For those playing at home, you know the last few months have been tough in the world of Ever so I’ve been looking to pass the time when I don’t feel like working on Red Cowboys.

Again, hear me out if you aren’t a  gamer or don’t usually play anything, this post isn’t totally about a game.

This game is called Occupy White Walls, and you are a curator of an art gallery you build. You get a slab of concrete on open water and then some funds and access to paintings. These paintings are well known from history, others are not, and there are even some digital prints etc from artists in the last few years. You construct walls, hang your pieces and then open your gallery for NPCs and other players to visit. You pay to expand on the open water and each grid you buy increases in cost as you move up levels, but you get access to different types of building materials and lighting too.

I like art, so it was good to learn about some of the history behind the paintings I was selecting to hang in my space. I also liked the Second-life and SIMs-type games where you construct mansions you would never have IRL. I began to build rooms in OWW, and it looked like a regular place of business, before my creativity kicked in and I started coming up with themed rooms and colours I actually liked.

I have an Alice in Wonderland room, a burlesque area with paintings by Toulouse Lautrec, a sexy loft of risque photography and a games room that boasts portraits of people playing poker. I built the majority of it (I’m still expanding,) and it was fun to make some money/credits by having other people visit my space, but it wasn’t until I built what I call my private sitting room that it became more than just a way to pass the time.

As we move more towards an AI/VR/technology-driven society things aren’t science fiction anymore. These things are already utilised in society; eg virtual reality tours for older people confined to retirement homes. And, if you want to go deeper, used to train soldiers for battlefield situations. I’m kind of jealous that I’ll be old AF when VR reaches a stage where I’d really have fun with it. And deeper still, if you subscribe to the theory we are likely living in some sort of simulation already, then the following paragraphs are probably something you’ll understand.

The game gives you opportunity to change your backdrop; you can keep the original open water and daytime setting, choose a night sky, an 80’s retro digital sun and others. I tried a few but something about the open water and seemingly eternal distance was good so I kept it.

I had a vision of a glass-paneled room away from the other parts of the gallery, not totally off-limits because it needed to be accessible and open to people who found it. I wanted it to be a definite change in the overall mood of the main space and an area that was mine but others could enjoy if they stumbled upon it.

I like grass and trees, I thought about having the floor a bunch of swaying grass and then how cool it would  be to sit in that box and paint or create. I wanted an easel and some chairs in there because if it was real life, it would be a very inspirational and relaxing place. Luckily, these things exist in the game, as well as a really awesome “Secret Garden” doorway. So I built the fucker. It didn’t take long at all and placing trees inside a glass box wasn’t easy but it all worked out.

This box has served me well the last few weeks…I load the game, open the gallery so I can make some credits and I visit the box to watch the water for a few minutes. The sunlight on the fake waves is real enough that you can suspend belief and take a few deep breaths before moving on to whatever you were doing in the game or in your day.  It is nice to take a deep breath. I forget to do that. A lot of people do. It seems we all survive on shallow breaths until someone tells us to stop and breathe.

 

 

I started naming chapters a long time ago. I also wrote songs and poetry; deep lines about how shit it was to be a teenager at the time. And it was shit, but little did I know this feeling would be totally eclipsed by actual adulthood. Years ago I thought naming chapters was kind of arty and gave more meaning to my work. Then one day I had no idea what to call the next chapter of a book I was writing and asked myself if it really matters.  I wasn’t writing a non-fiction memoir or instruction manual. Not every section needed a theme or heading and I was trying to frame something that didn’t need padding or a preamble.

Books aren’t like a TV series where each episode needs a name and run time to keep people from accidentally viewing them out of order. They also do this to adhere to time constraints on networks. In real life you have however long you need to finish a chapter and you aren’t picking the book up and just flipping to a random section and starting to read from anywhere. The pages already go in order so there’s no reason to make sure the reader is on track – “make sure you read chapter 4, it’s right after 3, and you will know that because the titles will join up somehow.”  (This is the part where you pray your reader can at least count.)

I guess I find it a little pretentious if it’s a fiction novel. I understand your book is your baby and a work of art, but giving each section a title doesn’t do what you think it does (at least not to me.)

