Showing posts with label biography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biography. Show all posts

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Based on a True Story

Historical fiction typically places invented characters and plotlines against the backdrop of real events, sometimes including encounters with famous people of the past. But historical novels of another type retell actual episodes from the past and differ from straight history or biography by introducing made-up incidents and characters without violating the recorded facts as generally accepted. Then there's the oxymoronic "nonfiction novel," exemplified by works such as Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD and Alex Haley's ROOTS, purporting to report history as it happened but in novelistic style, also with the insertion of invented walk-on characters, minor incidents, and dialogue:

Non-Fiction Novel

Wikipedia remarks that the definition of the form can be "flexible." Judging from the range of their examples, the word I'd use is "fuzzy." Some of the books they mention strike me as simply standard-model historical fiction. So the difference between that genre and the so-called nonfiction novel seems to be one of degree.

Sharyn McCrumb has written several novels based on murder cases in American history, notably THE BALLAD OF FRANKIE SILVER, THE BALLAD OF TOM DOOLEY, and THE UNQUIET GRAVE. She includes afterwords supplying the real-life background of the stories. In the author's afterword to THE BALLAD OF TOM DOOLEY, she answers the question of how much is true with, "As much as I could possibly verify." In the story itself, she fills in the gaps with her own conjectures based on what she considers the best evidence. THE DEVIL AMONGST THE LAWYERS, while also retelling an actual trial, takes some liberties with history, as McCrumb explains in her afterword.

Barbara Hambly's novel about the later life of Mary Todd Lincoln, THE EMANCIPATOR'S WIFE, with flashbacks to the former First Lady's youth and her marriage to Lincoln, follows a similar narrative strategy. It adheres to historical facts as known while creatively expanding on them.

Alternate history is a different thing, making deliberate changes in critical events to create a counterfactual world. For instance, S. M. Stirling's currently running series based on the premise that Theodore Roosevelt regained the presidency in the 2012 election is one outstanding example. Secret history, on the other hand, tells stories of critical events that fall between the cracks in documented history, without contradicting recorded facts (e.g., magical combat between British and German witches during World War II in a world otherwise resembling our own past).

What about autobiography? CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, has been labeled a "semi-autobiographical novel," although from what I've read about it, the contents are factual. The book does skip around chronologically, however, and it omits some facts, mainly that the Gibreth family never had twelve children living at the same time. The death of one daughter in childhood is not mentioned. The "All Creatures Great and Small" series, by James Herriot (real name Alf Wight), shifts further toward the fiction category. While the incidents in the books really happened, names and other identifying characteristics of people in the episodes have been changed.

How far can a work that claims historical accuracy go with author-created elements before it crosses the line between straight history or biography and fiction?

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Monday, August 23, 2021

Introduction: Author Karen Wiesner

Author Karen Wiesner


Creating realistic, unforgettable characters one story at a time…


Just this past weekend I received an invitation and welcome from Alien Romances to join the prestigious line-up of authors gathered at the blog. I've known Margaret Carter since I asked her to join the popular promotional group I founded in 2003, Jewels of the Quill (featured in RT Book Reviews magazine with a revolving group of romance authors that produced 14 award-winning anthologies together in the 11 years we were together). Currently, Margaret and I are critique partners. Additionally, I met Rowena Cherry when I interviewed her for my reference titles published by Writers Digest Books. Considering the short notice, I thought it would be fitting to post my author biography in order to introduce myself.

 

In addition to the many hats I've worn in the last 25 years as a writing reference instructor and author of bestselling craft references such as FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS, WRITING THE FICTION SERIES, and BRING YOUR FICTION TO LIFE: Crafting Three-Dimensional Stories with Depth and Complexity as well as a professional blurbologist (a fancy title for someone who writes back cover blurbs for authors) and a freelance editor, I'm also the author of 144 titles (19 series) which have been nominated or won 134 awards. I write in nearly every genre of fiction along with writing reference, children's books, and poetry which means I'll have a lot of material to talk about in my future here on the Alien Romances blog. Below, I've compiled a bullet list of my credits--with the genres that are the focus of this blog listed first--which I hope everyone finds interesting.  

 

Romantic Science Fiction:

 

-Arrow of Time Chronicles, Books 1-4 available now

 

Romantic Fantasy/Mild Horror:

 

-Woodcutter’s Grim Series {Classic Tales of Horror Retold}, Books 1-9 and The Final Chapter available now; Book 10 including three full-length novels coming September 2021

 

Paranormal/Horror/Ghost:

 

-Bloodmoon Cove Spirits Series. Books 1-6 are now available; Books 7-12 as well as the first novella collection coming soon

 

-Single Titles "The Amethyst Star", a futuristic romance, and "Creatures of the Night", a fantasy romance, in 2-in-1 Supernatural Romance Novellas available now

 

-SWEET DREAMS, A single title romantic horror available now

 

Writing/craft reference titles not mentioned previously:

 -CPR FOR DEAD OR LIFELESS FICTION: A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Development and Progression of Characters, Plots, and Relationships available now

-WRITING BLURBS THAT SIZZLE--AND SELL! available now

-COHESIVE STORY BUILDING (formerly titled FROM FIRST DRAFT TO FINISHED NOVEL {A Writer's Guide to Cohesive Story Building}) available now

 

Romantic Action/Adventure and Suspense:

 

-Incognito Series, Books 1-8 available now; Books 9-12 will be reissued in the future

 

Mystery (Police Procedural, Amateur Sleuth, and Private Investigator):

 

-Falcon's Bend Series written with Chris Spindler, Books 1-6 and three novella collections available now

 

-Denim Blues Mysteries, Books 1-3 available now 

Contemporary Romances/Women's Fiction:

 -Family Heirlooms Series, Books 1-6 available now

 -Friendship Heirlooms Series (Family Heirlooms Series spinoff), Books 1-7 available now

 -Peaceful Pilgrims Series (Family and Friendship Heirlooms Series spinoff), Books 1-3 and 5 available now; Books 4, 6-8 coming soon

 -Wounded Warriors Series, Books 1-6 available now

 

