Not sure this will be a long post because this is a delicate topic that everyone seems to have a different opinion on. Using various mental illnesses is common in fiction. Many of us can name at least one story where a character has a diagnosis of some kind. Sometimes it’s done with care and the other times it’s done rather bluntly. Yet, how often is it done correctly?
I remember seeing various shows and movies where they tried to show someone was autistic or schizophrenic. The former was usually done the extreme and the other repeatedly showed up as the reason behind a person committing murders. As a society, we tend to look at all of these things as a hindrance and a portal to abnormality. Many artists take that and run to the darker side of human nature. Seems only recently that people are pulling back and showing characters who have these issues and are proving that one can live a full life with them. Still, they do seem to be the butt of jokes such as Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory. Comedy can be a bridge to get the audience to consider mental illness, but it can’t always get them the entire way to understanding.
For myself, I don’t use a lot of mental illness in my stories. I’m too nervous about getting something wrong and pushing the stigma that continues to create trouble. I might touch on depression and anxiety since I have a better understanding of that. For example, Quest of the Brokenhearted utilized my experience and thoughts on severe depression. Kira hit that point where she didn’t want to die, but didn’t care if she did. I’ll admit that I’ve been there in the past. It was fairly easy, and oddly cathartic, to do this since I had experience. Most authors don’t have that to work with when they try to make a character with a mental health issue. So, research is definitely a necessity.
So, I’m going to open the floor since this is a complicated topic and I’m always on the fence about it. Don’t want to say anything as if it’s a rule even though Wednesday will have a list of tips that are done in a tongue-in-cheek style. What does everyone else think about writing characters with mental health issues? Do you have any advice or experience doing this?
Tell us a little bit about yourself (a quick blurb of the kind of books you like to write)
I was born to be a poet. So, the majority of the books I have self-published are either pure poetry or heavily laced with poetry. As I have found self-help books to be useful in my life, I also enjoy writing books of that nature as well.
How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was a small child, being published in a literary magazine at the age of 14 gave me the encouragement to continue writing. Throughout my adult life, I have been lucky enough to hold many positions where writing was an integral part of the job.
So, I’m scratching my head on what to choose for Teaser Tuesdays. I can pick from everything, except Bedlam, and that gives me a lot of space to work with. So, I’m going to open the floor to see if anybody has any requests. In fact, I’m also going to put a really big poll where people can vote for more than one choice. Gives me plenty to work with since I’m not promoting a specific book for a while. So, here we go:
Pretty big list, but I have 20 big works to use. Well, 18 since I’m not using ‘Crossing Bedlam’ and ‘Chasing Bedlam’. Not unless people really want those two in the mix and say so in the comments. By the way, everything that gets a vote will get a Teaser Tuesday, but I’ll just go in highest to lowest order. Thanks for the help. If this fails then I’ll just put all of the titles into a random order generator, so don’t feel pressured.
As the wee one is now at an age when she’s starting to read, I have been wondering how I can help her enjoy reading. Recently, I came across a two-part post by Jennie, a teacher of thirty years, titled Language, Literacy, and Storytelling. She shares there some remarkable statistics which gave me pause:
Every child wants to read when they begin school. Enthusiasm is 100%.
By fourth grade, only 54% read something for pleasure every day.
By eighth grade, only 30% read for pleasure.
By twelfth grade, that number has dropped to 19%.
Image: jenniefitzkee.com
As Jennie points out, the key word here is pleasure. We drown our children with so much reading that they learn to associate it with drudgery. In their minds, reading becomes synonymous to homework. Is it any wonder they start avoiding as soon as they’re allowed to?
When my first book was published in the dark ages – the 1990s – I didn’t have to think about online reader reviews.
Amazon was only starting to sell books when WHY CAN’T A MAN BE MORE LIKE A WOMAN? was released in the spring of 1995; Barnes and Noble was still a strictly bricks and mortar business.
That meant that reader reviews came in the form of good, old-fashioned, word-of-mouth recommendations among friends. If you liked a book, you told someone: “You will love this book.”
I don’t know how to categorize this week. Things happened, but I haven’t heard back about the potential job. Not surprising since schools were closed on Tuesday for the election and Wednesday for Diwali. The waiting is always the worst part of any job hunt because it’s when things are beyond your control. You’ve done all you can and now it’s up to the decisions of others and the universe. I already knew things would be tough since the school year is already in its 3rd month. Still, fingers will remain crossed and I’ll find some way to keep myself occupied while I wait.
Unfortunately, I quickly ran out of distractions. Derailing Bedlam has been edited and started getting posted on Thursday. I set up all of the M-W-F posts for January too, which gives me some breathing room as far as blogging. A post tomorrow will be asking if there are any books that people want a teaser for, which sounds like an odd poll. The truth is that I have 20 books to choose from and it isn’t always easy doing that. Not that anything is making the books really move, but that’s another story.
Now for a mysterious piece of that story!
On Thursday, Derailing Bedlam began and I got a lot of positive responses in regards to Cassidy and Lloyd coming back. It’s crude, violent, and rude, so it doesn’t appeal to everyone, but it’s fun escapism for some. I mean, it isn’t like these two are supposed to be role-models. Anyway, a person on Twitter sent me a message saying they downloaded the first two books and wanted to know where the third was. I sent them a link to Protecting Bedlam, which was blog only last year. Then, I wandered over to Amazon to check for sales and reads. Nothing for Crossing Bedlam or Chasing Bedlam. Okay, it might just be delayed.
