Showing posts with label CHIRSTMAS. Show all posts
Monday, March 18, 2013
Tell The Reader Why
While showing, rather than telling, is an excellent technique when it comes to moments of action, drama and emotion, there are times when telling is a far more useful and efficient approach to take.
One of those times is when dealing with motivation. Why a character does what he does is going to be a key part of any scene.
It�s important that you make the reader aware of the character�s reasons as quickly as possible. As a writer, you may think you can withhold that information and that the reader will assume you will fill them in later and not be too bothered. You would be wrong.
It�s incredibly annoying not knowing the reasons for a character�s actions, and it directly affects how you view what they�re doing. It's much more difficult to engage or empathise with a character when you don�t know their reasons.
But it�s hard to show motivation, especially if there are subtle or complex reasons behind a character�s behaviour. And in most cases it�s just a matter of practical necessity.
If a character is unscrewing an air vent in order to escape from a locked room, or if he�s doing it to hide a bag full of money in there, a longwinded demonstration of his reasons is less important than just letting the reader know which it is.
Waiting until he�s finished taking down the vent cover before telling us why he�s doing it may not seem like a big deal, but not knowing what�s going on isn�t a desirable state to be in. And holding back and then revealing fairly mundane information isn�t very impressive.
Far more effective to just tell the reader he�s hiding the money from his wife who�ll only ask where the money came from, and since he promised her he wouldn�t rob any more banks, she wouldn�t like the answer. And then move on.
Trying to �show� that motivation wouldn�t be difficult and totally unnecessary. And not telling the reader until later would gain nothing and just make the story seem vague.
It�s obvious why aspiring writers often take the vague approach. The idea of not knowing what�s going on and then finding out seems like a narrative structure that will keep readers engaged, but it�s an artificial way to do it. If a guy is searching under his bed for something there�s no point in making a mystery out of it if all he�s doing is looking for his shoes.
There�s also the issue of POV. If the character knows why they�re doing what they�re doing, so should the reader (assuming we�re in that character�s POV). Not revealing the reasons just feels unnecessarily coy.
Of course, if the POV character doesn�t know why they�re doing what they�re doing then neither will the reader, but then someone should ask them (or they should ask themselves) why they�re acting in this way. You don�t have to provide an answer, but showing the reader you are aware of the lack of motivation will buy you time. Not for very long though.
It�s incredibly annoying not knowing the reasons for a character�s actions, and it directly affects how you view what they�re doing. It's much more difficult to engage or empathise with a character when you don�t know their reasons.
But it�s hard to show motivation, especially if there are subtle or complex reasons behind a character�s behaviour. And in most cases it�s just a matter of practical necessity.
If a character is unscrewing an air vent in order to escape from a locked room, or if he�s doing it to hide a bag full of money in there, a longwinded demonstration of his reasons is less important than just letting the reader know which it is.
Waiting until he�s finished taking down the vent cover before telling us why he�s doing it may not seem like a big deal, but not knowing what�s going on isn�t a desirable state to be in. And holding back and then revealing fairly mundane information isn�t very impressive.
Far more effective to just tell the reader he�s hiding the money from his wife who�ll only ask where the money came from, and since he promised her he wouldn�t rob any more banks, she wouldn�t like the answer. And then move on.
Trying to �show� that motivation wouldn�t be difficult and totally unnecessary. And not telling the reader until later would gain nothing and just make the story seem vague.
It�s obvious why aspiring writers often take the vague approach. The idea of not knowing what�s going on and then finding out seems like a narrative structure that will keep readers engaged, but it�s an artificial way to do it. If a guy is searching under his bed for something there�s no point in making a mystery out of it if all he�s doing is looking for his shoes.
There�s also the issue of POV. If the character knows why they�re doing what they�re doing, so should the reader (assuming we�re in that character�s POV). Not revealing the reasons just feels unnecessarily coy.
Of course, if the POV character doesn�t know why they�re doing what they�re doing then neither will the reader, but then someone should ask them (or they should ask themselves) why they�re acting in this way. You don�t have to provide an answer, but showing the reader you are aware of the lack of motivation will buy you time. Not for very long though.
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Thursday, March 14, 2013
Let's Play Civ 5: Gods & Kings - Byzantine Empire
Let's Play Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings: Slow-paced Civ 5 gameplay.
Sid Meier's Civilization V (also known as Civilization 5 or Civ 5) is a turn-based, 4X computer game developed by Firaxis, released on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, 2010.
