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Secret Project: Outed
General | Posted 15 years agoYou know that Open Submission call for BDSM short stories?
Fuzzwolf tweeted about it, recognizing me as the editor. So, cat is out of the bag.
I don't want anyone to play favorites or anything, it's all strictly business. But I did want to talk about it a little bit.
There's very little stuff out that which is directly related to kinks. You have your occasional portfolio dedicated to say, tentacles, but beyond that, not really. Anthologies typically have either an orientation, a setting, or a catch all like "Life After High School".
I want to offer something that's related just to those kinks, and have something for everyone. Offer something for specific tastes, while otherwise allowing for ideas. So far I've received fantasy and sci fi stories, as well as contemporary. Gay, straight and bi. I want to see what the community can offer. I'd even advertise in BDSM writing circles, but those are harder to find.
Hopefully this will garner some attention and the book will sell nicely.
In the future I'd like to see other kink-related anthologies. For instance, I rarely see Transformation stuff out there, and I know that those who are into it are really into it. It might be interesting to see that.
The real challenge of the above is finding authors who are skilled writers in addition to being knowledgeable and creative with that kink.
Fuzzwolf tweeted about it, recognizing me as the editor. So, cat is out of the bag.
I don't want anyone to play favorites or anything, it's all strictly business. But I did want to talk about it a little bit.
There's very little stuff out that which is directly related to kinks. You have your occasional portfolio dedicated to say, tentacles, but beyond that, not really. Anthologies typically have either an orientation, a setting, or a catch all like "Life After High School".
I want to offer something that's related just to those kinks, and have something for everyone. Offer something for specific tastes, while otherwise allowing for ideas. So far I've received fantasy and sci fi stories, as well as contemporary. Gay, straight and bi. I want to see what the community can offer. I'd even advertise in BDSM writing circles, but those are harder to find.
Hopefully this will garner some attention and the book will sell nicely.
In the future I'd like to see other kink-related anthologies. For instance, I rarely see Transformation stuff out there, and I know that those who are into it are really into it. It might be interesting to see that.
The real challenge of the above is finding authors who are skilled writers in addition to being knowledgeable and creative with that kink.
Holyshit Open Submission Call!
General | Posted 15 years agoI should be mum about calling attention to an anthology seeking submissions (so I have a better chance of getting in). On the other hand, I also want awesome stories tos how up next to mine.
So I'll direct you and yours to http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2073066/
So I'll direct you and yours to http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2073066/
Inspiration is Everywhere
General | Posted 15 years agoThere are many ways to avoid writers block. But one way to always find something worth writing about is simply open your eyes and ears.
Today I walked into the end of a class and watched a professor speak. He had the softest, almost shyest voice despite being relatively tall. Instantly, this description came to mind:
"He spoke as though a single firm word might wake a nest of hornets in the corner."
That's a very interesting character trait for a public speaker.
In my class, I listened to a girl repeat a story. She was very mad at her roommate, so she took their "2 foot tall, $200 bong" into her room, threw her laundry basket out of the way and shattered one of the mirrors in her room. She sat down in her "9-foot deep closet" and said her roommate came into the room, looked around, and said, "Don't break my bong," then left. She was so mad she punched a hole in the wall.
This is interesting to me. Not the specific details of the damage or the bong, but also the guy's reaction. He hears a crash, he comes upstairs, and says "Do not damage my property". Clearly they were in a fight, but it's also an interesting bit of character/dialogue to drop into a story.
Look at the people you pass on the street. That sit in the restaurant you are in. Listen to their voice. Their habits. Write those things down. This will give you a store of things to drop onto minor characters to help them stand out in your story. There are gems of genius you pass by every day. Slow down, sift about, and collect them for later.
Today I walked into the end of a class and watched a professor speak. He had the softest, almost shyest voice despite being relatively tall. Instantly, this description came to mind:
"He spoke as though a single firm word might wake a nest of hornets in the corner."
That's a very interesting character trait for a public speaker.
In my class, I listened to a girl repeat a story. She was very mad at her roommate, so she took their "2 foot tall, $200 bong" into her room, threw her laundry basket out of the way and shattered one of the mirrors in her room. She sat down in her "9-foot deep closet" and said her roommate came into the room, looked around, and said, "Don't break my bong," then left. She was so mad she punched a hole in the wall.
This is interesting to me. Not the specific details of the damage or the bong, but also the guy's reaction. He hears a crash, he comes upstairs, and says "Do not damage my property". Clearly they were in a fight, but it's also an interesting bit of character/dialogue to drop into a story.
Look at the people you pass on the street. That sit in the restaurant you are in. Listen to their voice. Their habits. Write those things down. This will give you a store of things to drop onto minor characters to help them stand out in your story. There are gems of genius you pass by every day. Slow down, sift about, and collect them for later.
Know what's great about furries and cons?
General | Posted 15 years agoYou know, one thing I love about conventions is that despite what you might think, the hotel staff loves furries.
I was at FurFright this year and one of the hotel clerks commented to me, "You guys are great. We've never had a gathering this big with so few problems [in terms of damage to hotel rooms or mess]. We hope you come back next year!"
This is something that I've heard about other hotels. Apparently we are, as a huge group, well behaved. Granted, I wouldn't think a business conference or stamp collector's con would get that crazy, but still.
That's not counting the surrounding restaurants, who get triple overtime feeding all those fuzzy mouths.
Yaay us.
I was at FurFright this year and one of the hotel clerks commented to me, "You guys are great. We've never had a gathering this big with so few problems [in terms of damage to hotel rooms or mess]. We hope you come back next year!"
This is something that I've heard about other hotels. Apparently we are, as a huge group, well behaved. Granted, I wouldn't think a business conference or stamp collector's con would get that crazy, but still.
That's not counting the surrounding restaurants, who get triple overtime feeding all those fuzzy mouths.
Yaay us.
Ursa Major Nominations
General | Posted 15 years agoHey there. Did you know that the Ursa Majors nominations are now open and you can nominate furry works with which you think deserve awards?
Yeah.
You fill out the various fields with all the relevant information. To give an example:
Short Fiction: Handcuffs and Lace, Rechan, FurPlanet Productions, October 2010.
Show support for your fellow authors (and other such sorts).
Yeah.
You fill out the various fields with all the relevant information. To give an example:
Short Fiction: Handcuffs and Lace, Rechan, FurPlanet Productions, October 2010.
Show support for your fellow authors (and other such sorts).
HOLY OMG WOOT WOAH!
General | Posted 15 years ago30!
In 2010, Furplanet sold 30 copies of Handcuffs and Lace! It was only out two months (It came out on Halloween)!
That's not even FC!
30!
:D
In 2010, Furplanet sold 30 copies of Handcuffs and Lace! It was only out two months (It came out on Halloween)!
That's not even FC!
30!
:D
Your Readers Are Not Stupid
General | Posted 15 years agoThe book I'm reading is doing something that is particularly irritating, and I'll give you a few examples.
Situation: Main Character is going in to rescue someone. Her friend is sent to go around back and handle the guy guarding the back door. She goes in, kicks ass, and is checking to make sure the coast is clear.
Her friend is standing there in the front room, reading a newspaper.
Not only does the narrator say, "He wouldn't be standing there if he hadn't taken out the guy in the back," but the characters ask eachother if they killed their respective targets.
The main character's mentor has been killed near the beginning of the book. Every single scene since then, the narrator talks about how she's reminded of him, her grief, her determination to get his killer, etc etc. I get it. This reminds me of how in the first 100 Batman comics, every single issue had Batman reflecting on his parents murder, until fans finally wrote in that they got the point.
Three other instances I count where the author explains something, then re-explains something. For instance, "I traced a spiral symbol in the stone, the rune of protection." This is rephrased and repeated about five chapters later.
The above illustrates two things - the latter being redundancy, but the former is what I want to talk about here.
There's a big concern when writing. Because an author knows his story so intimately that he thinks he's clear when explaining something, because after all, he gets it. But the readers don't. The author assumes his readers are quite smart, and things go over the reader's head.
But the reverse is just as bad. Your readers are not stupid, and assuming they won't understand what you're saying without holding their hand is insulting. You do not have to spell out the obvious, nor repeat yourself to make sure they get the hint or message.
I think there are only a few areas that a lack of explanation or clarity will crop up:
1) "Why did this character do this?" When the reader has understood the character, and then they do something outside that understanding without explanation, it confuses the reader. Now the author could have explained, or gave hints about it, and the reader not pick up on the significance of something. On the other hand, the writer could just have easily forgotten to elaborate because the author has it all in his head and it's all clear to the author.