It’s now Saturday morning and I still haven’t seen these sales turn up. This isn’t the first or even twentieth time that somebody has contacted me about buying a book, but that never materializes. Ever. I’m really not sure what’s going on. This makes me feel like I’m not getting the royalties for these books. I’m fairly certain that these aren’t being counted in the rankings either, which is a problem. As happy as I am that people are getting into my books, I kind of need the royalties to stay afloat. Makes me wonder how many sales went unrecorded without me knowing too. Not just for me, but for everyone. It’s bizarre seeing people put a few hundred or even thousand bucks towards promoting, but walk away with barely enough to afford three large cheese pizzas. This doesn’t increase my faith in Amazon either and that’s been dwindling ever since it felt like they abandoned their Kindle platform. Do they even do commercials for it these days?
Writing aside, I did get a fun two days with my son. Tuesday was a surprise trip to Legoland, which he’s never been too. It was an hour drive for 2-3 hours of fun, but totally worth it. They have two rides, a bunch of building spots, a 4-D movie theater, and a climbing play area based around Ninjago. We’re still not sure what’s to do inside that play area since it’s built like a fort. My son mentioned practice dummies and made it sound like there was a dojo within the climbing nets and walls. All I know is that he’d go in and we wouldn’t be able to see him unless he went across this one spot. We bought a new Lego set there too and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory before heading home.
Overall, Tuesday was a great day that carried into Wednesday. Nothing much there since my wife went back to work and my son and I were tired. I did a little blog scheduling while he played with his Legos then it was grocery shopping, McDonalds, and we came home to play Lego Star Wars II on the PS2. He’s getting better at it and we’re just running through the first 3 levels to build up enough points to buy Invincibility. Makes the game fairly easy, but he acts like he has it no matter what. We definitely need it before we hit the first of the vehicle levels because he isn’t very good at those. Removing the threat of crashing will help him relax. That’s all down the road though.
The coming week isn’t going to be much to talk about at this point. I’m hoping to hear about the job. My parents come back from a month long trip this evening, so they’ll be home and relaxing. My son has off on Monday for Veteran’s Day, but I have a doctor appointment that day too. All fairly mundane stuff. Honestly, I really hope I can find a way to relax and de-stress. As I said, my parents have been gone for a month and that put a lot more on my shoulders in terms of maintaining the house. With them back, I might be able to muster the energy to start editing War of Nytefall: Rivalry. The truth is that it’s my only project and I need to do something besides eating out of boredom and watching Naruto.
The problem is that I still don’t feel like I’m in the proper mental state to tackle one of the big things. My mojo isn’t fully back and things keep happening that drive me back into the abyss. Getting a job and some stability will certainly help there, so maybe I’m at the end of that road. If for no other reason, I need to be able to get myself to a point where I can write new stuff again. There’s still this sense of detachment when I read my own work. It’s like another person did it. Hopefully, diving into War of Nytefall: Rivalry will put some pieces back together.
So, what are the goals?
Keep eye on phone in case of call from school.
Start editing War of Nytefall: Rivalry.
Prepare more teasers.
Watch more Naruto.
Stop writing this post since it went over 1,000 words.
My father had his own set of proverbs that he dispensed like wisdom from the mountaintop. Even though it’s been decades since I lived in his house, I can still hear his voice in my head sharing such tenets as:
“A thing worth doing is worth doing well.”
“Leave a place as good as or better than you found it.”
“Stupid is as stupid does.” – Oh wait, that one’s not his.
But the adage I’ve been thinking about lately is “Sail into port with all your flags flying.” My dad was reminding me to follow a project all the way through, so that I could stand proud at the end—knowing I’d given it all I had.
Yet here I sit in November looking at my progress for the year and thinking my flags look a little sagging and tattered. Maybe you feel the same.
Partner to the King
Yet refuses to be Queen
Preferring shadows
And a land of monsters
To the light of day
*
A burglar to the bone
Stealing and sneaking
Claiming all she can
Becoming the richest being
That nobody has heard of
*
Churning emotions
For a love once damaged
Yet never fully dead
Distance keeps her safe
While her heart pushes for more
*
What role can she play?
As she seeks a past
That might never return
The times of freedom
Have been consumed by purpose
It is a character in motion toward a goal that captivates readers but how do you make your scenes pop?
Bring the Ordinary into Your Scenes
I’ve been studying craft for forever, it seems. I want to write bestsellers like anyone else out there but more than that, I want to write quality books. A lot of advice points to bringing the ordinary into your scenes. You could have your character making supper, beds, etc. while they talk, while they plot their next move, or so on. For example:
Fred peeled the covers back on the bed and stared in dismay at the loose feathers drifting from the hole in her pillows. She wished that she had money to buy new bedding. These days she had to be thankful she didn’t have a rock for a pillow. If only she had a magic bean. She’d risk that giant. Mandy deserved…
Well, here we are. The first installment of Derailing Bedlam, which will run on Thursdays until it’s done. As usual, I will warn everyone that this is an R-Rated adventure and put the story section behind a cut. There will be violence, cursing, and talk of sex. There will also be a lot of comedy and action, so I hope people give it a shot. This is the fourth outing (third official) for Cassidy and Lloyd, so feel free to click on one of the two covers to see how it started. Each one is 99 cents!
Tell us a little bit about yourself (a quick blurb of the kind of books you like to write)
Legends of Windemere 