WIP

www.space.com, Would ET really invade earth?

Steven Hawking came out recently with a flaky statement about how aliens DO exist, but we shouldn't contact them because they could come and destroy earth ala Independence Day. I'm wondering if anyone else out there feels a little embarrassed about fellow scifi enthusiasts trying to insert fiction into science.

As 'earthians' we shouldn't be so egotistical.

Think about how we are going about searching for aliens in our own solar system. We are assuming that life would not exist on a planet that has no water.

Yes, human beings (water bags) NEED water to survive. But why should we assume that a different type of creature would share this need? Especially if we believe in evolution.

Recall that evolutionists believe that humans evolved from microbes into living, moving, breathing critters who evolved upwards into human beings. That is, they evolved into creatures who could survive and thrive on planet earth.

I don't necessarily believe that the beginnings of life were like that, but I don't mind if other people do. I just expect them to be consistent.

If there was another planet out there with microbes or whatever. What would stop those microbes from evolving upwards into intelligent creatures who could survive on whatever planet they existed on?

Yes, I do believe that life is possible beyond planet earth, and I wouldn't be so arrogant to assume that we are the only intelligent creatures that exist in the universe.

But I tend to feel that we are looking at 'contact' the wrong way.

There are different forms of life beneath the ocean, for example. Maybe they aren't human-like, but they are intelligent in their own way, even if it isn't intelligence or rationality that is unique to humans.

Wouldn't it be a bit stupid to beam radio signals, lights, music, colors, probes and signs written in various languages proclaiming 'We come in Peace!' for those creatures beneath the ocean to see?

To a blue whale, human beings might be interesting little invaders who may be worth checking out... but it would be pretty silly flashing a 'We come in Peace' sign to a blue whale and expecting it to understand and feel better about us being around.

And why would a blue whale want to invade land? An inhospitable place it was not created or evolved to live on?

If anyone would invade a planet and take over things... it would be us humans. Because that is our pattern of behavior throughout our history. We traveled out around our planet and took over the land from the native species, and we either devoured or brutally cleared out those native species to eliminate them from competition for the resources in that area.

And hey - I don't have a problem with that. If our ancestors weren't adventuring conquerors, we would all still be living in one tight little place and dying out because there wasn't enough resources and space for all of us.

But I swear that scientists are looking out into the universe and instead of exploring and scientifically observing what is actually out there, they are searching for contemporaries. When they look for aliens, they just expect a mirror image of us.

I think the biggest step to becoming a better writer is opening yourself up to change.

This is/was the biggest thing I've encountered as an 'observer' of other writers, in that you might offer them what you feel is good advice that might help them fix a novel that is about there, but needs a little more help. And these writers might be initially resistant to change. Because it scares them, or because they just don't see what you see... not yet.

For example, there is a novelist out there who had a PERFECT project. I read her query and synopsis and feel that she just needs to start applying to all of the agents out there to snag one and get in business.

The problem is that the writing itself is a little fuzzy. I'm not sure if it is as strong as it needs to be. I'm comparing it (somewhat) with the writing from another friend, who is most definitely right there. In fact, this other friend has an agent for one project and has that agent's interest with the two other projects she's writing and editing.

Another friend too is one of those amazing wonderkins who writes things that have the right sound on the first draft, even if the plot workings are a little rough.

Back to that writer whom I'm trying to help... I think she's almost there, but she needs to tighten up on the writing and flesh out her characters. They aren't as strong as they should be.

That leads me to my biggest revelation or point, in that it is very easy to find fault with other people's writing. It's easy to recognize all of the things they need to change in order to improve their writing skills. But there needs to be a moment where you realize that that so-called perfect project you weaved together is not as good as it could be, because you need to change something. <- And that is the point where your edits and revisions start to have merit.

This past week I decided to add another plot thread to my BSW project. This involved going back to the beginning and working all of the threads in. Several things happened as I did this.

I realized that people were right. The beginning of the story was not necessarily as strong as it could have been. In fact, it was verging on sitting on that narrow strip of land between cliched and boring.

So I made changes to the first chapter.

Chapter 2 came next, and I realized that I REALLY DIDN'T LIKE the interaction between Wesley and her classmates, including the one character who is going to be a main character right alongside her.

