Playing as a child
Toiling as an adult
One looks at the other
With a hint of jealousy
*
The child wants to grow
While the adult wants to play
Youth admires the freedom of old
Old wishes for the freedom of youth
*
Is there a way to have both?
To work all day
And play at night
Without crashing to the ground
*
It requires balance
Built over years
To retain the dreams of a child
And act the part of an adult
Going to try hard not to jump on a high horse because I’m aware that I fall into this category too. In fact, I think most people have lost part of their attention span and that makes selling books a lot harder. With the Internet and streaming services, you get instant gratification when it comes to entertainment. Add video games and all the apps on smartphones to the list as well. You want a laugh? A funny clip is at your fingertips. Need to relax? Apple has an app for that. So, why do books have a problem with an impatient and easily distracted population?
Well, it takes a lot more effort to enjoy a book. You only have to sit back and watch shows and movies. Many people toss them on for background while doing something else, so they don’t even pay full attention. There’s also a pause button that you can hit and it’s a smoother transition to get back into a show than a book. Video games require effort, but you’re heavily involved and influence the actions of those on the screen. Music requires listening and art can be admired with no strain. Books need you to read the words, turn the pages, and imagine what is going on instead of them being clearly shown or heard by your senses. A lot of mental processes are working here to make that book act as a source of entertainment.
And there you have the problem. In a world where people are easily distracted by external and internal stimuli, books have an uphill battle. Audiobooks have an edge, but that’s not possible for every author because those aren’t done cheap. Even those tend to be designated for exercise or driving, so they lose out to the higher octane forms of entertainment. In general, books are seen as a chore to read by many people, which I think comes from how we’re taught. When I was in school, I had so many reading assignments that I felt like I could never read for fun. I rebelled in 11th grade and read what I wanted while ignoring the school stuff. This isn’t what most people do though. I have run into so many people who don’t like books because it was a chore and they don’t have time for it. So, the impatience with reading is inadvertently begun as we grow up thanks to a system that forces the issue. With a bigger focus on non-fiction or realistic fiction, those of us in more fantastical genres have a greater challenge if we want to get attention.
My cynical side is starting to get stronger because of this attention span issue. I’m starting to believe that a new fantasy or science fiction author can only make it if they get a movie or TV show first. People need to get the instant gratification of the series from an electronic medium before they even think of putting more effort in. It’s like a new version of the caveat ‘you need to have an audience to get published, but you need to be published to get an audience’. It’s all very frustrating.
How do you combat against a growing disinterest in books? Is this even a real thing or am I looking at the wrong numbers? I remember posting about how it felt like people weren’t reading as much as they used to, but many disagreed. I noticed that they spoke of their own circles though. We do attract those with similar interests, so readers would be surrounded by readers. So, it’s hard to tell what is reality and what is only something within my circle. On the other hand, there is a long list of movies and shows that exploded in popularity then brought the books along. Honestly, ‘Game of Thrones’ was relatively unknown outside of fantasy enthusiasts until it got a series. ‘The Witcher’ is getting new editions released thanks to its Netflix show. I mean, it isn’t that far-fetched to think that books are falling to low attention spans unless they find a way to get into the other mediums. Where do indie authors go with that path?
This was actually harder to do than I realized. I think I realize this every year. I have to specifically put in ‘funny mothers day memes’ to get anything that isn’t serious and even the funny ones are still rather respectful at most points. All I typed here was ‘Fathers day memes’ and it took me a lot of scrolling to find one that wasn’t cursing, about lame gifts, mocking fathers, or a reminder to pay child support. So, I did the best I could to find funny and not full on insulting.
I’m not kidding. Once Thursday afternoon hit, I suddenly forgot . . . Wait . . . I’m writing this on Friday and that was yesterday? Is that right? For the love of the dust bunnies that keep appearing under my bed, I’m so gone when it comes to the passage of time. Be nice if this creates some type of pseudo-immortality, but I don’t think I want that. Who wants to really live forever? I mean, it’s a good idea at first, but then a couple centuries pass and you tire of reinventing yourself once again. What was I talking about?
Part of the sudden forgetting of time is that school is done for now. I still haven’t heard if I’m working over the summer because there might be some remote learning. That’s besides the point. With no classes for me or my son, I don’t really have events to mark time with. Having my son makes things easier because he keeps me busy and the days go somewhat quickly. Once he’s with his mom, time goes slow and I get muddled with things feeling like they should be moving faster. The heat hasn’t helped with making my drowsy and I think I’ve fallen asleep at my desk every now and again. This is going to be a long summer/year/life.
I guess one thing that really doesn’t help is that I almost exclusively watch streaming shows now. I used to have at least one show every night, which acted as a strange schedule for me to go by. Those ended, were cancelled, or I gave up on them with nothing rising up to take their place. I can watch ‘Mr. Iglesias’ and ‘Dr. Stone’ every night of the week, so it doesn’t change. Yeah, I gave up on the anime I was watching because the perversion went from rather standard fan-service to ‘main character legitimately powered by the desire to grope breasts’. I know I made posts long ago about how a perverted character can work and a big part of that was there being a punishment for their actions. This didn’t have that and the character quadruple-downed on it with the other characters being embarrassed or disgusted, but still accepting it. So, I’m out. ‘Dr. Stone’ is a lot more interesting if not a slower pace than I expected. Nothing like what I expected, but I’m enjoying it so far.
