Cogito's Ten Rules of Writing

After many days of being very sick/ill and not posting, I bring to you a gift in list form:

1. Thou art a writer; thou shall write something every day (no matter what it is).

2. Thou shall not make thyself to be an idol (no matter how famous thou becomes).

3. Thou shall not commit plagiarism (for you will be laughed at and sued until eternity).

4. Treat writing as thy job, thy art, and thy passion; it is not your hobby, if you hope to succeed.

5. Read a good book now and again.

6. Cast out unworthy characters and raise up good characters, for thou art a writer and thus is thy duty.

7. Thou shall not be jealous of other writers; thou shall keep thy nose to the grind (and keep on truckin’).

8. Remember to take breaks when appropriate, lest thou might go insane otherwise.

9. Do unto your characters what they would do unto you – even your villains.

10. Thou must keep these rules in thy mind so that thou might refer to them later.

Two Articles About Character Creation

I wrote two articles about character creation that I think (and hope) might be of help to people out there struggling with the topics the articles cover. Both articles have been published at Writinghood.com, so I'll merely link them here. (Expect a regular full post soon.)

1. Crafting Great Heroes and Villains

Creating epic heroes and villains is a difficult task. Many writers struggle with it, particularly in the fantasy genre, because they have a lot to live up to (think Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader). This article sheds light on how to achieve the epic heroes and villains you desire.

2. The Dos and Dont's of Naming a Character

Naming a character is one of the most difficult aspects of character creation. Their name is, more often than not, the first thing that represents them to the world. Even people who've never read the Harry Potter books know who Harry Potter is. A name is oh-so important; what's even more important is not to make any naming mistakes you'll kick yourself for later.

Personally, naming characters is the one thing I can say, with all confidence, I excel at. That's not to toot my own horn. It's just that every writer must know their own strengths in order to succeed. I hope my experience will benefit some people out there. (Just as I hope the experiences of many of you other writers will benefit me.)

Again, look forward to a regular post to be posted sometime later today.

How to Start a Novel: Getting Started and World-Building

Beginning writers are often daunted by the task of starting their first novel; however, it's a lot easier than you might think. The key, as with all writing, is to keep it simple. By taking an uncomplicated approach, you keep your ideas clean and fluid. Later on, you can further complicate your novel and enrich it by adding more detailed plots and other devices to help it come alive more fully.

Getting Started

The very first thing you need to do is have an initial concept. Often, the idea will just pop into your head. It will come suddenly, an epiphany, and you'll say "Hey, I need to write this down!"

Unfortunately, however, that's not always the case. Some writers go into writing knowing they want to write, but haven't yet found their story.

Find Your Story

Think of what inspires you. What are you interested in? What moves you so much that you would spend hours upon hours (perhaps even years) writing it?

Say science fiction is your passion. That's a great start. Expand on that concept. What about sci-fi do you like? What's your niche? Is it the aliens? Is it the fantastical worlds? Do you like casual sci-fi or hardcore and uber-technical sci-fi? What's your bag? Figure it out and move on to the next step.

Building Your World

This part actually requires some thinking. The easiest world to write in is in the real world -- particularly in a setting that you're familiar with, such as your home state or city. Going along with our sci-fi example, however, that takes a bit more effort. Even if your sci-fi story is set on earth in the present day, you're still going to have to roll up your sleeves and do some world building.

Drawing From Human Culture While World-Building

An example of soft or casual sci-fi is the television show Battlestar Galactica. It's more character-driven, and all of the aliens are human beings. With Battlestar Galactica, the world building is more cultural-based, since it's a character-driven drama.

Battlestar Galactica (2003) borrows a lot from ancient Greece. Kara Thrace, Galen Tyrol, and Hera Agathon all have ancient Greek elements to their names. More than that, their culture is more Greek. The humans of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol are polytheists. They worship the Olympian gods, and in the show, there are even the smallest hints of ancient Greek cult worship (such as devotion to the goddess Aphrodite).

Aside of the Greek elements, there are other less specific and slightly pagan elements in the show. For instance, women are equal to men on the show. Instead of being call Miss or Madame, they are referred to as Sir. There is no indication whatsoever that woman play less of a role than men on the show. Furthermore, the polytheistic holy people on the show tend to be female, which hearkens back to ancient pagan priestesses and shamankas (female shamans).

You're probably asking: Why are you talking about a TV show on a writing blog? The answer is: it's a good example of using Earth culture to help build a science fiction world.

