Creative writing mini-lesson: no.17 ‘writing science fiction, part 2’… THE COVID19 SPECIAL EDITION! #Lockdown #coronavirus #creativewriting #FridayMotivation #FridayThoughts #FridayMorning #sciencefiction

Decide if each of the statements below is true (T) or false (F).

1. Good sci-fi is ‘grounded’.
2. A sci-fi novel must include future technology (AI, robots, spaceships, etc) or alien life.
3. With sci-fi book sales at an all-time low, the genre is probably less relevant nowadays.
4. With its laser guns and robots, sci-fi is all a bit silly.
5. As Brian Aldiss said, we don’t really need to read about sci-fi anymore because we live in a world where new technology comes out every week and we don’t really understand how any of it works.
6. With its sense of the alien ‘other’, sci-fi is just as important as any other genre.
7. Dystopian fiction (e.g. The Hunger Games) satirises today’s society.
8. Sci-fi doesn’t need strong characterisation or a particularly logical plot.
9. ‘Realist sci-fi’ like The Martian (the Matt Damon movie) isn’t as progressive as other types of sci-fi.

 

 

Answers: 1T, 2T, 3F, 4F, 5T, 6T, 7T, 8F, 9F

The statements and answers above give us some particular insights about sci-fi. Firstly, although it’s less popular in terms of its literature than it once was, it’s as popular as ever in terms of TV and film. Therefore, if you’re going to write sci-fi, you probably want to be quite filmic in your style and composition.

Sci-fi is not just silly and made up. It captures the very real experience of today’s world (as Mr Aldiss pointed out), including its totalitarian regimes (The Hunger Games/Putin’s Russia), alien invasion (District 9/waves of immigrants) and its genetic plague scenarios (World War Z/Covid-19). It satirises society, it explores situations, it provides warnings (if we would but listen), and it implicitly suggests possible solutions.

Central to sci-fi, however, is the issue of technology. Fundamentally, all sci-fi is about using a new technology (or technological function) to change our lives or the wider world. That ‘vision’ of the future is invaluable to us. Why? How so? Isn’t it just made-up silliness? No, it’s not.

Think about Star Trek, the original series. Are phasers, communicators and nano-technology completely silly and made-up nowadays? Why do you think China banned all sci-fi for 100 years, but now hosts a global sci-fi conference every year? Think.

[If you would like to learn more about all of the above, I would recommend my new title: The Satanic in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Hey! It’s up to you.]

Quick task

• Imagine you have arrived on a planet where the aliens (the majority) do not welcome humans (the minority). They think humans bring germs. All humans are put into a holding camp. Write the beginning of a story from the perspective of a human in one of the camps…
• Remember ‘the rule of 5’ for description of the setting… and ‘the rule of 5’ for describing a character… and the 6-step plot that requires a moral dilemma at the start (previous lessons)…
• Discuss or plan things for 5mins…
• And then write the opening paragraph or two… GO!

If you’d like me to look at your attempt, please do feel free to email me (Adam): adz_d2003 @ yahoo.co.uk – deleting the two spaces either side of the @ sign.

I’ll be posting a new lesson every day (Monday-Friday), to help people who are stuck at home because of the coronavirus situation. These mini-lessons will give you a useful daily routine, and might just keep you sane! Stay safe.

If you enjoyed this mini-lesson, do SHARE it with others.

Creative writing mini-lesson: no.15 ‘fantasy v. realism’ #Lockdown #coronavirus #creativewriting #WednesdayMotivation #WednesdayThoughts #WednesdayMorning

Decide if each of the short passages below represent fantasy (F) or realism (R).

