The Writer’s Craft

Knee to the Face

Chuck Wendig’s blog post on defending the inclusion of *that rape scene* is spot on, and much more gentlemanly than my own response, which is a knee to the face. Because, you know, knee-jerk feminist alarmists

Chuck Wendig’s Gentlemanly Post: YOUR DEFENSE OF THAT RAPE SCENE MAKES YOU SOUND KINDA GROSS

“You’re just mad because a character you like had a bad day!”

The backlash isn’t about the use of rape in a single scene in a single episode of a single show, any more than the Ferguson riots were about a single incident of police brutality. It’s about a pattern of using rape scenes as a go-to plot device. It’s not about “Oh no, Sansa got raped!” so much as “Seriously, another rape? Can’t you show us anything else?”

Also, I don’t like Sansa. I find her vapid.

Also, being raped is not like stubbing a toe, so let’s not treat it in such a cavalier manner.

“Oh, but they lopped Theon’s dick off!”

Yes, and if they had also lopped off the weiners of Robert, Ned, Littlefinger, Jaime, Tyrion, Sam, and the Hound, you’d probably think that was excessive. You’d start wondering whether the writers hated men or something…or maybe they just like to watch weiner-lopping.

“Historical accuracy! Women got raped!”

If you’re going for historical accuracy in a medieval setting, you should have fewer full sets of even white teeth. Perhaps instead of rape, you should have half your cast die of typhus. But that would feel odd, wouldn’t it? Having the same thing happen over and over again to a bunch of different characters, for no apparent reason?

Also, this is fiction, stupid. Anything that happens in a fictional world is a choice made by that world’s creator or creators…unless Annie Wilkes is standing over you with a mallet. And I’m thinking that if Annie Wilkes was standing over you with a mallet, you’d find something besides rape to write about.

“They burned a lot of people alive, too. Why aren’t you yelling about that?”

True, they have burned a lot of people alive in this particular show. And I’m sure that if a significant percentage of the show’s intended audience–you know, people–had suffered the experience of being burned alive, they might find the minimization and normalization of their experience traumatic.

But I’m not just talking about this show.

Plus, this argument really makes you look like an asshole. I’m not a proctologist, so I don’t have to deal with assholes.

“But the scene shows that Theon…”

Stop. Stop right there. If you want man-pain, take off your cup and come spar with me.

 

Entertainment is neither created nor enjoyed in a vaccuum, and if you don’t understand that rape in popular culture and rape culture and rape in real life are related, then you are THICK IN THE GODDAMN HEAD and unlikely to be cured even by a knee to the face.

Maybe.

Maybe instead of me explaining–again–why I don’t enjoy watching a woman get raped in three episodes out of four in a show I otherwise really like, you should explain to me why you *do* enjoy it.

Think about it, eh?

Jai tu wai

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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Wake the Bear!

So, the other day I was asked by a nice young writer whether and how a group might sneak past a hibernating bear in its den without waking it. He wanted to write a believable scene and wanted to ask a real barbarian how such a thing might be accomplished.

Can’t fault him for that, I suppose, but I was horrified.

I mean, what a waste of a perfectly good bear.

I get it, I really do. You love your character and don’t want anything bad to happen to her. You’ve probably got an end scene already in mind, complete with explosions and disemboweled villains and teeth-rattling Epic Victory guitar solos. As she takes the path from Innocent Farmgirl to Cyborg Pirate Queen, you want to wrap her in cotton and bubble wrap and Northern Quilted Bathroom Tissue. The first time Sulema ever rode through the Valley of Death, she was able to sneak through without much of anything happening to her. Phew!  Made it!

And then I thought, wait a minute…I’ve got this perfectly good Valley of Death, and she just SNEAKS THROUGH UNSCATHED? Why would I do that? Do I hate my readers? I promised them the Valley of Death and gave them the Valley of Nothing Ever Happens.