The one plot point I started with when I first wrote the nano novel was this "He is unwilling to step up and take on the job he was born with, and she is terrified by the unseen world that's beginning to reveal itself to her."

I played on the unwilling thing when I first wrote Chapter 2, and urk! He came across like somebody who was just being crabby and obnoxious because somebody (er, like me, the author) told him he had to be. It was too forced.

The other thing, and I had this discussion with my sister while we went hiking recently... I was trying too hard to show chemistry between the two characters. It wasn't there (partly because he was such a whiny snot I wanted to reach into the story and smack him upside the head).

She and I laughed about how unattractive and annoying all teenage guys are - seriously. Even the slick, clean, and zitless ones. <- A good example would be Elizabeth Mitchell's son from V. Oh. My. Gosh. That kid ANNOYS ME! He doesn't deserve Lisa, who is becoming a much more interesting character now she's becoming humanized.

I moaned and groaned about how much more interesting it would be if I got to write about a guy who was in his twenties. Except then that would be pretty gross - because the plot demands that the protagonist be in high school still.

And then it hit me.

Why should I push it?

It isn't so important that the guy character have this perfect CHEMISTRY thing with the protagonist. It is important that he be an individual character who has his own agenda going on.

If you think about what everyone complains about Mary Sues and Gary Stus - it's because of the implausibility of them going to a new school and suddenly having all of the other students instantly crushing on them.

Ugh, right?

So. I focused on developing Nic last night in a stronger character. I cut 2000 words (Wesley and Nic encountering each other in the woods by the school and chit-chatting about non essentials while Nic whined and crabbed and glared at the WORLD!!!!) and I replaced them with 3000 words (Wesley exploring the woods by the school and tripping over Nic, talking a little bit during which he implies that people at the school know about her tragic story and she questions him about his 'Voldemort-stick'. The implication is he is a slitherer-outerer who isn't telling her everything but she guesses that he is possibly a little weird and is bullied by all the other guys at the school because of it. He noticeably acted nervous when they walk past a group of the other guys, including one who Wesley is crushing on).

I know exactly what's going on with the guy now - especially since I'm now thinking of him as a main character and not just a neutral soul-less love interest (think about those guys who randomly appear on shows like Bones. You know Temperance won't wind up with them, because they are definitely not as fully developed as Sealey is).

The other thing I did with Chapter 2 was scrap this scene with Tamara (the youngest sister) acting unearthly and warning Wesley about the bogeyman. I liked this... when I wrote it, but I realized last night that it gave the wrong impression and was (according to Simon Cowell) indulgent. It was also cliched. So I scrapped that scene and wrote in a new scene with Tamara doing her homework at the kitchen table and Wesley having a teeny tiny vision about something she couldn't possibly have known about. I also set up a revised scene in the next chapter with Tasha (oldest sister) going to a doctor's appointment. :)

Chapter 3 came next, and so far I scrapped the first half of the chapter (conversation between Tasha and Wesley about nothing really, but showing sulky antagonism from Wesley about Tasha trying to turn the school into some kind of rave club to hook up with guys). I SCRAPPED THAT. Instead, I used the scene to show the frazzled relationship between the two sisters... and set up the scene in the next chapter.

That's how far I got before I started to give in to how tired I was at 12:30AM. I'll keep writing tonight... and hopefully catch up to the current chapter so I can keep going and finish this draft.

Through all of this, I guess my point is that a month ago I would not have considered making such drastic changes to the project. Seriously, I wouldn't have. I'm not patting myself on the back here and saying "What a good writer I am", because I know there will come a point sooner or later where I'll be looking at the three chapters I revised per above and scrapping them while I rewrite them for the better.

I think there are different kinds of writers out there...

There are the kinds who can write something perfect the first time round. These are those noxious people who only write one draft which they only need to edit.

Then there are writers like me, who write something HORRIBLE the first time round, and must redraft a cazillion times before the plot/characters turn into something that works.

Hopefully, I'll get the results the other kind of writer does... even if it takes me a bit longer.

The main thing though is I recognize that what makes me a better writer is acknowledging that I have to make changes, and knowing it isn't going to kill me. :)

Bear with me for a moment here, but this strange post occurred to me while I was doing research for a newsletter thingy I'm doing for work. <- I'm on a local Michigana type kick now and slipping in random "Did you know" bits in newsletters this year.

