Obituaries

When I was in college, I signed up for a news writing class. It wasn’t part of my curriculum, but it seemed like a good skill to learn.

The class was taught by a crusty old newspaper man who used to walk around in a WWII leather bomber jacket. He was demanding, but cool.

The first half of the semester was devoted to writing the types of stories you would typically find in a small town paper, like store openings, high school basketball games, and graduations. This really wasn’t my cup of tea. I preferred to read about peace agreements in the Middle East, the plight of minority populations in Southeast Asia, and trade negotiations in Africa.

However, the one thing I learned from these exercises is that the best news stories usually include the who, what, when, and where in the first sentence. For example: Rogers & Company opened a new store on 5th and Main St today. 

It makes sense, right? In one fell swoop, the reader gets all the main points of the story. If they want to know the how and why, they can keep on reading. If not, then they can move on to the next article.

“But how do you keep them reading?” someone asked from the back of the room.

“It doesn’t matter,” he responded.

“But how do you know if it’s a good story?” That kid liked to ask a lot of questions. He also owned a leather bomber jacket (though not from WWII).

“If you can make a buck at it, it’s good,” the professor said and continued on with the lesson.

It took me many years to fully grasp that piece of wisdom.

As for the news writing part of it, I learned to incorporate those practices into every narrative I worked on: from screenplays to novels; and poetry to songwriting. Answering the six questions always made my story more robust. 

The second half of the semester was focused on writing obituaries.

At first, the class was taken aback. No one wanted to write about dead people. They didn’t want to impose themselves on anyone who was grieving. They were afraid of what would happen if they stumbled upon someone who had a sordid past. How do you write about that? If you do, do you need permission from the grieving party?

It takes a certain kind of journalist — one with fortitude — who can objectively report on the life of another. (It also takes a smart editor.) So, on the day we were given our initial assignments, it wasn’t surprising that one or two of us decided to withdraw.

Phineas Hamlet, abominable encyclopedia salesman, died of injuries related to a stampede of angry cats on March 31st. He was 43.

I, on the other hand, found obituaries fascinating. Although I was apprehensive at first, I began to relish in the discovery of new facts and tidbits about the deceased.

Everyone has an interesting story to tell about their loved one. It could be about how they met their spouse, what kind of work they did, where they came from, or if they ever had a chance encounter with fate. You just have to dig for it, make sure the details are right, and be super polite about it.

Because the thing about writing obituaries is that not only do they have to be good, they have to be correct. Regardless of whether it is published in a small monthly newsletter or a big city daily, there will always be one person who deeply cares about what you are writing. So if you screw it up, you need to be more than just apologetic about it. That’s what makes it great training for journalism students.

However, for writers who aren’t seeking a career in news, obituaries can be a fantastic resource for story development. Especially if you have writer’s block and are in need of inspiration.

The major news outlets will always print standard obits about notable people: famous celebrities, artists, scientists, politicians, and war heros. Good newspapers will add captivating yarns and little known facts about these people. Top notch reporters will go a step further and include conflicting POVs from close relatives, friends, or associates and create a story arc (especially if the deceased was a controversial figure).

But the smaller, local publications will feature community leaders and regular citizens. These are friends, neighbors, and relatives. Their stories are personal. They are emotional. And more often than not, the writers know the deceased. These are the ones to read, because they are about real, relatable people.

The kinds of characters you want in your book.

So the next time you’re looking for a good read, or some inspiration, check out the Obits section of your local newspaper.

Overcoming Writer’s Block

2021 was kind of an unusual year for me. By the end of May, I had completed a solid draft of my second novel (the sequel to “After the Lenses”) and had established a steady rhythm of editing/rewriting one chapter per week.

But when life got crazy in the summer, that discipline began to fall apart. And it wasn’t until late in the year, like November or December, that I was able to even begin to think about revisiting my book.

Writing is like working out. You have to start out with low weight and few repetitions, then gradually increase your way up to your targeted goal. Often, it can take weeks, or even months, to get back up to speed.

Here are some things I have been doing to “get back into shape”:

Start off with short pieces. Like poetry or flash fiction. The beauty of these genres is that they are short, free-flowing, and have minimal structure. You can write about any topic and you can always start over without sacrificing more than a few sentences.