2) "How did this happen?" When the sequence of events - A to B to C - happens, like an action, and they are not described or explained enough for C to make sense. I've seen this in a comic book, where I look at the picture and am not sure what's happening - the C is clear, but I don't see a clear illustration of B to show how that happened.
3) "What does this have to do with anything?" The significance of something is unclear because it appears to not tie in with everything else. This goes back to point #1 - the reader could perhaps be missing something, but the author could just have easily not explained why this is important, or why the characters brought up this. It could also be the author just putting things in that don't belong; too much description or time spent on an unimportant thing for instance.
Beta readers are great for finding what doesn't make sense in your story. Ask them to tell you if there's anything confusing or that didn't make sense.
Situation: Main Character is going in to rescue someone. Her friend is sent to go around back and handle the guy guarding the back door. She goes in, kicks ass, and is checking to make sure the coast is clear.
Her friend is standing there in the front room, reading a newspaper.
Not only does the narrator say, "He wouldn't be standing there if he hadn't taken out the guy in the back," but the characters ask eachother if they killed their respective targets.
The main character's mentor has been killed near the beginning of the book. Every single scene since then, the narrator talks about how she's reminded of him, her grief, her determination to get his killer, etc etc. I get it. This reminds me of how in the first 100 Batman comics, every single issue had Batman reflecting on his parents murder, until fans finally wrote in that they got the point.
Three other instances I count where the author explains something, then re-explains something. For instance, "I traced a spiral symbol in the stone, the rune of protection." This is rephrased and repeated about five chapters later.
The above illustrates two things - the latter being redundancy, but the former is what I want to talk about here.
There's a big concern when writing. Because an author knows his story so intimately that he thinks he's clear when explaining something, because after all, he gets it. But the readers don't. The author assumes his readers are quite smart, and things go over the reader's head.
But the reverse is just as bad. Your readers are not stupid, and assuming they won't understand what you're saying without holding their hand is insulting. You do not have to spell out the obvious, nor repeat yourself to make sure they get the hint or message.
I think there are only a few areas that a lack of explanation or clarity will crop up:
1) "Why did this character do this?" When the reader has understood the character, and then they do something outside that understanding without explanation, it confuses the reader. Now the author could have explained, or gave hints about it, and the reader not pick up on the significance of something. On the other hand, the writer could just have easily forgotten to elaborate because the author has it all in his head and it's all clear to the author.
2) "How did this happen?" When the sequence of events - A to B to C - happens, like an action, and they are not described or explained enough for C to make sense. I've seen this in a comic book, where I look at the picture and am not sure what's happening - the C is clear, but I don't see a clear illustration of B to show how that happened.
3) "What does this have to do with anything?" The significance of something is unclear because it appears to not tie in with everything else. This goes back to point #1 - the reader could perhaps be missing something, but the author could just have easily not explained why this is important, or why the characters brought up this. It could also be the author just putting things in that don't belong; too much description or time spent on an unimportant thing for instance.
Beta readers are great for finding what doesn't make sense in your story. Ask them to tell you if there's anything confusing or that didn't make sense.
An Imperfect First Draft, an Angelic Second and Final
General | Posted 15 years agoYou might be writing something right now. Or you might have a story unfinished, sitting on your hard drive.
As long as the story is unwritten and unedited, you are not alone in your writing of it. Even when you set down your proverbial pen, your partner is still with you, there as you go about your day, but most assuredly there when you lay down to sleep.
Who is this co-writer? Your demon.
More accurately, your imp. He perches on your shoulder and whispers into your ear, "This idea? Cliche. This character? Weak. This plot? Full of holes. How can you write that sentence, it's full of trite nothingness! You offer the reader nothing. Further, they will roll their eyes and criticize you. How can you write this drivel? Put it down and abandon it because it's awful." Only doubt, pessimism and ridicule passes this imp's lips.
You can try to silence this imp by editing. By revising. But that just shows you agree with it, and the more you edit before finishing, the longer you take to finish. The longer you take, the more the little bastard talks and the longer you have to give in to him.
Even the best authors cannot exorcise this demon. And beneath its words the story waivers and you lose its enjoyment, your work suffers, and you may even give into its sway.
The only way to banish this hellish little co-pilot is to finish the damn story. Because once the story is written, then you've crested the greatest hurdle. You can decide to keep it or not, but at least you finished. The doubt, for many authors, may leave now.
And for many of those authors, a new visitor appears. This is an angel, telling you, "This story is perfect. You've worked so hard, suffered so much under your imp. Submit it. You're done. You deserve to clear your plate and be through with it. This criticism? Don't listen to it; this story is perfect."
And beneath these pleas, you may pass off your work without editing. Without reconsidering. Without proper feedback and weight. You might even disregard feedback*.
If the original idea was enough to inspire you and energize you, then you at one point thought it was good enough. Be confident in your ideas enough to see to its finish. But once written, you must also be not be overconfident in the quality of the prose to skip revision.
Either co-author can ruin your story.
*To be fair. An author is not required to listen to feedback. It is his story after all. But a reader is an unbiased source, and being too overconfident and disregarding criticism can hurt you. I'll speak later about feedback and criticisms.
As long as the story is unwritten and unedited, you are not alone in your writing of it. Even when you set down your proverbial pen, your partner is still with you, there as you go about your day, but most assuredly there when you lay down to sleep.
Who is this co-writer? Your demon.
More accurately, your imp. He perches on your shoulder and whispers into your ear, "This idea? Cliche. This character? Weak. This plot? Full of holes. How can you write that sentence, it's full of trite nothingness! You offer the reader nothing. Further, they will roll their eyes and criticize you. How can you write this drivel? Put it down and abandon it because it's awful." Only doubt, pessimism and ridicule passes this imp's lips.
You can try to silence this imp by editing. By revising. But that just shows you agree with it, and the more you edit before finishing, the longer you take to finish. The longer you take, the more the little bastard talks and the longer you have to give in to him.
Even the best authors cannot exorcise this demon. And beneath its words the story waivers and you lose its enjoyment, your work suffers, and you may even give into its sway.
The only way to banish this hellish little co-pilot is to finish the damn story. Because once the story is written, then you've crested the greatest hurdle. You can decide to keep it or not, but at least you finished. The doubt, for many authors, may leave now.
And for many of those authors, a new visitor appears. This is an angel, telling you, "This story is perfect. You've worked so hard, suffered so much under your imp. Submit it. You're done. You deserve to clear your plate and be through with it. This criticism? Don't listen to it; this story is perfect."
And beneath these pleas, you may pass off your work without editing. Without reconsidering. Without proper feedback and weight. You might even disregard feedback*.
If the original idea was enough to inspire you and energize you, then you at one point thought it was good enough. Be confident in your ideas enough to see to its finish. But once written, you must also be not be overconfident in the quality of the prose to skip revision.
Either co-author can ruin your story.
*To be fair. An author is not required to listen to feedback. It is his story after all. But a reader is an unbiased source, and being too overconfident and disregarding criticism can hurt you. I'll speak later about feedback and criticisms.
Anthros and Language
General | Posted 15 years agoThe English language is full of animal-related references. "Wolfing down your food" and "Catting around". Also, there are words that relate specifically to Humans. Like humanity.
Be careful when you use these terms in your writing. Because remember, we're talking about anthropomorphic animals.
I can't count the number of times I've seen the term "Gym-rat" in a furry story. Which makes me snicker, because I can't imagine rats being very gym-related. It'd be a funny stereotype to explain, so its inclusion just makes me laugh every time I see it.
Recently I also saw "they formed a human chain" in a book. Which made me stop and say, "Wait..." Sure, it conveys the information in a very quick and simple reference, but it's still funny to see it considering there's no humans in the world. :)
Be mindful of what you use.
Be careful when you use these terms in your writing. Because remember, we're talking about anthropomorphic animals.
I can't count the number of times I've seen the term "Gym-rat" in a furry story. Which makes me snicker, because I can't imagine rats being very gym-related. It'd be a funny stereotype to explain, so its inclusion just makes me laugh every time I see it.
Recently I also saw "they formed a human chain" in a book. Which made me stop and say, "Wait..." Sure, it conveys the information in a very quick and simple reference, but it's still funny to see it considering there's no humans in the world. :)
Be mindful of what you use.
Save the Day - Let it save yours
General | Posted 15 years agoFinally finished Save the Day, and I must recommend it to you.
So, how can I describe Save the Day? In five words, "Out of Position with Superheroes".
That's not fair. It doesn't copy anything, the characters are quite different, and characters are quite settled with being gay - the main characters have been in a relationship for five years. But the issues of trust and honesty, of coming out, are the central issues of both books. Save the Day is a little more angsty, but also quite clean compared to Out of Position.