Obviously you can't (legally) copy Battlestar Galactica. Instead, you can learn from what worked for them. Borrow from Earth Culture what works for you and your story. For instance, the culture on your alien world might be imperialistic like the old British Empire, or they might be nomads like the Roma people (commonly and incorrectly referred to as "gypsies").

Culture plays an important role in speculative fiction. Aside of sci-fi, world building is an important aspect of fantasy and alternate history as well. Even if the stories are set on Earth, something about them is different than present day Earth (or else they wouldn't be speculative fiction).

Drawing on Personal Experience During World Building

For novels that are more real-world based, such as literary or romance pieces, it's often useful to draw on personal experience. You don't have to copy your life on the page; instead, take bits and pieces and shape it into something that's relevant to your story. For instance, you grew up on a farm. Maybe your main character lives on a farm. Since you grew up on a farm, you know all about the life of farmers and of people who live out in the country, and you can use it to your advantage.

Research for World Building

The most important genre to research during world building is historical fiction. Whether it be accurate period dramas, semi-fictional biographies, or alternate histories, it's still important to know how people lived at the time.

One of my favorite websites to look at while writing historical fiction is La Couturière Parisienne. This website takes a very detailed look at the history of fashion. Why is this relevant to world building, you ask? Well, it's because, young grasshopper, it's very important to know what clothes your characters wear!

Say your story is set in France and the year is 1722. The wealthy women might wear a silken gown with the then-fashionable contouche with Watteau pleats. Wealthy men wore powdered wigs of a fashionable quality (meaning they were neat, polished and of a high grade of hair and in the newest style). On the other hand, poor women would wear a dress made of linen (or some other rougher, cheaper fabric) in a style that might've been slightly out-of-date. A poor man would wear rough wool or linen clothes and, most likely, wouldn't be able to afford a fancy wig.

The Bottom Line

Know your world! I can't stress it enough. In fantasy and sci-fi, it's important to build an interestingly unique world that's all your own. Your world relates heavily to your characters and your plot, which I'll discuss in the coming articles.

Characters: Fun Ways to Create Them Part II

Last post, we covered a more visual approach. This time, we'll go for a written one.

You know those annoying MySpace or Facebook surveys that people post in their bulletins and notes? You know, the ones that ask things like "If you could be any color of the rainbow, what would you be?" Well, believe it or not, they can actually be useful when creating a character. It's kind of like a character sheet or something only in Myspace Survey form.

To make it easier on you, I will just post some questions for you to answer. The catch? Answer it using your character's voice. Let them speak through you. This is kind of an intermediate character exercise because it assumes you already know what your character looks like and a few of the basics. However, the exercise prompts you to think of more detailed things that you haven't thought about yet.

Again: answer in your character's voice. I cannot stress this enough, because it's the whole point of the exercise.

The Survey

Full name:
Nickname (if applicable):
Gender:
Age:
Birth date:
Hair color:
Hair Style:
Eye Color:
Skin color:
Blood Type:
Body type/build:
Distinguishing features:
Tattoos, piercings, scars:
Favorite TV show:
Favorite Movie:
Favorite Song:
Favorite Musical Artist:
Favorite Food:
Favorite day of the week:
Who are your parents?:
Who are your grandparents?:
Do you have any siblings?:
Any other family members?:
Spouse/partner/casual romantic affair/crush?:
Occupation:
School (present or previous):
Friends:
Enemies:
Pets:
Biggest fear:
Biggest hope:
Worst memory:
Best memory:
Craziest dream:
Where do you see yourself in five years?:
What would you do if your biggest fear happened right now?:
Are you good under pressure?:
Any annoying habits?:
In your own words, why are you important?:
Where were you last night and why were you there?:
Weapon of choice?:
Leader or follower?:
What do you want more than anything in the world at this very second?:
When you look back on your life, what is your biggest regret?

Unlike when on MySpace, your character has to tell the truth. Nothing is too detailed. Nothing is too sacred. Fill it out as in-depth as you possible can. You can even add anecdotes from your characters P.O.V. about past events which further explain their answers. Don't just write one or two word answers. Save it, so you can refer to it later. Also, add any more questions you feel needs to be answered for your specific piece.

Most importantly? Have fun. Let that show through while you're answering the questions. Let your character speak. After all, that might tell you something you need to know.

Chracters: Fun Ways to Create Them Part I

One of my favorite aspects of writing is character creation. There's nothing like breathing life into your fiction by pouring your thoughts and feelings into a character so that they might touch your readers and tell them a story.

For those who have hit some snags in creating their characters, there's still hope. Not everyone creates characters in the same way. One of the great things about character creation is that you can come at it from any angle you like. Do what works best for you, add to the method, and perfect it from there.

