Sun, 03 Sep 2023 20:36:47 -0700WeeblyThu, 24 Aug 2023 17:55:53 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/annual-update10 months since my last posting on a site I'm shelling out the gelt for. But this is also my personal space for posting whenever I have the chutzpah to write anything that people could actually read.
Work:
I feel like I'm not only learning new skills, but realizing that my own skillset is both limited and expansive: Limited in specific areas but Expansive in terms of recognition and knowledge. I work very fast. I see things quickly and want to move things along, which is not always the best way to work with some teams. Sometimes, you have to let the people go through their own process before moving on. Otherwise, you may alienate people. 
In short, I know a lot of stuff and I need to slow down.
Family:
Kids are growing up - and I find myself reminiscing of them when they were younger. I catch myself thinking about ways I could've parented them better, before they developed their personalities. Yes, they are still developing, but the impact I have feels ... less. 
Health:
Always a thing, finding out new ways where health interferes with my ability to enjoy things.  The periods of aches and stiffness are more frequent, and quite insistent at times. Tylenol can only do so much.
Writing:
Last year's NaNoWriMo (https://nanowrimo.org/) was terrible. I started well but did not get very far. I feel like I'm losing steam but that's also because I'm not writing as much as I should (if at all). This blog entry is the first attempt at writing original thoughts in a very long time.
BUT, I've signed up for the NYC Midnight 500 Word Fiction Challenge (https://www.nycmidnight.com/500) which starts Friday, August 25th. I will be assigned genre, action, and object and have 48 hours to write a complete 500 word piece.
I feel like this will be a great lead up to NaNoWriMo for this year as well as a challenge my ability to sketch, plot, and execute a full story in a very concise form. Can I do it? Hell no, but I'm paying for the privilege and will do my best. 
Yes, there is prize money to be had if I get past the first rounds but, most importantly, I'm will receive feedback on my submission, not matter what level I get to. I need this as I am a very flawed fiction writer. I need some honest feedback.
So, that's about it. I'm planning to write monthly here, and if I can get back into that habit. I'll start posting updates in my other pages as well.
Wish me luck, and, most importantly,
Be Excellent To Each Other!  
(btw, this is 446 words)
]]>Sat, 08 Oct 2022 17:47:49 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/itsbeen a while.
A long while.
Not that I haven't had things I wanted to write about, but life, COVID, work, and just all-around laziness have all contributed to ignoring this little blog I set up years ago.
[I may decide to move this to a lower cost location, but it's such a hassle, and I'm lazy, so that is unlikely to happen.]
Work:
While COVID rocked the world for everyone, it made my work-life balance that much more stressful: work piled on as I was in an industry that increased workload due to greater demands on transportation and shipping. While I appreciated the job security, it was stressful as heck and wore me out more than I knew.
That being said, I've since moved on to a new job, new industry, and after two months in, I'm starting to feel like a human again. It wasn't easy leaving a company that I worked for over 18 years, but I was confident I could do it, and so I did. As my wife likes to point out, I manifested this: I needed it to happen, made moves to enable the change, and then I found my new work home. As wiser people have said, you have to make your own luck.
Family:
My youngest is growing up and I'm glad that I'll be able to see him more during these important years. My eldest is also paving a new life for herself and I'm happy to be more available for her as she navigates 'adulting'. Last but by no means least, I can be more present for my wife and her professional development as well as caring for the family and home. I was missing a lot during these last few years and I have some catching up to do, as well as getting myself healthy again.
Not that our lives were in trouble; it's just better now.
Writing:
I need to get back to this. Either journal writing (like this blog) or fiction. I'm prepping for NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org) again, thinking of tackling the first short story I ever wrote and completed (around 2003), which I've since tried to expand to novel form two or three times since. I've yet to come up with a viable idea in advance, otherwise, so it'll be interesting to see what comes out of me this time. 
I do need to acknowledge that my first NaNoWriMo novel wasn't thought out in advance: it was an idea that just hit me as I opened my laptop and started to write. There was no planning, no specific genre. I had always assumed my internal juices would flow with SciFi, but what came out was a story about talking rodents that lived in a vast society underground, with it's own history and culture, far from the invasive eyes of humans.
It's not an original premise, but it was a story and collection of characters that I enjoyed writing about and I had fun seeing where their story would lead to. 
I've since completed three novels in the series, none have been edited competently, and I've yet to come up with another idea with the right combination of tapestry and world to write about. Hence, my regressing to earlier works.
We shall see.
That's it for now. I hope to write more again here, probably tackle some writing prompts to get my writing juices flowing. 
Be Excellent To Each Other!
]]>Fri, 05 Jun 2020 06:28:56 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/my-thoughts-on-whats-goingon
This is for my son. This is about my Black son.