If you are having a difficult time getting into it,  I would recommend giving yourself a time limit of five minutes. If you need something with a little more structure, try writing haiku (5-7-5) in five minutes or less.

Find some free contests to enter. Nothing too involved, because your focus is not to win, but to give yourself some kind of accountability. The expectation of a payoff, no matter how small, can usually be enough motivation to begin flexing your creative muscles. For myself, I searched for short essay, poetry, and flash fiction contests. They had to be free to enter and offer a prize, such as a small cash reward, some kind of print (not online) publication, or a free class.

However, if something like this doesn’t sound appealing, you can always ask a friend (whose opinion you value) to read your work and give you feedback. Tell them you will send them the material by the end of the week, and then ask them to discuss it with you the following week. That way, you create some accountability for yourself but without the pressure of public criticism.

If you need inspiration, read something before you write. Borrow some books from the library: a novel in your genre; a magazine or book related to the topic or theme of your story; and/or a book about the craft. At your desk (or where ever you like to write), sit down and read a few pages to get yourself into the mindset of writing. Allow your brain to follow the path that has been laid out for it. Then, get to it.

Personally, I like to read the newspaper — yes, the actual physical paper — but that’s just me. Find whatever works for you and use it.

Finally, use these exercises to build structure into your day. Read something, write something, then establish a deadline. Everyday. Just like working out, your strength, flexibility, and confidence will develop with these small successes. Then, you can easily move on to bigger things like those chapters you left behind six months ago, or that story outline you wrote for that creative writing class back in 2006 (which is probably still relevant).

The primary thing is to try to push yourself a little more each day. And when your life goes sideways (which it will), remember to pick yourself up and try again. Because no matter how many times you fail, if you continue to have hope, you will eventually become a great writer, and an even better person.

Thanks and Good Luck!

Page 99 Challenge

Share the 99th page of your book.

This is from the first book in The Lenses Trilogy.

Cover of After the Lenses

He looked at the girl, who was still unconscious.

“For her… Suria. They must be connected somehow.”

“That’s not the Suria I know.”

“Does it matter? She’s a Numan.”

“I guess not.” Kala looked away and wondered about her friend… if she really was her friend.

Her older brother nodded. “Come on. I don’t think it’ll try to hurt me anymore. Maybe if we go around it, it won’t do anything.”

Kala agreed. So together, with Zenith leaning on his sister for support, they took a step forward. The breather moved back a little, so they took another step, and the breather followed suit. They did this for the next several feet, always moving just one step at a time, trying to get around the behemoth. But even though it did not stop them, it was obviously not going to just let them leave. Whenever they strayed too far away from the Numan, the breather would push them back, surrounding them with a wall of air.

“Stop.” Kala was beginning to become very impatient with this game. Zenith didn’t look so good. With every movement, he winced from pain. In fact, with his injuries, she was surprised he could even walk at all. Plus, she was afraid that the evil Suria would wake up at any moment. And the last thing Kala wanted right now was to be squeezed to death.

“Puma gave me something for my birthday,” she said as she opened her knapsack and wriggled her hand in between packages of beef jerky and spray cans of paint.

“A present?” Zenith leaned against her, keeping one eye on Suria Griselda, and the other on the invisible machine. In his haste to get out, he had totally forgotten to grab the books.

Read more about Numans and breathers in After the Lenses.

Follow me for updates on the next book in the trilogy, The Community.

*Thanks to Christian Mihai for bringing this challenge to my attention.

The Writing Process

Over the past several years, I have developed a process in order to keep up with the craft. While I have read a lot of books and articles on how to write, this is something that works best for me. Some of these ideas may be familiar to you, as they are utilized by many. Others might be new or unique. Either way, I hope that you find something here that could be of use to your own creative journey.

Write everyday. Even if you don’t have anything to write about. In the beginning, it’s not about developing a story, it’s about training yourself to put pen to paper on a regular basis. Choose an hour of the day that works best for you and set aside a certain amount of time. You have to get used to expressing your thoughts in the medium, to the point that it becomes second nature. As for content, if you have an idea for a narrative, work on that. If not, begin by describing your day.

