Creating a Monster: The Hungry

So, I'm lying in bed, waiting to go to sleep, when I get this idea. It's not a story idea specifically, but an idea for a monster. And as I'm lying there, it's almost like I'm just watching the pieces come together, like a puzzle, or one of those mix-and-match playset thingies. It was really fascinating watching it come together into something I could recognize as fairly original and I though I would share it with you all. It may give you some ideas of your own for monsters, demons, and/or degenerates.

This is where it started, a human torso and arms. The version I pictured though, didn't extend down to the pelvis. It more ended just past the rib cage. Why this is where I started, I couldn't really say, but I do have an idea or two. First, recognition. If people see something of themselves in a monster, even if it's just a physical similarity, it breeds familiarity. Things with which we are familiar, coming after us with intent to cause harm, is a very basic fear in that to a degree, we can almost imagine that being us. I think that is one of the things that makes zombies so frightening. They are us, even if they are dead, rotting, missing limbs and walk around with massive, open wounds. 

From the torso, I moved up to the head. Sort of. Actually, I didn't get past the neck. It became an extended stump, waving around, with skin covering the end, except for a small hole in the middle. But then the skin retracts, the end of the stump expands, and we have...

Lots, and lots, of sharp teeth. Reaching out, grabbing things, and dragging them down the throat and into the stomach. Of course, it can't exactly chew with a mouth like that, and being attached to a torso, that makes spinning a little uncomfortable. So generally, if something fits in the mouth hole, (reminder, we're only talking about something maybe a bit bigger around than the average human neck.) it swallows it whole. If it attaches to something too big to swallow, it'll point the first row of teeth out, stab the prey with them, and then suck out the blood, like a giant leech. If it happens to grab something which fits, but is attached to something that doesn't, like an arm or a leg, it flings the prey around until the teeth manage to do enough damage to just rip the appendage off. After all, you'll probably have to look around a bit to find someone who isn't squeamish about worms and leeches. 

So now the top half is done. I just needed to figure out the bottom half. I figured the torso would use it's two arms to drag itself around, so out goes any need for legs. I also had to figure on where does all that blood and body parts it eats go. How about just a sack? 

Yeah, something like that, like a termite or ant queen. Something that just continues to swell as the monster eats more and more. 

Fairly disturbing image, yes? Imagine seeing that crawling around the corner of your bed or the couch, A human torso, with a worm-leech mouth straight out of a headless neck, dragging along a bulbous sack behind it full of what it's eaten. 

Now imagine more than one. 

Now, what I think is the fun part, figuring out the story. First off, there's one more physical detail I thought out. It has no eyes, no ears, no nose, no brain even to speak of. So how does it find people and prey? How about a long, snake-like tongue that flicks in and out of the throat hole while the mouth is closed. Disturbed yet? 

Anyway, where was I? Ah, the back story. Well, for being a human-like creature, and having the strength to drag around that bulbous abdomen no matter how big it gets, it makes sense that this is a creature which is demonic in nature. A minor demon, maybe the representation of bloodlust. As such, this also becomes something you probably won't find in the creepy forest or the big, abandoned mansion on the hill. This seems to me to be more of a city dweller, maybe hives of them living in lost and unused subway tunnels, sewer systems, and other underground labyrinths. Oh yeah, they (smaller, unfed ones) would roam in groups. This would prevent them from getting too big, too fast. 

Also, being demonic, they don't actually digest what they eat. Everything just sits in the ass end until it rots away to soup. So the sack will literally contain everything the thing has eaten since it was created/summoned/born. Break one open and you will quickly find yourself inundated with blood, bones, and a soup of rotten sludge. Keep in mind that the sacks expand and stretch in order to hold everything. One that makes its way into a nursing home for instance, could, over the course of a day or two, expand to fifteen feet long and ten feet around at the widest point. 

Not only that, but they are never sated. They only stop eating when they can't find anything else to eat or when they've been destroyed. Hence, their name: The Hungry. 

All that while I was trying to get to sleep the other night. Really, brain?

Anybody want to draw one up for me? My visual arts skills suck. That's why I paint with words.

Sleep tight everyone. Also, don't forget to check the Giveaways link at the top to keep up on Kindle Free Days, contests, and other chances to win stuff!

~ Shaun
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Giving Back

So, this week, when I looked at where the visitors to my blog had come from, I saw most of the usual. Facebook, Goodreads, AbsoluteWrite, Google. I also saw a new page. Those are always fun to check out. Let's see, who has linked to my blog?

Elizabeth Spann Craig. Huh. Never heard of her before, let's check it out. 