So, yeah, spoiler alert: nobody rides through the Valley of Death unscathed, not anymore.

If you’ve got a cave with a bear in it, for fuck’s sake, wake the bear! Let it chase your characters, maul a couple, maybe eat one. If your cave doesn’t have a bear, throw one in there. Give her babies to protect and take away her coffee. And maybe an earthquake too for good measure.

Make your characters pay for daring to be in your story, because the payoff for your story–and for your readers–will be sweet as honey eaten from the skull of an enemy.

Jai tu wai,

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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The Blade Itself: Book Review

I belong to a very few Facebook groups; one of my favorite is Grimdark Fiction Readers and Writers. I enjoy gritty tales with morally ambiguous characters; GRR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire,of course, Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire. I write a little bit of it, myself.

Joe Abercrombie’s name is mentioned in that group so many times that I began to feel a bit remiss in not having read any of his books, so I broke open my trusty old Kindle and bought The Blade Itself.

Holy shit, can this guy write.

I loved his characters; I did start feeling a bit of female rage brewing at his all-male cast until about a third of the way into the book, when he introduced a thoroughly enjoyable female POV character. I would have liked to see more women represented, because it’s an awesome sandbox full of awesome toys and girls like to play too. But I loved his cast, each and every one of them, I hated the bad guys and I hated the good guys sometimes as well. Abercrombie is a master at presenting a diverse cast of characters, each with their own voice and story.

His worldbuilding is seamless. I’d hate to live there, but I love reading about it.

And as for his storytelling…again, holy shit. Abercrombie weaves a tale so subtly and urgently that your coffee will sit at your elbow and get cold, your phone calls will go unanswered, and you will occasionally forget to breathe.

And it only gets better.

Why are you still here? Go forth and read!

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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The Hero’s Journey: Call to Adventure (or: Get The Hell Out of My Pantry!)

Most of you who are writers have probably already heard about the Hero’s Journey.  Described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces (1949), The Hero’s Journey—or monomyth—is a basic pattern that can be found in stories and legends around the world:

The Hero's Journey

The Hero’s Journey

The Journey can be broken down into four stages.  In Stage 1, the Hero leaves the familiar world behind.  In Stage 2, the Hero learns to survive in a strange new world.  In Stage 3, the Hero uses this new knowledge to master the unknown world, and in Stage 4 the Hero returns to the familiar world, having gained some necessary bit of knowledge or shiny object.

This is an oversimplification of a very complex and fascinating topic.  I would encourage you, especially if you are a writer, to read further here:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHerosJourney

And here:

http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php

And here:

http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero’s_journey.htm

Consider this your Call to Adventure.

I’ve spent a lot of time geeking out about the Hero’s Journey, because storytelling is kind of my thing.  If writing is an adventure—and believe me, writing is an adventure—I feel like I’m at stage 2.5.  I’ve almost got the hang of this strange new world and I’m getting to the point where I don’t cut myself with my own sword too often.  And I’d like to share some thoughts on the Hero’s Journey in storytelling.

I sat down one day and made a Hero’s Journey spreadsheet, and broke down parts of the story lines of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Robert Jordan’s Eye of the World, and George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones.

This is what I do in my spare time.  Don’t judge me.

When I did this, I noticed something interesting.

In each story, the Call to Adventure was precipitated by an unlooked-for and somewhat unwanted visitor.  Here we have a protagonist, our will-be Hero, happily smoking a pipe, helping Dad with farmboy chores, or lopping off the head of a deserter—Familiar World stuff—when along comes a Sage with some bit of news.  Grab your boots and walking-stick, it’s time for an adventure.

What I found interesting was the thought that this Sage—who may become a mentor or helper character in the not too distant future—is an unwelcome visitor.  Of course the Call to Adventure is often resisted at first, because who wants to leave a nice Hobbit-hole and a larder full of cheese and bacon?  But the Hero’s initial reaction to the person initiating the call is worth examining further.  This visitor is often seen as a helper or mentor character, but I would argue that this is also an antagonist.