“Write what you know.” This is a famous quote attributed to Mark Twain. When you are starting out, or even if you are suffering from writer’s block, I have found that the quickest way to develop your daily rhythm is by writing about a familiar subject. It can be anything, as long as it gets you writing. One of my first short stories was about a contractor investigating a plumbing leak, because that’s what I was most comfortable with at the time.

Research and write what you want. This may seem contradictory to the last tip. However, after you establish your daily rhythm, you will want to begin to focus on your preferred genre. For me, it is young adult speculative fiction, which means that I have to make sure that I am writing about relevant issues. It also takes some doing to figure out how to introduce new ideas into an already saturated genre. Because of this, my daily rhythm involves a mix of writing and research. So even though there are days when I do not get in as many pages as I would like, I am still keeping my head in the story.

Set realistic goals. I once had a conversation with an author who told me that she was writing 2500 words a day. She was so excited when she said this, that when I began working on my own novel, that number automatically became my goal. What I didn’t realize was that such a great amount was something that you had to build up to. So when I couldn’t achieve that on the first day, or even in the first few months, I began to feel disheartened.

Writing is like working out. You have to start off with a small amount of weight, then increase your repetitions, and steadily add more over a period of time until you have reached your goal.

When I realized that I needed to lower my expectations, and be okay with it, my pace got better. I went from just a few sentences a day to over 5000 words a week. It took time, but I learned more about myself and what it takes to get into my groove.

Don’t stop. The most important thing I have learned is that if I miss more than two or three days of writing, I have to start off small again in order to get back up to speed. And sometimes, it takes weeks to accomplish that. So when you are working on a project, it’s okay to slow down, but do not stop until you get to the end. Then, take a break, relax, and allow your mind to wander into the next story.

Never give up your dream. Failure is a part of life. But so is getting back up. This is what makes us uniquely human. It is the desire to become completely happy, no matter what. One of the most encouraging examples of this is Stephen King. In his book, On Writing, he says that he submitted his first novel (Carrie) to 30 publishers before it was finally accepted by Doubleday. So despite how many times you think you have failed, you will always have tomorrow to begin anew and create something amazing.

Thanks for reading! I hope this post has helped you to pursue your dream in some way or another. Let me know what you think in the comments section below. Also, please feel free to share any tips you may have. I am always looking for more inspiration.

Creating Groups of Characters

A major element of world building is creating different groups of characters. The easiest example I can think of is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The peoples of Middle-earth include Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Men, Trolls and numerous other races and sub-groups. Tolkien was a master of high fantasy and even included other species like dragons, spirits, and giants.

A group or race of characters typically shares three things: physical appearance, environment, and culture. They usually have at least one physical trait in common, like the pointed ears of the Elves. Their group resides in a particular habitat, e.g., Dwarves live underground. They tend to speak the same language, share an origin story, adhere to the same customs, and share a similar worldview. Tolkien, being the genius that he was, created numerous constructed languages and backstories for his characters.

In The Lenses Trilogy, there are three groups of characters: Gridders, Numans, and frames.

Gridders are children who have survived the apocalypse and live “off the grid.” This is essentially their shared origin. The grid is the national network of electricity, gas, and water that powers most of our homes, schools, shopping centers, and workplaces. In the story, all the power from that infrastructure has been diverted to the Shelters and New California. Hence, in addition to scavenging for food and drinkable water, the Gridders have to search for new sources of energy to survive. Even though some Gridders live in the forest, and others live in the city, they all share this same worldview.

The word, “Gridder,” however, is a derogatory term used by Numans. This is important to note because when creating different groups of characters, it is essential to define how they relate to one another. Often, a social system evolves and, in many cases, becomes a hierarchy. In the The Lenses Trilogy, the Numans are at the top of this one.

Numans is short for “New Humans.” They are clones who are biologically advanced and share similar physical attributes. They are faster, stronger, and more agile. With respect to Suria Anna and her sisters, they all have blond hair and blue eyes. Numans are born with nanotechnology and live simultaneously in the virtual world and the real world. They consider themselves to be the future of humanity and frequently look down on Gridders and frames.

