path taken. Hehehe, obviously. The goal is get this drummer on time, to get it right, and to push himself. And if it takes shame and public humiliation and even threats of fear and violence to get him there...then that's exactly what he's going to do. The end result is all that matters for most 'anti-hero' types. It can be torturous and hurtful and devastating at time...but he's trying to achieve a goal, and this new student is standing in his way. That can't happen.
    I always thought that it was lot of fun to write this type of character. I don't want them to be fully hated by my readers...but that doesn't mean that the character has be likable. Hehehe, that does not appear anywhere in my personal rule book. Again...when I was growing up with comic books, it was during those late 80's early 90's era. The era of 'Dark Knight' Batman, Wolverine, The Punisher, Deadpool, Dark Phoenix, and some of your favorite so-called 'heroes' operating on the brink of total madness to the point where you were more likely to get your HEAD cut off than wrapped up for the cops and peacefully sent to jail. Hehehe, no....those days were over.
    Have you ever SEEN the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics before they became a cartoon and a series of children's toys??? It was bloody and violent as HELL! >:P
    However...these are extreme examples of the idea. Your characters don't have to go quite that far. But the concept is still identical to the one that I mentioned above. Considering that most of my stories are gay teen romance, some of my characters may become anti-heroes themselves. Even the protagonist can be corrupted, depending on the current circumstances. It doesn't have to be a cigar smoking ruffian with an eye patch and a shotgun. The idea is that your anti-hero makes morally questionable decisions in order to achieve a certain goal. Often at someone else's expense. Maybe for desperate reasons, maybe for selfish reasons, maybe it's just a difficult choice between two miserable outcomes. Whatever it may be, when you present all of the facts, rewards, and consequences, to your audience...you force them to ask themselves what they would do if they were in that situation. They may agree with your protagonist, and they may not...but there is a great deal of power and emotion in providing them a three dimensional understanding of both sides. They should feel slightly conflicted as well. It's engaging, and it creates a deeper investment in your character's plight as they try to figure it out for themselves.
    I've found that there are two ways to effectively maintain an anti-hero, who's walking that hero/villain tightrope throughout your story, and not turn your fanbase against them at some point. Don't expect people to understand the motivations and harsh methods of an anti-hero simply because they're one of the main characters. Hehehe, no...that's not in the rule book either. If you go too dark and basically just make him/her a serial killer who enjoys hurting and murdering people 'just because'...then you've gone full villain. It's hard to redeem them in the eyes of your readers if you do that. The key is to 'walk the line'...not have a bad guy in your protagonist's corner.
    Two ways to do this when dealing with anti-heroes? Blur the kill...and justify the kill. Let's start with the first one...
    When you're watching a movie or reading a book or whatever about your main character cutting his way through 100 soldiers in order to get to the main villain and put an end to his evil plot...that's exactly where you want your readers' focus to cling to. If you think about James Bond, or John Wick, Rambo, etc...they are the heroes that the audience is supposed to root for the entire time. And it's awesome! However, when you really stop and think about it...your 'hero' just brutally murdered a whole LOT of people to get there! LOL! In most action movies, the hero often kills double or triple the amount of people as the villain does! That guy that James Bond just shot in the face? He might just be trying to earn a paycheck to feed his family. Might have been a good guy. Might have been a real hoot at parties. Hehehe! Who knows? But, again, you don't really want to demonize your anti-hero if you can help it. The methods may be harsh and unforgiving...but do your best to keep his enemy fodder as faceless and non-distinct as you can. This is something that is used all the time in movies, whether you notice it or not. Yes...they are shooting real guns, with real bullets, and there are real explosions going on. You don't want your readers thinking, "Oh no! Not TED!!!" Or whatever. Hahaha! That would make your protagonist look like a complete monster. And unless you're writing horror...nobody is rooting for the monster to win. So you might want to minimize the importance of the lives taken while your anti-hero mows them down ten at a time.
    I know that sounds pretty morbid...but it helps.
    The second part is all about justification. Is there really a justification for killing one hundred people in a rage? Ummmm...no, not really. But, as I said in my earlier article, "Kill The Dog", a lot of people recognize pain and suffering through a sliding scale of justified and unjustified. And not just in books, movies, and television...but in real life, many times. Sad, but true. Having someone rob a local store and shooting an innocent cashier at the register is seen as a tragedy. Having that same person caught and given the death penalty in order to be held accountable for what he's done? That's something that your average person would cheer for. ::Shrugs:: Because...humanity's rules.
    In this case, giving your anti-hero a tragic or horrific backstory can be a powerful instrument in justifying whatever actions he or she may choose to take in order to set things right again. This is particularly evident in stories of revenge. "You murdered my whole family...and I'm going to make you pay for it!" The Crow, The Punisher, Fists of Fury, Unforgiven...stories like that are perfect for anti-hero action. The idea that these people too everything from me...and the deserve to die for it. By filling in that backstory and having your protagonist go after them with nothing but hatred in his heart will justify almost any action that they take to get the job done. (As long as no innocent people get hurt. So...pretend they all eft town on that day or something.)
    I've written some pretty dark, gothic romance, stories where I've had to use a combination of both tactics to keep from making monsters out of my main characters. Because, even if they feel bad about some of the things that they've done after the deeds have already been done, I don't want my readers to turn on them. In "Gone From Daylight"...they are vampires. They prey on the living and drink them dry when they do. In "Savage Moon", my main character, Wesley, has done some pretty awful and even murderous things himself. But by using the techniques above, I attempt to balance out their evil deeds enough to keep their humanity in focus so that readers don't begin to dismiss them or write them off as being evil because of the things they've done. I definitely address these issues when they happen, and write about the emotional weight that their actions carry whether they regret doing it or not. But I don't dwell on it for too long, and then I switch the focus towards something that reminds the audience why they were cheering for my protagonist to begin with. Like I said, it takes a little finesse...but it can be done. And it can slide right by the average analytical mind, as long as you have something for them to come 'home' to in the end.
    Anyway, I'm sure this article sounds like it's all over the place, but it really isn't. Heroes are the good guys. Anti-heroes are the good guys...even if they have to hurt you to believe it so. Hehehe!
    I hope this helps out with your writing in the future. Again, it doesn't have to be comic books, fantasy, or sci fi. Go back up and watch the two teacher vids again anytime that you need a reminder of that.
    Best of luck, you guys! And coming up next? The reverse equation! The "Non-Villainous Villain", and how they make for a really amazing story if used right! Seezya then!
     
  4. Comicality

    Salt And Pepper

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Today, I'd kind of like to talk about developing three dimensional characters for your stories in a different way. And I know that may sound a bit weird, and for some...it may sound pretty easy. But it really isn't, not on either side. That's something that I've learned over time, and I'd like to share what I've discovered with all of you since I started writing online.
    I think that one of the biggest mistakes that a writer can make is solely creating a character with a 'purpose', as opposed to one with a 'personality'. Now, that doesn't mean that your characters don't SERVE a purpose when it comes to moving the story forward, and don't contribute to the story that you're trying to tell. Every character in your story should always have a reason for being there, and should definitely have some kind of an impact on the plot in one way or another. But they can't just be a tool in your writing arsenal. I truly believe that most readers can easily tell when someone is there just to provide a certain element to your story or make a certain dent in the plot...and nothing else. (The one to deliver exposition, the last minute hero, the comic relief, and so on.) One thing to always remember is that people are people. They have lives and problems and an entire existence outside of this particular series of events. Don't be afraid to touch on that. It only makes your story shine brighter than it would without those little details that many of us take for granted. This brings us to the idea of 'salt and pepper' when developing your characters.
    For any of you who have ever tried to learn to cook at home, or...you may already be full blown chefs for all I know, hehehe...the simplest rule of seasoning your food is this...
    Salt enhances flavor. Pepper changes flavor.
    With writing, I believe that the same rules apply. Of course, there is a plethora of other personal spices that you can use to season everything to your particular taste...but let's just concentrate on these two for now. It's a writing metaphor! Hehehe! Bear with me here!
    The salt in your story is the biggest draw. These are the details that you add to give your audience a deeper involvement in the story that you're trying to tell. These are the details and the backstory that you reveal about the characters inhabiting the world that you've built. It gives your readers a better understanding of the people that they're reading about. It explains their attitudes about life, about their interactions with other people, and it sets up their motivations in general. Spice things up! The salt in your character development is what is going to make them more interesting and build them up to be something important that your audience is going to really care about in the long run. Who are they? What kind of situation are they living in? Why are they there? How do they fit in with the other members of your written 'opera'? If you have a flat character that is only there to deliver an occasional information dump or to be fodder for the evil serial killer to stab and hack to pieces in the middle of your plot...I mean...it's not a bad thing, but it's kind of lame. Readers are looking for that these days. They'll notice. And it's difficult to stray away from that kind of bland character structure sometimes...but if you work at it, you can minimize it a little bit. I think that's why I like working with ensemble casts so much. So I can switch back and forth between certain story tropes with a variety of different characters without having it sound like a boring lecture all at once. The 'salt' is simply meant to give you some more info on the characters around you, and letting the readers know that they have a life too. A life that isn't just focused on pushing the current plot forward. This is why I always tell people to take short breaks in the action (Whatever that may mean in your personal story) to have a few casual conversations or provide some background on a character that is important in your story. Maybe this comes into play later on, and maybe it doesn't. What you have to do is separate the story from the character. DON'T think of any character, even the minor or side characters, as just another part of your plot. That sucks all of the 'life' out of them, and it creates a void, and a lull in your story that you don't want to be there. Enhance your story by giving these people lives of their own. They should all be interesting and intriguing individuals on their own. They just happened to cross paths with your main character, and even though they don't get the spotlight...your readers should feel as though they deserve one.
    I've written many spinoff stories of my own, and almost all them have come from reader interest in what might be going on with characters that aren't taking center stage in the main story, but readers couldn't stop thinking about them regardless. This is a GOOD thing! It lets me know that I did a decent job of building them up enough to exist on their own without the other elements of my main story just carrying them along as dead weight. They're not just background. They're people that my audience cares about to some degree and are somewhat invested in. That can elevate a good story to a GREAT story like you wouldn't believe! They feel more realistic, more involved in what's going on, and they're not just waiting in a line of other ineffectual characters, waiting around for the author to call upon them so they can contribute something. It keeps readers interested while others are being slowly built up with details of their own...and then you can switch them around. This is the desired effect, and it can be extremely entertaining if done right.
    Now...'pepper'...? Pepper changes the flavor of a story. This is when you get to have a little bit of fun with the details that you've given your readers so far. There is a lot of room to play around with this kind of writing. A few secret reveals, a few changes in attitude, a sudden knee-jerk reaction to an unexpected event? These are weapons that you can use to completely switch gears and subvert your audience's expectations if done with a little finesse. The 'pepper' can be a huge reveal of a past incident, a sudden conflict of ideologies, an unfortunate betrayal....it can be anything. But the idea is to take a character that people thought they knew, and were already invested in...and flip them on their heads to give them a serious WTF moment that will stick with them for the rest of the story. And this will force your audience to stumble and suddenly readjust to this seemingly 'new' entity that they didn't even know was there before.
    This is a time when you get to play around with the more dark and selfish parts of your personality...and project it out onto the screen. Hehehe, I say that mostly because most of us start off with the attempt to make our characters pretty likable. So showing the negative side of those creations can be rewarding. There's a sudden switch in your readers' belief system. Because this person is not behaving in a way that they thought they would. The key here is to make sure that you slowly build up the character's path over time, and then put incidents and obstacles in that character's path for their story arc to curve over to the 'dark side' ahead of time...so that when it happens, it makes a certain kind of sense. The reverse is also true. To have someone who may begin as a bully or a user or just a total bastard in general...throwing a curve ball in your story where that character suddenly shows a bit of heart or does something noble, perhaps making a significant sacrifice for the sake of another, can have a real emotional impact on your readers. Just be sure to make it memorable.
    Now, when I talk about adding pepper to your story arc, it doesn't have to mean completely reversing course on the character you built up to begin with. It's just a change in behavior. And that can be as drastic or as subtle as you want it to be. It is the spice that makes story arcs possible. Maybe you have a character that is super shy and insecure to start with. Add a little 'salt'...and you develop his personality, you fill in the gaps, you include information about why he is the way he is...what he's so scared of...and you build on that over time. Then, as he gains confidence and overcomes some of those fears...you add the 'pepper' to display a change in him that will be worlds apart from the quiet guy that you introduced your readers to in the beginning. After that...voila! You now have yourselves a gourmet dish worth the thumbs up that it deserves from your patrons. Hehehe!
    Of course...as with any dish...too much salt or pepper can end up ruining the flavor and making it a bit too much for people to take. You don't want to do that. I don't want to add so much salt that my readers get bitter and upset with the enhanced flavors that they're not going to need. If you're building up parts of your character, they should be relevant to the story in some way. Maybe you sprinkle in a little extra, here and there, but don't go overboard. Same with the pepper. Don't have your shy guy suddenly turn into a full blown bully and a douchebag without some proper context to let your audience can understand why. Having your characters do something severely OUT of character without any rhyme or reason can be both confusing and disturbing to anyone who suddenly feels blindsided by it. Always remember to keep a certain 'flow' in your writing. Tidal waves don't just appear...they build. There's a back and forth, there's a natural progression that happens first. Keep that in mind...and 'season within reason'. K?
    Anyway, I hope that this made some kind of logical sense. If not, feel free to discuss it below, and I'll try to clarify if you have any questions! Either way, I hope this helps out a bit! Spice up your stories whenever you can, don't overdo it, and then find a few other tools at your disposal when you want to add another few kicks in here and there. Cool?
    Have fun! And happy writing!
     
  5. Comicality

    Work Environment

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    For this article, I'm probably one of the LAST people that should ever claim to be an expert on this sort of thing! LOL! My room is a hot mess! And probably always will be! But I've got a few goodies to pass along your way, if any of you are interested! Hopefully, I can drop a few gems in your lap, and it'll help in the long run!
    So let's travel back down the rabbit hole, shall we?
    The thing is, most (if not all) think of writing as merely being a cerebral experience. And in a lot of ways, it is. You sit down at a desk, you stare at your keyboard, and the rest of the world is supposed to disappear for a little while so you can focus on what you're doing, right? But...the question is...does it though?
    A majority of psychologists say that your current home environment is often a reflection of your current state of mind. The bedroom being the most intimate. And I have to admit...for me, personally...I'm willing to bet that this is the absolute truth. If any of you ever wanted to look at what's going on in my brain all day, every day...hehehe, just look at my bedroom! That will tell you everything that you need to know.
    One of my major issues is that I am practically a religious fanatic when it comes to being a full blown insomniac. Like...I don't have a 'bed time'. Never did. I actually envy people who can stick to something like that, even if only by habit, to be honest. I can't. I literally stay awake as long as humanly possible and watch movies, or read books, or write stories...until my body completely shuts down and it simply can't take anymore. If I had a dollar for every night that I fell asleep at this keyboard and woke up a half hour later to see "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" typed out on my laptop screen...I'd be a millionaire! LOL!
    Unfortunately...that makes for a perpetual mess in my room. It really does. I write down notes on scrap paper and put it on my bed next to me. I eat dinner, and put the plate on the bed next to me. I drink my Powerade drink, enjoy it, and set it down on the floor next to me. And I eventually go back and clean everything up...but since I sit at this keyboard until I'm literally passing out from exhaustion...I just take whatever few seconds of consciousness that I have left to simply crawl into bed and go to sleep. EVERYTHING else can wait until tomorrow. Right now...I need to faint out of existence. And then I wake up and move everything back on the bed to make my desk clean, and then move everything from the bed back to my desk because I'm about to faint from exhaustion...and this continues as the mass grows until I end up having to take a whole weekend to balance things out again. And then...the cycle repeats itself. Hehehe! It's weird.
    You'd be surprised how quickly the mess from my bad insomniac habits pile up. it's really bad, trust me. It can be exhausting. And just thinking about it is a variety of distractions that I can truly do without.
    The point is...my workspace when I'm writing my stories and all quickly becomes cluttered and unmanageable. I look around me, and all I see is a procrastinator's unfulfilled promise when it comes to fixing things up so I have room to move around again. And I've found that this doesn't just affect me physically...like, I need to clean all of this shit up! But it affects me mentally as well. And that quote about it affecting my current headspace couldn't be more true. I'm trying to write a story, but I'm moving papers around, looking for notes that I wrote down weeks ago, stepping over things, thinking about how I need to vacuum the carpet sometime soon...
    ...My brain looks exactly the way my room looks. Crowded and disorganized and void of any real rhyme or reason at all.
    BUT...
    When I do dig my heels in and clean everything up...it's almost like my mind relaxes a little bit more. Like it has more 'room' to create and spawn new ideas. I know that it sounds weird, but if you're anything like me, and have been piling up scrap paper and notebooks and beer and soda cans and other stuff in your room...take a break. Just one day. And dedicate that time to cleaning everything out of your room. Get it out of your vision. Get rid of it! Everything that you have to step over, everything that you have to 'move aside' to put something else down, every over crowded dresser drawer that won't close all the way, every closet full of clothes that you can't wear anymore...and would no longer be fashionable even if you could...detach yourself from it, and free up some much needed mental real estate so that you can create without restriction. And without a bunch of junk weighing your spirit down.
    It sounds weird right? Like some kind of metaphysical bullshit? I know it does. Hehehe! How can creating a simple change in my environment have any real effect on my writing? Well, I dare you guys to give it a try. It works. At least for me, it does.
    Look around you right now as you're reading this. Take a moment to think about a story that you've written or are writing now. Look at your writing environment. Is it jumbled? Messy? Full of things that need to be done, but you're taking a break to write instead? Is there noise from the TV or the radio in the background? Are the kids running around screaming and having a great time just outside of your door? Do you have a dog or a cat that suddenly decided they needed love and attention, and want to play at THIS particular moment while you're trying to focus? Do you think that all of these things aren't subconsciously pulling on your mind in one way or another? They are. Trust me.
    Or...we can go the other way with this too. Is your room sterile? Blank walls? Super clean? Glaring white shades and curtains? You know...in my bedroom (where I do all of my writing), I covered my walls with comic books that I collected as a kid. Hehehe, it's true! And sometimes, I look up at them randomly and they give me some much needed inspiration. Don't know why, but they do. A quick example, my very first fantasy story ever, The Plateau, I was trying soooo hard to come up with a name for the mischievous scamp that was running through the marketplace during an action scene. And one of the comic books on my wall just above my laptop was "Wolverine #8". Hehehe, and after thinking about it for a few quick moments...I took the letters from the middle of the comic book title, and came up with the name 'Verin' (From Wol'verin'e). It's a small thing, but it worked. I liked it. And he was one of the X-Men...so the name 'Verin Hax' was born. Lord knows how long I would have tortured myself trying to come up with a fantasy name if that didn't happen to just be right there staring me in the face.
    Sometimes, just surrounding yourself with the things that you love can inspire you and ignite your personal muse in ways that you never thought possible. And at a moment's notice. But...clutter and disarray can end up influencing you in another way. A negative way. And you want to avoid as much of that distraction and chaos as possible when it comes to anything that you're trying to do creatively.
    Now...I completely understand that some of you writers have other responsibilities that take a priority sometimes when it comes to your stories. And that's totally fine. Some of you guys have jobs that might tire you out or have an effect on your mood. Some of you have families, kids, pets, shows on Netflix that you want to binge before the internet spoils the ending for you! Hehehe! I get it. There have been times when I was having a good time with my family or have had my little cousins spend the night and I still felt like..."I wish I could be writing right now." Maybe that's just me. Hehehe, after 20 plus years, I'm a bit of an addict! But noise and distraction is just as much of a creativity killer as anything. Don't try to write in front of the TV screen. Even the commercials are designed by highly trained professionals who get paid a LOT of money to steal your attention. Don't try to write with your cell phone next to you, buzzing every time you get a text or a news message. Don't write with Facebook or Twitter opened in another tab if you have alerts on. The noise pollution is also a major factor when it comes to your work environment. You need to find a way to get some time to yourself, and let your passion flow while your responsibilities rest for a short while.
    That's not easy. And I don't know if I can give you guys any really good advice on that part of the process, because it's different for everybody. What I would advise, from my limited insight on your situation, is this...
    Find a balance.
    Priorities come first. Always. Always take care of the most important parts of your life, and THEN find time to write. I think you'll enjoy it more if you do it that way. So have a decent sit down dinner, watch your favorite TV show, take the dog for a walk, give the kids a bath and put them to bed for the night, spend time with your significant other...whatever. But...then just let the world know that you're going to go to your room, you're going to write or be working on something that's important to you...and unless it's an emergency, you'd prefer to not be disturbed. Even if it's just for an hour or two...take it. You've done your duty for the day, you've been responsible, the house is at rest...now take some time for yourself. You might only be able to get a little bit at a time, but whatever private time you're able to squeeze out of your day...be selfish with it. I don't think it's too much to ask for an hour to just do something for yourself. One hour. The rest of the world and work and the kids and the pets and the entertainment industry can HAVE the other 23 hours! Hehehe, just keep one for yourself. Every day. Just something to say, "Hey, I was there for everybody else, and I got everything done. Now leave me alone. For one hour. Let me get my release for the day and I'll be back tomorrow. Promise."
    I used to have a really bad habit of always trying to do everything for everyone else, and the insomnia didn't help, because I would keep giving and giving and giving until I had nothing left for myself, and then I go to sleep. My room's a mess, my body's fatigued, and everybody else got what they wanted...and all I got was more 'tired'. But I wasn't balancing things out like I should have. So now, I clean, I call my friends up, I take breaks to get out of the house or drop in to the chatroom every now and then. Spend quality time with the people I love and care about, you know? And then...(Even though, for me it's easier because I do it in the middle of the night) I go to my room. I shut my door. No noise. No disruptions. No doorbell, no phone calls, nothing. It's just me and my thoughts, in an environment of peace and quiet, surrounded by the very things that ignited my passion to write in the first place. It's beautiful! That's my safe space. Hehehe! That's my personal paradise.
    Anyway, it's something that I think you guys should try some time. It actually made me feel more 'free' when it came to my writing to be existing in a more inviting environment. If you have a number of other people in your living space...try writing when they're asleep or at work, or just busy with something of their own. If you're the kind of person that takes a bunch of notes, and is constantly turning pages in a notebook or searching for scraps? Do what I did. I went out to a local store and bough a dry erase board. It cost me like three bucks and came with its own markers. Write the notes you need right then and there on the dry erase board, and when you're done, wipe it clean, and you have another blank slate for the next batch. If you live in a busy city or have noise going on in your household grab your headphones...go to Youtube...and look up 'ambient music'. There are plenty of instrumental collections that you can listen to that are not distracting at all, and you can listen to them at full volume and block everything else out without being disturbed. And you can even find them in different categories like 'dark horror ambient', 'fantasy ambient', 'rain storm ambient', etc. Find ways to isolate yourself from everything else for an hour or two a day, and let your creative mind do what it does best. K?
    As always, I hope this helps you guys a little bit. I had to learn the hard way that work environment was as important as it is. Maybe this will give you all a bit of a head start. Seezya soon! And happy writing!
  6. Comicality

