The Age-Old Question

I had a brilliant and thought-provoking post planned, but alas, Murphy's law has hit me once again. Not only am I having mega internet malfunctions at the moment, but I'm also extremely ill. My cold/flu/whatever the hell it is, has really beaten me down the last two days, and one of the side effects is, unfortunately, lack of coherent brain activity.

So I'm falling back on a familiar topic. The number one question I am asked as a writer is, "Where do you get your ideas from?"

A million writers just groaned involuntarily and/or spun in their graves, I'm sure. It's not that we don't like talking about our ideas...well, not completely, anyway...it's the fact that, most of the time, even we don't know where these ideas come from, and so we have to come up with something that doesn't sound lame (at the drop of a hat) to answer the question. Cuz the truth is usually boring.

Well, I'm not one to lie, so this might just have to be a boring post. First off, I'm not going to talk about my novels here. Ideas for novels, many times, "happen along the way", which is not something easily explained. Even just the first little sparks I had for Web of Deceit, Mirra, and Porphyria are too in-depth for this post, so I'll choose a few of my shorter works.

Some of this may surprise you by how dull it is. Consider yourself warned.

Two of my stories came from picture prompts: The Keeper of Secrets and Hunted. The latter is still in progress, and the former is going through rounds of rejections, in case anyone cared. For Hunted, in particular, I took every little detail of the picture and used it in some part of the story: the physical appearance of the elf, the tattoo marks on her arm, her sword, the mountains in the distance, and the cherry blossom beside her. That's pretty much it...then you start writing. No, seriously. That's it.

One of my stories came from a zombie contest prompt: The Blade of Tears. This one I had a bit more trouble with, because all I had to work with was, "Hey there, write a story about zombies, anything you want. And...go!" I went through at least six different story ideas before I settled on one that I liked. When I'm stuck on an idea or a scene or whatever, I have to pull out the pen and paper and brainstorm the old-fashioned way. For me, it works like a charm, but in reality, the ideas still come from the same place (your head).

The military sci-fi novella that Joe and I are currently co-writing, The Ferran, slapped me out of nowhere. I was on a fairy kick at the time, so a story with winged characters was bound to happen. But I honestly don't know where the idea came from. I just said to Joe one day, "I've got this idea. Tell me what you think." He was instantly sold on it, and begged to help me write it. How could I say no? And frankly, the story wouldn't be the awesomeness it is today if he hadn't participated in its creation.

And now for the most (non) creative way of coming up with a story:

A few months back, I felt like I hadn't written anything new for a while. (Umm...that's total hog-wash, by the way, because I always have a first draft of something in the works...it just felt like I needed to add another.) I literally just sat down at my computer, opened a blank document, and started typing. The result? WeNDI, a military sci-fi. You'd be surprised what you can come up with when you force yourself to work/think. WeNDI has one of my most intricate storylines to date.

So that's how some of my ideas came about. Thrilling, right? No, not really. If anyone would like to share a more exciting story about their stories, please do so. Meanwhile, I'll be cuddled under a blanket with a box of tissues and a book. Seeker, by Jack McDevitt, if anyone's interested. More on that in my next post...which was supposed to be this post, but...yeah, whatever. Murphy's law sucks.

~Lydia

Learning From A Lycan

Whenever I watch a movie, it makes me think about my writing. I watch for enjoyment, but I also find myself picking things apart. Good storytelling has many intricate elements, and movies are no exception.

Joe and I recently watched Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. This is one of the few movies that we had splurged on to see in the theater as well. Totally worth it.

But this post is not a review (although this particular movie wouldn't be a bad choice). Something jumped out at me while we were watching: DIALOGUE.

Well duh, Lydia, of course you notice dialogue when you watch a movie. Movies are nothing but dialogue and action. And since everything is viewed externally, you can't get into a character's head like you do in a book.

Or can you?

Character motivation is what drives any story. In writing, a character's statement of motivation needs to be clear early on, and it needs to be repeated throughout. In Rise of the Lycans, Lucian's character does this very well. The dialogue is superb. We see what his motivation is, we see what his goal is. Not only that, we want him to succeed because we can see that his motivations are not purely selfish, and we can relate to his natural need to be treated decently.

