Dissecting World Building

            The creation of just about any fictional works – be it book, short story, movie, or game – begins with the world building. Certainly, some need less than others; a real world setting requires less than a fantasy setting, but world building still needs to be done to create a convincing world for any story to take place in. A world is a huge thing though – and the idea of building one can be daunting.

            So, how do you tackle building a world without investing years in it? Well, the first part is to remember that you don’t actually need to create a whole world – you just need to make enough of it to make it look like you have. Like the two-dimensional facades stereotypically used for movie sets, all you need is what the audience will see – plus a little bit extra to hint at so they think more had been done.

            Take characters, for example. Each character you intend to present needs to be well thought-out and designed to be realistic, but you only need to make the characters that will be part of the story. Creating the entire population of a city would be tedious an exhausting, so how do you make it seem like the rest of the world still exists? Throw in a few names, and references to events that take place outside the story. It could be as simple as a character commenting on a paper written by someone notable – you don’t have to worry about the identity of the person, or what the paper says, beyond what the commenter needs for their line. The details don’t matter – the fact that someone was given a name and did something noteworthy that has nothing to do with the story makes the world feel more real.

            The same works for places, and is even easier. Just make up a place name, like Drexa’s. The characters a talking, and someone comments on something that happened at Drexa’s, or perhaps suggest it as part of a list of places to go. The reader has no idea what the place it. A restaurant? A club? It doesn’t matter, because the characters know, and it makes the world feel bigger than it is.

            When world building, it’s important to keep to the essentials. What’s important to the story? What do you, as the writer, need to know to maintain consistency within the story? If you aren’t going to use it, don’t worrying about making it – all you need is a hint; enough to make the world seem like it has more depth.

            Of course, if you enjoy building the world and want to go ahead and flesh out every little detail, go ahead and do that, too! Just keep in mind that, if you start to get overwhelmed by the size of your creation, you can always step back and do less. There’s a reason for the saying, “Less is more.” If you ever find out you don’t have enough, you can always add more later – just make it one little piece at a time and, before you know it, you’ll have a healthy little world of your very own, ready for whatever use you put it to.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Psychology, Sociology, and the Art of Manipulation

            Whether you are creating a book, a D&D campaign, a video game, movie, or any other type of game, there’s a particular skill set you need that is often overlooked: you need an understanding of psychology and sociology, and you need to have a knack for manipulation.

            Psychology and sociology are fairly self-explanatory. If you want to accurately represent people, and groups of people, you need to understand how people think. You also need to know how they behave when in groups, not to mention how groups as a whole act in various situations. You don’t have to study or research these in-depth, but at the very least you need a general understanding – be it an innate understanding, or one gleaned from study – or your characters and interactions won’t be believable.

            Manipulation, though? That sounds a bit strange, particularly since manipulating people is rather frowned upon. Yet, at the same time, it is essential – even expected by consumers – for a creator to have this skill, because it’s the ability to manipulate people that draws them into the story.

            An audience needs to be connected to the characters, which means the creator needs to know what buttons to push to get people to relate to the characters. From the very beginning, the story needs to draw people in – and this is done through manipulating people by instilling curiosity or some other emotion that will prevent them from turning away. And, throughout the plot, you want the audience to feel certain things at certain times – it keeps them interested and makes everything seem much more real. And all of that is done through manipulation.

            It puts a whole new spin on creators when you look at media from that perspective. Entertainment basically becomes the art of manipulating people. In many cases, this manipulation has been honed to a science, refined into a simple formula – but at some point, someone sat down and decided how best to manipulate people – for their own enjoyment, of course.

            I also feel like it puts a new spin on the connotations we have around manipulation. We look at it as a negative word, yet nearly all of our entertainment relies upon it. It’s almost as if there is nothing inherently negative about any particular skill – it is merely the use it’s put to that defines if it’s good or evil.

            Either that, or the entire entertainment industry is trying to control our brains for their own personal gain. I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Choose Your Story

            It’s easy to think of stories as universal concepts, because a story is a story. Isn’t it? But it really isn’t that simple – because it’s become clear, as we’ve developed more mediums for telling stories, that the enjoyment we get out of any particular story varies depending on the platform used to deliver it.