The author put a lot of work into his world. It shows a consideration and education of the genre, and clearly thought hard things, right down to supers choosing jobs that have flexible schedules because they can't compete with other things. The supers aspect is enjoyable start to finish, and often very absurd in a good way.
The book is professional. The editing, the writing - I have a few issues, but the writing, the plotting, everything is so solid. Even more impressive, there is foreshadowing and hints about what's coming later. If you read it and then read it again, you'll see almost all the hints. I point this out because it shows a serious strength of plotting.
A few weeks ago I made a post encouraging writers to frustrating your readers by drawing out your conflict. In terms of plotting and pacing, Save the Day does this. Things do not get immediately resolved to character limitations. It does get a little annoying at times because of the aforementioned angst, but you know what? I think it's worth it, because the resolution more than pays for it. At several points the book made me care, really strongly, about the resolution; I wanted the characters to "just say this" or "just do that", and when it finally happened, it was immensely rewarding.
As a bonus, I've been talking to the author. He is a nice, exuberant and enthusiastic guy about his world and story. He wants to open the setting to others writing in his world, and he reminds me of me when I talk about my writing.
If you enjoy supers, if you enjoy coming out stuff, or if you just enjoy reading good books, I cannot recommend this book enough.
So, how can I describe Save the Day? In five words, "Out of Position with Superheroes".
That's not fair. It doesn't copy anything, the characters are quite different, and characters are quite settled with being gay - the main characters have been in a relationship for five years. But the issues of trust and honesty, of coming out, are the central issues of both books. Save the Day is a little more angsty, but also quite clean compared to Out of Position.
The author put a lot of work into his world. It shows a consideration and education of the genre, and clearly thought hard things, right down to supers choosing jobs that have flexible schedules because they can't compete with other things. The supers aspect is enjoyable start to finish, and often very absurd in a good way.
The book is professional. The editing, the writing - I have a few issues, but the writing, the plotting, everything is so solid. Even more impressive, there is foreshadowing and hints about what's coming later. If you read it and then read it again, you'll see almost all the hints. I point this out because it shows a serious strength of plotting.
A few weeks ago I made a post encouraging writers to frustrating your readers by drawing out your conflict. In terms of plotting and pacing, Save the Day does this. Things do not get immediately resolved to character limitations. It does get a little annoying at times because of the aforementioned angst, but you know what? I think it's worth it, because the resolution more than pays for it. At several points the book made me care, really strongly, about the resolution; I wanted the characters to "just say this" or "just do that", and when it finally happened, it was immensely rewarding.
As a bonus, I've been talking to the author. He is a nice, exuberant and enthusiastic guy about his world and story. He wants to open the setting to others writing in his world, and he reminds me of me when I talk about my writing.
If you enjoy supers, if you enjoy coming out stuff, or if you just enjoy reading good books, I cannot recommend this book enough.
My Furry Bookshelf
General | Posted 15 years agoNo, my bookshelf doesn't have fur. But I thought I'd list the furry books I have to show you how I support, and to expose you to some stuff you may not have heard of.
Have and not read yet
Alone in the Dark - Horror, Anthology, Clean
Found: One Apocalypse - Sci Fi, Humor, Clean
Deathless - Horror, Modern, Clean
Whisper of Wings - Fantasy, Clean (I think)
Pendant of Fortune - Fantasy, Adult
Prisoner's Release - Fantasy, Adult
Fang vol 1, 2 and 3 - Anthology, Adult, Horror and Fantasy
X - Anthology, Adult
Thousand Leaves - Thriller, Clean
N'Duk the Hunter - Anthology, Fantasy, Clean (as far as I know)
Heart of Courage
Renard's Menagerie - Anthology
Have and Read, or not Finished
Save the Day - Superhero, Clean
Fangs of K'aath (unfinished) - Arabian Fantasy, Adult
Volle (Unfinished)
Iron Star - Fantasy, Adult
Basecraft Cirrostratus - 1930s, Crime, Adult
Tales of Perissa vol 1 and 2 - Arabian Fantasy anthology, Clean (mostly)
Have and not read yet
Alone in the Dark - Horror, Anthology, Clean
Found: One Apocalypse - Sci Fi, Humor, Clean
Deathless - Horror, Modern, Clean
Whisper of Wings - Fantasy, Clean (I think)
Pendant of Fortune - Fantasy, Adult
Prisoner's Release - Fantasy, Adult
Fang vol 1, 2 and 3 - Anthology, Adult, Horror and Fantasy
X - Anthology, Adult
Thousand Leaves - Thriller, Clean
N'Duk the Hunter - Anthology, Fantasy, Clean (as far as I know)
Heart of Courage
Renard's Menagerie - Anthology
Have and Read, or not Finished
Save the Day - Superhero, Clean
Fangs of K'aath (unfinished) - Arabian Fantasy, Adult
Volle (Unfinished)
Iron Star - Fantasy, Adult
Basecraft Cirrostratus - 1930s, Crime, Adult
Tales of Perissa vol 1 and 2 - Arabian Fantasy anthology, Clean (mostly)
Anyone want a Free Book?
General | Posted 15 years agoSo here's the deal.
I'm 2/3rds finished with Save the Day, Furry Superheroes + Coming Out story. Very good.
When I finish, I want to give this book to someone (assuming you live in the US so the S/H isn't a real kick in the pants).
However, I'll only send it under one condition: when you are finished, you must either write a review/recommend it to Your friends, or you must give it to someone else with this same condition.
I'm 2/3rds finished with Save the Day, Furry Superheroes + Coming Out story. Very good.
When I finish, I want to give this book to someone (assuming you live in the US so the S/H isn't a real kick in the pants).
However, I'll only send it under one condition: when you are finished, you must either write a review/recommend it to Your friends, or you must give it to someone else with this same condition.
Holy Balls!
General | Posted 15 years agoFurPlanet put out their "Bestsellers in November" list, and I'm #7. I beat out Graveyard Greg's novella "Deathless" and a porn comic of his. GG is way more popular than me.
OMG.
Wow, a lot of journals lately.
OMG.
Wow, a lot of journals lately.
Nothing Left in the Closet
General | Posted 15 years agoI'm going to say something that might be initially offensive:
I'm tired of Coming Out stories.
No, I have nothing against gays, yes I know it's a hard struggle, and evidently very important in the author's life. It's a personal experience that's significant and resonates with a lot of people in the fandom.
But damn. So many furry books and comics deal with the issue of coming out and the GLBT social analogy. There are so many more stories out there to explore, so many options, and this is what is focused on. It's been Done, and it gets Boring.
I'm tired of Coming Out stories.
No, I have nothing against gays, yes I know it's a hard struggle, and evidently very important in the author's life. It's a personal experience that's significant and resonates with a lot of people in the fandom.
But damn. So many furry books and comics deal with the issue of coming out and the GLBT social analogy. There are so many more stories out there to explore, so many options, and this is what is focused on. It's been Done, and it gets Boring.
Book Reviews: Bridges, Basecraft Cirrostratus, Out of Positi
General | Posted 15 years agoBridges
The book's premise is that each of its five chapters is told from a different character's perspective, and the gimmick is in the first three chapters we have some severe overlap of three characters doing the same scene. While it provides you the character perspectives, by the third time the hotness is gone. This would be absolutely tiresome had not the author done something nice: in one chapter, a conversation was glossed over. In the next, he fully plays out that conversation. So you get the full experience by reading all three chapters, even if that experience is what's going on before the sex, not during or after. By simply glossing over the threesome on the third time, nothing would have been lost from the book.
As much as I am down on the repetitiveness, I genuinely think that the book takes off as soon as it's got the three-perspective-threesome out of the way. We're treated to genuine characterization, conflict, and in chapter four and five, tear jerkers. I will not shy away from the fact that chapter four really moved me, it got to me, because I have some personal experience with that sort of arena. It was well worth the price of admission.
Basecraft Cirrostratus
It's easy to write a glowing review about something awesome, and it's easy to write a review about something that's awful. It's another thing entirely to write about something that that is not quite good enough, that could be better, that is ultimately flawed but promising.
Basecraft Cirrostratus is set in a 1930s-style world, about a cougar named Elor who flees a harsh regime to a flying airport where he falls in with a bad crowd, as well as his ex-boyfriend, getting tangled up with killings, gun running and a love triangle. All around international intrigue. The setting reminds me of Bioshock and its criminal underbelly, had Rapture been in the sky rather than the sea.
Sounds promising, doesn't it? Well it is promising. That's the thing. It's a wonderful setting. The story itself is nice - some real Coincidences, some things that don't quite make sense, but solid.
The flaw comes from the author's style. Many things draw the reader out of the story. Characterization, telling not showing, presentation, perspective, certain plot points - there are places they could have simply been better. It's clearly his first book.