1. Selden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart. It was a Monday in early September, and he was returning to his work from a hurried dip into the country; but what was Miss Bart doing in town at that season? If she had appeared to be catching a train, he might have inferred that he had come on her in the act of transition between one and another of the country-houses which disputed her presence after the close of the Newport season; but her desultory air perplexed him.
2. The name he bore as a child, Duny, was given him by his mother, and that and his life were all she could give him, for she died before he was a year old. His father, the bronze-smith of the village, was a grim unspeaking man, and since Duny’s six brothers were older than he by many years and went one by one from home to farm the land or sail the sea or work as smith in other towns of the Northward Vale, there was no one to bring the child up in tenderness. He grew wild, a thriving weed, a tall, quick boy, loud and proud and full of temper.
3. ‘I have come to vanquish thee!’ bruited the knight, his horse rearing. The sun shone prettily off the killer’s plate armour. / She retreated further into her cave and called out: ‘Do you really have to? I’m not that bad once you get to know me, honestly.’
4. Dust. As strong as the seals on his father’s chambers were, the dust of the realm still found its way inside to cover everything. It was in the air, unseen but there, like so many things. It coated the inside of his throat and made his eyes run constantly. It was a permanent taste in the back of his mouth and he could feel it causing damage down in his lungs. When he moved, it caused irritation between his robes and his body, and sores at his joints. There was no escaping the dust, for it was pretty much all that was left of his realm.
5. I’m not even sure I belong at this party. That’s not on some bougie shit, either. There are just some places where it’s not enough to be me. Neither version of me. Big D’s spring break party is one of those places. I squeeze through sweaty bodies and follow Kenya, her curls bouncing past her shoulders. A haze lingers over the room, smelling like weed, and music rattles the floor. Some rapper calls out for everybody to Nae-Nae, followed by a bunch of “Heys” as people launch into their own versions. Kenya holds up her cup and dances her way through the crowd. Between the headache from the loud-ass music and the nausea from the weed odor, I’ll be amazed if I cross the room without spilling my drink.
6. Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.

 

 

Answers: 1R, 2F, 3F, 4F, 5R, 6 (trick question – magical realism, which is both F and R).

Most readers are able to identify the passages correctly as either fantasy or realism. What that tells us is that there is a particular style, quality, theme and set of motifs typical for each of fantasy and realism.

Furthermore, it tells us that realism is a genre of literature just as much as fantasy is. Realist literature, therefore, is not so simply understood as being ‘about the real world’. Instead, we might understand that realist literature is just as artistically created, deliberately contrived and dramatically constructed as any other genre of literature.

Curious, right? Why label it ‘real’ then? Ah, well, the reasons for that are concerned with social history, philosophic arguments, and artistic movements. Suffice it to say that any aspiring writer needs to have a grip on the features that typify realism and fantasy, which brings us to the ingenious checklist below…

Quick task

For each pair of statements, decide which one tends (as a ‘rule of thumb’) to represent or be used by realism (R) and which one by fantasy (F)…

DESCRIPTION AND NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE

1. Stative, matter-of-fact or journalistic description/language
2. Figurative, metaphorical or symbolic description/language

LANGUAGE

1. Mainly emotional, Anglo-Saxon and sometimes antiquated vocabulary
2. A regular mix of Latinate and Anglo-Saxon language

DESCRIPTION FOR GROUNDING THE NARRATIVE

1. Familiar, domestic, boring detail
2. Rich, exotic, world-building detail

SPEECH

1. Dialogue in vernacular, colloquial, ‘street’ language
2. Declarative, rhetorical speech

CHARACTERS WITH PLOT

1. Heroic and archetypal characters who triumph against the odds
2. A disempowered individual who fails despite their best efforts

PLOT

1. Incidental and haphazard plot, a bit like life
2. A plot that has a clear shape and is a journey of spiritual growth

If you’d like me to check your answers, please do feel free to email me (Adam): adz_d2003 @ yahoo.co.uk – deleting the two spaces either side of the @ sign.

I’ll be posting a new lesson every day (Monday-Friday), to help people who are stuck at home because of the coronavirus situation. These mini-lessons will give you a useful daily routine, and might just keep you sane! Stay safe.

 

If you enjoyed this mini-lesson, do SHARE it with others.

Satan speaks out: ‘You shouldn’t believe everything you read. There’s a lot of fake news out there!’ #fantasy #horror #Satanic #science fiction #newbook

Satan launches his new authorised biography today: The Satanic in Science Fiction and Fantasy! ‘What’s the odd misunderstanding between friends, eh? Come on, live a little, before it’s too late. Hey! Don’t look at me. I’ve never even heard of the damned virus. I was busy elsewhere.’

Creative writing mini-lesson: no.14 ‘writing romance♥’ #Lockdown #coronavirus #creativewriting #TuesdayMotivation #TuesdayThoughts

Put the 6 steps (‘beats’) of this generic romantic plot into the correct order!