This is what makes Lucian's character stand out, aside from his awesome abilities as a werewolf. To demonstrate my point clearly, here is my favorite snippet of his dialogue. He is collared and caged, surrounded by his Lycan brethren:

"We are not animals. Is this what you want, to be their entertainment, their playthings? Their pets. Cowering beneath the whip . . . and then fighting amongst ourselves!

Is this what you want!

I have lived by their rules my entire life. I've protected them . . . envied them. And for what? To be treated like an animal. We are not animals!

We do have a choice. We can choose to be more than this. We can be slaves, or we can be Lycans!"

His self-concept is clear. His goal is clear. Tell me that doesn't get your heart pounding. As writers, don't underestimate the power of a few good lines of dialogue. It's one of the best ways to show your character's inner thoughts.

And his closing line proves another point not to be overlooked. Lucian had no control over the situation he was in, but he took control. Characters that readers/viewers fall in love with are proactive. They don't sit back and let things happen to them, they make things happen.

Final word: If you haven't seen the movie yet, and you can stomach a bit of blood, rent it today. For my fellow writers, think of it as (really bad-ass) research.

~Lydia

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans official movie trailer

Welcome or Warning, Take Your Pick

I realize this is the blog post that most people skim over, or skip completely. Trust me, I hate writing introductions as much as you probably hate reading them. But it is a necessity, so strap in, this might be one heck of a bumpy ride.

Speculative fiction is (unofficially) taking over the entertainment industry. People are in love with science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the like. Sometimes, without even realizing it. For instance, the movie Transformers (the original, that is...not the recent disappointment of a sequel) was a blockbuster hit, and still one of my faves. Technically, that is science fiction; the Autobots and Decepticons are forms of extraterrestrial life. People who would never think of themselves as sci-fi fans went nuts over that movie, and with good reason. It was entertaining. And don't even get me started on the Halo craze. Yet.

So what is this blog about? Basically, Joe and I would like to discuss the things we love.

First, our writing. Joe finished his first novel at age sixteen. Yeah. He's been writing for a long time. I finished my first novel a bit later (okay, a lot later), at age thirty. Joe is a published author, while I, on the other hand, have yet to be snagged. We both have more stories in our heads than we can keep up with. Every so often, we finish one and then work on getting it published. Our posts about writing will include tips and advice that we've learned from experience, ramblings about what ideas are running amuck in our heads, updates on published works and works-in-progress, and anything else that seems like it might be interesting.

Reading goes hand-in-hand with writing, and we are both picky readers. Well, more accurately, I'm a picky reader; Joe barely has time to read. More often than not, I'll return a book to the library before reaching the middle. If it doesn't grab me, it's not worth my time. When I post book reviews here, the first thing I'll mention is whether or not I finished it. I foresee many short reviews.

Second, as is mentioned in the handy-dandy little sidebar, we both have a background in music (I'll save the details for the actual posts). In addition to playing musical instruments and listening to (perfectly legal) downloads, we love watching live music. The recent downfall in the economy has hindered that love, but we did manage to scrape enough money together to see a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra on our wedding anniversary this year. But alas, it seems another summer rock concert series will pass us by. Posts about music will include musings about our favorite bands, how music affects your writing and your mood, and other such nonsense.

Third, we are suckers for a night of movie-watching. Thanks to recent niceties like redbox, we can afford to rent movies by the truckload (only a buck a piece!) and watch them in the comfort of our own home...the couch donated by my mother, the flat-screen TV we still haven't paid off, and the surround sound system that seriously appeared out of nowhere. Scary. (In case you haven't noticed, we're practically penniless) If we like a movie enough to post about it, we will.

Fourth, unless you've lived under a rock for the last fifteen years, you know how popular gaming has become. Since we don't get paid to do reviews, all we can post about are games that we own (or rent, or borrow from family/friends), which will be, for now, either XBox, XBox 360, or games available on the internet. (Edit on that comment: the XBox 360 has red-ringed for the umpteenth time so, until that situation is remedied, gaming posts about the 360 will be limited.) This area will be monitored by Joe. Guys are just better at that stuff.

That's the gist of what we're about. Posts will be updated weekly, or as often as we deem necessary (and please excuse the boring atmosphere while we are still under construction; hopefully more pics and videos will be coming soon). We reserve the right to change topics at will and/or post utter nonsense if the fancy strikes us. Thanks for reading!

~Lydia