But it's not bad. The author has a real talent at description, he knows his setting and he knows his technology in that setting. He knows his characters, but sometimes details their machinations a little too much. The story, as I repeat, is solid. It just could be better. Despite the flaws, I am satisfied with the story as a whole.
Despite what I say above, I do believe you should give it a chance. I am confident the author, Justin Lamar, threetails, will have a much better second book. And a third book. And a fourth. Basecraft Cirrostratus is a good first try, and it's clear the author is learning from it. I look forward to his next publication.
Out of Position
On the topic of first novels, when I read Kyell Gold's first novel Volle, I couldn't finsih it. I hit a part that was so very slow and never went back. It poisoned my opinion of the author. After reading Out of Position, I must say that my opinion has been cleansed and in tip top shape.
The book barely needs a review, because it is that good. I have my issues with it, but they're picking nits and not helpful in a review itself.
It's a story about a football player discovering he's gay, and all the trials and tribulations around that, as well as those with his partner. It's not so much a "coming of age" story as a "coming out and becoming an adult" story. For what it is, it's strong and hits hard and I can't approve enough.
The book's premise is that each of its five chapters is told from a different character's perspective, and the gimmick is in the first three chapters we have some severe overlap of three characters doing the same scene. While it provides you the character perspectives, by the third time the hotness is gone. This would be absolutely tiresome had not the author done something nice: in one chapter, a conversation was glossed over. In the next, he fully plays out that conversation. So you get the full experience by reading all three chapters, even if that experience is what's going on before the sex, not during or after. By simply glossing over the threesome on the third time, nothing would have been lost from the book.
As much as I am down on the repetitiveness, I genuinely think that the book takes off as soon as it's got the three-perspective-threesome out of the way. We're treated to genuine characterization, conflict, and in chapter four and five, tear jerkers. I will not shy away from the fact that chapter four really moved me, it got to me, because I have some personal experience with that sort of arena. It was well worth the price of admission.
Basecraft Cirrostratus
It's easy to write a glowing review about something awesome, and it's easy to write a review about something that's awful. It's another thing entirely to write about something that that is not quite good enough, that could be better, that is ultimately flawed but promising.
Basecraft Cirrostratus is set in a 1930s-style world, about a cougar named Elor who flees a harsh regime to a flying airport where he falls in with a bad crowd, as well as his ex-boyfriend, getting tangled up with killings, gun running and a love triangle. All around international intrigue. The setting reminds me of Bioshock and its criminal underbelly, had Rapture been in the sky rather than the sea.
Sounds promising, doesn't it? Well it is promising. That's the thing. It's a wonderful setting. The story itself is nice - some real Coincidences, some things that don't quite make sense, but solid.
The flaw comes from the author's style. Many things draw the reader out of the story. Characterization, telling not showing, presentation, perspective, certain plot points - there are places they could have simply been better. It's clearly his first book.
But it's not bad. The author has a real talent at description, he knows his setting and he knows his technology in that setting. He knows his characters, but sometimes details their machinations a little too much. The story, as I repeat, is solid. It just could be better. Despite the flaws, I am satisfied with the story as a whole.
Despite what I say above, I do believe you should give it a chance. I am confident the author, Justin Lamar, threetails, will have a much better second book. And a third book. And a fourth. Basecraft Cirrostratus is a good first try, and it's clear the author is learning from it. I look forward to his next publication.
Out of Position
On the topic of first novels, when I read Kyell Gold's first novel Volle, I couldn't finsih it. I hit a part that was so very slow and never went back. It poisoned my opinion of the author. After reading Out of Position, I must say that my opinion has been cleansed and in tip top shape.
The book barely needs a review, because it is that good. I have my issues with it, but they're picking nits and not helpful in a review itself.
It's a story about a football player discovering he's gay, and all the trials and tribulations around that, as well as those with his partner. It's not so much a "coming of age" story as a "coming out and becoming an adult" story. For what it is, it's strong and hits hard and I can't approve enough.
What is the place of Non-anthro animals in an Anthro world?
General | Posted 15 years agoSomeone wrote a review of my book, and in it there was an interesting quote.
"Palladinthug" wrote:Furthermore on a side note Vi has a pet cat. Yet in a world of anthropomorphic animals this always gives me a jolt of reality. I understand to a degree that not all of a species would evolve forward similar to apes, but seeing this in animated works and written fiction is always an uncomfortable area for me. Perhaps I just don't understand.
I found this curious.
In almost all furry fiction I can think of, there's no mention of non-morphic, non-sentient animals. If there is, it's usually birds/reptiles. Unless it's Sci Fi and furries came from uplifted animals.
But if people are anthros, then what's the wildlife? Are the fields and woods barren of mammals? What do the carnivorous anthros eat? (There's one furry book that has characters eating steak. What exactly is that steak made of?)
I understand the roadblock. If an anthro dog exists, then why would a dog exist? Several reasons are possible, but it ultimately leads back to the question of: what caused them to be anthropomorphic in the first place? Were the anthros uplifted/created by human science? Were they created by a god or magic? Are they aliens? Did they evolve?
The first three I think would easily explain why animals and anthros exist simultaneously, but the fourth one does present a hairy issue. Bringing Evolution into the discussion of furries is somewhat a sticky situation. Because on the one hand, humans and monkeys/apes exist at the same time, yet we evolved from them. On the toher hand, the likelihood that so many species evolved into bipedial sentient lifeforms at the same time, without killing each other off, is hard to believe from a realism point of view, especially when you start to compound it by the number of species in a typical furry world. The more you pull at it, the deeper down the hole you have to go.
In a work where the issue of origin is not addressed, it's very easy to just handwave it and say "No, we don't have non-anthro animals."
But I think that also denies some possibilities or at least, some things to say or show about our characters. What kind of pet a person has, how the animal behaves, how the owner treats and interacts with the pet, and what the pet means to the character. These things tell and show us valuable information about characters. And only relying on birds or fish or reptiles might not get at this, because those types of animals are in a more detached way (they're in cages/tanks, not interacted with as strongly).
There's also other issues like, if you're a fantasy genre, what about mounts? What about plowing fields? What wild animals are out there to pose a threat? When traveling, what are you going to see - animals milling around in the woods, or landscapes barren of animal activity? Animals serve a function in the wild - herbivores keep plant growth in check, insectivores keep bugs in check, omnivores eat everything, carrion eaters move dead things quickly off, and carnivores keep everything else in check. But each is facilitating a need in the ecosystem. In typical stories we assume they exist - but in a furry world, if we see the existence of a non-sentient animal as jarring and out of place, then I think it's worth asking the question "If that doesn't belong here, then what is the rest of the world like?"
"Palladinthug" wrote:Furthermore on a side note Vi has a pet cat. Yet in a world of anthropomorphic animals this always gives me a jolt of reality. I understand to a degree that not all of a species would evolve forward similar to apes, but seeing this in animated works and written fiction is always an uncomfortable area for me. Perhaps I just don't understand.
I found this curious.
In almost all furry fiction I can think of, there's no mention of non-morphic, non-sentient animals. If there is, it's usually birds/reptiles. Unless it's Sci Fi and furries came from uplifted animals.
But if people are anthros, then what's the wildlife? Are the fields and woods barren of mammals? What do the carnivorous anthros eat? (There's one furry book that has characters eating steak. What exactly is that steak made of?)
I understand the roadblock. If an anthro dog exists, then why would a dog exist? Several reasons are possible, but it ultimately leads back to the question of: what caused them to be anthropomorphic in the first place? Were the anthros uplifted/created by human science? Were they created by a god or magic? Are they aliens? Did they evolve?
The first three I think would easily explain why animals and anthros exist simultaneously, but the fourth one does present a hairy issue. Bringing Evolution into the discussion of furries is somewhat a sticky situation. Because on the one hand, humans and monkeys/apes exist at the same time, yet we evolved from them. On the toher hand, the likelihood that so many species evolved into bipedial sentient lifeforms at the same time, without killing each other off, is hard to believe from a realism point of view, especially when you start to compound it by the number of species in a typical furry world. The more you pull at it, the deeper down the hole you have to go.
In a work where the issue of origin is not addressed, it's very easy to just handwave it and say "No, we don't have non-anthro animals."
But I think that also denies some possibilities or at least, some things to say or show about our characters. What kind of pet a person has, how the animal behaves, how the owner treats and interacts with the pet, and what the pet means to the character. These things tell and show us valuable information about characters. And only relying on birds or fish or reptiles might not get at this, because those types of animals are in a more detached way (they're in cages/tanks, not interacted with as strongly).
