Building Backgrounds and POV

The past few days I've run into yet another stumbling block on the short story I am working on. It revolves around a problem I actually have fairly often when writing. It focuses around the relationships between characters and character development. I find that to myself, my characters tend to seem very similar to each other and often this becomes a problem. When the characters are all similar then the answers to problems are essentially a given. There is no suspense, sense of growth, or variety. This problem also carries over to character's reactions to events in the story; if they all react the same way then what's the point of writing the story in the first place?

So that brings us to my brainstorm last night. There are two ways that I feel I need to constantly remind myself when writing a particular scene: One is to anchor a scene with a character in mind, and the other is to keep in mind the background of the characters involved. When a scene is anchored to a certain character that allows the writer to easily draw upon that character's insights, experiences, and characteristics and avoids the risk of having a scene become so scattered that the reader loses track of who is the central focus. Now sometimes of course a scene must be written by switching from character to character but if so it should be handled carefully and very clearly. Anchoring a character can also be used as a plot device as you can hide key elements to the story in plain sight or avoid writing a very tedious but key scene elsewhere. In my own case using anchoring in my short story allows me to keep the focus on the main character and her conflict both inner and outer without hopelessly expanding the story to include everyone else. The problem with rich characters is that they too have their own stories begging to be told!

Now anchoring a character also leads to the second item: a good background. When you anchor a scene in a story to a particular character (or set of characters) you then are able to draw upon who that character is and what they represent. This requires a sort of understanding of who they are. Now like any good argument sometimes you do not get around to formulating an argument until all the research is done. Sometimes you do not really know who a character is until you've done the work of working out their defining history. As I said above sometimes my characters have been flat when compared to each other (and I hope this will change). By concentrating on their backgrounds I can then tweek them into a variety of people. I can build the differences into my characters and thus populate my stories with a wide range of personalities that can clash or mesh.

To help with this, a friend of mine came up with a simple format for a story reader that sparked this idea. Simply put you look at the setting(s) of the story, the plot, the characters individually, and then the character's relationships to each other. This allows the writer to see in a condensed and focused format, how the characters interact and fit into the story. This allows you to hopefully see the similarities and differences between characters and how to build them into unique pieces to your story. It forces the writer to really consider what makes their characters different by boiling away all the story around them. By looking at the characters under a microscope their personalities can be clarified and give the writer answers as to how a character will view, react, and feel about a given scene or event. Now I do not mean to say this is the only way to go about this but I have found it useful. And I also do not mean to claim that this will make me (or others) into a perfect writer but it should help organize my thoughts and writing to a finer point. Hopefully whoever reads this will find a similar thought process useful. Any other thoughts or advice would always be welcome. I realize that this is a shorter than usual post, but I feel that the content is something that can really be expanded through commentary. In short I feel that this post (and my posts in general) to be premises for further discussion, tips of icebergs.

Have Dreams Will Travel

As I mentioned waaaay back in my blog I will be posting any fun/interesting dreams I have. The main reason I want to and enjoy doing this is because I cant draw...I have really clear dreams that I can picture in my mind clearly. And while they do fade (because I have other things to think about) sometimes I just want to record them; I want to remember them in a descriptive way. So, since I cannot draw I write.

That brings me to the dream I had the night before last. There were various parts of the dream that I had, but the main part, the part I remember the most, is what I will describe. The dream starts with myself picking a lock to a man's apartment. Intuitively I knew I was some sort of detective investigating a criminal's place for evidence. It was night time and the hallway I was in was dark with wood floors. One inside the living room I turned on the lights (for what reason I do not know, seem's like a very stupid thing to do!). The room is set as if it were in the 1910's-20's and very expensive. The walls were blue with white trimming and I remember distinctly an ornate gold chandelier hanging form the ceiling. Eventually I come to the suspect's bedroom and start riffling through his roll-top desk (btw the lighting was gaslights not electrical). While I was searching (I do not know what for) I hear the door open and hear footsteps and a curse. They guy see's the lights on and pulls out a gun. I manage to hide myself inside his closet and hope that my clothing blends in with his, as well as my shoes with his. However some how he knows where I am and I can see his rounded jowly face clearly as he approaches. He's balding with a wisp of black hair still covering the top of his shiny head and he pulls me out. Now he holds the gun on me and starts demanding that we go to the bank right that moment to go withdraw some obscene amount of money. I am surprised and dismayed in my dream that he apparently doesn't realize that banks would be closed at this late hour but he still insists and becomes more and more angry. Finally I manage to come up with some sort of excuse that includes he can lock me up until morning when the banks will be open. So it's almost like a page is turned because the next thing I know we are walking along a cobble stone street with a huge river to our left. It reminds me of pictures/images I've seen of London, and the buildings on my right are big rectangular but with architecture that reminds me of the Buckingham Palace (best way I can describe it since I don't know the right words). There are horse drawn carriages that clatter along, and people walking by in heavy clothing, sometimes coats or even cloaks. When we step into the bank in particular it's amazing. The cavernous room is a warm golden color. The floor is white marble squares outlined in gold leaf. The walls are lined with columns and the lobby furniture is exquisite. The people who use this bank are obviously very rich and even come here to socialize as food and drink are being offered to those waiting on the seats. The place is lit up everywhere and sparkling. The man behind me follows me to the teller and still has his gun on my back. I realize the only person I can count on to rescue me is the lady teller in front of me so I wait for the guy to leave and then try to tell her my situation...only to discover that the guy is behind me again! And that is where it ended...I was interrupted by my cat who decided to act as my alarm clock