Leader: Theodora
Civilization: Byzantine Empire
GAME SETUP:
Random Leader - Random Civilization
Map Type: Continent
Map Size: Standard
Difficulty Level: King
Game Pace: Standard
Watch Part 1:
Watch Part 1 on YouTube: Let's Play Civ 5 - Part 1
Playlist (All Episodes)
Watch the playlist on YouTube: Let's Play Civ 5
Short URL for the playlist (Share with friends!): http://goo.gl/gDxiS
You can find this let's play and more gaming videos from my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/TheZemalf - Click Here to Subscribe on YouTube!
Sid Meier's Civilization V (also known as Civilization 5 or Civ 5) is a turn-based, 4X computer game developed by Firaxis, released on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, 2010.
Let's Play Civ 5: Gods & Kings
Leader: Theodora
Civilization: Byzantine Empire
GAME SETUP:
Random Leader - Random Civilization
Map Type: Continent
Map Size: Standard
Difficulty Level: King
Game Pace: Standard
Watch Part 1:
Watch Part 1 on YouTube: Let's Play Civ 5 - Part 1
Playlist (All Episodes)
Watch the playlist on YouTube: Let's Play Civ 5
Short URL for the playlist (Share with friends!): http://goo.gl/gDxiS
You can find this let's play and more gaming videos from my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/TheZemalf - Click Here to Subscribe on YouTube!
The Little Reasons A Story Works
It�s not enough to have something dramatic happen in a story. The reason why it happens is also important.
In terms of impact on a reader, there�s a big difference between a character getting upset about losing their house to the bank and getting upset because their favourite tv show got cancelled.
What happens keeps the reader interested in the short term. Why it happens is what keeps them interested over the course of an entire novel.
For the big things, the major plot points, the premise, the reasons why it�s happening will be something the writer is probably already aware of and working on to make sure its importance is clear.
The guy doesn�t want the girl to leave because he loves her, the secret agent wants to find the bomb before it kills everyone, the cop wants to catch the serial killer because yada yada.
Obviously, being aware you need a reason is only part of it. You still have to come up with decent ideas and execute them well, but as long as you know where to make those reasons clear and interesting, you�ll have as good a chance of making it work as is possible.
However, the big moments aren�t the only moments in a story. Characters have to go about doing stuff, getting to places, interacting with each other. Those scenes also require characters to have reasons for doing what they�re doing.
Since those moments aren�t of such great consequence, it can be easy to let them slide. Make them as short and quick as possible and get them out of the way. You need a guy to go to the store because once he gets there he finds the place overrun with Martians and the story gets going. So he tells his wife he�s going to get some milk and off he goes.
And that�s perfectly plausible. It won�t have readers throwing the book down in disgust, they�ll keep reading, probably, as long as things don�t get too pedestrian. But not turning them off isn�t really where you want to aim for. The question is, will it keep them engrossed and turning the pages?
Because flat, generic, emotionally bland scenes don�t tend to hold the attention. And just because we haven�t got to the bit with the aliens yet, doesn�t mean it�s okay to coast.
If, for example, the wife wants him to get five things from the store and tells him to write them down so he won�t forget, and he gets pissed off because she has no faith in him and he refuses to write a list but she texts him the list, so he takes a photo of a dog taking a dump in the street and sends it to her... well, maybe you don�t have to go quite that far. My point is you can create tension and emotion and reveal character and have a dynamic already in place using the smallest of scenes.
That way, when he does get to the Martians in the 7-11, he�s not going to arrive like he�s idling in neutral, and the reader isn�t still waiting for the story to start.
In real life, people do things for the same reasons as everyone else. If I say I�m eating a sandwich you won�t require an explanation, you�ll just assume I�m hungry and eating is what you do when you�re hungry. As a writer, though, there is room in the seemingly ordinary to stimulate the reader�s interest.
If a man says he�s going to the bank, there�s no reason why the bank scene can�t be interesting and engaging.
If man says he�s going to the tanning salon, there�s no reason why that won�t be an entertaining scene.
But if a man says he�s going to the bank, but he drives past the bank and pulls up outside a tanning salon, you�ve already got the reader�s interest before the scene has started.
You can get away with giving characters the usual, familiar reasons for doing things, but the potential for the unexpected or unfamiliar to engage a reader often goes unexploited.
If you look at any moment in a story and the reason why the person is doing what they�re doing, and then just ask yourself if the reason could be something more interesting, or if the character�s mood could be better shown, chances are you�ll be able to engage the reader and start building momentum so that you�re already up and running by the time you get to the take off point.