If it’s titled to seem arty, I’m reading it thinking about where the weird title came from and probably looking for something irrelevant in-between-the-lines instead of focusing on the story. If it does link to the story and have some sort of purpose…it feels like the author is telling me what to think, or what theme to take away from the following chapter. It can feel like they are spotlighting something rather than allowing me to notice the important theme/issue/item/dialogue for myself through their writing and skill.

 We’ve all heard the line “murder your darlings” and it’s in regards to editing but I have the same view with prologues and chapter titles. Is it necessary? Is it just flowery and making you look smart? Is it just something you like the sound of or are proud to have come up with?

Would the story continue on well without it? If the answer is yes, you should probably cut it. I know it hurts, but you just have to do it. 

There are some exceptions, I’ve been wrong occasionally (IKR?!) but your writing should make a reader feel a certain way about a situation or scene without having to tell them how. There are scenes in King of Spades and Red Cowboys where I’ve forgone that to get a point across, but generally it’s in action scenes where any unnecessary focus on the wrong things or on pretty language takes away from the speed and flow of the scene.

Chapter titles don’t have this, they don’t really add anything. So…they should probably go.

 

 

TLDR:
* Murder murder murder your darlings if they are a title that serves no purpose.

*We know you’re smart, you wrote a whole book! You don’t need an arty title for a chapter.

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

 

 

Is it sexist and wrong for a character to say, “nah, he won’t come with us, he has to stay home, he’s whipped?”

 

This week I saw three examples of some kind of preemptive self-censorship that makes no sense in a creative realm where you’re trying to make someone else suspend belief and enter a fictional world. Naturally, I have taken to a blog post to rant. 😛

The first question was about a character judging the excuse a friend would make to stay home instead of going out with the guys. He was “whipped.” The original poster wanted to know if it was okay for their character to say this. Aside from feeling my hands begin to raise to tear out my own hair, I realised there are some people in the world who may actually be afraid to make a move and commit a faux par before their peers or people they perceive as more successful than they are. There are many mistakes someone could make in life which could be catastrophic, having a character use dated slang to try and be funny is not one. Relax.

If the dialogue is true to the character then it’s not “wrong.”  Would it offend someone? (Maybe someone, somewhere who might be extra sensitive to the word ‘whipped’ due to random factors over years of their life and upbringing which you can’t possibly know about or cater for.) Is the character who said it kind of an idiot? Yes?

Then fucking write it.

You don’t need permission from a hundred random people in a shitty group to tell you how to create. I’m not offended by words on paper spoken by make-believe antagonists, very few people are. And if they are, and the reader is supposed to despise that character, then good, you did it right.

There is no conflict or effective plot unless there are points in which you derive emotion from a reader

Further in the Darkrose Novels there is a racist character, a real Neo-Nazi type (not just the term bandied towards anyone who disagrees with a currently fashionable viewpoint) and I D G A F what you think. I don’t care what anyone thinks when I create, and I believe that mostly anyone who produces art shouldn’t. The character I’m referring to in the Darkrose Novels is a gigantic douche, and he’s going to act like one(!) and speak like one because that’s how the reader knows he can’t be trusted. That is how they’re going to understand he doesn’t think like the other characters and he’s a potential problem to their goals in the book. I assume most readers will have a problem relating to the type of person he is (which says something positive about our society.) He has no-holds-barred on what he chooses to say or do in a situation because that.is.his.character.

And if you don’t like it, read something else that makes you feel warm and fuzzy because he is going to be a real asshole. 

Being Authentic/having as much integrity as you can, even if you’re not a decorated sniper 😉

I have a real problem with eggshell BS. I have a problem (for eg) with people who say only gay people should play gay characters in a film or only straight people can play straight people. Are you also saying that because the main character in the movie script is a heroin addict, the casting director needs to sleep on the street, wait to see which junkie shoots up the most drugs and then offer them a contract because only they would know what it’s like?

Acting is acting, if a person can portray a character without actually living that life, that’s why we hand out Oscars. That is the whole point of why actors are celebrities/celebrated – because they do a job well enough to portray a life none of us have lived to the point we can identify it and get an interesting story.

