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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Serial Tragedy- A Response



So they killed off another Game of Thrones character in a tragic, gruesome, terrible way. As the show goes on, and the books are generally devoured by the public, I've heard more and more reasons why this serial tragedy is a good thing- an accurate thing- even a more realistic thing. The sheer amount of psychoanalyzing is staggering, if you think about it. If you've watched the show or read the books already, I'm sure you already have an opinion on serial tragedy. Do bad things always happen? Is it inevitable? I think this is a vital topic, especially for Americans who are transitioning into a different zeitgeist (Spirit of the Age). It deals with truth and the tone of which the stories we believe in actually structure our everyday lives.

I actually hope the despairing challenge we often find ourselves faced with makes us think. I hope it makes us hold up our presuppositions against others' and makes us scratch our head. Makes us actually wonder, think, feel out our positions on the matter. Honestly, this ends up being a bit of a vast topic, so I won't scientifically notate each RNA strain... but I will drop a few breadcrumbs to hopefully help you get back home.

And so, in no particular order, here they are:

1) What IS truth? Truth exists independently of human beings, thank God. Trees which fall, alone, in forests still actually makes sounds, because the notion of sound does not depend on people hearing them (I mean, that's being a bit full of ourselves to say we are the ultimate standard when it comes to defining Truth, right?).

2) Bad things happen. But so do good things. Again, the nature of evil is a bit of a large topic, but the most helpful advice I've found come from Tolkien's writings on Eucatastrophe. For more in depth notations- read On Fairy Stories and/or the good 'ol Wikipedia page on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucatastrophe. This one is important because it delves into our own base assumption about how the world (both real and imaginary) work, how they ought to work, and why there ought to be happy endings at all.

3) Practicality. What you do and say and write actually DO matter. You affect people. You will continue to affect people. What you expose yourself to affects you, and in turn, affects others as well. Be aware of what you consume and crave when it comes to stories. And dare to wonder why? Why is it you happen to crave specific types of stories? It probably, ultimately, has to do with you dealing with your past and your own personal and unique identity: your character. (and yes, oh yes, are we characters) - And also, as a side note- what do people who really love you say about you?


As I was writing Rienspel, the moments where I felt I had the most authority, or power as an author, was when I thought about all the brutalized people I've met and known. I wrote what I wrote for them, because as fun as stories like Game of Thrones are, and as heartwarmingly cheesy as all the Disney-fied endings can be, people need to know there is Truth, they are in a Good story (the best, actually), and that they matter and have their own integral role to play in life. I honestly believe this, and as the legendary visionary George MacDonald once said, "Imagination is the backdoor to the soul" - and I intend to use it.

-Ryan

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

How to Write Your Story.

How do you start writing that idea for a story you've harbored all those years?

 

Here's my thoughts:


That's awesome that you've got a book in mind... honestly, I just kept writing. 
Writing Rienspel wasn't all at once... there wasn't any set writing block...
- I just discovered that I like to write... whenever I'm done with 'what I'm supposed to be doing' whether it's homework or job stuff... I would write... however you need to do it, what ever it looks like- just write. 
Is it crappy? Write. 
Is it terrible never-going-to-be-published? Write. 
Is it secretly awesome? Write. 
Secondly, read. 
Read to be inspired. Read what you love. Not what you ought to love, but what you honestly could read all day. 
I actually started with a map... the map that's on the Rienspel page, actually. 
During college I was invited to go camping one weekend... but for some odd reason, I decided to pass. I found myself alone in my quiet dorm-room and just started drawing... a couple hours later there was this whole continent... and I thought to myself, well- it needs people. So I started dreaming up people. And then I knew there was a story there... .lots of stories! So I said, I'd better write them. 
And so I am. 
Simple. 
There's not a magic bullet answer for how to write a story- there's just writing and more writing- this is what's worked for me. 
In general, though- I suggest a couple of loose phases: Brainstorm- write up/draw up anything, everything- don't throw anything away- use friends to talk to/bother and focus solely on creating. Then take the general main elements which surface and research them. Anything- everything- Wikipedia is your friend! Also, for example, pay attention to repeating themes across other stories you love- you're probably noticing these re-occurring themes for a reason. go with it. Next, take what you've researched and as you're continuing to write, find ways to work it into your story. Next- keep reading and writing- but don't be afraid to explore other tangents. Find the main tangent, eventually, and focus on that one- otherwise you can lose momentum and start to rabbit trail (I did this). Re-write as many times as you need. You have an infinite amount of time- remember! Enjoy it. And if you're not enjoying it- take a break. But while you're forgetting about it- deep down, still remember
Surround yourself with influences which inspire you. Do whatever it takes to continually squelch the negative thoughts (that's what editors are for later). Eventually, you'll feel out how your own story concludes by where its process leads you. Go with it. I also highly recommend Patricia C Wrede's writing blog http://pcwrede.com/blog/ - feel free to bounce ideas off me anytime- too- here, on http://www.facebook.com/rienspel or at thephoenixofredd@aol.com.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

How To Be A Poet
















HOW TO BE A POET
(to remind myself)
Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill – more of each
than you have – inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.
- Wendell Berry

Friday, May 22, 2015

Villains


Villains. What makes them... good?

