I'm a fantasy girl at heart. I write it, I read it, I watch it, I listen to it, I sometimes think I live it. It's my genre, and I love it. Because I read a lot of fantasy, I run into a lot of invented languages. Tolkien did it better than perhaps anyone, and it's been a thing in fantasy as long as fantasy has existed, insofar as I'm aware. Plenty of folks make up languages for their writing, for speaking in code with friends, or just for their own amusement. I've made up a language of my own, for the very first draft of the WiP I'm currently overhauling.
I was talking to my husband about this the other day, since he's a big, big fan of languages. He studies not only foreign languages, but linguistics itself, and his advice to anyone who wants to include a fictional language in a novel is as follows: If you're not completely sure of what you're doing, don't do it.
I have a slightly different opinion on the matter than the Husband Guy, but the sentiment is one I very much agree with: If you don't have at least a passing understanding of how languages work, you run the risk of having an invented language that is little more than gibberish keysmashing, and that leaves readers feeling frustrated. You don't have to be a master linguist, but it's my opinion that if you just try making up a series of invented words, it's most likely not going to flow, not going to make sense, and readers will skip right over it in annoyance. I've seen fictional languages done well, and I've seen them done poorly, and poorly-constructed fictional languages always leave me wondering why the author felt the need to include them in the first place.
I'm not the Ultimate Authority, mind you, but speaking as both a writer who has tried and failed to construct a fictional language, and as a reader, most fictional languages drive me nutty. Tolkien was a philologist and a linguist, and so of course he knew what he was doing. You don't have to be a professor with credentials, but I stand by the opinion that you absolutely must understand how grammar works, and you can't just make up a string of words and expect them to sound good.
Also, a pet peeve: Umlauts. I feel like 99% of fantasy writers who include umlauts in their fictional languages have no idea how umlauts actually work.
I guess what I'm saying is this:
Playing with fictional languages can be fun, and it can benefit your story, but if you don't know what you're doing you run the risk of the language devolving into complete gibberish that can potentially piss off your readers. If you want to include a fictional language, devote time to figuring out more than just "[x] word means [x]." Figure out the grammar, and for the love of whatever gods you hold dear, please don't write "asdf jkl; uiop qwerty xyzqlb" and expect readers to believe it's anything more than random keysmashing.
Until next time,
J.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tell Me I'm Frozen
So in case you've been living under a rock, it's cold out there. Like, really cold. Really, really cold. We're talking so cold and so icky that the snow's piled up to a depth of six and a half inches here in South Mississippi, the roads have been solid sheets of ice, highways are closed, businesses and government buildings are shut down, and my husband hasn't been able to get to work for the past two days.
It's cold.
I bring this up because I had a bit of a brainwave earlier. I don't get to experience snow very often (thank you, Mama Nature), but from time to time snowy environments crop up in my stories. Not really being familiar with snowy environments in the real world, I base all my descriptions on what I've seen and heard from others, with what precious little snow I've dealt with thrown in. I like to think it's passable, but I didn't realize until this week's Snowpocalypse just what kind of cold snow is.
Snow is cold. Snow is freezing. It's white, it blankets the earth, it dampens sound. Most people know this, even if they've never been in snow, because these are all extremely common descriptions of snow. This week, however, I've learned so much more about snow than I ever wanted to.
Snow isn't just cold, it's wet. The cold stings whatever exposed skin it can find, and the dampness soaks through your clothes and your very skin, cutting all the way down to bone. Your body tremors and shivers and shakes as you try to fight off an invader that sometimes feels like its eating at you from the inside. The ice, which may conjure thoughts of fun things like ice-skating and snow days when it first forms, blackens and takes on a menacing sheen that you know could be the death of you if you venture forth. The sky turns to steel and while the sun may shine, it is not the friendly sun of a sweet spring afternoon. The sun--that bastard--only exists to mock you at this point.
It makes me feel slightly better about the cold, really, all this learning I've done. Not by much, mind you, but slightly. It's gotten me thinking about descriptions in my own writing, and how they can always be improved by getting out and experiencing things. Obviously I'm not going to go out and experience what it's like to get shot or stabbed or shoved in the trunk of a car (good lord, my writing is bleak...), but even everyday experiences can help shape my writing into something more realistic and immersive.
Though I wish the lesson in snow hadn't been so...uh, well, I wish it hadn't been so damn cold.
All y'all frozen folks stay safe out there.
'Til next time,
J.
It's cold.