            Pick a book that’s been turned into a movie. Any book. With very few exceptions, the book s always considered to be better than the movie. This generally comes about in one of two ways: either the movie as accurate to the book, and just doesn’t measure up, or the movie is actually quite good, but is rife with inaccuracies that make a well-read viewer furious.

            The same can be said while translating into other mediums. Audiobooks are common now, but even still, there are some stories that are preferable to be heard aloud – in particular, those told skilled storytellers. Video games also need to have the story adapted for them to be enjoyable – and even within that sphere, there’s variety in what the story needs to be like based on the type of game delivery.

            This means that those who create stories must be aware of the needs of the delivery they intend. A book can be extremely detailed and complex – with an added depth granted from being able to see characters’ thoughts. A story designed to be told aloud requires simplification and a pacing designed to hold the audience captive, because they can’t go back to re-read details they missed. A movie can have much of the complexity of the book, but it needs to be paced faster – and the depth of knowing what characters think is limited to what can be shown in facial expressions. Video games need a story that is simple and interactive, as the focus is more on the journey through the story than the details themselves.

            For each medium, the story must be crafted carefully to meet the requirements of the audience. Does this mean you can’t present the same story on different platforms? Not at all. However, it does mean that you can’t pull a story from one medium and plug it into another and expect it to work – it needs to be altered and adapted to fit the appropriate style of storytelling.

            Keep this in mind whenever you are crafting a story. If you find it isn’t working out the way you thought it would, consider switching the medium before scrapping it.

            As for when you’re enjoying an adaptation of a story you love, remember that sometimes changes are necessary for the sake of entertainment. Besides, you already know the story – isn’t it better to have a new story? Sit back and enjoy the entertainment without the expectation that it be exactly the same as the story you already know; treat it as a new story and you may find yourself more satisfied with your entertainment.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Introvert Vacation

            It’s been a very long time since my last vacation – three years, I think. Well, I guess now the counter is down to one day, since Colleen and I just got back from a lovely two-week vacation (you didn’t even notice I was gone, did you?) up in Collingwood, Ontario.

            We stayed at a place called Georgian Manor, about a ten minute walk (if you don’t mind crossing a busy road) from Georgian Bay in one direction and the Georgian Trail in the other. It didn’t take long for me to suspect that there was a theme for naming things in the region.

            Now, some people, when they go on vacation, go looking for a place with resorts, theme parks, and loads of things to do. For this vacation, though, Colleen and I were looking for a nice, quiet, relaxing time that would be perfect for a couple of introverts like us. Instead of looking for things to go out and do, we brought along a bunch of books, movies, crafts, and games. It was wonderful – we got to work on a lot of projects that we never seemed to have time for at home.

            We weren’t entirely reclusive, either. Every day we managed to get out for a walk – most of the time the weather was good for it. Sometimes we drove to one of the parks by Georgian Bay, were there were plenty of pokestops so we could play Pokemon Go as we walked (and we met up with some local friends one day), and other days we walked to the Georgian Trail – a complicated procedure, because the trail that led to it was quite waterlogged. Luckily someone had provided stepping stones and planks for the most impassable areas, but even so we had to turn back a couple of times after it had rained.

            The first morning though, after we had awoken early almost early enough to watch the sunrise (some hours early than we were used to waking up – but, oddly, the early rising persisted throughout the vacation), we walked to the park closest to where we were staying. We only walked there once, because we needed to cross a busy road to get there, but that morning we were up early enough that there was almost no traffic.

            It was a pretty little park, and we never even would have found it if it hadn’t been for the pokestop that led us there. It had a fantastic view out over the Georgian Bay, of which we took a few pictures.

            Being who we are, the vacation wasn’t entirely work free, of course. I had brought along a commissioned scalemaille shirt to work on as one of my crafts. This turned out to be quite fortunate, as the person who the shirt was for had family in Collingwood, and leaving it with them would save us six hours of driving to deliver it normally. That put a little pressure on to get it done before we left, resulting in a blister on the palm of my hand (and a nasty pliers-stab on my thumb), but I think it was worth it.

            There’s not much else to tell. A chorus of frogs sang us to sleep each night. Overall, it was quiet, fun, and relaxing – exactly what a vacation should be.