There's also other issues like, if you're a fantasy genre, what about mounts? What about plowing fields? What wild animals are out there to pose a threat? When traveling, what are you going to see - animals milling around in the woods, or landscapes barren of animal activity? Animals serve a function in the wild - herbivores keep plant growth in check, insectivores keep bugs in check, omnivores eat everything, carrion eaters move dead things quickly off, and carnivores keep everything else in check. But each is facilitating a need in the ecosystem. In typical stories we assume they exist - but in a furry world, if we see the existence of a non-sentient animal as jarring and out of place, then I think it's worth asking the question "If that doesn't belong here, then what is the rest of the world like?"
Writing Reminders
General | Posted 15 years agoThere are many things that we do on the internet/computers that we see so regularly, it can creep into our writing. So here are some handy mechanical reminders to help you in your fiction writing.
1: Ellipsis come from Staggered Lips
Ellipsis are the three dots ... used to signify a pause, either by hesitation or omission of a word.
But remember that ellipsis only appear in dialogue. Placing them in the narrative is incorrect.
2: Punctuation in Isolation
Aside from ellipsis, only one punctuation is ever meant to be at the end of a sentence. "What do you mean???" or "He did what?!" is incorrect, every time.
3: Capitalization in Isolation
Unless you are using an acronym, only capitalize the first letter of a word. Words should never be in all caps. I am actually not sure about something like an EXIT or STOP sign, but I would err on the side of caution and just not use all caps on anything, ever.
4: Plain Text, Please
As a rule of thumb, rarely use italics, even rarer should you use bold, and almost never ever should you underline. People like Pratchett get away with using bold for Death because they are Terry frickin' Pratchett and that's the only reason.
Generally it's a faux-pas to do the above, but there are times when it's legitimate and acceptable. Even so, even in times when it's appropriate (such as using italics to represent thought or something like a written letter), exercise caution. Why? After a paragraph in italics, the words begin to run together and become difficult to read.
Italics are best used like a spice. They stand out when everything around them is plain text, or work like those last two words in H.P. Lovecraft stories.
1: Ellipsis come from Staggered Lips
Ellipsis are the three dots ... used to signify a pause, either by hesitation or omission of a word.
But remember that ellipsis only appear in dialogue. Placing them in the narrative is incorrect.
2: Punctuation in Isolation
Aside from ellipsis, only one punctuation is ever meant to be at the end of a sentence. "What do you mean???" or "He did what?!" is incorrect, every time.
3: Capitalization in Isolation
Unless you are using an acronym, only capitalize the first letter of a word. Words should never be in all caps. I am actually not sure about something like an EXIT or STOP sign, but I would err on the side of caution and just not use all caps on anything, ever.
4: Plain Text, Please
As a rule of thumb, rarely use italics, even rarer should you use bold, and almost never ever should you underline. People like Pratchett get away with using bold for Death because they are Terry frickin' Pratchett and that's the only reason.
Generally it's a faux-pas to do the above, but there are times when it's legitimate and acceptable. Even so, even in times when it's appropriate (such as using italics to represent thought or something like a written letter), exercise caution. Why? After a paragraph in italics, the words begin to run together and become difficult to read.
Italics are best used like a spice. They stand out when everything around them is plain text, or work like those last two words in H.P. Lovecraft stories.
So FA canned cub porn and I think
General | Posted 15 years agoPumpkin pie tastes good.
This non-sequitor has been brought to you by chocolate.
No, really. I'm not going to get into this fight one way or the other.
This non-sequitor has been brought to you by chocolate.
No, really. I'm not going to get into this fight one way or the other.
Recommendation Meme
General | Posted 15 years agoAfter the Duty post I had a thought. Part of what makes our situations o difficult is that finding good things to read is hard. Stories are spread across the 'net, and you have to comb through a lot of junk. You either stumble across the good stuff, or you just follow authors you know are good.
So I have an idea, a meme in fact, to share quality stories with one another. Or at least stories that we have liked. These are all porn - alas - but I feel at least they're worth a look.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Post in your journal a recommendation of three stories. Something that's an old favorite, something that you've recently read, and something that's just plain cool. You cannot recommend one of your own stories.
The Old: The Eye of Aphisis. A story about two thieves who try to steal an artifact of the Goddess of Pleasure. This story is very Conan-esque fantasy, and remains very cool.
The New: What happens when you realize the world is changing - and you're the only one who notices? Rikoshi's "The Stars are Wrong" has been transcribed into a two part podcast.
The Just Cool: Checking In. What would happen if GlaDOS had control of straight jackets and dildos? That's not quite the premise of this story, but close: A sophisticated AI running an Asylum captures a girl and provides her with an.. entertaining time. A bonus, it's a very short story - just about 4K words.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
The meme just calls for three recommendations. However, I wanted to share quiet a bit more of the stories I've liked for a long time.
Placating the Skipper. The reason this story stands out to me is that it's dealing with an alien species. So we not only get a bit of alien behavior from what the narrator is familiar with, but most importantly to me, the language translator really shows something that feels alien. Or at least foreign. The language syntax, the meaning is all messed up, and it really does feel like the narrator is interacting with something unique.
Before there was Yiffstar and FA, there was Mia's Story Index, and Furry Pleasures. The latter died around 2003, and the former is so old and defunct as stories lose their host server and the links thus die. Several stories I wanted to share are thus gone, but I managed to find most of the ones I wanted to share. In truth it's been so long since I read these stories that some might not be as good as I remember, but I still think it worth recommending. These are ancient in internet terms gentlemen, we're talking about classics literature of furry smut!
Allen Kitchen wrote some nice contemporary kitsune stories. While sexy, they are more plot focused. I only discovered that he had written more than two, having turned it into a series. You can find the Tutor Has Six Tails series here; go to Furry Series on the left hand side and scroll down. I actually will have to glance at the rest of his stuff.
Heavenly Bodies is a story about a man who gets abducted by sexy female wolf aliens. It's well written for being smut smut smut. The author has done other stories which I have liked, but they've disappeared off the web it seems.
A Nudge in the Right D'Erection well written for smut, primarily for the narrator and the situation. Sex with the boss's wife at the company picnic? Oh ho.
A Dog and her Bone is the first furry story I ever read, at around the age of 14. So I have a little place in my heart for it. A German shepardess attempts to hunt down a fox, and sexy hijinx ensue.
Night Swimming is a sweet, romantic story about two lovers meeting up after a long time.
When you are trapped on a space station with a tigress in heat, you get Promises and Desires.
Cabin Fever isn't bad. A threesome.
So I have an idea, a meme in fact, to share quality stories with one another. Or at least stories that we have liked. These are all porn - alas - but I feel at least they're worth a look.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Post in your journal a recommendation of three stories. Something that's an old favorite, something that you've recently read, and something that's just plain cool. You cannot recommend one of your own stories.
The Old: The Eye of Aphisis. A story about two thieves who try to steal an artifact of the Goddess of Pleasure. This story is very Conan-esque fantasy, and remains very cool.
The New: What happens when you realize the world is changing - and you're the only one who notices? Rikoshi's "The Stars are Wrong" has been transcribed into a two part podcast.
The Just Cool: Checking In. What would happen if GlaDOS had control of straight jackets and dildos? That's not quite the premise of this story, but close: A sophisticated AI running an Asylum captures a girl and provides her with an.. entertaining time. A bonus, it's a very short story - just about 4K words.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
The meme just calls for three recommendations. However, I wanted to share quiet a bit more of the stories I've liked for a long time.
Placating the Skipper. The reason this story stands out to me is that it's dealing with an alien species. So we not only get a bit of alien behavior from what the narrator is familiar with, but most importantly to me, the language translator really shows something that feels alien. Or at least foreign. The language syntax, the meaning is all messed up, and it really does feel like the narrator is interacting with something unique.
Before there was Yiffstar and FA, there was Mia's Story Index, and Furry Pleasures. The latter died around 2003, and the former is so old and defunct as stories lose their host server and the links thus die. Several stories I wanted to share are thus gone, but I managed to find most of the ones I wanted to share. In truth it's been so long since I read these stories that some might not be as good as I remember, but I still think it worth recommending. These are ancient in internet terms gentlemen, we're talking about classics literature of furry smut!
Allen Kitchen wrote some nice contemporary kitsune stories. While sexy, they are more plot focused. I only discovered that he had written more than two, having turned it into a series. You can find the Tutor Has Six Tails series here; go to Furry Series on the left hand side and scroll down. I actually will have to glance at the rest of his stuff.
Heavenly Bodies is a story about a man who gets abducted by sexy female wolf aliens. It's well written for being smut smut smut. The author has done other stories which I have liked, but they've disappeared off the web it seems.
A Nudge in the Right D'Erection well written for smut, primarily for the narrator and the situation. Sex with the boss's wife at the company picnic? Oh ho.