-Gypsy Road Series, Books 1-4 available now

 

-Angelfire Trilogy, Books 1-3 available now

 

-Angelfire II Quartet (Angelfire Trilogy spinoff), Books 1-4 available now

 

-Kaleidoscope Series, Books 1-7 now available

 

-Adventures in Amethyst Series, Books 1-10 available now; Books 11-13 to be released in the Adventures in Amethyst Trio of Holiday Romances collections in 2021

 

-Cowboy Fever Series, Books 1-6 available now

 

-Single Title Contemporary Romances "The Amethyst Angel" and "A Home for Christmas" in 2-in-1 Inspirational Romance Novellas available now

 

-Restless as Rain available now

 

Children's Books:

 

-Making Good Choices Series, Book 1 available now; Book 2 reissue coming soon

 

-KERI IS CUTE CUTE CUTE, out of print

 

-I CAN TOUCH THE SKY, out of print

 

-CODY KNOWS with Linda Derkez, out of print

 

Poetry:

 

Soul Bleeds The Poetry, Melodies, and Other Wanderings of Karen Wiesner available now

 

What a thrill to be adopted into this group. I look forward to my time here. My days to post on Alien Romances will be Fridays so I'll be back soon. I hope you'll post comments, and follow me at my author pages as well as here on the Alien Romances blog.

 

Happy reading!

 

Check out my Author Pages:

My website and blog:  https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

My Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

My pages at my publisher, Writers Exchange's, website: http://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

and

http://www.writers-exchange.com/blog/

My Barnes and Noble author page: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Karen%20Wiesner

My Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenwiesner

My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/karenwiesner


Tuesday, April 21, 2020

How to Use Tarot and Astrology in Science Fiction Part 7 - Creating Charisma with Verisimilitude

How to Use Tarot and Astrology in Science Fiction
Part 7
Creating Charisma with Verisimilitude 

Previous parts in How to Use Tarot and Astrology in Science Fiction Series are indexed at the bottom of the index post about Astrology

https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/03/pausing-for-you-to-catch-up-with-me_30.html

The Tarot posts - Tarot Just For Writers - have been polished up and presented as Kindle books. 5 Individual volumes, or one single collected one (the collected is cheaper).

https://amazon.com/Not-So-Minor-Arcana-Books-ebook/dp/B010E4WAOU/

And we have explored Verisimilitude in the various aspects of Worldbuilding, Theme, Plot, and even Marketing.  Seeming "real" at least in some single element, is a novel's most memorable feature.  One "realistic" element can make the imaginary elements vivid, real, fascinating, and memorable.

That distinctive element, original and imaginary, will "tag" your Series in the reader's mind, and they will remember your byline, maybe buy more books.

So here are some of the Posts mentioning Verisimilitude.

https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/07/why-every-novel-needs-love-story-part-1.html

https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/07/why-every-novel-needs-love-story-part-2.html

https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/06/depiction-part-14-depicting-cultural.html

Here's one about Corporate Greed and the Sex Drive -- involving Pluto transits.
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/10/alien-sexuality-part-3-corporate-greed_25.html

And I did say verisimilitude is essential to Theme:
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/12/theme-archetype-integration-part-1.html

The HEA is a hard sell to non-Romance readers, which is most of the science fiction readership, so you have to argue convincingly for the verisimilitude of the Happily Ever After ending.  Here is a discussion of that task for the author of Soul Mate romance.

https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/12/theme-archetype-integration-part-1.html

And Plot Pacing is paramount.
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2019/10/mysteries-of-pacing-part-6-how-to.html

In fact "Pacing" as a writing technique can be the most important thing you learn to do. Pacing can be the genre signature -- which scenes or descriptions you spend pages on, and which you cut to less than 1 sentence.

A long time ago, Romance novels were required to omit sex scenes, and still they captured imagination and fueled determination not to settle for less than a Soul Mate.

Romance novels sans sex still presented Characters with potent Charisma.  You could meet a man whose mere glance would sweep you off your feet.

Love at first sight works like that.  After all, it is "first sight" - presumably not after first sex.

Charisma works like that - instant first-sight attention getting, followed by a riveting hint of potential.

Potential for what depends on the problem confronting the person who notices the charismatic figure.

In the era of the "Talkies," film producers were successful if they could recognize a person with Charisma.  People could learn to act, could be promoted widely, could be "made a Star" -- if only they had Charisma.

Today, Hollywood has learned to fake Charisma, but still those with natural Charisma shine above the rest. Football players, even golfers, tennis stars, Olympic figure skaters, some of the better ones never get the round of endorsements and personal appearances because they don't have Charisma.

Today, the politicians that get the most votes do it with Charisma (fake and real), not Policies.

So in real life, it is useful to understand Charisma.

In Fantasy Life, only the writer has to understand Charisma to create such an attractive Character.

However, with the main product Hollywood is selling being Charisma, mature readers have noticed "it's all a sham."  Everyday readers see the gossamer shimmer of beauty ripped away ("Oh, she is so Botoxed!"), and don't want to buy that product anymore.

Yet, we still feel "seeing is believing."  If we see beauty, are attracted by a voice, an idea, a gesture, we respond, and we don't know why.

Likewise, we see ugliness, a disgusting visage, hear an irritating voice, see unacceptable behavior, and we are genuinely repelled.

That repulsion can be created artificially using Hollywood techniques, the same techniques that create Charisma.

That realization is fluttering around the edges of popular consciousness.  Charisma is real, and powerful, but the mature reader of Romance and of Science Fiction is coming to realize how Charisma is being used as a tool to manipulate their opinions and behaviors.  Nobody likes being "manipulated" but Charisma is sneaky - and only becomes apparent after the action (buying a cosmetic product, voting for the wrong person). 

And so Charisma can be the element a writer uses to create verisimilitude connecting the reader to the fantasy world the writer is just imagining.

As noted above, the Happily Ever After ending is a very hard sell.  Real life experience tells us that infatuation passes -- it isn't love at first sight.  Marriage based on infatuation don't last and break up in real agony.