Frames are slaves. When a person takes the lenses and their mind is uploaded into The Community, the collective consciousness that governs that world decides what to do with their body. If it is in good working order, then they become a frame. If not, then it is recycled. Kind of like in Soylent Green. Frames are literally at the bottom of the food chain. Though no one ever talks about it.

Strawberries, anyone?

Thanks for reading!

More good stuff to come next week…

Character Names

When I initially began my search for character names, the first thing that came to mind was an article I had read in the New York Times Magazine in 1993 (yes, nearly 30 years ago). It was about Chinese in Hong Kong who had adopted uncommon Western monikers for themselves. They chose things like Neon, Apple, Cinderella, and Open. They would then pair it with their Chinese family names. So you would end up with something like Civic Wong or Creamy Cheung.

They did this to be unique. It was a way to assert their individuality and independence. It also made them stand out in a sea of Cathys, Dans, Jennys, and Peters.

When I began developing character names for After the Lenses, these were the traits I wanted. Not only did they have to be memorable and recognizable, they also had to be descriptive. The reasoning for this is because in a written narrative, typically the first impression a reader gets of a character is their name. Especially if an author hasn’t described them yet.

Zenith, one of the protagonists in my story, is named after a popular brand of electronics from the 20th century. Despite the fact that we don’t see many of their televisions and radios anymore, the brand is still recognizable as part of our collective memory. Also, if you look up the definition of zenith in Wikipedia, it states that it is “an imaginary point directly ‘above’ a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere.” I really like this definition because I feel it matches his character. Zenith tends to be aloof and spends a lot of time dreaming.

His sister, Kala, not only looks up to him, but is also trying to save him. Kala is a Sanskrit word that means “time.” Its feminine form, Kali, is a Hindu goddess known as the destroyer of evil forces. Kali is fierce when faced with obstacles, but she is also compassionate and strives to protect the innocent. I chose to use Kala because I didn’t want my protagonist to be mistaken for the Hindu deity. Though she is equally as passionate as Kali.

With Puma, again I chose a recognizable brand. Like the sneakers, she is sleek and quick. Similar to the cat, she is strong, athletic, and secretive. In the story, Puma assumes the role of “mother” to some of the Gridders after the apocalypse.

Bok, another secondary character, is also a surrogate parent. Both Kala and Zenith look up to him as if he were an older brother. Unlike the other characters mentioned here, however, his moniker is a nickname. But to find out why they call him that, you’ll have to read the book.

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Next week, we’ll talk about Gridders and Numans.

Origin of “After the Lenses”

Some years ago, I took a class in science fiction and fantasy writing at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD.

At the time, I was sort of in a creative slump. I had been working in film and video production for nearly a decade and was studying screenwriting. However, after writing three feature-length screenplays, and knowing what I knew about how difficult it was to get one produced, the effort left me wanting for more.

So I decided to try my hand at a different medium: the short story.

The class met in person once a week and was led by Brenda Clough, a Hugo and Nebula Award nominee. The people were friendly and seemed eager to peer review each other. Over the course of several weeks, we workshopped two short stories. 

My first piece, The Contractor, was about a general contractor who gets hired to fix a plumbing leak and instead discovers a monster in the basement. It was loosely based on my personal experiences of working in cramped spaces beneath the aging row houses of Washington, D.C. Although it was not technically science fiction or fantasy, it was well-received.

The second story, Ellipses, was more in line with the class. It was speculative fiction about a person who uses bionanotechnology (this is a fairly new word) to access a virtual world. Unfortunately, due to my limited imagination at the time, the story didn’t have much of a plot and ended up becoming more of a world-building exercise.

I called it Ellipses because most of the thought patterns in the narrative tended to end with those three little dots…

After the class ended, I continued to work on the project. The bionanotechnological (yes, this is a made-up word) element evolved into something called “the lenses.” And the virtual world the characters accessed became “The Community.”

Then, with the addition of “Gridders, Numans, frames, breathers, and buzzers,” as told from the perspectives of Zenith and Kala, the universe of After the Lenses was born.

Thanks for reading!

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