The Old and the New
I've been unable to sleep tonight, due only in part to my earlier nap. I dug out a bunch of my old notebooks, and read them through, thoroughly enjoying most of it. My writing is terrible, and it completely sucks, except for a few stellar passages and some great one-liners (I'll share them later today, if I remember).
But, I love my story. I like the way the characters bounce off each other, and the way they interact. Secondly, I like my story. It's not the greatest or most imaginative or dynamic, but I think I'm able to write my characters so well into the story - they fit the story. You know what I mean about characters not fitting a story, or you should - it's like casting the wrong actor/actress for a part in a movie.
About three years ago, when I was 13 and 14, I was able to capture quite well the spirit I've now acquired and understand as a 16-year-old. How I managed to do that when I was so much younger and inexperienced, I'm unsure.
Teenagers are peevish, selfish, thoughtful, wild, and ever so empathic.
>Story rant here that may not make sense to the uninvolved<>The Lower Expectation (Zaya being the main character). To summarize very very briefly, one was an arranged marriage with the enemy, and the other an arranged marriage with one nearby. The outcast theme is predominant in each one, embodied however by different characters; of course in the former story it is Zaya who is the outcast, and in the latter it is her betrothed, a clumsy, unskilled, yet intelligent orphan who is heir to much. [Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about understanding it too much.] The third draft was a little stranger, of course with the arranged marriage thing [this pattern will be explained momentarily], but a less real story, a little more detached from the characters. Zaya is engaged, this time without her knowledge, to the son of a House that will gain much by his marriage to her. In this case, neither is the outcast, but it happens that they become outcast... One way or another.
The reason for the arranged marriages? Easy enough to explain. Of course, the world of Alenia is not unlike that of a modern world. They freed themselves from the constraints of written word and foretelling and surged ahead, and in leaps and bounds advanced society and culture. Yet there are drastic flaws that remain yet to be mended, and it is my idea that only through the work of individuals can this happen... That didn't explain it?
Sexism. But, of course. It's ever so subtle in the first world countries of today, and ever so blatant in the second and third and between worlds. Of course as a habit I would choose the subtler of the worlds, for I never had a talent for stating the obvious. Mind, my platform is all too typical. And I do not intend (nor do I ever) for the story, whichever one I choose, to be some kind of pulpit upon which I can decry the crimes of the world.
There is something else in there, though. It is all too common to have some sort of romance where the fated two hate each other, and by some chance one of them saves the other by sheer compassion and honor, and they begin to see that which is loveable in each other.
Bah. Hopeless sap. What about that which is there that is hard to face - possibly unforgiveable? It would be a rare woman who would be able to well forgive a husband's infidelity, and a rare man to do the same for his wife. Or rare that a pacifist could love a soldier, or a soldier feel no contempt for those who do not share his drives. But, it's not hard to understand why such a thing might come about. Examples: The powerful alliance of the two Clintons, not because of any kind of love or affection, but because each has political power that the other can use for advantage. Or less specifically, a rebellious son, even, who knows he must depend on his father and mother for support, and thus holds the family together by the sheer power of need.
One realizes quickly that need and love are not the same thing, not in the sense that we know them. And often the line between need and greed become subtly blurred, but that is not what is of consequence.
In times of need, those who understand the need will come together. It is when there is outside opposition that those inside come together.
What does that have to do with arranged marriages and sexism and teenage angst?
Simple. It's what I've been talking about all along: my characters.
Zaya, despite morphing a little from variation to variation, shows some interesting repeating characteristics. (Her name, by the way, means "zero" in Sutjin, and "one" or "alone" in Verlocun; it's also a nickname. Her real name is Mirashi.) She is tall, and unattractive to the eye, and feels oft unwanted; she deviates from social norms - by being athletic, or a bookworm, or a musician. Her personality is jaded and suspicious, yet fiercely righteous and protective of a family which she holds dear. She has hardly any opportunity to overtly prove herself a coward or hero, so one imagines that it is impossible to grasp her character as either contemptible or admirable. It's hard to tell you without letting you read the three stories, but what I'm trying to say, is that she is meant to be a character upon whom it is hard to pass moral judgment.
Thus will the characters be drawn together by need, and the obstacles faced with the strength of the bond created not by emotion, but by this need. The ends do not justify the means, but they are certainly satisfying.
=============
Found my Inferno story. It was better written than I'd originally thought it, and more amusing. I could clearly understand the references to people (janitors, leprechauns, swords, ladders, tour guides, cyborgs, idiots, and other denizens of hell), which was a good thing. I will, no doubt, steal some parts of the excellent story and put it into my new Inferno story (8 people consented to be in it, now)... And perhaps find someone to give me a new translation of all my Gaelic phrases.