    Writing Teen Characters

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Considering the fact that almost all of my stories involve teenage characters, a great deal of my readers (perhaps more than half) are teenagers themselves. So...if any of you guys are reading this right now...hehehe, don't take any offense over anything that I say here in this article!
    It's not like it's anything that I wouldn't have said to you in an email or the chatroom at this point anyway. I'm just placing it here as a disclaimer so you don't get all pouty on me. Besides, I've got your back on this. Promise.
    For any writers here who are working with teenage characters in their fiction, whether they be main characters or side characters, I want you to take a moment...and think back to when you, yourself, were a teenager. Anywhere between the ages of 13 and 19...doesn't matter. (Hell, if you've been privvy to that multitude of 'Karen' videos online, you'll see that most people haven't even matured THAT far!) But, seriously...take a moment and think about it. I'm not being rhetorical here. Hehehe, really think about it.
    Think about the first time you really had your first crush. The first time you tried smoking a cigarette. The first time you looked a dirty magazine. Hehehe, be honest. How old were you? What was your thought process like back then? Remember missing curfew? Or breaking that lamp or that window in the house after being warned not to play ball in the living room? Or that time you broke your arm falling out of a tree you had no business climbing? Do you?
    I'm assuming that everybody reading this is either a teenager now or was at one time. Am I right? Taking that into account, it's safe to say that we've all made our mistakes growing up. Some of them reckless. When I think back on some of the stuff I did, I'm surprised that I even survived half of it! Hahaha! But, here I am. Hindsight is always 20/20...but ONLY hindsight is 20/20. And I think that's something to remember when writing teenage characters in your fiction.
    Teenagers are NOT stupid! Hehehe! Ok? Let's just put that out there before we even get started. If you've got a teen in your house that's playing dumb or pretending to be too innocent to know what's going on around them...LOL, then you are dealing with a dangerous animal! Those are the ones that you really need to keep an eye on!
    I've spent many years talking to teenage boys and girls in emails, and one of the first things that I learned is that they know more and are more self aware than many people give them credit for. Because, at the end of the day, what is a teenager? They're adults without experience. Cocky? Yeah. Sarcastic? Sure. Naive? Most definitely! But to write them off as stupid is a mistake. And if you go into your fiction with that kind of outlook...it's not going to come off as genuine at all. In fact, it may be more insulting than anything else. One thing you always want to avoid as a writer is the act of insulting your readers. People can tell.
    I, personally, think that teenagers get a bad rap. Hehehe, I always joke around about how some of the greatest stories ever told just seem to 'skip' the main character's teen years altogether. Like...WTF happened there? Even in the Bible, it's like Jesus was a beautiful baby! Then he gets to be JUST about 12 years old...starts his ministry...and then he's suddenly in his 30's, he's got his shit together and everything is fine! Wait wait wait!!! What happened between the ages of 12 and 33??? ::Footage not found:: Superman? Beautiful baby, goes to school, JUST about high school age...then, ZOOM!!! Daily Planet reporter job! People have got to notice this kind of trope in stories in general, right? It happens all the time. I don't think Anakin Skywalker even made it to twelve!
    The point is, I think that there are a lot of stories that really have a blindspot when it comes to writing teen characters. That part of their heroes' lives are overlooked completely, and I think that can be the most intense and most transformative period in the life of any protagonist in your story. Why skip it? Teens are seen as irrational, reckless, less intelligent, problematic, and immature. But why? They're not all a monolithic group of trouble-making asexual brats with nothing better to do than to throw eggs on Halloween and shoplift candy from the local store. They understand logic, friendship, love, fairness, sex, social interactions, anger, violence...you won't find anyone who runs through the entire gamut of emotions faster than your average teenager. So why not use that to your advantage when creating three dimensional teen characters? You can't look at teenagers through the lens of someone in their mid twenties or older. The world doesn't affect you the same way now as it did when you were learning the ins and outs of it for the very first time. It just doesn't. They're learning. They mess up and make mistakes, rush in too quickly when they shouldn't, hesitate for too long when they shouldn't, and can sometimes be easily overwhelmed...but that doesn't mean that they're stupid or helpless. Or just some wasted character that you can push to the side as though they can't participate in the 'adult' story you're trying to tell. Don't do that. Just...don't. Hehehe!
    If anything, I think that makes for an extremely compelling story! The same way a married couple experiences living in a haunted house for the first time, or a space traveler meets an extraterrestial, or someone gets whisked away into a fantasy world on the other side of time and space. It's a new experience. And you get to be a part of building that world for them. Except it's a world that you already know and have experienced for yourself. Keep that in mind when you're writing. Because, while there are more honest representations of teenagers in stories like "Stranger Things" or "Stand By Me", the teen stereotype isn't all that different from using a racial or sexist stereotype in a lot of ways. Then again, I kind of grew up in the John Hughes era. And that was one of those times when teens were finally being taken a bit more seriously.
    Hehehe, yes, my friends and I used to curse. We used to swipe a warm beer or two when we could find one. Tried to look cool smoking cigarettes. Tried to peek in the girls locker room. We even did things as evil as...GASP...masturbate! Oh Lord! ::Faints:: But I truly think that a lot of our most defining moments and potent memories come from that particular period in our lives, and that's what I write about. I can still remember my first loves as though it was just yesterday. I can still see their faces, and feel that racing heartbeat that used to have me tripping all over my feet all day. I can remember my first kiss. My first time driving a car by myself. My first time moving into a college dorm. My first time getting a job and having my own money. And I wasn't a pro in any sense of the word, but that was a part of my journey. How can that NOT make for an incredible and engaging story, if only for nostalgia's sake?
    Not only that, but it's a challenge to think back to a time when I didn't have all the things that I do now. No internet, no real money, no real privacy, no independence...not even a way to just walk out to my car and drive somewhere if I wanted to. Stuff that I'm sure that I take for granted now, until I remember having to be clever enough to work my way around it whenever an opportunity presented itself. Still, when I'm writing teenage characters, I definitely take account of the fact that they are fully aware of what's going on around with them...even if they're not quite sure how to deal with it, or potentially navigate their way around it.
    You have to go back to those days in your own life, and be honest with your portrayal of young people in your stories. You have to be self aware enough to look at your past mistakes without judgement, and recreate the excitement of not being a little kid anymore...but wanting so badly to be an adult ahead of your time. Teen characters can't be treated the same way as adult characters, especially in this day and age when they have a wealth of inappropriate knowledge at their fingertips twenty four hours a day with whatever handheld device they might be in possession of at the time. I can remember times when I was writing stories, and I actually had to jump in and defend some of these poor fictional kids from the venom and vitriol being spit at them from some of the readers. Like, "HEY!!! Jesus Christ! Give the kid a break!" Give them a chance to figure things out as a part of their story arc. None of this is real. Please don't curse at me and tell me how these teens are so STUPID that you can't stand to read about them anymore. It's like...what the fuck are you talking about? It's a free story online...relax. Put yourself in their shoes. You weren't always the way you are now. You had to go through a period of learning through trial and error just like the rest of us. So chill out. The thing about teen characters isn't about being super smart and knowing everything and having a bunch of resources working for you whenever you need them to. The teen experience is about 'discovery'. That's why I find the stories so interesting. They have common sense, and deep emotions, and (for the most part) good intentions. Explore that with your writing. They're not immune to humiliation or a fear of rejection. They make mistakes, sure...but those mistakes mold them into the adults they are sure to become in the future. We've all had heartbreak and emotional growing pains that made us stronger in the end. That's the beauty of teen characters. You get to present the nostalgia of the past mistakes to a mass of your readers...and still turn things around to have your characters learn from them in a positive way. It's meant to be a good thing, whether some of your readers realize it or not. Maybe they have some hang ups from the past that they don't want to deal with just yet. Hehehe, but let that be their therapist's problem. Not yours. K?
    Of course, as always...no matter what you write, you can't expect to 'win' one hundred percent of the time. You just...you can't. You will always have people who will tell you, "This kid is way too dumb, too naive, and childish. No teen would ever think this way. It's too unrealistic." And in the very next comment, you have people telling you, "This kid is way too mature and too experienced to act like this. He sounds like he's 30 years old. No teen would ever think this way. It's too unrealistic." And that's fine. Read the comment, see if they made any valid points, one way or the other, and go back to writing your story your own way. It's not their story. It's YOUR story. Draw from your own teenage years growing up, and stay true to the story that you were looking to tell. You know who you were back then. Maybe they led a whole different life somewhere else, and they look back on their teen years in a different way. But, hey...they've got the same tools at their disposal that you do now. Any time that they want to sit down and write, edit, and promote, their own story...they're more than welcome to it. They could have gotten started with the time it took to tell you what you were doing wrong. Hehehe! So let them have a go at it. I'm sure there will be an audience for their version too. Variety is the spice of life after all.
    Anyway, the idea behind writing teen characters is to simply understand what a majority of them are. Inexperienced. Not innocent. Not unaware. And certainly not stupid. Yes...they know about the porn you watch online. Yes, they know you sent them over to a friend's house for some private time. Yes, they know about the bag of weed that you hid at the top of the bedroom closet. We were all youngsters too at one time...and we know exactly how we were back then. Hehehe, probably worse than anything that we can peg on teenagers today. When you're writing them into your stories...be respectful of that. Be understanding. Let them know that you 'get it', and advise them with messages that will inspire responsible behavior, if you can. Because, believe me...they ARE reading! Trust me on this.
    Coming from the hyperactive Generation X era, I can remember being talked down to and insulted by my grandparents' generation. And it sucked. Don't be that kind of writer. For every Millennial right now, quick to scream "Ok, Boomer" to my parent's generation...hehehe, don't worry. You'll get your turn too. Because the post 9/11, post Covid-19, kids that are entering Junior High right now...they'll be giving you the same weird looks by the time they reach college. So prepare for it. It'll be your turn next. And the circle of life continues...so don't go getting grumpy before your time. K? Bridge the gap, and try to reminice and understand your own youth for what it was. A training experiment, and a boot camp for you becoming the adult that you are today.
    Be proud of that journey! You'll find some of your craziest and most exciting stories in that little gap of life that many stories conveniently 'skip over' when they don't want to talk about it. What are we pretending to be so innocent about, anyway? I don't know about you guys, but my teen years were not so 'Disney'! LOL!
    (Hehehe, me and MY friends at 12...)
    Food for thought, if any of you were planning to add teen characters to your story, or write a teen based story by itself. Hope it helps! And I'l seezya soon with more! Cool? Love you lots!
     
  7. Comicality

    What's With the Theatrics?

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    As many of you guys already know (Those who have been around for a number of years, or possibly from the very beginning) I was both an actor and a boy model back when I was in my tweens and teens. It was what I wanted to do. I had a passion for it. But the fantasy of it and the business side of that whole industry are two completely different things! So buyer, beware! if that's what you want to get into, I wish you the best...but it's not what many of you might think it is. So you really have to want it! You know?
    That being said...when I write these stories online, hoping that you guys will really enjoy them....I have an 'actor's' mindset going the entire time that I'm writing. I can't help it, it's just something that I do when I'm writing. Maybe you guys have a few quirks of your own...and that's awesome! These are mine. And this article is going to be another one of those major secrets that I give away to all of you so you can decode and figure out exactly how it is that I do what i do...and have done for over 20 years now!
    So, at long last...let me answer the big question that has been on a lot of people's minds for years...
    COMSIE...what the fuck is with the literary theatrics all the time???
    "Hehehe!"....that's where it all started for me. Finding my personal voice, and a certain vibe for my stories.
    Have you ever been to your local shopping mall on a weekend? Seen teens hanging out and having fun together? Listen to them joke around with one another.
    Everything isn't a big "HAHAHA!!!" type of funny. But they're not silent, either. They're having FUN, you know? But it's not like every single remark is 'ha ha' funny and causing them to fall out of their chair. There's a middle ground. Just a pleasant moment of shared enjoyment. A boyish giggle or two. So...how do I incorporate that into my stories? And my answer was to mimic the sound of a casual giggle as best as I could. Thus..."Hehehe!"
    This may sound weird to you guys now...but I had to really FIGHT to have them accept this expression as a part of my stories! Readers simply couldn't embrace it in those first few years of me writing. But I stood my ground and kept it going, and now it's simply a natural part of everything that I write. Like...people 'get it' now, and they don't complain. in fact, many of them have adopted it themselves, and I see it in other stories or even in my emails these days. It's not like I 'invented' it or anything...but by sticking with it, it became a norm. And now that part of my literary voice can be heard the way that it was meant to be heard. So, you'll get no complaints from me!
    Is that where the specific 'Comicality' theatrics end? No. And I am fully aware that for a select group of people...they get really distracted and pissed off by the way that I write sometimes...but, ummm...tough! Hehehe! This is my 'actor's' voice when I write, and I want the story to read a certain way when an audience is diving into it for the first tine. My 'word theatrics' present the vision and flavor that I want my stories to have. Love it or hate it...this is my writer's voice. And I had to fight really hard and swim upstream to get it to be accepted and embraced as an effective way of writing an emotional and engaging narrative without having the 'experts' pick it apart on style and outdated rules of fiction alone.
    I wanted to build my own style...and I'm happy to say that it ended up working out for me. Flaws and all.
    One thing that absolutely bothers me? Honestly. Is reading subtitles in a movie.
    And I LOVE foreign films and stuff...but the text comes up on the screen...and I just read it as...'text'. Like, I can't feel the actor's emotion. The tone of voice, the creative choices he/she made to deliver that line. The little pauses in between. Soooo much of that intricate nuance gets lost when I'm just reading their words on the bottom of the screen. Does that make sense?
    When I write, I try to keep those pauses, that nuance, those performances, in the story. I want people to feel it. I guess that you could say that it's my way of 'acting' through the written words on the screen. I want people to feel it like I feel it. And not just read the words on the screen, as is.
    I don't expect everybody to understand it. The capitol letters, the quotes, the bold print, the italics...but I treat my writing the same way that I would a performance. Or an audition for an on stage production. This is how I convey an added touch of emotion in my stories that other might not.
    When I have someone who is nervous or scared, I might add extended pauses in their dialogue with, "...umm..." those three little dots can imply a hesitation and can give readers a sense of tension and have them physically lean further forward towards the screen to see what happens next. SPIT IT OUT!!! Hehehe! We've all been there before, right? As a writer, isn't it your mission to recreate that moment for your audience?
    I use capital letters for emphasis in the descriptions and in explanations of the main character's feelings, mostly. What is he thinking? What is he worried about? More often than not, I'm using capitol letters to create a sense of desperation or heartache. It's almost like the protagonist is weaponizing the capitals to protect himself. So, when you see me using capitals for emphasis, it's usually a defensive measure, or something to express something that he simply can't believe is real...such as young love, loving him back.
    Hehehe, I should NOT be giving away all my secrets like this.
    Now...when I use italics in my stories, that's usually more emotionally engaging. More times than not, I use italics to give readers a feeling of 'yearning', 'craving', or 'deep fantasy'. It's an emphasis on the more emotional sides of my main characters. Just someone that you want sooooo bad ('Sooooo' being another one of my theatrics! Hehehe!) that you can hardly contain yourself. So, if capital letters have a more defensive and aggressive feel to them, the italics are more like emotionally vulnerable, helpless, love stricken, expressions of emotion.
    Now, both sides can be interchangeable, but that's how I usually view them as I'm writing. And I don't indulge in these tricks as much as I used to, but they are still a part of my 'writer's voice', and most people can pick my stories out of a line up because of the quirks and little tweaks that I've learned over time. Way it goes, I suppose!
    So, if my protagonist is having an inner dialogue? I could write it like this...
    "Every time he laughs, every time he even smiles at me, I feel my stomach begin to shiver and shake with these nervous tremors that threaten to, literally, make me sick. Sick, I tell you! And all I want to do is get my so-called peace of mind back by having the goddamned guts to tell him how much I like him. Love him. Need him in my life. But I can't. I don't know how. So I'm just left here, spinning in confusion. It's pure torture."
    And that's perfectly ok. Functional, conveys emotion, makes its point, and progresses that part of the story forward. It does everything that I need it to do. There's no real reason to think that it needs any extra flair or anything. And yet...if it were me, I'd probably take that same inner dialogue and write it as...
    "Every time he laughs, every time he even smiles at me...I feel my stomach begin to shiver and shake with these nervous tremors that threaten to, literally, make me sick. SICK, I tell you! And all I want to do is get my so-called 'peace of mind' back by having the goddamned guts to tell him how much I like him. Love him. NEED him in my life. But...I can't. I don't know how. So I'm just left here...spinning in confusion. It's pure torture."
    There's not a HUGE difference, but it feels more closely connected to me as a person. A little emphasis here, a little desperation there...little breaks and pauses as my main character tries to gather his thoughts. It's more than just the way I would write down for you guys to read. It's the way I would verbally say it to you if we were sitting in the same room, having an intimate conversation. I decided a long time ago that I wanted my stories to have that kind of 'feel' to them. And yes, I guess you could write them off as a bunch of unnecessary theatrics in my prose, but it's a part of my hobby that I truly enjoy. It makes me feel closer to the story I'm telling, and will hopefully make you guys feel closer to the stories you're reading. Maybe it'll bring the actor out of all of us. Hehehe!
    Trust me, I have spent years and years getting flak for some of the things that I do to write my stories! Hahaha, oh MAN! You have no idea! But once the 'traditionally established' folks get used to my writing (Dragged in, kicking and screaming), most of them realize that I'm not such a terrible writer after all. And for some, it actually ends up being somewhat endearing.
    The whole point of this article is...find your voice, and STICK with it. I know that there are rules and regulations and writing mechanics that everybody is pressured to adhere to at all costs...but this is YOUR world, right? What is it that you guys really want to do? What do you really want to say? Who can tell you that you're 'wrong' for incorporating something that's personal to your particular voice in your own story?
    I'm not saying that you should completely abandon the idea of story structure, or try to get people to spell the same word the wrong way when you know better. Hehehe! Just feel comfortable when you're writing. Let the rest of the world catch up to what YOU'RE doing instead of always trying to do the opposite. If you have a different take on how you 'say' things, or how you plot out you story...then stand by it. And keep pushing forward. Let everybody else whine and complain and eventually end up copying what you were doing in the first place. K? Always remember...this is your rodeo. Your science project for the fair. Be unique with it, and enjoy pouring a piece of your unique ability every word of it. Always.
    As always, I hope this helps you guys out by giving you a little food for thought. Happy writing! And let's see if you can make some more of that magic happen!
     
  8. Comicality

    Creating Dread

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Now, when I talk about creating a sense of 'dread' in your writing, whether it be drama, thriller, horror, sci-fi, or romance...I'm not always talking about something life threatening or earth shattering every single time. It's not about action. It's not about gore, or heartbreak, or terror. The concept of dread, in my opinion, is much more evident in its subtlety than in its delivery of some major occurrence or surprise twist. The most effective way to use 'dread' in your stories is as a build up to something bigger. And sometimes...it can be used for character development by not having any real payoff at all. It simply gives the illusion of a payoff by tapping into certain triggers that your readers may not even know that they have until you present them to your audience...face to face. Or...errr...screen to eyeballs. Whatever. Hehehe!
    It's a technique that I really like to use from time to time. It changes the mood and the tone of a scene into something that's extremely uncomfortable for your protagonist, and ultimately ends up increasing your readers' involvement and investment in the story itself. So, the question for this particular article is...what is a true sense of dread, and how do we best use it to entice our readers to the edge of their seats?
    Let's see if I can pull this one off without being too confusing. Hehehe!
    For me? I like to think of dread in a way that splits three ways. The typical methods of writing that I'm sure we've all been taught or have experienced somewhere while beginning our own journeys into learning about conflict. What are these three conflicts?
    Man vs man.
    Man vs society.
    Man vs self.
    We've all heard that before, right? They're three major conflicts of every story that you've ever read in one way or another. Well, the art of creating dread in your writing rests just on the outskirts of those three well known concepts, and lures people in to eventually get wrecked by whatever surprises you may have for them later. Used correctly...they can be a powerful weapon in your toolbox of personal tricks.
    Let's begin with the first one. This is simple enough, right? It's man vs man. Your protagonist is a person with a goal, your antagonist is someone with an opposite goal, or is standing in the way as an obstacle. Now, you may have this conflict play ut in the form of an explosive argument, or a fist fight, or a shoot out...whatever. But the dread exists in the mere threat of having this antagonist be a part of your story. It doesn't have to be an immediate threat, either. Like I said...the feeling of dread can be introduced with the mere presence of a potential threat...and nothing more.
    I want to show you guys this scene from "No Country For Old Men" to use as an example. This is one of the most INTENSE scenes in this entire film! And it comes, quite simply, from a feeling of utter dread. To look at it from afar...a man is at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, engaging the clerk in a conversation. He's eating peanuts. He flips a coin. But just listen to the dialogue and study the perfectly delivered performances by both actors. (BRAVO!) Something so simple, so seemingly mundane...can be transformed into something truly terrifying to the point where you may not even notice that you were holding your breath until he takes his hand off of the coin on the counter. Because we, as the audience, know that he is a heartless killer who doesn't give two shits about who he might decide to kill on a whim. We know who he is and we know what he's capable of. This fact puts the store owner in a level of danger that he senses, but isn't fully aware of. We feel for him.
    Check this out, and see if you can pick up on how scary this really is...
     
    That is exactly what I'm talking about. No heated language, no raised voices, no weapons...just a very intense conversation between two individuals who are trying to figure one another out in the short time that they're spending together in the same space. This is dread.
    It's...the horror movie where you know the monster is lurking in the basement, or the killer is in the woods. It's the love rival that you know is beautiful enough, devious enough, to steal the love interest away from your main character if he really wanted to. Dread lies in the shadows behind every bright light, and can be heard in every shaky voice or hesitation to answer the question of 'where were you last night?'
    While writing the story, "Savage Moon"...my protagonist falls in with a really menacing group of potentially bad kids from the area surrounding the campsite. However, it isn't all horror and abuse. Quite the opposite. 'Wesley' gets drawn in with a certain level of kindness and understanding that he's never really experienced before. He's enticed into exploring some of the more taboo parts of himself, and whether he wants to admit it or not...he likes it. However, the feeling of dread doesn't come from the friendship. It doesn't come from some of the darker actions of his group. It comes from brief, but definitive, acts of aggression that are so 'under the radar' that Wesley is encouraged to write them off as not being anything big enough to worry about. But the dread is still there. Always present. Always looming over him. And when he finds out what he's really gotten himself into...he realizes that he's already come too far to take it back. This is created through a feeling of dread in the writing. Cyrus can do with an ominous comment or a particularly wicked tilt of a smile what some stories can't do with chapters worth of outbursts and blatant threats to the protagonist.
    If you practice with this...you'll find that it's a highly effective way of engaging your readers indeed.
    Number two...man vs society.
    I can remember working in the heart of downtown Chicago when 9/11 happened. I'll never forget it. Because the morning that it happened and people were forced to basically evacuate the city and go home, the only thought in my mind was..."Are we going to be hit next?" They didn't tell us anything, because nobody knew anything at the time. This had never really happened before. That has an entire context of dread on its own. But, as an example...let me skip forward a few weeks to a month after that fateful day...
    I still don't really know what happened, but I think some kind of phone line had been cut, or there was some weird glitch in the system, and all of downtown Chicago couldn't use any credit or debit card machines. No ATMs, nothing. There were whispers that it was another terrorist attack, but that was mostly just paranoia from being on edge for so long. However, we couldn't ring people up for the products that they wanted to buy because their cards wouldn't work. We tried to write down the numbers and prices to charge them later, but even that was a monumental task in itself. And what was happening was...people had parked in public parking lots and couldn't get their cars out to go home at the end of the day. Nobody was used to carrying cash anymore, so they were unable to get lunch, or buy their morning coffee. After a few long hours of this, people began to throw tantrums. They were rendered completely helpless by the fact that their daily routine had been uprooted by a simple malfunction in the middle of a major metropolitan city...and there was nothing that they could do about it.
    When I think about dread in terms of man vs society...that could mean being a woman during the Salem witch trials, or being Jewish during the Holocaust...but it can also be the simple act of realizing that our entire civilization is basically balancing itself on a single pole in a high wind. How hard would it be for everything we know, everything that we depend on as human beings, to suddenly fall apart and leave us stranded and unable to figure out what to do next? Something as simple as being openly gay and moving to a small town in the Bible belt of America where such a thing is not allowed can be a serious lesson in dread itself. What do you do?
    How would you react to suddenly watch society collapse all around you without a moment's notice, forcing you to fight your way out of it when you have never been faced with that kind of problem before? Even then...how would your friends react, individually? Your family? Your classmates? Your best friends? Can you trust them? We may not stop to think about it for more than a few fleeting moments at a time, but if 2020 and the pandemic has taught us anything at all...it's that the rules and civility that we abide by every day can come crashing down around us at any moment. Whether it's a deadly virus, a plane flying into the Twin Towers, or the simple shut down of being able to use a credit card when you go to work on a random Tuesday. And the questions is...then what?
    This creates a feeling of dread.
    I know that I often use action or horror clips as demonstrations, because these ideas are often exaggerated and easy to absorb, but the effect in your writing is the same. Here is a clip from the Zack Snyder remake of the classic "Dawn Of The Dead" movie. Take a look, and think about what you would do, personally, if you were suddenly thrust into this situation without warning.
    In a society full of maniacs who have abandoned all sense of their own humanity...trying to maintain your sanity makes YOU the 'crazy' one!
     
    And that brings us to number three, and what I personally feel is the most frightening concept of the group. And that is man vs self. To me...that is a concept that should chill you to your very bone when you look inward and really put some thought into it.
    Every single day...all around the world...people hurt other people. They kill people, dismember the bodies, and bury them in a hole...hoping not to get caught. They cheat on their loved ones, they rob and steal from one another. They set entire houses ablaze, abuse their own children, plot to take over someone else's job, or assault random people in the streets. It happens. But...what is going on in their heads? It CAN'T be the natural order of things...all of this hatred and violence. So what are they thinking? What is that voice inside of their heads telling them to do? How is it persuading them to act this way? And are they aware of the conflict within them? Or does it not seem like a conflict at all? I mean...who can you trust if you can't trust yourself, right?
    To use as an example...this is a clip from the streaming miniseries, "Them". Now, I LOVE horror and thriller and stuff, but I actually found this show to be truly unsettling in some parts. Imagine a very old school racist suburban neighborhood, terrorizing a new family that moves in looking for a better life. BUT...this show feels a lot like Stephen King's, "The Shining"...with Pennywise the clown from "IT" thrown in...but in full minstrel show blackface. And it knows the inner workings of the protagonist's mind as well as his whole family. And it pushes him. It pushes, and pushes, and pushes...trying to get him to reach a breaking point. Excellent series, if you haven't seen it. But in this scene, it is a perfect example of creating dread within the 'man vs self' dynamic. Again...it's the lure that makes it work. The enticement. That voice inside your head that whispers (NOT shouts...but whispers)...'Do it. You know you want to. Do it.'
    I can't think of anything more frightening than not being able to trust that voice inside of your own mind that has been pretending to have your best interest at heart for your entire life. It's just plain friggin' creepy!
     
    This is a technique that I've used a lot in my "Gone From Daylight" vampire series, where my protagonist has been gifted with an immense amount of power...but there are certain parts of it that he can't tap into without being completely corrupted by them. Parts that feel sooooo GOOD to him when he experiences it for the first time...a previously bullied and abused teen, who now has the ability to crush any and all of his enemies with ease if they dare to approach him. But the thrill of using that power comes at a mental and emotional cost. He begins to hurt people. He begins to scare the ones that he cares about, even when he's trying to protect them. And there is still that whisper in his ear telling him to keep going. Get stronger. More power. MORE! And he has to struggle with himself to keep it from swallowing him whole and forcing him to lose his humanity in the process.
    Again...this creates a level of dread in the story. Because the readers have to wonder how long it will be before some imminent threat will apply enough pressure, or get enough leverage, over the main character...before he's forced to tap into the darkest parts of himself to overcome it? Only time will tell.
    SO...I hope this article made some sense to you guys. Maybe the examples worked to help demonstrate what I was talking about. And remember that dread exists on the outer rim of the major conflicts of your story. Use it as a form of escalation. Let your readers know that 'danger lurks'...but this isn't the main blitz on your protagonist and his/her journey through the plot. It's an intensely stated 'hint' of what's to come later. It creates menace and an intimidating appeal to your antagonist and the world that they inhabit. These rules can be demonstrated on a much larger scale if you see the need to do so. And they can be demonstrated on a much smaller scale if you see the need to. The goal is to engage your audience and get them all riled up about a major conflict that hasn't even happened yet.
    That is the power of dread! Learn it well!
    Best of luck to you all! And happy writing!
  9. Comicality

    That First Paragraph

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    "I hadn't even realized how much trouble I had gotten myself into...until I felt that first punch land directly on the side of my left cheek...sending me reeling back against the high school lockers. I really should learn to keep my mouth shut."
    Now, I'm going to assume what the heck is going on with those past few sentences. Hehehe! Rightfully so. What is going on? Who just got punched in the face? Who hit him? And WHY? Well, as I've said in earlier articles, the answer from me as a writer, to you guys as my readers, is always the same. 'Keep reading and find out!'
    Looking at those two brief sentences, you might think that this was taken from somewhere in the middle of some story that you've never read before, and therefore have no context for what the hell is going on here. But you'd be wrong. This is an example of what could very well be the beginning of a brand new story. And with just two sentences, all of those questions above instantly come into play, hopefully hooking a new reader and hold them hostage until they're far enough into my story to decide whether they want to keep reading or not.
    Will everybody suddenly be drawn in and keep reading all the way to the end? No. That's not guaranteed. But, at least for those first few paragraphs...I've got their attention. All I have to do now is let the rest of the story sell itself. That's the beauty of the first paragraph. You can begin your story anywhere that you want to...so why not start things off with a bang.
    I'd like to talk about creating a first paragraph that will intrigue your readers right off the bat, and get them to invest some time and energy into learning more. Because, more times than not...a strong beginning is just as important, if not more so, than a strong ending. So, let's get started.
    What we all have to remember as writers is that a lot of readers, especially online, have a very short attention span. How many of you guys have read a few stories, checked your social media multiple times, and consumed a variety of Youtube videos, in the past couple of hours alone. Some of you may even stop reading this article halfway through for a moment to go and check what's going on in the world of Facebook. Hehehe! It's like...you sensed a disturbance in the force or something, and can't stay away. We're all heavily distracted at all times. The only thing that you can do is be a better distraction than the rest of the distractions rattling around in the heads of your readers. And you've only got a short amount of time to do that before they start to wander. This is where 'the game' comes in.
    Using the example above, I could have easily started with my main character waking up in bed one morning before school. And that would have been a totally acceptable beginning paragraph. Readers get introduced to this new character, learn his name, get an idea of what he looks like and what his life is like at home. He cleans up, gets dressed, has some breakfast, hops on the bus, gets to school...and then gets confronted by some other boy who's been bullying him for the past few weeks. The boy is bigger and stronger than my protagonist, but he refuses to give him the satisfaction of feeding the bully with the fear that's he so desperately searching for. And then...POW! He gets punched in the face and falls back against the school lockers. This can work as an effective beginning to a story, sure. nothing wrong with that.
    But look at how long it took me just to give you extremely shortened, underdeveloped, version of the story. The people reading my story might have a cell phone sitting next to them, the TV on in the background, and probably some music playing in his or her headphones, all at the same time. Are they going to really focus on my main character brushing his teeth and eating eggs and toast for breakfast? Do they want to hear about his bus ride? Are they going to be locked in long enough to hear about his history with the school bully? ::Shrugs:: Maybe. Some will. It's not outside the realm of possibility.
    But what happens if I start my story with a direct punch to the face? A shock to the system? A reason for my audience to let the record skip and think, "Wait! What the fuck did I just MISS???" Do I have they're attention now? Good! Now...let's work backwards, and you can find out all of that other stuff in retrospect. Do you sort of get what I'm saying here? Sometimes, you just have to grab a reader by the collar and get them invested with a scene that inspires them to get more information. And how do they do that?
    Keep reading and find out!
    I'm actually proud to say that I've gotten a lot better at this since I first started. I think the first question to ask yourself as an author is...'what is my story about?' Like, an overview of what you want to do with your story and where you want it to go. Maybe you're writing a story about forbidden love, or about the first settlement on Mars, or the creepy neighbors that just moved in next door. Whether you're writing about loss, or chasing the dream of being a superstar, or just wanting a romance with someone that you think might be way out of your league...think about that, define it, and drop your readers right into the thick of it. Right away. Not in a major way that's going to spoil anything for later, but in a way that immediately connects to the main theme of your story.
    Let's say that the example above is a story about a gay boy in high school who's dealing with bullying and intense violence. Ok. Great. Let's start there. In two sentences, it's established that the main character is dealing with an antagonist who has no problem beating him up. We also find out that the protagonist must have said something to instigate this action by his reaction of 'learning to keep his mouth shut' or 'getting himself into trouble'. At least the way that he sees it. What is the story about? It's about the conflict between this boy and his bully. Everything before that takes time to flesh out...and every story doesn't have to go that route. Sometimes, you can just jump in with both feet and get things started.
    Now, after that...maybe you can have the protagonist being comforted by his best friend, or he might go home and his parents see him with black eye and wand to do something to help...and that's a perfect opportunity to build on those character relationships and motivations. This is the time for the extra prose, and the history of his bullying, why it happened and what he's planning to do about it. Now you've increased your chances of an audience reading through that part of the story and fully absorbing it because you've got them interested already. Every minute that someone spends reading your story...it gets more and more difficult for them to back out of it and go do something else. This is why so many stories can feel so addictive. You're invested now. You want to know what happens next. You HAVE to know what happens next!
    This, like I said before, is 'the game'.
    Think of it as lighting a bunch of small candles in a dark room. Lighting just one candle isn't going to illuminate the whole area...but you get to see a little bit more than you did before. So you light a second candle. Then a third. Then a fourth. And with every tiny flame...you begin to discover more and more details about the room that you're standing in. Pictures on the walls. Windows. Doors. Floorboards. Playing the game with your first paragraph is no different. ONE lit candle in a pitch black room is an immediate draw for anyone in the room with you. It's a focal point that blocks out everything else. Now...what will your second candle be? Oh...he has a best friend that really cares about him, but isn't big enough to keep him from being bullied. You get a little more detail. Third candle? His mother worries about him coming home with bruises on his face, but he's ashamed to admit what's going on at school, so he rejects her attempts to soothe him. Fourth candle? Maybe his father comes home from work, and he's embarrassed to see that his son has gotten beaten up again. He wants his son to stand up for himself, and it only adds to the main character's shame for not being able to do so. And so forth and so on.
    The idea is to snatch your reader's attention with an exciting jump off point, and holding their attention long enough for you to 'light another candle' and draw them in further. Don't give them too much! Just let the story unfold a little bit at a time for right now. Let them learn about your characters and figure out what's going on. And when you're done with whatever new detail that you've decided to feed them with...add a little bit more. By the time you've built an adequate foundation for your story, they'll be too invested to turn away from it. That first paragraph means a LOT to a story, especially if you're drawing in brand new readers who have had no previous experience with you up until that very moment. Catch them first...and then proceed to string them along, allowing their own curiosity to carry them further into the story that you're trying to tell. Let your details 'swell' gradually. While reading your initial intro to this world and your characters, your audience should be learning something new every few paragraphs. They should be thinking, 'Oh. Well, there's something else that I know. Oh, and something else. Ohhhh...that's why he got punched in the face. Wait...ok, I get it. Well his best friend seems cool. At least he's not alone in all this.' Etc etc...
    One thing you DON'T ever want to happen is for someone to start reading your story and think, 'Where is this going?' You should be giving them hints as to where things are going right from that first paragraph. If your story is about bullying...then start there. If you story is about losing a loved one...start at the funeral, and work backwards through memories or flashbacks. Take what your readers will instantly cling to as something relatable and provocative...and use that to hook them without trying to build up to it with any filler.
    In my older stories, I would have my main characters practically introduce themselves through some sort of self narration, explain where they are and how old they are, and I'd go through the agony of having to inform my audience that they were gay, and feel different, and struggle to keep it a secret. Nowadays? I try to avoid that as much as possible. If the point of my story is creating a romance...then I start with the main character already being in love. Done.
    "I can't help but stare at him."
    Those seven words might be my whole first paragraph. Can't help it? Stare at who? Why or why not? Readers engaged...now let's get on with it. In the story, "My Only Escape", I have Zack rushing home after school to keep from receiving another beating from his abusive father. In "Give It To Me Straight", the protagonist has a huge crush on a straight boy from school. So let's start in the middle of a high school party where he's watching him from across the room. Whether it be a short story or a long series...let's get started with the interesting stuff and build it up as we go along. Let the audience grow with you and your characters. Do that? And they're more likely to stick around for a while and make it to the end. So make sure your story ending is up to par! Hehehe! They won't be expecting anything less!
    But that's a lesson for another day!
    Anyway, that's all for today! Just remember to catch your readers with the kind of literary 'bait' that is significant enough to warrant more of their attention as you bring them into your story, and build your world around them. Keep lighting those candles! It'll be worth it, trust me!
    Take care! Hope this helps! And I'll seezya soon!
  10. Comicality