A Dog and her Bone is the first furry story I ever read, at around the age of 14. So I have a little place in my heart for it. A German shepardess attempts to hunt down a fox, and sexy hijinx ensue.
Night Swimming is a sweet, romantic story about two lovers meeting up after a long time.
When you are trapped on a space station with a tigress in heat, you get Promises and Desires.
Cabin Fever isn't bad. A threesome.
The Duty of a Furry Writer
General | Posted 15 years agoYou want to have your story read. You want comments when you post it. You want people to critique it. You might even want some editing help. And if you're lucky enough to get it published, you want people to buy it, and even to review it.
This is what any writer wants. But let me ask you this:
When was the last time you read a furry story? Did you comment? Did you offer critique? When was the last time you bought a furry book? Did you write a review of it?
There's one important thing that I think the furry writing community does not do:
We do not support each other.
After I asked folks to write a review for my own book, because I knew that would help with sales, I looked through FurPlanet's website and noticed just how few books there had reviews. I then realized how few reviews I"ve seen of furry books on other artists' journals. I never see discussions of other works. When I went to a con on Halloween, I had never heard of half the books on the table. This bothered me.
Why do many not read furry writing? Besides people in general not reading, furs do not know that there is anything out there worth reading. If 90% of everything is crap, then either an individual needs to be motivated to find the 10% that is not, or they need to be shown. Producing something of quality is great, but what good is that if no one knows that it is good?
When it comes the finished product, we are islands unto ourselves. "Visit my story, tell your friends," but we do not venture out to each other's work. We do not read, we do not comment, we do not review.
How can you want attention without giving it? You of all people should know how much another writer needs your input, your attention. Because we are in the same damn boat. As a niche within a niche, a second class within our subculture, we do a disservice to our little writing community by not focusing inwards.
Well Rechan, what about you, huh? Today I sent Tempo321 an initial critique of his story "Code Drop" that appears in Heat #7. I've sent small suggestions to furaffinity.net/user/threetails as I work my way through his novel Basecraft Cirrostratus. And when I am finished with that, not only will I write a review, but I will move on to another furry book.
I am not saying that you should buy every book that comes out. That just because someone publishes something you must run out and give them praise and attention. If that were the case then you would get nothing done. We should not turn into a back-patting circlejerk where criticism is not permitted over warm fuzzies. Going from 0 to 100 is impractical, but at the same time, remaining at 0 gains us nothing. We should at the very least help those who have managed to make it, because if nothing else we do what so many do not: read.
Neither is this intended as a guilt trip. The message is not "you are bad because you want to receive but are not giving in return". No, while I want to wake you up and make you aware, the message is in fact: If you want attention to your own writing, and if you want the community to grow, then the avenue towards this is fostering a community that supports its members with that attention. And that if you want your book to be a success, or your story to get those hits, then networking and spreading the feedback wealth will improve things for you along with your fellow writers.
If for no other reason than if you read someone's work, then they are more likely to reciprocate. If enough of us buy, read, critique, review, then chances are that when you get something out there, it will happen to you.
Read. Respond. Review. It is your duty.
This is what any writer wants. But let me ask you this:
When was the last time you read a furry story? Did you comment? Did you offer critique? When was the last time you bought a furry book? Did you write a review of it?
There's one important thing that I think the furry writing community does not do:
We do not support each other.
After I asked folks to write a review for my own book, because I knew that would help with sales, I looked through FurPlanet's website and noticed just how few books there had reviews. I then realized how few reviews I"ve seen of furry books on other artists' journals. I never see discussions of other works. When I went to a con on Halloween, I had never heard of half the books on the table. This bothered me.
Why do many not read furry writing? Besides people in general not reading, furs do not know that there is anything out there worth reading. If 90% of everything is crap, then either an individual needs to be motivated to find the 10% that is not, or they need to be shown. Producing something of quality is great, but what good is that if no one knows that it is good?
When it comes the finished product, we are islands unto ourselves. "Visit my story, tell your friends," but we do not venture out to each other's work. We do not read, we do not comment, we do not review.
How can you want attention without giving it? You of all people should know how much another writer needs your input, your attention. Because we are in the same damn boat. As a niche within a niche, a second class within our subculture, we do a disservice to our little writing community by not focusing inwards.
Well Rechan, what about you, huh? Today I sent Tempo321 an initial critique of his story "Code Drop" that appears in Heat #7. I've sent small suggestions to furaffinity.net/user/threetails as I work my way through his novel Basecraft Cirrostratus. And when I am finished with that, not only will I write a review, but I will move on to another furry book.
I am not saying that you should buy every book that comes out. That just because someone publishes something you must run out and give them praise and attention. If that were the case then you would get nothing done. We should not turn into a back-patting circlejerk where criticism is not permitted over warm fuzzies. Going from 0 to 100 is impractical, but at the same time, remaining at 0 gains us nothing. We should at the very least help those who have managed to make it, because if nothing else we do what so many do not: read.
Neither is this intended as a guilt trip. The message is not "you are bad because you want to receive but are not giving in return". No, while I want to wake you up and make you aware, the message is in fact: If you want attention to your own writing, and if you want the community to grow, then the avenue towards this is fostering a community that supports its members with that attention. And that if you want your book to be a success, or your story to get those hits, then networking and spreading the feedback wealth will improve things for you along with your fellow writers.
If for no other reason than if you read someone's work, then they are more likely to reciprocate. If enough of us buy, read, critique, review, then chances are that when you get something out there, it will happen to you.
Read. Respond. Review. It is your duty.
Shameless Promotional Request
General | Posted 15 years agoYou, gentle reader. You could do me an additional favor by reviewing Handcuffs and Lace. Just go down to the bottom and click "Write a Review".
... Assuming you've read it of course.
If not, what's keeping you! :)
... Assuming you've read it of course.
If not, what's keeping you! :)
Conflict: Frustrate Your Readers
General | Posted 15 years agoThat's right, I want you to frustrate your readers.
Not in a bad way. Not in your writing technique, or not delivering what you promise, etc.
You should frustrate them by making them care about something, and then making them wait for it. Tease them with it. This deals with conflict. Not just big epic conflict, but small things too.
1. Delaying the Resolution
As people, when we get into a situation of conflict, our desire is to resolve it quickly. To handle all misinterpretations, get everything straight. If something goes wrong, we want to get to it.
As authors, that means that as soon as conflict crops up, we want to take care of it. But, if you delay that resolution, you nurture it, you make it grow.
Your readers are the same way, they want to see it resolved. And when it isn't, they'll want to stick around just to see it resolved. This is the type of thing that when the characters do something wrong, the reader says "No! No don't do that! You idiot!"
Thing is, this is a very difficult thing to do. Because you need a reason why it isn't resolved immediately. It makes sense with Star Wars; Luke just can't go after the Death Star immediately. But if Character A says something that hurts Character B's feelings, and this is a source of conflict, you need a reason WHY CHaracter B does not just tell Character A that their feelings are hurt. You need a reason why Character A just doesn't apologize to Character B. You need a reason why Character A and B do not profess their love for one another, despite their obvious feelings. So that later, in an important moment these things come out.
And your answer as to "Why don't they handle it now" has to make sense, both in terms of the character, and the plot. Plot can cause this delay. After saying something stupid, character A gets a phone call from work and he has to leave. Or character B, upset, runs out and just avoids character A - when Character A comes to resolve things, character B finds a way to keep the emotional distance, or something Else Gets In The Way.
This way your audience is sitting there going "Come on, do it! Noo!"
Now, this is hard again because you can't beat this trick too much. You have to, again, make it believable.
There's another way you can use this tool to your advantage.
2. Errors in Perception
I'm reading this romance novel, and I'm really bored with it. I'm not that intrigued by the characters. But, the author did something that, despite my disinterest in the characters, immediately made me interested in an outcome. In it, you have a female lawyer who acts cold so she doesn't get perceived as weak, but has a feminine inside she's guarding carefully. You have a male lawyer who has bad experiences with harsh women, and he wants to see tenderness or feminine emotion out of the woman lawyer. The female laywer sees the male as shallow and typically Male. They both are attracted to one another, but have clear misconceptions about one another.
One simple, tactless comment from one, and they both suddenly take its meaning and the reaction of the other wrongly.
As the reader, I'm screaming "No! Your perception is wrong! You're going in the wrong direction!"
You will see this in other fiction. A character (usually the main character) will be WRONG about some crucial information, and make a mistake, or have the conflict prolonged, or resist making an action BECAUSE their info is bad. Their perception is bad.
And the reader, wanting the main character to be right, will pay more attention because they want to see this corrected.