Infatuation happens when a person first encounters a Charismatic Figure who ignites a deeply personal, individualizing vision of the future.  It's usually sugar coated, but reality teaches us the sugar coating hides the bitter truth.

So with age, and experience, we look at Charismatic figures with leery suspicion.

A teen who finds True Love is viewed as Infatuated.

So we have the "second time around" Romance, when a Relationship can proceed to the HEA, while previously it was blocked by the surface illusion of who the other person really is. 

Infatuation is a small scale version of experiencing Charisma.  The person may not be a Soul Mate, but just connecting with a virgin area of Personality.

We need our infatuations to teach us about ourselves.

Charisma, as used by the media for fiction and non-fiction (yes, top newscaster's get to be top by having Charisma, not just brains), refers to that same lure that infatuates younger people, but instead of affecting just one person, Charisma affects a broad swath of a target audience.

Learning to develop and aim Charisma, to weaponize Charisma (obsessive love) was the shaper of modern civilization.

Those who are the "target audience" of the weapon-wielders armed with Charisma are beginning to understand it is all a sham.  That's why the broadest audience now considers the HEA all a sham.

The HEA happens when Soul Mates form a Couple.

Soul Mates often seem infatuated and obsessive as they work toward forming that Couple and surmounting the current obstacles.

The Romance writer of science fiction, fantasy, or paranormal genres has a unique opportunity to explain Charisma to a readership uniquely suited to understanding that explanation.

The explanation the writer chooses has to be embedded in the Worldbuilding behind the story -- at an invisible level of the structure.  The explanation has to be woven into the theme, not at the assumption level but at the more blatant symbolic level.

Here is the index to theme-symbolism integration:
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2018/02/index-to-theme-symbolism-integration.html

Most writers will have developed several solid explanations for the existence of Charisma, but there are always more to be found.

Here is one way Astrology can explain both the Soul Mate attraction, where each person affects the other charismatically but nobody else sees what she sees in him, and the Public Figure Charisma that moves the body politic.

Infatuation, which has the same effect as being attracted to a Charismatic Figure, is an effect of the planet Neptune and the Sign Pisces which Neptune rules.

Neptune has a blurring or dissolving effect on structure (on reality), but at the same time reveals a "higher truth" or a more real truth that is totally unrealistic but nevertheless true.  The quintessential illustration of the Pisces male is the Engineer.  Think Scotty on ST:Tos.

Obsession is all about Pluto.  Remember Pluto is the "upper octave" of Mars, where Mars creates a bar-brawl scene, Pluto creates World War.  Pluto rules Scorpio, the sign notorious for secret sexual obsessions and even perversions.  It is not the sexuality and love depicted by Venus which is so often paired with Mars. Pluto is the raw staying power of life itself.

Pluto magnifies whatever element it connects to, and so it magnifies Neptune's infatuation effect into full blown Charisma, where life itself depends on cleaving to the glamorous object shrouded in Neptune veils (and thus never what it appears to be.)

The reason understanding of Charisma is so illusive is that Charisma is the product of two difficult to understand forces (symbolized by Astrological planet and sign), Neptune/Pisces and Pluto/Scorpio.

How this works between two individuals, Soul Mates, is how the two Natal Chart positions, aspects, signs, houses, midpoints, of Neptune and Pluto relate to each other, and what transits to the natal charts are in effect during the infatuation.

How it works for whole populations lured into following a Charismatic Figure (sometimes to salvation; sometimes over a cliff) has to do with the Figure's natal chart and transits as they relate to the generational positions of Pluto and Neptune.

The third element that determines how Charisma affects actions (Plot) is the notion of Soul.

Soul is a concept that has to be woven into the worldbuilding. Either souls are real in your fictional world -- or not.  Once you make that choice, you discard one set of themes, and lock into another (maybe a genre, too).  It is a basic choice, and determines which audience (and thus which publisher and which editor) you submit your book to.  For audiences that accept Soul as real in everyday life, you would have to work hard to convince them that Souls are not real in your universe, but Love is real.

So if you opt to build a world where Souls are not real, you eliminate the audience that understands the real world through the concept of Soul.

You would have to convince those readers that a world where humans (or Aliens) have no Soul is better than their world, or can be fixed to be as good as Reality.

That argument generates your Themes.

So Theme and Plot become one via the element of Charisma.

THEME: Souls choose to override the infatuating lure of Charisma and break free of Obsession by using (insert a tool, fictional or not, such as Religion, ESP, Magic Glasses).

THEME: People, humans and Aliens, can not choose to override the infatuating lure of Charisma and so become the hapless victim of Obsession at the behest of their "betters." Kings, Queens, Army Generals, Sorcerers, Moguls, Alien Overlords.

Either theme can be subordinated to the Romance Genre envelope theme of "Love Conquers All."  With or without Soul Mates, Love can muscle through any situation (at least to a HFN ending).

With the Soul Hypothesis, you have an HEA potential, but without Soul, you get a predominance of HFN endings.

Learn what your potential readership knows is real, pick one thing that readership bases their life-decisions on, and incorporate that into your worldbuilding. Be absolutely consistent with that one thing, and let imagination loose for the rest.

In science fiction writing, mix an element your readership knows for a fact is not real with elements they know are real.

Science Fiction is all about "What if ...?"  And basically what goes into the ... of that question is something that is widely known and accepted by all the experts suddenly turning out to be wrong.

Being wrong delights the scientist in the SF reader because finding out what has been wrong brings the "If only ..." of potential happiness into view, and makes the "If this goes on ..." prediction subject to revision for the better.

Being the dynamic force in re-creating your own world is the most fun anyone can have in life.

When the Neptune and Pluto transits bestow life-long, innate Charisma in a person, that Charisma attracts followers simply because the person is having fun living.

Charisma just sits there seething until FUN is added.

Charismatic figures enjoy being the center of attention, which makes them the center of attention.

On the smaller scale, of one-on-one relationships, one person can see an infatuating delight in another and become obsessed by it, joining the Charismatic individual in his obsession.

