Storytelling on Track

The most difficult thing about writing fiction is continuity. An otherwise good scene can be bad if it contradicts what came before or comes after it. The imaginary reality becomes uncertain if inconsistent. The writer must remember what he wrote to get things right.

I write stories. I write their sequels and prequels. I write stories set in the same universe that are otherwise unrelated.

The advantage of writing a story from scratch is that continuity is established along the way. A universe is not as deep if it begins and ends with one story, however.

The advantage of linking stories to a common universe is greater context. Every tale is part of something greater than itself. The universe itself is expanded from a mere setting to lore.

I write fiction. Continuity is easier when the stories are fantastic. It is harder when they are realistic. My Weird World and White Empires universes for example: Weird World is dreamlike so inconsistencies can be plot elements rather than errors. White Empires is strange but grounded. Inconsistencies must be corrected, whether by explanation or rewrite.

Continuity is important. Fiction is already make-believe, but if inconsistent, it is sheer nonsense.

A good story is immersive. It can be weird or realistic. So long as its rules of cause and effect are clearly understood, the reader can accept them… so long as they are never actually contradicted. A sequence of events is likewise in this regard. The personalities of the characters are likewise in this regard.

Continuity matters. There is no actual story without it.

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Dream Worlds

If you could live in a fictional universe instead of the real one, would you?

Wonderland, Oz, Middle-earth, the Hyborean Age, The Cthulhu Mythos, Dune, Star Trek, Star Wars and Mass Effect are fictional realities very distinct from our own. There are different versions of these various imaginary universes.

The worlds of Rambo and Dirty Harry are very much like our own… but not really. The movie Enemy at the Gates is supposedly historical… but not really.

Which fictional universe would you live in?

The Mass Effect universe is the one mentioned I find the most interesting. It is everything I find interesting in reality but at its best. I would rather live in the Star Trek universe, however, as it was presented in The Next Generation specifically. The utopian nonsense of Star Trek would be wonderful as a reality.

I write fiction. I create universes. My Other Folk is our real history but the Earth is hollow and the fairy folk live there. My Strange Galaxy is a world of many worlds where “advanced” is either technological or magical. My Black Death is about two big and black sisters who serial kill young white women with impunity. They save the world from magical masterminds who command armies of white henchwomen. My Weird World is dreamlike. Children are the normal people and most adults are invisible.

My fictional universes are not wishful thinking. I would rather live here than in any of them. If I did have to move to one of my fictional universes, I would choose Weird World. I would be a child forever and that would be bad… but the aches and pains of my middle age would be over and that would be good. I could thrive in a world where dream logic is the laws of physics.

Stories Heard, Read, Seen and Played

I watch videos, television and movies. I read books and comic books. I play tabletop and video games. I enjoy the fiction of these things.

Movies are short stories, even if based on novels. They are too long otherwise. A show is either a short story or a chapter of a longer story. Everything must be visually interesting, whether appealing or horrifying.

A novel dwells on its themes. It tells more than it shows. It can elaborate on the unseen, describing it as connotations or feelings.

A comic book shows what it tells. It must look interesting to be interesting. The story is supplementary, to give the pictures context and depth.

A tabletop game is interactive. As a role-playing game, the game master is the author but the players are the characters with wills of their own.

A video game is like a show or movie but you play the main character. Sometimes you create the character.

I write books and illustrate the covers. I create the title fonts. My work is with shows, movies, books, comic books, tabletop games and video games in mind. The best fiction lends itself to all of them.

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Immaterial

The supernatural is real. You can disbelieve me… but you do so in ignorance. You can argue that I cannot prove my claim… but nothing you believe was ever actually proven to you. To “trust the science” is to assume strangers with ulterior motives are trustworthy.

I am told that I cannot prove God exists… but I can. My evidence is readily available for anyone smart enough to comprehend what should be obvious.

Everything that actually exists is derivative of the quality of the quantity of one. There are no exceptions, not one. Arguing negatives, fractions and zero is confusing concepts with actuality. Reality is not an idea. If you think it is, you are not in touch with reality.

You are not sentient because of what you think. You are not a person because of what you feel. You are not the source of your own existence. Your every thought and feeling is derivative, every single one. You are not the source of you in any way. Yes, you have free will… but not because of you.

There is only ONE god and he is PERSONAL… or else we could not exist as individuals. It would be impossible. Our source must provide what became us. We are made in the image and likeness of our source.