    Plot Armor

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    ::Old Timey Radio Voice::
    "Lois is trapped underground and tied up next to the bomb! Jimmy Olsen is being held captive by the gangsters from the underground syndicate! And Clark Kent can't leave the Daily Bugle in time to rescue them without giving away his secret identity!!! Can Superman possibly HOPE to save the day???
    Hehehe...umm, of course he can! He's freakin' Superman! Duh!
    I remember being in the college dorms with my roommates and some of our friends, discussing which characters in fictional folklore it would be near IMPOSSIBLE to write a compelling and interesting story about if we had to...no matter how much money was being tossed our way for it. And my very first thought, and ultimate answer, was Superman. To this day, I think I would have a difficult time trying to write a Superman story with any kind of 'stakes' involved, because...well...he's Superman.
    You wont find a more impenetrable version of plot armor in any character than you will with the son of Krypton. He's invincible, he's insanely fast, he has eye lasers, he has frost breath, you can run from him, you can hide from him, he's got X-Ray eyes...WTF? And the thing is...people who love Superman WANT that from him! They won't stand for anything less. No weakness, no conflict, no corruption...none of that. Unh unh! Superman is Superman, and that's all there is to it.
    I, personally, have problems with that idea when it comes to writing a story. Not just for the main characters, but for the characters surrounding them. I feel like super overpowered characters make it extremely difficult to create feelings of tension or provide any real sense of danger or conflict when it comes to bringing an audience into my world and getting them invested in the idea that my main characters might actually lose in the end.
    I mean, seriously...who cringes when Superman gets punched in the face?
    However, when you see Jackie Chan make a near impossible jump from one rooftop to another, throw himself down a flight of steps, and nearly get IMPALED on a bed of spikes??? It's like, "JESUS!!!" That's what I want in my stories! Those gasps and cringes and true worry when it comes to the main characters that has an impact that almost makes you forget that the 'story' is supposed to make them invincible. Hehehe!
    I have been a movie buff my entire life. I was sooooo little when I was introduced to film, and I can seriously remember being totally vulnerable to the idea that the heroes in my favorite movies could actually die or come to serious harm. I hadn't become movie savvy yet, and that gave these stories an entirely different level of breathless excitement when I watched them! The whole house could have caught fire in the middle of one of these movies, and I would have kicked and screamed and thrown a full blown tantrum if I didn't get to see what happened next. Why? Because I had no real vision of 'plot armor' at that age. The concept was beyond me. And, for a long long time...I kind of missed it.
    Watch this video below. I wasn't much older than the boy watching "Return Of the Jedi" for the very first time in his life...and I can remember feeling the EXACT same way when he was facing off against the Emperor! I mean...how do you even battle something like that???
     
    An emotional time, indeed. And this was at a time when I was under the assumption that no one was safe, no matter how cool or important they may be to the story or franchise itself. This is an extremely difficult trick to pull off in stories these days. As always, people are more savvy to all of the smoke and mirror tactics that writers and filmmakers have used in the past...and that means that we, as writers, are all facing new challenges when it comes to creating a sense of urgency and loss in the stories that we tell. Especially when it comes to characters who may come off as overpowered to the readers who dive in to check your story out.
    Now...when I say 'overpowered'...that doesn't just mean some hunky super hero or magical fantasy wizard. This works in general, down-to-earth, fiction as well. Overpowered can mean a guy who is obscenely famous, extremely wealthy, outrageously gorgeous, or insanely popular. A character who seems to be lacking any visible flaws at all. How do you beat that? What do you do?
    Having your protagonist struggle with that and slowly begin to figure out ways to get around what seems so unbelievably unavoidable in terms of being a challenge to the 'un-challengeable'...will make for an EXCELLENT story! Readers always love to root for the underdog, after all!
    Going back to the whole Superman idea...I distinctly remember seeing the final trailer for the "Man Of Steel" movie just before it was released, and I was soooooo impressed! It was, like...they solved the biggest problem of all! How do you hurt someone who can't be physically damaged in any possible way? And watching this trailer gave me an explosion of hope that they might actually be able tackle this problem the way it needed to be tackled.
    You're not going to be able to hit, stab, shoot, burn, blow up, Superman. It just won't work. BUT...if you can really hit him where it hurts the most? Then you'll win every time. Superman cares about humanity. His heart is his greatest weakness, and always has been. And by attacking the people that he loves...his plot armor doesn't really mean much. And that is where you, as a writer, can find opportunities to inject feelings of dread and danger into your story. Something tense that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats, even though their main hero is invulnerable to being taken out of the game prematurely.
    So this trailer really caught my attention. This is what Superman fears most. Being exposed. Having people hurt because he wasn't able to save them. Knowing that his very presence is a threat in itself. Brilliant!
     
     
    0 0 0 If you want to write a compelling story and keep people locked in (And maybe piss off a few people along the way...it happens...), take the plot armor off. If you can't do it for your main character, then do it for the characters that he or she cares about most. This is where building up the personalities and interactions with your side characters will come in handy. Make people love them. Care about them. Want them to make it through towards the whole 'happily ever after' in the long run. And then threaten the stability of that dream by putting them in danger and stressing your readers out with situations that your main, overpowered, protagonist could easily solve on their own...but aren't there to do so.
    I hope that makes sense.
    For me? In the vampire story, "Gone From Daylight", the main character, Justin, is definitely powerful enough to do a LOT of damage if he really wanted to. There aren't many problems that he couldn't solve within a matter of seconds if it really came down to a life or death conflict. But, one thing that I always tried to keep in mind was the fact that I really can't tell a decent story when my protagonist can simply vaporize everybody he comes across without any effort at all. I mean, where's the excitement in that? So I had to 'anchor' him somehow. Justin is 14 years old...powers and all. He's never known how to fight before. If anything, he's spent a majority of his life being a victim. He struggles with the idea of crossing over the line into a much darker side of his personality that he may not be able to come back from. He's making up all of these things as he's going along. He's no trained warrior, nor does he even fully understand what abilities he holds within him yet. There are limits on what he can do, and how he can manipulate his extras to help him out in a serious situation, but I can't just having him destroying entire Chicago neighborhoods in the blink of an eye. Hehehe, I' surprised that he gets away with as much as he has so far.
    However...his biggest weakness...much like with the Superman trailer above, is that he has a heart. He's suffering through trauma and heartbreak, and he's doing all that he can to be a part of a brand new family in darkness for the very first time. If anyone really wants to hit Justin where it hurts the most? They can start with the people he cares about. Which has been a running theme in this series from the very first chapter. He's overpowered, but far from invincible. And I like keeping him that way...for now.
    I think that 'plot armor' can create a certain flatness in a storyline. No...Harry Potter isn't going to get stabbed in the heart while he's sleeping. Captain America isn't going to get shot in the head while giving a speech to the public (Hehehe, at least not in the movies! :P), and Indiana Jones isn't going to fall off of a jeep and get run over by a TANK! I mean...we're past the age of thinking that such a thing is a possibility anymore.
    BUT...I have to admit that there were a few shows that completely ripped the entire concept of 'plot armor' all the way off and tossed it to the four winds! And gripped me in a way that I never thought I'd ever see again! Omigod! That feeling...that anybody could go at any time...wow! It's priceless. It creates such an intense experience when you're watching it. And while I would definitely put "Game Of Thrones" in that category...my favorite (all time FAVORITE) series that display how white knuckled tension can be created by letting the audience know that 'plot armor doesn't always exist here'?
    They would have to be "24" (If you've never seen "24"....WTF? You need to make that your homework! Season 6 was fucking CRAZY!!!) and "The Walking Dead"! (Again...Seasons 6 and 7? PHENOMINAL!!!) Watch those shows, and you'll see the impact of not knowing whether your favorite character was going to make it through the next 40 minutes or so. You won't regret it!
     
    00 The whole point of this article is very simple...
    If you want tension, worry, paranoia, and high stakes, in your story...putting your readers through bouts of stress and discomfort (You SADISTS, hehehe!)...then remove the plot armor. If you can't do it for your main character then let the dangerous consequences of that character's actions spread to the people that he or she loves most or keeps closest to their hearts. It creates a sense of vulnerability. A chink in the armor. And that makes people uneasy.
    Pick at it. Tweak it. Have some fun. Hehehe, writing a really good story can be a gleefully manipulative effort some times. Enjoy it!
    I hope this gives you guys something to think about in the future! Happy writing! And I'll seezya soon with more!
     
  11. Comicality

    Who's In Charge

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    When trying to put the idea together of this particular article in my head, I had to be careful to steer clear of the whole idea and philosophy of 'determinism' and 'free will', hehehe...which is an entire novel's worth of intellectual discussion that would probably ehaust all of us before I even BEGIN to scratch the surface of the point that I want to make here in terms of our skills as writers, and crafting a story of our very own. Simultaneously using one side of the argument while giving the illusion of the other.
    Basically...the Cliff's Notes version deals with the idea of whether or not we truly have the blessing of 'free will' in our lives, or simply the illusion of free will through social dogma and an uncanny sense of optimism. Hehehe! And, just reading what you've read so far...you may be wondering how the hell 'Comsie' is going to somehow weave this into a lesson about writing online fiction! Well, be patient! I'm getting to that! And, for many of you writers out there who may be getting mediocre or somewhat lackluster responses to your work...the following lessons may actually help you to create a more engaging story for your readers to absorb and invest themselves into along the way.
    The big question this time around, folks? Who's in charge here?
    Trust me...it matters.
    See...when you're writing a story, you are actually taking on the divine role of a creator. From beginning to end. You already know what's going to happen, and you've planned out all of the events in advance. Your main characters don't have any say in how things turn out, because it's your personal magic that's pushing this master game plan forward and guiding things the way that you want them to go. You're the one in control. But it's your duty as an author to simply operate behind the scenes to hide your influence and allow your audience to become so involved in the trials and tribulations of your characters that you remain somewhat 'invisible' when it comes to being the architect of every event you carry them through until the story is over. Does that make sense?
    The illusion of giving your characters free will and a choice over what's going to happen next is key when it comes to writing an engaging story. But...not everybody really thinks of a 'story' in those terms. And that's where some authors can find themselves falling into a state of subtle limbo that doesn't feel wrong...but can end up draining all of the interest out of your story in the long run. Sometimes, even in the short run.
    Let me explain...
    There is one, sure fire, way to completely bore your readers with you're writing. You may not realize it, and even the readers won't realize it right away...but here it is. You ready?
    Do NOT let your story drag your protagonist along it's journey from beginning to end! Just...don't do it! It can become mind-numbing to a reader. No matter the premise, or the plot, or the concept...always remember the 'pro' in your 'protagonist'. He/She is in charge. Establish that early on, and stick with it. It will help soooo much if you manage to keep an eye on this sort of this thing while you're writing.
    The one thing that can bring a story down from its true potential is having your main character, the sole focus of your amazing tale of drama/romance/adventure...being led around by a faceless, disembodied, storyline. Dragging them from one even to another without the main character's involvement in what's actually going on. Now, I don't want anyone to take any offense to me saying that, as there is a delicate balance that can be worked in to maintain some sort of mystery and tension, while still keeping your protagonist the highlight of your project. However...I've seen that balance ruined many many times in the past. Not just in other writers' work, but also in my own. So I'm leaving this little landmine as a warning for you guys to avoid in the future.
    Hmmmm...how to better explain this...
    When you create a main character for your particular story...you want your readers to sincerely believe that they have some say in how this particular story is going to turn out in the end. Of course...you're the author...the architect...hehehe, and what your readers believe or don't believe ultimately have no impact on the end of your story at all (Unless you want it too)...but that's not a part of the illusion, is it? The whole point is to make your audience feel as though your protagonist is actively fighting for the best possible outcome...whether they're able to achieve that in the end or not. You want your writing to put them, center stage, as often as humanly possible.
    This is one of those moments where I reveal one of my hidden little 'Comsie Secrets' when I'm writing, hehehe!
    If you look over a vast majority of my stories on the site, you'll see my writing constantly playing around with the exact balance that I'm talking about here. The idea that there's some outside force that's controlling the actions and reactions of the main character, where he feels helpless to escape it. A sense of fate. Things that were meant to be, or not meant to be, that are clearly out of his control...because the divine writer of his narrative is the one running the show outside of his consent. This can be clearly seen stories like, "My Only Escape", "Save Or Sacrifice", "On The Outside", and more. And by the time we get into stories like "Billy Chase", "Gone From Daylight", and "Savage Moon"...my methods of wobbling back and forth over that precious line become more clear. There's an idea that 'it's not my fault', and that there's something going on that's beyond my control. What did you expect me to do?
    Here's the gem in walking that line though. Your main characters become stronger and more interesting when they finally begin to question that particular 'formula' and begin to work against it. THAT makes for an exciting story! No matter what genre you happen to be writing in. Fighting against that 'fate' and growing to a point where you feel capable of challenging the design that was laid out for you without you having any say in it.
    Let's face it...the days of 'boy meets boy' are pretty much over and done with. Too simple. Too easy. Too predictable. Hehehe, it won't be considered a 'party foul' if you write a story like that from time to time for fun...but if you're looking to stand out, you'll need more.
    In all of the linked stories that I mentioned above...if you haven't read any of them yet, just jump in at any random point and check out a few pages when you get a chance. There are going to be times when I allow the story to pull the main characters into situations and present certain obstacles and dangers along the way...but I try hard to keep the story from controlling everything going on around it. No...that's what the protagonist is for. Your protagonist needs to be an active participant in what's going on here. Don't sideline him by giving the situations in his path drag him from one 'non-decision' to the next. It's hard to explain, but it makes for a really boring story in the long run. "Why did he do this?" Answer? "Because the story told him he had to." Well, after two or three instances of that being used as an excuse...that gets old. Really fast.
    Have your protagonist make conscious decisions about he wants to proceed to the next part of his journey. Don't leave him ten steps behind throughout the whole story and deprive your audience from ever feeling like he was in control of his own destiny from the very beginning. It's literary suicide.
    Most of my characters start out this way...feeling at the mercy of a greater plan that is, obviously, not conspiring in their favor. And that leads to angst, frustration, paranoia, fear, and some truly naive and awkward decisions on their part. BUT...that's where the fun part comes in! Because, most of my character arcs essentially come from those same characters questioning the design and deviating from the chosen path to explore something new. Something real. And this creates the feeling that your protagonist is actually the one in charge!
    It's something that your readers will appreciate and invest themselves in when diving into your story, full force. Nobody wants to read about things that are static and planned out and are 'supposed' to happen, no matter what. Be careful of stumbling into that pitfall as a writer. The most influential writers swim upstream.
    But it can be fun to goof around with the whole 'cliche fake out' tropes from time to time too. Hehehe!
    Anyway, always make sure that it's your protagonist that's pushing your story forward and not the other way around. Don't leave your hero to be led around by the dick while the story basically tells your readers, "I can do this, with or without him being a part of this." It diminishes the importance of your shining star. Give your main character something to do. Let him mold the story. Let his decisions have an impact. Otherwise...you've got a main character chasing butterflies for an entire narrative...and that can be a snooze fest.
    Just a little something that I've learned from experience over the years. And hope to get better at correcting in the years to come.
    I hope this helps! I'd love to hear if you have any thoughts on this down below! Take care! And I'll seezya soon!
     
  12. Comicality

    Revisions

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    There are so many times when I look back at my older stories, or even just older chapters of stories that I started years ago that I'm currently working on...and there are SO many things that I wish I had changed or done differently. Details that I could have added, 'wordy' and repetitious sections that I wish I had edited out for the sake of brevity and a more potent race to the point, or mistakes that I should have corrected before putting it out there for people to read. Sometimes, I blame that urge to change things on my own insecurities and weirdness as a writer. Sometimes, I blame it on reader pressure to take the story a certain way or have certain things happen that I hadn't properly planned for. But more than anything, I think that all writers simply mature over time, with practice and experience and a growing audience. I mean, don't we all have projects that we wish we could go back to correct and improve upon now that we can look back on them from a more 'battle-scarred' perspective? It might just be a word here and a word there for many authors...but for some, myself included, I always have this craving to do an entire overhaul of the original story and smooth out the all of the rough edges with a package of harsh sandpaper sheets to give the story the polish and the pleasing look that I always wanted it to have.
    That doesn't mean that I'm not proud of the finished projects that I've done in the past. I just wish that I could have tackled those themes and characters with the kind of knowledge and expertise that I only could have developed through many years of extensive trial and error. (Mostly error. But it is what it is. Hehehe!)
    And yet, I always hold on to the originals, because they exist as examples of where I came from, and where I can go if I just keep growing and learning new tricks along the way. It takes time, patience, a LOT of hard work...and maybe a few battles with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, to get the stew flavored just right...but keep going! You can do it. Keep going back and examining some of your older work to see where you've improved, and where there may be opportunities for even more improvement. I feel that it's always a good exercise to keep your older works handy whenever you're trying to challenge yourself as a writer. To examine your own growth, as well as take your talent to the next level.
    Still...even though I save and respect the original versions of my earlier projects, the constant yearning to update them and really give them a new shiny gloss sticks with me. And if you've read my older stories, you may be surprised at the new 'remixed' versions that will be popping up this year. I actually had a lot of fun rewriting and expanding on some of those projects, making them a bit more advanced than what they were when I first put them out there. The first big projects being brand new versions of "If Only In My Dreams" and "A Stepbrother I Could Love", which I felt had SO much more to say in their narratives when I went back to read them again! I've been having a lot of fun with those. So keep an eye out for them soon if you haven't seen them yet.
    DON'T worry, though! Your favorite classics aren't going anywhere! Promise. I'm not going to pull a George Lucas on ya! Some people love the originals, and I appreciate them for what they are. I just want to take another stab at telling a more complete story and seeing where those projects might go, now that I'm a little bit older and wiser than I was back when it was all passion and hormones, and not much else. There are characters that I want to explore with some more depth. Plot holes that I want to fix up. Themes that I want to approach from a more adult point of view, even though I'm dealing with a teenage cast. It's a new experiment that I'm eager to tackle aggressively this year, and we'll see how it turns out. ::Fingers Crossed::
    So, for this discussion...just in case any of you want to go back to some of your older projects and do a little maintenance of your own to get them read the way you always wanted them to read...let's talk revisions! Questions and comments are always welcome, of course!
    I think that, once you truly become connected to your personal form of creative expression...it begins to grow and change with you. Especially if it's over a long period of time. While I may still be pretty consistent in my thoughts, beliefs, sense of humor, and approach to life in general...I am not the same person that I was when I was a 23 year old, fully closeted, hobby writer. I don't think I could write any of those stories now. Not even if I tried. Nor would a 23 year old 'Comicality' be able to write the stories that I write now. We might as well be two completely different people. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a connection there within the text that was typed out on his screen and mine. The heart behind the stories is the same, but I feel as though I've learned how to finesse the craft of translating those intense feelings a little bit better than I did in the beginning.
    For example...the abundance of sex in every chapter has been mellowed out to make room for more romance. More drama. More dialogue. More intrigue. It's still erotic writing, but I found my own personal comfort zone where love and lust can sort of find this coexistent yin and yang relationship between my characters. The romance leads to graphically described sex, and the sex circles around to enhance the sweet and fuzzy romantic elements. They compliment one another, and that's exactly what I always wanted from a gay teen love story. It feels good to finally find a balance between the two sides, and still have both sides be fun and exciting for anyone who might be reading. I've also strayed away from words like 'cock' or 'cum' or 'asshole' or anything that might have a more sexually explicit context to it (unless that was the intention, of course), for other descriptions that I felt might give the story's prose a little more grace when describing a young sexual encounter. There's nothing wrong with using those words, but it doesn't fit a lot of the stories that I'm trying to tell from the main character's perspective. I can't feel comfortable anymore writing a story in 2021 about an incredibly bashful teenage virgin, and then add the words, "I sucked his hot cock until he came buckets of creamy hot semen into my open mouth!" without feeling like my more blatant word usage and the character's previous inner thoughts about infatuation and bashful silence don't exactly match up. You know what I mean?
    I hope that makes sense.
    My apologies for the brazen description, by the way. Hehehe! But, I think that proves my point. You won't find an article like THIS in your favorite writing magazine! Eat your heart out, 'Reader's Digest'! LMAO!!!
    Anyway, the point is, we all grow. We evolve as authors. And we may look back at some of our previous accomplishments...and feel the need to give them a proper 'remix' from time to time. Even if it was well received, celebrated by your audience, and loved by many. There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve on a story you love. Go for it! Breathe new life into it. I've grown to love doing it myself. Especially with the Ebooks that I've been putting out on Amazon...
    (Shameless plug...Comicality Ebook Section at https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/ )
    I actually rejoiced over the fact that I could go back to older stories and series of mine and correct a ton of mistakes, inconsistencies, and formatting flaws, that had been haunting me for years now. But, more than that, I got to add soooo much more detail, enriching the descriptions that I had written before, and add whole chapters of new material that was never there before. Which, I feel, makes huge differences in stories like "Gone From Daylight", "Savage Moon", and "The Secret Life Of Billy Chase", where I got the chance to look at the stories from a different perspective now that they're so much further along, and I can better articulate the ideas and emotions that I once took a shot at so long ago. It was a fun experience, and one that I think we can all learn from if we give it a try. I went over and ran through every line of dialogue, every description, and every plot point, as if I was writing it for the first time. Except this time...I was able to look back at those previous chapters from, what I feel, was an elevated position. I had more chapters written in advance, and it helps to know exactly what comes later on when filling in the blanks for earlier chapters.
    Times change, and you find yourself able to pull off a few tricks that you were incapable of before.
    As an example, let me show you guys a movie scene that is considered to be one of the most iconic battle scenes in cinematic history. The original showdown between Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi from the original 'Star Wars' movie. Seriously, this was like...a major achievement for its time, and there are MANY 'Star Wars' fans who can't quote this scene, line for line, without skipping a beat! Even if you've seen it before, watch it again right now. Study it. What do you see here? Check it out...
     
    Now, that is one of those cinematic moments that will stay with fans of the saga forever. I don't think a lot of people realize that when 'Star Wars' first came out...there WAS no 'Star Wars'. Think about that for a second. The idea of a dark and menacing robot in a cape and a skilled samurai monk fighting with laser swords was like...what the FUCK is happening right now??? There was no previous blueprint for that kind of thing at the time! Sci-Fi hadn't really reached that kind of fantasy level yet in most places. So, this stood out as something intense and innovative and absolutely mind-blowing to watch for the first few hundred times! Hehehe!
    Then...jump ahead about 40 years, and 'Star Wars' has a whole new look and feel to it than it ever did back for us 80's kids. Now there is a blueprint for lightsaber fights, and prequels and sequels and animations and fan films...there was a foundation to build from and improve on. When going back to revise or touch up your older projects, I think you should look at them the same way. You don't always want to wreck or destroy the foundation that made your story what it was. The heart was there. Sometimes, your first presentation is your most honest presentation. Your most passionate presentation. It's not about trying to figure out what you did wrong. It's about enhancing what you did right. Finding a few opportunities that might have been in your blind spot before you learned how to recognize them for what they were. With practice, you become more sophisticated and more comfortable with your voice and your technique. You learn nuance and complexity, your vocabulary grows...and these are all tools that you can use to enhance the vibe of your fiction without taking anything away from what made it so special to you in the first place. That's where the real magic lies. But, as with everything else, this too takes patience and practice to get the balance just right.
    Down below is a fanmade re-imagining of that same Darth Vader/Obi Wan lightsaber duel. And it is absolutely friggin' AMAZING! Better than all nine films! Hehehe! Now, remember, we have the prequels and decades worth of 'Star Wars' lore now. We have special effects and hardcore choreography and a whole different perspective on how 'the force' works. Someone took a long time and put in a LOT of hard work on this...and it would be hard to make it any more perfect.
    Again, it's not meant to take anything away from the original battle. But it enhances it, adds layers, and displays a level of sophistication that wasn't possible when the original came out. Take a look at this new, updated version of the same scene above...
     