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Monday, March 11, 2013
When To State The Obvious In A Story
Not only is it difficult to know how much information to give readers so they know what�s going on, it�s also tricky knowing when to give it to them.
There are many ways to do it right, but there are two very specific ways to do it wrong.
One is signposting, where you say up front what�s about to happen, and then it happens. You end up stealing your own thunder.
The other is burying the lead, where you put off mentioning the elephant in the room, so that when you do eventually bring it up not only is everyone taken by surprise, but now it appears to be a teleporting elephant.
There are many ways to do it right, but there are two very specific ways to do it wrong.
One is signposting, where you say up front what�s about to happen, and then it happens. You end up stealing your own thunder.
The other is burying the lead, where you put off mentioning the elephant in the room, so that when you do eventually bring it up not only is everyone taken by surprise, but now it appears to be a teleporting elephant.
Signposting is usually due to a feeling that things won�t be clear unless you point out what�s about to happen.
This can take the form of a preamble: The story I�m about to tell you changed my life forever...
Or it can be a case of telling readers what you plan to show them anyway: Mary was angry. She clenched her fists, stormed over to where Tina was having lunch, and spat in her face.
The root cause is insecurity.
Deep down you suspect if you don�t preface what you�re about to say maybe your intention won�t be clear.
And you could well be right. But explaining a joke doesn�t make it funnier. And neither will blurting out the punchline before the set-up.
It�s a case of having to trust in what you�ve written, and if it doesn�t work (which it won�t a lot of the time), taking your lumps and learning from it.
Burying the lead is the opposite problem. This is where you mention something important much later than you should have.
Often this is just an oversight. As the writer you know what�s going on, who and what is in a scene, but you can forget the reader isn�t aware of these things. A critique partner is the best cure for this.
But sometimes a writer can get so carried away describing the cave they don't mention the dragon that�s living there. And when they finally do, it seems odd no one noticed the big, scaly monster for so long.
It can be an easy thing to convince yourself you�re building up to a big reveal. Tension, suspense, anticipation�these are all solid narrative techniques. But it has to make sense. Choosing not to reveal the obvious for effect will seem contrived.
As long as you pay attention to the POV, you should be able to avoid this, or at least be able to recognise it when it�s pointed out. If the POV character is aware of something then the reader should be too.
Both signposting and burying the lead can be used to a writer�s advantage, if you use them to misdirect or to add voice.
For example, in the case of signposting:
His parents had called him Quiet Joe because he was such a noisy child. He was always shouting or screaming or laughing for no reason and eventually someone would say, �Quiet, Joe� and the name stuck.
Even though the first line provides an explanation, it doesn�t make very much sense until the rest of the story.
Or, for burying the lead, something like:
This can take the form of a preamble: The story I�m about to tell you changed my life forever...
Or it can be a case of telling readers what you plan to show them anyway: Mary was angry. She clenched her fists, stormed over to where Tina was having lunch, and spat in her face.
The root cause is insecurity.
Deep down you suspect if you don�t preface what you�re about to say maybe your intention won�t be clear.
And you could well be right. But explaining a joke doesn�t make it funnier. And neither will blurting out the punchline before the set-up.
It�s a case of having to trust in what you�ve written, and if it doesn�t work (which it won�t a lot of the time), taking your lumps and learning from it.
Burying the lead is the opposite problem. This is where you mention something important much later than you should have.
Often this is just an oversight. As the writer you know what�s going on, who and what is in a scene, but you can forget the reader isn�t aware of these things. A critique partner is the best cure for this.
But sometimes a writer can get so carried away describing the cave they don't mention the dragon that�s living there. And when they finally do, it seems odd no one noticed the big, scaly monster for so long.
It can be an easy thing to convince yourself you�re building up to a big reveal. Tension, suspense, anticipation�these are all solid narrative techniques. But it has to make sense. Choosing not to reveal the obvious for effect will seem contrived.
As long as you pay attention to the POV, you should be able to avoid this, or at least be able to recognise it when it�s pointed out. If the POV character is aware of something then the reader should be too.
Both signposting and burying the lead can be used to a writer�s advantage, if you use them to misdirect or to add voice.
For example, in the case of signposting:
His parents had called him Quiet Joe because he was such a noisy child. He was always shouting or screaming or laughing for no reason and eventually someone would say, �Quiet, Joe� and the name stuck.
Even though the first line provides an explanation, it doesn�t make very much sense until the rest of the story.
Or, for burying the lead, something like:
When he got home everything was as he�d left it. The dishes were unwashed in the kitchen, his clothes were on the bedroom floor, his wife�s body was in the lounge, the lawn still needed cutting. He couldn�t decide which to deal with first, so he made a list.
