I am delighted to join the Story Empire team, and I hope readers will find my first post enjoyable and interesting. Do you call yourself an indie …
Indie Author Culture. Part 1: Do We Exist?
This went live on January 2, 2013 and it comes off as fairly naive. I seem so simplistic in my view on villains and what makes one good. Not sure why I lacked any nuance, especially since I had to have been working on making Queen Trinity a 3-dimensional bad guy. Guess this shows how much I changed because I don’t think I can agree with big chunks of this post. Then again, I seem to mention a lot of Saturday Morning cartoon villains in this post. It’s also funny how you can see that I’m on the verge of changing my opinion by the end thanks to Baron Kernaghan.
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I read a post about the characteristics of heroes and it got me thinking about the other side of the equation. How do you write a good villain? I always had more interest in villains than heroes because I realized that a hero has nothing to do without a villain. I guess you can say that a hero is only as good as his villain or rogues gallery. Many villains even go on to be more famous than their heroic counterparts. For example, most people think Darth Vader when you mention Star Wars before they think of Luke Skywalker. Lex Luthor and Doctor Doom seem to have more respect than Superman and Mr. Fantastic. I think this proves that while an audience is not supposed to like the villain, there is something about a good bad guy that can drive a person’s interest more than a good hero.
So, what actually makes a good villain? I can list off attributes, but most villains possess most of them. Even a villain that is as inept as Mum-ra is evil, mean, dastardly, and cruel. Thinking about it, most cartoon villains seem to have a level of ineptness that they lose if they go into another medium. Cobra Commander was effective in the comics, but he was a buffoon in the cartoon. At least, I thought he was and I always wondered why Destro never shot him in his sleep. Though given how nobody could hit anything in that show, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried it every night. Anyway, this really makes me wonder how a villain can be considered a good or bad character in terms of quality. Is a villainous laugh necessary or can they get away with a banshee scream of rage whenever they’re upset? Do the better villains have to be able to fight when cornered or can a great villain be a manipulator with not combat skills? Maybe it even comes down to personal choice.
I’m going to say that my opinion of a villain is dependent on his or her actions. A villain has to do bad things and show very little, if any, remorse about his or her actions. Darth Vader killed his own men throughout Empire Strikes Back, which always cemented his evilness to me. Frieza killing Krillin (not sure why the high-pitched bastard waiting so long to do a one-shot kill) was a defining moment of Dragonball Z. These are actions that you can look at and say ‘that is one cold-hearted, evil bastard. I guess a great villain needs at least one scene where you can say without a doubt that they are the villain and have to be taken down. You need that event to make the audience cheer for the villain’s defeat instead of being apathetic to their fate or even rooting for them. It’s something that needs to be done with subtlety because I have seen a lot of villains who came off as heavy-handed. The movie or show basically shouts, ‘This is the villain! Do not cheer for this character!’ Yet, the villains didn’t really do anything for me to be turn against them. Best example of a poor villain for me is from the movie Brave that I just watched. I loved Merida, but I couldn’t figure out who the villain was supposed to be. The ‘villain’ shows up in the final hour for a big fight and I was left wondering if I was supposed to care that this ‘villain’ just got defeated. It hadn’t really been a factor for the entire movie, so there was no scene that cemented it as the bad guy and no build up to the defeat. It just showed up near the end and needed to be defeated.
All of my examples have been movie or cartoons because it is easier to show a villain as evil than telling a person that a character is evil. You can do the same scenes to prove that they don’t care about their pawns, but I think there is something more that you need for a literary villain. It isn’t enough to have them act evil, but they have to feel evil. Sneers, hisses, threatening words, and evil forms of laughter are good methods as long as you don’t overdo them. For the fantasy genre, it always helps to have your villains in a dungeon or necromantic lab. I guess being surrounded by dead bodies is a time-tested method of declaring, ‘This character is evil!’ I like to write villains because they tend to have the more colorful dialog, but I still don’t think I have a good grasp on what makes them evil. The Lich in my story is obviously evil because he’s a rotting necromancer who summons demons, but his allies that show up in later stories don’t have the same look of horror. The big villain is actually attractive, so I’m having a challenge trying to demonstrate that he’s evil. He’s actually starting to become one of those villains that is polite and charming, which is a total change from the Lich’s stereotypical villainy.
So, what do you think makes a great villain?
The Kihansi spray toad once lived in a 5-acre area at the base of the Kihansi River waterfall in Tanzania. The females can grow to 1.1 inches long and the males up to 0.75 inches long, which means you can fit a lot into such a tiny space. Also, they fertilize internally, so they give birth to live young instead of eggs outside of the body. More importantly they are extinct in the wild.
