I Want To Be A Story

I have found more and more a particular type of writer. They are not seeking the limelight, but they do want a certain fame. It's like they want to be completely separate from their stories. They want to affect people, but don't want any responsibility for it.

Talking with them, I notice that they live their life in a similar way. They are transient in nature. They don't have many friends, but they have so many people who come into and out of their lives. These writers want to show up, change people's lives, and leave when the change is complete.

Although none of them ever said it explicitly, they all sort of said the same thing: I want to be a story. By showing up, redirecting people's thoughts (if not their very lives), and disappearing, they end up becoming a kind of legend. Those affected people will tell their future friends about "this awesome guy who totally changed my life." And then the writers become raised above the level of regular people.

I find this mentality an interesting one. So often, I think of writers as trying to become famous, trying to get their own and make it big. But to know that there are people who want to change people's lives without seeking any kind of reward for it seems pleasant to me. In my opinion, that's what writing is all about.

A Capella

I happen to enjoy a cappella music. Something about humans producing all the sounds of music, including the ones made by instruments marvels me. One of the interesting things about it, though, is how much of it is often overlooked.

When you listen to a cappella music, you gravitate toward the lyrics, or at least to the voice that is singing words. We're used to doing that, so it is natural. Nobody listens to the guy who is just doing the bass lines, or the guy who is doing a plain beatboxing rhythm. However, if the lyrical singer was singing solo, he wouldn't sound nearly as good.

So much goes on simultaneously that makes a cappella music sound good. You as an audience member may not be aware of it, but if any of those parts is absent, you will definitely notice it, or at least notice that something is off.

Writing functions similarly. People tend to notice the words in a story, but they often overlook what those words are doing. They create a mood and paint the emotions of your scenes. They do it by the synonyms you choose for any given concept (upset vs. frustrated vs. angry vs. mad), the length of your sentences and your paragraphs; they do it with your choice of smooth words which flow off the tongue or short staccato words that halt readers.

As always, be aware of the nuances of every word in your lexicon. Know how they function by themselves and how they function in conjunction with other words. It's a tall order to fill, but you can do it, and you will be a better writer for it.

Palette Swaps Aren't Creative

The term "palette swap" comes from video games. A character would have a model called a sprite, which would have a certain coloring to it. In order to cheaply create new characters (especially enemy characters), a company would simply swap the color palette for a different one. Suddenly, it is a distinguishably different character, even though it looks and acts exactly the same as the old one. Think of old video games where there are ninjas in red costumes on level 1, and then on level 2, you fight ninjas in blue costumes.

Although it is a video game term, and it refers to a visual aspect, it is a great way to talk about cheap pseudocreativity in any field and form. And one of the universal warnings is that palette swaps aren't creative. They had a purpose in old video games and that was to save on the limited amount of space that was available. Outside of that, it s just being lazy.

As an example, think about comedy. You know what gets people to laugh? Seeing a guy get kicked in the balls. It may be crude and low-brow and all the other negative terms you have, but it gets people to laugh. However, you can't rely on it indefinitely. If every joke you have is kicking a guy in the balls, your audience will get bored of you rather quickly.

So now you need to spice things up. But how can you do that? Well, what if you tried punching a guy in the balls? It's all the comedy gold of ball-kicking, but now it involves a fresh fist instead of a stale foot.

I would not recommend that as a way to keep your audience interested. That is a prime example of a palette swap. The heart of the joke is still the same. The only thing different is the means to make it. You haven't made any changes. You haven't demanded the characters to act any differently, nor have you challenged the audience.

Although that is a simple analogy, it works for finer details too. Amateur writers always have characters smile or laugh during conversations. I understand why they do it: there is a certain impulse to have characters do more than just talk, and it's the initial reaction to most lines of dialogue. However, one does not improve sections of dialogue by replacing smiles and laughs with other physical tics. Rubbing hands or turning around are the exact same worthless actions that mean nothing in prose writing (and are only semi-decent directions for a movie).