To finish off, here are some pictures of the wildlife that frequently visited us, right outside our back door.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Experiences

            Looking back over my blog posts, I’m astounded at how rarely I mention my LARPing days. This should probably change, as it was what my whole life revolved around for close to four years.

            Firstly, for the uninitiated, what is LARPing? It’s short for Live Action Role Playing. The quickest way if describing it is that once a week I’d dress up in a costume and go out to a park with a group of friends. We would then proceed to have fights using pool noodle swords and yell the magic spells that our fantasy-based game (Amtgard) had. It’s a bit more complicated than that, with playing the roles of characters and solving puzzles in quests, but that’s the general gist of it.

            It sounds strange, I know. When our local group was first founded and my best friend and I were invited to join, we almost didn’t go. But we figured that it was worth trying out – and it sure sounded safer than the fighting with wooden swords we’d been doing – so we went and we were hooked. We both became part of the core of the group and were soon heavily involved in running the group.

            If I had gone with my initial “that’s weird” instinct and never joined, I would have missed out on some amazing experiences. Two, in particular, come to mind. I think of them as being “movie experiences” because... well, they felt like I was in the middle of a movie. They felt like they shouldn’t be possible, yet they were happening.

            The first happened at an event called Battle of the Dens, hosted by the largest Amtgard group in Canada. Hosted on a large, forested private property, this event allowed us to have night-time battles. As I am a sneaky type, and played as an assassin, this suited me quite well. One night, a group of us ran a mini-game were one team played the a caravan and the other – a team of assassins – set up ambushes. It was wonderful, but one moment stands out the most. The team of six assassins were stalking our prey, creeping through a field of long grass under the starry sky. I stuck my head above the level of grass to get my bearings, and saw nothing but a field of grass stretched out before me. Then another head popped up. And another. Just like raptors in Jurassic Park. One by one, we vanished back down into the grass. It was amazing.

            Still, as great as that was, it doesn’t compare in outright feeling to a three-way battle we had one day. This was during a summer when our group had its largest number of members. There were three teams of about ten people each, competing with each other. Being clever and strategic, my team was letting the other two weaken each other until they caught on to what we were doing. Then they teamed up against us. Our small team was down a hill from the other two, and I was at the head. The enemy army, twice the size of ours, came pouring down the hill. I stepped out into the fray, swinging to the left and right, cutting down my enemies as they streamed past me to engage with the rest of my army. It was a glorious moment, straight out of a movie, and before I had done it myself I never believed it was possible to survive an onslaught like that. But, I did, and we won – and though it was “only” part of a game, to this day it remains one of the greatest moments of my life.

            Yet, every now and then, I wonder, what would have happened if I’d decided not to try out this game that I first thought was crazy – as do most people I tell about it. How many experiences would I have missed out on, just because I thought it might be embarrassing to dress up and go sword-fighting in public? Or because I was shy and uncertain about joining a group of mostly strangers? Some things we just have to try to find out what they’re really like. Otherwise we can miss out on the most important experiences of our lives.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Culture and Technology

            I’m a person who thrives on technology. Not that I know how any of it works – and some of it, I can hardly ever get it to do what I want – but I can’t imagine a life without all the technology I have at my disposal. Yet, at the same time, I wonder what impact it will have on the natural progression of our society.

            For the last two hundred years, technology has advanced at an astounding rate. Along with it has grown our ability to preserve and display our own history and culture. At the same time as preserving, we’re reinforcing our own cultural identity.

            Through movies and internet, the various concepts, values and beliefs important to our culture are expressed over and over. We watch these and pass them on to our children; our history and ideals are passed on as they never were able to be before. We preserve so much, and yet, I wonder if we aren’t causing cultural progression to grow stagnant.

            On social media, on several occasions I’ve come across a video showing the standards for human beauty as they have changed over the years. But, when was the last time these standards truly changed? With all the movies and videos out there reinforcing our current standards, how many generations will it take before we move on?

            A character in one of the Assassin’s Creed video games once commented on a preserved city that “history is the study of change” and that when change stops, death occurs. It’s the same with culture – it is meant to be forever changing and growing.