1. They meet by a strange coincidence again, and there is a repeat of the initial connection, but the original problem repeats and there is an absolutely terrible argument or crisis moment where all seems lost. They separate, apparently forever! (Don’t cry!)
2. Two people suffering loneliness (or unhappy relationships) meet by chance… and there’s some wonderful spark or special moment! It’s a slightly giddy moment too, with touching humour. (Ahhh! Cute. Don’t throw up! It might happen to you.)
3. The universe rewards the protagonist’s self-sacrifice with a miracle! The love-interest is moved beyond words by the self-sacrifice of the other. ‘Of course I love you. I’ve always loved you, I now see!’ And the love-interest in turn saves the protagonist. (Or not!)
4. Realising what they need to do, the protagonist rushes back to the love-interest and sacrifices themselves to ‘save’ the love-interest, even though it means that they might never be together in the end! (Such a selfless and pure love! I need a tissue!)
5. Wallowing in their misery and separation, a random event or conversation with a friend allows the protagonist to realise the true nature of the problem, their selfishness or previous blindness. It’s a moment of self-realisation. And they know the solution now! (Yay!) But what if it’s too late? (Yikes!)
6. Yet events, circumstances and/or self-doubt pull them apart… so that after that initial moment they now suffer even more! They are upset, angry or haunted by ‘What if?’ The protagonist might decide to give up on ever finding someone (Sad!)

 

 

Answer: 1b, 2f, 3a, 4e, 5d, 6c

In previous lessons, we looked at the plot-shape for fantasy and science fiction (mini-lesson no.7) and horror and suspense (mini-lesson no.12). As you can see from the above, romance (and erotic fiction) has its own traditional shape.

The classic shape for romance is used by blockbuster Hollywood movies like When Harry Met Sally and The Adjustment Bureau, both of which have happy endings. At the same time, romance can sometimes have an unhappy ending (note the ‘Or not! warning in step 6), when one or both of lovers tragically dies, as in Romeo and Juliet and Troilus and Cressida.

Curiously, erotic fiction uses the same plot-shape as romance! You might consider Fifty Shades of Grey as an example. The difference between erotic fiction and romance? Well, the former involves sexual encounters, while romance involves playful banter and excessive eye-contact (flirtation, the style of which varies from culture to culture) over a cup of coffee instead. That’s human beings for you.

Quick task

Use the general plot-shape above to write your own specific plot summary for a piece of romantic or erotic fiction.

If you’d like me to look at how successful your attempt is, please do feel free to email me (Adam): adz_d2003 @ yahoo.co.uk – deleting the two spaces either side of the @ sign.

I’ll be posting a new lesson every day (Monday-Friday), to help people who are stuck at home because of the coronavirus situation. These mini-lessons will give you a useful daily routine, and might just keep you sane! Stay safe.

If you enjoyed this mini-lesson, do SHARE it with others.

Creative writing mini-lesson: no.12 ‘writing HORROR and suspense’ #SaturdayMotivation #SaturdayThoughts #Lockdown #coronavirus #creativewriting

Look at the famous passage below and identify the x3 ambiguous signs, the protagonist’s x3 failed attempts to rationalise, and then ‘the monstrous reveal’!

He must have slept soundly for an hour or more, when a sudden clatter shook him up in a most unwelcome manner. In a moment he realized what had happened: his carefully-constructed screen had given way, and a very bright frosty moon was shining directly on his face. This was highly annoying. Could he possibly get up and reconstruct the screen? Or could he manage to sleep if he did not?

For some minutes he lay and pondered over the possibilities: then he turned over sharply, and with all his eyes open lay breathlessly listening. There had been a movement, he was sure, in the empty bed on the opposite side of the room. Tomorrow he would have it moved, for there must be rats or something playing about in it. It was quiet now. No! the commotion began again. There was a rustling and shaking: surely more than any rat could cause.

I can figure to myself something of the Professor’s bewilderment and horror, for I have in a dream thirty years back seen the same thing happen; but the reader will hardly, perhaps, imagine how dreadful it was to him to see a figure suddenly sit up in what he had known was an empty bed.

[from ‘Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’, M.R. James]

 

 

Answer: the ambiguous signs are the strange fall of the ‘screen’, the ‘movement’ and ‘the commotion’; the failed attempts to rationalise are the moonlight causing the screen to fall(?!), the ‘rats’ and then the gibberish related to the ‘dream’;… all leading to the ghostly figure suddenly sitting up in what had previously been an empty bed! Argh!

And there you have the classic shape of suspense as a narrative device or even a plot-shape. You’ll notice, therefore, that the suspense and horror genres use a very different plot-shape compared to the fantasy and science fiction genres (‘The Hero’s Journey’, described in mini-lesson no.7).

M.R. James was one of the UK’s most famous ghost-writers. Indeed, his short stories are still regularly dramatized by the BBC every Christmas. James knew his craft.

You will notice in the passage above how the prose shifts between Anglo-Saxon (phrases made up of shorter words) when the protagonist is caught up in moments of emotion (fear) and Latin (longer words) when the protagonist is rationally/objectively trying to get to grips with what is going on. It’s extremely effective writing, employing enactment (mini-lesson no.5)!