During my writing process, I came to think about what makes a truly great villain. First off, I think there are different ranges of villains. Secondly, I think you begin to delve into the philosophy of evil. And third, how you can illustrate personal evil- or villains who hit home.

Honestly, I when I think of the different levels and ranges of villains, I thank James Bond writers, 24 episodes and politicians. In each case, there are ranks to them. Sure, there's the masterminds at the top, plotting world domination and so on... but that malevolent will often has to trickle down through many other minds in order to reach your character. And as the evil filters through each layer, due to sub-creative process gone awry... you get new ways to enforce and illicit desired results. You can also craft whole new realms of terror... but to do this well, I think, you need to understand the dark material you're working with...

I remember sitting in my college philosophy class with professor Axton... and I still think I hold with him, essentially, when he said something to the effect of how diabolical evil, at its core, cannon be comprehended from our human/mortal point of view at this point in time. It is slippery and slidy. When you get to the really hellish instances of evil, the motivators behind it defy solid, concrete explanation... as if logic rules break down. Even now, I'm starting to ramble about it... which is point-in-case. Also, as a side note on this subject, I still love Alfred's quote in The Dark Knight about how some people just want to watch the world burn... or even take Loki's character as another example... A good way to get around instances where standard definitions begin to become indescribable, analogies often become an excellent work-around.

Don't tell people about your villains- illustrate them. (Again, another example of the analogy work-around in action). It's odd, but living in Missouri has exposed me more to really terrifying evil than anywhere else. Major metropolitan centers like Portland OR or even Albuquerque have not really illustrated evil for me (and I suppose I'm lucky for this). During college, when I began writing Rienspel, I would volunteer at youth outreaches... at one in particular I was the doorman, ensuring youth signed in and out... made sure they had rides home and what-not... I remember one night, a youth casually describing his 'friends' dragging him out of his house and making him watch as they lit a cross on fire in front of his own front yard. It wasn't the violence of the situation or the iconography employed or its' terrifying legacy... it was the kid's own nonchalance about the event. The casualness of it is what really made me shiver in the end. For most of those living outside the Midwest (and I was one of them), you have this vague stereo-type in your mind about the safe, idyllic small-town atmosphere of the region. But living here now... volunteering at those youth outreaches... and working at a nearby gas station has illustrated for me rather clearly how not all is as it seems, even in the 'safe' places of our world.

So, when I sat down to begin writing my villains- all this was swirling around in my mind. Personally, I think there are plenty of stories where the villains are disposable. If you want stock villains, try and look elsewhere. One of my goals writing my story, was to create bad guys who actually scare me. I want evil which creeps out of the book at night and bothers my dreams.

Why?

Because I believe we have forgotten via experience what real goodness is like, and just how bright the dawn can be. While I don't believe we need darkness to illustrate the qualities of true goodness- I do believe, I know, we need to be heroes again. You and I, where we are, right now. This means practicing love and courage and justice tangibly with ourselves first, and then others until we no longer even think twice about it.

-thanks for reading!

Monday, May 11, 2015

Stress




Stress

 


(reposted from http://pcwrede.com/stress/) - Patricia C. Wrede is one of my favorite writers... someone who helped influence 'the voice' of Rienspel... she also has great advice for writers...

"Stress affects everybody’s writing, one way or another, sooner or later, because stress is part of life. How stress affects people’s writing varies from writer to writers. For some folks, writing is an escape, so the more stressed they are, the more they write (though this isn’t that common among published writers, probably because it’s too hard to balance on the knife-edge of stressed-enough-to-write-but-not-so-stressed-that-there-really-isn’t-time-to-write). Other folks hit a certain level of stress, and find that it’s using every bit of energy they have just to stay alive, and there’s no energy or brain cells left over for writing. (Which can add stress, if writing is one’s main occupation and source of income.) For others, it depends on the kind of stress – if it’s outside stuff like an intense day job or the sewer backing up, they can write straight through it without blinking, but if it’s anything personal or emotional, they might as well forget it. And of course there are the folks who get stressed if they go too long without writing, because it’s a safety valve.