Being obsessed is actually FUN.  It feels good, which is why people don't struggle to break free until the obsession has almost run its course.

So if Charisma is the topic of your Theme, what it is, where it comes from, why it is good, why it is bad, and whether it is even real or just an insanity of the moment, then you need to introduce your reader to a Character who would enthrall them in real life.

Spock was such a figure for ST:ToS (and still is).  But note how many fans of Star Trek never found Spock interesting -- and instead were obsessed with Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, or even Chekov or Sulu.

Each individual fictional character was Charismatic and obsessive to different segments of the audience.

As the characters interacted with each other, the audiences melded together into a social force to be reckoned with by a Hollywood which had, hitherto, looked down on their victims.

Yes, Hollywood thinking disparaged fans (of anything) because those Execs knew the tricks of artificial Charisma that had fooled those fans.

Knowledge is Power.

The fans learned.  Now the fans rule.  Or do they?

Star Trek created an audience (out of pieces that would never have come together into a social force) using Charismatic Characters.

Study the audiences (fanfic reveals all), then study the Characters, and don't forget to study the writers, the producers, and especially those who supply the money (studios - read the Credits).  Study how Charisma has been used, and find a new way to use it to explain the Happily Ever After is real, and not an ending but a beginning.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Incorrect Information About You As a Writer May Turn Up In A Search Engine

Incorrect Information About You As a Writer
May Turn Up In A Search Engine 

WRITERS BEWARE:

Readers used to "vet" you by looking you up in a "Who's Who" or similar paper book brought out front by a reference librarian (I'm in a lot of them).  Some of that info, printed on paper, would be out of date, and some of it never was true.

The same thing happens on the internet, only sometimes the info page is not dated.  What you read must be kept in your tentative-file, and not believed until confirmed by direct contact with the individual involved.

We all know better than to believe anything found on the internet.  Except, sometimes, you are in a hurry and find something that looks legitimate, and just use it as if it is true, or the whole truth.  Much of what is written about any public figure will have been written by enemies of that public figure.
Published writers are not immune to this phenomenon.

So READERS BEWARE.  

Here is an example that might be illustrative of using a well known name as click-bait for a scam selling information about Internet Figures, people known on social media to be influential.  It is possible this site might be collecting info with bots, then reselling it to advertisers.  They did not consult me before excerpting these items.

A friend of mine found my name used thusly:

http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Jacqueline-Lichtenberg/1625153

It appears some of this is lifted from things like classmates.com or ringsurf.com and other subscription services -- where I often fill forms with untrue info because it's none of their business. A lot of it is true, and lifted from my sites -- Facebook -- simegen.com -- by some kind of "bot" that really does not know how to read!  Some of it is true, or was at some time.  All of it is online somewhere, or was at one time or another.

What I'm posting here today is true as of August, 2016.

Note the copyright listings at the bottom of this page. Obviously, they are trying to conform to any legal details.

There is true "information" on that page mixed with information that is not true or way out of date.

Yes, I write books, and those are titles of mine -- but there exists newer information.

Here is where to get updated information and contact information:

You can find me on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/jacqueline.lichtenberg

And the Sime~Gen Group where it's easy to talk with me to directly verify information. It's not hard to get in touch.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SimeGen/

You can talk to me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JLichtenberg

You can find me on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinelichtenberg

I'm on blogger:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/

http://out-territory.blogspot.com/

http://dushau.blogspot.com/

http://makingangelsthemovie.blogspot.com/

http://editingcircle.blogspot.com/

I'm also on a numbeer of chat services such as whatsapp.

The master biography/bibliography that I update is:

http://simegen.com/bios/jlbio.html

There is a Sime~Gen wiki which is currently firmly edited by those who know what they're talking about -- but will be open to additions and embroidery by many casual readers trying to be helpful.  By then, we expect to have a paper printing of this Wiki's information in a Concordance of Sime~Gen which will be authoritative.

http://simegen.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

You can find my page on Amazon where you can use the "follow" button to get notified of new titles:http://www.amazon.com/Jacqueline-Lichtenberg/e/B000APV900/

Or focus on the Sime~Gen Series:
http://www.amazon.com/Sime-Gen-13-Book-Series/dp/B016QAFPMK/




Here is a documentary on French TV that has a few clips of me, and discusses my Star Trek series, Kraith:
http://www.france4.fr/emission/fanfiction-ce-que-lauteur-oublie-decrire

And here is Kraith for free reading:
http://www.simegen.com/fandom/startrek/kraith/

And of course, I own and update my own domain:

http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

So if you find info on me you want to quote, check with me first.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Worldbuilding From Reality Part 2 - Advertising Video Writing

Other posts directly on Worldbuilding:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2011/04/worldbuilding-building-fictional-but.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/03/worldbuilding-from-reality.html
(this is Part 1 of "worldbuilding from reality")

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/01/worldbuilding-for-science-fiction.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/12/worldbuilding-by-committee.html

And I've done whole sets of posts on Worldbuilding integrating Plot and integrating Theme into the entire composition.  I'll have to collect them in a reference post soon.  Meanwhile, here's a list of links to my posts on worldbuilding that don't have "worldbuilding" in the title:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2012/06/worldbuilding-link-list.html

One reason I harp on Worldbuilding as a writing craft subject, hitting at every angle, is that it is the single weakest skill of Romance Writers. 

Most Romance writers work in some version of the "real" world -- even historicals have "facts" that delineate the world the characters live in and that the readers have to agree are "real facts" because they know them from "real world" sources outside the fictional reality of the story. 

Writers study "researching" assiduously, (which is good, and necessary), but they don't learn how to use research to "make up" imaginary facts then "sell" them to the readers as real.  That's the skill necessary for Paranormal Romance writing, and even for Science Fiction which goes beyond known science extrapolating into "what if science is wrong about this? Then what might be right?" 

Most Historical Romance readers are magnificently well educated in historical cultures, and you just can't fool them.

The same is true of science fiction readers -- they know science, so you better know your science when you write for them or they can't suspend disbelief well enough to romp with your characters. 