If you’re writing something that is far from the life you’re living, eg when you become a sniper for 3 months, you’re probably not going to be able to get all the tiny factors which come with being that person. There are many people in that role and each one will have a million variables on the way they live their lives. The most important thing is to get most of the key elements right, the ones you require to push your character and story, and then research until your eyes bleed to have all the information you might need, annnnd don’t be a total jerk when you add your artistic license!

You are allowed to write a black character if you are whiter than Santa’s beard.

You are allowed to write a straight character if you are the most openly/flamboyantly/stereotypical gay guy in town.

Do whatever your story needs. Just do it well…and don’t be lazy or only leave it up to your narrow individual perspective. Do everyone a favour and research as much as you can, so you can get close enough to portray the character well.

The last question I saw in the group was this one:

“Can I write a scene that has a rape in it?”

I guess by now I should have realised the group was an echo chamber and an overly-proud politically-correct throng of people that want to write books you read on the beach when you’re trying to seem intelligent for your half-naked Instagram photo…BUT, look, just fucking write it. If it fits with the story and characters, or if it needs to happen to drive the book forward and it has a point/consequences/fall out, then go for it. If someone doesn’t like it, they can(I dunno, crazy idea maybe)…PUT  THE  BOOK  DOWN. No one is forcing them to keep reading, no one is tying them to the chair and holding their eyes open. It’s the same way people gravitate toward reading certain genres. If you are squeamish about a vampire slayer using a wooden stake and stabbing a guy in the heart then that story or genre might not be for you.

And that is fine.

A couple of comments to the OP were from victims of violent crime saying it may “trigger” people. As I’ve previously mentioned…we all have a past, and that shouldn’t have happened to you. However, if you know you are particularly sensitive to a topic you can read the book’s blurb, maybe a handful of reviews prior, you could avoid putting yourself in a situation where you might be confronted. You need to take control of personal responsibility to make sure you are comfortable.

BUT you can’t nerf the world and cater it to your particular issue. It’s impossible, even if everyone wanted to try and do it for you.

There are 7.594 billion ppl on Earth and each one of us have our own issues, our upbringing, our relationships, our political leanings and more that maybe we don’t want to be reminded about all the time. For a writer/artist to explore their creativity and the ideas they have, they cannot afford you the courtesy. Would I, if I was writing for a specific person whom I understood had an issue with a particular theme? Maybe. Eg: If I was writing a book solely for my mum, I wouldn’t include anything to do with a phobia of hers…But most authors are not writing for one person alone. They’re writing because they like to, and this idea for a story came to them and…now they have to push it forward and build around it.

Another comment replying to this thread started with “As a mother of two girls…” –Anytime someone begins their rebuttal or gripe with “As a…” I tune out. I don’t care. Just say your thing and I’ll take it on board or not as it appeals to my logic, opinions, if it presents a new idea I can consider etc. I don’t care who or what you identify as, just say your piece and let me decide what I think for myself. Your preamble has no bearing on it.

The rest of the comment(btw) said, “There is already far too much of this in film and culture and society. We don’t need to read about it.”

Wut.

Look, lady, reading, films, art and books are culture. They represent and depict real issues sometimes. Police yourself, but don’t try to control other people or their art. Being mother of two girls has nothing to do with it. Get out of my face.

*rant over*

 

 

 

 

TLDR:

*As long as the dialogue and actions fits the character, write it and don’t care what some ninny on social media says.

*No one has the right to police your fictional work,

*Don’t be a jerk about the topic in your artistic license though.

*I must spend less time in these groups because they are not helping me.

 

 

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

 

One of the Writer’s groups I lurk in often has themes and random requests.

I’m lazy and awkward with advertising the book. I never think my work (art/performance/writing) is good enough. Sometimes it literally feels wrong to promote it, particularly since King of Spades was released late 2017 too. The Darkrose Novels follow an agent who is part of a secret agency (New World Order/Powers that Be/Elites.) Aside from underhanded dealings and taking out people in power for political gain and interests, they have different departments within MDS HQ  which create top secret technology. This might not sound like everyone’s thing…but that’s only one facet. Like any series, there are subplots and themes which touch on ethics, relationships, drama, action etc.

I’ve probably mentioned it before but I don’t like it when people ask “What’s your book about?”

Do you have the 3 mins needed for me to give you a gist or just the ten seconds you’ll grant me after you threw the question out there as “small-talk” (Ugh, I know I sound mean.)