    Watching that, it should give you a prime example of what I mean when I say that you should be able to update and improve upon your own original work, without trying to recreate the spontaneity and the passion that made it honest and unique. Sure, you have more tools at your disposal, and a mindset that is better equipped to finesse certain parts of your earlier stories...but you never want to try to improve on the heart and simplicity that gave your original project that particular brand of magic the first time around. Preserve that innocent quality as much as you can. Don't look back at a younger 'you' with disdain or unfair judgement. Instead, look at how you could assist a younger you in bringing his/her vision to fruition in the best way possible if you could go back and advise them, face to face.
    More times than not, when I go back to revise or repair one of my older stories, it's usually because of inconsistencies or loopholes that I found or other readers have discovered after the story had already been released. One great example of this is in the story, "Gone From Daylight", where a group of the main characters meet on the rooftop of an abandoned building for a private discussion. However, one of those characters is in a wheelchair. And a few fans of the story asked, "Well, how did they get him all the way up to the roof?" And, honestly...when I originally wrote that scene, I definitely wanted that character to be there...but I hadn't even thought about that. In fact, I skipped over it altogether. Hehehe, oops! So when it came time to re-edit and rewrite everything for the ebook version, that issue was addressed directly, and I made an entire extended scene that wasn't there before, explaining how that was possible and was even able to have a bit of fun with it. Multiple characters were involved, details were added, and the touch up helped me to expand on the story in a way that made more sense, all while connecting the scene beforehand to the scene afterward on the roof. I felt it was a great improvement without really scrapping the scene entirely or taking that character out of it completely. The original heart and soul of that scene remains in tact, but I was able to go back and polish it up a bit so it reads better, and (hopefully) works to keep from taking readers out of the moment. I guess it's the Snyder cut!
    Another ebook that I put out, "GFD: Nightfall", I was originally happy with how it turned out on the site. However, as I was going through it all for the ebook version...I had this feeling that the ending was really 'anti-climactic'. So, I took some much needed extra time to put a MUCH better experience together in my head for the grand finale, added details, increased the tension, and really worked hard to make sure that the end of the book was bringing the kind of sparks and fireworks that a story like that needed to have to go out with a bang. So the conclusion was a much bigger production than what I had initially written, and now I believe it reads a lot better. You might be surprised how many ideas can pop up when you're re-editing your older stories. It's crazy.
    Other reasons to revise my own stories? Some of them I've been writing for many years, and the world has changed a lot since then. Certain pop culture references may not be valid anymore. Certain technologies have come and gone since then. There just has to be a way to keep the story cohesive, and make sure that chapter two or three can match up with chapter twenty or thirty and not have the differences be so blatantly obvious. I have a young cousin that I look after from time to time, and he wanted to watch "The Ring". (He likes horror movies too) And while I think he 'gets' the idea of a VHS tape playing a movie...the first time he saw the static on the TV...he was like, "What is that?" I mean, he barely sees the use for a physical DVD or BluRay disc anymore...so a VHS tape is a totally foreign concept to him. And I have some older stories that fall into that same category. I have a story where two boys meet while searching for movies at a video rental store, or at an arcade in the mall, or they work in a CD store...and sometimes you have to update your references to make your stories more contemporary. (Or make the decision to make the story a 'retro' tale and place the events back in a past era)
    Whatever your reason may be to look back at your past works as an author, and decide to give them a little gloss and a little grace that they didn't have before...I suggest that you use it as an exercise to dive into every now and again, just to help you learn how to spot missed opportunities or add flair and details to scenes that might have seemed awesome at the time, but could still be taken to the next level. That in no way means that your original work was bad or that anything was wrong with it, but as a writer, if you're doing things right, you're learning and growing with every new project that you put out there. You learn how to phrase things differently, how to get more comfortable with your dialogue, how to better express yourself. And this is a GOOD thing! A great thing! It's not just mechanics and formatting. Read what you wrote on an emotional level and concentrate on how you can add a little extra flavor to the parts that you think need it the most. Take a look back at who you were, and appreciate the journey that led you to where you are now.
    That being said, I'd like to leave you guys with this fun little video of a college Froshman watching an old video of his high school Froshman self, leaving himself a message for his 18th birthday in the future. Just remember, we all grow and change over time, and if you have any projects that you think could be just a LITTLE bit better...then go for it. Why not? You're the author. You've got all the magic in the world in the palm of your hands. So give it a shot! Remember...looking at your own work and seeing room for improvement is not a criticism...it's a challenge. Step up and let the audience see what you're made of.
    I hope this helps! Give your writing skills a bit of exercise, and have a blast, guys! Seezya soon!
     
     
  13. Comicality

    What Are You Feeling?

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    There are occasions, as all writers know, when you may find yourself walking off the path of creativity and inspiration...and you're staring directly at a brick wall. It happens. Some call it writer's block, some may doubt their skills as a writer, and sometimes...you're just plain tired. There's no way around it. It can be frustrating and it can be disheartening and it can end up tossing a lot of deadlines in the trash at the last minute, because you just can't rush that which will not be rushed. It's just that simple.
    However, this article isn't going to be about the dreaded writer's block, as I've written about that at length in the past. Instead, this is going to be about asking yourself the one simple question that may help you to get around the obstacle of writer's block altogether, and get right back to work on your masterpiece. And that question is...
    "How are you feeling?"
    Take a moment and think about it right now before reading any further. Just take a few seconds of emotional inventory, and think about what's going on with you at this very moment. Think about what's going on in your life, in your relationships, at your job or at your school...and now think about how that has affected you and how it makes you feel right now as you're reading this.
    You got it? Ok, get that emotion and hold onto it. It's open, it's honest, it takes some vulnerability, but whatever that feeling is, good or bad or anywhere in between...write THAT! Hehehe! Channel that feeling into words, and share your experience with your readers. Let it be 'real', both to you and to your audience.
     
    When I began writing stories online, I would often find myself getting caught up in making something new, or continuing something that people were asking for, or basically just pushing myself through whatever doubts or fears that I had with a particular project so I could get it done. And, after a while, it led me right to that damn brick wall. Time and time again. I kept asking myself why the ideas wouldn't just magically 'fall out of the sky' like they had been before. How do I top my last story? Am I getting repetitive? Will my readers like this one? It's so different from the others that I wrote before. But, over time, I learned to ask myself how I was feeling on that particular day, and that really worked wonders for me. To the point where I can write something each and every single day and never really run short on ideas or feel at the mercy of that kind of creative constipation.
    What I discovered...was that I was trying to align my emotions with the story and the scenes and the characters that I was working with...instead of the other way around. Basically, I was trying to push my true feelings aside just long enough to get my work done...forgetting that it was my 'feelings' that made my work enjoyable and meaningful to me in the first place. I mean, that was the whole point of me writing, wasn't it? To express myself? To pour my heart out on the page (Or the screen, as the case may be)? I've found that the moment you train yourself to let your heart guide you instead of trying to box it in to whatever limited space you need to get the next chapter of your story out, writer's block becomes MUCH less of a problem than it was before.
    That's not to say that it'll never happen again, hehehe, but at least you'll have some personal insight as to why it might be a problem for you at all.
    I eventually realized that what I was struggling through wasn't really a creative block. It's not that I didn't have anything to say, because I definitely did. I just couldn't say it with the particular story that I was working on. I couldn't channel my current emotions through the characters that I was working with. It simply didn't fit. Now, I know that people are always saying, "Jesus, Comsie! Why are you always working on so many stories at once? Why don't you just concentrate on finishing one or two at a time?" Here's my explanation...or as some may see it, my 'excuse'...
    I can definitely be a moody person more times than not. I'm not unstable, by any means, but I'm affected by the situations and the people around me. Sometimes in a positive way, sometimes in a negative way. And I can tell you...if you think for one moment that I want to drive to work in the pouring rain one morning, work a double shift, get flak from my boss over something petty, fight traffic on the way home, find nothing but some lousy leftovers in the fridge for dinner...tired, physically and emotionally drained, with a slight headache...and then I'm going to sit down and write a cheerful and happy scene between the characters in "New Kid In School"...you're crazy! Hehehe! Yeah, yeah...I know you've been waiting a long time for it, but my heart isn't going to be a part of that process at all. No way! I'm exhausted, soaking wet, and highly frustrated. And now I'm going to spend what little energy I have left to make a couple of fictional characters grin and giggle and have a good time? Hehehe, life isn't happy for me! Life SUCKS right now! Nobody can be upbeat and happy all the time. Not even with a screen name like 'Comicality'.
    However, once I sit down at this keyboard...if I have a character that is really going through a rough time, is feeling lost or wistful, or is hurting over something or someone who rejected them or let them down...I might jump into that story or that particular scene and spill everything that I'm feeling at the moment into that section of the story. If I had to drive in the rain that day, I might have it be a rainy and gloomy day in that chapter. If I'm feeling embarrassed or heartbroken, I might channel that energy into it as well. The emotion fits what I'm writing, and it delivers a certain punch that I don't feel is anywhere near as potent as it could be when I'm trying to force it out for the sake of finishing a chapter.
    The same goes from when I'm in a joyful mood too. I don't want to have an amazing day, get a raise at work, laugh until my belly hurts with an old friend, and maybe just randomly find a 20 dollar bill in one of my pants pockets that I forgot about...and then try to depress myself enough to write a scene of turmoil and abuse in "My Only Escape". That emotion doesn't match what I want to write either. And for me, personally...that's where my biggest battles in the past with writer's block were coming from. Usually, if I'm trying to write a story, and the ideas aren't coming to me naturally and freely...it's probably because I've got something else on my mind. And it's not going to just 'go away' for the sake of me wanting it to go away. So why not write about it?
    And that brings us back to the big question...
    "What are you feeling right now?"
     
    There's an easy exercise that you can use to sort of hone your skills when it comes to figuring out how your current emotional state is and how to translate that into words on the spot. I use this sometimes when I'm a little confused about what I'm feeling at the moment, and want to sort of untangle that psychological mess.
    Think of a very small, very focused, situation. It doesn't have to be anything big, or particularly meaningful. You don't even have to name your characters if you don't want to. Make it very short, and very simple. Like... "One boy is looking at another boy sitting across from him in history class." The idea should be something that you can explain in a single sentence, but don't worry...the situation and the characters aren't the point of the exercise.
    Hold on to that simple premise. Keep it handy.
    Now...try writing out a small narrative where you just talk about what's going on in that scene, and add your own personal touch to it. Don't think about it too much. Be spontaneous. Keep it short. Something you can write in ten minutes or less. Again, hold on to it for later. Then...the next time you have a really bad day, and you're feeling frustrated and angry...take that exact same 'one sentence' situation...and write that scene again. Don't try to write it the way you did the first time, just let yourself go, and let your emotions set up that same situation, but while you're in a different frame of mind. If you're feeling happy? Write it again. From scratch. If you're bored? Write it again. Approach it as if each time it's the first time that you've done it. Pay attention to the words you use, and the overall tone you set up. Even pay attention to the length of it. Maybe you write longer texts when you're in a good mood. Maybe you don't feel like writing much of anything when you're in a bad mood, and you cut it short. Take inventory of how your mood is changing the narrative of this short series of events and how it affects you as a writer, being able to 'bleed on the page' and get that emotional baggage off of your shoulders.
    Maybe you're feeling particularly horny that day, and all of a sudden this is one of the most attractive, most seductive, boys that has ever walked the planet. But...maybe you're just coming off of a particularly nasty break up, and you might write about how you don't ever want to fall in love again and how hopeless it is to even try. Whatever you're feeling in that moment, write it out. Nobody else has to see it but you if you don't want them to. This isn't something you have to do for an audience. Instead, do it for yourself. Learn to recognize what you're feeling at any given moment, and use that to your advantage instead of letting it cripple you in your attempts to finish whatever it is that you think you need to finish first.
    I write so much better when I'm getting things off of my chest. It's like, I get to free up enough room for me to go back to the story that I was having trouble with and approach it with a brand new outlook and a fresh burst of renewed energy. Some days I'm feeling cynical and sarcastic, other days I'm feeling all giddy and romantic, other days I'm feeling philosophical and contemplative, and then...sometimes I'm just feeling downright SILLY! Hehehe, but if you read certain stories or certain scenes from me, you can definitely see and feel where my head was at that moment. So give it a shot. It's an exercise that works for me, and maybe it'll work for you too.
     
    The bottom line is...being in touch with what you're feeling and making a habit out of expressing those feelings as they are, as opposed to trying to push them aside to tackle a completely different and contradictory tone in one of your stories...may help you to avoid writer's block in a major way. For me? I write stories and whole series for every single random mood that I might come home with on any particular day, so I always have something to channel my current feelings into. I like for the emotions to be raw. Honest. Writing a ton of different stories at once, you guys don't have to do all of that. Just think about that exercise above, or maybe keep a journal handy, or anything that you can use to sort of dump your current thoughts and emotions into and clean your palette so you can get back to your main project, and see if it helps. Your inner voice will always shine through when you're being honest with your craft. How many times have you been reading a cheerful story, and then you come to a chapter and it's like, "Whoah...well THAT certainly took a dark turn, didn't it?" It might have only been a few bad days in the author's life that led the story to veer off in that direction, but it shows. Always. Don't try to force fit your current mood into a scene where it doesn't belong if you can help it. Write something else. You've got something to vent or to rant about? Do it. Even if it's just for you and the fly on the wall. It can be a very therapeutic process, and it's an easy way for you to just step around that writer's block wall and take a short detour before getting back on the path you were on before. Cool?
    I certainly hope that this helps! Happy writing, you guys! And best of luck to you all!
     
  14. Comicality

    Pacing

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    If I was in the back seat of a taxi (Or an Uber)...and the driver took a couple of suspicious left or right turns without asking me, or had a shortcut that I didn't quite recognize...my first question would be, "Hey, where the hell are you taking me? What's happening here?" If the driver was racing down the streets at breakneck speeds, or if they were slowing around as if I had all damn day to get where I wanted to go...I would be thrown off, and probably pretty frustrated.
    When it comes to pacing out your stories...your readers are in that same position. They're in the backseat. You're the driver. You're supposed to be taking them where they need to go while they're absorbing whatever it is that your writing is giving them. And it's your job as a writer to keep them comfortable with the ride, and to also put enough faith in you to get from point A to point B without aggravating the living shit out of them. Now, every reader is different, and there will always be some that want more 'action', and some that want you to slow down and enjoy the scenery a bit more. But I've found that the real talent in pacing your story comes from finding that special sweet spot in the middle. A place where the tale can have high points and low points, dramatic events as well as some downtime, and a smooth transition from one point to another with enough connective tissue between them where your audience will want to keep reading to see what happens next. Like a bundle of grapes...the tasty parts are what you want, but they've got to be connected by something, right? It can be done. It's all in how you view your project, both as a whole as well as in pieces. And it'll be an important part of making your story a success.
    So, let's talk pacing!
    What is pacing? Basically, it's the literary equivalent of city traffic. When your audience is reading your work, there may be some streets that they can travel down without any slow down whatsoever. Maybe a stop sign or two, but mostly a smooth ride. Then you get into one of the major areas of the city, and you have heavier traffic, stoplights, pedestrians...you're moving forward, but not as quickly as you were before. And then there's downtown during rush hour, where it's just total gridlock! Oh, the horror! Writing a story is very similar. Ask yourself how your plot is moving forward. Where are you going? What is the 'point' of it all, and how are you going to get there? More importantly...how are you going to keep your readers thoroughly entertained until you reach your goal? Hehehe, there's nothing worse than being on a long road trip with a bunch of kids in the backseat who are constantly squealing, "Are we there yet?" And you don't have anything positive to tell them in response.
    In my opinion, the best way to do that is to break your story down into a series of events first instead of a journey from the initial introduction to the climax, and then fill in the rest. You might have an excellent beginning to your story, and a jaw dropping ending...but if nothing significant happens in between the two...your story is going to lag and you may lose readers halfway through. You don't want that.
    You want to know how you get people to wait two hours in line for a ride at Disney World? You keep them looking up a the ride itself, like..."DAMN! I want to get out of line...but I'm sooooo close now!" Hehehe!
    You want your story to balance things out in a way that will create a certain sense of momentum in your writing. Even when there isn't much happening during a scene, or even through a whole chapter, it should be nudging your audience with your words, as if to say, "Stick with me. I'm going somewhere with this.". As I've said before in the past, you can't have a bunch of dramatic events happening in every single chapter of your story. It may work once or twice in the beginning, but it dulls the impact if you're constantly trying to up the ante every time your readers click on the next chapter. It's not a TV reality show. If every single day is full of drama...then what is drama worth? Diamonds and gold are expensive and cherished because of their rarity. The big moments in your story should be treated in the same way. BUT...during those 'down' moments between major events, you don't want to allow your story to lose focus or lag in momentum. Every scene that you write, every bit of dialogue, should be building up to 'something'. And it should be in a way that your readers can see and recognize as an incentive to keep reading. Even through chapters where they think nothing much happened to advance the story.
    You have to maintain that constant idea that even the slower parts of your story are important, and vital in creating something special. Something good? Something bad? Who knows? But it's the author's way of saying, "Hey! Pay attention! This will be on the quiz later!" The way you do this is by leaving little breadcrumbs to hint at what might be coming in the future. You're delivering information, but in a creative way that suggests a hint of mystery as to what may be in store for your main characters and the story in general. Peper these little hints and clues in different places throughout your project. Never give it all away in the beginning, and never leave it all up for the story's climax to figure out. It's the middle of your story that is going to become the vehicle to take your readers from one point to another. Always keep that in mind.
    For example...maybe you have a chapter where your protagonist has been trying to work up the courage to talk to a boy that he really likes. Maybe he chickened out a few times in an earlier chapter, but he's really trying to push forward and gain the confidence he needs to make the first move. Now, you might spend an entire chapter just having him trying to convince himself that it won't be so bad if he just went for it and stopped being so afraid...but fails to get the courage by the end of the chapter. Now, this is a decent way to handle your story for one chapter, and build layers that will add depth to your main character...but if you were to drag this out for two or three chapters...you're going to start annoying your audience. Some may understand and decide to hang in there, but others will get tired of being teased and will choose to go read something else. Nothing is moving forward. Nothing is being accomplished. You're letting your story fade away right in front of your audience's eyes. That's not a good thing.
    I'm not saying that you have to toss in some random event to spice things up just for the sake of entertaining your readers. That could hurt more than it helps, and it ultimately won't have any deeper meaning within the context of the story anyway. So why do it? It's not about the big shock moments and major events. It's about building up to those moments, and knowing when to land that big punch before the build up wears out its welcome.
    Instead of spending three chapters on a boy who's too scared to approach his crush and speak to him...sprinkle in a few baby steps worth of progress along the way. Maybe they end up being the only two people in a room where they are forced to talk to one another. Maybe they end up in detention at the same time. Maybe your protagonist sees his crush having a fun conversation with a girl, or another boy, after class...and now the possible competition has started the ticking clock on when he should move in. He has to push forward before he misses his big chance and someone else takes his spot. Always remember that every chapter that you write should have some sort of momentum attached to it. Keep asking yourself where that particular piece of the puzzle fits into the big picture. Where are you going with that? What information are you delivering? How will this impact the story as a whole?
    If you're having trouble answering any of those questions, then chances are...you've gotten derailed somewhere along the way, and need to get back on track. Pacing is all about taking your readers through both the peaks and the valleys of your story without having them lose interest or enthusiasm in your project. Every chapter, whether it's full of drama, action, and despair...or if it's just a chapter where things calm down and you feel the need to explain and explore some of the less explosive parts of your narrative...should present a series of questions to the reader about what will happen next, without giving away a single answer to those questions. Every single chapter.
    What happens if someone discovers this major secret? What happens if the protagonist takes this particular leap of faith? What happens now that this boy's mother has discovered his stash of teen magazines? It's your duty as an author to keep stringing your audience along and continue to present new elements that will intrigue them and provide an incentive to keep going. Not from beginning to end, but from event to event. Remember...pieces. If you're taking too long to accomplish this, you end up turning your readers off. It's important to remember that your readers don't know what you've got planned for later. They only know what you have written out on the screen. So, even if you're building up to one of the biggest, most incredible, most EPIC finales of all time...
    ...Taking too long to get to the point will guarantee that your biggest fans won't be around to see it. So don't let your story get stuck in a quagmire of details that don't move the story forward in some way, shape, or form. This is the internet. We're lucky that readers found our stories at all. So let's keep their attention focused on our projects for as long as we possibly can. Hopefully until it reaches its satisfying end.
    It will take some practice, but we all learn how to pace our stories out in an effective way that suits our needs and serves the readers with something that is entertaining and a joy to read. It's all about planning and choosing your moments, and littering them throughout the story a little bit at a time. Always ask yourself what is most important about your story and your characters first, and then think about what parts of your story are going to support those specific highlights. Everything else? Get rid of it. Don't bog your storytelling down with boredom. Find your equilibrium. Not too fast, not too slow, know where you're going. Just like the Taxi/Uber example above.
    Down below is a short animated film that I think demonstrates this idea perfectly. It has actually become one of my favorite animated Halloween short films, and that surprised me. Because it takes real patience. Hehehe! It's about 14 minutes long, and for most of its run time...there really isn't a whole lot going on. Like, at all. But the genius in this animation is...just when you're starting to get bored or let your mind wander off a bit...something happens that captures your attention again. It's small, and it's subtle, but it makes you think, "Wait...what was that? Where is this going?" And there are a few red herrings thrown in, but I kept watching because I was constantly being pulled along towards the end of the video, just to see what happens next. When you look back at it....nothing is really taking place at first, but there was always this little nugget of 'something' that kept me interested. If you watch closely, you'll notice the literary breadcrumbs being dropped in front of you. Nothing big, nothing major...just a hint of what's to come. And that keeps you locked in for the entire 14 minutes, where the build up shows its importance and the reveal let's you know that it was worth the wait.
    Don't skip ahead. That's just as much of a writer foul as taking too long. Lagging and moving too slowly decreases interest. But speeding through your stories and skipping over essential moments and details to get to the 'good parts' decreases meaning and impact.
    Check this out, and let me know what you think...
     
    The beauty of that short film is an exercise in having the ability to truly bait an audience...but even though it takes a while to get the end, it works to keep you intrigued JUST enough to wait for the big finale. Well done! It gives you something to anticipate throughout its run time. You reach a point where you suspect that your patience is going to pay off eventually. And when it comes to the pacing in your story, this is exactly what you want your readers to feel too. You're not bombarding them with constant drama, but you're not boring them with long chapters where nothing is happening either. Find your balance. Try out different methods of keeping your fanbase involved in your narrative, and leave the proper breadcrumbs for future ideas and events along the way.
    It's all about creating momentum, the promise of bigger moments, and a climax worth the journey it took to get there. Teach yourself to recognize those golden opportunities wherever you find them, and then use those moments to your advantage. It will help to give your work that 'can't put it down' vibe, and will keep your readers constantly coming back for more. No matter what.
    Anyway, I hope this helps! Take these words to heart, and I hope it helps you write the best stories that you can. It worked for me, and I keep learning more tricks every day. Tricks that I'll share with you all as I discover them myself!
    So have fun! Happy writing! And I'll seezya soon!
     
  15. Comicality

    Kill The Dog

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Hehehe, you know when I was in college, I had a writing teacher that had a somewhat comical, but very true, rule to follow when it came to getting your audience to truly feel a moment of intense emotional pain in your project. Works every time. He used to say, "If you want to make your audience cry...kill the dog!"
    And, yes, he meant that literally. Script wise, anyway.
    You can have Rambo gun down an army of enemies in a foreign land, or have Iron Man burn a bunch of terrorists to ashes with pulse blasters...but if you harm ONE animal in a movie or TV show? Instant tears and gasps of utter disgust from everybody watching! Hehehe! I mean, have you SEEN "John Wick"? No sympathy felt for those dirtbags. Not an ounce!
    Anyway, this article isn't about murdering puppies, I promise. I'd turn myself into the local authorities if it was. It's about being able to bring some heavy emotion to your writing through certain scenes, and maybe even getting some waterworks going from your readers in a way that they weren't expecting. Most of this particular writing technique is based in creative word usage and detailed descriptions of misery and pain...but there is also a science to it. You can get your readers to feel the ache that your main character feels at that point in the story, with just a little planning and a few moments of honest vulnerability within your prose. Hopefully, this will inspire you to try out some of these methods and really tug on some of the heartstrings and potent emotions of your audience when you're writing. It really does make for a sentimental attachment to your work, and a highly memorable experience that they will hopefully keep close to their heart and share with others for a long time to come.
    So...let's 'put that dog to sleep', shall we?
    I will admit that I've written stories or parts of stories that had a much deeper meaning to me, personally, than most readers could ever imagine. I use my writing to channel my emotions into something that could be seen as somewhat productive in my mind. I've bared my soul on personal issues like parental abuse, on suicidal thoughts, on severe heartbreak, on rejection, on death, and many other topics that I just felt that I had to get off of my chest. And there are many times when I've received emails or reviews from people who have admitted to tearing up and losing control of their emotions while experiencing those stories from the perspective of the main character. Whether they've been through something similar or not. And I appreciate that to no end, because it helps to make me feel a little less crazy. You know? But how does a writer go about evoking those emotions in their audience through their writing alone?
    There are two words that I want you to remember when it comes to this article...
    ...'Justice' and 'Injustice'.
    We've all experienced some lever of hurt before. Heartbreak, or rejection...loss or disappointment. It's a part of life. And no matter how hard we try to avoid it, dodge it, deny it, or suppress...there's not a single one of us that hasn't felt some kind of pain at this point in our lives. And there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, as a writer, you can consider that a valuable resource to pull from when you want to write something that really connects to your readers. They've felt it too. Pain is the one emotion that every human being on the planet can relate to in some way. So own it, and consider it a skill to explore it in your fiction.
    Now, I mentioned the words 'Justice' and 'Injustice'...here's how this works. Let me take you back to a particular scene in the first season of the Netflix show, "Stranger Things"...
    In the series, there is a young girl, 'Eleven', who has some pretty powerful mental powers. The scene begins with her in a lab, where a doctor and his orderlies are testing her abilities by putting an innocent little kitten on the table in front of her, and try to force her to murder the kitten with her mind. There is an extended moment of tension, and she begins to cry and apologize because she just can't do it. She refuses. So the doctor sends his orderlies in to collect her, and drag her down the hall, kicking and screaming, to toss her back into her prison cell. However, when they throw her down to the floor...she gets ANGRY! The helpless girl stands up, focuses her powers on the two men, and kills them BOTH in the blink of an eye!
    Now, you can get on Youtube and watch reaction videos to these episodes any time that you like. Just type in "Stranger Things Reaction" and you'll get to see tons of people watching the show for the very first time. But pay attention to what happens to the audience when it comes to that particular scene. When the threat of killing an innocent little kitten ('Injustice'), everybody watching cringes and cries and tenses up...because the thought of such a thing is absolutely unspeakable! Every life is precious. However, when she murders the two orderlies in cold blood without even flinching...those seem people cheer! They say, "GOOD! Fuck those assholes!" ('Justice') This is how you can tap into the psychology of your readers and sway their emotions into swinging one way or the other.
    Injustice is a huge factor when it comes to getting your audience to empathize with your characters. I think we all have a sense of fairness when it comes to life in general, so seeing a character that is innocent, non-aggressive, loving, funny, or heroic, getting dealt a bad hand or being forced to suffer unfairly at the hands of someone or something evil or loathsome, taps into a very deep part of our psyche. There's a belief that if we're good people and we do the right thing, then we'll be rewarded for it. Or, at the very least, protected from harm. So when that's upset by a horrible event, a massive heartbreak, or a noble sacrifice...the unfairness of it all can really touch us in a major way. And if you're looking to really bring some dark or somber moments to your fiction...the idea of 'injustice' is the best way to achieve that.
    Your first goal should be to make the character, whether it's your protagonist or a supporting character, a lovable part of your story. Take some time to really develop a close relationship between that character and your audience. Let them really get to know him or her or them...and create a connection. Sympathy for the characters, and a personal synergy with their addition to the story, is what gives the writing its effect. The words you use, the metaphors, the sweeping dialogue...those are all parts of it too. But at the end of the day, it's what your readers feel for your character's plight that is really going to fuel those dramatic moments in your project. If you can form that intense reader/character bond beforehand, and then really turn the screws when it comes to the injustice of what that character now has to face against their will? Even a brand new author can out-write the biggest award winning author in the industry. That connection is essential to make the situation work. And if your fans can connect to that injustice, that tragedy, in the same way that you do...you can't lose.
    One thing that is consistent in the stories that I've written like "My Only Escape", "On The Outside", "Save Or Sacrifice", or "Never Again"...is that many readers instantly gravitate towards the injustice of what the some of those tortured characters are going through, and immediately want to protect them. That's a definite plus. And they want to swing the pendulum back from injustice to justice. Every time. It's in our nature, I suppose. BUT...I've also written some stories or parts of stories where the characters guiding the story were flawed or made some horrendous mistakes or did something that many would consider unforgivable...and the consensus from my readers was, "SCREW HIM! He's an asshole anyway!" Hehehe! The same people who wanted to help and kiss and cuddle on set of characters, wanted other to die a slow and painful death. Or at least be hurt to the point where they spend the rest of their lives in agonizing pain and regret. It's actually quite a fascinating thing to watch sometimes. They get sooooo MAD at me sometimes! You have no idea!
    The point is...if you're looking to bring feelings of loss, sadness, heartbreak, and suffering, to the surface when your readers are tackling your work...remember that the 'injustice' part of the equation is where your biggest strength lies. Slowly bond your audience with a character that is, for all intents and purposes, a good person. Now, don't be TOO obvious about it! Hehehe! Don't make him like one of the 'Red Shirts' on Star Trek, who is obviously going to die as soon as he hits the planet surface! None of that, weathered cop, "I'm only a week away from retirement!" stuff. That's just putting a target on their backs for something bad to happen to them. You can be a bit more subtle than that. Hehehe, you're a writer. Make it work.
    People cringe when it comes to sympathizing with a character that they love and care about...but all of that gets thrown out of the window when it comes to PUNISHMENT! A strange malfunction of the human psyche, I suppose...
    Also, one last thing...when I talk about evoking emotion, that doesn't mean that you have to KILL anybody! Hehehe! You don't have to have someone get hit by a bus, get a terminal illness, or fall into a n active volcano! It can be something as simple as a rejected confession of love. The loss of a job. A parents' divorce. A missed opportunity. It doesn't have to be so big that it turns the story over on its head and nothing can ever be the same afterward. The whole idea is to get your readers to really feel some level of sympathy for your leading characters in a way that's personal and engaging every step of the way. That's all you need.
    However, as with everything else...don't lay it on too thick. You can figure out exactly how far you want to go with bringing some emotional gravity to your story, but don't make it your goal to have your readership completely traumatized and utterly depressed for the next few weeks. Ease up a little bit. Make your point, but know when you need to pull your punches. This is somebody's heart you're playing with, k?
    Down below are trailers for four coming-of-age movies that will tear me up every time I watch them. I think the first movie I ever cried at was "E.T." when I was a kid. But these truly just...ugh! If you haven't seen them, make sure you prepare yourselves ahead of time. Because, my God! Study the techniques these stories use to pull the emotion out of you, and remember your two key words here while you watch and start sniffling...justice/injustice. I think I need some tissues right now! These trailers are bringing back memories! Ugh! Hehehe!
    Enjoy, you guys! I hope this helps you all out with your writing! And I'll seezya soon with more!
     