So many thoughts about recent events. It’s difficult to process because of how much is involved.

I Support:

​Black Lives Matter:
​This is not saying other lives don’t. This is about a specific issue about systemic and violent racism that is prevalent in the U.S. 

Police
I acknowledge the difficult parts of their job that puts them in the front lines, literally.

Protestors:
People have the right to speak out against injustices. This is more of an obligation when the injustice is damning and perpetual. It seems like nothing changes unless something dramatic happens.

Expression
People sometimes need to express their anger; sometimes vocally, other times demonstrably. 

​I Don't Support:

Violence:
Looting, rioting, distorts the true purpose for protesting. While violent acts serve to put the protests on the front page, the message is twisted and is, instead all about the senseless crimes committed instead of the serious crimes against the community that the protests are actually about. We need to fix the damn problem, not cause others.

Police:
Not contradictory. Police have the authority but also the responsibility of using that authority wisely. Isn’t this what the shield represents? When individual police abuse that authority and dismiss that responsibility, they are no longer servants of the people, but soldiers in a war. 

What We Need:​

Police:
I see individual acts of serving community and supporting the greater good. I see and hear leaders of the police speak out against the stupid acts of those that tarnish the badge, that put cracks in the shield. 

But it’s not enough. We need those good officers to be loud. We need them to yell and scream. We need them to be as angry at the abuse of authority as the communities they serve. They need to show the world that they care, and that the bad seeds will be held accountable. 

Voting:
Controversial. There are so many obstacles. Gerrymandering distorts the voices that are fighting against that very same system. Voting Legislation prevents whole communities from getting the chance to vote in the first place. There are too many obstacles.

Voting needs to be viewed in a larger scale. Locally, votes may be distorted, discouraged, or even robbed. But our government is based on numbers. Neighboring districts and states can still vote representatives and senators that support the causes of the Black and other minority communities. When we have the numbers, then change can happen.

But we need the numbers. 

To get the numbers, we need the votes. Some elections were determined by a few hundred votes. I recall statistics that eligible voters for progressive programs did not vote in the last Presidential election. If these eligible voters actually showed up, we may have actually had a very different outcome. As we’ve seen, getting more representatives that support progressive causes into the House can make a difference. It can give us the hope that we so desperately need 

But for any of these changes, we need the numbers. It’s not a perfect system, and sometimes subject to corruption, but it’s the tool that we have, that everyone has, and we need to use it well.

All of this is not about today. It’s not about tomorrow. It’s about our kids. Why should they continue to suffer the same indignities and abuses that plague our country today?  I can’t have this. I can’t have my son suffer when there is still a chance to change.
​
I ask for these changes to be made, because this, all this, is about my son. And this is for my Black son.]]>Thu, 26 Sep 2019 20:56:33 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/how-my-mind-works-sometimesMy mind sometimes goes off on tangents and usually at the most inopportune times.

A few nights ago, my daughter asked me if “imperfect” was spelled with an “im-” or “in-”.  I informed her correctly, and the rest of the evening went on without incident.

About 6 hours later, around 3:30 am, I couldn’t sleep and started a mental journey of the spelling of various negative prefix forms in the English language.

I started with “imperfect” which means, generally, not perfect, or lacking perfection, flawed. Then I thought of similarly prefixed negative versions of other words, like “implausible”, “impossible”, and “impure”.

As 3:30 became 3:40, I was trending towards prefixes with “in-”, like “incomprehensible”, “inconclusive”, “incomparable”, and “inconvenient.”

Of course, I couldn’t stop there. My mind wouldn't allow it.

“Ir-” prefixes also fit the bill, with examples like “irresponsible”, “irrespective”, “irrational”, and “irreversible”.