The cause of extinction is primarily habitat loss due to the building of the Kihansi Dam, which reduced the amount of water spray. Considering their name, you can tell that they require the spray to survive. They did play a sprinkler system to mimic the spray, but they didn’t have it ready by the time the dam was activated. It was turned on at some point, but broke during a dry season. This also allowed chytrid fungus, a disease that decimates amphibian populations, to run wild through the remaining toads. By 2004, the species was labeled as extinct in the wild or extirpation.
So, what is being done?
In 2001, the Bronx Zoo took 500 spray toads from the wild and began their breeding program in an effort to save the species. Around six zoos took toads, but various complications resulted in only the Bronx Zoo and Toledo Zoo being successful. It would be in 2004 that they got all the kinks out and started making major headway. The Toledo Zoo opened an exhibit in 2005 to make the public aware of the spray toads and the Bronx Zoo did the same in 2010. To date, both zoos have a few thousands spray toads each and have helped others zoos start their own successful breeding programs. They have a reintroduction program connected to this as well, but it is difficult because the toads take a while to acclimate to being in the wild. This leaves them open to predators, starvation, and the chytrid fungus that is a constant problem.
Another aspect of this recovery is the repeated attempts to revive the environment using sprinklers. This is not as successful and several tries have resulted in a change to the habitat, but the people doing so seem to keep learning from their mistakes. If anything, it does show they are trying hard to fix the problem and bring the toads back to their 5-acre homeland. If you think they should just get rid of the dam then that causes other issues like flooding and a potential surge of pesticides. That would destroy the area completely if not permanently.
What do the Kihansi spray toads look like?
Well, I went back to work for our summer Life Skills program. I have to give up thinking it’s going to be easier than the regular school year. We hit the ground running and don’t really stop until the end of the day. It’s only 5 hours instead of 7, but we cram a lot of activities into that time. I thought I could eat a decent lunch of tahini and strawberries on a pita with a few snacks. That worked for a bit, but a schedule change means I have to eat fast. So, it’s going to be yogurt and a sugar free muscle milk except for field trip days and Fridays. I can survive that . . . I think.
Due to all of my energy going to the summer session and my son starting camp, I wasn’t able to touch Darwin & the Beast Collector after Sunday. I did get a good amount done last weekend, so I only have 6 chapters to go. That’s 3 weekends worth of work unless I get some writing done on a weekday. This coming Thursday and Friday might give me time to whittle down the next chapter, which might be the heftiest of the entire book. If I finish before summer school and camp end, I will probably get the September and October posts done. Part of me is scared to start Darwin & the Joy Path until after the week with my son in August.
I’m getting more and more nervous about starting a new book after so many years of hiding behind editing. There are so many factors. My life is still a stressful trudge from day to day because of the custody schedule, work, living situation, health, and the list keeps going. Only being able to write every other weekend makes me feel like the book will be terrible even with editing. I also worry that my mindset is too battered to write a positive character like Darwin Slepsnor. The story revolves around him helping an old friend get a legendary artifact to use as a wedding proposal item. That could be messing with me too because marriage and love aren’t themes I jump into a lot. Not right now anyway. Still, it’s the next in the series and I can’t skip to the next one because I don’t know what spells Darwin will create this time.
Another issue that I’ve mentioned before is not having the money to get cover art or promote. So, I can’t share these books. Part of me wonders if I ever will at this rate since TA pay isn’t as high as teacher pay. 99 cent books didn’t do much beyond netting a few dollars each month. Not enough for me to even get a payment yet.
Next week is going to be back to the grindstone, but I’m on my own for the latter half. I already know I’m going to cook Pineapple Chicken Skewers and Sweet/Sour Meatballs for two of the nights. Might skip the Wednesday night Pokemon Go event and dive into Darwin & the Beast Collector instead. That or cut out early, grab dinner, and use the . . . Oh, it’s a big field tirp on Thursday, so I’m going to need as much rest as possible. Never mind that plan. I’ll edit on Thursday and Friday for an hour each.
This weekend is going to be somewhat relaxing. My son and I are doing the Pokemon Go event today, which will allow us to talk a bit. Lots of stuff to discuss. Tomorrow will be a trip to the Bronx Zoo where they will have a ‘new’ exhibit open. Today is the opening day, but I wanted to go on Sunday instead. It’s the ‘World of Darkness’, which was one of my favorites as a kid, but it closed before my son was old enough to go. Now that it’s back I really want him to see the nocturnal animals. Don’t think we’ll be able to take any pictures because flash photography isn’t allowed and I’m not breaking that rule. I might be more excited than him here.