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  16. Comicality

    Getting Started 2021

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    A big, heartfelt, hug to all of you fellow writers who tuned in today, right here, at Gay Authors! Welcome to a new brand new flurry of writing articles that I hope will be useful to all of you who are already massively talented in everything that you do, but are ambitious enough to still search for an added edge wherever you can find one! And also for those of you who are looking for that little 'push' that might get you started on your first project!
    Honestly, I'm no expert on any of this stuff. Trust me, I make more mistakes than most, and I've probably had more failures than triumphs while trying to teach myself how to do this right. But I study my craft with a passion, I've learned my lessons well, and I've been around long enough to feel comfortable about sharing my personal experiences with you guys in a place where I can interact with my beloved peers. It has been more than 20 years now, and if something I say in these articles can inspire a few more of you to have the same kind of long lasting success that I have stumbled into (Mostly by accident, I assure you!), then I think it'll be worth it.
    So, welcome back for 2021! Go out there and do it better than I did! It's awesome to talk to you again!
    I'd like to kick things off with a very simple, and yet very challenging, part of the writing process. And that is, simply...getting started. If this is going to be your time to tackle that project that's been keeping you awake at night, then I hope this article will give you the much needed push towards getting in the trenches and putting things in motion. It doesn't have to be your first rodeo. You might have a bunch of completed stories out there already...but might be hesitating on your next outing. This might be good for you guys too. Every story has to start somewhere, after all.
    There's a famous quote that says, "You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great." And those words ring true with everything that you do in life, but even more so when it comes to doing anything creative. Ideas are wonderful! They're these amazing little sparks of inspiration that come and go at random, and they make you feel good about your particular brand of genius. It's such an amazing feeling, entertaining the thoughts in your head. They're portable, they're lightweight, and they cost you absolutely nothing to produce. So, why not enjoy them for all they're worth when they come around, right?
    However, those thoughts don't mean a whole hell of a lot without the deeds and the efforts that you need to pour into them to make them a reality. Let's be honest, there is an entire internet full of people who think they have the greatest story ever told floating around in back of their minds...but most never let those ideas get any further than that. They don't type a single word. And many that DO type it out, they're too nervous to ever let anybody else read it. Well...what was the point, then? If those stories are never told and are never made available for the rest of us to read...then the writer's head is exactly where those stories stay. And you just can't take any credit for that. That story ultimately dies with you, ya know? Way it goes. And it's a loss for all of us for never having heard your voice, or the story that you had to tell. True or not true.
    So...you have to constantly be asking yourself..."What am I waiting for?" Even if you're already writing another story at the moment, and have another idea in the back of your mind...same question applies. What are you waiting for? And I mean that...literally, say it in your head or even out loud to yourself if need to...but verbalize it. You never know what kind of energy you've got waiting to be unleashed until you dive into it and start writing something that other people can respond and relate to. Right?
    They're not real stories until you actually commit to typing them out and letting other people read them. Pure and simple. I think that was something that I had to struggle with the most as a writer in the beginning. The idea that the hundreds, thousands, millions, of ideas in my head...were somehow being seen as a valid currency with readers who are only able to see the final product once it's finished and published on the screen for them to read. They can't see what I do behind the scenes. They don't view the stories the same way that I do. I can write and write and write, night and day, take whole notebooks full of notes, and think about a story and its characters all day long, planning and plotting and putting together what I was hoping would be one of the greatest stories that I've ever written. But, until I actually sit down and type it out on this keyboard, edit it, and then release it to the public? That story doesn't exist to them. It's still all in my head. And I had to learn to get around my own perspective by trying to see things from my readers' point of view. They can't read the story that I haven't told yet. They don't have the 'inside info' on what happens next like I do. And when I short change them or leave them on a cliffhanger for an extended period of time...I can expect some backlash for that. Fair enough. Aggravated replies, accepted. I couldn't see it for the longest time because I felt like I was writing for hours and hours every single day of my life until I was literally falling asleep at my keyboard...but I've kind of become more aware of it now, and I want to correct that problem as far as my story releases are concerned.
    As I've always said in the past, the writer/reader interaction is a symbiotic relationship. We need each other to thrive. We need to trust and respect one another to have the art of writing grow and evolve the way it should. There's no other way. Readers need our creative output, and writers need their responsive input. We both have a job to do here. But that means taking the first leap of faith...and actually getting started on your story without the promise of any response at all in the end.
    It sounds simple...but it really isn't.
    There's a certain anxiety that comes with starting a new project. At least, for me there is. It can be a highly intimidating practice to write a brand new story from scratch. Don't pretend that you don't feel it in your gut every now and then. You WANT to get started...but there's this hesitation, right? You have to think up better names for your characters, or you have to take more notes, or you're not sure what your first sentence will be, or you think you need more time to plan, or your life is too busy at the moment. Maybe after the holidays. Maybe after the Summer break. Hell, maybe six days after the apocalypse! Hehehe! There will never be a 'right time' to write. Trust me. There will always be something else in the way. This is where your personal discipline has to come into play. And if this is your first story...it's going to take some time to build that discipline from the ground up.
    When it comes to getting started on your first or on your newest story...here are five steps that I've learned to keep close to my heart and implement in my writing process after years and years of trying to get my shit together. LOTS of practice is the only way to get good at it, after all.
    The first step? Get rid of the excuses. Every last one of them. Hehehe, even if you have to do it 100 times a day...just keep brushing them off of your shoulder, pick a specific time and place that you want to write...and stick to it. Make a point of making it happen! Treat it like a job interview. Don't pretend to forget about it, don't postpone it or reschedule, don't be late for the time you set for yourself. If you say that you're going to sit down and write something at 10 PM...start booting up your laptop at 9:55 and get your programs together. Don't give yourself an emergency exit that'll allow you to put it off for another day or two. Just force yourself to do it.
    It will feel like some sort of bothersome chore at first, I know...but that's only in the beginning. Once you begin to make it a habit, and actually have a few paragraphs typed out, or even just a few sentences under your belt...that anxiety that you were previously experiencing will begin to melt away. And a sense of excitement will begin to build in its place. To the point where you'll be eager to get back behind that keyboard and pick up where you left off every day after work, or school, or whatever. STOP telling yourself that you don't have the time. Yes, you do. You have the same number of hours in a single day that Michael Jackson, Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Bruce Lee, Bill Gates, and Beyonce, had. Hehehe, so if they can do something worthy of greatness in that amount of time...you can too.
    Think of it like consuming food. Nobody says, "I'd eat dinner if only I could find the time." Trust me, when you get hungry enough...you'll find the time. It's not like, "I'm starving...but let me finish binge watching this Netflix show first!" Lame excuse! Writing is no different. When I started out, it wasn't just because I wanted to write something. It was because I HAD to write something. I was restless and bothered by just thinking about it and not making it happen. If you can find that kind of hunger for your own brilliant ideas, then writing it out is merely a formality at the end of the day. So...yeah, make the time, and get started. Make it a priority.
    Second step? Get rid of the idea that you don't have a story to tell. That's ridiculous. I'm going to assume that if you're reading this article right now, you've already got ideas rolling around in your head, and you're just looking for that little nudge to get the ball rolling. If you're waiting on a vote of confidence or some kind of official permission to speak your mind, consider this your green light. Go for it. It'll be awesome. Trust me.
    Everybody has a story to tell. Not some people, not a few talented people, not even MOST people. EVERYBODY! That includes you. Try this very basic exercise when you get a chance. Go through your social media accounts, or your cell phone pics, or even an old photo album at your house. Pictures are excellent at capturing a few single moments in time, but that's not the only appeal of the photos you save. Look at those old pics of yourself, even if they're just from a few weeks ago. Study them. What do you see? There's a story there. A story that you have to tell yourself to connect you with the boy/girl in the picture, right? Maybe you're holding up a fish you caught while camping as a kid, maybe you're sharing a piece of birthday cake with a friend, maybe it's you getting dressed up for your first junior high school dance, or it's you in a hospital bed with your leg in a cast. Whatever it is, you're not just looking at a two dimensional picture without meaning or context. There's a colorful story behind that particular image. There were events that led up to it, and events that followed it. You know the history behind that picture...but your readers don't. Share it with them. That, alone, is an entire story just waiting to be told...and you can beef it up or manipulate the details of that tale to say anything that you want it to say. How fun is that?
    So...imagine what you would say if somebody saw a picture of you as a kid, covered in dirt and holding a muddy frog in your hands by a small pond, all while smiling for the camera. What happened there? LOL! Ask yourself the questions that someone who had never seen that picture before might ask. Why are you covered in dirt? What's with the frog? How old were you? Where were you when this happened? Think of how you would tell them that story...then write it down. You already know how. Give us a peek into your life and tell the story with whatever words you have at your disposal. Congrats, you're (technically) an author now.
    Then, imagine being able to go back in time and spice things up with your own details, tweak and bend the story to make it more entertaining for an already intrigued audience, and maybe even altering the events to make yourself (the main character) the valiant hero of your own story. Embellish to your heart's content, and enjoy it. You weren't covered in dirt...it was the blood of your slaughtered enemies. And that wasn't a frog, but a baby DRAGON! Hehehe, whatever. That's all storytelling is. You do it all the time, you just don't recognize it. Even if someone asks you, "What did you do this weekend?"...you have to tell a visually descriptive 'story' in order to answer that question. Getting started on your first project isn't much different. Tell your truth. Everybody's got one...what's yours?
    Step number three? ERASE your 'comparison' mentality. It will only make you paranoid, hinder your progress, and give you more excuses to stop writing in the long run. It's natural for any creative mind to be competitive and want to outdo, or at least be in league with, its peers when putting a project together. But you have to always keep in mind that you could never tell another author's story the way they told it. And they can't ever tell your story the way that you tell it. You're not on an equal playing field to clash with one another, whether you believe it or not. Don't read this person's story or that person's story and think to yourself, "I could never do that." Yes. Yes, you can. Read your favorite authors, figure out what you like and don't like about their writing, and use that as a guide for your inspiration to craft your own story and invent your own style.
    When it comes to art, there is no comparison. There's always your story and theirs. That's all it is. Write from the heart. Expose your personal secrets and your deepest insecurities in your writing, then hide them behind the 'fiction'. You're being given the chance to say what most people are afraid to say in their daily lives. You have a platform to put your true emotions on display for the whole world to see, but you can do it from the safety of having it just be a story, and nothing more. Take your personal weaknesses and make them your strengths in your fiction. It will touch your readers on a much deeper level than you could ever imagine.
    Step four...don't overwhelm yourself. Easier said than done, I know...but it's important to keep your expectations in check. If you try to go into writing your first story thinking that it has to be the biggest, most popular, most amazing, piece of online literature that has ever been read by human kind...you'll never write it. Don't get too far ahead of yourself. It's awesome that you're ambitious, and I applaud you for wanting to give it your all...but you have to be realistic about this sort of thing. There's a difference between being ambitious about the effort you're willing to put in, and being ambitious about how your story will be received by others after it's completed. I definitely think that you should go all out and try to make your writing as powerful and as mesmerizing as you possibly can. Strive to do your best at all times. Make that your focus. The process of creating something great is a long one, but extremely rewarding in the end. However, if you go into this constantly thinking about how much you want it to be the most engrossing classic on the entire internet within the first two weeks, where you'll be showered with praise and worship until the end of time? That can end up being more intimidating than inspiring. And, ultimately, disappointing as a result. How can you sit down at a keyboard and spill your emotions out in an honest and effective way when you're so focused on how other people will read and embrace it later? If they read and embrace it at all. How is it ever going to be good enough for a judgemental audience that you haven't even reached out to yet?
    That mentality will stall and obstruct your creativity in a major way. Don't focus on what other people will think later. Totally lose yourself in the creative process instead. When your project is finished, THEN you can decide whether you want to edit certain parts of it or make it more 'reader friendly'. Until then, concentrate on what you want to say and how you want to say it. My most popular stories ever are the ones that I started writing many years ago. Unpracticed, no real discipline, no experience, no real expectations for any of them to ever be a big deal. But the heart was there. I had nothing to lose by giving it a try, and wasn't focused on having anything to gain by doing so. It's not a viral video on TikTok or Youtube. That won't happen overnight, you'll have to work for it. But that's not a deterrent. Sometimes, a raw passion for the process will take you to places that skill and popular acclaim can't. Use that. And get your story out there while it's still a special part of who you are.
    And the last step? Step number five? SHARE your work! Now, this can be the scary part. I know. Trust me, I've been there and done that. And it doesn't get much easier with time. But I truly think it's a necessary part of the process, and one that will help you out in the future. Even if you don't make your stuff completely 'public' right away, where anybody can read it...find a smaller audience of readers that you can share it with so that they can give you some feedback on all of your hard work and maybe ask some questions or offer some advice. It can be an online forum, or a selected group of beta readers, or maybe just a close friend or two. But you can't just write and write and not share it with anybody and never feel like you're making any kind of real progress with it. Like I said...your story doesn't really exist unless you share it with other people. And that's something that takes trial and error and confidence. You have to build up the courage to let people see what you've done. Not just for recognition or 'fame'...but to prove to yourself that your writing can be appreciated by the people you wrote it for. That it can be validated by other writers as well. You can't be your own critic, because you're too attached to the project to be unbiased in your judgement of it. Relax your tight choke hold on the story for a few moments, and show people what you've got to offer. They may REALLY love what you've written! And, worse case scenario, they'll give you some comments and ideas that will help you to make your next story even better than the first. So, again...what are you waiting for?
    I know that this last part can be frightening for many people who are bearing their souls for the first time online, and just worry about being attacked or criticized for their work. To claim that the internet is the safest place to go and avoid haters and trolls of every breed would be an outright lie. But it really is a rite of passage for anybody who wants to become a writer. Even if it's just as a hobby. You have to have faith in your talent. And the only way to have faith is to build it up, one brick at a time. The only way to do that...is to take a deep breath, puff your chest out, and go show the world what you've got.
    Anyway, that's my take on getting started on writing a new story! Think about the stories that you have to tell, plot them out, and just sit down and write it. Share it with the rest of us. GayAuthors is an AMAZING place, full of talented authors and forums like this one for all of us to talk to our fellow writers and share our experiences with one another. Join up and become a part of the family.
    You have a story to tell. So tell it. Get moving! ::Cracks The Whip::
    Take care! And I'll seezya soon!
  17. Comicality

    Exposition, Round 2

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Ok, so you all may remember an article that I did on exposition in your fiction a few months back...but I'd like to go a little bit more in depth when it comes to finding ways to create and finesse that exposition, how it works, and why it works.
    Basically, it's the art of writing without writing. It's the craft of being able to paint a vivid picture in the minds of your readers to deliver a message without having to write it out for them. There are certain techniques that you can use to accomplish this, but in order to truly understand how and why they work, you have to realize how you're doing exactly the same thing on a daily basis. Once you're able to realize that...the rest will come naturally.
    So, ladies and gentlemen...welcome to 'Exposition, Round Two!
    Take a moment, and think about the people who might cross your path every day when you leave the house. When you go to work, go to school, go out shopping, whatever. Think about how much real life exposition is being fed to you without a single one of these strangers saying a word. Maybe you see a guy who you think might be a car mechanic. Why? Is it because he walked up to you and said, "Hi, I am a car mechanic"? I would certainly hope not. If he does, ummm...cross the street. Hehehe! But think about it. Maybe he's wearing a wife beater t-shirt with some oil stains on it. Maybe his hands look as though they've been digging around an engine all morning. Maybe he's got an oily rag hanging out of his back pocket. There are things about his look, and his actions, and the materials he's carrying with him, that would give you that impression. That doesn't mean it's the RIGHT impression, as looks can be deceiving (He might be a high priced lawyer who likes to work on his Mustang on his off days s a hobby)...but these are things that are familiar enough to you to paint a picture. Your mind is doing this all day. Maybe you see someone with a cardboard sign saying he'll work for food, maybe there's a lady wearing a 500 dollar pair of sunglasses and a bright red dress walking with a briefcase and talking on her cell phone, or maybe you see someone with a red nose whose sniffling and constantly reaching into her coat pocket for another balled up wad of tissue. Think about all of the times you looked to see if someone was wearing a wedding ring, or the times you saw a soldier in uniform, or noticed a kid with a black eye. All of these visual clues are telling you a story about who these people are and what's going on with their lives at that particular moment...without having them say a word. It's describing these visual cues and actions in your writing that can help you get around a lot of exposition when you're feeling stuck and can't see another way out. Take in those details, and think about how you would describe this person, this situation, this environment, to someone else...and get them to draw the same conclusions that you did. It helps when you realize what you're looking for.
    Sometimes I have to babysit my younger cousins, and I'll walk into a room...and suddenly they sit straight up and look at me wide eyed without saying a word. Hehehe, it's immediately like, "Ok, you either saw something, broke something, or spilled something, so fess up!" The fact that they're being angelically quiet conveys a whole LOT of information in a very short amount of time. Now, does that mean that they actually did anything wrong? No. But I can safely assume that something is off about their behavior. It's behavior that's familiar enough that pretty much anybody walking into that room would come to the same conclusion.
    When you're writing, I feel that it's important to visualize every moment of every scene. What's going on? What's the tone? How do they look? What are they doing? You can add those details to your scene to deliver the same information that you want to deliver, but without having it come off as boring or awkward. I had an art teacher once who told me that when you draw a triangle on a piece of paper...the triangle doesn't exist. You draw three connecting lines, sure...but the triangle itself is an illusion. It's simply the empty space being brought out by the lines surrounding it. Exposition can be delivered the same way. By describing the surrounding factors with visuals and dialogue, you can avoid a lot of "Hi, I am a mechanic" moments in your story.
    As a writer, it's your duty to set the stage and sync it up with certain connections that your readers can recognize and follow. Let's say you have a character who's a drag queen, and performs at a nightclub on Saturday nights. Now you can start your story off with a long explanation of your character's backstory, and how they knew they liked drag, and when they started working in the club, and "Oh, by the way, my name is Harry." if you wanted to. There's nothing wrong with that. OR...you could start your story with your protagonist fitting a wig on his head and fixing his make up...there's a knock at the door. The boss walks in and says, "Let's go, Harry! The club is packed tonight, even for a Saturday! You're going on in two minutes!" Your readers now know that it's a man in drag, his name is Harry, he's a performer, and he works at a club on Saturdays. Takes, like...three sentences and a line of dialogue, tops. And it's a bit more engaging than having to read Harry's life story before getting to the actual focus of the scene. Instead of your audience reading a history lesson...you're bringing them into your world right away. Hopefully in a manner that will come off as interesting and intriguing.
    Now I, personally, write most of my stories in the first person. So I can deliver a great deal of exposition through the inner thoughts of my main characters and bring my readers along with me. However, when it comes to all of the other characters in my story, their thoughts, feelings, and motivations have to be relayed through observation. My protagonist doesn't get to be a mind reader (Except for that one story where the protagonist is a mind reader! Hehehe!), so I have to describe anger, attraction, heartbreak, shyness, from outside the source. And it would be easy in some parts to simply write down what needs to be said and be done with it. I won't say that I've never done it, and won't do it again, but I try to avoid taking the easy way out more often than not.
    Down below is the very first paragraph of a short story that I wrote called, "The Kissing Game". It was one of those little innocent/not-so-innocent Daydream Shorts that was just meant to capture one small moment in time. They're supposed to be quick and to the point, so there's not a whole lot of room for backstory and character development here. They have to feel real, and they have to be able to connect to readers right away. So exposition was given in a way that sets the stage, but a lot of the details are merely implied. Even if the readers don't realize how much and how little information was actually given.
    Now, what does this short paragraph actually tell you as a reader?
    The main character and the love interest are friends. The main character's name is Tommy, and the love interest's name is Jared. They are 'doing something' together for practice. They're going to high school for the first time in the Fall. That makes them about 13 to 14 years of age. Jared is obviously straight, and is looking to get a girlfriend and high school status. Also...he mentions getting 'ourselves' a couple of girlfriends...so chances are that he doesn't know his friend Tommy is gay. That set the stage, the audience is locked in, ready to go. Boom. Done.
    Now...what doesn't that first paragraph say? How long have they been friends? Did they grow up together? Did they meet two weeks ago? When did they start kissing each other? Does Jared live next door? Across the street? Across town? Is there a parent in the house at the moment? Did they lock the door? Is Jared really straight, or is it just an excuse to make out with his friend? Where are they? The city? The suburbs? Summer camp? The beach? The park? Is it Summer time? Spring break? A snow covered day in January? Who knows? None of that stuff is mentioned. Nor does it need to be. It's not important to the story in the least, so why even go into all of that?
    A good strategy for writing exposition is figuring out what is, and what isn't important. Exposition is the art of answering a question that wasn't asked. So if your readers don't need to know certain details about a scene or a character, and it isn't going to have any further impact on the story later on...cut it out. Trim it down, and let your readers fill that part in for themselves. I'm willing to bet that a majority of my readers saw those first few sentences and pictured two boys, long time best friends, in a bedroom when their parents weren't home, possibly over Summer break, close to going back to school, in the early afternoon. The thing is, if you read it again, I didn't give out any of that information in the first paragraph. This could be current, or it could be placed in the 80's, or the 90's, or a post apocalyptic world being rebuilt by society to get back to normal. Hehehe, but unless those extra details are directly needed for me to tell the story I'm trying to tell, there's no reason for that extra detail to be there.
    In the story, "A Class By Himself", the main character's mother works in a diner. She's a waitress. I displayed that by having her work long hours, standing on her feet, coming home exhausted, bringing food home in plastic cartons, falling asleep on the couch...and it's a part of her character. Not only that, but her character is an important part of the story as a whole. The fact that she's a waitress, barely makes enough money to make ends meet, and likes to cook, is also a big part of the story. So those details were given and occasionally reintroduced to the reader as needed.
    Now, compare this to the mother in "The Secret Life Of Billy Chase". She works for a living too, right? She's doing something to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table. So, after reading 450 chapters of the story...tell me...what, exactly, does Billy's mom do?
    Hehehe! Crazy, right? I don't even know what she does for a living! If I ever bothered to mention it, then I forgot. LOL! The point is, it's not important. It doesn't play into the rest of the story, so that bit of exposition isn't needed. Maybe she's a nurse, maybe she's a corporate defense lawyer, maybe she's a professional female WRESTLER! Hehehe, but it doesn't add anything to the other parts of the story, so it doesn't have to be said. Sometimes she's at home, sometimes she's not...and the reason is ‘work'. Done. The readers can fill in the rest on their own. And chances are, they don't care.
    If your main character works in an office….what kind of office? Doesn't matter. An office. In your reader's minds, they will probably think of cubicles and paperwork and copy machines and water coolers...and that's all they need to know. Does he work on payroll? Accounting? Does he balance budgets? Does he work customer service? Doesn't matter. He works in an office. Done. Now...if he happens to be an accountant, and he finds out that a great deal of funds are being used to hire contract killers in foreign countries...and that's what your STORY is about? Well, then you might need to be a bit more specific. But if it's just a passing detail to round out your character, then mention it vaguely and let it pass. At least that's how I would handle it.
    Now, one last thing before I wrap this up...
    To make things a bit more visual, this is a short horror film that I found on Youtube. It's a fun little flick to give you the creeps, but I want you to pay attention to what information is being delivered to you from the very first shot, and through the first two minutes or so of dialogue. Look at the surroundings, listen to what's being said, and see what is actually being told to you...and what isn't...but you sort of fill in the blanks regardless.
    Your readers are probably doing the same things when they read your work.
     
    So...watching that, what do you think was told do you? And what do you think you made up on your own? Spend some time to meditate on it if you like.
    The very first thing that you see on the screen is a cardboard box with the words 'Toby's Room' on it. Immediately, you can assume that this mother and son are moving into a brand new house. And he's probably not used to sleeping in a big room by himself, so he's a little scared by the idea. Also, he says that he misses his dad...to which his mom quietly says that she does too. Which would cause me to assume that there was a death or an accident of some sort. Either way, we've established that 'Dad' isn't around. A lot of information seems to be given to the audience right away, and you kind of go along with it. Because we know how movies work, and the exposition is being quickly given to us by showing us a situation that feels familiar.
    However, and I'll go into more detail about this on my 'Plot Twists' article later on...a lot of my assumptions about this short film are more illusion than direct information. And if you play around with that illusion a bit, you can really shock your readers by subverting their expectations. Playing mind games with what they thought they knew, as opposed to what you were really telling them. Hehehe!
    For example...is that little boy really 'Toby'? I saw a box with the name Toby on it, and I made an assumption...but if I wanted to throw a monkey wrench in the works, readers might find out that this boy isn't Toby at all, and 'Toby' is another little boy tied up in the basement somewhere, because this boy and his mother burst into their house and took over! LOL! He's never referred to as Toby once in the whole film. Not by name. But...in my head, that's what I was thinking. Imagine if it was all a nightmare, and the mother kisses the boy goodnight, saying, "Goodnight, Carl." And then goes down in the basement where you see a mother and her son, bound and gagged by the furnace. "Goodnight, 'Toby'." That would be cool!
    Did his father die? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe he was shipped off to war. Maybe he got caught banging a leather clad bear from the 'Manhole' club! Maybe he got relocated to another dimension to work with Billy Chase's mom! Who knows? But...did I NEED to know? Nope! Not important. Not for this particular story. I was given just enough information to make the appropriate assumptions, and that's all that needed to be said.
    The director had eight minutes to make a movie. The dad's history? Not important. The reason they moved? Not important. Who is the Number Man? What's with the rhyme at the beginning? What's with the numbers on his chest? Is he supernatural? Is he a figment of the boy's imagination? Is he an escaped mental patient? Doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with the story this very short film had to tell. And anything that was left out? My mind filled it in anyway. So it's a win, in my opinion.
    So when it comes to exposition in your stories, try to find clever ways to deliver the information needed for your reader to get a sense of what's going on...but ONLY the information needed. Trim the fat, and have faith that your audience is doing a lot of the work with you. Their imagination is carrying half the load. You can avoid a lot of exposition when you practice with this idea, and spend your energy enhancing the details that do need to be given. In a future article, I'll get more into how you can use your readers' own assumptions against them to turn the whole story upside down! Hehehe!
    But, until then...as always, I hope this helps! And happy writing!
     