            So, I wonder, is how much we strive to preserve things good or bad? Will our current technologies preserve our generation in a way that will make simple work for future archaeologists, or will it become the gospel by which future generations live?

            I guess only time will tell.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

We Need Diversity

            Something I see talked about a lot in the online writing community is getting accurate diverse characters written into books (people of different ethnicities, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, etc). Why? To ensure that everyone from every background and belief has characters they can relate to and, more importantly (in my opinion), to show people how much variety there is in the world and make them more accepting of people different than themselves.

            This is actually something that is very challenging to, for several reasons. The biggest challenge is fighting the social conditioning we have that leads to us simply using stereotypes – we’re exposed to them through all the media that’s out there already. Many of the books that inspire current authors are written either with an absence of diverse characters, or with them represented in stereotypical ways. It’s far too easy to follow the well-trodden paths.

            Then there is fighting the comfort zone. We are brought up with many taboos, and some can be very uncomfortable to push past. How do we write about people with different colours of skin when we’ve been told all our lives that pointing out someone’s skin colour is racist? How do we write about a disability or a gender identity we haven’t experienced ourselves?

            That leads into the third challenge: research. Research takes a lot of time and energy. It’s so much easier to run with the stereotypes, or just avoid unfamiliar topics altogether.

            Yet, we live in a diverse world, and therefore we must push past all out boundaries to include everyone in our writing. Once we do that, we need to choose how to present this diversity: do we highlight it, by making the story about modern issues related to it, or do we blend them in and treat them like we would any other character?

            While there is a need for the first, I feel that the latter option is the most important for the future. There are many parts of society that have been characterized in certain ways, marginalized or outright abused throughout history. This had been built into our media – movies, shows, games, books – and many of them will last for generations to come. We’ve become aware of the problem, and it’s getting talked about more and more – but it won’t be solved until we stop talking about it and make it normal.

            What really needs to happen is for diverse characters to be added into the media, but without them being treated any differently than anyone else. By doing so, we normalize them, and by extension show future generations that not only is it normal for people to be different – but it’s perfectly okay.

            Gone are the days when everyone needed to be made with the same cookie cutter. As a society, we are moving closer and closer to accepting people for who they are. By allowing people to be true to themselves the world becomes a happier place. But we can never achieve complete acceptance until our sources of entertainment – which shape us and our ideas in more ways than we realize – represent diversity as normal. Diversity in media starts here and now, by making the extra effort to put it in and make sure it’s accurately represented.

            The world is a diverse place. We need to celebrate it, not stifle it, and make it perfectly normal to be whoever we are.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Deadpool

            This week, my wife and I went to see the Deadpool movie. I mean, last year we made a Deadpool costume out of chainmaille, so how could we not?

            I have to say, the movie was great – although definitely not for children (there are a multitude of posts circulating the internet saying this, yet there are still some people who don’t listen). I like to think that says a lot coming from me as I tend towards the refined side of things while Deadpool is the crudest and most vulgar super(anti)hero I’m aware of.

            Yet, the character is fascinating and fun – frequently breaking the fourth wall – and, in his own way, charming and almost honorable.

            More than that, the movie carries a strong message about how it’s okay to be yourself, even if that self is kinda messed up. No matter how strange (or disfigured) someone is, there is still a place for them in this world.

            And yes, it is a love story, as advertised. Just one of the strangest love stories you’ve seen.

            So, if you’re not easily offended, it’s a movie worth seeing. If you are easily offended, well... if you think you can get past that, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you’re somewhere in the middle, you get the point. Go see Deadpool, it’s a fun movie.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Fickle Crowds

Today I shall impart to you a pet peeve of a scenario I feel appears far too often in stories – be it books, movies or, as was the case with what inspired this post, video games.

            The scenario of which I speak is the one where the hero of our story has a secret that becomes public knowledge and, suddenly, everyone turns against them. Even their closest friends. This happens all the time and I find it to be completely unrealistic.

            Admittedly, it is a good ploy for garnering sympathy for the character and making their situation more desperate, but when it comes down to it, people aren't that fickle. If you were to take a sampling of the people in your life, you would always find at least a few who would stand by you no matter what your secret was. Some people would be driven away, some might think a little less of you, but there is no way everyone would turn against you.