Fantasy and Paranormal Romance readers know anthropology, archeology, mythology, and a lot more -ologies  -- so you better know your Magic systems from historical reality when you invent a new one.  To invent a Magic System, you must first invent the world in which that magic system can plausibly function to get the effects on the characters you need. 

Since the Romance readers have developed a taste for Alien Romance, Romance writers have had to learn this whole new skill set I call "Worldbuilding."  It's a skill set that allows a writer to immerse a reader painlessly and seamlessly into a story set in a totally fictitious world, a completely impossible world, a world where a set of highly improbable character developments, and especially Relationships, are inevitable. 

Such an impossible world, properly "built," becomes "Art" when it is built to reveal some higher truth, some fundamental aspect of our everyday reality that is masked from ordinary consciousness.  Google+ and Google are amazing sources of oddball items you can use to achieve this kind of "Art." 

Here is a recent book by a brain surgeon who experienced a "higher truth" about the structure of reality during a coma and wrote a book about it:



You can find a long article about this book here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/11/18/the-science-of-heaven.html

As I've pointed out in my series of posts here on Astrology, Romance generally occurs to real people during a Neptune Transit.  Astrologers associate a Neptune Transit with a blurred or erroneous perception of reality, but mystics have learned how such Neptune transits reveal Higher Truths - the reality behind our reality - in which "Happily Ever After" is the inevitable outcome of a well lived life.  That is not a "reality" in which there are no rules, so a writer can just make up anything that occurs to them.  In such Neptune governed realities, there are very strict rules indeed, but communicating those rules to your readers who live in "normal" worlds is an entire skill set peculiar to Science Fiction writers.

Science Fiction writers developed this skill set over the decades from the 1930's or so, and I learned at their feet.  So I'm passing on what I've learned, only I'm using contemporary (to this writing) examples.  You will pass this on using examples contemporary to that future time, but the essence is the same. 

The fictional world you build has to start here and now in your reader's real world, and extend outward to that fictional realm of "far away places with strange sounding names." 

If you need inspiration, here's a song for MP3 download of "Far Away Places With Strange Sounding Names":



And a biography of one of my favorite writers, Allan Cole, about when he was a CIA brat dragged to Cyprus where his father dealt in Cold War secrets and he dealt with a British school that didn't like Americans.  The book reminded me of that old song, a primary inspiration for many of my novels because the song is an entry point into that "other" level of consciousness.



Closer to home and everyday reality, I've also done sets of posts on the whole new world we live in where writers have to do a lot if not all their own advertising, promotion, and marketing, often at their own expense.

That is the world your reader lives in, so you don't have to explain it when you are telling a story.  But the trick of storytelling is that the teller has to know more about the subject than the listener, yet not tell or even show, all she knows to the reader.  The key is to ignite the reader's imagination so the reader tells herself her own story -- not yours. 

Think about it - do you want to listen to (and pay close attention to) someone who obviously knows less about their subject than you do? 

A novelist, a writer, isn't exactly a 'teacher' per se.  A writer is in a dialogue with their reader.  Books are a conversation among those who are writing the books, and letting the readers kibitz.  Eventually, those readers will have their say, too, either by writing a book of their own or by flinging a comment up on Amazon or somewhere, or just going off to imagine their own ending to your story.

Think about being at a party in a room full of people, and you're standing in a circle with a nice drink in your hand, holding forth on a pet subject.

To keep the others in the circle quiet and still while you make your point (i.e. advertise your wares) you need two things:

a) something to say
b) something you know that they don't, or that they haven't viewed from your perspective.

Perspective is what LUCKY IN CYPRUS shows you how to achieve.  It's a book worth studying, just for that alone. 

You need to offer to add something to your listener's understanding of a subject, even if it's not more than the mere fact that you agree with them but can say it better.  If you can explain what they are feeling or knowing without words, they will grab that explanation and spread it around - often citing you as the source. 

A lot of what goes on Google+ or Facebook is just that - "samplers" (little artworks with words) that state something people are thinking, but spin it a new way.  People see what they feel stated in words and click "share." 

So when you set out to write a novel, especially in a well-explored genre like Romance, you have to have something new to say -- at least something new to the expected readership. 

What have you got to say that your readers don't already know?  What have you got to say that your readers know in their guts but can't quite articulate for themselves?  What can you add to the quality of their lives -- what can you give them to "share" or repeat to their friends saying, "You just have to read this book!"

What can you say that will make them remember your byline? 

THAT thing -- what you have to say -- is what you put into your book trailer that gets it "shared" on YouTube. 

Every novel is an argument set out step by step, enumerating things the reader already knows, then embroidering those things together into a new pattern, something memorable that encapsulates a Life Lesson (such as Love Conquers All).  That life-lesson is the theme.  And you get it from that "other" place the neurologist's book, The Science of Heaven, talks about.

That's where "theme" comes from - your visits to that other "place" which most people access only during sleep.  But you never quite remember your dreams.  Writers are the sort who can put those dreams into words (or pictures) so others recognize that other "place" they regularly visit.  That's where "life's lessons" come from. 

The life-lessons are pretty much the same over thousands of years, but the application can be very different and require a lot of original thinking.  That original thinking can reveal major flaws or fallacies in those old life-lessons.

But sometimes, that original thinking involves understanding a long-term (decades or centuries long) cycle.

Human affairs, from love to politics, from religion to war, from law to justice, move in short cycles and long cycles.  History, as all students of Romance Writing know, is remarkably cyclical.

Look at Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's St. Germain novels -- she shows us how women's rights in Rome differed from the previous Hellenistic culture, and how women lost rights in the Middle Ages, struggled in Victorian England, emerged again -- what's happening now in this world? 

OK, so you get the picture.  You must have something to say that a group at a party (or buyers of a novel) will stand still and listen to, appreciate, recognize as their own gut-level response to their "dreams" writ large.  They will repeat to others what you've said, point to you and become your "word of mouth" advertising. 

What you have to say must be original and different -- yet recognizable as what your listeners already know to be true, but can't quite say. 