  18. Comicality

    Moments

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    So...I want you all to take a few seconds, and think about your life in it’s entirety.
    Your entire life, as a whole. Childhood, adolescence, adulthood. How do you envision it in your mind? Do you think about that day you picked up some extra eggs and milk from the grocery store? Do you think about the night you sat on the couch and watched TV for six hours straight? Or maybe you’re thinking about that gas bill you paid, or that time you got a parking ticket? Hehehe, you might be, I don’t know. But I’m willing to bet that it’s unlikely.
    I like to think of life as a series of ‘moments’. In order to think back on our memories, we have to tell ourselves a story. This is what happened, and where it happened, and how it happened. And when we tell ourselves that story, it usually comes in the form of the bigger, more influential, moments and experiences that we’ve had in the past. The major events that stand out in our minds are the ones we have the clearest recollections of. I couldn’t tell you every slice of pizza that I’ve ever had...but I could tell you about being on a date with a really cute guy and sharing a pizza with him. Because that was a significant moment that stands out in my mind, and one that made me tuck it away in the back of my mind to think about later and smile. It holds a specific meaning for me. It’s a moment worthy of being a part of my personal highlight reel, because it is more than just something that I remember...it’s a part of who I am.
    When you’re writing a story, being able to effectively create these moments in the lives of your characters can truly make your work stand out as well. It’s all about picking your moments and using them to their full advantage. Naturally, you want your entire story to be well written and edited down to a point where everything has a certain significance, value, and purpose...but choosing to focus on just a few big moments can really enhance your story as a whole. It defines the theme, the tone, and the development of your characters, in a way that will be both exciting and memorable.
    So this week, I’d like to talk about the creation of defining moments in our fiction.
    When I talk about moments, even if they’re happening to the same person or people in the same work of fiction, I believe that each moment should be able to stand alone as a story all its own. To use the “Billy Chase” story as an example...that massive story is about to get its 450th chapter, and even people who have read it more than once could possibly remember the entire thing. Lord knows, I can’t do it. But there are certain ‘moments’ throughout the series that readers can remember fondly (Or not so fondly) by certain situations and lessons that were learned along the way from beginning to end. Maybe they think about mistakes that he made, or big revelations that were discovered, or that very first kiss with another boy, or his parents’ divorce. The question, however...is that if you were to take any one of those moments, and write it as a stand alone story, and then give it to someone who has absolutely no idea who Billy Chase is and has never heard of him before...can that ONE moment in time still make for a good story? If so, then it’s a moment worth the glare of the spotlight. And that’s where you can truly grip your readers and keep them invested in the story as a whole. Everything that led up to that moment, and everything that is sure to follow it.
    Down below is a little video that I’m adding for fun. And while it’s all done for some highly exaggerated grins and giggles...it does demonstrate my point. Movies, books, TV shows, theatrical plays...they all have certain defining moments that, when done well, can really bring you to the edge of your seat. And it does NOT have to just be in the climax either. It can be anywhere in your project where it feels natural, and creates momentum to take things up a notch. It can be the first major showdown between your protagonist and his or her main rival. It can be a big surprise, or a major reveal, or the act of turning the tide in a battle that seemed hopeless. They’re the moments that uplift you when you bear witness to them, and they stick out in your mind to the point where you and your friends will think back and say, “Remember that one part, when…?”
    Take a look! Besides...the Avengers theme song just makes EVERYTHING a little bit more epic! LOL!

    Hehehe, as a side note, it’s kind of funny once you pay attention to it...but every time one of these moments happens in a movie, there’s always a cut to somebody’s shocked face! Like, “Omigod...WTF is going on right now?” It’s just sort of a film thing. A shocked face or a cheering crowd...or both. But, I can’t lie...it still gets me every time!
    Now...these were all action based movies, animations, or video games...but your defining moments don’t have to be that over the top. The theme song is merely signaling you to say, ‘This is it! This is the moment that will take you readers to a whole other level!’ And it doesn’t need to be gunfire and explosions. It can be a great act of courage on the part of your protagonist. It can be the realization of a secret. It can be the simple act of your antagonist finally getting what he deserves, or getting a taste of his own medicine. It could be a severe break up, or finally balling up a fist to blacken the school bully’s eye, or feeling the rush of hearing the words ‘I like you too’ for the very first time. It’s all about creating special moments and giving your readers something to experience that they can hold on to, even long after the story is over. They can have memories of these moments as if it happened to them, personally. And that will give your story a longevity that even the best quality writing can’t imitate on its own.
    So, when I think about these big moments in my own work, I try to break it down into three simple pieces. Premise, Promise, and Payoff. Very easy to remember, very easy to pull off as long as you’re thinking about these things ahead of time. The Premise is simple...what is it that you want to happen to your main or supporting character, and how can you introduce it to your readers? More importantly, what impact will this defining moment have on your story? A defining moment has to ‘define’ something, after all, right? So what direction are you trying to take your story in? Maybe you have a closeted gay college boy, and you want him to finally meet and talk to the guy he’s been infatuated with from day one. There’s a moment there. How will you go about setting that up? In that same story, they may go on their first date, and end up kissing at the end of the night. There’s another moment. Maybe they fall in love, and the main character decides to take his new boyfriend home for the holidays and come out to his parents. Another moment. These are all things that we as writers should be thinking about ahead of time. Know where you want your moments to take place in your story, and then use the ‘Premise’ part of the equation to present the initial building blocks to your audience.
    ‘Promise’? This is merely the act of stringing a series of events together to make the journey to the defining moment more interesting. I’ll admit...this part can be fun. Hehehe! It’s true. This is where you can set up certain scenarios and tease your readers into wanting to jump ahead to the big reveal...but you don’t give it to them. Not just yet. Think of it like...spinning the crank on a Jack-In-The-Box. You know that the clown is going to pop out at some point. That’s a ‘promise’. But half the fun is not knowing when it’s going to happen. A little suspense, a few close calls, maybe some awkward conversations or missed opportunities...these are all tools that you can use to wind your audience up, and put them edge for that final crank before the clown pops out. You’re making them a promise...and you’re going to stick to it, right?
    Unless you’ve got some huge plot twist planned and decide to throw a monkey wrench in the works somewhere along the way! Hehehe, there’s a moment there too, if that’s the way you want to go!
    And finally….the ‘Payoff’! The big moment is here! Inner strength has been revealed. New answers have been given and new questions are left to be asked. Confessions have been made, lines have been drawn in the sand, arguments reach their boiling point…this is the moment of shock and awe and joy and sadness that your readers have been waiting for since you set up the premise and made the promise in the first place. ::Cue The Avengers Theme::
    This part can sometimes be a little intimidating (At least for me it is), because a soggy payoff can really damage a really great story if it doesn’t meet reader expectations. That’s not to say that you should write, specifically, for reader expectations...just make a serious attempt to make the defining moments in your story add up to what you promised they would be. You spent all of that time setting it up, why not deliver the end product with a bang?
    Basically, we all remember moments from our favorite movies and games and, yes, from our very lives. Take a few minutes and really think about what made those moments special to you. Why you hold on to those memories, and how they make you feel. Having just two or three of those memorable moments in your writing can really boost reader involvement, and your talents can hit them right in the feels each and every time. The right moments...with strong connective tissue binding them together...can really make a story sing.
    Just a little something to think about! I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on Defining Moments! Love you all! And I’ll seezya next week!
  19. Comicality

    Don't Listen to Me

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    Welcome back, you guys! My apologies for the extended break with new weekend articles, but ‘life’ was calling in a major way. Not to mention that I needed some time to come up with more valuable topics to talk about. I always want to give everything my best effort. So, no ‘fluff’ if I can help it. Hehehe! But I’m glad to be back to sharing some of my little lessons with you all. Spread the word, tell a friend!
    Now then, that being said...when it comes to writing advice...
    Don’t listen to me!!!
    Hehehe, and yes...I am well aware of the paradox involved with you reading this any further...thus listening to me when I clearly just told you not to! But, still...there’s my personal learned lessons over time and then there’s your own gut instinct. If I had to choose one or the other for you all to follow? I’d say go with your gut instinct, every single time. Without exception.
    Don’t doubt it. Don’t question it. Don’t ever push it aside to invest in any ideas that ‘Comsie’ might have introduced in his latest weekly article. No way! If I’ve learned anything at all, it’s that your writing is, quite possibly, one of the most honest and intimate activities that you can ever engage in. I’ll be honest...it’s actually become pretty addictive for me, personally. This has become my best form of expression. When I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m angry, when I’m fatigued...writing is my outlet. Some people compose music, some people obsessively clean house, some draw or paint, some go a few rounds with the punching bag at the gym. And others might lay back and talk it out with a therapist or a good friend. But for me? I write stories. When you read the variety of jumbled messes that you see with my name on it...more often than not, that is me working through whatever I might have going on in my head at the time. My attempt to untangle the knots in my thoughts and emotions, my achievements and regrets, my joy and my heartbreak. It’s my way of being able to wield the power to ‘make things right’ with the world. I can’t imagine anything being more personal than that.
    I’ve written stories when I was totally heartbroken, when I was exhausted, when I felt ‘attacked’ or criticized unfairly, and when I was just plain horny! Hehehe, what? Are we being honest here, or not? LOL!
    I think it’s a great gift for every other author to be able to do the same with their own work. I feel like it should be a representation of who you are at your very core...to the point where it takes years of practice and discipline just to dig deep enough to really expose yourself without holding back. It’s something that I’m still working on myself, but I enjoy the experience. It helps you to know yourself better through self reflection. Sometimes I write something ‘sexy’, or something really dark in nature, or maybe something bordering on some sort of personal philosophy, and I’ll be shocked to find out that I had that in me somewhere. Hehehe, poking my natural instincts and making me say, “Hello, stranger! Nice to meet you! Please, tell me more!” Hehehe!
    This weekend, I’d like to talk about developing and following your gut instinct over anything that you can learn about writing online. And that definitely includes anything that I could ever possibly have to tell you about putting your true feelings into words.
    Learning to write (Or improve on your writing) is like learning to ride a bike. The ONLY way to learn is to do it. Constantly. And yes...that might mean having you topple over on one side or the other. A few skinned knees, a few bruised elbows, and a bunch of embarrassing spills along the way. BUT...once you learn, it’ll stick with you for the rest of your life. You’ll own it, and it will be a valuable skill that you can always call upon when you need it in the future.
    But again...you have to sit down write.
    Do it as often as you possibly can. Do it every time you get a creative thought in your head that ‘might’ make for a good story. If you give in to your excuses NOT to write more often than you do to write...then you’re not a writer. And that’s ok. It’s not an insult. It’s not for everybody. But if your goal is to be a writer, even if it’s just as a hobby or a method of self expression...then those excuses have to be thrown out of the window. What are you waiting for? Write, already! Just do it. Do it for ten minutes a day. That’s enough. Just stop coming up with reasons to play the couch potato role in front of the TV, day after day. Writing isn’t easy, not by any means...but I think that should be a challenge, not a burden.
    The idea is for your instincts to become automatic. You can actually train them, and switch from, “I haven’t written anything in a few months, I should probably sit down and bang out a page or two before work tomorrow to keep people off my back.”...to “I can’t WAIT to get home from work tonight and write about my day and all of the ideas and thoughts running through my head right now!” Make it a daily activity. Not just a discipline, but a habit so natural that it almost becomes subconscious. Had a cool conversation with somebody today? Write about it. Saw an accident at an intersection? Write about it. Had a dream about a giant goat monster wearing a purple night gown and a Chicago Cubs hat while asking you to dance in the rain with him? Well...maybe you don’t want to let random people know about that one, but you get the idea.
    Again...what are you waiting for? Every story doesn’t have to be “Hamlet” or “Catcher In The Rye”. Those stories weren’t written to be the signature texts that they are today. It was an author with an idea that they wanted to share...just like you. Jot your thoughts down. All of them. Your deepest passion will come from your daily experience. If you’re waiting for advice or looking for some magical spell that will make writing easy for you...it’s not going to happen. Hehehe, trust me on this. There is no article, no book, no online tutoring session, no intuitive computer app, that will make your stories better, or your writing process any faster or more effective. Your strengths will come from the simple skill of taking those intangible thoughts and emotions within and finding a way to communicate them to your audience. There’s no other way. I know that there are a lot of programs out there that make the ‘promise’ to writers who are looking to get an added edge when it comes to writing that this is the way to go…but that’s not the spark that is going to bring your writing to the next level. That’s all on you. It comes from developing patience and confidence...in that order. And the only way to develop these things is through trial and error. LOTS of it!
    In other words...’practice’.
    I think there’s a difference between the art of writing, and the craft of writing. Now, if you want to get better at your craft, then sure...you can have a computer check your spelling and sentence structure. You can learn plot, pacing, and character development from some of the best, top selling, authors on the market today. But, at the end of the day...those are just the mechanics of the writing process. I’m not saying that they’re not helpful and should be devalued or overlooked...but understand that it’s almost like reading a book on how to swim. You can look at pictures and drawings and learn about the breaststroke and the backstroke and how to float...but you can’t just read a ‘how to’ book on how to swim and expect to be able to just jump in the deep end of the pool with no issues. You have to actually get in the water and put those ideas to practical use. You have to immerse yourself in the act of actually doing it. You have to find your own personal rhythm, test your limits, and discover your strengths and weakness, when everything you’ve studied is put into action at once. It’s a whole different ballgame. And the faster we all figure that out as writers, the faster we can move towards creating the kind of stories we’ve always dreamed about.
    I certainly can’t tell anyone how to write their own story. And even if I could, I’d probably tell them to follow their gut anyway. I don’t belong in your head or in your heart, hehehe! This is your rodeo, not mine.
    Now the art of writing is all about exploration. Experimenting. I have some young cousins that come over from time to time, and that’s all they do! Hehehe, they want to play video games, they want to see my old comic books, they want to hold the TV remote, they want to look in the closets! What’s in here? What does this button do? What happens if I pull this handle or turn this knob? I think the best way to develop your art is to do exactly that. Think of new ways to phrase something. A different story theme, a different metaphor, a different character type. Feel around, find your comfort zone, explore it until you’ve scanned every corner of it...and then challenge yourself to get OUT of that comfort zone and try something new! And then repeat that process all over again. I think it’s good to surprise yourself every now and then. And surprise comes from challenge. Everything that you write doesn’t have to be the best thing that’s ever been written online. Never be afraid to reach out and try something that you’ve never seen done before. How would you treat it? What’s your approach? What’s going to draw people in and get them to see the world from a new angle? The possibilities are endless. Try them out. Allow yourself to let go and write in the moment. Don’t bog yourself down with lectures and lessons about character and plot and foreshadowing and dialogue...just WRITE! If you go back later and think it can be better, you can fix those things during the editing process, but I’ve learned to abandon at lot of the rules and regulations of writing fiction for short periods of time and just follow my instincts in order to create something ‘organic’. Something real. I think its important to find your own voice as a writer, and stick to it. Even if you meet up with some resistance at first...if that’s your writer’s voice, and you’re comfortable with that expression...then you stick by it. You MAKE it the new standard, and you build your brand any way that you want to. Why not?
    It’s art. How can it be ‘wrong’? I don’t see anybody telling Picasso how to paint a picture of a bull. Do it your way, and make it a classic that nobody else can duplicate! Ever!
    So, this point of this article is simply...find your own way. Incorporate whatever good tips or suggestions that you want to along the way, and brush the stuff you don’t agree with off of your shoulder. The best part about writing is being able to create your own world, your own style, and your own standard of what’s awful and what’s awesome. Don’t let anybody else determine that for you. K?
    Have fun! And thanks for being patient with me while I’ve been super busy with other stuff lately! Good luck to you all! And may your muse be inspired and wise in the weeks to come!
     
  20. Comicality

    Visually Speaking

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    One element of storytelling that really makes a difference when writing is the ability to immerse your readers into the world that you are trying to create. Now, that pretty much goes without saying, of course...but one thing that I’ve learned over time is that this immersion works better when there’s a balance between ‘imagination’ and ‘information’. (I hope I’m saying that right. Let me explain...)
    As I’ve stated in previous articles on my writing process, I always think of storytelling as a symbiotic relationship between the writer and the reader. We are both creating this story in different ways. One way is in my head, and one way is in theirs. It’s sort of like having a dancing partner, where I may be leading, but we both need to participate to make it the graceful expression it was meant to be. So, with my stories, I’m always trying to involve the reader’s imagination in what is going on. Visual cues and actions that allow them to build a mini movie in their heads as they read along. Meanwhile, I’m also attempting to tell the story that I want to tell. I have to deliver a certain amount of information so that everybody is on the same wavelength in terms of what’s going on. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is through dialogue. Narration and prose from a writer gets to be an old trick after a while, and I find dialogue to be a much more interesting way to get certain plot points across to your audience instead of just long explanations from the writer that doesn’t involve and active participation from the story’s main characters. However...sometimes that can create a slight problem.
    If anyone thinks that an extremely long monologue from one main character to another main character is going to be seen as anything different from author narration...you would be mistaken. Hehehe! You’ve got to remember...readers are savvy to those tricks in this day and age. They are devouring hundreds of hours of media every single day. They know exposition when they hear it. And while you may just have to say, “Screw it! it’ll just have to be exposition, then!” every now and again...there are still a few magic tricks up the authors’ sleeve that can help with this.
    First things first...try to break the ‘monologue’ temptation if you can. This is when you want to explain a character’s motivations or big plot points of the story, and the other characters is basically like, “Well, sure...let me tell you all about it.” And then he or she ends up talking for 75 paragraphs in a row to break down the entire story in one sitting without ever taking a breath. Hehehe, yeah, that’s not a good idea. What is the other character doing while all of this is going on? Does he just sit down on a carpet with his legs crossed like a kindergartner getting a bedtime story? What’s happening here?
    Think about it. What would you do if you casually asked somebody how their day was going, and that led to a 45 minute explanation? Would your mind wander? Would you find that strange? Would you get frustrated after a while? Well...you readers would too. When it comes to exposition dialogue and drawn out explanations that you feel need to be included in your story, always keep in mind that your audience’s attention span can be easily broken if you don’t throw in an occasional change up every now and then. It doesn’t mean that the information is boring or that anything is wrong with your story...it just means that you would do better to cut it up into bite size pieces first. That’s all.
    As with most of these little writing tips, this isn’t hard to accomplish. It’s just hard to notice if you’re not looking for it.
    The easiest way to do this in a dialogue is to simply keep in mind that two people are having this conversation. Involving the secondary character in the discussion can be much more involving. Say...you have an astronaut landing on Mars for the first time...and he runs into an alien being. Well, what the…??? How is this possible? How did we not know you aliens existed? How did you hide yourselves from us all this time...and why? The alien may say (In perfect English...which is a whole other explanation in itself!), “My Earthling friend...let me tell you all about it.” And that can end up being a monologue that goes on for pages and pages without end. Word to the wise...readers will mentally and emotionally check out if you hit them with an unbroken wall of text telling that whole story in one go. I’m assuming you guys don’t want that.
    Get your astronaut involved! He’s completely oblivious as to what is going on here. Have him ask questions. Have him be shocked or maybe even negatively react to what he’s being told. Have him make comments of his own. Play both sides of the conversation in a way that will keep a momentum going in your story. Have them both learn something along with your readers. A simple ‘back and forth’ can save you from the infamous ‘ton of bricks’ wall of text that a percentage of your readers might get bored with or just skip altogether to get back to the meat of the story.
    It sucks to have to think about these things sometimes, but I’ve found that it helps to keep this as a rule in the back of your mind.
    That’s the ‘information’ part of the equation, and that’s in the hands of the writer. Here’s where we can use the ‘imagination’ part of this to keep readers interested as they visually picture the scene unfolding in front of them.
    This part doesn’t take any dialogue at all, or even a back and forth with another character if that isn’t an option for that particular scene. It’s just a matter of using your talents as an author to paint a picture and put it into motion. You’ve spent all of this time thinking about the information that you want to deliver to the people reading your story, and you’ve got someone talking about it, acting as a vessel for the big message you’re trying to push out there, right? Well, what’s happening while that character is doing that? Think about it...when you talk to anyone at length in real life (AFK)...what else is going on during that time. Take a moment and think about it.
    What are you looking at? What are your hands doing? Are you standing up? Are you sitting down? Do you look around the room? Do you speak up, or do you lower your voice, depending on whatever it is being discussed? Are you guzzling a soda, sucking on a cough drop, staring at your cell phone? What’s going on? Use those details in your story. Break up that dialogue with visual actions that your readers can see, hear, feel, and relate to. Make a virtual movie out of it.
    I want you guys take a look at this opening scene from the movie “Pulp Fiction”. I truly believe that one Quentin Tarantino’s most amazing signature talents is his flair for dialogue. There are times when he can turn the most random, off topic, conversations into a work of art. But, beyond that...I want you to take notice of what the actors are doing with this scene, and think about how you would write it into a story if you had to.
    Here it is...
     
    Now, if you guys were to close your eyes and just listen to this...the whole scene is just dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. It’s two people sitting in a restaurant booth, discussing a robbery scheme. However, look at everything else that’s going on in this scene. Pay attention to what the actors are doing here during the conversation. The visuals. They are not just sitting there discussing a robbery. They are in motion. They are displaying emotions. They are giving each other clues. They’re...in a word...’alive’ in this scene. When you’re writing, I’ve always found it important to bring a certain life to the conversations as they’re happening.
    These two people are doing things that can be described in your writing. They lean in to look each other in the eye. One might take a drag off of his cigarette, or clip the ashes off into the ashtray. Take a sip of coffee, smile at the waitress, lay their head on the table, put his foot up on the seat, speak in a hushed tone...these are all things that you can use to break up the monotony of an extended scene of dialogue when writing your story. Even if you have a ton of information to deliver in that once scene...you can ‘jazz it up’ a little bit by adding a sense of motion to what’s being said. Maybe you write a few sentences of dialogue...and then the speaking character walks over to take a look out of the window. Write a few more sentences, then he looks back over his shoulder and, with a wave of his hand, silently offers the other character a seat. Maybe they’re sharing a drink, or eating a snack. Maybe one of them has a nervous twitch or a habit of tapping his foot under the table. Flesh out the rest of the scene around the dialogue and try to create a mental picture of what’s going on around your characters...all while distracting your readers from the fact that, “Geez, they sure are talking a lot!” Hehehe!
    Long blocks of one character shoving an entire history lesson down the throats of your readers can be exhausting. Visuals, I feel, help to change things up a little bit. Not only to break up the dialogue blocks, but to add little quirks and nuances to your characters. Allow their natural personalities to shine through in their actions. Someone who’s full of anger may pace back and forth, make threatening gestures, or might invade another character’s personal space in a challenging manner. Someone who’s timid or shy may have trouble looking another character in the eye, and may direct his gaze down at his shoes instead. He may mumble his words under his breath. He may twiddle his fingers nervously while searching for the right words. These are all tiny little activities, sure...but sprinkling these seemingly insignificant actions throughout a meaty conversation can bring a whole new feel to that particular scene, and it will keep your readers engaged and searching for more hints and clues to pick up on with your characters, while still absorbing all of the information that you have to deliver to them. Trust me, it works.
    So, to wrap this up...
    Information – Try to avoid heavy narration or a dialogue that no character in real life would ever bother to sit through after a few minutes or so. Break it up by involving both parties and try to swing back and forth between characters...with one asking pertinent questions, and the other character answering them. It’s just enough of a change up to keep people from getting bored.
    Imagination – Add visual and ‘action’ to what your characters are doing in any given scene where their personalities are being developed, or where a heavy dose of information has to be given all in one go. Have them bashfully brush their long hair out of their eyes, have them bite their fingernails, or constantly look up at the clock to see what time it is. These micro-actions can say a lot about your character, and it can keep things active while giving your readers the amount of information that they need to move on to the next part of your story.
    Watch the “Pulp Fiction” Opening again. It’s the perfect blend of both sides. Put THAT in your writing, and you can’t go wrong!
    Alright, that’s all I’ve got for you this time! And as always, I hope this helps you guys to be the best writers as you can!
    Take care! And I’ll seezya soon with more!
     