The interesting thing is that I remember more than I am even able to write down. If I could draw I could depict it clearly I am sure! And another interesting thing is I remember how everyone else looked exactly, except for myself. I don't know what I was wearing or anything. The whole dream felt as if I was watching a rather bad detective movie or a Sherlock Holmes rip off. Anyways I don't really analyze my dreams I just thing that dreams like this are fun both to describe and to write down. Consider this reading for enjoyment.

The Deepest Motivations - answered? Or left puzzles...

Before  I start posting I'd like to point out a tiny item of interest. This is my 14th post. It just so happens though that my 7th post gained a lot of attention as did my first (for obvious reasons). It would be interesting to see if this post follows that pattern, after all the tru7h is out there!.

NOTE: this note was written after writing the blog post > Please excuse me if this post seems a bit of a ramble, disjointed and confusing. In some ways, on the topic I will be discussing, I feel the same way. If you could bear with me, I hope this post will provide something to think bout.

Onto the blog proper. Lately I've found that the sci-fi short story I've been working on has reached a blockage (one that I've been working on and made progress). My short stories (whether sci-fi or fantasy) I set in a larger universe (Separate for SF and fantasy). Thus each time I write a short piece I am not only working on my larger stories as a whole, but I have a framework to use. However this also brings up certain problems. When I write my characters or settings I have to consider them in the larger context of the world(s) in which they inhabit. This means I have to come up with a whole set of factors for why certain characters act certain ways that aren't explicitly revealed in the piece itself (the same goes for setting). For the current piece I'm working on I found myself stumbling on a character's motivation for a certain action. This motivation however is what puzzles me. I can describe from the actual actions the reasons for the actions preceding it....but when I get to the base motivation the true why of a motivation I find myself stumbling.

It goes without saying that when considering the deep motivation of a character or group of characters, I am trying to avoid motivations that have been used before. Before I go on I feel the need to explain why I am not going into specifics; Apart from wanting to keep my ideas between myself, friends, and family, I want to work out a way to understand how to think about motivations. I think the best way for me to come up with them, to put it another way, is to work out a way of thinking about motivations.

What does one consider when working out the deep motivations behind a character's actions? When discussing humans sometimes the answer is easy; It's love, it's anger, it's sadness, it's joy etc. But at other times it can be much more complicated; Politics, religion, duty, insanity. All of these things are hidden in a person's mind. They can in fact be carried to their death without ever being revealed or hinted at except under the greatest scrutiny (emotions are much the same way! Secret love, revenge, jealousy etc.) Interestingly, to point out that these concealed (emotional or otherwise) motivations can be always be layered, without order, depending on the individual. In reality there is never a way we can truly grasp what lays at the bottom of a person's motivations, but should this be the same for a writer? Should a writer leave these deepest motivations  in a hole? Or should a writer illuminate what the writer thinks of as the motivations for an action or a life. Insanity is particularly interesting. It has been the subject of much scrutiny (both from within the ranks of psychology and from without). Michel Foucault in particular investigated the political/governmental aspects of deciding who was insane and who was not. While there have been many arguments as to the accuracy of Foucault's evidence and theories, for my purposes I feel that the questions raised are enough to ponder. Psychology has been able to categorize and investigate an all manner of mental conditions, and thus theorize as to their motivations. But the much of the progress they have made has been by the examinations of voluntary subjects. The involuntary ones are interesting because how do we know for sure that what we have discovered has leaded us in the right direction? In fact, how do we know that those who are voluntary in the world of psychology are in fact voluntary and not leading us on?

Of course clever investigators can pick up on the tiniest details in order to reveal more about a person's motivations, but that of course is not a true clear picture. This goes back to my question of the writer, and then to my own puzzle. Some of my favorite stories do not reveal the motivations (or even the identities) of characters in order for the reader to puzzle them out. Each interpretation (based upon the evidence provided by the story) can alter the message of the story as a whole, which provides endless rereading and investigating. But on the other hand, some of my other favorite stories do their best to clarify who characters are, and why they act. This then provides a way for the author to give a message upon a point; to be able to say something about human character or the world in general. But is this limiting? Would this then flatten the characters into beings that aren't entirely real, only able to exist upon the pages of a story?

Any discussion about this would be very welcome.

Somewhere among the stars...they are waiting(?)