So find a repeating CYCLE manifesting in everyday reality that describes what they experience in their dreams, in their nightly visits to "heaven" as the nuerosurgeon described it, and demonstrate that dreams can be real -- or not depending on your theme!   

In "Magic" it is taught, "As Above: So Below" -- and that's what this neurosurgeon was talking about with his coma experience of Heaven.  He discovered there really is an "Above."  He just doesn't know which is the cause and which the effect: brain or mind?  And of course, the artist's question is: "Does it matter which is which?"  That kind of question defines THEME. 

Which brings us to an online video that is a waste of a bit more than an hour of your time that could pay off big if you can understand what it's saying that you can use in a Romance Novel. 

This video is ADVERTISING, and it uses clever (even diabolical) techniques (skills) to open a vista into that "other" place evoked by the SONG (Far Away Places With Strange Sounding Names), visited by Allan Cole in his biography, and daringly admitted to by a neurosurgeon in his account of his coma. 

This video "romances" its viewers with a whiff of their most cherished hopes and dreams - enticing, hooking, then finally getting to the point -- 'buy this and realize your dreams.'  At the end of the video, notice particularly how the word "safe" is used.  There are a hundred Romance Novel themes in that one word's usage alone.  Study this video:

http://pro.stansberryresearch.com/1210THIRDLIA/LPSINC01/

It is a sales pitch that you've seen advertised all over the internet -- even on TV, I'll bet! 

It's in a format I've seen used by sales pitches now for a couple of years.  I absolutely hate it, and this particular one makes me squirm. 

But it's so pervasive for a reason.  It's latched onto something eye-stopping for a "hook" (Obama's Third Term), and then follows up with a lot more "hooks" -- all loaded with 'bait' to keep you hooked.

Then it "explains" as if giving you information you don't already have. 

The information about previous Presidents and what they've added to the USA historically is accurate, cleanly presented, and nicely packaged, carefully selected to make this video's point.

And all of it is laced with more bait, but not "hard-sell" -- it's very cleverly written.  This thing illustrates "worldbuilding" at its very best. 

The video is a pitch for an Investment Company that wants people who have a lot of money to become "clients" -- to subscribe to a newsletter, and then hire the company to deploy investment capital for them.

HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THEY PAID TO GET THIS VIDEO'S TEXT WRITTEN? 

Could you make that much on a Romance Novel?  Really? 

If you are putting so much effort into mastering worldbuilding skills, don't you want to maximize your return on investment?

Do you think this sales-pitch video is not "worldbuilding at its best?"  Do you think it's not "fantasy?"  Do you honestly believe this video is not "romancing" these potential clients? 

Remember the old adage I've been showing you how to use as a plotting tool, "If you want to understand what's happening, follow the money."

Look at this video.  It has one stationary, public domain picture, and a set of words with a voice reading the words to you at a very slow pace.

Do you think it was cheap to make?  Well, comparatively, maybe, but simple elegance is not CHEAP! 

There are lots of other videos like this all over the internet using this exact format.  They work.  They get people to do whatever it is they're pitching.

Study how the argument is constructed.  Really, sit through this video a couple of times and take notes on the structure of the argument. 

See if you can find the most glaring grammatical error I saw.  See if you can spot the "bait and switch" tactic -- OK, I'll give you a hint.  It starts out talking about the oil drilling in the Dakotas that you've all heard about and know, then ends up trying to sell you on investing in natural gas which the earlier presentation on oil clearly indicates will plunge in price.  Then it says you should buy the most risky investment I know of (distressed debt instruments) because they're "safe."  But of course you can't invest in this safe investment by yourself - you don't know enough or have the skills.  You have to hire them to do it for you - because, you see, it's safe. 

This sales pitch format - filled with logic holes and ignoring known facts by just not mentioning them - is extremely effective in triggering the behavior desired by the pitcher.  How would you use this methodology to "sell" the idea that "Love Conquers All" and "Happily Ever After" is the normal, ordinary condition of life that anyone can achieve? 

If you've been watching TV shows like Leverage that I've discussed previously, you won't fall for the grifter's tricks in this video - and you'll learn how to use them to your own advantage without doing anything immoral or unethical. 

By the time you get to that switch from oil to gas in the video, notice how you're ready to believe the video is giving you some real advantage in investing -- maybe because you're bored out of your mind with oil and the change in topic restores interest, but mostly because the speaker has gained credibility by telling you what you already know (that oil drilling is a big deal all of a sudden).

There's one passing shrug about green energy - pointing out the price differential with a very quickly shown table you don't have time to study.  There's no handy way to roll the video back and re-watch a page or two to check you understood it, which is very clever disabling of online features.

The whole thing is full of tricks you have been learning to use in writing Paranormal Romance - tricks to get readers to believe the impossible.  Some of those tricks are used to present the obviously true -- so the trick itself isn't obvious when the video gets to the obviously untrue.

The whole thing is a marvelous study in motivation-manipulation.

Remember, I've mentioned the science behind this kind of advertising many times.

We start with the raw math of Game Theory and the Overton Window (Google those terms if you haven't studied them yet) and layer on top of that the entire science of advertising.  This video is predicting an Overton Window, or saying that such a window is open right now.  And it's purporting to show you how to play this game to your advantage (by hiring this company to do it for you).

And deep inside this video, if you reverse engineer it using the clues I've been talking about in the Worldbuilding posts, you will find Edward Bernays that I've mentioned over the last few months.

Here's a neat article from npr on Bernays:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612464

Look up Bernays on Wikipedia for more nifty bits and tidbits.

The techniques founded on Bernays principles are suavely orchestrated into this video.  I can see how it was done.  Can you?  Yet?  Study.  Study hard. 

And all those techniques are yours to use a) in your constructing of your Romance novel most especially Paranormal Romance, b) in your constructing of your advertising for your novel, and c) in taking contracts to write advertising like this for others selling things other than your novels.   

Very few novelists make a living from novels -- advertising copy writers make a good living.  This video is nothing but copyrighting and good, dramatic reading.  Study it carefully. 