  21. Comicality

    Climaxes

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    It’s the weekend again! So...let’s talk about climaxes!
    Wait! Not THAT kind of climax! Stay out of the gutter! Geez!
    We’re talking about story story climaxes.
    This is the grand finale to your story! This is the big finish! This is where you’re able to give your readers the big pay off that they’ve been waiting for since they got hooked on those first few sentences of your story. A story’s climax can really make or break a wonderfully written project, depending on how well it works with your audience. It expresses the overall theme of your story, the reason that you wrote it in the first place, and what you want your readers to walk away with once everything has been said and done. So...put some thought into it, folks! Hehehe, this is important!
    For me, personally...I like for most of my own stories to come full circle. For the end to somehow encapsulate what was taking place in the beginning. I like for the climax of the story to be the defining moment for my main characters, and have that moment either bless the readers with a satisfying ‘happily ever after’ scenario...or have it be the merciless sucker punch that causes the whole story to collapse and end on a darker note. Or at least a note that’s somewhat bittersweet in the long run. While I definitely concentrate on making the story addictive and enjoyable as a whole, I do make it a point to save my most heavy hitting moments for the very end. In my opinion, the climax of a story should be more amazing, more shocking, more jaw-droppingly dramatic, than every major event that came before it. The climax is the sincere promise that you made to your audience from the very beginning. “Stick with me, and I’ll give you the reward you’ve been patiently waiting for!”
    Now, depending on the kind of story that you’re writing...this climax can mean a bunch of different things. It can be the defeat of a major enemy, or the salvation of a lost soul. It can be the big showdown between a super strong hero and an equally powerful antagonist. Or it might be the first kiss or hot sexual experience that your main characters have been trying to have, but obstacles have been standing in their way. Whatever the climax may be in your story...it should be the peak of your project. You’ve been seducing your audience into reading along and following your protagonist through this amazing adventure for all this time...so when they reach that major moment, when they’ve finally dug down deep enough to find that treasure chest...you want to make sure that they all feel like the hard work was worth it. The last thing you could ever want is for that big reveal or elevated event to fall flat and end up as a disappointment to readers who were looking for something more. That can be a curse on your story as a whole.
    Even if you’ve written a true masterpiece up until that point...the climax of your story is what you will, ultimately, be graded on when they comment or spread the word of your story to other people. I’m not kidding when I say that this can be a ‘make it or break it’ scenario. Don’t spend all of your hard work and energy on writing a fascinating story, only to have it fizzle out like a spent candle at the very end. The end of your story is the personal stamp on the fictional journey that you’ve created. It’s what people are going to remember most when they close the link and reflect on what they’ve just experienced. You want your lingering effect to give them a feeling that will stick with them in a way where they will not only read your work again some time, but will refer it to other readers as well.
    Always remember that the climax of your story should answer the intriguing questions that you set up in the earliest parts of your story. Let it be the punctuation mark on your story in general. Seduce your readers into expecting something MAJOR just over the horizon...but only give them small hints and glimpses of what’s coming along the way. I think that an effective climax is all about the ‘tease’. All about making that promise, that unspoken contract, with your readers...and then following through by giving them something eyebrow raising once they see the finished product. And...accomplishing this feat, as always...comes from planning. Always planning.
    When you’re diving into a brand new story, and you want it to be something special, and memorable, and loved by all...planning is essential. Think of it like you would if you were telling a joke to somebody. The biggest impact of the joke is the punchline, right? But that punchline can’t work without the setup. And the setup falls flat without the punchline. You’ve got to have both in order for the comic element of the joke to work. The timing, the delivery, the surprise of it all...it matters when it comes to bringing the most potent part of your story to life. Always give your story somewhere to ‘go’ when you’re building up to your climax. You want there to be a peak to your roller coaster. A finale to your fireworks display. This comes from plotting out the most important part of your story, and gradually building up to that punchline without overshadowing its impact ahead of time. KNOW where you’re going with your story when you start! That’s not to say that you can’t be flexible and let certain ideas change and evolve over time while you’re writing, but having a definitive idea of what your story’s ‘big moments’ are going to be ahead of time will help you out a lot when it comes time to top all of your previous highlights in the story and are looking for that major ‘WOW’ to send it off with.
    So know where you’re going, tease your audience with awesome plot points, complex twists, and surprising turns, along the way...and then deliver a final blow that can act as an effective punchline for the story that you’ve been telling the whole time. Be an entertainer! Give your audience something to cheer about. Or cry about. Or get angry about. Whatever the outcome...give it that punchline. You’ve only got one shot at this, so make it count.
    Now, one example that I’d like to use here, comes from the movie, “Blade”.
    I LOVE “Blade”! Hehehe, I really do! Even though people nowadays don’t talk about it much, Marvel’s “Blade” basically SAVED the whole comic book movie genre! Without that movie...taking a comic book hero seriously...and making it R Rated and action packed...we wouldn’t have what we have today. We’d have campy “Batman And Robin” with George Clooney, and campy “Superman 4” with Christopher Reeves. “Blade” paved the way for “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Knight”, “X-Men”, “The Avengers”, “Black Panther”, “Deadpool”, “Justice League”...I mean...we have Oscar winners in comic book movies now! That’s crazy! So THANK YOU, “Blade”, for showing the world that it can be done!
    However...
    As much as I love that movie, I believe they made a huge mistake when it came to putting that movie together. And this is a perfect example of why a climax is so important, and why it should be strategically placed at the END of the story!
    See, when “Blade” opens up, there is a SWEET action sequence that takes place in the first ten minutes of the movie! And I remember seeing that in the theater, and thinking, “HOLY SHIT!!! Let’s GO! I’m so psyched, right now!” It was everything that I wanted a Blade movie to be! And by drawing me in with that opening scene (Highly effective!), I was glued to that screen, waiting to seee what would come next. But...and this is NOT to say that “Blade” wasn’t awesome...it never really topped that opening scene. I mean...how could it? You’ve got a major protagonist reveal of a shotgun toting, sword wielding, vampire hunting, ninja in a long black trench coat, laying waste to an entire underground club full of panicked bloodsuckers!!! I mean...where do you go from there? The most over the top moment of the whole movie happens right after the opening credits, and it’s hard to even match that, much less surpass it later on in the movie when it comes to fighting the big baddie, right?
    I mean...here. Look at this!
    Again...as much as I LOVE that scene...the rest of the action scenes never really live up to the hype and the utter chaos of that first opening slaughter. That’s a hard act to follow. Hehehe! So it’s understandable, sure. But that, to me, was a ‘climax’ scene. Imagine for a second, that this had happened at the end of the movie instead of the beginning. See, the advantage that you, as a writer, has when it comes to a story climax is that your readers already have an entire journey behind them to build upon. They’re familiar with your main character. They have a short history of experience, learning about how high the stakes are, what is most important, and they’re already on board to cheer you main character on as they go complete APESHIT on an army of adversaries! Imaggine if Blade had been taking on vampires two or three at a time, and the situation had gotten so bad, things had escalated SO much, that he just had to let loose and slash his way through an armada of the undead to bring an end to this once and for all. That would be EPIC! The climax of your story has already been set up, it has been reaching a boiling point over time, and now it’s time for the major payoff. If it can’t match or outdo what you sold your readers on in the opening scene...then you kind of miss the mark in terms of bringing everything to a head and making the kind of impact that you set out to make.
    Now, compare the “Blade” beginning to the defining scene in the original “Matrix”. This happens at the END of the movie this time, and the whole impact of this scene has a different feel to it. Check it out...
    This time, you’ve spent some time with the main character. You’ve come to relate and understand him and his motivations. The movie sets up ‘Agent Smith’ in the beginning as being one of the most terrifying things that the Matrix could possibly throw at the protagonist. Calculating, precise, unbeatable. Everyone is scared by the mere appearance of such a creature, right? But...the story ‘teases’ you by letting you know that Neo isn’t your average guy. It then teases you into realizing that he’s special. That he can almost dodge bullets the way that they do. And then teases you even further when he turns and tries to actually fight with an agent...something that has never been done before. All of these things, while amazing scenes in their own right...they’re building up to something big. They’re the preamble to a climax that audiences are waiting for. Neo has transformed into the hero that the story needed, and the WORST thing that the Matrix can throw at him can be easily dispatched one handed if needed. But what gives the reader a rush is the journey that brought them to that point. The training, the mind games, the realization that...”I can do this!”
    All of these things make a difference when it comes to making a climax the major event that you want it to be. And, again..that doesn’t mean that there has to be some sort of knock down, drag out, fist fight or anything. It can be a first date, it can be coming out of the closet for the first time, it can be standing up against an abusive parent, or finally getting the courage to follow a lifelong dream. Whatever the climax of your story might be, make it the fireworks display that it deserves to be. Fulfill the promise that you made to your readers when they started investing time, effort, and emotion, into what you were writing. Let them know that this is actually leading somewhere. And when your story is done...they’ll thank you for a wild ride.
    Hopefully, one that they’ll remember for years to come.
    Anyway, that’s my little spiel on Climaxes. I really do see them as being a major part of your story as a whole. Without a defining moment to validate the whole reason for reading the story in the first place...your project and all of the hard work that you put into it can become a distant memory in a very short amount of time. I’m going to assume that you guys don’t want that.
    I hope this helps! And I’ll see you soon with more! Take care! And happy writing!
  22. Comicality

    FanFics

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    If any one of you...male or female...says that you haven't done it before...
    ...I'm calling BULLSHIT!!! LOL!!!
    Don't you DARE tell me that you haven't seen a gorgeous boy or girl on screen, and got all excited over what it might be like to have them be...you know...'yours'.
    And there's nothing wrong with that. It's ok. Hollywood picked that actor to make sure that your naughty parts keep tingling whenever you see them on screen. It's perfectly normal. Consider it a guilty pleasure, if you want to. But we all know that there is ONE celebrity out there that...if given the chance...we'd be tempted to have a sexual interlude with! Be honest! There's a Brad Pitt, a Beyonce, a Justin Bieber, or a Noah Schnapp, out there somewhere that you'd be too weak to refuse if they made you a legitimate offer in person!
    No? Hehehe...ok...
    ::Sarcasm overload::
    Fantasies are fun! Sometimes, they can be more enticing than the tales you write about your average 'boy meets boy' stories about romance and finding true love. I mean, there's an added 'prestige' involved when it comes to writing about someone famous, right? The idea that someone who is perceived as being this grand 'celebrity' would ever take the time to even talk to you, face to face, one on one, without being condescending or fake about it. Someone who is MASSIVELY popular is taking tie out of their day to make you their number one priority for a little while. To shower you with affection and devoted attention. That is an entirely different fairy tale in itself, isn't it?
    Today, we're going to talk about the pros and cons of 'fanfics' in writer fiction, and how we can make them just as epic and as emotionally involving as everything else we write for our thirsty audience! Cool? So...here we go!
    Fanfics!
    For me? (Let me date myself here for a minute! Hehehe!) It was 90's Eddie Furlong! Oh...my...God! I don't know what it was about him, specifically...but he just threw my hormones into a total frenzy when "Terminator 2" came out in theaters! I mean...it was an awesome movie, but I went back again and again until my friends and I ran out of money...and I did it all for Eddie! That boy just....UGH!!! I was SO in love!!!
    Funny note...when I first discovered the Nifty Archive...I found some really hot stories about Taylor Hanson and some other celebrity boys that I thought were really really cute too. Then...I found one about Eddie Furlong! ::Gasp:: Yeah, that story just ignited something within me, and I think it was written by an author named Dean Lidster at the time. That brought me into the whole 'Nifty' thing, and the Taylor Hanson stories led me to another amazing author by the name of Jaxsper Finn...and it's because of those two authors that I took my very first shot at writing something of my very own. Thus...'Comiclity' was born! So, if you're a fan...you have Eddie and Taylor...Dean and Jaxsper...to thank for the reason that I'm even here. And I will give them thanks and praise for the rest of my life for that. Hehehe!
    I've only written two fanfics on my site over the years. The first one was "Eddie And Me", which was about Eddie Furlong. And it (unfortunately) got erased TWICE while I was writing it. It hurt, but I wanted my 'Eddie' story, dammit! LOL! So the third version of the story is what's up on the site right now. (You can read it here, if you want to be severely disappointed in my writing skills. Hehehe! https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/eddieandme) Give me a break! I was JUST starting out, and I had to write the same story three times! So THERE!
    Anyway, even though it was a painful effort to put it out there, I really wanted to capture the overall 'essence' of Eddie Furlong, and make that a part of the story. I wanted it to do him justice, and make it as 'realistic' as I could. I wasn't really quite sure how, at the time (There was no Youtube back then), but I DID actually get to meet him in person briefly once. And I was too paralyzed to say much to him...but it was cool. Sighhh...
    BUT...the point is...he was a real person. Not just a celebrity. Not a character in one of my favorite movies. Not a teen poster pinup that I couldn't put on my wall, because...'gay'! Hehehe! But there was a real person there. And I appreciated that. So, even though I had written my hot and sexy fanfic before ever getting the chance to see him, face to face...I learned that there was more than what I 'wanted' from him. Which was...hours and hours of hot boy sex! LOL!
    So, as much as my heart and my hormones were invested in that original story, I know that I would have done it MUCH differently, had I written it today. I would have done more to capture his 'voice', his mannerisms, his lifestyle. I would have worked harder to capture all of the things that I loved about him in the first place.
    This is my previous heartbreaking crush from when I was about 13/14 years old...just so you get an idea.
    God! Is it weird that I still kinda love him a little bit? LOL!
     
     
     
    The second fanfics that I wrote, even though I had many others in mind and just never got around to typing it out...was actually a bit of an 'accident', to be honest. A lucky accident, but an accident, just the same. It's called "Waiting Outside The Lines", and it involves singer Greyson Chance (Who eventually came out of the closet as being gay, by the way! Hehehe...HOT!), and actors Chandler Riggs and Asa Butterfield. And I created a main character named Evan Elliott to be a part of it all, and truly experience and enjoy the thrill of being around these big named celebrities. All of them were beautiful, but I never thought of putting them together like that. So, had it not been for that particular challenge, I never would have written that story. Huge thanks to the person who put that contest together and for making that story possible. It's because of him that it even exists.
     
    https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/waitingoutsidethelines
    Now, all three boys were in their early to mid teens when I began the series, and that's still the way that I see them when I'm writing it now. Even though they've all grown up to be super hot adults now! Hehehe! But, I have fun. So it's all good.
    The key to making a fanfic really work and hit hard with your readers is capturing the true feel and personality of the celebrities that you're writing about. To me, that makes all of the difference. I've seen SO many fanfics over the years that were just random sex stories with a celeb's 'name' attached to it in order to create some sort of visual representation of what they were fantasizing about. I mean...if that's all you were going to do, then why not just write your own story and describe the love interest as having the same kind of hair, same build, same eyes, etc? It wouldn't be all that difficult to just picture them that way. Like, if you want to write a hot story about having sex with Will Franklyn Miller...then just describe a boy that looks exactly like Will Franklyn Miller. It'll have the same effect, right?
    To me? Fanfics are different...
    You're a 'fan', right? Ok, then do some research. You're talking about real people now. The engaging factor of a true fanfic is capturing the real life personality, gestures, and feelings, of the celebrity that you're writing about in a way that will be as realistic and as true to their character as you can get, while still having it play out the fantasy that you want to create. That's where the real 'magic' happens!
    Think about the celeb or the characters they play, and re-discover what it is that attracted you to them in the first place. What's cute about them? What do you find sexy? What was it that initially drew you in and made you take notice? You're on the internet! You have a wealth of information at your fingertips...so use it. Watch interviews with the actors or singers that you love. Look at their pictures online. Study their photo shoots. Read the comments they make on Twitter. How do they walk, talk, and interact with other people? What 'quirks' or habits do they have? What is their sense of humor like? These are all things that I think about when writing a fanfic. I want the people who read it, assuming that they're fans of the same actors/singers that I'm infatuated with, to read my story and think, "Omigod! That's TOTALLY something that he would say or do!" Hehehe, and naturally, it's just my interpretation of who they are as a real person, but it's an educated interpretation. One that I created from study and research of them and how they presented themselves to the public eye.
    Before writing "Waiting Outside The Lines", this is something that I put a LOT of thought into. I wanted to capture the real nature of the characters, if possible. So I made sure to read about them a little bit, watch their videos, hear how they conducted their interviews...pen and paper in hand to see if they had any gestures or words that they used more often than others. I noticed that Greyson kind of lets his leg bounce sometimes. It might be a habit or a nervous tick...but I took notice of it, and I put it in the story. Asa Butterfield seems rather confident by nature in his interviews, and that was a personality trait that I latched on to...and I made that a part of his character in the story. Chandler Riggs uses the phrase 'awesome' a LOT when he's talking to people. And I took a note of that too, making it a part of his natural dialogue. These are all little things...but it really does help to connect the character you're writing with the actual celebrity that you're writing about. Those candid little quirks will give your story a sense of realism that you wouldn't believe! Trust me.
    Check out these brief videos, and then read "Waiting Outside The Lines". See if you can make the connection. The whole idea is to make your fanfic feel 'real', right?
     
    0000 Again, I don't know any of these celebs in real life...but this is the overall 'vibe' that I got from their public appearances. And that research is what I went with when I was trying to create their characters for my story. Now...sometimes it can be fun to play your favorite celebs against type, and reveal a darker, sexy, side to their personality...which can also be a lot of fun. But for me, personally? The closer your representation is to the actual celebrity, the better. I wouldn't have Greyson Chance see a hot piece of ass and say, "Damn, cutie! Nice ass! You wanna make 50 bucks in the back seat of my car?" Hehehe, in my mind, that would be out of character for me. He seems like such a sweetheart. Shy and a bit restrained when it comes to approaching someone for the first time. He's funny and charismatic...and a little bit silly, but in this really adorable way. Just...he's CUTE, you know? And that's how I wrote him. I built his character on what I've seen from him so far. Asa, on the other hand, seems more like the type to be a bit more forward with his advances if he was interested. And that's how I wrote him as well.
    Capture the true spirit of your characters when you're writing, and keep them consistent in their behavior. It makes for a better project.
    One thing to remember is the fact that not everybody is going to share your attraction or infatuation to the famous person that you're writing about. Fanfiction is a niche category, and if someone sees that you're writing about someone that they don't find attractive or perhaps don't even know who they are...they'll skip over it. Even if it's the greatest love story ever written...they're not paying attention. And that's fine. Sometimes, you've got to just write your fanfiction for you, and you alone. Enjoy it. Explore your own fantasy to its fullest extent, and then share it so a few other people can share your passion for these characters and imagine a worl where something like this could actually happen. Have FUN with your hard work! And it will reward you in the end.
    Anyway, that's my talk on fanfics. I hope this helps you out. And if you've been thinking about writing a fanfic of your very own? DO IT!!! Hehehe! Just write the first few paragraphs with that special cutie in mind...and you'll be hooked instantly! I know you've thought about it! Don't try to fool me...I know. LOL! Have fun! Hehehe, come on! There's got to be, like...a really HOT Levi Miller fanfic stewing in the back of your mind somewhere! Am I right? Write it! It'll be sexy! We're all waiting to see it!
  23. Comicality

    Sub-plots

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    One thing that I've discovered while writing my own stories over the years, is the 'lacking' presence of added depth when I only have one situation going on from beginning to end. Now, this may be just a personal preference of mine...but when I'm focused on two boys and one issue, the theme of the story itself feels really basic and seems to fall 'flat' to me sometimes. Like something is missing. Nothing major, really...but it's similar to a cook tasting their food and thinking, "Hmmmm...I need a little more salt. Or butter. Or garlic." Etc. I like to build a story that feels a bit more full when it comes to the plot that I put together.
    This is when I begin thinking of some of the other characters in the story, and what's going on around them as well. Seriously .What's going on with them? This is when I begin wondering about certain 'subplots', and how I can, maybe, weave them into the overall plot and include them into what's going on with the main characters.
    Now, if subplots seem distracting or unnecessary to you, then I won't tell you to force it into a project where they aren't needed. That's an instinct that you can choose to develop or not develop as you see fit. Sometimes a short story is just fine as a short story, and it doesn't need to be overworked with anything extra, bogging the story down. But, whenever I'm writing anything longer than a few chapters, I like to add a little more meat to the world that my narrative takes place in. It's just the way my brain works, I suppose. I often write in the first person perspective, so all of the story's major events are basically surrounding that one character and how he sees the world from his point of view. But when I introduce a love interest, or a best friend, or a parent, or a few co-workers...I'm always thinking about ways to flesh out those characters in ways that will keep them from just 'being there' as background for no apparent reason. Who are these people? What are their lives like? What are their motivations and why are they important to the plot? In my head, every single character that I use to populate my story has a fully fleshed out backstory of their very own. Something that gives their character a few added layers and explains who they are and what their purpose is. Even if they only show up briefly from time to time, and none of that backstory ever shows up in the story itself...it's right there in the back of my mind the entire time. And, if any of you read my article on 'Show, Don't Tell', then you'll remember that it's not enough to just tell the history of this character in passing in order to reveal their motivations and give them a meaningful personality. If they're in your story, give them something to do. If they have nothing to do...cut them out. You won't need them. I can't stress that enough. I know you might be attached to them in one way or another...but don't cradle useless characters in your project if you can avoid it. It will only drag you down in the long run.
    BUT...if you have people populating the world that you're trying to build, and they're pushing the plot forward, even if it's in a minor way...then their presence will have a purpose. And your story will be that much better for it.
    For this article, we're talking about 'subplots'. How to craft them, what they mean, and how to use them to enhance your writing to further flesh out your story and make it all that you intended it to be.
    So, question number one is simple...what is subplot?
    When writing your story, you have a main focus and a series of goals that you want your protagonist to accomplish. This is your plot. What is it that your main character wants to do? He wants to get his dream job in Hollywood. He wants to ask that beautiful stranger out on a date. He wants to come out of the closet to his friends. He wants to find the one weapon that will help him defeat the alien horde that is arriving within the next few days to take over the Earth. Whatever. This is what you should concentrate on the most when it comes to your writing. Figure out what the most important part of your story is, and use that as a guiding light to take you from beginning to end.
    Now...what is the subplot? Subplots take part just on the outside fringes of the story you're trying to tell. It's a third dimension to a two dimensional plot. There are going to be times when simplicity is the best way to go...but for longer stories or series, I think subplots really do help out a lot. And it's great for solving any 'pacing' issues that may pop up when your main story is moving from one major event to another. So keep that in mind.
    Take a moment and think about your own life. You have thoughts, dreams, and desires, right? You do things, you say things, you win, and you lose. But you're not alone in this world. If you have a close friend...how do these things affect them? How do they affect your parents? If you're gay, but in the closet...your new romance with the cutest boy on the block may be your main goal...but the struggles you may face with coming out to your other friends and family may play a part in you being fully happy. That's not the main focus of your story, but it definitely factors in to every situation that you're dealing with as a whole. Right? Maybe the 'best friend' character rejects the protagonist for his feelings, or for keeping his true feelings a secret. Maybe the parents aren't really 'gay friendly', and your main character is struggling with the fear of being kicked out of the house or simply disappointing them by being different. Now, these issues aren't meant to be a major distraction from the main plot, nor is it meant to overshadow it in any way. Instead, they are just giving your readers a different perspective of what's going on from an entirely different angle.
    Can you tell a short story with just a boy that wants to meet another boy and fall in love? Of course you can. And you don't have to stress yourself out too much, over complicating the story with extra details when you can just tell a simple story and be done with. But if you're writing an extended series, I personally think that it gets to be a little bit boring after a while, just dealing with the same main character's thoughts and his constant gushing over the love interest. How many ways can you come up with to say, "He's so beautiful and I love him!" before your readers get a little exhausted with it? (Guilty of this myself. So I'm not throwing stones. Trust me!)
    By introducing a strong and effective subplot into your story, not only does it spice things up a little bit, offering opportunities for a few surprises and added drama...but it can be used to give your readers a much needed break from the monotony of two people saying, "No, I love YOU more! Mwah mwah mwah!" That gets old pretty quick. It's fine for a short story, but for a longer series...you're going to need to thicken that gravy a little bit more to keep your audience locked in.
    To give an example, I'd like to start with the movie, "Titanic". Now, I'm sure that most of you reading this know about the tragedy of the Titanic, even if you haven't seen the movie. The ship hit an iceberg, sank to the bottom of the sea, lots of people died. (Sorry, spoiler alert! Hehehe!) However...the one thing that audiences know about the Titanic and what happened to most of the people on board...is not the plot of the movie. It's the subplot of the movie. What is taking center stage here is the romantic love story between a lower class boy who was able to sneak on board the ship thanks to a lucky gambling hand, and a very wealthy upper class woman who is unhappy with her life but doing all she can to basically sell her soul for the sake of living a better life. THAT is what the movie is all about, essentially. The subplot adds a sense of anxiety and dread, sure...and it makes for one hell of an action set piece near the end of the film, but it's not the main focus of the story. It is the third dimension that helps to support the main story and create tension and and a powerful impact to the story you're watching unfold before your very eyes. It 'thickens the gravy'.
    Here is the trailer...
     
    The whole point of a subplot is to enhance the main focus of the big picture. It gets other people in your story, or sometimes just the environment itself, involved in a way that will bring your narrative to a head, and give some sort of backstory, as well as some foreshadowing, simultaneously. When you're adding other people into the mix, things become slightly more complex when it comes to storytelling. You now have another person to deal with. Ok...so how are the current events affecting him or her through all of this? What are the stakes involved when it comes to them being a part of your main character's life? And what issues of their own do they have to deal with? It doesn't have to be a huge deal or something that's going to take over the whole story on its own...but I always feel that you should have something going on with this other character if they're going to be a part of your plot. Otherwise, they're just a mask for random exposition. A very thin one at that. People can tell when someone is just there to provide the reader with information to move the story forward and nothing else. You don't want to let the audience see your secrets. Not if you can help it.
    I've found that when I'm writing subplots for my stories, there should be a certain cohesive feel to them when it comes to the main plot. I like for things to come full circle in my work. So I may stray from the main focus to concentrate on some of the side characters for a chapter or two...but I always keep the main characters involved. Don't ever let them disappear from your story completely...or it's going to feel like a total off ramp from the road you started on. Don't stray too far from your original story. One problem that I've come across in some of my writing over the years is that my subplots sometimes get to be more popular than the main story. I had to work and practice to make both stories relevant to my readers, without letting either one fall so far into the background that it's no longer of interest to my audience. The best example of this is what happened with "New Kid In School", where the story of characters like Tyler and Ariel was the only thing that people were really looking for...making it hard to get back to Ryan and Randy, who were supposed to be the main draw. Subplots are all about figuring out who is going to take center stage and get the spotlight from chapter to chapter. Just remember that when one person is in the spotlight...the others are in the dark. Leave them in the dark for too long, and your readers will forget about them.
    One of the very FEW complaints that I've ever had about James Cameron's films, deals with this particular issue. And I love James Cameron's work with a passion. However, if you've ever seen "Terminator 2"...there are a few subplots about John Connor bonding with the cyborg, and Sarah trying to prevent an apocalyptic future from ever happening. Interesting and engaging subplots, indeed. But after about 40 minutes...the actual T-1000 terminator shows up again, and I was like..."Oh yeah! I forgot he was even in this movie! Yeah, they're being hunted, aren't they?" Now, why did I lose sight of the main plot of the movie? Because the subplot took center stage for so long that it put me into an entirely different frame of mind. And it takes some practice and discipline to find your own particular balance with this kind of writing, but you're going to want to figure out how keep your main plot and your subplot running alongside one another smoothly at the same time for future projects. It's one of those things that you'll need in your utility belt for later.
    I feel that the best way to do that is to have both of your plots run, equally, while you're writing, and make sure that they intertwine and connect in ways where each individual story boosts one another up to the next level with added depth and meaning. That's been my technique for years, and I always stick with what works.
    Down below are a few more trailers, where the subplots run as a parallel to the main story. You'll see, the major plot of your story can be very simple, straightforward, and to the point. It's simply a matter of detailing who your main characters are and what it is that they want to accomplish by the end of the tale. Subplots merely add a bit of finesse and enhance your characters' motivations by explaining why they're doing whatever it is that they're doing.
    In the first movie, "Saint Ralph", the goal of the main character is to rise up from being a troubled youth at a Catholic school, and training to run a marathon in hopes of winning it despite all of the people who are doubting him. Very simple, very easy to absorb. But the side story or subplot deals with the fact that his mother is very sick. And he needs a holy 'miracle' in order for her to get better. So the whole movie is not just about him training for the marathon and being ridiculed or discouraged by the people who say he can't do it. The real heart of the film comes from the 'WHY'. Why is he doing it? What are the stakes? What's his motivation? With that extra story running alongside the main plot, the audience gets much more invested in what's going on. Now you've got yourself a cheering section, because they know a bit more about what's going on here.
    In the second movie, "1408", we have a writer who goes from place to place searching for definitive proof of the paranormal activities that people claim to be witness too. A pursuit that has never produced any results for him...until now. And he's forced to question whether it's real or not. Now...how do you add an extra layer of meaning to a movie like this? With a subplot that introduces the question of 'why' he's doing this. It just so happens that he lost his daughter to an illness, and is skeptical about whether or not her spirit lives on or if she's in a better place. That adds a lot to the story. It increases the stakes, whether he's proven right or wrong. It gives the main plot a level of depth that it didn't have before. And that's what you're trying to accomplish when writing subplots of your own.
    Check out the trailers...
     
    000 I've found that telling a variety of stories all at once, switching from spotlight to spotlight, but still having them all exist in the same literary 'space', can really keep your readers engaged and invested in whatever story it is that you're trying to express when it comes to writing a longer story. Readers are looking for things to interest and excite them when it comes to your project. You've allowed them to learn your main character first, then allowed them to get to know your love interest. That takes, maybe two chapters? Three? So now what? What will you add to keep their interest once you've got them hooked. You won't make another ten chapters with just that one pursuit being the only focus of your story. I wouldn't be able to do it either. There's got to be something more happening behind the scenes.
    I have a story called, "A Class By Himself", which is a tornado of different stories all going on at once. The main character and his mother, the main character and his love interest, the main character and a 'third party'...then there's bullying at school, and his friend from back home, and a love triangle, an internal struggle with his own sexuality, and his financial limitations...but they're all tied together in a way where all of this manic situations are all spinning in the same literary 'space'. If that makes sense. They are all a part of the protagonist's growth and his ability to overcome the obstacles in his way to finally reach the end of his story arc. (At least, I HOPE that's how readers will see it, after all those years of planning! Hehehe!) They are all leading somewhere. And that's exactly what I wanted.
    I know that it takes me forever to update 'this' story and 'that' story...but when people see the finished product, I really do hope that they'll see where all of the puzzle pieces fit together at some point. And how I've been building up to the grand finale gradually over time. Something to say, "Ohhhh...NOW I see why Comsie did that!" You know?
    Again, not easy...but far from difficult once you've gotten enough practice at writing stories of your own. You've always got to keep the past, the present, and the future, of your story in your mind at all times when you're writing. It makes for a better story. And your readers will thank you for it in the long run. K?
    I hope this tidbit of advise helps you guys out! And keep writing! You guys are the future of this shit! So make it count!
    Love you all! Now go out there, and do it better than I ever could! Comsie needs entertainment too! Hehehe!
     