More later; tired. If I find the typed version soon, I'll post up the introduction to my Inferno story here.
But, I love my story. I like the way the characters bounce off each other, and the way they interact. Secondly, I like my story. It's not the greatest or most imaginative or dynamic, but I think I'm able to write my characters so well into the story - they fit the story. You know what I mean about characters not fitting a story, or you should - it's like casting the wrong actor/actress for a part in a movie.
About three years ago, when I was 13 and 14, I was able to capture quite well the spirit I've now acquired and understand as a 16-year-old. How I managed to do that when I was so much younger and inexperienced, I'm unsure.
Teenagers are peevish, selfish, thoughtful, wild, and ever so empathic.
>Story rant here that may not make sense to the uninvolved<>The Lower Expectation (Zaya being the main character). To summarize very very briefly, one was an arranged marriage with the enemy, and the other an arranged marriage with one nearby. The outcast theme is predominant in each one, embodied however by different characters; of course in the former story it is Zaya who is the outcast, and in the latter it is her betrothed, a clumsy, unskilled, yet intelligent orphan who is heir to much. [Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about understanding it too much.] The third draft was a little stranger, of course with the arranged marriage thing [this pattern will be explained momentarily], but a less real story, a little more detached from the characters. Zaya is engaged, this time without her knowledge, to the son of a House that will gain much by his marriage to her. In this case, neither is the outcast, but it happens that they become outcast... One way or another.
The reason for the arranged marriages? Easy enough to explain. Of course, the world of Alenia is not unlike that of a modern world. They freed themselves from the constraints of written word and foretelling and surged ahead, and in leaps and bounds advanced society and culture. Yet there are drastic flaws that remain yet to be mended, and it is my idea that only through the work of individuals can this happen... That didn't explain it?
Sexism. But, of course. It's ever so subtle in the first world countries of today, and ever so blatant in the second and third and between worlds. Of course as a habit I would choose the subtler of the worlds, for I never had a talent for stating the obvious. Mind, my platform is all too typical. And I do not intend (nor do I ever) for the story, whichever one I choose, to be some kind of pulpit upon which I can decry the crimes of the world.
There is something else in there, though. It is all too common to have some sort of romance where the fated two hate each other, and by some chance one of them saves the other by sheer compassion and honor, and they begin to see that which is loveable in each other.
Bah. Hopeless sap. What about that which is there that is hard to face - possibly unforgiveable? It would be a rare woman who would be able to well forgive a husband's infidelity, and a rare man to do the same for his wife. Or rare that a pacifist could love a soldier, or a soldier feel no contempt for those who do not share his drives. But, it's not hard to understand why such a thing might come about. Examples: The powerful alliance of the two Clintons, not because of any kind of love or affection, but because each has political power that the other can use for advantage. Or less specifically, a rebellious son, even, who knows he must depend on his father and mother for support, and thus holds the family together by the sheer power of need.
One realizes quickly that need and love are not the same thing, not in the sense that we know them. And often the line between need and greed become subtly blurred, but that is not what is of consequence.
In times of need, those who understand the need will come together. It is when there is outside opposition that those inside come together.
What does that have to do with arranged marriages and sexism and teenage angst?
Simple. It's what I've been talking about all along: my characters.
Zaya, despite morphing a little from variation to variation, shows some interesting repeating characteristics. (Her name, by the way, means "zero" in Sutjin, and "one" or "alone" in Verlocun; it's also a nickname. Her real name is Mirashi.) She is tall, and unattractive to the eye, and feels oft unwanted; she deviates from social norms - by being athletic, or a bookworm, or a musician. Her personality is jaded and suspicious, yet fiercely righteous and protective of a family which she holds dear. She has hardly any opportunity to overtly prove herself a coward or hero, so one imagines that it is impossible to grasp her character as either contemptible or admirable. It's hard to tell you without letting you read the three stories, but what I'm trying to say, is that she is meant to be a character upon whom it is hard to pass moral judgment.
Thus will the characters be drawn together by need, and the obstacles faced with the strength of the bond created not by emotion, but by this need. The ends do not justify the means, but they are certainly satisfying.
=============
Found my Inferno story. It was better written than I'd originally thought it, and more amusing. I could clearly understand the references to people (janitors, leprechauns, swords, ladders, tour guides, cyborgs, idiots, and other denizens of hell), which was a good thing. I will, no doubt, steal some parts of the excellent story and put it into my new Inferno story (8 people consented to be in it, now)... And perhaps find someone to give me a new translation of all my Gaelic phrases.
More later; tired. If I find the typed version soon, I'll post up the introduction to my Inferno story here.
posted by M|B|V | 00:58
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