Wow, that's a lot of links. It's really an honor to be listed among them. That's not the first site that's linked back to a specific post that I've done though, and hopefully it won't be the last; but I really have to thank Mrs. Craig, as well as the others who dig through the massive lists of blog posts which go up every day and filter out the ones they find helping and inspiring.

Contrary to what some believe. The business of writing is not a zero-sum game. Authors are not in competition with each other the same way other types of businesses are. The purchase of book A does not mean the customer isn't going to purchase books B,C,D,E, and F. The most competition that really exists is when a reader can only purchase one book at a specific time, decides between two books, and then forgets about the book they didn't choose. That's more of a failure in marketing as much as competition though, as the author or publisher stops pushing the work to keep it fresh in people's minds.

In actuality, every book sold, whether online or in a store, ebook or physical, big name or just starting, helps the entire industry. Every book sold either creates a reader or encourages someone to read more. So every well written book is helping out every other one to some degree.

Authors can also do so much more to help each other and society than simply writing more books which encourage people to read.

There are people like Mrs. Craig, who spend their time passing along helpful information to current and aspiring writers. In addition, there are dozens of other ways authors can help the public and other writers, to promote the qualities of literacy and community, in addition to getting their names out there.

So, how can you give back to fellow writers and your local community?

All are happy in their new homes!

• Volunteer with a local organization. Once a week I spend four hours working with PAWSBINK, helping cats and kittens find homes. Animal rescue organizations always need volunteers, along with food banks and other welfare organizations.

• Bring your expertise to a local writing group. Mine meets once a month, but as a (somewhat) established writer, they are all grateful to have my input on their own bits and pieces. It also give me the opportunity to share works I'm uncertain of and there are always people that know more on a specific subject or two that you can learn from. 

• Check out online writing and reading forums, like Goodreads.com or the forums at AbsoluteWrite.com. There are always aspiring authors with questions that you can help with. 

• Start a blog to pass on what you know and have learned. Really, I've already done a couple posts on how to use a blog, along with what constitutes a good one. The more places information is available, the easier it will be to find for the next person that goes looking. 

• Do things like Mrs. Craig does, and use social media to pass along blogs, articles, and reports that contain useful information. That includes things like earnings reports, calls for submission, and tips on writing, publishing, and marketing. 

• Check with your local libraries to see if they have programs you can assist with. Some have writer's groups where you can share your experience and expertise. Some have sessions where you can volunteer to read out loud. They may even allow a "Meet a real author" session in order to bring in some attention. 

• If you have kids, or know some teachers or faculty members, check with their schools. They may appreciate a published author coming in for a Q&A session or to discuss the importance of proper language with the students in English classes. 

• Look up book clubs in your area. If you have a few copies to spare, offer them a few in order to kick-start a group read of your book. Join in so people can ask the author questions as they read. If you can't find a book club or reading group in your area, talk to your friends or the local library about starting one. 

Now, just remember, this is as much about getting your name out there as it is helping out others, but don't senselessly bombard people, and don't cram your book cards down their throats. Nobody likes a pushy salesman. For example, there are slow days at PAWS where I volunteer. So I brought a copy of my book in and left it there with a little sticky note for anyone to take and read. The next week it spurred a conversation with the other people in the adoption center about my being a writer and everyone was happy to take a book card after some discussion. 

Of course, these are just some ideas. You may have other opportunities unique to where you live. As always, if you think of something to add to the list, feel free to do so in the comments. In the meantime, let's all help each other out and spread the words of reading and literacy. 

~ Shaun

Playing with Time

Before we get started today, I want to bring your attention to the bar above, just underneath the title. Home is where you are now. Biography is a little bit about me, with links to interviews and other places you can find me online.

Giveaways is one place I want to bring your attention to. I'm currently giving away 5 signed copies of my book Class 5 on Goodreads.com. I'm bringing this to your attention because time is running out and you only have until February 28th to enter. Just so you know, it may be a while before my next giveaway, so jump in while you can.

The other link above is Class 5. As you may have surmised, it's about my book, Class 5. It includes a look at the cover, the book blurb, where to find it, and a list of several reviews it has received. So check it out!

Speaking of time, that's what I want to poke with a stick today. How we play around with time in our books.

Of course, stories can last hours, days, weeks, months, even span years. If you get into science fiction, you'll even have stories that end before they even begin. It's one of the basics of writing fiction. Stories take time. Just like in the real world, you can't go from point A to point B to point Omega without a progression, and progression takes time. Many times, you'll have a scene that ends in one place, and have the following scene start somewhere else. Now, you can play with time travel in sci-fi, or experiment with things happening simultaneously in different places. But, more often, it's a matter that your characters are going to have to leave the first scene, get in their car, and drive to the next. They may even stop for a snack and bathroom break along the way. The point is, you're not usually (note: usually), going to end scene one at 11:59 AM, and start scene two at 12:00 PM on the dot. 

