(This poem is both simple and needs an explanation. Way back, people in this house would open a water bottle and start drinking. Then, they would leave it on the table for a day or two. They weren’t marked, so people would get confused on if it was an old bottle that they forgot about or someone else’s. Normally, the water would end up going to the plants.)
I’m going to start this topic off with a story. This is something that came to mind a lot while writing Do I Need to Use a Dragon?because it touches on confidence.
I think it was around 2003 or 2004 when I signed up for a local author class. It was the first one I attended and was going to help people improve their writing skills. This was right after I finished the first draft of Beginning of a Hero, so I wanted to learn how to improve what I made. I was one of 4 students with the other three being a young woman interested in romance writing and two older women who wanted to start writing books. I had graduated from college with a Writing Arts B.A., so I talked shop and had some confidence. This ended up intimidating the two older women, who ended up leaving the class before the final session. It was stated that they left because they were intimidated by my skills and experience, which made me feel bad. I was trying to share what I knew and thought, which was very little at the time. Yet, I had a finished manuscript under my belt and that seemed to be a source of intimidation.
Tend to think about this a lot, which I hope keeps me humble and careful in the way I talk to other authors. I know I’m not good enough to intimidate others, especially in the indie author world. Heck, I barely have the confidence to call myself an author these days, but I still feel like I have to be careful. The last thing I want is for my presence and attitude to be the thing that stops a person from writing. Really hoping everybody feels that they want to be a welcoming figure for new authors.
Did I ever really figure out how not to intimidate others? Not really. I try to listen more than I talk and get a feel for what the other author is saying. This makes me reactive and less likely to go ranting about my own ideas. At least, I try, but sometimes the conversation slips. That’s the best that I can come up with, but it also leads to me not letting the other person know what I’ve done. This happens a lot at work where people I’ve known for over 4 years still stumble onto the fact that I’ve published books. Probably different when you’re working in a field that isn’t writing, but it means I don’t really out myself as a creative type. Though, this might be more out of shame for not making a career out of writing my books.
Honestly, this is still a really strange event and topic for me. Prior to that class and ever since, I’ve never felt like I was better than anyone. Even during the class, I was routinely made to feel like I didn’t know what I was doing. This was the one where I was told to change Luke Callindor to a different name because Luke Skywalker existed and everyone would think of Star Wars. So, I had my confidence and thoughts routinely rocked during this experience. To think that I intimidated someone while I was starting to question if I had any business writing a story is surreal.
I’m going to open up the floor to others though. Have you ever intimidated another author by accident? What do you think is a good trick to avoiding that kind of situation?
Very few tropes are as common in fantasy as the destined heroes. This motivation has existed since the days of mythology and continues to be used today. Authors find twists and variations on the concept of destiny and fate, but it tends to boil down to the same thing. The hero is on a path that was chosen for them by a greater power, which brings up the question of if they are in control of any of their actions. Needless to say, readers and authors have railed against the concept. Does that mean it should be shunned and ignored? I’d be a hypocrite if I said yes since the God of Destiny is a major player in my stories. In fact, Legends of Windemere is all about destined heroes . . . Of course, there’s more to it than that, which I will get into after we go over ‘Fate vs Free Will’.
This has been a debate for years if not decades. It shouldn’t be surprising since the concept of destiny has been overused to the point of ultra-cliché. Audiences see the use of destiny or fate or being chosen by a higher power as a cop out by the author. Why does the hero go on this dangerous adventure? Well, they don’t have a choice. More importantly, it goes against our desire for freedom, which is shown through free will. Readers want to connect to the characters and destiny can be a glaring obstacle.
After all, if destiny exists in our world, then it’s not something we’re aware of or fully grasp its influence. This is different than in fantasy where it’s stated as a known force on the characters and plot. Either the heroes are told directly or the audience knows they are reading a story about fate. Even revealing this in the middle or near the finale of a story can have negative effects. This is because we don’t live in the times of older stories where destiny was accepted. It comes with a lot of baggage now.
The biggest problem with using destiny is that it removes the sense of control a character has on their own life. Readers will question every decision and action the hero makes because they aren’t seen as having freedom.
This is extremely true when they are successful or a convenience happens. Every victory is seen with the lens of there never being any other option. Failures are considered to be destiny forcing the hero to go in the right direction instead of a legitimate mistake. Once this factor is introduced and shown to be the major motivation of a character, it leads to many inferences that revolve around there being no threat of defeat. How can a destined hero lose before the finale? It’s hard to believe even if they routinely make mistakes. In fact, I would say that makes it worse because it shows that the heroes can fail upwards. If a loss doesn’t cause them to fall off their path, even a little bit, then it’s not seen as true. Readers will see it as an empty ploy meant to make them believe that destiny isn’t at play here.
While failures in a destiny-driven story are viewed with suspicion, there is a plot event audience’s rarely see coming . . .