I bring this up because I had a bit of a brainwave earlier. I don't get to experience snow very often (thank you, Mama Nature), but from time to time snowy environments crop up in my stories. Not really being familiar with snowy environments in the real world, I base all my descriptions on what I've seen and heard from others, with what precious little snow I've dealt with thrown in. I like to think it's passable, but I didn't realize until this week's Snowpocalypse just what kind of cold snow is.
Snow is cold. Snow is freezing. It's white, it blankets the earth, it dampens sound. Most people know this, even if they've never been in snow, because these are all extremely common descriptions of snow. This week, however, I've learned so much more about snow than I ever wanted to.
Snow isn't just cold, it's wet. The cold stings whatever exposed skin it can find, and the dampness soaks through your clothes and your very skin, cutting all the way down to bone. Your body tremors and shivers and shakes as you try to fight off an invader that sometimes feels like its eating at you from the inside. The ice, which may conjure thoughts of fun things like ice-skating and snow days when it first forms, blackens and takes on a menacing sheen that you know could be the death of you if you venture forth. The sky turns to steel and while the sun may shine, it is not the friendly sun of a sweet spring afternoon. The sun--that bastard--only exists to mock you at this point.
It makes me feel slightly better about the cold, really, all this learning I've done. Not by much, mind you, but slightly. It's gotten me thinking about descriptions in my own writing, and how they can always be improved by getting out and experiencing things. Obviously I'm not going to go out and experience what it's like to get shot or stabbed or shoved in the trunk of a car (good lord, my writing is bleak...), but even everyday experiences can help shape my writing into something more realistic and immersive.
Though I wish the lesson in snow hadn't been so...uh, well, I wish it hadn't been so damn cold.
All y'all frozen folks stay safe out there.
'Til next time,
J.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Agony! Beyond Power of Speech!
I've been overhauling a very gloomy story lately. Several characters have distinctive Great Tragedies, and nobody comes out on top. Bad things happen to everyone and no punches are ever pulled. With apologies to Stephen Sondheim, every time I contemplate heaping more misfortune upon my poor characters, all I can imagine is said characters banding together to sing their own rendition of Agony from Into the Woods.
"Agony! / Far more painful than yours! / When you know she would kill you / if it opened plot doors!"
Replotting the story and figuring out the fates of all my named characters has gotten me thinking: it's not just me who's cruel to these fictional people; it's popular for writers and authors all over the Internet to detail just how much fun they've been having torturing their brain babies. What's up with that? Are writers just all sadists who turn their desire to maim and harass to people they can torment without going to jail?
I'm still not ruling out that particular possibility, but I've spent some time thinking about the question and I think I've come up with an answer:
Life is pain, Highness, and not everyone knows how best to deal with that pain. Life is long and full of misfortunes big and small, and humans being who we are, we've come up with many varied ways to cope with that. Some coping mechanisms are healthy, some are destructive, and some are so common and vital that there's an entire industry devoted to them: namely, the publishing industry.
Books, I think, are one of humanity's shared ways of coping with all the bad stuff. We writers heap all this misfortune on characters because misfortune is part of daily life, whether that misfortune comes by way of losing keys or by way of something bigger and much more painful. As writers, we know all about how no matter how fantastical a world, there has to be a tie to reality. That tie, it seems, is that everyone goes through unpleasant things.
We heap these horrible events on our characters to see how far it takes to break them, and what happens when they break. Some fall, some die, some transform into unimaginable beasts. Some, though...some use their pain and their anguish and transform into something shiny and new. Some make it through the horrible events their writers heap upon them, and they come out victorious.
We as humans know the world is full of darkness, and we as writers take that darkness and throw it at our characters. We as readers devour these stories. And why? Because we want to see people go through hell and come out shiny and new. We want to see people succeed and we want to know that no matter what demons the characters face--whatever demons we face--there is still a chance to defeat those demons and find safety, security, happiness.
People go through hell, and they don't always come out on top. Similarly, not all characters come out on top. But as long as there's a chance for those characters to win, we'll keep reading and writing about people going through hell. Misfortune is unavoidable, but if people in books can get through it...well, maybe we can, too.
Or maybe writers are just sadists. Who knows?
'Til next time,
J.
"Agony! / Far more painful than yours! / When you know she would kill you / if it opened plot doors!"
Replotting the story and figuring out the fates of all my named characters has gotten me thinking: it's not just me who's cruel to these fictional people; it's popular for writers and authors all over the Internet to detail just how much fun they've been having torturing their brain babies. What's up with that? Are writers just all sadists who turn their desire to maim and harass to people they can torment without going to jail?