Finally, you will notice that the third paragraph of the passage above is just one overlong sentence. It’s confusing, and hard to follow both in terms of grammar and meaning. It struggles for coherence. It is all but an incoherent gabble or ‘stream of consciousness’. Indeed, it represents the psychological fragmentation and loss of rationality of the protagonist, and so we have another example of enactment. Oh, yes, James certainly knew his craft.

Quick task

Write a short scene that involves one of the following:

• Someone hiding in a wooden shack from an ‘unnatural’ storm
• A stuffed animal that is out of place/moving
• A pub where there is a ‘strange’ atmosphere
• An attic that might or might not be haunted

If you’d like me to look at how successful your attempt is, please do feel free to email me (Adam): adz_d2003 @ yahoo.co.uk – deleting the two spaces either side of the @ sign.

I’ll be posting a new lesson every day (Monday-Friday), to help people who are stuck at home because of the coronavirus situation. These mini-lessons will give you a useful daily routine, and might just keep you sane! Stay safe.

If you enjoyed this mini-lesson, do SHARE it with others.

Creative writing mini-lesson: no.11 ‘device and distortion’ #FridayMotivation #FridayThoughts #Lockdown #coronavirus #creativewriting

Match the following motifs/literary devices to the literary examples.

1. Defamiliarization – when the normal doesn’t seem entirely normal, creating a surreal, alienated or spooky atmosphere
2. Overstatement – exaggerating for emphasis or comedic effect, or a narrator psychologically compensating for an inadequacy
3. Understatement – being dismissive or making something seem less important than it actually is, for comedic effect or for psychological reasons
4. Foreshadowing – providing an omen or a sign of something that is to come, to build suspense or to suggest some message from a supernatural force
5. Oxymoron/paradox – mixing opposites to describe the indescribable, or to suggest the abnormal

 

1. She was hideously beautiful.
2. ‘It’s just a scratch!’ the soldier snorted, as he sought to stop the jetting blood. Jack felt queasy.
3. He came to a corner of sorts and found himself at the start of a new ‘street’. The way ahead was dark, with the buildings leaning in too close. And the darkness seemed to be cluttered, as if to block any progress.
4. He was the size of a planet, and others had a tricky orbit to negotiate if they wanted to avoid any sort of crash-landing. He knew he shouldn’t have had that extra cream bun.
5. In Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles, Tess is on the way to meet her rich lascivious cousin. On route, her wagon loses a wheel and the traces of her wagon penetrate the stomach of her poor horse. As it dies, its eyes implore her to let it run free. Tess continues on foot to her cousin’s mansion, where he proceeds to force his attentions upon her.

 

 

Answers: a5, b3, c1, d2, e4

What all the devices have in common, of course, is that they both help to distort reality and create a supernatural or emotional atmosphere/connotation. Therefore, when we use literary device, the writing becomes far richer in terms of theme, world-building and reading experience.

The technique of defamiliarization was first identified in Sigmund Freud’s essay entitled ‘The Uncanny’. He gave the specific example of using quotation marks around a word, as with the ‘street’ in passage c) above. He pointed out that the quotation marks help us think of the way forward as both a street and not-actually-a-street. Therefore, the way forward is two things at once, familiar and unfamiliar, like déjà vu. The narrative perspective is therefore also dualistic, as if ego and id are in conflict, or the rational and the emotional, or the physical and supernatural.

At the end of the day, the use of literary device is a hallmark of richer or ‘better’ writing. And yet… it also tends to be a matter of a writer’s general style, or the type of literature a reader might or might not prefer to consume. Therefore, do not feel that you ‘have to’ use device in your writing if you don’t want to.

Quick task

Imagine some situations of your own, and then try use one or more of the literary devices listed above.

If you’d like me to look at how successful your attempt is, please do feel free to email me (Adam): adz_d2003 @ yahoo.co.uk – deleting the two spaces either side of the @ sign.

I’ll be posting a new lesson every day (Monday-Friday), to help people who are stuck at home because of the coronavirus situation. These mini-lessons will give you a useful daily routine, and might just keep you sane! Stay safe.

If you enjoyed this mini-lesson, do share it with others.

Hmm. Might have to drink this responsibly…

…or not.

So, another year all but done. It’s been a strange one, that’s for sure. Spent 8 months in Cornwall, teaching at Falmouth University. But university student recruitment is down 22% in the subject of English… so Jan-August was pretty much the end of that gig. Still, I wrote a murder-mystery novel while I was down there (The Mists of Falmouth), so something may come of that.