The part that is wrong is about the wise men, which is why I grabbed this meme. It makes it sound like you eventually hit a point in your life when you don’t need advice. Many believe this is so, but has anyone ever really hit that point?
I remember my grandparents asking my parents and sometimes me for advice. They had questions about things that they didn’t understand. They were certainly wise and experienced in their 90’s and 100’s (grandma made it to 102), which would mean, according to this meme, that they didn’t need advice. Yet, they were unsure of things and would ask for outside opinion.
A better quote would be the following:
“The only true wisdom is that in knowing you know nothing.” -Socrates
This is the opposite of fake Yoda and answers the post question rather well. No matter how experienced and wise you get, the reality is that there is always more to learn. There is always an area that one is not an expert in or new information that changes what you know about things. A truly wise and experienced person knows this, but it is difficult to fully accept since various aspects of our society work of seniority. We assume a person who has been at an activity for years knows everything or shouldn’t take advice from someone else. Well, that’s just asking for trouble.
It is a high level of arrogance for a person to believe there is nothing left to learn. Even scientists acknowledge that there is more to learn about their fields, which is why they’re always experimenting and researching. You never know when you’ll stumble onto a new piece of information that enhances your wisdom. For authors, this is even more so because we need to be constantly growing and learning to prevent our stories from becoming stale. Challenging ourselves with new tricks and following advice is what makes us better. It makes our stories more interesting and usually adds a new level to them, but one wouldn’t know if one is too proud to accept advice.
I’m sure some people have rolled their eyes because they can’t believe there are authors out there who don’t take advice. Well, you just haven’t run into them yet. Another possibility is that the authors you’ve interacted with haven’t been put in the position of receiving advice. That can change a person’s demeanor, especially if they are caught by surprise. The belief the one is too experienced and wise to need advice also means that receiving it can be like a slap to the face. It’s an unfortunate dark side to people that you don’t notice until it’s reared up at full force.
This mentality is fairly easy to avoid though. Just keep yourself humble and routinely set out to learn new things. As long as you acknowledge that there is more to learn, you won’t believe you are too good to grow. It can be with writing styles, plot creation, character design, or general information. You never know what you’re going to need down the road, so leave yourself open to advice and absorbing what attracts your interest. Once you decide that you’re too experienced to listen to anyone else, you’re going to miss out on a lot of useful information.
I’m coming to the end of summer and wanted to do something special to help promote Do I Need to Use a Dragon?before I go back to work. So, I’m going to use the next two Sundays to gather questions from people. They will be answered on the August 28th post.
So, what can you ask?
Nothing personal, which should go without saying.
Ask me anything about writing, my stories, blogging, and whatever else that doesn’t step into my private life.
Ask one of my characters something if you’ve read the books or caught them on the blog. This can include anyone from Legends of Windemere, War of Nytefall, Bedlam, Ichabod Brooks, and anything else that I might have mentioned here. Always up for an improv challenge.
That’s really it. I know I don’t have the best track record with these, but I figured it was worth a shot now that I published a book for the first time in nearly 2 years. That could even be a question to ask and then a bigger blog post down the road.
As I said last Saturday, my son and I went on a trip to the Finger Lakes region of New York. This is near the Catskills and has a bunch of long lakes with the one we stayed near being Lake Seneca. Let’s just do the daily reveal with a few pictures:
Sunday
The day we headed out and we left early. The reason is because there was a big Pokemon Go event that started at 2 PM and went until 5 PM. I promised my son that we would get up there in time for him to be a part of it. Got up there at 1:30 even with an early stop for bathroom and a later stop for lunch. He got his Pokemon time and we got into the room after that. Found a nice bar and grill to have our first dinner, which is the place we went to on our last day as well. I behaved and had a salad . . . Then, we walked for another hour or two to do more Pokemon Go. Our room had a door that opened to the lake too, so we got to walk along there every morning.
Lake Seneca
Monday
This was our first outing, which I really should have researched more. It was to Watkins Glen State Park, which was an hour away at the south end of the lake. Our hotel was at the north end. All I knew is that there were some awesome waterfalls in this place and both of us wanted to see them. Found out after we got there that it’s all narrow, heavily trafficked trails. So, it was crowded and we felt like we were part of a caravan. Didn’t expected so many stairs, but I should have since we went to the bottom of the gorge, walked along, and then made our way up. It was exhausting in the heat, especially after nearly 5 hours of Pokemon Hunting the day before. Still, we saw some frogs and the waterfalls were amazing. It was Burger King for lunch and back to the hotel . . . for another 2 hours of Pokemon Go hunting. Tried some local pizza and it was delicious. Had a slice with sausage, meatball, and banana peppers. Yum.