Not in a bad way. Not in your writing technique, or not delivering what you promise, etc.
You should frustrate them by making them care about something, and then making them wait for it. Tease them with it. This deals with conflict. Not just big epic conflict, but small things too.
1. Delaying the Resolution
As people, when we get into a situation of conflict, our desire is to resolve it quickly. To handle all misinterpretations, get everything straight. If something goes wrong, we want to get to it.
As authors, that means that as soon as conflict crops up, we want to take care of it. But, if you delay that resolution, you nurture it, you make it grow.
Your readers are the same way, they want to see it resolved. And when it isn't, they'll want to stick around just to see it resolved. This is the type of thing that when the characters do something wrong, the reader says "No! No don't do that! You idiot!"
Thing is, this is a very difficult thing to do. Because you need a reason why it isn't resolved immediately. It makes sense with Star Wars; Luke just can't go after the Death Star immediately. But if Character A says something that hurts Character B's feelings, and this is a source of conflict, you need a reason WHY CHaracter B does not just tell Character A that their feelings are hurt. You need a reason why Character A just doesn't apologize to Character B. You need a reason why Character A and B do not profess their love for one another, despite their obvious feelings. So that later, in an important moment these things come out.
And your answer as to "Why don't they handle it now" has to make sense, both in terms of the character, and the plot. Plot can cause this delay. After saying something stupid, character A gets a phone call from work and he has to leave. Or character B, upset, runs out and just avoids character A - when Character A comes to resolve things, character B finds a way to keep the emotional distance, or something Else Gets In The Way.
This way your audience is sitting there going "Come on, do it! Noo!"
Now, this is hard again because you can't beat this trick too much. You have to, again, make it believable.
There's another way you can use this tool to your advantage.
2. Errors in Perception
I'm reading this romance novel, and I'm really bored with it. I'm not that intrigued by the characters. But, the author did something that, despite my disinterest in the characters, immediately made me interested in an outcome. In it, you have a female lawyer who acts cold so she doesn't get perceived as weak, but has a feminine inside she's guarding carefully. You have a male lawyer who has bad experiences with harsh women, and he wants to see tenderness or feminine emotion out of the woman lawyer. The female laywer sees the male as shallow and typically Male. They both are attracted to one another, but have clear misconceptions about one another.
One simple, tactless comment from one, and they both suddenly take its meaning and the reaction of the other wrongly.
As the reader, I'm screaming "No! Your perception is wrong! You're going in the wrong direction!"
You will see this in other fiction. A character (usually the main character) will be WRONG about some crucial information, and make a mistake, or have the conflict prolonged, or resist making an action BECAUSE their info is bad. Their perception is bad.
And the reader, wanting the main character to be right, will pay more attention because they want to see this corrected.
Species in Furry Writing, Part III: Identity
General | Posted 15 years agoSo far we've been looking at species from a world building perspective. But what about for individuals?
Every furry author worth their salt takes into consideration species when it comes to reflecting the character's personality, or at least how that species will react to the reader.
What I would like to ask you though is, what does the character think of their species? What does being that species mean to the character? And how does the species influence the character's self-identity?
People like labels. It helps us organize things. And people use these labels to define themselves. Profession. Sports fan (insert game/team). Gamer. Goth. Gearhead. You also get personality characteristics like "Kind" or "Intelligent" or "A Go-Getter". These sort of things make up an individual, and the unique combination often offers a distinct difference from one person to the next. These are the things people toss out when you ask "So, how would you describe yourself?"
However, one thing that some people will do is take one of these labels and define themselves by it. They take it and bring that label into Every Aspect of their Life, creating a Lifestyle out of a facet of their personality. Religion is a good example, where someone who does this may have a cross on their cubical and try to lead everyone in prayer at the watercooler, they say things like "As a Christian, I..." You get this with some gay people, that make sure everyone they come into contact wtih knows they are gay. Sports Fans do this. Goths do it. My God furries do it. If you ask them "So, how do you describe yourself", this characteristic would likely be the first or second word out of their mouth.
In our world, people do the above with race/ethnicity. You see this with immigrants from one culture/nation to another, where they either assimilate, go half-and-half, or embrace their heritage. Or they embrace the subculture that runs in that ethnicity/race, and cling to the stereotypes, as well as letting that dictate their interactions with Other people.
So it stands to reason that in a world with anthros, you could have people who wrap their identity in their species.
Their species is very important to them. They could have issues of Pedigree, or lineage. They could adhere to the behaviors that Society assumes corresponds with that species - that is, not just what we, the reader assume, but that behaviors which are acknowledged/assumed in the world and they behave that way. Such as a feline being hyper-aloof and arrogant. Also, their species may very well have some cultural things in common.
That isn't to say that one species = one culture. I'm not Jay Naylor saying that species = race/nationality per se. After all, you get an African American from Harlem, a Jamaican and a Nigerian, drop them in a room, and they're likely not going to feel very similar. They have different cultures, despite having a racial similarity. Three foxes plucked from around the world would likely feel as unaligned. However, within a country or region, you'd likely have the overall culture (the American identity/over arching culture if you will), and then a potential subculture of the same species.
And within that subculture the individual who defines themselves by their species might firmly adhere to the behaviors set out.
Every furry author worth their salt takes into consideration species when it comes to reflecting the character's personality, or at least how that species will react to the reader.
What I would like to ask you though is, what does the character think of their species? What does being that species mean to the character? And how does the species influence the character's self-identity?
People like labels. It helps us organize things. And people use these labels to define themselves. Profession. Sports fan (insert game/team). Gamer. Goth. Gearhead. You also get personality characteristics like "Kind" or "Intelligent" or "A Go-Getter". These sort of things make up an individual, and the unique combination often offers a distinct difference from one person to the next. These are the things people toss out when you ask "So, how would you describe yourself?"
However, one thing that some people will do is take one of these labels and define themselves by it. They take it and bring that label into Every Aspect of their Life, creating a Lifestyle out of a facet of their personality. Religion is a good example, where someone who does this may have a cross on their cubical and try to lead everyone in prayer at the watercooler, they say things like "As a Christian, I..." You get this with some gay people, that make sure everyone they come into contact wtih knows they are gay. Sports Fans do this. Goths do it. My God furries do it. If you ask them "So, how do you describe yourself", this characteristic would likely be the first or second word out of their mouth.
In our world, people do the above with race/ethnicity. You see this with immigrants from one culture/nation to another, where they either assimilate, go half-and-half, or embrace their heritage. Or they embrace the subculture that runs in that ethnicity/race, and cling to the stereotypes, as well as letting that dictate their interactions with Other people.
So it stands to reason that in a world with anthros, you could have people who wrap their identity in their species.
Their species is very important to them. They could have issues of Pedigree, or lineage. They could adhere to the behaviors that Society assumes corresponds with that species - that is, not just what we, the reader assume, but that behaviors which are acknowledged/assumed in the world and they behave that way. Such as a feline being hyper-aloof and arrogant. Also, their species may very well have some cultural things in common.
That isn't to say that one species = one culture. I'm not Jay Naylor saying that species = race/nationality per se. After all, you get an African American from Harlem, a Jamaican and a Nigerian, drop them in a room, and they're likely not going to feel very similar. They have different cultures, despite having a racial similarity. Three foxes plucked from around the world would likely feel as unaligned. However, within a country or region, you'd likely have the overall culture (the American identity/over arching culture if you will), and then a potential subculture of the same species.
And within that subculture the individual who defines themselves by their species might firmly adhere to the behaviors set out.
Secret Project
General | Posted 15 years agoIt seems to be the "In" thing among writers to have a Secret Project that they can't tell you about. Regardless they still let you know that they have one.
Looks like I'm one of those bastards.
Looks like I'm one of those bastards.
Species in Furry Writing, Part II: Population
General | Posted 15 years agoIn many of the furry works out there, you will run across many species. Usually in contemporary stories, you'll find most places are a cosmopolitan place where tossed in casually are Fennecs and red pandas and gazelle mingling with bears and boars and rhinos.
However, there's a serious problem with this. Serious only if you want to take it seriously, I suppose. A world with anthropomorphic animals of a variety of species would have a few issues purely from populations and the diversity available to them. You more than likely would not see very species-cosmopolitan places. Why?
The Basic Problem: Why cats would not live in Cincinnati
Let us say that a furry world has the same size as Earth, with a population of 6 Billion. Now, this world has 6 Species: Canines, Felines, Rodents, Mustelids, Rabbits, and Horses. In most settings it's just accepted that these species cannot interbreed - Felines and Canines cannot interbreed.
In this example, each species has a total population of 1 Billion, and is split evenly by gender. This means that there is, at maximum, only 500 Million potential pairings for that species. That is a big deal.