Revealing the wife�s body so far down sets the tone for the story. But it has to be clear that the approach is deliberate. Not that that guarantees it will work, but a reader might at least give you a few paragraphs to see if it goes anywhere interesting.
In both these examples, going against expectation is what makes it work. First, though, you need understand the form and know what the expectation is.
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Friday, March 8, 2013
Vertibird vehicle stats
These stats are for the two types of VB-02 Vertical Take Off and Landing craft "Vertibird" used by the Enclave around 2241.
Vehicle: Troop transport
Acc/TS: 15/48
Toughness: 20 (4)
Crew: 2+10
Cost: Military
Notes: Climb 0, Fixed Gun, Heavy Armor, Heavy Weapons
Weapons: 1 (nose: H&K L30 Gatling Laser)
Vehicle: Gunship
Acc/TS: 20/60
Toughness: 24 (6)
Crew: 2+6
Cost: Military
Notes: Climb 1, Fixed Gun, Heavy Armor, Heavy Weapons
Weapons: 4 (nose: H&K L30 Gatling Laser, wings: 2 x Rockwell BigBazooka Rocket Launcher, bombs: Mini-nukes: 4D8 x 10 damage in a LBT, AP 10, Medium Radiation check)
Vehicle: Troop transport
Acc/TS: 15/48
Toughness: 20 (4)
Crew: 2+10
Cost: Military
Notes: Climb 0, Fixed Gun, Heavy Armor, Heavy Weapons
Weapons: 1 (nose: H&K L30 Gatling Laser)
Vehicle: Gunship
Acc/TS: 20/60
Toughness: 24 (6)
Crew: 2+6
Cost: Military
Notes: Climb 1, Fixed Gun, Heavy Armor, Heavy Weapons
Weapons: 4 (nose: H&K L30 Gatling Laser, wings: 2 x Rockwell BigBazooka Rocket Launcher, bombs: Mini-nukes: 4D8 x 10 damage in a LBT, AP 10, Medium Radiation check)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Character & Leadership
When you deal with human beings in leadership situations, you deal with what is essential to the study of leadership, namely, moral and ethical issues. Through the study of lives, one finds out how individuals have confronted specific actions and decisions relating to leadership positions. - James MacGregor Burns, December 4, 2004
The film �Lincoln� is the talk of the town. It has resurrected an interest in the leadership styles of presidents, a topic that has been written about by many historians and leadership scholars. We offer an undergraduate course on the topic. The film confirms my readings about Lincoln�s character� integrity, trust, honesty, fairness, a �sharing leader�(Burns� term) along with a strong sense of values, a commitment to them (example: liberty and equality), and the ability to communicate (persuade). Lincoln�s �approach shows that truth is a common denominator for all interactions, among any group, and with people of varying personalities.� (D. Phillips, Lincoln On Leadership.)
While there are no specific formulas for successful, effective leadership, there are guidelines that potential and current leaders should not ignore. Studying Lincoln would be a good place to start. Other examples are worth investigating as well.
�Character,� according to Zenger and Folkman (The Extraordinary Leader)
is �the center pole, the core of leadership effectiveness.� Greenstein (The Presidential Difference) offers six qualities (might they be called �character traits?�) related to the leadership styles and performances of presidents. These are public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence
Historian and presidential scholar, Robert Dallek�s �Lessons from the Lives and Times of Presidents,� describes seven factors that distinguish effective and ineffective presidential leadership - vision, pragmatism, charisma, consensus, trust, judgment, and luck. Notice the �character factors� specified or implied�trust, perseverance, integrity, respect, responsibility, etc.
The Turknett Leadership Group (www.turknett.com) offers the �Leadership Character Model� stating that �Leadership is about character � who you are not what you do.� The model includes three core qualities as the keys of �leadership character�:
Integrity -- honesty, credibility, trustworthiness. �Without integrity, no leader can be successful.�
Respect -- empathy, lack of blame, motivational mastery, humility. �Respect helps create a culture of partnership and teamwork.�
Responsibility -- self-confidence, accountability, focus on the whole, courage. �Great leaders accept full responsibility for personal success and for the success of projects, teams, and the entire organization.�
Those of you in the education profession are �character educators.� You deal with �moral and ethical issues� everyday. You are also educational leaders positioned at all levels�in the classroom, at the school, in central office, in your professional community, and in the public arena.
It might be wise to examine who you are (your character and values), how you perform (your skills and talents), and how you lead (sharing, partnerships, team-building).