So, this got me thinking even more, all the while my clock continued to click past 3:50 am: 'Why does the negative form of the root duplicate the first letter?'

‘Perhaps,’ I thought, ‘it has something to do with pronunciation’.

This was very convincing in my head and sounded like a well-considered point that deserved a deeper look.

Recently, I had read the short, well-written book about the development of the English language, “How English Became English: A Short History of a Global Language” by Simon Horobin. I became keenly aware that the English language developed in parallel forms: written and oral forms. This could explain why many words in the English language are not spelled like they sound. For example “through” is pronounced as ‘thru’ as opposed to ‘thruff’ or 'thrug'.

Further in my madness, I delved into my dalliances with other languages I had failed to learn. I recalled that in Japanese, specifically, some prefixes force the root work to change their first letter because it would otherwise create the equivalent of a car crash in the human mouth. For instance, root words that start with a soft consonant like "f-" sometimes change to “b-” because the prefix ends with a "-n" ('han' + 'fun' = ‘hanbun’). 

The clock was approaching 4:00 am at this point: I'm on a roll so there's no stopping my brain.

Putting 2 and 2 together, I solved for “x” and determined that words with the Latin prefix “in-” had developed in parallel form where the pronunciation altered its spelling over time. So, surely, “inpossible” was the original word, but pronunciation proved inconvenient. One must conclude that the spoken version became more popular and forced the spelling to change.

It all made sense. I'm genius.

So, at about 4:10 am, my brain finally allowed me to resume my pathetic attempt to sleep, all the while silently wondering if I was off my rocker.

My ultimate conclusion, before I finally drifted off to sleep: The rules of the English language are “imperfect”, in practice “inconvenient”, creating a language that is "irrational".

Did I mention I never studied etymology?

Tune in next time for another episode of "How Ravi's Mind Works".

Be Excellent to Each Other.
]]>Mon, 10 Sep 2018 04:12:01 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/last-to-the-party  I’m reading Neil Gaiman’s collection of nonfiction essays and speeches titled “The View from the Cheap Seats,” and I’ve been inspired to write.

  After a long absence.

  Yet again.

  This probably won’t be the last time.

  But I digress.

  I’ve only recently become a fan of Neil Gaiman’s work. I read his short novel “The Ocean at the End of The Lane” when it was first released. It had an enticing cover that promised something sinister in the moonlit night viewed through a lens of childish wonder.

  I had already seen, and been a huge fan of, the movie “Coraline” so I had some expectations of his style.
It is an understatement to say that I loved this book. In fact, I wanted to know more about what else lurks next to houses located in the middle of nowhere, and what other ideas Neil Gaiman had.

  I soon followed this up with his novel “Anansi Boys”. It took me a while to read, for various reasons not related to the writing, but I enjoyed the fantastic journey of Charlie and his brother through their universe and all of the dangers it could pose to our world.

  His stories always seem to have a sense of danger lurking around corners, in the shadow of trees, or on the other side of mirrors, especially when they are surrounded by the most innocent situations. It is a wonderful creative mind that speaks to my early teen years when I was most fascinated with fantasy and speculative fiction.

  This collection of nonfiction includes speeches or introductions for writers he admires. He has an amazing ability to introduce and explain his admiration with a straightforward style that is very refreshing. While he does inspire me to write more, because I do enjoy that creative part, this collection reminds me that I need to read more. He is telling me that I am missing out and that that my literary world is still too small to truly embrace the art of writing.

  But, then again, I’ve always been a late bloomer. Often late to parties, if I’d ever been invited at all.

Music and Books

  I grew up in the 70’s listening to pop songs from the 50’s and 60’s, with the Beatles, The Monkees, and Motown being my most favored of them all. In the 80’s, while the rest of my contemporaries were arguing whether The Police’s “Ghost in The Machine” was better than their much lauded “Synchronicity” album, I wasn’t familiar enough with either work as I was just starting to listen to popular music.  When asked to chime in, I did as I always did when I wrote most of my papers for English: I faked it. I would say something along the lines of “’Synchronicity’ is just more popular; both albums really kick ass.” Then I’d walk away and try to hide my ignorance.