Where did God come from? If you ask such a question, sincerely or not, it is because God is beyond your comprehension. How is that surprising? You are finite, as are your thoughts. He is infinite. He is smarter than you. How could it be otherwise? The universe itself is beyond your comprehension. This little world among countless worlds is more than you could ever know.

NOTE…

I am smarter than every atheist. They rationalize what suits them and fancy themselves wise for it. They confuse learning with thinking and learn sophistries. I see what I see and hear what I hear whether I like what I see and hear or not. I disbelieve anything I am taught if it contradicts what I see for myself, regardless of the supposed authority of the teacher.

Creative Energy

I write books and illustrate the covers. I create the title fonts. I need energy to do these things. I need physical vitality, of course. I also need inspiration.

I must write what I fancy because my work is fiction. Unlike nonfiction, which can be dry so long as it is factual and articulate, I must entertain my readers. Their interest is to have fun, not to learn what they know is fake.

The best fiction is thrilling. This is why adventure and horror stories have always been the favorites, since the myths and legends. Sexualizing the themes intensifies the thrill. The stories are more fun accordingly. “Positive messaging” has nothing to do with it.

My work is sexual fantasies. The sexuality is seldom pornographic, however. It is usually nuanced, and a matter of context.

My fiction is usually adventure or horror stories, often both as survival horror.

When an idea is sexy to me, I am aroused. I am eager to start. Writing is work, however, and I become tired. I look for things that remind me of the idea, such as pictures, shows or games. I go back to the original inspirations, to remind myself what excited me. I struggle to keep myself energized.

I have exhausted myself while writing. I grind to a halt unless I reinvigorate my interest. A project usually languishes unfinished and fades away. I sometimes come back to it long afterwards. I must be aroused and stay aroused to finish a book.

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Two Heads are Better than One

I am an aficionado of nameless baddies. I fancy them as armed and uniformed conscripts. They all look very much alike, if not entirely identical.

My favorite scenario involving these expendable characters is when they are clueless sentries eliminated with pathetic ease. The idea is especially amusing when there are two of these nonentities… killed simultaneously by one hero.

HEADS KNOCKED TOGETHER: The victims are vigilant yet unaware, facing in the same direction. They are used as the weapons to kill them. They make funny faces and drop limply to the ground.

The scenario and all its connotations are nuanced…

The killing is impersonal and unceremonious. It is grim yet amusing. The victims are stupid while alive yet they die when their brains are smashed.

The foot soldiers of villainy are as anonymous to their bosses as they are to us. They are unimportant in the grand scheme of things, except as a disposable resource. Their deaths are inglorious on every level: It was easy to kill them and no one cares.

Beyond the Pale

Imagination has its limits. Much of them are self-imposed. We fret whether an idea is “ridiculous” or “blasphemous” or “hateful” or “indecent” or whatever else. We are proud and want our thoughts to be intelligent. We are social creatures and hesitant to even imagine what is socially unacceptable.

I write fiction. My craft is all about imagination. I provide it. When people read my books, they are daydreaming what I imagined for them.

My stories are supposedly ridiculous, blasphemous, hateful and indecent.

1^st EXAMPLE:

My novel Sorcerer of the Realm is “ridiculous” because it is an alternate history with magic and the names of places are unfamiliar. It is “blasphemous” because it suffers witches to live. It is “hateful” because the title character is a sympathetic though genocidal Nazi. It is “indecent” because his teenage daughter is in love with him.

2^nd EXAMPLE:

My novella The Black Death of White Women is “ridiculous” because it is about black women who casually murder white women in broad daylight… and get away with it. It is “blasphemous” because the killers go to church and thank God for the endless supply of victims. It is “hateful” because the killings are racially motivated and "indecent" because they are sexually gratifying.

3^rd EXAMPLE:

My novel The Wayward School for Girls is “ridiculous” because it is entirely dreamlike. It is “blasphemous” because mainstream religion in the story is satanic. It is “hateful” because the institutions of the world are vilified. It is “indecent” because the villains rape and murder children. The foot soldiers of villainy are children and they are slaughtered in droves by the protagonists.

My work is imaginative… because I bother to imagine. I do not narrow my thoughts to keep them “sensible” or “clean” or any other such common insincerity. I mean what I write. The stories are not to trick you into believing anything untrue or to turn you against God or society or to vilify anyone real or to pervert or disgust you. They are dreams to be dreamt… for whatever mysterious reason we dream at all.

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