Anyone like playing The Sims series? Me too! Bet you never thought you could use the Sims as a character creation tool, did you?

It's quite easy. It's recommended that you use either Sims 2 or Sims 3, because of the fact that they are more versatile, and have better customization, as well as better (more realistic) Sim-building.

When using the Sim Method (I've named it), it's very important you don't use some downloaded Sim somebody else already made. Instead, use the base Sims in Create-a-Sim (or bodyshope, if you're using TS2). Shape and mold their faces until they are your character's face. I recommend using custom content for your Sim's skin, hair, makeup, clothes, accessories, etc, because they are more realistic, there's more variety, and they're just all around better. (Need custom content for TS2 or TS3? Check out Mod the Sims. They've got literally tens of thousands of safe, FREE content ready to be downloaded.)

Turn the Sim into your character. Give them the eye color, the hair color, etc. Make the Sim wear clothes your character would wear. Give them the family your character has. If you're using TS3, give your character-Sim the favorites and personality traits your character has.

Now we get to play!

Move your character-Sim into a home and have fun. Create other characters from your novel and plop them into the neighborhood. Let your hero/heroine interact with the other characters ONLY the way they would in the novel. Create situations you can use for your novel. Just have fun -- the key is to ONLY let your character-Sims interact the way they would in the novel.

The reason this method is so effective is because it puts your character in front of you visually. It allows you to to see them, so that you can visually see the descriptions you need (like the exact color of their eyes, the shape of their nose, etc). Also, it allows you to test out certain scenarios without writing them down.

But there is writing involved. The next step is to write down what you've learned from your character-Sims. Use it. More importantly, have fun with it -- it'll really show through on your finished novel product.

Let me know if you try this method. I would love to hear your thoughts! I know I have fun with it.

Sticky Situations

Now that I have my prettiful layout all settled, I've come to you to today to talk about sticky situations. Can they really be sticky enough?

As writers, we all know that plots are a very important aspect of writing. Without a plot, all you have is characters wandering around aimlessly. One of the worst feelings in the world is to write your first draft and realize: there's just not enough going on here; the situations aren't sticky enough.

Say your heroine gets kidnapped. Well, yeah. That happens -- especially in entertainment media. And yes, in theory, that is a sticky situation, but it's just not sticky enough -- not by a long shot. Mainly, you need to tell your readers why being kidnapped is a sticky situation other than "well, being kidnapped is really, REALLY bad". Frankly, that just won't cut it.

The key to making a sticky situation stickier is to show your readers WHY it's so bad other than saying the previous "it's really bad" shtick. There has to be something else going on in there. There's got to be something physical or psychological that makes the sticky situation VERY VERY BAD.

Lets call our heroine Ruth. Ruth is kidnapped by the (very) bad guys. To add further tension to the situation, we give her REASONS why being kidnapped is so bad. These can be big, like they're taking her out of the country and she'll never see her family again. Or they could be small (depending on how you look at it), like she'll be late picking up her son for school; or when they kidnapped her, she dropped her purse. She has really bad asthma and her inhaler was in that purse. A small little addition like that really adds tension. After all, even though the kidnappers haven't expressed a desire to kill her, she might very well die as the shock of it has caused an asthma attack. Boom! She's in mortal peril and all you had to do was add one little fact; now the reader will wonder what will happen to Ruth and keep turning the page.

And that's the key! You want them to turn the page. You want your reader to keep reading at least until the danger is (for the moment) over (like at the end of the chapter or something).

Now let's look at another character. We'll call him John. In your story, you mentioned that John left his cellphone in his girlfriend's car, but you didn't elaborate further. That's boring story-telling when you casually mention something that's pointless. It makes the reader all like "wtf, mate?". Since you chose to mention he left his cellphone in his girl's car, you're now obligated, as the writer, to tell the reader WHY it's important.

Consider this: John left his cellphone in his girlfriend's car. Reasons that's a significant thing could be because the text inbox is full of incriminating texts linking his brother, Willy the Squid, to horrendous murders or perhaps John's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Without a cellphone, he can't call for help, and he's stuck until finally, at dusk, some strange stranger comes and offers to give him a lift to the nearest payphone for a "price".

When writing a tense part of the story, it's important not to mention things unless they're relevant to that specific part of the story. And that leads back to what I really wanted to talk about: when writing, it's always possible to make sticky situations stickier. It adds to the story and lends depth to the characters. When their bad times are really bad, readers will feel more sympathetic to them. A reader's sympathy is what every writer must strive to attain.