I'm still not ruling out that particular possibility, but I've spent some time thinking about the question and I think I've come up with an answer:
Life is pain, Highness, and not everyone knows how best to deal with that pain. Life is long and full of misfortunes big and small, and humans being who we are, we've come up with many varied ways to cope with that. Some coping mechanisms are healthy, some are destructive, and some are so common and vital that there's an entire industry devoted to them: namely, the publishing industry.
Books, I think, are one of humanity's shared ways of coping with all the bad stuff. We writers heap all this misfortune on characters because misfortune is part of daily life, whether that misfortune comes by way of losing keys or by way of something bigger and much more painful. As writers, we know all about how no matter how fantastical a world, there has to be a tie to reality. That tie, it seems, is that everyone goes through unpleasant things.
We heap these horrible events on our characters to see how far it takes to break them, and what happens when they break. Some fall, some die, some transform into unimaginable beasts. Some, though...some use their pain and their anguish and transform into something shiny and new. Some make it through the horrible events their writers heap upon them, and they come out victorious.
We as humans know the world is full of darkness, and we as writers take that darkness and throw it at our characters. We as readers devour these stories. And why? Because we want to see people go through hell and come out shiny and new. We want to see people succeed and we want to know that no matter what demons the characters face--whatever demons we face--there is still a chance to defeat those demons and find safety, security, happiness.
People go through hell, and they don't always come out on top. Similarly, not all characters come out on top. But as long as there's a chance for those characters to win, we'll keep reading and writing about people going through hell. Misfortune is unavoidable, but if people in books can get through it...well, maybe we can, too.
Or maybe writers are just sadists. Who knows?
'Til next time,
J.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Rules and Regs
Today I'd like to talk about rules. I wrote and published a similar post last week, but thanks to a rather unfortunate bit of computer mayhem, it got deleted while I was trying to reorganize things. My best good pal Mires wrote a similar post in its wake, though, and it seems to me that the point of the post is one that deserves reiterating:
When it comes to writing, the rules were made to be broken.
I enjoy reading what other writers and folks in the industry have to say about crafting a story, and for the longest time I devoured how-to book after how-to book. I still have several that I enjoy and that I will recommend, but I must say that I think my old obsession with the "rules" caused my own writing to suffer. While many people have great advice, none of them are the ultimate authority and getting wrapped up in the rules they lay down is a great way to get derailed from the real task at hand, and that is writing a good story.
When it comes right down to it, I write for my own enjoyment first, and second in the hopes that people will read and enjoy the stories as much as I have. The agents and publishers of the world are the middle men and, as wonderful as many of them are, I think getting wrapped up in the rules they lay down can be detrimental. Don't write this kind of story, always keep this tip in mind, take a look at this trend, et cetera.
Now of course I don't mean to paint the industry or its members as a bunch of bad guys; rather, I'd like to point out that, just as many a rejection letter has pointed out, the market is ever-changing and the components of a good story are completely subjective.
Everyone has preferences, and those preferences can vary wildly from person to person. If we as writers only look to the preferences of a few (no matter how vocal those few), we run the risk of getting wrapped up in quickly churning out stories to fit the market, rather than focusing on stories we love, or, worse yet, driving ourselves to endless frustration with stories with elements we don't even like.
This applies on the small scale, too, with individual story elements. "Don't write about prophecies," somebody might say. "It's overdone and readers hate it." That might certainly apply to a chunk of readers, but there are plenty who like prophecies just fine. The real question to ask yourself is, do you like stories about prophecies? Is a story about a prophecy something you could get invested in, toil over, and stick with for years and years?
It is? Then write it.
Stylistic choices, too, are yours and yours alone. Editors might make suggestions, and those suggestions might work for you, but the choice is always yours. That doesn't mean throw grammar out the window, but it does mean that if you want a character to speak wi' a bit o' slang or inflection, you shouldn't be afraid to play around with it and see what works for you. If you want to Capitalize or CAPSLOCK things for emphasis, WHY NOT? It won't always work out, but getting so wrapped up in what the "rules" say might keep you from discovering something that suits your story perfectly.
They (whoever 'they' are supposed to be) like to talk about how you should never write prologues, never include dream sequences, and never ever ever rely on tired ideas of people discovering alternate worlds or hidden powers.