Palette swaps aren't creative. They're lazy. And if you aren't sure if something you're doing is a palette swap, the quick rule is: Does replacing one thing for another affect the way people think/talk/react, and does it affect the story in any significant way?

Useful Energy

Just because you're awake doesn't mean you can be productive. People need to have a certain level of energy to do something useful. We also need certain kinds of energy.

Sometimes we're preoccupied with something: getting done chores you're putting off, a conversation you had two weeks ago, that one project you say you're going to work on but still haven't started. When your mind isn't focused, you are not going to get much done. If you try to write, you end up staring at a blank page while your mind races (or wanders). If you try to read, you may discover that you read entire pages and literally retained nothing from it.

If you don't have useful energy, then give up and try again later. Get some sleep, eat a meal, take a walk - do something that will change your mental state.

A Story Out Of Your Options

There is a beauty in the freedom a prose author has. You can literally write about anything. What is fascinating, though, is working on a low-budget film. Can you write a story/script for a ten-minute or less movie?

If you're a creative type, you may be able to come up with a story for a short film, but then I ask, can you make it a reality? Can you find or make the location? Can you get all the people you need? Can you get all the effects done that you want?

The logistics of making a movie are significant. You may end up throwing out countless ideas because they just aren't feasible to execute. But these difficult can also be aids.

Start with your resources. What locations do you have access to? What kinds of special effects can you create? What props do you already have?

Writing students often get prompts that are similar. Something like, write a story that involves a pilgrim, a volleyball, and a meteor. Although that example may seem ridiculous, you never know what kind of situation you may end up in.

I'm currently working on a short film about a man who works in a power plant on a 12-hour night shift all by himself. During that time, he experiments on people to try to create a zombie disease.

Sounds pretty damn crazy, right? It is. I would never have thought about that as a story idea were it not for the fact that we had access to an actual power plant that happens to have a laboratory in it. Once we had the location, the creativity came from that. It is a story which is both compelling, but approachable. And most importantly, it is one that can be made.

I don't think that everybody should necessarily try to shoot a movie, but at least think about it logistically. If you were going to make one, what could you do? And knowing those limitations, what kind of story could you make?

The Drama Of Cheating

A couple days ago, I wrote about the skill of cheating. But what I neglected to mention was the drama of cheating. It's pretty damn exciting to watch other people do it. And it makes for good storytelling.

Again, I want to emphasize the idea of cheating in its broadest sense: It is achieving a goal by breaking a rule. In this sense, characters cheat all the time. They are always breaking the rules (or standard conventions) to get what they want.

Vigilantes are cheaters. People who trick their foes or otherwise practice deception are cheating in their enemy's eyes. When you expect a face-to-face conflict, but you get struck from behind, they broke the conventions in order to win.

But in breaking the rules, there is incredible excitement. One cheats in order to succeed. They use their brains to overcome brawn. But because they are breaking the rules, there is a risk of being caught. Getting caught will not only cause them to instantly fail, but suffer consequences potentially worse than failing the test in the first place.

A good storyteller gets you to feel for the protagonist (who is generally the cheater). Your heart pounds during the set-up. You jump at every sudden noise. A success gets you to jump up in excitement and a failure makes you feel doom in the pit of your stomach.

All of those ups and downs, those tensions and releases, they all come from the drama of cheating.

Professional Courtesy

There are two people on this earth that get free editing for life from me. That is because they are my colleagues. They are fellow writers, but are more than peers. We have history. We have an ongoing relationship. We have a mutual understanding of each other and our work.

Editing my colleagues' works is a professional courtesy. I would do it for them and I know that they would do it for me. I'm not going to charge them like they're some random chump. I do it because I respect them and because I like them.

This is not to say that everybody else on earth gets charged every time. Certainly my parents get my edits, but that's mostly payback for them raising me and not leaving me in a ditch in Florida.

I also will edit my friends' works if it's something not terribly long, (after all, I do it because I care) but that's in moderation and when I have the time. It's similar, but not quite the same.

Sometimes I like to use the classic line, "your money's no good here." My colleagues are invaluable, and I will always make sure they know that. Professional courtesies are one of the ways I do that.