Lady Dae Writes

            Well, first things first. I started school this morning, and I’m still cringing over the fact that I just spent a hundred dollar on a book that’s not even an inch thick and I probably won’t get thirty dollars back for. Anyway, as I was sitting bored in a class on the first day because all we did was an introduction, I got to thinking about an email I got in reaction to one of my fics, particularly the emotions it invoked. As a result, all I’ve been thinking about for most of the weekend is how I want people to react to my writing.

            When I say this, I don’t mean a character does something and it just outrages the reader. Of course I’d like it if that happened to, but what I really want is for my writing to touch people on a personal level.

            Now that doesn’t mean I want to write some deep intellectual literary story, because that’s not my goal. I write fiction. The point of fiction is to entertain and because of that, my mother was not happy when she found out I wrote fiction because she’s big on consciousness and holds the belief that there’s enough entertainment in the world.  But fiction can be more than that. And I realized that from the email I got.

            So while my primary goal is to entertain, my secondary goal will be to touch the hearts the people who read my novel. Make them really able to somehow relate to what’s going on and I mean that universally. I mean I want the reactions of the characters in the novel to mirror so closely the reactions of people in real life that people will say that this situation or issue, fantasy or no, mirrors what they went through or took them back through those emotions so that they felt the emotions coming off the page as though it were real.

            No I know, I know. Fiction is fiction and fiction is primarily to entertain when you write novel, particularly in my genre, and I understand that. But can’t fiction be entertaining and mirror the emotions of real life. Just because I write a scene or a story about a woman being pregnant or giving birth, does it mean I have to start with the dramatic “Oh no! My water broke!” or that the pregnancy has to be the funniest thing or the most dramatic experience ever? No. I hate those types of scenes, that dramatizes or makes a big deal out of things that shouldn’t be and underwhelms things that should be a little more dramatize.

            And it’s not just about the drama, it’s about capturing the emotions that come with reaction to a situation. Not just happy, sad, angry, etc. And I realized, that’s my goal. That’s the standard I shoot for when it comes to realism, even though I write fantasy.

            So yeah. Some people are going to say that’s a hard feat because money is in entertainment when it comes to writing novels. But who’s to say I can’t entertain and appeal be able to really touch on the emotions of human beings while doing so. I can do both. I know I can in fact and still appeal commercially I think.

            Anyway, just a random thought while I’m waiting for my next class. What was I thinking when I decided to take two classes with a three hour break between them. NTS: Bring workout clothes rain, hail, snow, or shine.

            Some things I don’t need the experience in. There’s enough information circulating on the internet about some topics that writers can write it convincingly without the experience. I’m twenty and never been married a day in my life, but I can spin a romance for married and unmarried couples pretty convincingly (tell that to the person who told me I couldn’t). And I certainly don’t need to become a prostitute or addicted to drugs to portray a character who is a prostitute or addicted to drugs properly.


          I know enough people, there have been enough documentaries, and I’ve read  enough pamphlets and articles that I can figure a lot of situations out, not to mention writers are pretty good at figuring out the psychology of people (meaning why people act the way they act in any given situation, which depends on a number of variables that I won’t get into) being that we have to make up and characters if we want to write stories.

I get down on my knees and thank God for this one? Why? Well, let’s go back to the days before internet, where if you wanted to know something or needed clarity on it, we had to travel all the way to the library to find a book on the subject, if we could find it. Then we had to search those books for the research we needed. And if it wasn’t in a book, then that means for inspiration and the ability to write about places no known, we had to travel there ourselves. Tough luck if you didn’t have the money to travel and see for yourself.

That meant that we writers really were stuck ‘writing what we knew, because unless we lucked out and a former Gion geisha who might have been happening to travel the states ran into us and agreed to give us an interview (that hasn’t ever happened btw) we couldn’t write about them, no matter how much we wanted to or how fascinated we were. And you try finding the French translations of certain phrases, or even trying to write accurate fanfiction back in those days (hell, fanfiction gets around through the internet). Point is, that’s a lot of research and a lot more time writing my novel which is inspired by man of the cultures, ideas, and readings I’ve done on the internet.

So we fast forward to the 2000’s and not only is there no excuse for us not to have accuracy in novels, but there’s also no excuse for anyone who wants to write a novel not to, or at least it makes the terms ‘I don’t know where to start’ obsolete. Check my blogroll folks. There’s a wealth of information on how to write anything from a paragraph to an encyclopedia on the internet, not to mention last minute stuff that you just want to be sure of is no more than a google search away. Not sure about a word and worried that your MS word spell check didn’t catch a wrong spelling or that you have the right one and MS word is just tripping as always? Google it.

Want to blend someone else’s culture into your book but have no clue what the culture is about? Google it or Yahoo it, whatever. The point is there is now no excuse for inaccuracies in novels unless you just purely want to make up your own customs through imagination. The internet is also a lifesaver for those who don’t have the transportation to get where they want, when they want, freely in the case of not having a car, or competing for it with family. And just about anyone can get to it someone. From the phones, to the tablets, computer, public library, the local college, it’s pretty easy to get to it. And finding what you want is no more than few words and a click away.

The drawback? Well, because everybody can access the internet, and everybody can get a website, or a blog, and throw together some information, the internet isn’t entirely accurate all the time and the best way to research is to cross reference different source. The possibility for inaccuracy is the very reason most colleges make you go through journals and academic essays from their own sites. At least if it’s in a book, it’s usually accurate and dependable, if you can find the book that is. Either way, the internet is still much quicker. Also, the internet needs electricity and is quite frankly very dangerous and vulnerable. All it takes is one virus and or some apocalypse that knocks out all the electricity and bye-bye internet.

But while we pray such a thing never happens, let’s give it up for the internet. It certainly made the job of us writers ten times easier. I would personally like to tell it that I don’t know how I would live without you. I wouldn’t have this blog for one it you weren’t around.