There was something else. Park with my son and we played Yugioh since I bought him a deck, but that wasn’t it. Did I do any writing? Oh yeah! (Wow. Deja vu on this exact exchange and transition.) I began writing War of Nytefall: Anarchy and I’m hoping to finish 3 chapters by the end of the weekend. It’ll probably be 2.5 though because Father’s Day has to be father/son time. I’d have gotten further by writing more on Friday, but I had a late dinner and just collapsed. Most of chapter 1 was good enough. The following week will give me more time since we’ll be splitting the ‘off time’ with my son. I can possibly get through chapter 6 if I don’t have anything else going on. After that, I’m going to have to figure out how to do the balancing act of writing two books. The plan is as such:
That’s really all I’ve got to say. Keep looking over at my bed, which is rather inviting even though it’s only 8 PM. This coming week is going to be playing with my son for the first half and then writing for the second. I hope we have a clear night because it’s always too cloudy to use his new telescope. Might be rainy for two of the days we’re together, which means we can tackle the Millennium Falcon Lego set. My son has also begun drawing with the help of YouTube videos, so we might do more of those. Thinking of asking him to let me post them for a Sunday thing once he finishes the rest of the Teen Titans group. We did Starfire and Raven this week, so Cyborg might be the next one. I’ll definitely put it on Facebook though.
Well, I just wandered off for no reason and came back after 5 minutes. My mind is gone, so I’m going to stop. Not sure what’s wrong with me. Let’s get with the goals!
From Yu-gioh
A way of using a curse that I’ve mentioned previously is having it be more of a legend than something cast in real time. I wanted to look more into this because it requires a lot more psychological work. You need to build things up and move then in the right direction to have a curse trick strike home. So, what is this exactly?
Say your heroes entire an area and find out that there is a local legend. There’s some kind of curse, but the story isn’t really consistent when you push for more facts. All you know is that the people are afraid even if they have never seen it in action. It dictates a major aspect of their lives either by them avoiding something or having a ritual that is supposed to keep it at bay. The heroes may believe the curse is real or fake, but this is where you begin to build the psychological aspect. Regardless of how true the legend is, you put it in the story for a reason and need to have at least one moment where the heroes or reader considers it is real.
Now, you may be wondering how to build tension even if there is nothing truly to be tense and worried about. Here are some tips:
I did stick with stationary curses for this, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to use this tool. A character can be afflicted with a curse that alters their mind under certain situations or be made to believe it will happen. You can pull from psychological disorders and mental illness, but that’s a risk. Personally, I would say phobias are the furthest you can go with this. Cursing someone with dissociative identity disorder will rub some readers the wrong way. Although, I guess possession by another entity works, but that isn’t the type of curse we’re working with here. Even without going for disorders, you can come up with something. Bad luck, loss of a sense, etc. can be curses that are created by the mind instead of magic. You’d be surprised what a person could do if they are tricked well enough.
Not sure I hit where I wanted with this post. Feel free to add, disagree, or voice your opinion on this one. Maybe I’m off on the concept entirely. They can’t all be good blog posts.
Hey, SE Readers. Happy Friday. Joan with you today with the second in a two-part series on changing literary styles.
In the first post, I used examples from James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Today we’ll look at two of my favorite authors.
I first read Agatha Christie in high school. Her Hercule Poirot stories are among my favorites, particularly Murder on The Orient Express. She was a master at writing intriguing plots, throwing in enough twists to keep readers guessing until the end.
I recently read, And Then There Were None for the first time. Initially published in 1939, it’s the world’s best-selling mystery, having sold over 100 million copies, and is one of the all time best-selling books among all genres.
As I started to read, I realized how much writing styles have changed.
The driver said, addressing his remarks…
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(Previously on Immortal Wars.)
(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality. Everyone groan in unison.)
Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school. I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books. That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins. FYI- I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day. Enjoy!
“I really do not understand these actions. Why do you let yourself get injured to the point of exhaustion before fighting back? It makes no sense,” mentions SEAS. Fate is busy getting slashed and kicked by a hologram with swords for arms. The Mars guardian’s clothing is practically shredded down to his underwear. He stops and catches one of the swords in his left hand, which causes blood to trickle down his arm.
“Don’t worry, SEAS. I’m done,” mutters Fate before he throws the hologram into the wall. It disappears on impact and Fate slumps against the door to the restaurant section.
“What is wrong, Fate? I know about what happened between you and everyone else. It shouldn’t get to you.”
“Everyone thought I was over-reacting to what I found out. Solix is not telling me the truth. How can I not let it get to me? I have never had anything stable in my life since I was five years old. Then I was adopted when I hit eight and I met Kelly. My life was actually something of worth,” replies Fate.
“Then explain the criminal activity.”
