Blog Me MAYbe is a writer blog meme created/hosted by the lovely Sara McClung of BabblingFlow.Blogspot.com
Monday Question: MAY I Tell You Something About Writing?
This post is going to be about my own experience with writing than writing itself. I've been sick, lately, and I'm still not fully recovered, but I'm really wanting to do Monday's "Blog Me MAYbe" question.
I want to blog about the troubles I'm having with this WIP I'm working on. One of my greatest fears as a writer is that I will be reamed for not creating a realistic enough fictional world for my characters to live and tell their story within. It's so sobering, sometimes I wake from a dead sleep with a rapidly beating heart in fear that I'm already screwing this up.
So far, my WIP is about 20,000 words long, which is barely even a quarter of what its intended length will be. I don't have to worry quite so much just yet, since I have room to fix things before they go awry, but I don't want to be one of those authors who didn't make things believable in her story. Writing any kind of speculative fiction, sci-fi or fantasy, is very difficult, especially when trying to make the fantasy aspect seem like it could really happen.
In the world of The Element Scripters, which is the name of the series of books I plan on writing (so far, Book 1 is my current WIP), the characters live in the second largest city in the United States, Los Angeles, and they have to exterminate these creatures that come to life out of the urban environment from which they inhabit. And, they have to do it in total secrecy. I'll explain:
These are normal human beings, not people with paranormal abilities, and I'd like to keep it that way. But, they know kung fu (what is referred to as wushu in my WIP) and parkour so they can get around the landscape really quickly to keep up with these creatures that crazily go around all over the city and destroy stuff and generally wreak havoc. They also have some science fiction on their side, technology they created cladestinely that is unknown by the rest of the world to help them locate the creatures whenever they spring up somewhere.
These creatures are called "Inanimates" because they are shape-shifters that started out as man-made objects of the urban landscape. A light pole, a vending machine, a car, or truck, all transformed into something robotic-looking. Think the Transformers movies. They become animated, but started out as being soulless technology, thus termed "inanimate." Because of a magical script, they are brought to life and given a "soul," and having never been alive before, they can't handle possessing a soul. This causes them to go insane and they create all kinds of problems, as a result.
The Element Scripters are supposed to exterminate them quietly, like ninjas in the night, never to be seen or heard by the regular citizens of the city. They are supposed to be able to get to the Inanimates no matter where they are, luckily only ever needing to do this under the cloak of darkness because the Inanimates are nocturnal. No one can know about The Scripters, as this has been their tradition for several decades and they intend to keep it that way until all Inanimates are erradicated, if that's possible. It hasn't happened, yet.
My fear is that I've set up the most impossible task of making it feel like these regular, although well-trained humans can even do this realistically. I try to excuse it all away by means of cameras and satellites that survey the area on a 24-hour basis, and field agents know how to run around faster than normal humans can because they are trained since childhood, etc. They have genius scientists who work only for them, never allowing the rest of the world in on their amazing technology....
Yet, it all feels so phony to me. I just know I'm going to be discovered for the fraud that I am. No one who reads this is going to buy it for a second! Have I created a story that is just too impossible to believe?
What about you? Are their things you fear about your writing that keeps you up at night?
My biggest fear about writing is something I mentioned at the very end of my Blog Me MAYbe post for today, and that's aging. I wrote about finding motivation to write, and I have to say that aging gives me the biggest push. But sometimes I lie in bed and think about things like how I don't know how much time I have and how I need to do more to make my writing dreams come true... Morbid, probably, but it's something that keeps me awake some nights.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon. :)
@Dana: I worry about that, too! Is there nothing I don't worry about, lol? I'm not the youngest person in the world, so I worry that I won't live long enough to write everything I want to, or that I'll become to old to relate to regular people at some point in the future. I suppose writers can write until they drop dead of old age, but who wants to read a book by a 90-year-old author who can't relate to 30/40-year-olds anymore?
DeleteMakes sense that when you get older, you realize you want to accomplish more than just your biggest dreams. I don't think about that just yet, but, I bet I will someday.
Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm trying to get better. I wish my body would agree with me.
I also worry about how believable my fictional worlds are. When you write in the realm of science fiction or fantasy, it's definitely an issue of particular concern, and one many of us face.
ReplyDelete@L.G.: Glad I'm not alone in my worry about this. I think I worry a bit too much, although, maybe I worry because I really am making things unbelievable.
DeleteThanks for your comment...;)
Argh!!!!!! I wrote a really long comment and then accidentally clicked something and now it's gone. Why do I keep doing this?!?! Anyway...
DeleteI'm oddly comforted that I'm not the only one who wakes up in a cold sweat at night worrying about my WIP. World building is one of those really difficult things in that you could lose readers either way. Too little and it may be unbelievable and too much and it takes away from the story. I always do the comparison test when I'm stuck in this kind of situation. For example, do you think your world building is better than say Twilight? Based on just the short summary about I would say a resounding yes! If all else fails you have a very nit picky critique partner ;P Though I don't think you have anything to worry about Cathy. It sounds like you've thought it through and I can't wait to read your novel. I can so see it being turned into a manga or anime series!
Okay, I'm just going to start throwing some suggestions about how you can have regular people doing the things you describe. I think the key is in the training (which I know you're working on) and the technology/resources they're given.:
- Maybe the field agents can wear armor or light weight body suits hat provide them with extra strength/speed etc. Or maybe the suits have an inbuilt technology which bends light so that they're invisible when they're out hunting.
- Maybe the scripters wear a talisman or something which alerts them to the initial stages of an inanimate receiving a soul. The closest scripter is the one who deals with it?
Some very rough ideas. If I think of any more I shall email you!
@Lan: Thank you SO much!!! Wow, Lan, your suggestions are really awesome. I'm going to have to use them. I love the idea of them wearing light bending suits/armor. Fantastic idea! I will bounce more ideas off of you in emails, then, if you're okay with that.
DeleteThanks, critique partner! ;)
And here I worry about typos when I should be worrying about the big picture stuff!
ReplyDeleteI do know what you mean. Your idea sounds really cool. For now, my best advice is to keep writing. Some of that believability stuff can come in revisions and edits. :)
@Cherie: Thanks very much. I will keep on writing and try not to get too distracted by my worries. Ugh. I wish I could just shut it all off!
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