Everybody gets overstressed at some point, and the result can be quite dramatic in terms of productivity (and if it isn’t, you frequently end up paying for it later). And all too often, we make it worse for ourselves. Over and over, I’ve watched otherwise rational professionals fall to pieces because they’re under stress and refuse to admit it or allow for it. Writers who have a major operation or illness and refuse to ask for either help or a deadline extension, and then work themselves right back into the emergency room. Writers who’ve had a string of minor catastrophes, and who beat themselves up for not writing. (Usually, these are the sort who could sail through any one minor catastrophe without pause; it’s dealing with five or six in quick succession that’s too much. So they look at everything one at a time: the car accident that took a week and dozens of phone calls to the insurance company to settle, and the kid who fell out of the tree and broke an arm, and the water pipe that leaked three inches of water into the living room, and the refrigerator pump that failed and unfroze everything inside, and the cat who had to be rushed to the vet in the middle of the night, and the scary letter from the IRS about last year’s taxes, and it doesn’t occur to them that when all that happens in the same week, you are allowed to not get any writing done). Writers who are taking care of a seriously ill family member, and think they should do that, have a day job, and still write full time.

Some of this happens, I think, because those of us who write for a living are so very, very aware of how easy it is to find excuses not to write…and how very dangerous it is to give in to that impulse. Everybody sneers at the wannabes who only ever talk about the great story they are going to write some day…and who’ve been talking about it, and not writing a single word, for the past ten or fifteen years. But part of the reason we sneer is that we know just how little it would take for use to slide back into “some day, sooner or later” land. It took a lot of work and discipline and determination to get to the point where writing happens and pages get produced on a regular basis, and we don’t want to have to climb that hill again.

But stuff happens, and if you don’t recognize it, admit it, and deal with it, you’ll very likely be much worse off in the long run. It’s a bit like writing, or exercise, or losing weight: other people can tell you that you need to do it, but you are the only one who can actually write the words, do the pushups, lose the weight, or manage your own stress.

There are a bazillion books out there on how to manage stress, and they all say the same things and they’re all right: exercise, eat right, take care of yourself, take a break, take a walk, meditate, talk to people about it, find ways to reduce the stress if possible (move, change jobs, get a massage, change the locks on the house or the phone number, quit listening to the news, etc.), see a professional if it gets to be too much. The one thing none of them advise is ignoring the fact that you are stressed and trying to carry on normally.

The trouble is that the things that are most effective for dealing with stress all work over the long run, and we’re a quick-fix society…and most people don’t start trying to deal with stress until they’re already in over their heads and sinking.

Also, you’re never going to get rid of all the stress in your life. It simply isn’t possible. Sometimes, you can get rid of a particular stressor permanently, sometimes, the only thing you can change is your attitude and the degree to which you take care of yourself. And one of the important ways of taking care of yourself is to not beat yourself up when you didn’t write as much as you think you should. Much as we all love doing it, writing is not always the most important thing in the world. Not compared to, say, getting your kid to the emergency room after that bicycle accident, or rebuilding the house and community that got smashed by the tornado. As one of my editors says when a writer gets too panicky, “Babies won’t die if you’re late getting your manuscript in.”

When you are under stress, you don’t think straight. It is useful, I find, to check in once in a while and actually listen to what you are telling yourself. If you’re frustrated and cross because you want to write and don’t have time, then writing may be part of your way of coping with stress, and it’s worth making time, even just a few minutes, to do it (along with eating right, sleeping, etc.). If, however, you’re fussing about the deadline and your general lack of productivity and how you can’t possibly be a Real Writer and It Is Your Job/Duty, You Cannot Waste Valuable Writing Time…stuff it. You don’t have to write when your Mom is in the hospital or your kid is running a temperature or you’re worried sick about layoffs or the roof just blew off in a tornado. You can if you want, but you don’t have to.

Also, sometimes when you’ve been under stress for a long time and take it off suddenly, there’s a sort of rebound reaction and everything kind of collapses for a while…which can take a lot longer than you think it ought to, especially if you were holding it together long past the normal burn-out point.
When my mother died after a two-year decline into Alzheimer’s, it took me nearly four years to get back to approaching-normal. I managed to get some writing done during that time, but not nearly as much as I usually do. It taught me that if you’ve keep trying to write during a crisis when you not only don’t feel like it, but really don’t want to and don’t think you can, then a) you probably should take a break, and b) you probably don’t have to worry that you’re one of those pseudo-writers who takes any and every excuse to not-write."