Why is it a big deal? As humans, we are not limited by who we can breed with (beyond gender issues). A man from China can have a child with a woman from England. But, as previously stated, a Canine cannot breed with a Feline.
Therefore this is going to have two direct effects:
1) Breeding is going to be serious business. Each species is going to have pressure to continually repopulate their species, because they have a limited number versus 5 billion non-species individuals. So if a species wants to continue to thrive, then it must pressure its members to procreate. Otherwise it will become a tiny minority or disappear entirely. And that relationships - long term relationships at the least - between species will be frowned upon. At the very least, you need to procreate before you waste your species' time having non-procreational sexual relationships.
But here's the crux of what I meant about the diversity of a city:
2) Because a species must breed with itself, then the most benefit would be to stick to where their fellow species are geographically. A feline is better off staying where there are a large number of felines, rather than moving to a place where there are few to none. Even if a feline couple moves, their child will be isolated and the harder it will be to find a mate and further the line. This means that cities/regions/states would likely be very species dominant. It also means that even if you are going to have a more diverse location, then the circumstance will likely be equivalent to our Chinatowns or Little Italy - that a minority species will clump up to maintain a strong geographical presence to maximize mate selection.
The issue gets even hairier when you consider the typical species diversity of most furry fiction/worlds - where it's much denser than just 6 species. Because then you are splitting your populations even further, with smaller and smaller mate pools. Unless your world can sustain an infinite population, then the more species you have, the harder it's going to be on them to survive.
One possible way that you could have a more diverse city is if arranged marriages were common. That way, the limits of your species' local population doesn't matter, because they could be arranged to marry someone from across the continent. Usually arranged marriages work with families that have histories together, or at least are familiar, but I imagine you could have agencies that are responsible for this, or in modern times, internet sites. Granted, internet dating sites would make it a lot easier, period, to meet up with someone of your same species.
The Plot Thickens: You got your Collie in my Coyote
Now that I've explained the basic issue, here's an even brinier pickle: the diversity within a species.
So far we have assumed that one group can mate within itself. Which in most cases they can. The problem comes when you consider the variety of animals within that species and what happens when they do breed. Let's take canines for instance.
The reason that there are many dog breeds is because those breeds were bred for different characteristics.. Greyhounds bred for speed, huskies for surviving in the snow and pulling sleds, and so on. Each breed bred amongst itself to cultivate those differences until you have a distinct breed.
The opposite happens when the animals have free reign. Wolves can mate with dogs, dogs can mate with coyotes, coyotes can mate with wolves. This happens frequently enough, within a few generations, the distinctive features between them will be very very little. And this can happen with other groups - we know that Tigers and Lions can have offspring (ligers), recently a zebra was bred with a horse (and horses and donkeys make mules).
So we have another issue of Population and potential mates, even between the members of the same species. If you want Huskies to exist, well, then there needs to be a population of huskies, and they have a small potential mate pool to retain husky-like.
In order to maintain the variety of physical appearances within a species, then the smaller groups need to not interbreed too much and stay within a reasonable geographical location: if a group of felines stay within a certain geographical area and breed amongst themselves, then they are likely to retain their unique characteristics. This is why you more likely would have tigers and cheetahs if you have them in separate locations, and don't mix the species too heavily.
Although one possible check against breeding within the species is infertility. Mules are infertile. MALE ligers are infertile (but females are not). So it's also possible that even if hybrids would occur, that specific variety might not become extinct just because a kangaroo mouse and a squirrel want to get jiggy.
To add an interesting wrinkle here, there's one possible explanation for some difference in appearance: genetics. Panthers, for instance, are not an actual species unto themselves - they are merely jaguars or leopards who have the gene for black fur. So, you could fold one variety into the possible results of another, and that appearance being an uncommon/rare result.
With All That Said
I understand that taking it this seriously takes a lot of the fun out of the whole "I like furries, I want to write about furries" because part of the fun of it is the variety of species. And to me, personally? I think inter-species relationships are much more interesting than same-species relationships. However, it's still One More Thing to Think About.
However, there's a serious problem with this. Serious only if you want to take it seriously, I suppose. A world with anthropomorphic animals of a variety of species would have a few issues purely from populations and the diversity available to them. You more than likely would not see very species-cosmopolitan places. Why?
The Basic Problem: Why cats would not live in Cincinnati
Let us say that a furry world has the same size as Earth, with a population of 6 Billion. Now, this world has 6 Species: Canines, Felines, Rodents, Mustelids, Rabbits, and Horses. In most settings it's just accepted that these species cannot interbreed - Felines and Canines cannot interbreed.
In this example, each species has a total population of 1 Billion, and is split evenly by gender. This means that there is, at maximum, only 500 Million potential pairings for that species. That is a big deal.
Why is it a big deal? As humans, we are not limited by who we can breed with (beyond gender issues). A man from China can have a child with a woman from England. But, as previously stated, a Canine cannot breed with a Feline.
Therefore this is going to have two direct effects:
1) Breeding is going to be serious business. Each species is going to have pressure to continually repopulate their species, because they have a limited number versus 5 billion non-species individuals. So if a species wants to continue to thrive, then it must pressure its members to procreate. Otherwise it will become a tiny minority or disappear entirely. And that relationships - long term relationships at the least - between species will be frowned upon. At the very least, you need to procreate before you waste your species' time having non-procreational sexual relationships.
But here's the crux of what I meant about the diversity of a city:
2) Because a species must breed with itself, then the most benefit would be to stick to where their fellow species are geographically. A feline is better off staying where there are a large number of felines, rather than moving to a place where there are few to none. Even if a feline couple moves, their child will be isolated and the harder it will be to find a mate and further the line. This means that cities/regions/states would likely be very species dominant. It also means that even if you are going to have a more diverse location, then the circumstance will likely be equivalent to our Chinatowns or Little Italy - that a minority species will clump up to maintain a strong geographical presence to maximize mate selection.
The issue gets even hairier when you consider the typical species diversity of most furry fiction/worlds - where it's much denser than just 6 species. Because then you are splitting your populations even further, with smaller and smaller mate pools. Unless your world can sustain an infinite population, then the more species you have, the harder it's going to be on them to survive.
One possible way that you could have a more diverse city is if arranged marriages were common. That way, the limits of your species' local population doesn't matter, because they could be arranged to marry someone from across the continent. Usually arranged marriages work with families that have histories together, or at least are familiar, but I imagine you could have agencies that are responsible for this, or in modern times, internet sites. Granted, internet dating sites would make it a lot easier, period, to meet up with someone of your same species.
The Plot Thickens: You got your Collie in my Coyote
Now that I've explained the basic issue, here's an even brinier pickle: the diversity within a species.
So far we have assumed that one group can mate within itself. Which in most cases they can. The problem comes when you consider the variety of animals within that species and what happens when they do breed. Let's take canines for instance.
The reason that there are many dog breeds is because those breeds were bred for different characteristics.. Greyhounds bred for speed, huskies for surviving in the snow and pulling sleds, and so on. Each breed bred amongst itself to cultivate those differences until you have a distinct breed.
The opposite happens when the animals have free reign. Wolves can mate with dogs, dogs can mate with coyotes, coyotes can mate with wolves. This happens frequently enough, within a few generations, the distinctive features between them will be very very little. And this can happen with other groups - we know that Tigers and Lions can have offspring (ligers), recently a zebra was bred with a horse (and horses and donkeys make mules).
So we have another issue of Population and potential mates, even between the members of the same species. If you want Huskies to exist, well, then there needs to be a population of huskies, and they have a small potential mate pool to retain husky-like.
In order to maintain the variety of physical appearances within a species, then the smaller groups need to not interbreed too much and stay within a reasonable geographical location: if a group of felines stay within a certain geographical area and breed amongst themselves, then they are likely to retain their unique characteristics. This is why you more likely would have tigers and cheetahs if you have them in separate locations, and don't mix the species too heavily.
Although one possible check against breeding within the species is infertility. Mules are infertile. MALE ligers are infertile (but females are not). So it's also possible that even if hybrids would occur, that specific variety might not become extinct just because a kangaroo mouse and a squirrel want to get jiggy.
To add an interesting wrinkle here, there's one possible explanation for some difference in appearance: genetics. Panthers, for instance, are not an actual species unto themselves - they are merely jaguars or leopards who have the gene for black fur. So, you could fold one variety into the possible results of another, and that appearance being an uncommon/rare result.
With All That Said
I understand that taking it this seriously takes a lot of the fun out of the whole "I like furries, I want to write about furries" because part of the fun of it is the variety of species. And to me, personally? I think inter-species relationships are much more interesting than same-species relationships. However, it's still One More Thing to Think About.
