Search where?

This Portfolio (stevengepp)

All of Writing.Com

◄ February ►
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29
Archive				RSS

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024

11:03am EST

Members: 828

Guests: 2,076

Total Online: 2,904

Writing Blog Number 2

by S

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #2311764

This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC

This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario.

An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"

Feel free to comment and interact.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Kåre เลียม Enga

Dec 21, 2024 at 12:34am
In response to "20241221 Kudzu Plotting"

IMO Anne McCaffrey does this well with the parallel Dragonriders of Pern and Harper Hall trilogies. Adults-with-dragons; youth with fire-dragons. Memorable world building. Wonderful characters.

Kudzu the plant... only a curse for those who don't know its uses: forage, food, fiber.

Dec 19, 2024 at 7:09pm
In response to "20241219 'Misogyny' In Writing"

🐕GeminiGem🎁 - I chose Grease because it is so egregious and goes against everything Sandy had demonstrated up to that point. Dirty Dancing was set a few years later (early 60s), and, though Baby changes, it is gradual and is more a change of growing up, being true to herself. So, I think the time period can be used effectively without being so demeaning. As I see it.

🐕GeminiGem🎁

Dec 19, 2024 at 6:58pm
In response to "20241219 'Misogyny' In Writing"

I agree that when a woman changes herself to attract a man shows misogyny and is annoying...but...using the movie Grease as an example it an interesting choice. Yes, the lead female changes her appearance to appeal to the male. I think it was more because of peer pressure, but the peer pressure happened because of the pervasive misogyny of the peers. Interestingly, the male character does the exact same thing for the same reasons.

The movie is set in the 1950's, a time where the misogyny we see now is even waaaay worse. So, here is a thought. If you are writing about a time period like that and are showing social interactions of the characters, something like the pervasive misogyny is going to be true to the time and place the story takes place. Does that excuse it? No, of course not, but having present-day sensibilities in an era like that would make the story seem really off.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Dec 19, 2024 at 3:57am
In response to "20241219 'Misogyny' In Writing"

In my travels I try to connect with most everyone. I wonder what my stats would be... but many contacts have names whether human or not, whether the boss or 'servant' or guest.

In my writings...

thinking.

I do have characters without names.

SAD Holiday Potato

Dec 18, 2024 at 3:54pm
In response to "20241218 Children Characters"

As someone who is an Aunt to two children who have an age difference of four years, I can definitely tell you that they act completely different. Even though one of them is neurodivergent, the older one definitely acts more mature than the younger one.(also the older one has never tried to lick my feet.)

With very few exceptions, I've never had to tell an adult "stop eating my dress," "please don't lick me" or "stop pulling my hair," to anyone over the age of six. Yet within the last year or so I've had to tell my five year old niece these things repeatedly. She thinks this is hilarious.

Anyways, thanks for pointing out that kids aren't just miniature adults! I'll try to keep that in mind while writing.

Dec 18, 2024 at 6:44am
In response to "20241218 Children Characters"

Elisa: Snowman Stik - Writing about those who are neurodivergent is not something I feel I can talk about comfortably. I am trained as a teacher of those on the spectrum, and so I would not write a character in that regard because I do not feel it is my story to tell. But, yes, that last point may not apply to a child with developmental issues.

1 Like

Elisa: Snowman Stik

Dec 18, 2024 at 6:28am
In response to "20241218 Children Characters"

I am curious if there is wiggle room for the last point for child characters with developmental disabilities. (I do recognize this kind of character presents its own set of development pitfalls in terms of depicting the disability without stereotyping. That said, I think this can be a reasonable exception to the rule when done with care.)

1 Like

Dave Ryan

Dec 16, 2024 at 1:26am
In response to "20241216 Poor Characterisation"

There was once a variation of "compressed vice" in an original episode of Star Trek ("Who Mourns for Adonais?"), where a landing party of the usual suspects + one random never-seen-before-or-since female crew member are captured by the god Apollo and they turn the usually gruff Scotty into a simpering, love-struck puppy to try to introduce some conflict when Apollo puts the moves on her. Why they didn't just have Kirk horndogging it as usual I do not know - at least then everybody would have remained consistently in character. It looks like Scotty, it sounds like Scotty, but WTF?

1 Like

SAD Holiday Potato

Dec 14, 2024 at 3:41pm
In response to "20241214 Punk Genres"

This is interesting yet confusing. So basically it's like world building but with the word "punk" in there to make it sound cooler.
Maybe I misunderstand.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Dec 7, 2024 at 2:55am
In response to "20241207 Problems With Using Reality"

That or "to-ell-wit-it" and suffer the consequences.

Every society draws the lines differently. A traveler needs to be aware. Even words matter. The British and Thais are strict when it comes to slander.

February 13, 2024 at 1:55am

#1064105

20240213 Autobiography In Fiction

Autobiography In Fiction

Reader request again!
"How much of yourself is in your fiction?"

Nowadays, it's hard to say, because I have over half a century of experience and also of listening to other people.

However, when I started writing, a lot of the incidents I included in my work were autobiographical, especially the day-to-day, run of the mill stuff (the stuff about travelling to alternate worlds, fighting demons and that... not so much... honestly). But it was the characters who were really drawn from reality. In fact, my first few long works, written when I was in high school, my friends had great fun trying to work out who was who. (In primary school, in the long work I wrote, my friends knew who was who because I didn't change the names!)

As I've got older, I will still use little incidents that happened to me or around me or viewed by me because it just adds a touch of realism to my own mind, And, considering I write predominantly horror, it helps to make the horror (again, to me) more visceral, especially when focused against the real and mundane.

If I look at the story Lines Of Communication in my port ("Lines Of Communication"

), the first three chapters happened almost exactly as I wrote them to the coupling pair. (He was one of my good mates, while she was a girl I came to know as a good friend over the years.) The stuff around them in those chapters was an amalgamation of various incidents from other parties, but they all happened as well. While they were both my friends, after that third year, we'd left school and the whole party scene just stopped. However, for the story, I just took it and ran with it. The later chapters were based on other things I saw with other couples. Only a few of the incidents actually came wholecloth from my imagination; I just made unconnected vignettes into a hopefully coherent story. Autobiographical? Maybe.

But, to be honest, it did make it harder to write, because I really wanted to hide who was who...

However, if I look at Invasive Species, not a single thing in that is based on reality. The story started when I found some snakes living in my shed, and a friend from the gym had her long hair cut very short and all her friends gave her grief about it. The teacher was based at the start on someone I worked with, then i added so much extra that it wasn't him; the snake-catcher was from my imagination. So, no autobiography there, and yet it is probably one of the best things I have written.

I guess I haven't answered the question, so:

Reader request again!
"How much of yourself is in your fiction?"

*It depends on the story and how much of my life I need to put into it to make it work realistically.

2 Like • Comment

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/stevengepp/day/2-13-2024