Fie, I say! I like alternate worlds and hidden powers! I appreciate well-implemented dream sequences! If a prologue is written well, I see no reason not to include it. It's what I like that's important to my story, and the only rule I ever stick to is this:
If you're so focused on rules and what the agents might say, you're missing the point, and that is to have fun while writing a great story.
Go forth and have fun, my friends.
'Til next time,
J.
When it comes to writing, the rules were made to be broken.
I enjoy reading what other writers and folks in the industry have to say about crafting a story, and for the longest time I devoured how-to book after how-to book. I still have several that I enjoy and that I will recommend, but I must say that I think my old obsession with the "rules" caused my own writing to suffer. While many people have great advice, none of them are the ultimate authority and getting wrapped up in the rules they lay down is a great way to get derailed from the real task at hand, and that is writing a good story.
When it comes right down to it, I write for my own enjoyment first, and second in the hopes that people will read and enjoy the stories as much as I have. The agents and publishers of the world are the middle men and, as wonderful as many of them are, I think getting wrapped up in the rules they lay down can be detrimental. Don't write this kind of story, always keep this tip in mind, take a look at this trend, et cetera.
Now of course I don't mean to paint the industry or its members as a bunch of bad guys; rather, I'd like to point out that, just as many a rejection letter has pointed out, the market is ever-changing and the components of a good story are completely subjective.
Everyone has preferences, and those preferences can vary wildly from person to person. If we as writers only look to the preferences of a few (no matter how vocal those few), we run the risk of getting wrapped up in quickly churning out stories to fit the market, rather than focusing on stories we love, or, worse yet, driving ourselves to endless frustration with stories with elements we don't even like.
This applies on the small scale, too, with individual story elements. "Don't write about prophecies," somebody might say. "It's overdone and readers hate it." That might certainly apply to a chunk of readers, but there are plenty who like prophecies just fine. The real question to ask yourself is, do you like stories about prophecies? Is a story about a prophecy something you could get invested in, toil over, and stick with for years and years?
It is? Then write it.
Stylistic choices, too, are yours and yours alone. Editors might make suggestions, and those suggestions might work for you, but the choice is always yours. That doesn't mean throw grammar out the window, but it does mean that if you want a character to speak wi' a bit o' slang or inflection, you shouldn't be afraid to play around with it and see what works for you. If you want to Capitalize or CAPSLOCK things for emphasis, WHY NOT? It won't always work out, but getting so wrapped up in what the "rules" say might keep you from discovering something that suits your story perfectly.
They (whoever 'they' are supposed to be) like to talk about how you should never write prologues, never include dream sequences, and never ever ever rely on tired ideas of people discovering alternate worlds or hidden powers.
Fie, I say! I like alternate worlds and hidden powers! I appreciate well-implemented dream sequences! If a prologue is written well, I see no reason not to include it. It's what I like that's important to my story, and the only rule I ever stick to is this:
If you're so focused on rules and what the agents might say, you're missing the point, and that is to have fun while writing a great story.
Go forth and have fun, my friends.
'Til next time,
J.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Words From a Smart Man
I started off the year fully intending to immediately get back to a regular schedule. Regular blog posts, daily writing, being responsible and super awesome, the whole shebang. Unfortunately, however, things didn't exactly go as planned. Despite small bursts of inspiration and desire to write pretty words, I've been crippled by insecurities and even anxiety.
I used to write constantly, and thinking about how much that's changed is something that hurts me a lot. It makes me want to get going again just to prove that I still can, but then I get stopped in my tracks by the overwhelming panic that comes at night when you're surrounded with nothing but darkness and your own insecurities. Over the past few months I've written, but never much at a time. No matter how much I tell myself to put my butt in the chair and produce words, I can't. No matter how much I post about fresh starts, I can't make that fresh start happen. I've lost count of how many times I've deleted this blog's archives to start over, hoping that this time I can make it all work out.
What right do I have to take time away from my real-world responsibilities to play with imaginary friends? Where do I get off playing pretend when there are dishes to do, carpets to vacuum, bills to pay, a husband to feed? What's the point in wasting my time when my stories won't go anywhere; when the chances of making it big are so minuscule?
I might have continued being mired in those bleak thoughts for weeks, months, years longer if it weren't for my husband. We had a long talk late at night, when I was firmly in the grasp of the strongest insecurities, and he said something that was akin to the slap in the face that brings a person in hysterics back to the present.
"If there's something you enjoy, you owe it to yourself to do that thing."