Thursday, March 5, 2015

How to Write an -Awesome- Story

How to Write an Awesome Story

 _Ryan Freeman






The blinking cursor of death is the bane of my existence.

Seriously.

How do you start when all you see around you are the great, professionally finished products of the masters? It can really get you pumped... and then get you down. You're just one person... you probably dont have a killer editing team, lounging around in your PJ's sipping Starbucks in some otherworldly location... with interns and the like (ok, maybe I'm fantasizing here a bit, but hey... it's what I do, right?)

What about the regular people, like you and I? How do we start?

Here's the secret I figured out. (ready?)

You're already in it.

Bam.

There.

You're already in it. You're apart of it.
 You are already a character (probably in more ways than one). You are living in a story, and you are apart of it. What you do and say every day matters. You save lives by what you do and say. You make or break your world by who you are, what you mean, and how you act. You are the hero, or the villain. You are the wise old sage or the wicked step-parent. You are the manliest legend or the most spell-binding beauty- or the coward and the witch.

You probably just blazed through that last paragraph. I know I did. But it's super important. Right now you're reading an old tome from a grizzled adventurer. You're here on common purpose because you're searching- hunting- exploring a perilous realm of life itself.

Take time to breathe in this new world you are apart of. Feel your place in it. Understand who you are and what you really, truly mean to yourself, others and the world at large.

Then... when you're feeling particularly whimsy and painfully honest... find yourself an excellent imagining/creating spot (mine was a quiet dorm room in Missouri), and start drawing- writing- playing music... from your world. The one you always go to when you close your eyes and dream. I realized all the places I go to in my mind are really a vast, continuous extension of the same world.

Start your journey and see where the path takes you. Start and don't forget about or quit until you get there. Don't worry about being perfect- just take a single step out of your proverbial front door and keep journeying. Take with you only what is mindful. Use who you are- your own strength of character and personal powers of being. If you're in a weird mood, use it. Write weird scenes or moments in your story where your characters probably are feeling similarly.

I'm excited to see where your own story takes you...


For more on Rienspel, check out http://www.facebook.com/Rienspel
or help make it real- donate @ http://www.gofundme.com/Rienspel
Thanks

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Why Rienspel?


Why Rienspel?


I started first officially dreaming up, drawing and writing what would eventually become Rienspel roughly eight years ago. I was a Freshman in college at the time... and I recall one Friday afternoon being invited by a bunch of the guys to go camping over the weekend. Here's the thing: I love camping. So I kinda surprised myself when I told them, 'no thanks'. I remember returning from lunch and sitting in my quiet dorm. The late morning light was pouring through the windows, spilling onto my desk in the middle of the room. Without much forethought, I tugged a couple of pieces of paper out from a notebook and started drawing. To be honest, I wasn't really paying any attention to what I was doing until I was finished. I remember looking down- it was past noon by now and there, sprawling over five sheets of lined paper was an immense, detailed map. I had no real clue what I had done, but as I stared, a bit astonished at my work, I knew deep inside how the whole thing was steeped in stories.



'So,' I thought, 'I'd best start writing them.'
And so I did. (and still am)

During those first early months, I really have two people to thank the most. First is my roommate and friend Robert Dean, who was also writing his first historical fiction on the first crusades, Blood for Glory (excellent read, by-the-way... not that I'm biased or anything...). I remember watching down cup after cup of coffee as he researched and wrote at his computer, or trudged off through the bitter Missouri winds to our school's library. I witnessed his dedicated tenacity for writing and thinking and was hooked. 'Hey,' I thought, 'maybe I can do this, too!' The second person who helped Rienspel off the ground was a girl then named Stephanie Worcester. She is my current record holder for most intelligent conversation ever held about The Silmarillion. During the early days, I would make my way down to Central Christian College's cafeteria for a late brunch on Saturdays. One particularly busy weekend morning, all the tables were full. So I carried my tray into the cafe area were there was one high table chair left open next to Stephanie. I thought I remembered her from a couple of classes, so I set my tray down across from her and tried to make small talk while I scarfed down eggs. Apparently small talk that day consisted of finer points within Tolkien's epic fantasy work. I was delighted. It must have been an excellent conversation, because she started helping me co-write a fantasy story which eventually became Rienspel. Oh, and did I mention we liked talking and hanging out that we decided to marry each other after college? Now I have free editing for life!

Writing Rienspel, and creating the whole world in which it takes place is a quest in itself. And like in any great story, you need friends to help see you through to the end. Rien's Tale would have never begun if not for so many other dedicated friends who have helped along the way. The world becomes a far richer place when other friends get together and lend their imaginative power towards something. By doing this we are transported among fair world unknown... and who knows what we may discover then?