Nothing else is really going on that’s worth talking about. I made it to the weekend after a really rough week. Still processing one thing, which revolved around something I thought was possible isn’t. This can result in a major disaster down the road, but I’ll hope that other people involved won’t cause any trouble. This may have triggered a story or character idea, which has me nervous. I don’t know where to put these characters or if they have any good traction. My thieves guild story could work for them, but that thing is a mess with tons of characters already. There’s the monster hunter one too, but all of those heroes are supposed to be cursed and these two aren’t. Would it make sense to have a thieves guild story that has 10-12 named thieves on the team? Maybe I could change it to a short story series with an overarching plot like I was thinking with the Windemere superhero stuff? Wish I had people to talk to on this side of the computer for this.
Anyway, goals of the week:
This was posted December 26, 2012 and I love the opening warning. Even in my haggard state, I was able to make some sense. Pretty sure I’ve touched on this subject a few times afterwards, but it’s funny how it all started when I had the flu or something.
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(Note: I’m writing this with a 100+ fever, so bear with me here.)
I read a fantasy book where the main character was flawless. He learned magic and swordsmanship with ease. The other characters were in awe of him even though he began as a farmer with no training. By the end of the story, he was unstoppable, but he was basically unstoppable at the beginning too. There was never a doubt that he would succeed, which I can deal with to some extent. It’s that he succeeded without sacrifice, without difficulty, and with his losses rather laughable. Compare this to a character I mentioned in my last post that had minimal combat training and spent the last battle running until getting a lucky shot in on the main villain. You knew the character would win because the heroes usually do, but the character didn’t become some super-warrior. I felt this was more believable and helped me relate to the second character. The first character I mentioned was more of a placeholder that I was hoping would wander off for a few chapters.
Flaws are everywhere in our world, so I think it is only natural for flaws to be in fiction. As someone who reads fantasy books, I find that they are teeming with flawed characters. Frodo’s battle against the influence of the One Ring, Ender Wiggin’s fears and self-doubt, and so many other characters that make me connect to them on some level. I remember these characters for their struggles and not because they came out on top. After all, you need an interesting road to travel from the first page to the last page. An imperfect character gives you more to work with because the flaws bring twists to the road. For example, a hero with a gambling problem can have a subplot that he/she is looking for a family heirloom that he/she lost in a game. You can also have the character lose an important item in a game and he/she has to find a way to get it back. Some people might see this as a distraction, but when has one’s path through life ever run straight without obstacles. Besides, it’s a lot more fun to read a story with dips and swerves that make a reader groan and, hopefully, yell at the character out loud. One of my favorite instances is when a friend was reading my book and I was in the kitchen when I heard him say, “The hell is wrong with you, Luke! Stop being an idiot!” It brought a victorious smile to my face because I felt that I made a character that could be connected with.
The first book I wrote in high school had this problem with three of the four main characters being perfect. The fourth one was a narcissist, spoiled brat who would go on to be my favorite character of the heroes. I found that it was the flaws of the character that made me want to use her more often than the other characters. So, I began deciding on flaws for characters when I was creating them. This ranged from severe phobias to hearing voices to my personal favorite of reckless cockiness. I also found that I didn’t want my characters to get out of a fight without taking a few hits. There was a sense of peril and the idea that they would lose that I wanted to portray to the reader. Luke Callindor takes beatings, but keeps on fighting. Once I noticed this quirk and had a small internal conversation with him, I started doing it intentionally and his fighting style became more defined. It would be this battle cockiness of Luke that I transferred to his overall actions. He would mouth off to the wrong person because he had this ego that went unchecked, which made for a great flaw that he could work to overcome.
I mentioned that the trick to creating a character with flaws is to put them into the character during their creation. This can be accomplished by creating a background for the character and just going wild. You don’t have to keep everything, but there might be a few gems that you never knew was in your head. The real trick is making sure these flaws translate into the story, which can be difficult. Many writers want to protect their main heroes and it gets difficult giving them a flaw. You feel like you’re burdening this child with a problem that they did nothing to deserve. This is where the path comes into play, but a writer doesn’t always think ahead to the end of the story. They look at the now and a flaw is a rough addition when you haven’t thought about how the character will overcome it. The idea that they will overcome the flaw might not even cross your mind. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Nobody likes to be flawed or revel in their deficiencies, so it is slightly bizarre to willingly give a flaw to a character. Yet, there is something cathartic about putting flaws into a character who you can lead to conquer the flaws. I find that I learn a little about coping from my own characters because I refuse to make them perfect. Luke is oddly inspirational to me when I write a chapter section where he is out-matched and he finds a way to get out alive. He doesn’t always get out unscathed, but he finds a way to survive.
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(This is about a character I dreamt up long ago. Haven’t figured out how to use him, but I have noticed other characters have been made with his blood powers since I first thought him up in 2000. At least, I’ve become aware of them. Still, I might find a way to get him in there at some point.)