Happily, I then got a secure position at Middlesex University (norf Lundun, init), which is lovely place to work. It’s filling a few of the gaps on my academic CV too. I’m leading on the Frankenstein Resurrection mobile phone app development at the moment! I spend four nights a week in a small studio flat in Golder’s Green, and three nights back up in Manchester, with the beloved cat… oh, and Nades.

I’ve got a modest little book coming out in April 2020: The Satanic in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Unless you have a Scrooge-like heart, you might wanna help me out by pre-ordering a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Satanic-Science-Fiction-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B07Y7NQVR7/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=satanic+dalton&qid=1577280363&sr=8-1. Oh, go on! It’s flaming xmas. Whatever.

In further news, Kristell Ink have green-lighted The Book of Witches (as a follow up to The Book of Dragons, The Book of Angels, and The Book of Orm… what do you mean you haven’t got copies of ’em?!). I’m delighted to say we’ve got two big-name authors onboard: John Marco (US fantasy author, of whom I was a right fanboy when younger) and Adam Lively! And Charlotte Pang has done a wicked cover:

I love it.

Well, I’d better get back to my roasting chestnuts – don’t want them to burn.

Have a merry ol’ Christmas, y’all.

adz x

 

Seek out the Mandalorian, and your faith will be rewarded #Yoda #themandalorian #Disney

You’ll have heard the fuss about ‘Baby Yoda’ that’s going round. It’s not actually Yoda himself: it’s a young member of his species/race (officially ‘unknown’) who appears in the new Star Wars series (‘The Mandalorian‘) currently appearing on the Disney+ channel. The title of the series refers to a bounty hunter of Jango Fett’s own race (Boba Fett was then cloned from Jango Fett). The Mandalorian goes around the galaxy far, far away, carrying out various (highly dangerous) commissions. The series is set five years after the fall of the Empire, but before the rise of the New Republic; so it neatly bridges the time of chaos and confusion between the old movies and the new ones.

Right, now we’ve got all that out of the way, is all the aforementioned fuss warranted? Yes, it is. Entirely. I’m getting old, and I’m increasingly ‘old school’ in my Star Wars tastes, expectations and demands. I am of the belief that the new kids on the block BROKE Star Wars. Come on, you must have heard (and perhaps seen) how badly the movie Solo did, and how they then cancelled the Boba Fett movie that was planned. And the terrible plotting and character development in Rogue One was quite distressing for me. And I could go on at length – but I think you can already see how tyrannical and purist I am. The good news is The Mandalorian series doffs the finest cap (or helmet) in the galaxy to the old style Star Wars.

Incidental characters from the original trilogy of movies are now front and centre, including the bounty hunter droid (technically IG-11, while I had IG-88 as an action figure when I was a kid, collecting tokens and sending them off), power droids, the Empire spy from the first movie, Jawas, and so on. The plot moves along with zero exposition (maybe less than zero, actually), and there are long sequences without any dialogue, everything relying on evocation and landscape, like in the original movie. All of this is more than just homage: it’s an essential understanding of a form of movie-making that had somehow become lost. Jon Favreau (writer and director) has done an amazing job. He is a masterful movie-maker, of course, as the one behind the original Iron Man movie, and so on.

And then there’s the character of the Mandalorian himself. Monosyllabic. Ruthless. And yet a member of a militaristic religion, with its own codes of honour and conduct. We get fascinating glimpses and suggestions, but the ‘mystery’ of his character is kept superbly poised and compelling – not an easy job when all we ever see is the visor of his helmet. This show is a ruddy TRIUMPH! If you are of the faith, then you will go on a quest to seek out this series. You will find a way and means. May the force be with you.

The Dark Lord invites you, which is nice of him. But he’s just that sort of guy.

Satan, Dracula, Sauron, Lord Foul, Darth Vader. The motif of the Satanic Dark Lord is ever-present in science fiction and fantasy, a malign intelligence seeking to thwart the Chosen One.

In the literature of the 1980s and 90s, the Dark Lord is always defeated. However, post-millennium, there are signs that he has finally begun to get the upper hand, as we witness his change from anti-hero to hero.

In this enthralling study, prize-winning author A J Dalton considers how our understanding and characterisation of Satan has developed over time. From early depictions of Satan as a brutal dragon in the Bible, to the playfully seductive friend in the works of Chaucer and Marlowe, to the sympathetic and sensitive vampire of the modern-day, to the alien and unknowable artificial intelligence of tomorrow.

This book provides a starting point for researchers, writers and fans of science fiction and fantasy interested in the development of one of the biggest tropes in speculative fiction.

Skull face appears on international author’s beer glass while drinking in Jamaica Inn! The new Turin Shroud? #JamaicaInn #TurinShroud #DaphneDuMaurier

Behold!