By Ed DeRoche
By Ed DeRoche
The Perfectly Balanced Story
When you tell someone a story in person, you probably know the person you�re talking to. You will at least have a rough idea of how familiar they are with the people and places you�re referring to. And if you misjudge, they can always ask you questions.
In fiction, it�s much harder to know exactly how much information a reader needs or wants. And even if you did, it would be impossible to provide since you�ll have more than one reader, and each will have different requirements.
You can�t get the balance right, because there is no way to please everyone.
However, that doesn�t mean you can�t get it wrong. You may not be able to please all the people all the time, but you can certainly piss them all off.
You can treat the reader like someone who knows nothing about the world you�re writing about and start from scratch, explaining every little thing, and for some types of stories that works fine (perhaps by having a character who�s new and needs to be instructed in how things work). But that can still feel plodding and pedestrian.
As with most techniques, deciding on the approach is only the first step�you still have to make it interesting and entertaining.
The right method poorly executed is no better than the wrong method.
In my own experience, I find what usually pulls me out of a story that seems to be rolling along just fine is either too much information (and it gets boring), or too little (and I get confused).
And while you can�t please everyone, you can at least be aware of potential problem areas that nobody enjoys.
Too much info breaks down into three areas:
Rambling
You start describing something, whether an object or a philosophy or the inner workings of a combine harvester, and you just can�t stop. You�ve read long, sweeping passages by other writers that seemed poetic and lyrical, so maybe what you�re writing will be received in the same way.
I think for most writers have trouble policing themselves but getting someone to read your work will usually bring it to their attention. And if no one says it�s terrible, are they telling you it�s great or not saying anything at all? Because if it was worth spending all those words describing the sunlight shimmering on the lake, don�t you think someone would have mentioned it?
Redundancy
In the real world you often have to repeat yourself. A guy tells his wife what happened at work, then he tells his mate down the pub, then he has to explain it to the police. And then there�s the lawyer, and the judge and jury...
For a reader, seeing the same information in various different contexts is the same thing over and over. That�s not to say you should never repeat yourself on the page. Readers occasionally need a reminder, or a plan might be complicated enough to bear clarifying, but there are ways of investing each version with its own uniqueness.
The man might tell his wife about the girl who ran out of the boss�s office screaming, but he might add that it was the same girl he slept with at the office party, and deny the same to the police when she turns up dead.
When information gets repeated, it�s the parts that change that attract the attention.
Irrelevancy
Going off on a tangent or providing supplementary details that fill out the picture can be quite interesting, even entertaining.
But most of the time it slows things down and isn�t as interesting as the writer thinks.
If the story�s working, the reader will want to get on with it. If you indulge yourself in Tarantinoesque banter and nobody minds, what does that say about how engaged the reader is with the main action?
If it�s done well, and if the pacing and structure are designed to accommodate it, I definitely think it can work, but it has to be concise and it helps if it�s funny.
Too little information is usually due to the following:
Assumptions
By the second or third draft the writer knows pretty much everything there is to know about the world he�s created and the people in it. This knowledge can make things appear to be clear when they aren�t.
Personal bias can make arguments seem logical when they aren�t. Motivations for the way characters behave may be in the writer�s head but not in the text. Information that was in old drafts may have been removed, but feel like it�s still in there.
This is probably the easiest one to fix. Nobody will understand what�s going on.
Intentional Vagueness
In order to make things mysterious and intriguing why not make things a little obscure?
Holding back information is of course a tries and tested way to hook the reader, but there are only so many questions a person can take before they start requiring a few answers.
There�s nothing wrong with needing to find things out�it�s a key part of most stories�but you can�t keep piling up the mysteries without any development. It makes the character seem stupid and the reader feel like they�re wasting their time.
Unimportance
A character goes off to do something but it�s got nothing to do with the story, you just needed them out of the way for a while. It doesn�t matter what they do in that time, it has no bearing on the narrative so why waste time mentioning it?
The reader, however, does not know whether it�s relevant to the story or not, and since things the reader doesn�t know often turn out to be important, it�s a nagging distraction and a source of frustration to have something brought up and then never referred to again.
If it�s important enough to mention, it�s important enough to go into detail. If it isn�t worth going into detail, it isn�t worth mentioning in the first place.
When it comes down to it, I would say it�s better to have too much information rather than too little. Neither is great, but with too much you still know what�s going on, even if some readers end up skimming. With too little, once you get lost or confused, it can put you off reading any further. Yes it might all make sense in the end, but who wants to struggle through another couple of hundred pages to find out?
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