  It wasn’t until I graduated that I really started listening to the amazing records from The Police, so much so that I purchased, in reverse chronological order, all of the albums. I already had “Synchronicity” on cassette, so I went with “Ghost in the Machine” on vinyl and then I began to understand the true debate: the seeming commerciality of “Synchronicity” versus the riskier arrangements taken by Sting, Summers, and Copeland in their previous work. I still find merit in my original analysis, but at least I have a better idea of what I’m talking about and don’t believe I have to fake it. Not quite as much, anyway,

  For most of my life, my musical tastes, and authors, have come from outside; rarely do I find things on my own. On those rare occasions, I take a risk and am pleasantly surprised. Other times, though, I’m disappointed, but being the stubborn man-child that I am, I struggle through. One such instance was a horror novel about a physician and a possessed caduceus that haunted him. It wasn’t a terrible book, but I lost interest after a few chapters. It took me about a year to finish the 300+ page hardcover which I promptly added it to my bookshelf. No matter. Finish it I did.

  Other artists I’ve come across that I follow include Afro Celt Sound System and The Aggrolites. My introduction to the Afro Celt Sound System was through their song “When I’m Falling” which featured Peter Gabriel on vocals. I was already a huge fan of Peter Gabriel by then, so I became a huge fan of that song, bought their CD, then I was hooked on Afro Celt Sound System as well.

  Retracing this lineage backwards, my fandom of Peter Gabriel was a direct result of being a fan of Genesis, but I was only a fan of Genesis because in 1985 a good friend invited me to see their Invisible Touch Tour at the Oakland Colosseum. I don’t think I knew any of their songs, but I was game because it was my first pop music concert ever. I was blown away, and not necessarily by the copious amounts of hashish being consumed all around us. Later that year, my brother gave me their album for Christmas and I loved it. I started learning about their earlier works, starting with their eponymous Genesis album. Then I learned about Peter Gabriel’s work right around the time his album So exploded on the scene. It was almost meant to be. But once again, I was introduced by others to these amazing artists, and these artists, in turn, inspired me to seek out others.

  The draw to The Aggrolites followed a similar, line. When ska and ska-punk was hitting the scene in the late 70’s and 80’s, I was still listening to The Beatles, The Monkees, and Motown, as well as AM radio night time mysteries (“The Shadow” anyone?). The Police were my introduction to Ska, but I didn’t really become a fan of that style until the mid-1990’s when a college friend of mine suggested we go to the Dance Hall Crasher’s concert at the Filmore in San Francisco. I’d only heard their hit that was playing on the radio those days, so I went into this gig with no idea what to expect. I had a great time, got a little mosh pit experience including losing my glasses and getting knocked around when I bent down to pick them up from the floor. A great gig and I’ve been a fan of the Dance Hall Crashers ever since.

  It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that I found out that DHC was formed by Bay Area ska-punk legends Tim Armstrong and Milt Freeman. When I did a Pandora search one afternoon, I got wind of Tim Armstrong’s solo effort “A Poet’s Life” and several songs stuck with me. I also loved the sound by the backing band. I had assumed it was Tim’s but found out it was The Aggrolites. So, I went on Amazon, purchased a CD, and was hooked. I soon followed the Aggrolites, which lead to the Skatalites, then The Specials, then The Clash, and The English Beat. All bands that most of my contemporaries were clued in to back in the 80’s. It only took me about twenty or so years to catch up.

  I’m not entirely sure if I was ever invited to that party, but I eventually showed up anyway.
 
  But music isn’t the only body of work where I was beyond being fashionably late.
 
  I love to read, but the body of work I had read always seemed to be lacking any of the widely regarded classics that others of my ilk had already read and moved on from.

  To be clear, I was an English major at Diablo Valley College and earned my English degree at UC Berkeley. I also enjoyed most of my English classes in high school. Yet, I’m almost ashamed to admit that never really read all of the assigned readings. (Or perhaps this is one of those best kept secrets held closely to the vest of English majors everywhere?) Knowing this, and long after I graduated, I started to realize that there were classic works that I’d only given a passing glance to, if I ever glanced in that direction at all. I felt it was necessary to do my degree proud and tackle these works.