            There are times when this technique does work, but it always involves the character not knowing anyone particularly well – because the better you know someone, the more likely you are to accept their flaws. I suppose if the character was disliked by everyone in the first place it might work, too.

            The specific situation in the game, Arc the Lad (an otherwise fantastic game), has a character who was raised in a small town where everyone knows everyone extremely well. More than that, he was the most popular person in town. Yet, the moment they find out he’s only half human, they turn on him and run him out of town. All I could think was “I know what my blog will be about today”.

            Now, I may be mistaken, but I find that when people know each other well and then a secret comes out, the judgement of the person will be heavily weighted towards their past actions. In the very worst case scenario, the closest friends will find out the truth before making a decision. Mob mentality is strong, but not that strong.

            Perhaps I'm just an idealist who takes laid-back approach to everything. I can’t believe enough people are that fickle. There will always be at least one friend left.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Hidden Message

            I have been asked many times before why it is that I love fantasy so much. To be honest, I don’t know all the reason – it is simply the only subject that completely captivates my interest. However, there’s one reason that I do know: I love the hidden meanings in the stories.

            To be fair, that extends to a lot of fiction, but fantasy in particular tends to have carte blanche to say whatever it wants. The writers can explore into the depths of morality, use allegorical political and religious situations and even express the odd scientific supposition.

            And no one questions any of it.

            Why? Because it isn't real. No one will ever tell you to watch a fantasy movie or read a fantasy book and tell you it really happened (at least, I hope they wouldn't. If they do, you may want to run away). Anything that is said can easily be brushed off.

            But hidden deep within those stories is an element of truth. The story may be an adventure, but underneath is a brilliant examination or commentary on human nature. What’s more, they usually don’t preach – more often than not, an idea is simply presented as if asking, “Hey, have you ever thought about that this way before?” I think that the inherent creativity in fantasy also encourages the reader and writer alike to think outside the box – something immensely important to our society as a whole.

            Recently I've been reading Colleen a lot of the books I read when I was younger. I'm amazed at how often I've come across phrases or ideas that stuck with me for years when I had no idea where they came from. These books shaped who I am today – not because they told me how to think, but because they presented me with ideas that resonated with me so much that I could never forget them.

            I think that future generations should probably take a cue from this fact, particularly when it comes to teaching. So often, these days, our education teaches what to think, rather than how to think. If we took the fantasy approach, by presenting a story and letting the student decide what is right, people would end up a lot truer to themselves.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

A Geeky New Year

            Welcome to 2015! According to Back to the Future, we get hover boards this year, so we have that to look forward to. For all those sciency people out there, I have two words for you: electro magnets. Make it happen.

            Anyway, Colleen and I had a great New Year’s Eve – we celebrated by staying home and making our way through a geek countdown. What’s a geek countdown, you ask? It’s when we count down from ten geeky movies, shows and games to midnight instead of seconds. The catch is there had to be a numerical value associating the activity with the number of the count.

            Our countdown went like this: We started by watching the episode Blink from Doctor Who (with the 10^th Doctor), then watched an episode of Deep Space 9 (the Trouble with Tribbles crossover episode). Next, we played some Super Mario World (an 8-bit game) followed by the 7^th episode of Firefly (Jaynestown). After that, we watched Star Wars episode 6, Return of the Jedi, the 5^th Element and the Fantastic 4. We finished off by playing a little bit (because we were running out of time) of Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Portal 2 and the 1^st Little Big Planet.

            Yes, we managed to squeeze that all into one day (all before midnight) and it was a blast. We’re thinking of making it a New Year’s tradition – with different activities, of course. We’ll have more time to plan for next year, so we could get really creative.

            I hope all of you had as great a New Year as we did and that 2015 is fantastic for everyone.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

100th Blog!

            Do you know what this is? It’s my 100^th blog post! Wow, where has the time gone? It feels like it was only yesterday when I started writing this thing.

            When I started blogging, I had no idea how long I’d be able to keep it up. I expected that I’d have to eventually cut down from once a week to once a month. I mean, I don’t have all that much to talk about. I don’t go out much, except to sell chainmaille, and I don’t do much at home other than make chainmaille, watch movies, read, write, and play video games.