While we're going over the obvious, let's hit on chapter breaks. People usually use chapter breaks for one of two reasons. Either to note the passage of time, or to note a change in perspective (ie. Chapter one went to John, Chapter two went to Steve). Usually, when these are the reasons for chapter breaks it's pretty obvious; chapters are titled by the time they start or the character they belong to. That makes a lot of sense and makes things much easier on the reader, you need to keep an eye on the specific times you write in though. Make sure you give the characters enough time to do what they need to do, without leaving a lot of down time. Also, make sure that if the time is referenced specifically in the story, that it lines up with the times posted for the chapters. 

The real fun begins when we start getting creative with time inside our stories. Time travel, as I've already mentioned here, is one way we can pull out the clock and spin the hands however we want. But there are other things we can do as well, which I think, are even more fun. 

It's especially effective in Horror and is one of Stephen King's favorite and most powerful tricks. Making a single moment stretch out in such a way that it seems as if an entire universe could be born, exist, and die, before that single second passes. It's extremely useful for building suspense and foreboding, as in King's work The Shining. Little Danny Torrence has stolen the room key for room 217 and is standing outside the door. That small scene actually goes on for 2 or three pages before he even puts the key in the lock. There's nothing specifically said about the passage of time, but you get the sense that despite how long the scene goes, only a second or two actually passes in the time of the story. 

How this is done is actually relatively easy. Look around you. How many things do you notice in the space of a single second? Start with the obvious, what do you see? Then, what do you hear? Smell? What, if anything, are you currently touching? What are you tasting? The five physical senses are always on and taking note of things, even if we're not aware of it in our conscious minds. In a particularly sensitive moment, it is actually possible to notice everything your senses pick up in the space of a few seconds. So part of suspending time like that is simply taking note of the full range of the human experience. 

Then of course, there's all that wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey stuff that goes on inside our heads. We've all had times where we fallen asleep for just a few minutes, on a bus, in class, or just randomly after a hard day. We dream. We know upon waking that we were only asleep for a few minutes, and yet the dream seemed to last for hours, rushing from one task to the next, evading whatever populated that space with us inside our heads. We've all had the sensation of having thoughts spinning through our heads at light speed. So, it makes sense then that time in a book can be stretched around a character's frenzied thoughts, in addition to the sensations they pick up and process. 

A character pauses for just a moment, having caught a whiff of familiar perfume. Suddenly he's focused on the smell, so much he can almost taste it as the reel of his mind spins and replays the list of favorite memories. Then the moment passes, he continues on his way. Maybe he has a little less spring in his step than before, but otherwise, there is no discernible break in his manner or rhythm. To the average observer, there may not even have been anything to notice. And yet, all that happened still, in the space of a single second of time. 

A little challenge for my readers, if you all will indulge me. Think of a scenario. Anything at all. Then pause that scene. Write out that single moment in at least 500 words. You're welcome to post your bit in the comments section if you like, but it's not required. Think of this more as an enrichment exercise. 

Also, if you have anything else you would like to add, feel free to leave that in the comments too. 

"When you're sitting next to a pretty girl, an hour can feel like a second. When you put your hand on a hot stove, a second can feel like an hour. That's relativity." - Albert Einstein

~ Shaun

Building a Book: Second Draft

Edit: This is part of a whole series and I apparently forgot to provide that for people. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 are all linked to now. Thanks for your patience.

So, with my NaNoWriMo project on its fourth month, I'm finally coming to the end of the first draft. Compared to what's coming next, that was the easy part.

It's my opinion at least, that your second draft on any work is the most dangerous. Not only are you looking for things to clean up, but you're looking for things that need to be added in. Character and setting descriptions, conversations, plot details that seemed to have slipped past. If a first draft is the bare bones of a story, the second draft is putting the skeleton together, making sure it holds itself up and that everything looks right. 

The best way to start is a simple read-through, from front to back. Not only is it a good morale boost to read the entire finished first draft, it allows you to pick out the easy errors: misspellings, homophones, glaring punctual and paragraphical errors. It also works as a reminder as it may have been a fair while since you last saw the first few pages.

From there, it should be much easier to see plot-holes, plot-lines which went nowhere, and things which seemingly jumped out of the blue. This shows you things to add, things to remove, and things to change.

Things to add.

Personally, I have an issue with character descriptions. I never seem to be able to slide them in during the first draft, which occasionally causes issues when I try to describe something later on. Even when it doesn't become an issue, it's nice to have a good idea of what the characters look like.

Upon re-reading a section, you might find it actually doesn't mention something you thought you had explained. In the second draft, this means going back and filling in important details that the reader needs to know which may have been left out because it was something you, (the author) knew well enough that you thought you had explained it when you really hadn't.