A very large percentage of novelists make their major income from a day-job writing non-fiction -- in journalism (as Allan Cole did after his stint in Cyprus -- before his screenwriting career and his novel writing career), in paid blogging, or advertising. 

Study this video and ponder your career moves based on whether you can master these copy-writing and advertising constructing skills to a level where you can sell those skills as your primary income source, so you can write your novels your own way. 

But keep in mind that this video has been all over the internet for years before I decided I had to watch it.  I had to watch it because it's all over.  Every time it is offered in a side-bar, the company being advertised in it is paying a fee.  They wouldn't keep doing that if the video didn't bring in customers.  You want to understand what's happening -- follow the money.  Closely. 

Now, when you're ready for worldbuilding on a more sophisticated level, restudy that video after re-reading the Theme-Plot Integration series on the use of Fallacy as a plotting tool -- 6 of those posts went up here in January-February 2013. 

By the way: I've recommended in many of these writing craft posts that beginners start learning to write by reading the biographies of writers (and autobiographies).  This one cited here, LUCKY IN CYPRUS, is an excellent example.  Note Allan Cole's eclectic interest in reading, in devouring a variety of subjects, the thirst for knowledge and for learning, the focus on first-hand experience, and the globe-trotting lifestyle at a young age.  These elements are common to all the most successful writers.  Read this biography closely.  Here is Allan Cole's credit list on imdb.com

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170426/

There's a couple people with that same byline.  That imdb page is by the fellow who wrote LUCKY IN CYPRUS and the Sten Series of novels.  See him on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Allan-Cole/e/B000AR9N24/

This kind of biographical history is a very firm predictor of commercial success in writing.  There are apparent exceptions, of course, but the preponderance of evidence is on the side of a "colorful" early biography.  With that in mind read my blog entries on Pluto. 

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2011/08/astrology-just-for-writers-part-10.html

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Talent: Mystique Or Mistake



I saw a comment on Twitter about writing TALENT that I just have to discuss here because Talent is such a big issue when you're contemplating "becoming" a writer. 
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Before we start on that, I have to point out that this week the Vampire anthology I edited (but did not contribute a story to) is just now available on Amazon etc, and it contains stories by 9 authors who would all be labeled "Talented" by most observers.  I didn't select these stories because the writers are "Talented," and I doubt any editor would choose stories for an anthology on that basis.  



----

So this comment I found on Twitter could be paraphrased: "I hope someday someone will recognize my Talent as a writer."

The comment made me very sad, but it reminded me we hadn't discussed Talent here at all.  In fact, I'm not sure I've used that word in these writing discussions.

That's because I don't "believe in" Talent as necessary to being a professional artist, actor, writer, wordsmith, dreamspinner, whatever you call what we do in writing Romance stories.  

I don't believe a lack of Talent is a barrier to achieving anything, in the Arts, Sciences, or anywhere.  In fact, you'll do better without Talent than with it.

When I was in 4th grade or so, there was an English assignment to write a "Tall Story" after we'd studied Paul Bunyan and related stories. 

I immediately grasped the concept of the Tall Story.  It seemed way beyond the conceptual ability of the rest of the class (in my school, a class was about 50 students and 1 teacher, which I consider an ideal ratio probably because I got used to it young.)

Now this was long before I became steeped in Science Fiction, and may have been the reason my mother introduced me to Science Fiction when I was in 5th grade, but she never said so.  I basically invented the entire field of science fiction, whole cloth out of nothing except kid-lit about talking animals etc.  I'd never heard of science fiction at that time, and Adult Fantasy didn't exist as a field.  So I made it up for a Tall Story. 

I don't remember much about that first story I ever wrote.  This is pretty much before I actually learned to READ which was in 5th grade after my mother brought me SF novels from the adult library when I was home sick.  I do remember I wrote about a guy who lived all alone in a cabin on the side of a craggy, rocky mountain overlooking a huge gorge (I can still see the image in my mind.)  I lived at that time in a totally flat town with a couple of small hills in the distance.  I'd never seen any place that looked like the setting for this story.  I don't remember the character I invented or what he did except it was "impossible" and involved affecting something on the other side of the gorge.  Yes, it was about a guy not a gal.  I had no idea of plot or story structure.  The assignment was to think of a Tall Story - something impossible that nobody else could imagine could be true. 

That's exactly what I did.  And everyone was astonished (except the rest of the class of course; they were just confused).  My teacher and my parents said I was Talented.  I didn't have a clue what "Talent" meant but it seemed to me it pleased them, which was a rare experience for me so it made an impression.

I was in 10th grade before I actually committed myself to a lifetime career as a writer of science fiction, do or die trying. 

Even by then, I had no clue what Talent was but I had ascertained by experiment and experience that I had NONE other than the ability to imagine the inconceivable as if it were commonplace reality.  I just didn't live in the same "world" other people around me lived in, but most people wouldn't call that a Talent.  More like a handicap?  

Long after I finished college, I did discover what Talent is and that I do have some, just not for art or writing stories or anything I really wanted to do. 

In between, I was increasingly puzzled by what people mean by the word Talent, and more and more determined to find out what Talent is, where it comes from, why it exists, and whether or why it matters at all.

The prevailing culture we live in is as obsessed with Talent as I am with the meaning of Words.  I love words.  I love how they feel in my mouth, especially words in a foreign language.  I love languages, especially those that are not cognate with English, my native language. 

I love gnawing at the puzzle of how the mind works, how humans use symbols like words, how ideas are generated and communicated with words, binding generations together so that we truly do "stand on the shoulders of giants." 

I love ideas, and how they interweave and turn around each other, forming dimensional pictures in the mind.  I love the research involved in relating the mind and the brain.  I love this world and the people who live in it, bewildered and happy at the same time.  Falling in love is what life is all about.  The things you do when in a mental/emotional state of that kind of love/joy/happiness/delight succeed no matter the barriers that seem to be in the way, no matter the lack of Talent or Skill.  Love does indeed conquer All. 