  A copy of Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” found its way into my hands one summer in the late 90’s. It was in miniature hardcover form. It was the complete text and I felt it my obligation to read this oft-quoted tome. It took a long time as my dedicated and disciplined reader muscles had atrophied. But finish it I did and I may have actually enjoyed parts of it, though the intricate details of cetology and seafaring life was a little too much.
 
  Now I can say that I read it, however, and closed that book and put it on the shelf.

[A Side Note: I think bookshelves are English majors’ way of keeping score. Go to any English degree holder’s home and check out their bookshelves and tell me if I’m wrong. It’s not a bad thing. One of my greatest desires is to have more bookshelves in our small home so I can shelve all of my reading accomplishments. Probably in order by author, but I’ve also played around with organizing by genre. The dream is real, my friends.]

  The same is happening to me with famous authors like Albert Camus (“The Plague”), Orson Wells (“1984”), and Margaret Atwood (“A Handmaid’s Tale”). I’ve finished all of these in the past year or so, and now am tackling Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse 5”. Haruki Murakami is also on my To Read list and will follow Vonnegut immediately, unless there’s another Gaiman novel I need to enjoy.

  Oh yes, I’m currently eyeing “American Gods”, and I think it’s looking back.

  I’m also mid-way into a Lincoln biography, four chapters into a Churchill bio, and Chernow’s “Hamilton” is staring at me as if to ask “You bought me, what are you going to do with me?”.

  All of these are attempts to recognize the need to read these works to catch up to some undisclosed expectation. Real or imaginary, I’m actually enjoying the challenge.

  Maybe you can see where I’m going with this as I get back to Neil Gaiman’s collection of essays.

  After watching the movie “Coraline” and reading “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” and “Anansi Boys”, I finished “Stardust” and then my wife and I watched and enjoyed that movie as well.

  Now, Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, along with Stephen King, Phillip K. Dick, H.P. Lovecraft, Dashiell Hammett, and Piers Anthony. All have an amazing ability to transport the reader to their world, filled with wonder, mystery, engaging characters, and a hint of danger.

  From this collection of essays and speeches, I’m also challenged to read works by Harlan Ellison, Dave McKean, Gene Wolfe, and Terry Pratchett, to name but a few. I’m sure others will be added before I finish this book.

  And once completed, they will all be put on my shelf and added to my score.

  Probably after everyone else has left the party.

  “…and the papa tomato yelled at the baby tomato, ‘Catsup!’”

​Sept 9, 2018, Irvine, CA
 
]]>Mon, 13 Aug 2018 04:38:25 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/my-writing-inspirationsAug 10, 2018:
  My stories come from dreams. It’s usually a figure, a character, an image, that is very dynamic, or implies action. I take that image, translate it to pen and paper, and then see where it goes. It’s not always successful. I have several stories started that were more character studies than actual stories, so I stop and rarely go back.
  Once in a while, I think back about one or more of these characters and situations again and try to add to what I’d written or rewrite it with a different tack or voice.
  I almost never have a middle or end I mins as I let the situation develop by itself. I’ve been most successful in completing stories when they take a life of their own, where I’m not longer writing, but recording the events as they happen.
  This can be, and remains, a frustrating way to write, but it’s all I’ve been able to develop, so far.
For now, however, I’m uninspired, with few images or ideas to draw on. I’m now in ‘input mode’ where I feel the need to read more, fill my head with ideas, seek inspiration, before tackling the next story.
  Until then, however, I’ll re-open this writing blog, throw some words together, and see if I can give the dream a life of its own.

]]>Tue, 30 Jan 2018 22:05:15 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/nothing-in-particular​What am I thinking about?
 
Absolutely nothing, I say to myself. There is nothing whatsoever that is running through my mind. I have no consciousness, no mindfulness, no subject matter, nor any specific emotion. My mind is a complete mass of unmovable, incomprehensible, nothingness.
 
So, what now?
 
Looking around, I see cars and trucks, buildings being built, older buildings being torn down. I can hear the sound of large machines thumping the ground as it packs it down in preparation for the laying of foundations. I can smell old diesel engines working hard while the warm, still air just sits around me and surrounds the city.
 
The sky is clear, if you consider a slight haze to be clear. The wind is non-existent.
 
In other words, it is business as usual.
 