I began to call this character the Fey Visitor.  There’s something otherworldly, powerful, and vaguely frightening about this person.  This visitor is viewed with suspicion and unease, and a general wish that they would just go away and leave the Hero in peace.

Of course, the Fey Visitor is a herald to another character or group of characters—Nazgul, Myrdraal, or Lannisters—and this visitor is a direct threat to our Hero’s safety, to the extent that the Hero will be forced to embark upon the journey, and may also be forced to rely upon the Fey Visitor’s strange powers for survival.

I call this second visitor the Fell Visitor, and see it as a dark-mirror image of the Fey Visitor.  It seems to me that a story may be enhanced and deepened if the storyteller keeps these two Visitors in mind, plays them off against one another, and has fun comparing and contrasting them as two sides of the same coin.  Moiraine and the Myrddraal, King Robert Bareatheon and Cersei Lannister, Gandalf and the Nazgul.  Someone who wants you to move and change, and someone else who will kill you if you don’t.

As the Hero continues into the strange new world, eventually lessons will be learned and skills gained that will enable the Hero to overpower either of these antagonists, but for now I will leave Frodo trembling in fear as he agrees to this impossible task, when all he really wants to do is go home, have a smoke, and sit down to a nice little dinner.

 

Jai to wai,

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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Life is Short. Go Long.

I am posting this in thoughtful response to the stir caused by a comment I posted on social media last week. In a nutshell–hardly realizing I was cracking open a nutshell–I suggested that it is counterproductive and even illogical for our society (and especially artists) to be so discouraging of a career in arts. Of course my focus was writing, but I would extend this message to any career in the arts. Further, I declared my intention to personally ignore such fallacious and harmful advice, and suggested that anyone who was so determined to believe that a career in writing is simply not possible was welcome to remain behind flipping burgers as I proceed to storm the castle.

I was surprised and dismayed at the vehemence with which some folks not only cling to, but defend the argument that writing is a poor and foolish career choice. After all, this is a writers’ group. A couple of people attacked the idea that writing is a valid choice of careers–and attacked me personally–so angrily that I ended up blocking them.

I don’t have time for internet duels; my siege engine is only 50% edited. A 165k word count trebuchet takes a lot of perfecting.

I was even accused of being biased against those who work in the food industry. As if my time in the Army was not often spent at more distasteful duties than flipping burgers. Let me assure you, I don’t think less of anyone for their choice of careers (or, in this economy, whatever job someone can scrape up in order to make a living).

The same, evidently, cannot be said of those who would insist that writing as a vocation is a path littered with the bones of fools and miscreants.

Writers, for the most part, do not have an easy time of it. I can tell you just from my experience that finishing a fantasy doorstopper has taken more work and skill than anything I’ve ever attempted, and that includes learning Arabic, getting  Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees concurrently, and raising a houseful of children as a single parent.  A lot of 4 am, a lot of taking crap jobs so that I could keep a roof over our heads for just one more chapter, a lot of learning new skills and letting go of ego. I would say that the willingness to work hard, a willingness to let go of preconceptions, and blind tenacity are more important than sheer writing talent. If you wish to make a living at this, you need to be able to stop wishing and start doing. treat it like a career. Read trade journals, study study study, learn learn learn, write and toss, lather, rinse, repeat till your spine is screaming and your wrists are swollen and your eyes are begging for mercy.

But don’t listen to those who say it’s not worth it, it’s impossible, only xyz percent of people ever sell, advances suck, indie publishers suck, self publishing is for idiots and the Big Five will never publish another book. For those folks who say it is impossible, get real, be grateful for the opportunity to flip burgers and keep your eyes firmly fixed on the ground, I say, you’re right. A career in writing will always be out of reach for those who refuse to lift their gaze to the stars.

As for me, I am casting my fishing-net at a dragon, I am storming the castle. Life is short. Go long.