"The State Fossil is the Mastodon (since 2002)
Mastodons disappeared from North America about 10,000 years ago and were estimated to be about 10 feet tall at the shoulder. One of the most complete mastodon skeletons ever found was discovered near Owosso, Michigan and is displayed at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. The longest and most intact trail of mastodon footprints (30 prints) ever uncovered was located near Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mastodons were elephant like animals and sturdily built browsers of open spruce forests. They are often lumped in with mammoths, because of their shaggy coat and long tusks, but there were subtle differences. Their tusks were as long as the mammoths', but straighter. They were shorter and built more square than the mammoths who were more slimly built and had an upwards slope from back to front. They also had flatter heads than the mammoth.

The mastodon’s teeth could get five inches in diameter and two and half inches thick. The simple and low crowned teeth showed the animal had a tendency to eat softer vegetation such as twigs and leaves. Meaning, they ate off of trees. Their teeth are very distinctive, as they are coated with enamel and have 6-8 cone-shaped cusps and are similar to that of a pig’s molars.

The mammoth’s teeth are typical for a grazer, an herbivore. Their teeth could get up to eight inches long and twelve inches wide. The tall plates of the tooth act as grinding stones and the mammoths would probably chew grass the same way a cow would. Mammoth teeth grew similar to the process of a conveyor belt. Once a set of teeth was being completely worn down, a new set would be ready to grow in its place. This process would take place six times in a mammoth’s lifetime."

So here is my thing... I never really thought about the similarities between boars and elephants, because um -> different species and very few similarities. Duh. :P

But looking at some of the idealized pictures of the mastodons (which looked boarlike to me, well, plus the trunk) and reading about how they grazed in wooded/swampy areas with piglike molars, that just reminded me of this Monster Quest (yes, you may call me a geek for watching shows like that) that I saw where they were hunting for huge wild boars that supposedly are running around in Texas and thereabouts.

I guess it is one of those things trickling at the back of my head and has always been there since I was a kidlet and visiting the big museum in Lansing, Michigan. I loved looking at the befurred statue representations of these massive beasts, and I always wished they still were around. Wouldn't it be cool if somehow or other critters like Mammoths and Mastodons survived somehow? And why couldn't they have? Even though we are technologically advanced, we still have blind spots when it comes to exploring various spots even in our own backyards.

That Monster Quest show left it open as to whether monster boars really do exist.

Now I'm thinking it would be nifty to somehow work Mastodons into a story. As survivors.

Nudges BSW prospectively....

I guess I should explain here (so people aren't totally confused about how a mastodon could fit in with a paranormal/fantasy novel) -

BSW draws on the native American ideas/themes of animal guides + Eric Daniken type aliens.

*notices people look even more confused*

We all know the Genesis story and the history of the human race according to the Bible, right?

Imagine if we are just getting the human side of the story.

So God has been around for ages and has created other races, including one race which shares our world with us. This race is identical to all the other creatures here on earth, except their souls look a little bit different... :)

And that's about all I'm willing to put on a public website right now. But it wouldn't be too far fetched to say that one of these animal guides comes in the shape of a mastodon. :)

Maybe that will happen in a sequel or related story though....

... here we come.

From the sounds of it, my home state is cooking up yet another reason for cops to be gawking into your cars and giving a ticket for something you are doing in there.

And I have no idea how they can prove you were texting prior to pulling you over. Apparently they will be pulling you over under the suspicion of texting? Like if you are driving with one hand on the steering wheel while looking down at your lap or at the seat next to you while driving past that intrusive cop and his binoculars. <- I'm almost tempted to test that out. >;-)

No. I don't text while driving.

I guess I could understand if this was instead a "Driving while distracted" and had verbage in there to ensure people would not be stopped unless they were driving erratically and causing problems for other drivers.

Singling out texters as the Instruments of Destruction only makes me think about those texters I usually see while out and about. They impede traffic. They drive 20 miles below the limit or sit through green lights. It does happen they ram into somebody in front of them during unexpected slowdowns, but that could happen if they were distracted by something else in their car.

When I was a kiddo, there was a case in our area of a college student who was looking down at her purse (I'm not sure if she was digging through it too or just looking at the purse), when she rammed into a child who was waiting for a school bus. She was convicted with involuntary manslaughter. <- This was back before texting and even before the majority of regular people had cell phones.