Yet, I sit here on this black vinyl-coasted park bench and table, laptop ready to take in whatever my imagination feeds it, and I ponder the existence of nothing.
 
Nothing is the absence of anything, yet isn’t ‘nothing’ a ‘thing’ in of itself? If that’s the case, then there can be no ‘nothing’ since there is always something in the absence of anything.
Let’s try this again: the absence of anything means that there isn’t anything to hang your hat on, to breathe, to eat, to see, smell, taste, or feel. There is literally nothing at all.
 
But in order for humans to conceive of such a thing, it is called something; it is called ‘nothing’. But the term itself is a thing, and the concept of ‘nothing’ is a thing, therefore shouldn’t ‘nothing’ be a thing, and therefore not a true absence of anything?
 
Take three: In ‘nothing’, there is no ‘thing’ there, literally. So, by definition, it cannot be a ‘thing’. The pure existence of nothing is not-existing. It doesn’t and cannot exist. It is a purely hypothetical concept because, as far as current science recognizes, everything has something, even at the smallest microscopic or even quantum level. So, nothing is an idea and not an actual ‘thing’, therefore ‘nothing’ doesn’t exist.
 
I sit and read the previous passage and wonder the ultimate question: Why? As in, ‘Why did I write that?’ I am not a scientist, nor a physicist. I’m not an expert, nor student, of any particular science. The idea just popped into my head because, to be perfectly honest, I’m bored but yearn to write something.
 
I can’t have a blank screen looking back at me because, as an amateur writer, I have to write whenever given the opportunity. There is a myriad of subjects that I can write on, but they just haven’t made themselves present to my current state of mind and, therefore, they are ‘nothing’ to me, thus the current topic.
 
If I have nothing, then I have nothing to write, therefore I wrote about nothing.
 
If the reader can wrap their minds on that, I pity them for these are the ramblings of a bored mind.
 
A few minutes have passed by and there’s nothing new to report. I remain seated at the same place, watching the same buildings, experiencing the same weather patterns and sounds. Nothing has changed, other than the length and quantity of words on this piece of random subject matter.
 
I do wonder, however, in the absence of ‘nothing’, does that mean that ‘something’ has to exist? There would be a ‘thing’ under either situation so wouldn’t ‘something’ also include ‘nothing’? Therefore, if “‘something’ wicked this way comes,” that could also mean nothing is coming, right?
 
Nothing’s changed, I’m still bored and, if I’m right about this diagnosis, I’m probably a little nuts, too.
 