I hope you decide to breach those walls, too.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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Footloose and Fancy Free

What’s next for this author?  Why, a short story that I intend to submit to the Writers of the Future contest.  Due to the nature of this contest, I will not be able to share any updates or excerpts.  When I am finished with this little gem, however, I will be revising The Road to Min Yaarif and likely sharing that bloody-sweet little story in its entirety.  Stay tuned!

 

Jai tu wai,

 

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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The Neverend

I’ve been gone a lot lately.

I had a book to finish, you see…

The End

 

I would like to thank my lovely and talented beta reader, Kristine Alden; without her love and encouragement, I’d still be stuck at .002% and crying into my beer.

I would also like to thank my beloved children, who are still under the illusion that their mother knows what the hell she’s doing.

Jai tu wai, folks…

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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Sometimes, it Works

Chapter 30 was a pain in my ass.

Since I decided, with excellent help and coaching, to shorten this book by 30 chapters (120k words +/-), I noticed that one of my pov characters ends up with only two chapters in this book. No spare room for a mediocre chapter (not that there’s ever any excuse for a mediocre chapter). I had to turn what was supposed to be a bridge into a shining landscape.

Chapter 30 was a pain in my ass.

Since her character arc was ending so abruptly, I was caught a bit short.  How do I showcase her importance in two scenes? How to leave my audience wanting more of her? Should I just cut her out as a pov character? (Nope, can’t do that, she’s a load-bearing wall in this story). Spent a whole day writing a scene with this character in Atualon, decided that was ‘meh’, spent another day banging my head on the brick wall…and then on Thursday I finished it. It was okay. It was pretty good. I had most of the words in the right order.

Friday morning, on the way into town, it hit me as if that brick wall had fallen on my head. I didn’t have any time to write until that evening–even writers have to pay rent–so I let it percolate in my hindbrain all day long.  Got home and struggled with writing it because it’s an intense scene (edited for spoilers, but it’s killing me not to tell you).

Chapter 30 was a pain in my ass. And it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Jai tu wai,

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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Do you want to sell your book?

…or are you thinking about the next ten years?

I ran across this question while reading comments made by Elizabeth Weed of Weed Literary LLC http://weedliterary.com/ regarding the role of a literary agent in shaping an author’s career:

http://writerunboxed.com/2014/04/13/an-agents-role-in-shaping-an-authors-career-and-the-second-book/#comments

This is an excellent question, and one I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.

…you know, when I’m not raising kids, working full time, working on my Masters’ thesis, or finishing up my 180,000 +/- word count beast of a doorstopper manuscript.

So, do I want to sell my book, or am I thinking about the next ten years?

I don’t want to just sell one book; I don’t even just want to sell one series of books. I am definitely looking forward to a long term career as a professional liar writer.

To that end, I am constantly looking to improve my writing and storytelling skills, looking for ways to make my story deeper, better, more resonant. I study books I love and books I hate. I study movies, and music, and the works of visual artists. Always searching for that bit of brilliance I might take home and use to make my own bower that much brighter.

I’m finishing up my first book and already have a rough outline for the second; I move back and forth between them, tightening and improving story lines, and searching for new ways I might make my readers cringe, or cheer, or cry. I want Pat Rothfuss to curse my name because I made him stay up till three in the morning reading my book. I want Neil Gaiman to read one of my stories and say, “Damn, I wish I’d written that.”

It’s very hard work. But I don’t just want to be a writer…I want to write.

Jai tu wai,

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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Worldbuilding in Fantasy: Hunting Mad Honey

First, a disclaimer: I am pretty much full of hot air, so take everything I say here with a grain of salt.  I am, after all, aspiring to be a professional liar.

I would like to examine worldbuilding, because this is a topic that a lot of readers and writers of fantasy find fascinating, and because it’s something I enjoy.  By ‘enjoy’ I really mean ‘obsess over as only a geek can’.  Visiting other writers’ new worlds and midwifing my own from the nether-goo…oh yeah, baby, that’s the stuff.  That’s the magic powder and I can’t get enough of it.