Gods bless that man and his ability to help me break through my insecurities. It's a simple statement, but it gets down to the base of my problem. I don't need reassurances that I'm a great writer, because I know damn well some of my words are shoddy. I don't need insistence that I'll get published someday, because that's not my primary goal. I don't need somebody to tell me my stories are good, because I don't write for them and their enjoyment, if it exists, is a happy accident.
What I needed, and what I think everyone needs from time to time, is reassurance that it's okay to have fun and spend time doing things you enjoy. You can't blow off your responsibilities, but you can't kill yourself stressing over everything and forget to actually enjoy things every once in a while. It may seem like such an obvious thing, but sometimes it's so hard to let myself get immersed in a time-consuming hobby that doesn't have an obvious payout. My crafts I can sell or give as gifts; there's practical sides to that. Video games can be interrupted with little notice. All of my other hobbies have some practical aspect or can be set to the side easily when responsibilities rear their ugly heads.
Writing, though...writing is time-consuming, writing doesn't have immediate payouts (if ever), and writing is hard to break away from when you're in the middle of a scene. It's something that's deeply personal and a bit indulgent, and for so long now I've been wrapped up in analyzing every little thing I do that any hobbies that are more than superficial have fallen to the absolute bottom of my to-do lists and have all but dropped of the radar completely.
January may be half-over, but it's not too late to set New Year's goals and resolutions. Hell, it's never too late to set goals and resolutions. Every day is a new one, and today I intend to roll up my sleeves, kick out the last remnants of the insecurities that have kept me from playing with words, and actually write.
I enjoy writing, and I owe it to myself to spend some time telling stories, free of stress and free of questions about the practicality of scribbling rough drafts in a tattered notebook. It's my time to shine.
Until next time,
J.
I used to write constantly, and thinking about how much that's changed is something that hurts me a lot. It makes me want to get going again just to prove that I still can, but then I get stopped in my tracks by the overwhelming panic that comes at night when you're surrounded with nothing but darkness and your own insecurities. Over the past few months I've written, but never much at a time. No matter how much I tell myself to put my butt in the chair and produce words, I can't. No matter how much I post about fresh starts, I can't make that fresh start happen. I've lost count of how many times I've deleted this blog's archives to start over, hoping that this time I can make it all work out.
What right do I have to take time away from my real-world responsibilities to play with imaginary friends? Where do I get off playing pretend when there are dishes to do, carpets to vacuum, bills to pay, a husband to feed? What's the point in wasting my time when my stories won't go anywhere; when the chances of making it big are so minuscule?
I might have continued being mired in those bleak thoughts for weeks, months, years longer if it weren't for my husband. We had a long talk late at night, when I was firmly in the grasp of the strongest insecurities, and he said something that was akin to the slap in the face that brings a person in hysterics back to the present.
"If there's something you enjoy, you owe it to yourself to do that thing."
Gods bless that man and his ability to help me break through my insecurities. It's a simple statement, but it gets down to the base of my problem. I don't need reassurances that I'm a great writer, because I know damn well some of my words are shoddy. I don't need insistence that I'll get published someday, because that's not my primary goal. I don't need somebody to tell me my stories are good, because I don't write for them and their enjoyment, if it exists, is a happy accident.
What I needed, and what I think everyone needs from time to time, is reassurance that it's okay to have fun and spend time doing things you enjoy. You can't blow off your responsibilities, but you can't kill yourself stressing over everything and forget to actually enjoy things every once in a while. It may seem like such an obvious thing, but sometimes it's so hard to let myself get immersed in a time-consuming hobby that doesn't have an obvious payout. My crafts I can sell or give as gifts; there's practical sides to that. Video games can be interrupted with little notice. All of my other hobbies have some practical aspect or can be set to the side easily when responsibilities rear their ugly heads.
Writing, though...writing is time-consuming, writing doesn't have immediate payouts (if ever), and writing is hard to break away from when you're in the middle of a scene. It's something that's deeply personal and a bit indulgent, and for so long now I've been wrapped up in analyzing every little thing I do that any hobbies that are more than superficial have fallen to the absolute bottom of my to-do lists and have all but dropped of the radar completely.
January may be half-over, but it's not too late to set New Year's goals and resolutions. Hell, it's never too late to set goals and resolutions. Every day is a new one, and today I intend to roll up my sleeves, kick out the last remnants of the insecurities that have kept me from playing with words, and actually write.
I enjoy writing, and I owe it to myself to spend some time telling stories, free of stress and free of questions about the practicality of scribbling rough drafts in a tattered notebook. It's my time to shine.
Until next time,
J.
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