Cops cause the biggest distraction of all when they park on the side of the road with their lights flashing. A lot of fender benders happen because of people looking over their shoulder to see what's going on instead of straight forward.

Piffle.

... is probably safer than standing under a tree with your feet in a puddle during storms.

In theory.

What kind of storms do writers have to walk through?

False alarms and complications, like:

1. Exhaustion. Yes, K-12 and college students are extremely busy with school hours, homework load, sports, clubs, after school job, and social life. But adulthood has the same amount of constant running around and workload, plus your body doesn't have the same kind of 'up and go' thing going on. You can't stay up writing until 3AM and wake up at 5AM. You'll die.

2. Boredom . The novel you are writing just isn't holding your attention. It could be because you have been writing on it too much and it's actually starting to make you queasy!

3. Dread. You know it isn't going to be publishable in it's present state and you are overwhelmed by how much work needs to be done to make it work. A cazillionth revision. DIES.

4. Pain. You really don't want to finish the novel, because then you know it will have to go 'public' and you just don't want all that criticism. Seriously - sometimes it can feel just like numchucks smacking the soul.

5. Loss. You don't have it anymore. It could be you wrote a LOT of stuff up to five or six years ago and received some fierce criticism that really hurt your confidence. Or maybe you've forgotten how or are too exhausted every night to daydream.

6. Detachment. You talk to other writers but don't FEEL like they do. It isn't a poetic emotional thing for you. You sometimes look at it the same way your mom looks at her knitting. It's something she does. There might be a purpose in the end, but she knits because it's what she does in the evening and she likes to keep her hands busy. You start to feel out of the loop. Like you SHOULD feel all poetic about writing in order to write well.

7. Confusion. This happens when you received so much advice from people who told you to change your writing style or whatever. You want to take their advice to become better. Maybe so you can evolve into that type of writer who waxes poetic about why she writes. But each time you try X writing style, you find it doesn't fit. For example, I don't feel comfortable starting with ACTION.

****

These are the different facets of writer-burnout that I have experienced personally (see? total soul baring here), maybe not right now at this exact second, but in the past.

I assume everyone else has dark days like that too... I guess I wanted to air this subject so they know it's completely normal and shouldn't cause them to shut their laptops down forever.

It's very easy to get caught up in the moment and feel DOWN DOWN DOWN on yourself and the whole writing thing. If you dwell.

So don't dwell.

Write.

And on a more uplifting positive note -

I revised a chapter yesterday (working in the priest/administrator side plot I semi-mentioned yesterday). I also chopped 2000 words off this chapter. :O

Yes, I was in a state of shock too. But I did it.

I saved a backcopy of the chapter before the massive cut, but I don't think I'll need it.

By cutting those 2000 words and adding that side story, I think I steered the novel back onto a clean green path. If it accomplished anything, I'm sitting here looking forward to writing tonight.

Even if I'm too tired to daydream at night. :[

*bounces up and down*

I just got a response on a story. It was a reject [boo], but I sorta expected that. I don't know if I mentioned this in a previous post, but I felt that this story was not as filled out as it should have been.

The person who rejected the story was great, in that he explained why the story didn't work for him - even though he liked the idea.

The main thing he pointed out (and something I already felt after I came to my senses) was this:

Work more on bringing a character the reader can identify with into the story.

I intentionally focused on making the story plot driven instead of my usual character driven. <- And I hopelessly flubbed at it. :P

I'll pick the story back up over summer vacation I think. Maybe give it a slightly different spin, but from a strong character view.

Another thing I'm bouncing up and down about -

I 'snagged' a story from a religious type online magazine my mom got me hooked on. This story is about a priest who claims that the veil between our world and the spiritual world is growing thinner now that we are in the end times, and that is why so many more people are reporting weird stuff about possessions and hauntings.

I'm not sure about the end times (gaaa! I've just barely begun to live!), but when I read this guy's story, I knew it was something I could use.

It reminded me yet again - all characters must have their own personal motives and personalities. They can't just be conveniently going along for the ride just because they like the main character.

The only character in BSW I had problems with was this priest character who is somewhat conspiratorial and hush-hush about what he knows. Same thing with the administrator who is always ready to back him up.

I think I know what their deal is right now. :)

I'll share more later if this works...

What does earth day mean to you?