My books are not small talk.  No one’s are! And explaining 300+ pages to someone either makes their eyes glaze or makes you sound like you’re blowing smoke up your own a$$.  So, now I just laugh and answer, “Oh you know the type, a secret agency, cute guy, advanced tech,” and literally (I count sometimes) 2/3’s of the time they will nod and say, “Oh, that’s cool” and then ask what you’re drinking or going to order. So…sharing some of my work is kind of awkward for me sometimes.

Last night I was in bed, finally comfortable and mindlessly scrolling my phone to get my mind off stuff and drifting off; cat picture, recipe, someone’s ugly kid, new movie being released, more police-state measures coming in, SHARE A PAGE FROM A BOOK YOU’VE WRITTEN.

I even looked over at the bookcase nearby which has old copies of King of Spades (with the original cover) and started talking myself into getting out of bed to get one, because why not? But my brain shut down and, the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morning with my phone still in my hand, (which is gross.) I checked my cute good morning texts from no one and then realised I was still on the page asking for authors to share their writing.

Some people copied and pasted part of their WIP (work in progress,) others took pictures of an actual page from a print copy.  I read a few pages from other people and was reminded that there are many subjects and themes people are drawn to writing about – which was very cool.  KOS would be something I’d buy and read, it’s what I’d find interesting, but we all come from different lives and experiences, and all 7 billion of us have different preferences and tastes.

The first example of someone’s work was a page about a woman able to “entertain men from beyond the grave.” *cue a sigh I didn’t even know I was making until the end of it* (I’m sorry!) Nope, it didn’t sound like my thing -but- I appreciate storylines, twists, ideas and themes, language, turns of phrase etc. I can even feel satisfied that I’d been taken on an adventure by the end of it. Some people in this day and age where it’s so easy to throw away whatever we remotely dislike and then replace it within 2 seconds, might not even bother reading further. It made me want to just close the window and not bother posting my own page because it may get that reaction from some people – and no one had even said or done anything negative!

It was one of those days. LOL It’s been one of those days for weeks…

I also noticed that more than a few people chose pages rife with typos and/or grammatical errors, some to the point where I was trying to find out if English was their first language. There are some people who translate their original works from their first language and sometimes miss a few errors and it’s understandable.

On that note…

Indie does not mean sub-standard to traditionally published.

It doesn’t mean these books are ‘lesser’ just because someone in an office said it wasn’t the right fit for their publishing empire. There are books which have been made into movies that did not come from a known publishing house. The main difference I have noted is the money and editing processes. You’re given an advanced pay for the book and how many sales it might make. The editing process, (in addition to cover design, marketing etc) is all managed by your publisher. So, it must be a real kick in the face to find an error in your traditionally published book after you were under the impression the company would take care or it to a higher standard you might have found yourself.

The standard Indie authors hold themselves to is defintely a wide spectrum. And that was on display when I read through a few pages on this Writer’s Group thread. I know authors who spend hundreds of dollars getting their manuscript up to a standard they can be proud of and others do not. I appreciate this too. I appreciate the confidence of smashing out a book and making it available ASAP, being confident that you found all the errors prior to print. I like that your art was so awesome and a big achievement that the particulars may have escaped you on that one page.

I have a boo-boo or two in KOS too . Shit happens.

And, if it was like me and KOS, several rounds of edits by myself and others, and a professional over years, and it still had one line where it said “bowel” instead of “bowl” (LOL, yes.) then hey, you tried your best, let it go. I’ve found similar in traditionally published books too, it just happens to be that I tend to see more in the indie world because the market is free and awesome and allows people of all education levels, time constraints, leanings and subjects to have a chance at telling a story.

Here is the random page I posted. It wasn’t until after that I re-read it (first time I’ve read it in years) and started to pick apart sentences and also wished I had taken time and selected a part where Cleo makes a funny…but it is what it is.

This scene takes place in the middle of nowhere at a motel laden with a trap in the way of a smelly sleazy owner with an agenda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TLDR:
*I posted a page from King of Spades into a Writer’s Group.

*I learned that a lot of people publish any genre they way.

*Cleo and Trent are awesome.

 

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.