Thursday, October 24, 2013
Motives
On the way home, I read Nina's shared link on Facebook, which contained advice as to how to further develop a character and the story in general.
To paraphrase:
"Your main main character has to want something really bad. And how he/she gets it is the whole driving force of the story - no matter how complex his/her goals / motivations / obsessions are."
I plan to put it down on the brand-spankin' new notebook that Nina didn't want for herself. What keeps me from doing that - aside from the lure of procrastination - is that it's cool, black cover is calling out to me to put a design on it! I immediately thought about the silver and gold pens. I don't know if we have some, but I plan on getting a pair soon. I've only used it once, way back in college, to decorate a dark blue paper which I made as a cover to one of my college notebooks. The design was a silver warrior, half-body, on the lower left corner, with a gleaming sword in-hand; a gold eagle at the upper right corner, it's wings are along the borders of the paper and shedding a feather or two; a star, cross-shaped, of both silver and gold, signifying God; the words "be not afraid" and "Seek His kingdom". I kept it in my personal tings and somehow, Matt got to see it too. He liked it so much that it's now posted on the all of his room.
It's close to the start of NaNoWriMo and I have to at least lay down the foundations and support structures for my story. It's all coming in a trickle.
I'm blessed to even have a trickle of thought to support it, anyway!
Among today's 'pools' of insight and imagination are:
- Arcologies
- Motivations and goals of my main characters
- A plot twist that I didn't expect to come up with (regarding the antagonists)
I can't reveal too much information yet. But, that's all for now. My creative juices have dried up... for now.
To paraphrase:
"Your main main character has to want something really bad. And how he/she gets it is the whole driving force of the story - no matter how complex his/her goals / motivations / obsessions are."
I plan to put it down on the brand-spankin' new notebook that Nina didn't want for herself. What keeps me from doing that - aside from the lure of procrastination - is that it's cool, black cover is calling out to me to put a design on it! I immediately thought about the silver and gold pens. I don't know if we have some, but I plan on getting a pair soon. I've only used it once, way back in college, to decorate a dark blue paper which I made as a cover to one of my college notebooks. The design was a silver warrior, half-body, on the lower left corner, with a gleaming sword in-hand; a gold eagle at the upper right corner, it's wings are along the borders of the paper and shedding a feather or two; a star, cross-shaped, of both silver and gold, signifying God; the words "be not afraid" and "Seek His kingdom". I kept it in my personal tings and somehow, Matt got to see it too. He liked it so much that it's now posted on the all of his room.
It's close to the start of NaNoWriMo and I have to at least lay down the foundations and support structures for my story. It's all coming in a trickle.
I'm blessed to even have a trickle of thought to support it, anyway!
Among today's 'pools' of insight and imagination are:
- Arcologies
- Motivations and goals of my main characters
- A plot twist that I didn't expect to come up with (regarding the antagonists)
I can't reveal too much information yet. But, that's all for now. My creative juices have dried up... for now.
- transcribed, 22 October 2013, Riverfront, 10:02 p.m.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Transformations and Truths
At the end of the story, most things are never the same. And then there are some things that must remain unchanged.
Events trigger these transformation, and affect characters, settings, organizations, and even motivations.
The Rebellion toppled an evil Empire and in the process, a boy became a Jedi, a smuggler fell in love with a princess, and a father found redemption in the eyes of his son.
But for characters to have integrity, certain truths must remain the same.
The Ring Bearer is persistent, his friend never fails to be by his side until they reach Mount Doom. The Wizard is never late and is always on-time, whether it is encouraging the Hobbit to be on a quest or rescuing Helm's Deep. The would-be King acts courageously and is constant for his love with the Elf Princess. And the Wretched Hobbit ever desires the One Ring of Power.
Like building a house, the foundation has to be constant and strong. After it has been laid down and tested, the excitement of seeing the actual house being built will take over. After finishing, it can be renovated, added to, taken away from, transformed from one shape to another. Each transformation is an exciting process. But the house is always, always built on a firm foundation.
*****
P.S. Maybe that's why some Star Trek movies are flops - they never have any permanent effects on either the characters or the state of things. The best Star Trek movies are those that had a permanent effect to the Star Trekverse - the Khitomer Accords and peace between the Klingons and the Federation; the death of Spock; Kirk travels to the past to get whales.
P.P.S. I was trying to find an example of a bad story with no firm truths or the truths always change and nothing ever is permanent. I haven't found one, but I'm sure there are some examples out there. I'll come back to this perhaps in another entry.
Events trigger these transformation, and affect characters, settings, organizations, and even motivations.
The Rebellion toppled an evil Empire and in the process, a boy became a Jedi, a smuggler fell in love with a princess, and a father found redemption in the eyes of his son.
But for characters to have integrity, certain truths must remain the same.
The Ring Bearer is persistent, his friend never fails to be by his side until they reach Mount Doom. The Wizard is never late and is always on-time, whether it is encouraging the Hobbit to be on a quest or rescuing Helm's Deep. The would-be King acts courageously and is constant for his love with the Elf Princess. And the Wretched Hobbit ever desires the One Ring of Power.