But at least that’s something, right?
]]>Fri, 05 Jan 2018 21:46:59 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/my-nanowrimo-2017-experience​Writing is a tedious process. It requires concentration, attention to detail, and an understanding of how words communicate with readers.
Writing is also a joy. It allows the mind to create, piece together thoughts and ideas into a semi-permanent form and share them with others.
Writing takes effort. It is not a passive activity. It is something that requires the full attention of the writer, especially if the writer intends to be effective in what they are writing about.
Writing fulfills. A successful writing period can give the author a sense of elation, a feeling of success. Creating something that others can enjoy is a gift. When writing works, it benefits both the writer and reader.
My NaNoWriMo writing experience this past year was more tedious and draining than joyful and fulfilling. The novel I eventually came up with went through the usual stages of any long-form writing: enthusiastic start, self-doubt in the middle, and a mad rush to finish at the end. How professional writers feel after writing a long-form manuscript is something I’ve yet to know. I’m far from being a professional writer. However, I believe that self-doubt is something that lives within every writer as we question our plot points, our overall story line, our character development, and even our grammar choices. I sometimes wonder whether any author genuinely feels that they are ever really finished with a given manuscript.
That said, I’m surprised with what I came out with. In previous years, I wrote without a clear idea in mind. At best, I would have an image in my head and then start writing from there. This lead to the very questionable choice of writing about oversized hairy rodents that can talk and wear robes.
This year, I deliberately sketched out a very broad outline with a featured character pulled from one of my many unpublished short stories. With Max as the focus, I planned to intertwine several characters and plot points drafted from other unpublished and unfinished short stories I’ve written over the past few years. In a way, this was my attempt to finish all of those stories in one fell swoop.
As I concocted this idea, I thought a bit about One Thousand and One Arabian Nights and the premise of Scheherazade delaying her death by telling stories, but not finishing them, every night. I don’t have that many stories, let alone ideas to work from, but I took that framework premise and outlined a scenario where the central character, Max, would be the focal point and also the cause for other characters’ consternation. I just wasn’t sure how to work in the telling of different stories yet,
Sounds fascinating, right?
The idea lasted for about one-third of the novel as I ran out of ideas on what to do. So, like any novice writer, I panicked, shifted gears, and used a different character from my unfinished pile of stories as the foil to Max’s plans. In this case, both Max and Crispian were both characters of dubious motives, but for one to succeed, the other had to fail.
I have to admit that this summary sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than what I eventually wrote.
The last piece was who was going to be my Scheherazade, and who would they be telling the stories to before we transitioned over to Crispian’s story? I created a new character, Beverly, who would be integral to determining Max’s or Crispian’s success. For fun, I made Beverly a novice writer who was in the middle of writing a novel. The magic of it all was that, in Max’s world, some writers can create real versions once they finish a manuscript. Beverly was one of the special people who had this ability, even though she wasn’t aware of it. If she finished, Crispian would win. If she failed, then Max would win. So, I decided that it was Max who would be telling as many stories as possible to delay Beverly’s completion of her written work. The consequence of Max losing would be something more ominous than just losing a job. Max became my Scheherazade.
This is sounding like a really interesting story. Wish I wrote it.
There were four additional characters I threw into this stew of stories and plots. Again, pulled from more of my half-finished character sketches. I did this mostly to add to the word count but also to show that mystical powers were involved in this world and that magic, in its many forms, exists whether we know it or not. These four characters comprised of two nineteenth century British detectives and two magicians from a fantasy world called Agarathea. I had both pairs enter Max world via a dimensional portal. Part of my problem with fleshing out the detective characters was that while I read and enjoyed detective stories, I really have no clue about how they think or act. In order to hide my weakness in this area, I limited their contribution to character interaction and engagement, dialog, new perspectives, and, did I mention, additional word count.
In the end, Crispian loses because Max was successful in using these four characters to delay Beverly’s completion of her manuscript and, thus, thwarting Crispian’s plan to murder a massive number of people.
Huzzah! The lesser of two evils wins.
The result is a short novel, just a hair above the fifty-thousand word count, and a ‘win’ by NaNoWriMo standards.
What happens next is another debacle: I’m terrible at editing and I wonder if this complicated story is worth putting in the effort to polish. The writing process itself was difficult: I definitely felt the strain of coming up with enough plot and character development to reach the end. Even now, six weeks after completion, I’m hesitant to crack open the file and read what I spewed forth onto my poor laptop’s screen.
I did come up with the thought that perhaps I could pay a college student to do the painful editing work. You have to admit that it is an interesting idea. I have to ponder the pros and cons of that, though, and that will require a little more time. The thought did occur to me that this is could be an ingenious method of procrastination. This from the same mind that wrote this mess in the first place.
The sum of it all is that I think I need more time before I rush in to the editing portion.
In the meantime, I’m writing this little bit. Maybe this is my writing process: the way in which I develop and organize my thoughts before diving in fully?
I sincerely hope that’s the case. Only time will tell.