            On top of that, I actively avoid the news and other world issues because I can’t do anything to change the world’s problems and knowing about them only depresses me. So, how have I managed to find so many things to talk about?

            I guess that’s part of being an author. There are just so many ideas bouncing around in my head that they find ways of expressing themselves – even if they are only obscure thoughts and concepts being expressed circumspectly in anecdotes.

            With any luck, I’ll continue to be able to catch those elusive, bouncy ideas and continue to share them for another hundred blogs. If not, I’ll just need to make up more milestones to comment upon.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Always Something New

            I love those moments in life when you’re reading a book or watching a movie for somewhere between the second and millionth time and you suddenly notice or realize something for the first time. Sometimes it’s just simple little things that you aren't meant to catch at first, like that brief look or comment a secret villain makes that seems harmless unless you actually know the truth about them. Other times, it’s a huge revelation about the secret meaning behind the story.

            An example of the first one was something Colleen pointed out to me while we were watching The Incredibles – for the first time, we noticed that when they entered the secret laboratory of Edna (the superhero seamstress), she actually had large bolts of fabric stored in there. It’s a small detail that usually just slips by, but when you notice it, you realise just how attentive to detail animators are (set dressers, too, for live movies).

            I recently started reading The Hobbit (again), but I'm seeing it with new eyes thanks to all the special features I've seen from the movie. What stood out to me this time was a single line – a comment about the battle of the mines of Moria. I've never noticed it there before, but because it plays a larger role in the movies, I caught it this time. This isn't just a testament to the attention to detail that Peter Jackson has, but also to Tolkien’s world building skills. Nothing says the world of a book is real like a casual reference to historical events.

            The one that got me thinking about all this was while I was watching The Croods (yes, I know I watch a lot of movies, but I make chainmaille for a living and it helps to have some entertainment). It’s a fun animated movie, with some good messages in it and that’s just what I was thinking when the “wow” moment hit me. The biggest underlying meaning in the movie is overcoming fear to live a better life.

Then I took a closer look and my jaw dropped as I saw, twisted into the story, a huge political and social commentary on the effects of fear, including how it is used to control people. A fearful person used their fear to instil fear in others to get them to do what they wanted, justifying it to themselves by saying it was for their protection. The fear closed minds and prevented progress. It wasn't until the fear was released that minds were opened and life became better.

            If you take that story and paint it over various people and/or world events (I'm sure I don’t have to give any examples), certain things suddenly start to make sense (or, at least, as much sense as they can). I don’t know if the movie makers intended for their movie to be applied to a global scale, but I don’t really care because it can be. Be it for a person, country or planet, overcoming fear opens minds and improves life.

            That’s the best part about these revelations – they don’t even have to be intended by the creators. They are there and they bring a new life to entertainment, which is why the best books, movies and video games are worth second, third and fourth times through. Even if it’s in your mind, there’s always something new to find.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Life Under a Rock

            One of these days I'm going to sit down to write a blog and have no clue what to write. Although, to be fair, that describes almost every week. What I really mean is that I’ll have no clue and I’ll remain clueless so long that I’ll be left without a blog.

            I guess it would help a bit if I didn't live under a rock. If you consider that I rarely leave the house more than once a week, I don’t have access to TV (and wouldn't watch it if I did), I don’t listen to the radio and the only news I find out about is what filters to me through social media sites, it’s actually pretty impressive that I can find as much to talk about as I do.

            It might seem like an odd life choice to be so cut off from what are staples for most of society, but for me it comes naturally. I grew up without TV (it was replaced by my dad’s extensive movie collection) in a household that didn't even bother with newspapers. No one was interested enough for it to be worth it.

            Since the invention of the printing press, it has become more and more important for people to know what’s going on in the rest of the world. At first, it was just news being passed on, along with propaganda, but now it has evolved into entertainment. Because of that, news has become a series of one catastrophe after another – after all, the core of all entertainment is conflict. The end result is that the news is depressing and nothing is achieved by knowing it, so I figure I'm better off without it.

            I’ll admit that keeping on top of world (or even local) events is important for some people, but for me (and probably most people) it really doesn't matter. I know there are lots of things wrong with the world; I don’t need to be reminded. What will knowing about current events accomplish? I don’t have the time or resources to do anything about it. The best I can do is vote for a government that will do what they can (at which point I do research that negates the need to be constantly deluged with global issues).