Adding things is probably the hardest part of a second draft. It's one of the main jobs of this revision to ensure the entire story is there, but you have to make sure you don't add something which contradicts something else later on in the story. This can be something as small as a change in a character's eye color that you then fail to switch over in every later instance, to an attempt at foreshadowing which gives away a plot twist chapters before it happens, or a bit of background on a character which drastically changes how he should react in a pivotal scene later on. Not that you should be afraid of adding things to a work after the first draft, but definitely be aware of what it can mean when you do.

Things to remove

While more of a focus for later revisions, some obvious flaws can be pulled out of the second draft. For instance, if you're aware of certain words that you have a tendency to abuse, you can keep an eye out and strike them from where they aren't needed. I have a habit towards redundancy, even to the point of using a single word two, three, or four times in a single sentence, particularly with the words "though", "before", and "often".

You should also keep an eye out for sentences which don't serve an obvious purpose. Even in a novel of 70, 80, or 120,000 words, each word should be able to carry some of its own weight. If it's not description, characterization, or action, ask yourself if a sentence really needs to be included. If not, strike it out.

Draft, the second

All that adds up to an ordeal which in some ways can be even harder than writing the first draft. I've seen it suggested that you should take a break between drafts, and it does somewhat ring true. Give your eyes and mind a break to recharge, so that you can come back later with the energy and a freshness which will allow you to read over your manuscript and spot things you may have missed otherwise. It also allows you to re-discover the story and see it better as a reader might.

It should go without saying that a book should go through several drafts and revisions before you send it out anywhere. Don't think that ten or twelve revisions means you can go without an impartial editor though. All those revisions just make it easier (and sometimes cheaper) for the editor to do their job of pointing out the things you didn't know were problems and you will always need eyes that aren't your own to look over your work. Sometimes you're just going to miss things no matter how many times you go over it.

So try not to stress too much. It's not like people are going to notice if your blonde, blue-eyed heroine suddenly turns into a black-haired, green-eyed heroin halfway through the novel anyway. Heh.

~ Shaun

Love Kills

This Friday is Valentine's Day. I hate it. Now, that may have something to do with the fact that I haven't had any reason to celebrate it since Elementary school, but that's neither here nor there. The thing is, I'm not exactly alone in my opinion of this pink holiday. The Horror genre is about as full as you can get of relationships gone wrong.

Seriously though. Relationships seem to be a major focus in horror. For instance, throughout most of the early 80's, you could tell who was going to be the next victim based on their inability to hide their feelings for each other. (Although, I suppose you could also blame their stupidity for rushing off into the woods alone to get it on.). A good example of the different kinds of problems relationships can cause is the Friday the 13th series. As I said, in every movie, there's at least one couple that dies together while they're in the middle of coitus. Killing two people with one spear, as the saying goes. Though, you can also say that the whole series starts over some guy's attempts to get into some hottie's pants. If that one lifeguard had been paying attention, Jason might never have drowned and gone on to become one of the most bitter zombies ever to walk the Earth. 

It's not just being in a relationship that can get you killed though. You can also end up on the bad end of a large, heavy object just by being desirable. Who can forget the rabbit scene in Fatal Attraction? 

Dramatization. No rabbits were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Of course, you don't even need to be the specific object of desire to get hurt. In Stephen King's Misery, writer Paul Sheldon isn't even the object of Annie Wilkes' obsession. He's just in between her and her love, and for that, he gets an ax to the ankles. (It was a hammer in the movies, but in the book, he actually loses his feet entirely. Sorry if that's a spoiler to anyone.) 

Of course, almost any story worth reading has some kind of relationship dynamic. After all, nobody really goes through their entire life alone. They don't. They don't. I swear they don't. (Yeah, just keep repeating it.). A relationship is something everyone can relate to. It gives us a reference point to the characters. We want to see them reach the end with the love of their life safely in their arms, or we want to see them escape the clutches of their psychotic or abusive ex and move on with their lives. It also makes for a common sub-plot, filling the spaces in between and making another point of attack for the horrors that live in the shadows.

Of course, while not so prevalent in Horror, you do also have those stories where love conquers all. Where the bond between hero and heroine is the only thing that can defeat the darkness and spare their lives. More often than not though, in Horror, the hero has to make a choice and decides to sacrifice himself in order to ensure the safety of his love. Of course, it doesn't always work, and some lucky(?) guys might only get partially mutilated before the girl rides in with the cavalry to save his ass.

Though, let's be honest here. Few things really suck more than being by yourself in the middle of a huge number of happy couples. Just ask Carrie.

~ Shaun

But yeah, totally not bitter.