“That was just me having fun. It’s weird. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been more athletic and luckier than all other kids. Well, luckier in the sense that I could never get caught at any of my pranks. Right now, the only thing I can think of is that my powers were around earlier. Is that possible, SEAS?” Fate suddenly looks up to see a hologram standing in the middle of the room. Everything about it looks humanoid except for the serious head of a Doberman.
“I cannot tell you anything because of Solix’s current program changes. But he did not say I could not show you to someone who could answer your questions. This is the original Mars Guardian. Just call him Mars. I will leave you two alone,” says SEAS. The hologram slowly strides over to Fate and stands there looking at him with neon green eyes.
“This is foolish. It’s only a hologram. A hologram cannot answer the questions that I have. Only SEAS and Solix can do that,” says Fate. He throws a kick at the hologram and is suddenly off the ground and hanging up side down. The hologram lifts him up, so that their faces are almost touching.
“Not all holograms are what you think they are. I am the original guardian of Mars. During the fight with our enemies, I fell into the main generator of SEAS. This destroyed my body completely and turned me into a holographic program. I could only live inside the computer system and watch as Solix mourned and made plans as usual. He has not changed over the past few centuries. Now, what questions do you have?” questions the hologram. He tosses Fate into the air and the young immortal lands on his feet.
“This is impossible,” says Fate. He throws a punch at the hologram, but it never connects with its target. He feels a sharp pain on the top of his head and realizes that the hologram just slapped him on the top of the head. He makes a spinning back kick, which is caught by the hologram. Fate is flipped onto his back and all of the air is knocked out of his lungs. The hologram slips his foot underneath Fate’s back and kicks him up into the air like he was a soccer ball. Fate manages to land in a crouch and eyes the hologram very cautiously.
“You fight well for an novice. But I am only here to answer questions. So, what questions do you have? Ask me now or I will leave,” says the hologram as it crosses its muscular arms.
“I don’t know. There are so many questions that I want answers to. I guess this is the first one. Why should I keep going with this fight if I am nothing but a pawn? Is there any point in staying here?” asks Fate.
“Solix and the rest of us had to fight because that was our only reason for being created by the Glebnoks. We did not have a choice. But I am not one to tell you why you should stay with Solix. We never got along because I didn’t follow orders. He was just as conniving and a lying bastard like he is now. But I would suggest that you stay for several reasons. One is that someone has to stay here and get under the old man’s skin. He needs someone around to keep his ego from suffocating the cosmos. Just don’t let the old man’s personality get to you, boy. After awhile, you get used to it and find ways of getting around it.”
“Easier said than done. Any better reasons besides just to spite Solix. Because I think he wants me to stay.” Fate hits a button on the wall and the arena turns into a large forest with a lake nearby. They both walk over to the lake and lean against two trees. The hologram scratches himself behind his ear and takes a minute to think about an answer.
“You are a special creature. Like many races, there are even higher versions of immortals. At least there might be. Something about you is special and that will give you an edge against other warriors. Unlike the others, your birthright powers have been around for a very long time. The reason you are naturally more athletic and are luckier than everyone else is because your powers have never been dormant. SEAS has not been able to explain it and Solix has not even been made aware of it. That is until SEAS tells him within the next few minutes. To sum everything up, you are a more powerful version of what the original immortals were. You are to Solix what a human is to a monkey. Now, do you have any other questions that do not deal with me making choices for you?”
“What happened to the weapons? All of you had magical weapons, but only Solix managed to keep his. They should be somewhere on this base.”
“If only it was that easy. After the evil immortals destroyed us, they took our weapons for themselves. And in order to use Solix’s magic weapon, you must be the leader of the planet guardians. Look. I have to get going. Just try to confront Solix because he has hidden a lot of information from most of the computer systems.” The hologram fades away as Fate walks out of the arena. He barely notices a quick shadow darting out of the room and down the hallway. As he comes to the wall, Fate finds a pink flower on the floor.
“At least I still have one thing left of my old life. Now, I think it’s time I got into Solix’s face again and got some real answers. I just got to remember to stay out of the sun this time around. This should be interesting,” thinks Fate as he drops the flower and runs up to the Main Hall. The delicate flower disappears once it hits the ground and Miracle walks out of the shadows smiling.
Curses can have a lot of pitfalls when you use them. Have they been done already and in the same fashion? Do they have a purpose in the story beyond window dressing or a comical reaction? Is it really a hindrance? Plenty of questions to consider, so let’s see if we can clear any of those up.
Great advice.
“Lucy. What are we doing here?
“The Boss is a contributor here, Twiggy.”
“I don’t see any biscuits.”
“I think he’ll fix that. Keep smiling.”
Hello, SEers. I am delighted to be part of The Story Empire group. I have long admired the members and followers and am pleased to now be a part of the team. I feel like a kid who has been looking at penny candy with his nose pressed against the display case glass, and the shop keeper invites me to take my pick.
The good news is I’m in. The bad news is now I have to go to work. As you know by now, you can find a wealth of information on writing, publishing, and organization on The Story Empire. The authors here have a lot of experience and are willing to share.
To that end, for my first post, I’m going to discuss…
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Legends of Windemere 