Lately I've been digging into the Marathon story page (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/mainpage.html). For those of you who do not know about Bungie's earlier first person shooter, check out the wiki page for the Marathon game series. The Marathon universe (an apt name after looking through the discussion on the story page) is a rich one, filled with references to philosophy, literature, history, and mythology. As there have been many good and accurate summaries of the entire Marathon trilogy I would again point you to the wiki page for starters, and then to the story page listed above. But what does this all have to do with a blog post? What is my topic? I suppose a good blogger would have put that up in the very beginning...well then, one thing that grabbed at me while reading the various theories on almost every aspect of the Marathon story was the  need for people to demonstrate, debate, or debunk connections between plot points, fill in or open up blank spots, and propose theories that would 'explain' why the games turned out the way they did and what the games are trying to imply (and to explain the crucial questions that the games do not answer). I could not but help be amazed by how drawn in both others and myself could be at the Gordion Knot that is Marathon.

(Of course many people would say, and be in a sense right to do so, that it's just a game you ninny! Just accept it and take it as it comes and be satisfied by the 'obvious' answers...A game does not deserve this kind of attention!)

Ahem...now why would anyone be drawn in to this degree into the story of Marathon? Well the answer is obviously complicated and has multiple facets but I think one is (and for me is extremely significant) is that Marathon is inextricably tied with human history as well as humanity's nature, place in the universe, and potential. This ties Marathon to some of the best traditions of sci-fi, in that it tries to tell the story of 'this' reality and illuminates aspects of what we are and could be. I would propose stories like Dr. Who, Firefly, Star Trek (yes it can be cheesy, but sometimes cheese is good), Half-Life, Terry Pratchet's work, Heinlein's, Asimov's, and a host of others. Of course this tradition could be said to be a tradition of literature in general, but I'd like to stick to Sci-Fi and Fantasy for my blog's sake.

Marathon shows our humanity (both past and present) through it's story by various means; It offers humanity terrible threats, both external (The Pfhor, The W'rkncacnter) and internal (Rampant A.I.'s, as well as human's with their own agendas) which reveal certain aspects of ourselves, it shows our humanity through our constructions (A.I.'s, weapons (such as the A.I.'s themselves and the military cyborg's), our understanding and reaction to the other (The Pfhor again, the Sph't, the Jjaro, and the A.I.'s), and offer's questions about our humanity by considering 'our' place in the universe. This last is extremely debateable though as the player character is possibly not entirely human and the player's director's are mostly not human either...indeed humans only figure in on the very edge of the stories (Humans as we know, completely flesh and blood). One last device by which Bungie has used the above plot devices to reveal these intense philosophical and theoretical questions has been the use of actual history and real people/events. Now obviously I am not saying that the conspiracies and inaccuracies are to be taken as wholly factual and that we are actually in the Marathon universe, but what I am saying is that Bungie has made ample use of real life resources for the symbolism and connection to the real. The use of Latin, mythology, history, literature, science, and references to names, places, and events, all do their part to offer a story that is rich and leaves more questions when finished than answers. (A possible critique to bring up here is that the mythology and history used by Bungie is primarily European/Western...but if you read the story page on Marathon you should be able to pick up bits and pieces of what inspired Bungie, which should help to illuminate, but not answer, why Marathon turned out the way it did). These references (left in odd places which only the sharp-eyed would notice) are then coupled to the goals and events in the actual game itself - You're endless obedience to whoever is ordering you, Durandal's goal of escaping the collapse of the Universe to become god, Tycho's rampancy, The Pfhor's religion and enimity (these are just a few). The symbolism, the references, and the real time events combine to tell a story about who we are even though the game is an actual shooter...odd huh? That the action in the game could really be just to get from one neon green terminal screen to the next, like turning a page in a book but having to fight for each bit of information...only to find that when you get there it's either garbled, incomplete, or obscure. 

As I write this I also have come to see another draw people (and myself) is that this story, in it's "completion" also seeks to posit questions about the creation of the universe, the idea of the eternal hero, and if the nature of history is somehow tied to the birth and death of the universe (using the eternal hero as a tool or instigator). This even becomes further complicated by theories of the connections (both those in favor of an actual connection, and those simply wanting to illuminate the similarities) between the Marathon series and the newer, more familiar, Halo series...I won't begin to get into the connections here as they have already been amply 'got into' elsewhere on the Halo story page. However I bring this up because a lot of the theories about the actual connection between the two universes, and what these theories have to say about 'the larger picture' in their own respective stories is what intrigues me.

Up to this point I have been trying to describe what has hooked me about the Marathon Story. The Marathon universe that Bungie created has sought to fold humanity into a larger pattern regarding the universe and history. Humanity is at once both the tool and the instigator in these struggles around the control of fate and one's own destiny. Now why is this of interest to me? Well right now I am debating with myself about my own stories. Some of the best stories I have read have been about folding humans (on an individual level or as a species) into larger patterns prompting questions about destiny, agency, and the nature of history. On the other hand, I could write my stories in a universe where humanity is just one species in a galaxy full of adventure. A universe where the message would read "We are the purveyors of our own destiny and responsible for what we do." But could not the same message be said in the earlier mode? I guess what I am asking is...should my stories be in the context of a greater story, should humanity be playing some part in a greater picture? or should we be on equal footing with other actors - that there are no actors that have a greater influence on time, history, or destiny than others and that all strive. Both could be great stories...but...I don't know, something about the way Bungie has handled their stories is very grabbing. Conspiracies could be so much fun!