Happy New Year, everyone.]]>Wed, 20 Sep 2017 05:14:08 GMThttp://raviswritings.org/reflections/the-draw-of-sci-fi[Original Version published via corporate personal blog, Sept 15, 2017]
The Draw of Sci-Fi
​I am a lifelong fan of Sci-Fi, starting many years ago with Star Wars, Star Trek and Space: 1999. Of course, I also grew up watching classic Japanese anime and TV shows like Go Ranger (One of the original precursors to The Power Rangers), Raideen, Star Blazers, and Kikaida.
All of these shows fascinated me and blew my mind away each and every week When some of them went on syndication, I watched them again to relive the joy.
But I’ve been asking myself why I was so drawn to these, and other, shows? Why do I have collections of related paraphernalia at home and at my work station? What is it about these shows and franchises that left such an impression on me?
The quick answer is: I haven’t the foggiest idea.
The long and, hopefully, not too forced of an answer focuses on Star Wars and Star Trek:
My gut reaction is that both franchises engage in the possibilities and wonders of life beyond our own world. These shows take me away to worlds and cultures light years away. They open my mind up to the endless possibilities of space exploration and exploring what it would be like to live among a myriad number of cultures and creatures. Both franchises embody the idea that humans are not alone in the universe, and that, perhaps, humans are also not necessarily the most important.
Because of this, they engage my imagination with endless “What ifs” and “Why nots”.
These are all the visual trappings, however. What’s also essential is that the characters and situations are relatable. Some are based in our current reality, sometimes disguised as alien encounters or inter-political intrigue.
Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry and was originally pitched as Wagon Trail in the stars. This high concept show followed the mostly humanoid crew in adventures in space where their moral and ethical beliefs were challenged. These beliefs were grounded in a very human idealism that there is a peaceful solution to all conflicts; the true test of humanity was how we use our intelligence and imagination to make key decisions that have larger consequences.
Star Wars, created by George Lucas, is more of a space fantasy where the story focused on a test of good versus evil in a galaxy that was more culturally diverse than anything I had seen before. Similar to Star Trek, at the center was a test of morality, illustrated by the battle between the Force users, the Jedi and the Sith.
In both franchises, the creators used classic archetypes mostly in the form of the Heroic Trio: Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy for Star Trek, and Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia for Star Wars. While Capt. Kirk was given the leadership role, he often received advice of logic and rational thought from Mr. Spock, but also the human, ethical concerns from Dr. McCoy. Whether Capt. Kirk follows their advice is also a testimony to his own decision-making and strength of character, sometimes eschewing their judgments to find a less obvious third option and solution. While Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy serve as more intellectual sides of morality, Capt. Kirk was the animus, the one who would act upon his eventual decision and, usually, the one who would take responsibility for the result of his actions, good or bad.
In Star Wars, the story is more of a coming of age tale where the main character becomes the hero through a series of challenges and obstacles that start with loss (deaths of Uncle Owen, Aunt Buru, Obi Wan Kenobi), skills development (training by Yoda), and finally confrontation (battling Darth Vader). The Heroic Trio are less directly involved in Luke’s overall development, but his concern for their welfare drives many of the decisions he makes, often impetuous choices like leaving his Jedi training too early and his rush to confront Darth Vader directly. Like Star Trek, the Heroic Trio offered different sides of humanity: Han Solo (and Chewbacca) physical abilities, Princess Leia with leadership, and young Luke following his heart, his emotions.
Both explore the realms of what’s possible in the human condition. There will always be those forces that pull us towards the darker aspects of our nature (Star Trek’s Mirror Universe, Star Wars’ The Sith), but the decisions to go in those directions are always dependent upon the choices each person makes. In Star Trek, adventures in the Mirror Universe (a concept explored in every Star Trek franchise series, to date), the formation of the Empire versus the Federation was dependent upon the decision whether to be the aggressor in every situation or not. In Star Wars, the pull of the Sith and the Dark Side tugs at Luke, drawing on his emotions that he, eventually, overcomes in his goal to save his father. For a different look into the same type of journey, a review of the Prequels reveals where Anakin, Luke’s father, made a different set of choices that resulted in his penultimate fall, both physically and emotionally. Anakin only found redemption as Luke completes his own Hero’s Journey.
To be sure, I remain a harsh critic of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy and half of the Star Trek cinematic episodes, but even there, the core of their stories, situations, and resolutions, are enjoyable. It is a relief when the good side wins.
So, these shows, and others like them like Firefly and Doctor Who, take me away from the world but they also do not shy away from moral and ethical issues that affect everyone on a daily basis. While the real affects from these shows and movies remain in the fabric of fiction, the impact that they have stays with me and millions of others.
Lastly, I cannot overlook that both franchises are fun to watch. It’s fun to see space battles with intricate piloting and things blowing up. Starships, space ships, fighters and cruisers, blowing each other up is exciting to see. Action, when done well, adds another dimension to the overall TV and movie watching experience.
I can argue ad nauseum the merits of how good Sci-Fi can elevate the human condition, and I do believe that there are great examples of this in recent years. But for all that’s said and done, I’m drawn to Sci-Fi in all of its forms simply because it stimulates my mind and is a lot of fun to watch.​ 
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