  24. Comicality

    Character Diversity

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    When I was growing up, I can distinctly remember LOVING the old school martial arts flicks that they used to show on Channel 66 in Chicago on Sundays! "Incredible Kung Fu Mission", "Five Deadly Venoms", "Drunken Master"! A good Shaw Brothers original? They never failed to excite me and have me locked in to the point where, by the time it was over, I'd be fighting my own pillows and trying to kick couch cushions across the room with my non-existent skills as a five or six year old Kung Fu warrior. Hehehe, sad but true.
    But...one thing that always stuck out to me in those old movies was the idea of the bad guys thinking they'd be able to effortlessly take down someone that they thought would have been an easy win. If you go back and watch those movies, it was always the people that most would have written off as being helpless or of lesser strength or ability that would TRULY fuck you up if you messed with them! Little kids, demure and quiet housewives, hardcore drunks, old men, the handicapped or the disabled, etcetera. You could be the most feared martial artist in town...but if you go into a tavern and have to face off against a blind, one armed, swordsman...? Just walk away! You're going to get your ass handed to you! End of discussion! Whatever advantage you thought you had over them...leave it at the door. It doesn't matter. They are just as much of a badass as you are, and probably even more so. You would be foolish to think otherwise. That kind of thing could get you sliced wide open! Hehehe!
    The point being, the attributes and power behind those characters has nothing to do with how they appear from a distance. They're good characters because you wrote them that way. As it should be.
    When it comes to creating stories, I really do believe that character diversity is important, but not just for the sake of appealing to a certain audience or trying to show your readers how 'open minded' you are. It's simply a representation of reality itself. At least in my mind. I grew up in Chicago, where there were many different races, cultures, religions, sexual preferences and identities, and financial classes. So, for me to write a story that didn't include and represent different kinds of people in my projects comes off as unnatural and unrealistic to me. Including a variety of different people isn't forced or something that I do just because, it's just how I view the particular character that I'm creating at that moment. I mean, every love interest or supporting character that I write can't be a slim, blond haired, teenage boy with bright blue eyes and a pretty smile. That's not a default setting for what the world considers as 'normal'. I think I would be bored to death if that was all that I was allowed to write about. That's not the world that I live in. But how can a writer explore a diverse cast of characters without being patronizing or having their intentions be (or seem) disingenuous in the long run?
    Hopefully, this discussion will help writers and readers alike understand the difference between being diverse and being condescending. Because there is a difference, and it can sometimes turn your readers off if you get the balance wrong.
    So let's talk character diversity, shall we?
    One of my very best friends actually took improv comedy classes at Chicago's 'Second City', where the crowd calls out certain characters, professions, or situations, and the actors on stage are supposed to create a spontaneous skit from their suggestions. Now...the thing about this practice is that it ends up getting the actors to settle into certain stereotypes when it comes to portraying the kinds of people that the audience suggests. Not in a malicious way...but in ways that people will recognize it for what it is supposed to be. If you ask improv actors to be a cowboy, they might widen their legs as if they've been riding a horse all day and talk with a Southern Texas accent. If you ask them to be a rapper, they might sag their pants and talk with a certain slang. Ask them to be a gay guy, and they might show you a limp wrist and speak with a lisp. Again...it's not meant to be hurtful or insulting, but it's a series of recognizable gestures that people associate with a certain characterization or situation. And a lot of times it works out just fine for the sake of humor in the moment. However, when you're writing fiction, people are going to be genuinely more invested in the characters that you create. And stereotypes can become easily offensive to them if those types are the only thing that you have to lean on as an author. Let's go into detail...
    Having a character in your story that is black, Asian, gay, Jewish, overweight, or a woman...understand that this is not a character trait. That's a character DESCRIPTION. It's a look. An outer shell. And it doesn't let you off the hook when it comes to actually creating a real character of depth and meaning beneath it. Don't just toss them into your story for 'diversity's sake'. Even if you attach a bunch of popular stereotypical speech and behavior traits to these characters. That shouldn't be the only thing that defines them in your story. In fact, if you were to change the color of their skin, their gender, or their sexual identity, it shouldn't have that much of a major impact on them as a character according to the plot at all. Unless, of course, their skin color, gender, or sexual identity, is the main focus of the story itself. If not...then why does it matter? Think about that while creating them. Let your characters be more than their outer appearance.
    The same goes for characters that are elderly, or teenagers, or heavily religious, or extremely wealthy. These are not the traits that define them and make them interesting and important in the eyes of your readers. It makes for a few extra details, but it's not enough to say, 'that's the gay kid', or 'that's the transvestite guy', or 'he's the foreign exchange student'. That is a very small part of who they are as a person, and you can't rely on that security blanket view to carry you through your story if you're not going to give that character anything else of significance to do or to build them up in a way that's important to the plot.
    In the first set of videos below, you'll see some very strong female characters in lead roles for their own movies. And yes, they existed before Wonder Woman came along. But this time, pay attention to what's not there. The extra emphasis. You don't have to deliberately emphasize the fact that they are women. We can clearly see that. I think that's where the friction comes from. You don't have to say, "Yeah, she's a woman...but she's a total badass!" What? BUT she's a total badass??? Do you see the issue here? It's like...you're praising this one woman because...women can't be badasses unless we tell you they are. Not unless we use it as some sort of a 'gimmick' or try to make it look so out of the ordinary. Ok, mistake number one. Don't do that. The fact that the main character is female (much like the old school Kung Fu movies that I mentioned above) doesn't mean that she should be underestimated or highly praised for being 'the pick of the litter' for kicking ass. It's just a part of her character. That's all there is to it.
    There's no need to justify it, explain or make excuses for it, or even acknowledge it, really. Don't let the current buzzwords from modern day 'rant pirates' trick you into thinking that strong females in movies and TV were never a thing before the current media blitzes of today. Ripley from "Alien" was a strong female character. Sarah Connor from "The Terminator" was a strong female character. Princess Leia in "Star Wars" was a strong female character. The ENTIRE horror movie genre was built on the one strong female character that escapes at the very end of the movie, including Jamie Lee Curtis in "Halloween" or Nancy in "A Nightmare On Elm Street". We've always had a treasure chest of strong female characters to see on screen or read about. From Cleopatra to Joan Of Ark to La Feme Nikita to Fury Road. Don't pretend that this is some new conspiracy that popped up in the last few years. It isn't. So what was the difference here?
    The difference was the fact that their strength wasn't based on the fact that they were women. It wasn't BECAUSE they were women, and it wasn't DESPITE the fact that they were women...it was because they were written as strong characters. They displayed their strength through their actions and their ability to deal with the obstacles presented to them. And if any one of those characters had been written as being male, or black, or Muslim, or Latino, or had been put in a sci fi make up chair for four hours a day to make them green with alligator scales every day before filming...the actual 'character' should still remain just as strong and as important to us regardless of the visuals.
    Even in gay fiction, being a woman isn't a character trait...it's a character description. Same rules apply.
    Some good examples of strong female characters that never once had to scream, "I'm a woman! Hear me roar!" in order to be respected and enjoyed as great characters in their own right.
     
    0000 I realize that we live in an era where everybody thinks that diversity is some sort of a sinister plot or hidden agenda to push forward and change the world, and for some creators...it is. But, I think for the most part, the whole heavy handed handling of the concept by some is what gives people that perception. Why is having a gay character in your story so controversial? That's ridiculous. Gay people are everywhere. To suggest that it's weird or some kind of trick to brainwash the masses? It comes off as really tone deaf, and it can come off as more insulting than appreciative if you're just forcing them into your story and doing it for the wrong reasons.
    The term 'woke' was never intended to be a negative comment. But, more and more, I see it being weaponized and used to attack people and make accusations that are WAY out of bounds. Why? Being woke is the opposite of being asleep. That's it. There are gay people where you live. There are black people where you live. There are poor people where you live. There are transgender people where you live. What's so wrong with that? Your art is supposed to reflect reality, right? So reflect reality then. The people you went to school with, work with, shop with at the mall...feel free to write them into your story if that's what you want to do. And if not, then don't. But if you're trying to paint a realistic picture of the world...you can't do it with just one brush. Just saying.
    Now, I don't want anybody to think that this is some 'push' to force anybody to create characters that they don't want to create for the sake of diversity. If that's not the story that you're trying to tell, or you don't think you can build something genuine with characters that don't fit your narrative, then that's fine. Write what you want to write, what you know best, and be proud of it. That's what the whole writing process is about.
    I just imagine my own characters as being representations of the people that I grew up around. My best friends and my classmates and my co-workers. Some of them were Muslim, some were Jewish, some were heavy metal rockers with piercings and tattoos, some were hip hop kids with tilted caps and hoodies, and some of them were rich kids with fancy houses and sweet automobiles. Some were tall, some were short, some were younger than me, some were older than me, some were heavyset or husky, and some were bony and thin. It's all fine. The variety of people inhabiting my world gave me the chance to really appreciate people for who they are, and not just what I could use to put them into some kind of 'category' that probably wouldn't fit them anyway. You know? I'm so thankful for that. The world that I live in gets channeled into the stories that I write. It's honest. And I draw from some of the most incredible people and experiences that I've ever had in my life. And...spoiler alert...they don't all look alike. So...yeah.
    Either way, if you want to add a diverse cast to your current stories or anything in the future, the one thing to remember is that people are people. Point blank, period. Changing their sexuality or their gender or their skin color shouldn't really matter. Unless (again) it is the main focus of the story. If your story is about homophobic bullying, then there has to be a gay character, or someone who is assumed to be gay. If the story is about racism, then you should have a character of a different race or color. If the story is about bashing atheists, then religious beliefs obviously matter. But if it's just a character in your story that has a desire and a goal that is relative to all of us as a whole...love, friendship, opportunity, comfort...then the outer description or belief system shouldn't mean anything more to the reader than the clothes that they're wearing. "She wears a red hood, she's atheist, and she's a lesbian." Ok, that gives us some information about her...but unless that's what the story is about, specifically...then you're going to need more than that. Develop their character with emotions and motivations and a backstory the same way you would with any other. Otherwise, it kind of looks like you just threw that in for kicks. And...why?
    Stay focused on who your characters are, and not just what they are, unless it directly links into the plot somehow.
     
    0000 So, the big question is...how can you express diversity in your stories but not make it look like you're forcing it or being exploitative. It's not an easy question. It can be difficult to look like you didn't just do that to fit into a specific niche, appeal to a particular audience, or to take advantage of a current trend. The only way around that...is to simply put it out of your head. Seriously. As I've said in many articles before...don't write with the expectation of how your readers will take it in mind. Write from your heart and write the truth. How they take it? You can put more thought into that when you're in the editing process. Or have beta readers let you know if anything that you've done with a character's portrayal comes off as being insensitive. That's something that you can do if you just want to be extra sure. There was only one time that I thoroughly double checked a character that I wrote for "Billy Chase", and that was a transgender character by the name of 'Dizzy'. Mostly because I wanted more emotional info on what it's like, and I wanted to get it from actual trans members from the site. But, outside of that one time, I've never really worried about overly judgemental about any particular group of people in my stories. (Although, I will admit to sometimes giving the high school a bad rap for being bullies when I know that they're not in real life. But maybe that's just me being cliche. Hehehe!) There's a subtle way to navigate around triggering your audience with the idea of diversity...
    ...However...no matter WHAT you do, there's always a chance of stepping on the landmine of having to deal with people this...
     
    Hehehe, sorry. It happens. There will always be people who have justified reasons to be upset...and some people who are just plain upset and spend their whole day looking for reasons to justify it. Way it goes, I suppose. But, like I said, it's all in how you present and develop the characters.
    I have a character in the vampire story, "Gone From Daylight", named Jenna. Very beautiful, very sweet, a little on the sensitive side, and pretty quiet for the most part. Before becoming a vampire, this girl with the long blond hair actually came from a very wealthy family on the other side of the country. However, when Jenna and main protagonist found themselves under attack, she jumps right in and it's discovered that she can easily brawl with the best of them! Even better than the protagonist himself. And this was a moment of shock and awe for fans of the story when that chapter was first posted, because they didn't see that coming at all. Not because, "Whoah, she's kicking a lot of ass to be a little rich blond girl!" But because her actions were a complete left turn from what they knew about her as a character. It's a departure from her personality, her quiet voice, her sensitive ways. That's the focus of the scene, and that's exactly what I needed it to be. If you concentrate on every character in your story depending on their individual personalities, advantages, flaws, etc...everything else falls into the background. I didn't want to make Jenna a damsel in distress. I never had any plans to make her a rich brat, or some vain popular girl that was worried about her looks all night long. She's a three-dimensional character that adds something to the rest of the ensemble cast. Everything else is inconsequential.
    Another example would be Tristan's best friends, Lori and Michelle, in the story "Jesse-101". Tristan is a gay boy in high school, and while he's not overly effeminate, it's just enough to keep him from having a lot of guy friends. He has more in commons with his best girls instead. But when I write those characters, and the dialogue that they share, I wanted it to be clearly obvious why they're the best of friends. I wanted it to feel as though there was some history there between them. But Lori's not just a 'girl' for the sake of saying, "See? Female character!" That wouldn't do anything for the story. And she would eventually fade into the background, just popping up every now and then to remind readers that she's supposed to have a purpose in all this. Instead, Lori is a huge motivating factor for Tristan. She can be strong when she needs to be, funny when she needs to be, a shoulder to cry own, or a dedicated protector, or an excited cheerleader, when she needs to be. They feed off of one another. Gay stories can have awesome female characters, and straight stories can have awesome gay characters. Any character with any particular attributes can be used in any story if you want to use them, just don't let the shallow stuff overwhelm your plot or fall into the background if you can help it. A few nudges, winks, and jokes, are fine...but have your readers love them for their personalities and contributions to the project...not just for their description.
    Show...don't tell.
     
    0000 Anyway, I hope this will give everyone some food for thought. Whether you agree or disagree, at least a little nugget will remain in the back of your mind somewhere to think about at a later date. Hehehe! Everyone would love to see a piece of themselves in their favorite stories and think, "That could be me!" And that's where most of my most loyal readers come from. not everybody can be the sexiest boy in school. They're not the sports team all-star, or the slick talker, or that incredibly brave kid that came out of the closet when he was ten years old and has no problem asking boys out on a date for the first time. Sometimes, your readers were just the awkward shy kid who's still dealing with his feelings. Or the artsy kid with on good friend that lives next door. They want to be represented too. If everybody was a young Justin Bieber...then the world would just go looking for something else. So reflect the world the way it is, and have fun.
    And now...speaking of having fun...Why don't I end this off by doing exactly that! Have a few laughs with me for a while, and always remember not to overdo the messaging thing. Hehehe, we get it. Enjoy! I'll see you next time with more!
     
    0000  
  25. Comicality

    Story Folding

    By Comicality,


    Writing Tips
    There are plenty of times when I like to just throw in a few extras with my stories when I'm writing. Sometimes, it's just for a little nod and a wink to the readers and fans of the many stories that I've written over the years. And other times, I do it to poke fun at myself. Hehehe! Because I think it's important to have a sense of humor when it comes to even my best efforts to be error-free, and to giggle at my biggest mistakes and failures. Either way, it makes for a good time, you know? It's fun!
    However...there's something else that I really love to do that can be fun as well.
    There is a process that I like to refer to as 'story folding' when it comes to having my own storylines connect or criss-cross into one or another at certain points in time. After years of having all of these characters coexist in what's, pretty much, the same space...I figure that they're going to run into each other every once in a while, or at least have a few locations or situations in common. Right? I mean, for Stephen King...his place is in Maine. For M. Night Shyamalan...it's Philadelphia. For me? It's Chicago. Almost all of my stories take place there, and even a few of the places that I just made up out of the blue, exist in more than two or three of my fictional stories at some point. It's sort of like 'world building', I suppose...but for more than one project.
    So...story folding! What is it, and how can you get some joy out of it whenever you get the opportunity?
    One of the things that I always do, mentally, is contemplate the world that exists outside of my own personal life 'story'. Not just when I'm writing online, but in the real world. Like...just imagine...how many branches spread out in every person, every news article, every scandal, that you've ever read or seen on TV. Take a second and think about it. Think about how many buildings and office workers saw an airplane pass by their windows before they hit the Twin Towers on 9/11. Think about the fact that Jeffrey Dahmer had neighbors, co-workers, friends, family. Think about the kids that teased a young Stevie Wonder in school, or that record label that turned down Lady Gaga, or the publishers that rejected Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" novel. I know that it's not the main story, or the most interesting...but that doesn't mean that those side avenues don't all have stories of their very own. Story folding is the art of realizing that there's a bigger world at large, gathering all of those multiple stories and points of view, and having them 'touch' one another every once in a while. (Hehehe, that sounded sexy!) But what happens in one story might have a minor, or even a major, effect on another story. It's sort of a six degrees of separation type of thing. The first time I ever did this in my stories was years ago with the miniseries, "Will Power", where the two main characters were passing a couple of other cute boys in the high school hallway, and heard them whistling the Tootsie Roll theme to themselves with a smile. (A call back to the original "New Kid In School" series.)
    It was brief, and it was simply meant to be a little Easter Egg for fans of the site's number one story at the time, but it gave the readers the idea that these events were all happening in the same place, at the same time. Even if the other characters didn't know it. Also, the readers have knowledge of what's going on there that the main characters don't. So that's a bonus.
    Since then, I've folded over a lot of other stories in a variety of ways, where...if you read them all...you'll be able to see where they all connect, and get a bit of an omnipotent view of all of the stories from above. The idea is to create a larger narrative beyond the current story that you're writing. 'Plot' happens within the story...but 'Story' always goes beyond the plot. Keep that in mind at all times. Consider it a challenge to use on occasion for practice. Something to keep your instincts sharp. It allows you to look at your project from many different angles, and cultivate a three-dimensional view of your stories without even thinking about it. Practice how to show your other characters reacting to what's going on in the main storyline and you'll be able to find ways to make your stories a bit more nuanced and complex over time. It simply teaches you how to think differently about the situations that you create to keep your story interesting. I find it hard to describe here in words, but you'll know it when you feel it.
    It doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference, but it really did for me. I think it helped me to grow a lot since I first started writing online.
    This is, yet another, technique that I got from reading comic books when I was growing up as a kid. The biggest example of this, being the "GFD: Worlds" section on the site (https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/world/gone-from-daylight/), where the vampire stories not only reference one another in many places in connection with the original "Gone From Daylight" series on the site, but span over many decades of time, different eras, different characters, and different pieces of a MUCH larger puzzle going forward. Again, it's a challenge, but it can be done with a certain amount of skill to make it all work. As always, that takes practice.
    For one thing, I believe that the stories you're trying to merge or weave into one another have to be somewhat 'compatible' with one another in order to work. I think that's a must. One of the things that I've always had a problem with was the idea of Batman and Superman in the comic books. Especially with the movie, when Gotham City and Metropolis were, literally, across the lake from one another. I mean...WTF? Why is there so much crime in Gotham City when Superman is like...right there??? He can fly half way around the world in a couple of seconds, but can't help Batman stop the crime on the other side of the lake? Weird. To me...those two stories aren't always in sync. I'd work to make sure that both characters belong in each other's world first. You can't fold two stories together when their whole existence clashes with their counterpart. You know?
    But, jumping out of the superhero genre...since I write mostly stories about high school boys finding love for the very first time...it makes perfect sense that they would occasionally run into one another from time to time. Even if it's just in passing. Maybe they hang out in the same places (I made up teen hangouts like 'Frankie's' or 'Cheesey Pete's'...but they show up in multiple stories as a brief mention here and there). Maybe they share a friend or acquaintance. And...sometimes the main characters actually run into one another and interact for a brief period. It can be fun, combining stories in this way, and if you've never tried it, I recommend giving it a shot. It always makes me smile.
    The key is to make those interactions short and simple, if that's the route you're taking. Don't let it drag if it's just a tongue in cheek moment. Otherwise, you end up taking your readers completely out of the immersion of the story they're reading. That's a no no. Make it quick, and then get back on task. For example, in "New Kid", I had Randy get sick for a while and his boyfriend, Ryan, came over to spend the day with him to make him feel better. And he brought over the "Billy Chase" TV series for them to watch together. Hehehe, now 'Billy' is another story entirely, but it was kind of fun to make it seem like it was a 'binge-worthy' series for two gay teens to watch together to have a good time. So I folded one story over onto the other, gave my audience a quick smile to let them know that I was just poking fun, and got right back into the meat of the story.
    It was meant to be a joke...not a distraction. Something else to keep in mind.
    Now...there is also a much more elaborate form of story folding that you might want to get into, which can be even more fun! And it can really be beneficial if you're collaborating with another writer and you decide to write from two different points of view. But it does take focus and a great deal of finesse to make sure that you get it right and don't find yourself dealing with a ton of inconsistencies that ultimately don't add up from chapter to chapter. Just a few slips, here and there, can cause things to splinter off and spin out of control faster than you would believe. This method can be tricky. So you've got to bring your 'A' game to the table.
    One story that I did this level of folding with is (Again) "New Kid In School", as it was the story that I was most familiar with at the time, and I mixed it with the "Kiss Of An Angel" series. Now, both series run simultaneously, with two completely different stories that come from two completely points of view from two completely different characters. And I try to write them together whenever they intersect so as to keep things consistent between them without losing my place. However, that's not the real issue with folding these two stories together. The issue is trying not to write the exact same story twice in a way that will come off as boring or repetitive whenever they're together. This is where you have to find a way to craft two separate stories out of one shared moment. And that takes a bit of writer savvy.
    While writing both stories...I might have both main characters having a face to face conversation, and I'll probably quote some of the same dialogue, word for word, to show that, yes, this is all happening in the exact same moment...but I always draw attention to the emotions behind said conversation instead of just having it be words on a screen. The character's motivations for saying what they said are going to be different from the person hearing it. And the response will be different from what the other character is expecting ahead of time. What's going on in each person's head while being engaged in this particular dialogue. What are they saying? What are they hiding? What is their relation to one another, and how does that affect their interaction with one another? All things to think about when pulling off this particular literary magic trick.
    Like I said, the most difficult part of story folding is having every interaction feel fresh and unrehearsed. You don't want you readers to feel like they're reading the same thing in this new chapter that they read in the last chapter. What I usually do is take out certain parts of the dialogue on one side or the other, and have the main character briefly 'describe' what the other person is talking about without repeating it. I'll concentrate on their reactions, their emotions, and their personality's...instead of just copy and pasting the entirety of their dialogue to repeat what my audience already knows and has heard before.
    Here is an example of a shared conversation between two characters that I made up for this particular article. Try to notice the difference between both points of view, and see if each fold feels a bit different on one side or the other...while still having both sides feel connected in some way...
     
    As I sat there and watched Brett help out with the heavy lifting in the college AV library, I found that I couldn't really take my eyes off of him. At all. Jonathan kept talking to me about how excited he was about going home for the weekend, but Brett could be awfully distracting sometimes.
    "I'm telling you, Matt...it seems like it's been forever since I got some decent loving from anybody. But, I'm trying to be faithful, so...I'll just have to hope that it's worth it in the end." Jonathan said.
    "Uh huh..." I answered. I wish I could have somebody waiting to give me some loving when I went home from the weekend. Little does he know that I've never had any loving from anybody at all. Not once. So I guess there really isn't anything to miss.
    He kept talking to me, but I was too busy trying to fight off the feelings of intense envy that I was experiencing by watching my beautiful Brett interact with other people in this really pleasant and friendly way. He was always so cheerful. You couldn't help but to be entranced by that sweet smile of his, deep dimples and all. I couldn't hold back an occasional sigh whenever I was forced to share some personal space with him from behind this counter, but I did my best to keep it quiet.
    "Brett again, huh?" Jonathan said.
    That snapped me out of my trance immediately, and I suddenly forced myself to look Jonathan in the eye to keep from letting him know that I was unnaturally infatuated with another guy. I came to college to start over from scratch and get my life back on track after that particular 'incident' in high school. But I'm never going to lose the stigma of that messy existence if I get caught falling back into old habits.
    "Brett? Huh? Oh...no, I hadn't noticed him. I'm just...I've got a lot on my mind. I'm sorry. I'm listening. You were talking about getting some loving when you went home, right? I'm sure that'll make for an awesome weekend."
    "Yeah. I hope so." He said. "Who knows?"
     
    So, this is a scene from the mind and perspective of a single character, told in the first person, and giving you (as the reader) an idea of what's going on and how this particular character feels about the space and the situation that he is in. It conveys the needed information, reveals that he has a crush on a boy in the AV library, and tells the audience that he's a bit nervous about making a move in that direction to approach him on a romantic level.
    BUT...with Matt being the main character, and Brett being the love interest...they are not the only ones taking a part in this scene. There is something going on that stretches beyond what you just read. This...is story folding.
    Read the same scene down below, but being told from Jonathan's point of view...
     
    I don't know why I keep playing this game, but it's become an automatic part of my public personality. Pretending to be straight. Pretending to have a girlfriend back home, when really...all I have is some boy who lives down the block from me. One that takes turns with me when it comes to relieving some of our pent up sexual frustration when we get a chance. It's not love. Not even close to it. But there's no way that my parents would ever accept me if I told them I was gay. It's simply not an option for me.
    So...I just slip into 'hetero-mode' whenever I'm around Matt. Even though...I secretly wish that I take a chance on asking him out someday. Wishful thinking, I know...but I babble on about my fake girlfriend to hopefully throw him off of my scent until I know for sure that it's safe to maybe...take a few steps closer to the truth.
    "I'm telling you, Matt...it seems like it's been forever since I got some decent loving from anybody. But, I'm trying to be faithful, so...I'll just have to hope that it's worth it in the end." I told him. But he seemed distracted.
    I kept following his stare to the other side of the AV library, and all I could see was Brett and his strong arms and his cute dimples...moving stuff around and being cooler than I could ever hope to be. Why is Matt so enchanted by him. Ugh! I HATE that he likes him so much! I'm sitting right here. Please...just give me a chance, dude!
    "Uh huh..." Matt said, absentmindedly. I doubt that I even existed in his little dream world right now. Why doesn't Brett go away or something? He's stealing SO much of my thunder right now. I swear...I think Matt actually sighed at the sight of those deep dimples of his.
    Trying to get his attention back, I said, "You know...before I go back, it might be kinda cool to catch a movie or something. Nothing major, I just want to get out for a while and have a good time. There's a new horror flick at the dollar cinema on campus." No answer. "Maybe...like...maybe we should go. I'm down to buy the popcorn if you're interested." Did Matt even hear me? He was still gazing across the room. Obvious, much? "Brett again, huh?" I asked.
    Suddenly, Matt became super alert and started fidgeting in his seat. "Brett? Huh? Oh...no, I hadn't noticed him. I'm just...I've got a lot on my mind. I'm sorry. I'm listening. You were talking about getting some loving when you went home, right? I'm sure that'll make for an awesome weekend."
    I take it that he missed my entire invitation to the movie then? Whatever. Maybe I'm just wasting my time with him anyway.
    "Yeah. I hope so. Who knows?" I said, putting my hetero mask back in place...where it belonged.
     
    So...when folding stories, you get to approach the exact same scene, and even use a lot of the same dialogue...but you can add extras and actually enhance and enrich the whole experience by adding a new point of view. You can add layers, create a deeper backstory, do some foreshadowing...and whatever information you're getting from the first scene is going to be different from what you're getting from the second. So any reader can read both of them and come away from it feeling as though they read two different scenes entirely, instead of reading the same scene twice. Do you know what I mean?
    Hehehe, I always have to wonder whether or not I'm making sense. It's much easier for me to write my stories than it is to explain HOW I write my stories.
    Anyway, if you ever want to try some story folding of your own, have some of your works crossover, or just want to have a few fun moments where some of your characters' lives, popular locations, or certain major events, overlap or send out ripples throughout some of your other stories...this is a good place to start. Train yourself to think outside of your main characters and their current situation. Everyone that you create should, in some way, feel as though they have a full life outside of the one that you write for them. They have friends, family, jobs, homework, parents, children...don't veer too far off the road, but ask yourself what's going on around them while they're doing whatever it is that they're doing.
    When two people are having a conversation in order to move the plot along...what are the motivations and thoughts and emotions of the person they're having the dialogue with? If you're not thinking about that, you know what you have? You have exposition. Just because you put a face on it and give it a character name...that doesn't mean that it's not just an info dump of exposition. And you won't fool a lot of dedicated readers with it, either. Trust me, I've tried. Hehehe!
    Anyway, this was a long one! (That's what HE said!) Sorry about that! But I hope it helps. Food for thought! Best of luck to all of you writers out there! Talk to you soon!
     
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