So here I am, a green belt at best, pontificating on how to build worlds for your fantasy writing.  Again, hot air.  I’m not going to tell you how to build a world, or even (in much detail) how I build my world. I’ve been working on Atualon and the surrounding countries for quite some time now, and it’s been more an off-the-beaten-path meander than a forced march with guaranteed conquest at journey’s end.

And that’s why I’m not going to tell you how to build a world.

…Wait, what?…

There are a fucktillion other articles and books out there about worldbuilding, and particularly about worldbuilding for fantasy.  Brent Weeks has done it, Nnedi Okorafor has discussed her worldbuilding in interviews, and so has Pat Rothfuss.  Brandon Sanderson, praise his generous heart, has myriad tutorials on the web that address the issue.  I’m not going to include links, because if you wander around the internet looking for this kind of stuff you are likely to find something even cooler and more useful, and who am I to hamper your destiny?  Besides…if you’re reading this, you probably have access to a search engine, and if you’re too lazy to do your own research I can’t help you.

These fine folks, who are all more experienced than and perhaps not as full of hot air as I am, will tell you to figure out coinage systems and architecture, flora and fauna, religious and magic systems…yes.  Do that.  It’s interesting, it’s cool, it’s necessary.

…But wait, there’s more…

Brandon Sanderson, in a recent interview (this is me still not providing links) mentioned that he does not think writers have yet scratched the surface of epic fantasy.  I hollered “YES!” and startled my dog.  Because there’s more.

Now, I love a big stone castle as much as anyone, rabbit stew after a long day’s ride, and good old-fashioned wizards with their pet crows (or owls).  I can watch the Rohirrim ride downhill and smash into the enemy forces three times a day and never get tired of it.  And who doesn’t love a folded-steel broadsword?  Especially if it’s got a name?  That’s all good stuff.  Arthurian legend from a new point of view?  Yes please, and a side order of Fae magic to go.

But there is so much more to our world and our world’s history than the Lady of the Lake and brooding castles made of stone, there are more stories than the rise of Christianity and the fall of Rome.  Werewolves and zombies and vampires?  Yes!  But what else have you got for me?

In building my world, I wanted something different.  Not necessarily more, or better, just…a different flavor.  Squid curry instead of rabbit stew.  Tournaments that are more closely related to World Wrestling Federation cinema than to the gladiator pit.  Matriarchy in the desert…and humans that are not within reach of the top of the food chain. Pemmican.  Potlatch.  Naked people stranded in olive trees.

Inspiration for worldbuilding is everywhere.  I could spend (have spent) entire days watching BBC and National Geographic specials on everything from super volcanos to clouded leopards to radioactive wolves and hallucinogenic honey.

Okay, I’m actually going to share a link for this last, because these Nepalese honey hunters could give our Navy SEALs a run for their money, in sheer what-the-fuck-dude-machismo.  Seriously:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_b2i_FvYPw

Read about the Black Death: how it spread, how it affected whole societies, how it altered the course of history.  Read about portable blacksmith forges used during America’s civil war, farming with water buffalo, the growth cycle of a bamboo forest.  Types of coins used by humans, medicinal plants, implements of torture.  Imagine using a trebuchet to fling a rotting cow’s carcass into a city you’ve besieged.  You know you want to do it.  Because flinging a rotting cow into the enemy’s town square.

Okay, one more link: The French Knight’s Guide to Trebuchets.

http://thisiskira.com/portfolio/trebuchet-tech-illustration/

And go as far off the beaten path as you can go…venture into South America, into Italian tombs and Indian temples.  Please, take the journey, and create new worlds of wonder and brilliance.

And then sell me a ticket.  I’d love to come along for the ride.

Jai tu Wai,

Debi

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Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.

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