Watkins Glen State Park
Tuesday
This was the big one! Drove 45 minutes north and knew that it would be a full day event at this place. We went to the STRONG NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PLAY! This had a Video Game Hall of Fame and a Toy Hall of Fame. There was the 20 foot tall Donkey Kong Arcade game, which we both played. They had a token arcade that we had some fun in as well as a freebie games on consoles. Found so much history of video games. There was an area called ‘Level Up’ where you had a scannable bracelet and did activities, played games, and hunted for hidden objects to complete the Periodic Table of Gaming. We didn’t finish it, but we had fun. There was also the lower level with Sesame Street, Superhero section, butterfly garden, outdoor play area with giant board game pieces, displays of toys from different periods of time, and a climbing area that we didn’t get tickets for. Just a massively fun day that was well timed because it was the big raining day of the trip. The weather cleared by the time we got back and had a quick KFC dinner. Of course, more Pokemon Go ensued.
Donkey Kong and Son
Me and Link (My Son had a Sonic shirt and took his picture with the Sonic Statue)
Wednesday
This was the last full day of our trip. Wasn’t the most boring either. Well, it started rough because the road in front of the hotel was closed for construction. This forced us to go down the opposite side of the lake that we needed to get to the CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS! I was surprised that my son picked this one. It was fun though. Lots of really cool glass sculptures. I signed us up for a Sandblasting activity where you could sandblast designs into a glass cup, bottle, or dish. I took a cup and my son took a bottle. It was simpler than we imagined. After that, we saw a hot glass working demonstration where the two people made a glass pitcher. We stumbled onto a flameworking demo after that where a small glass swan was made using a blowtorch. Overall, a great trip that wasn’t as exhausting as the previous ones. We got home in time for Pokemon Go (of course) and then a last dinner in town.
Glass Lynx
Thursday
Time to go home . . . with a stop along the way. I was told by a bunch of people that I had to go to HOWE CAVERNS. So, I got us a 1 PM tour. It was about 3 hours away, but we got there in time to have lunch and relax. Not sure what to really say about this because it’s definitely something you need to experience. Basically, you get a 90 minute guided tour in these underground caverns. There’s the river running along below you, which is the thing that made the caverns over thousands of years. Bunch of cool formations and you do a 1/4 mile boat ride in a section called the Lake of Venus.
A formation called the Chinese Pagoda
Still on Thursday where I then had to drive the rest of the way home. Howe Caverns is in the middle of the Catskills. That’s about 3 hours away. Of course, the GPS took me on a longer route to avoid some traffic and led me into more. The rest stop areas on Interstate 87 that I was counting on were closed for renovations. So, I drove about 4.5 hours without food, bathroom, or any break. Needless to say, I was happy to have dinner at Friendlys even if they gave me grilled instead of crispy chicken. It was healthier and made me feel less guilty about the ice cream.
Friday
A relaxing first day back with grocery shopping and . . . What’s that smell? Now, my parents left for a trip two days after us. We have a freezer in the basement full of ice cream, meat, and other food. It apparently didn’t fully close at some point, so I walked into the basement to do laundry and found a mess. Cleared everything out and got it on the curb in time for garbage pick up. Seems a bag broke and some stuff had to be gathered and kept in the outdoor can. I used a shop vacuum to clean up the water and forgot to check, so the sawdust already inside turned into a slurry. Didn’t notice and poured it into a slop sink, which ended up getting clogged and nearly flooding since the washer releases its water into it. Let’s just say I had my hands full. Figured I might as well keep working while my son was with a friend. So, I cleaned the bathroom grout a bit and then made homemade vodka sauce for Sunday’s dinner. After all that, it was getting my son, making dinner (sloppy joes, cornbread stuffing, and salad), and doing a little Pokemon Go before it got dark.
Nothing else to really say since it was all about the trip. I’ll probably get back to writing on Friday after my son is with his mom on Wednesday night and I see a friend on Thursday. That gives me 4 days of having the house to myself, which means I can maybe get 4 chapters done even with house and yardwork. We’ll see what happens. This weekend is all about a Pokemon Go event, but I might start making November blog posts. Let that whole thing slip by the wayside. Keep an eye out tomorrow for a post requesting some participation too.
Goals of the week:
Time with son.
Mow lawn.
Zoo trip!
Pokemon Go outings.
Cook dinners.
Day with friend on Thursday.
Get back to writing on Friday.
Maybe tinker with a notebook on other days.
November blog posts starting.
Get sleep.
Probably need a haircut for when school starts on the 29th.
To be an author, you need to have some understanding of yourself. Even on the unconscious level, you need to be sure of who you are in order to put pen to paper and create. This requires creating an author identity that might differ from the one we show outside of that world. For example, in Do I Need to Use a Dragon?, my author identity comes through as a lot more confident and relaxed than what I’m like in most other aspects of my life. You can probably tell from my Saturday goal posts that I’m typically rather pessimistic and twitchy. Yet, I shed that for a better version of myself when I tackle writing. Not sure if this makes me sound crazy. Best to just move onto the questions.
Does your author identity differ from your non-author one?
How do you maintain a unique author voice and identity?
How would you describe yourself as an author using a single word? (Yeah, I’m being cruel on this one. Going to have to think real hard.)
