You know, it's very frustrating to try to edit an old novel to a deadline when you have little time to work on it and your head is filled with ideas for new novels. Maybe they're worth pursuing. Maybe not. But they shouldn't be forgotten, I think. So from now on, whenever a new plot pops into my head, I will do my best to record it to this blog.
Many fantasy stories and games start out with a basic plot that's some variant of "Something evil is trying to take over the world, and there is only one hero, chosen and/or destined to stop it." A good story these days does away with this old cookie-cutter idea. Only a few take it as a base and mangle it enough to find something compelling.
The idea of saving the entire world singlehandedly and facing impossible odds, while cliché to read about, is frightening to actually consider. If it's well-known that you're the chosen one, suddenly you're famous for something you haven't done. You're seen for what people expect of you with zero room for error and no recognition for your actual accomplishments. The heroic image starts to replace your humanity while the pressure builds around you. It's enough to drive someone insane.
In fiction you almost never see a hero lose it. Even one that's perfectly capable of becoming hysterical when things go wrong in his or her quest is really only mildly unsettled by the fame. It's quickly put out of mind to deal with something else. But what happens when one hero just can't take it anymore? What happens when the quest is over before it even begins?
Hopedead is a story of survivors, in a world whose hero has been driven to suicide.
Constantly spewing ridiculous amounts of information about my life and my work as a science fiction and fantasy writer. Keep up with my new novels, what I've been reading, and more!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Memo: College
A year ago, I was typing furiously at a very different blog full of very silly things like the girls I was dating and whether I liked my high school teachers or my mom at the time. I also wrote several posts about how a broken fire alarm influenced my decision to hate school and want to never ever go to college.
As you can see, all of this was very irrational of me, and I am now very glad that it is separate from this writing blog, since it's much more available to the public. My only wish is that I had the willpower to delete the old one from existence. But that's entirely beside the point.
It took me a very long time to finally change my mind and try my hand at college courses. My main problem was that something wouldn't let me realize that an unreliable prospect is the last thing you want as your backup plan. This world is pretty risky as it is, and it's only because I'm very lucky that I continue to live in any amount of comfort, let alone with the little effort I've put into my life so far.
So today, when I finally went into my very first college class, it was definitely something different for me. Funnily enough, though, even though I had put off going I was still the youngest person in the room. Most had gone to college for a while before, gone off to work for a few years, and were now coming back for further education. I felt weird for reasons much different than I was expecting.
Unfortunately, I have to admit that it hasn't been terribly exciting. We were introduced to the course, and then I learned how to write a memo. Obviously this blog post isn't a memo despite the title, but there's really not much else to say about what I actually did today. This semester will consist mostly of homework, but that's alright. The deceiving but great thing about homework is that you can do it pretty much anywhere.
As you can see, all of this was very irrational of me, and I am now very glad that it is separate from this writing blog, since it's much more available to the public. My only wish is that I had the willpower to delete the old one from existence. But that's entirely beside the point.
It took me a very long time to finally change my mind and try my hand at college courses. My main problem was that something wouldn't let me realize that an unreliable prospect is the last thing you want as your backup plan. This world is pretty risky as it is, and it's only because I'm very lucky that I continue to live in any amount of comfort, let alone with the little effort I've put into my life so far.
So today, when I finally went into my very first college class, it was definitely something different for me. Funnily enough, though, even though I had put off going I was still the youngest person in the room. Most had gone to college for a while before, gone off to work for a few years, and were now coming back for further education. I felt weird for reasons much different than I was expecting.
Unfortunately, I have to admit that it hasn't been terribly exciting. We were introduced to the course, and then I learned how to write a memo. Obviously this blog post isn't a memo despite the title, but there's really not much else to say about what I actually did today. This semester will consist mostly of homework, but that's alright. The deceiving but great thing about homework is that you can do it pretty much anywhere.
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year's Resolution
Get The Third Face revised enough so that I'm finally actually happy with it and willing to look for and send it to an agent or something. I can't just sit back and wait for my mind to come up with some sort of brilliance anymore. This is getting rather ridiculous.
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