A disturbing thought
Who slipped into a lucid dream
And remained
In my waking world
Now I gave him name
A youthful being
Normal upon first sight
Brown of hair and eye
He hides a lethal trick
Unleashed whenever cut
He is a secret monster
Born of mankind’s wars
For beneath the skin
Only blood exists
Churning for release
A simple cut
And his blood will spew
Hardening in air
And gaining razor’s edge
Or coating him in armor
Through many forms
I gave him life
This blood worker of my mind
Is he my greatest hero
Or my greatest villain
During the Fourth of July weekend, many folks were on the road, listening to music or daydreaming while stuck in traffic. Nothing at all interesting …
Where Am I? #WriteTip
Published on December 19th, 2012, this is a very important post. One that I wish I remembered before today since I think it holds even more true today. We keep looking for the ‘next’ person to take the mantle of someone instead of letting newer artists be the first of their own name.
Many times I have been asked who I write like. Do I want to be the next Tolkien, Lewis, Jordan, etc.? I never liked this question because it immediately makes me think that people expect me to be unoriginal. I know they are talking about popularity and writing style, but it really does come off as a person claiming that everything has been done before. In my youth, I found this to be offensive and aggravating. In my current years, I find this to be surprisingly true to a point.
I think everything has been done before to some extent. There are only so many basic plots that exist and the artist has been around for centuries. I wouldn’t say everything is a rip-off or influenced by past works, but it isn’t too hard to make connections to some extent between current works and past works. The example that had me thinking of this recently is the Hunger Games. I admit to never reading the book or seeing the movie because of reasons that I will not get into here. Still, I immediately thought of Running Man, Battle Royale, Spartacus, and anything else that dealt with pitting one person against another. There are even some historical similarities that I think of like gladiator fights and child soldiers. I even thought it reminded me a little of The Most Dangerous Game. This isn’t to say that the Hunger Games is a horrible idea and should never have been created. There is an appeal to it and I have wondered a lot about what drew people into the story. I know there is my culture’s obsession with gore and violence, but I think there’s more to it.
I think a traditional plot device such as quests and tournaments to the death can be overlooked if they come with a new world and interesting characters. We read fiction to escape reality, so exploring a world that is different from our own is very appealing. You get a thrill of excitement whenever you come across a town or environment that isn’t on a map. Creatures that you would never meet in the real world are commonplace. It is almost like a child going to the zoo for the first time and seeing an animal that they never knew existed. There is a sense of discovery and wonder that comes from reading about a world that is not your own. Well, there is this sense as long as you let the world take you away until the book is closed. I meet a lot of readers who resist the pull of a book and focus on reasons why they shouldn’t like it. Things like a spelling error on page 74 destroyed the book for them or they already read a story with a similar plot, so this one must have been inferior. I really wonder what would have happened if these people read the second book first. Would the book they are praising now be the weaker of the two?
The second way to utilize a traditional plot device and still earn points with the reader is the method that I like to use. I love designing characters who the reader can relate to even if the reader only relates to a single character. My secondary characters have a history and some depth, so they are more than background. My main characters are flawed to the point where a reader might find them obnoxious at the beginning. Luke Callindor is a perfect example of a character who starts out whining, getting into trouble, and being about as heroic as a crying toddler. Still, part of the fun in reading a story is to see these flawed characters grow and adapt through their adventure. I always believed that character development can trump a standard plot as long as you keep it interesting and somewhat realistic. A hero that begins with no confidence and skills should not be an unstoppable warrior by the middle of the book. There is a recent movie example that I would like to use, but I think the movie is too new for me to safely say it. I will state that commercials made the hero look like some warrior badass, but when you watch the movie this character received no combat training. By the time of the final battle, this character spent the entire thing running and dodging until meeting the villain. This then resulted in a rather amusing beating and the hero wins through a lucky shot and the villain’s own arrogance. I find this type of character development and realism more interesting even when this was a movie that was not original in any way. It made me believe that the character was human and could possibly fail, which I think is very important to push a story.
The truth is that everything has a connection to something in the past. We are all influenced by the world around us and a lot of it is entertainment media. I grew up watching cartoons, movies, playing video games, reading fiction books, comic books, and all manner of media. I ran around my backyard with toy swords pretending to battle whatever historical warrior I was into at the time. Everything I have ever done has been influenced by something that came before me, so my books will be the same thing. This is why my goal is to make memorable characters within the story. I get more enjoyment from hearing someone tell me about their favorite character than being told why they liked the overall story. This may sound strange and it also comes off as me outing myself as someone who doesn’t sit in a dark room struggling to think of something that hasn’t been done before. Besides, I prefer to have the lights on when I create stories and characters. Prevents eye strain, stubbed toes, and the voices appreciate it.
Eternal Road – The Final Stop is included in the Kindle Unlimited Reader Giveaway sponsored by Authorsxp.com eBook, Paperback & Kindle Reader …
Tuesday – Anything Possible – Eternal Road The final stop is on Promotion
Legends of Windemere 