Like building a house, the foundation has to be constant and strong. After it has been laid down and tested, the excitement of seeing the actual house being built will take over. After finishing, it can be renovated, added to, taken away from, transformed from one shape to another. Each transformation is an exciting process. But the house is always, always built on a firm foundation.
*****
P.S. Maybe that's why some Star Trek movies are flops - they never have any permanent effects on either the characters or the state of things. The best Star Trek movies are those that had a permanent effect to the Star Trekverse - the Khitomer Accords and peace between the Klingons and the Federation; the death of Spock; Kirk travels to the past to get whales.
P.P.S. I was trying to find an example of a bad story with no firm truths or the truths always change and nothing ever is permanent. I haven't found one, but I'm sure there are some examples out there. I'll come back to this perhaps in another entry.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
The Quest Begins
It's easy to get lost in the worlding. Designing starships and alien environments can sometimes be addictive. I've spent a great many sketchbooks on these. I guess it's time to go to the heart of the story.
How do you create someone you will...
- care for - seeing them grow and mature and try to understand the world around them
- be rooting for - whether it's in conflict or in love,
- despise, but in the end understand and hope for redemption,
- give up on - and hate yourself for doing so,
- identify with, being as real a person as they can be - quirks, faults, values, and all,
- fear - and learn to overcome, even be one that you will care for in the end?
****
In his message to the Philippine Church during the convening of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE), Pope Francis had this to say:
"Let Jesus be known in the world of politics, business, arts, science, technology and social media."
There is now the call to bring the Light into the arts. And thus, the Light shall shine in the deepest dungeon or the vastness of space.
I stumbled on this article while researching Christian Sci-Fi: The Cross and the Stars.
It gave me hope that it is possible to imagine a future world in which Christianity thrives, unlike most science fiction realms where humanism prevails.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Introductions
There is a story wanting to be told.
A universe waiting to burst forth from my mind.
It has been incubating since my high school days - when I was well into my Star Trek novels phase.
There is a part of me that wants to sit all day either with pen-and-paper or a laptop, sitting idly on our balcony overlooking the clubhouse, and putting it all down. I let the dam break; let looses the waters of thought and imagination and see it further break down the walls, further breaking forth in torrents and waves.
But with it, the devastation of my clockwork life. I have a family to take care of; to feed and nurture.
The dam of my mind needs to be there. It needs to regulate the urge and excitement. I have to re-purpose it to flow through turbines for energy, and for irrigation, to make it useful for growing.
As the waters build up, I have to write some down; to make it work; and for my overall sanity.
***
It's funny how I find myself grabbing pen-and-paper again. What with my advocacy of using technology and all. But gadgets loose power and my mind is still racing with thoughts.
There's still no replacing the control you have using pen and paper. Technology is undoubtedly catching up. But until I'm satisfied with how it feels (yes, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note), it's better to use this for now.
***
I'm still debating if I would open a new blog for all my writings (well, guess which side won?). It's hard to strike a balance between wanting my thought be heard (or read, in this case) and fearing some of my ideas will be stolen and used by others.
Maybe I'll just use it as a sounding board. Or a discussion board on theories and worlding. But the story will remain mine...
... or God's. It still is my goal to write Christian Sci-fi; to somehow impart morality and values into an otherwise secular frontier. I just pray I will be a worthy instrument.
It won't be a gospel, but more of a parable. And a future full of hope.
A universe waiting to burst forth from my mind.
It has been incubating since my high school days - when I was well into my Star Trek novels phase.
There is a part of me that wants to sit all day either with pen-and-paper or a laptop, sitting idly on our balcony overlooking the clubhouse, and putting it all down. I let the dam break; let looses the waters of thought and imagination and see it further break down the walls, further breaking forth in torrents and waves.
But with it, the devastation of my clockwork life. I have a family to take care of; to feed and nurture.
The dam of my mind needs to be there. It needs to regulate the urge and excitement. I have to re-purpose it to flow through turbines for energy, and for irrigation, to make it useful for growing.
As the waters build up, I have to write some down; to make it work; and for my overall sanity.
***
It's funny how I find myself grabbing pen-and-paper again. What with my advocacy of using technology and all. But gadgets loose power and my mind is still racing with thoughts.
There's still no replacing the control you have using pen and paper. Technology is undoubtedly catching up. But until I'm satisfied with how it feels (yes, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note), it's better to use this for now.
***
I'm still debating if I would open a new blog for all my writings (well, guess which side won?). It's hard to strike a balance between wanting my thought be heard (or read, in this case) and fearing some of my ideas will be stolen and used by others.
Maybe I'll just use it as a sounding board. Or a discussion board on theories and worlding. But the story will remain mine...
... or God's. It still is my goal to write Christian Sci-fi; to somehow impart morality and values into an otherwise secular frontier. I just pray I will be a worthy instrument.
It won't be a gospel, but more of a parable. And a future full of hope.
- transcribed, 16 Oct 13, Highlands Coffee, while waiting for Matt's school to finish
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