Yesterday, I kinda realized that there are people out there who are ambivalent about the day. Or they are downright rejecting of it - for political reasons.

Here's my thought:

KEEP POLITICS OUT OF IT!!!!! <- And you will see the good in a day that is all about doing your part in taking care of the world and environment around you. Living out in the wooded, watery, spread out, hilly, quiet, flowery areas where everyone is living off of long winding dirty roads within walking distance to horse/cow farms, but far far away from everything else... I see both sides of the equation.

I need my car. I would DEFINITELY not be able to ride my bike to work. And I don't really like biking. <- It messes up my hair and I accidentally swallow bugs sometimes.

But I love beauty.

My mom grew up in Chicago and she goes on and on about how beautiful the city is. Admittedly, when I go to visit relatives over there I kinda blank out in awe over all of the huge buildings. Where I live there is a height ordinance which means all of the buildings are somewhat squat by comparison.

But is Chicago beautiful? *shrugs* I guess it is an acquired taste and I'm not into it.

Beautiful is wide open spaces, blue skies, shady cool woods.... things like that. <- And I want to preserve all of that beauty for the next generation.

That means there is something VERY positive about planting a tree or two in your yard to replace an old ones that might have fallen down during the winter (I had a few that dropped). Trees provide shade and value to your house (provided they aren't too close to the house).

Once upon a time, my parents were driving around looking for a house after my dad's job moved 20 miles south. They were first looking for a house that was big enough for a family of eight. After that they had little picky things. When they got to our old house, they weren't entirely sure they wanted to buy, because the house had been sort of built by a madman who cut corners. It also had an in ground pool in the backyard - something my mom didn't want with three kids under eight. But! They viewed the house on a rainy day, and were able to walk out into the back woods without getting wet. The previous owners had terraced the back yard and there was some other nice landscaping done elsewhere throughout the yard. That was quite enough for my mom so she planted her feet and said, "THIS IS IT".

That means there is something VERY positive about planting a garden and landscaping your yard so it is a slice of paradise. Come July and summer vacation, you will be sitting back and enjoying the fruits of your labor. If you have mature gardens (as in flower and rose gardens), those will add value to your house.

That means there is something VERY VERY VERY positive about groups getting together and preserving land for future parks and whatever else. Out where I live, an old guy always worried about what would happen to his estate after he died. He farmed most of the land, but there were plenty of acres that he left be for nature. He arranged it in his will that the land would become a natural reserve and a place for people to enjoy. There are now gardens, butterfly walks, and bird sanctuaries on the property amidst all of the woods and hiking trails. <- WE NEED MORE PLACES LIKE THIS.

Definitely, I'm one of those people who wants to stop urban sprawl. The city lights, noise, smog, traffic.... does not have to be everywhere. There are people who want it to be pitch dark at night except for the light of the stars or the glow of the moonlight reflected off grass or snow.

Definitely, I'm one of those weirdos who feel that people need to be careful about how they impact the environment around them. For example, we are too hasty to destroy weeds and replace them with a golf course yard. The problem is that if you sit back in a naturalized yard (like mine), you will notice that bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds spend some time in your garden... but they also feed on the flowers of weeds. If you spray chemicals on those weeds... imagine what that is doing to the critters who feed on them. Even dandelions are a food group for animals and 'good' bugs like bees.

Oh!

On a different note - earth day means I really wish people would stop dropping garbage everywhere like they are all ten year old boys dropping wrappers around the house or stuffing potato chips into the couch. Garbage doesn't just disappear and there isn't always somebody around to pick it up. Most back counties do not have street cleaners (or whatever they're called) who go around and pick up after visitors. Most back counties rely on volunteers. And those volunteers go unthanked pretty much - if they aren't actually mocked by some people.

Anyhoo!

Earth day shouldn't be all about sitting in the dark and eating off of paper plates or whatever else. I mean, that's OK if that's what you're into, but there are other things you could do to make your world (as in your neighborhood and home) a more pleasant place. Or you could always don your hiking shoes and go forth and enjoy the bounties of nature at your local park. ;)

I spent my earth day at work. Then when I got home I stopped to grab a thick pair of gloves from the garage and my little claw tool, and I went out back into my garden. I let weeds grow in their place, but I draw the line at letting them take over my flower gardens. Seriously. The NERVE.

Heheh. I'll be out there again today.