So, after my mother introduced me to science fiction, and I found science fiction fandom (or rather it found me: I wrote a letter to an SF Magazine that was published with my address and my mailbox exploded with letters from fellow-fans) I set out to launch myself into a profession as a writer, and knew I needed a strategy.

At that time, I didn't know that Love Conquers All, I just knew that nothing on earth was going to stop me no matter what. 

So I started my research by reading a lot of biographies of writers, famous and otherwise, (and autobiographies, too), which led to reading a lot of history and non-fiction travel books (I read everything on parapsychology and UFOs in the library even though I had to sneak into the stacks and sit there to do it being too young to borrow those adult books).  My attitudes towards words and language, and a host of other subjects like drama and philosophy, all painted a picture of a writer.  I learned that I had everything needed for a career in writing except Talent (but who cares, I will not be stopped!)  One thing all successful writers had in common was Travel -- and I hadn't done much of that. 

Talent, I thought, was something I'd have to do without, but Travel -- that lack I could remedy.

I loved to travel.  My Dad took us on a vacation every year to interesting places, and I loved riding in the car staring out the window, stopping and meeting people who lived in different places.  Eventually I learned to love driving the Interstates.  By the time I got out of college, I was able to drive across country (coast to coast) and stop and drive around towns without a map (pre-GPS), though years later I had to rely on maps because they kept building roads.  With a map, I could go anywhere.

But I'd never been farther out of this country than across the Mexican border to a border town (places you wouldn't go wander around in by yourself today).  So when I got out of college, I got a job in Israel and lived there for a couple of years -- language, travel, adventure became my middle name. 

I had determined that I was a science fiction writer -- though I hadn't written anything except a couple of novels when I was in college, and some worldbuilding exercises when I was in 7th-10th grade. 

I invented worlds and  characters incessantly (another signature habit of the pre-writer).  I wrote a lot of long-long (20 page) letters to pen pals in foreign countries.  I wrote a lot of letters to other science fiction fans, and articles for fanzines (on paper), and that letter-to-the-editor that was my first print publication.  I chained a lot of words together, but never actually did any of the things I've been discussing in these blog posts as the essence of the writing craft until after I was married and raising kids.

I realize now that I was educating myself in the craft by churning out millions of words.  When I had decided to commit my life to the profession of writing, my Aunt gave me a subscription to Writer Magazine, and I went to the library and borrowed (systematically) all the previous issues they had in archive (kids weren't supposed to be able to do that - I had to get my Mom's permission.) 

I came to understand that I have no talent for writing at all.  But I also learned you don't need talent to do a better job at anything than those who have talent.  In fact, having no talent for something is a prime credential for doing that thing at the world-class level. 

I learned that TALENT is the word we use to refer to something that's born into a person.  If you have a talent for something then when you first encounter it, you can do it easily, almost without effort, and with very little actual instruction, and ridiculously few failures.  

You've read biographies of child prodigies who can play Mozart by age 8, or whiz through college math courses before they're 12.  That's talent.

It's like your computer that comes with programs pre-installed.  When you boot it up the first time, you click a few things, type in your name and whatever, and presto the program is running.  You didn't have to shop for it, put a disk in the drive, coax it to load the install program, fight with it.  It just works.

That's talent -- a set of skills pre-installed.  One encounter and presto, the skills are booted and ready to use. 

Some kids can play tennis after being shown how to hold a racket.  Some can learn Ballet at professional levels after some basic exercises to stretch and strengthen muscles, and then being shown how to move to a rhythm.  Something inside goes CLICK and then they can do it, and do it perfectly. 

Some are like that with a violin, and after going through 3 local teachers, they get sent to Juliard at age 14 and pushed to Carnegie Hall.

Not me! 

Not only did I come with no pre-installed writing/storycraft skills, but the talents I do have are irrelevant to learning those skills.

Here's what I learned about Talent that makes the whole thing clear.

Study of Astrology reveals sets of aspects in a natal chart that manifest as what most people call or recognize as Talent. 

Here's the list of Astrology Just for Writers posts I've done on this blog which may mention Talent.

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/03/pausing-for-you-to-catch-up-with-me_30.html  (parts 1-9)

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2011/08/astrology-just-for-writers-part-10.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2011/11/astrology-just-for-writers-part-11.html

The theory of reincarnation when combined with Astrology indicates that these Talents you see in natal charts are the skills and abilities acquired in prior lives, or maybe bestowed before you're born. 

Well, what I learned is that THIS LIFE I'm living now is the "prior" life for my next life, (if I have one.)

What skills and abilities I acquire in this life will appear in my natal chart next time as Talent.  (Or maybe not, we'll see.) 

So if I work to acquire skills now, I may have them later when I need them.  Or maybe, like now, doing those things won't seem interesting to me, and I'll be off acquiring new Talents. 

I learned that this concept of what Talent is and where it comes from implies something even more profound.  You don't need TALENT!!! It's excess baggage.  And life is better if nobody knows you have it.

In Astrology, the 10th House Cusp is your vocation, your sacred calling, what you were born to do.  That mathematical point in the sky when you were born may not be involved in any of the Talent aspects in your chart, and thus you don't have a Talent for what you were born to do, but it's still your mission in life to do it.  Talents may be missions accomplished in prior lives, but not what this life is about -- or what this life is to prepare you for next time. 

You don't have to be talented to accomplish things.  In fact, the most successful people aren't talented at what they are successful at.  (Madonna comes to mind.)  Those who are talented at something (golf, acting, surfboarding, football) have enormous success very early in life (because what they're doing is altogether too easy for them), skyrocket to the top of their profession, then crash and burn in mid-life, rarely living to old age and seeing great-grandchildren through college.  (Michael Jackson comes to mind.) 

Others, like say George Burns for example, doggedly gain skills and advance in their profession, adding dimensions as they go along, and live to a hundred before they star in the definitive movie of a lifetime (he played God in "Oh, God!"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076489/combined


He and Gracie Allen had a long, massively successful career always adding skills as they went from medium to medium.  Here's another photo from Wikipedia
ttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ee/Burns&Allen1938.jpg/220px-Burns&Allen1938.jpg