            The result of this? I get to live a happier life. It could be argued that I'm uninformed, but, in this day and age, any time I need to know about something, I can just look it up. Personally, I think that living a happier life is more important than knowing about events I have no control over. I may be living under a rock, but it’s nice down here. Plus, I have the added bonus of being able to poke my head out to participate in the world whenever I want (which, admittedly, is not often).

            The moral of the story is, you can’t get stuck between a rock and a hard place if the rock is working for you. Come live under a rock and be happier. But not my rock. It’s occupied. Shoo.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

References and Originality

            One thing you should always remember about authors is that we are playful people and words are our favourite toys. We love to be sneaky and hide little secrets and references in our books, not to mention leaving a few puns lying around. My favourite  though, are the references. Most of these you won’t even notice unless you’re familiar with what they are about, but when you see them, they give you a good chuckle.

            The master of these references, of course, is Terry Pratchett. I firmly believe that no one can measure up to his satirical fantasy. I don’t think you can read a page without stumbling across some sort of obscure reference – the more I read, the more of them I catch and the more I marvel at his brilliance.

            In the three and a half books I've written, I've snuck in everything from Monty Python and Princess Bride quotes to references from Tolkien, Pratchett, Shakespeare and Dr Who (which I've only been watching for about a week) to internet memes. The more I write, the more ways I discover to sneakily hide references.

            I started thinking about these references (obviously, or else I wouldn't be talking about them) after coming across a reference to the lyrics of a Bon Jovi song in the book I'm currently reading (Vortex). I started to wonder why we hide these little tidbits in our books. I mean, obviously it’s fun, and it makes us feel special when someone likes our books enough to go digging through in search of everything we hid inside, but those couldn't be the only reasons.

            Then I realised that it’s our way of giving credit. In this day and age, there is virtually no originality. Not because we artists aren't as imaginative as we used to be, but simply because there is so much that has come before us. When I first read Eragon (a book written by someone close to my own age) I knew right away, without a doubt, that Christpher Paolini was a fan of Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K Le Guin. Whether it is intentional or not, authors will always have traces of whatever inspired them in their work. So, by sneaking our little references in, we are tipping our hats to those who inspired us and making ourselves feel better about using the turn of phrase that, strictly speaking, we didn't come up with.

            Since I mentioned the lack of originality in the world, I think I should elaborate on what I mean by that, as well as making it clear that it’s not a bad thing. We humans love to measure things and, while many would argue that art can’t be measured, we have managed to analyse books and say with certainty that there are only somewhere between 1 and 36 plotlines that exist in the world (the number depends on the system you are using to define the plots). If you look at the thousands of books, movies, video games and anything else requiring a plot that’s out there (like life), it’s obvious that these get used over and over again. How do we not notice?

            Well, the reason we don’t notice is because we (well, most of us) aren't watching for it. The art of telling a story isn't in creating a plot that no one has considered before; it’s in telling the story in a way that entertains people. It’s nice if this is a new way, and even better if you can keep people guessing, but the true purpose is to entertain. So, it doesn't matter that every story has already been told, because it can always be told in a different way!

            What about those people who analyse everything and complain about the lack of originality? That’s their own problem. If they want to decide that every story where the villain is the protagonist’s father is a Star Wars rip off, anything with a portal to another world is Narnia and anything with any type of institution that teaches magic is Harry Potter, then they are welcome to be disappointed about the lack of originality. They should, however, take a moment to read the history books to see how often events of reality repeat. They should also look to see if anyone else has commented on the lack of originality, lest their complaint is not their original thought.

            To finish off, I shall impersonate the Doctor and say, live long and prosper with the force. Alas, poor Yorik, he got caught playing riddles in the dark and was slain by Sephiroth before he could collect all the Deathly Hallows! Now, where did I leave my holy hand grenade...? Like a boss!

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Books vs Video Games

            An argument has been popping up over and over for the last couple decades: books versus video games. The arguments go along these lines: Books have greater intellectual value, are thought provoking, influential on society, entertaining and they stimulate the imagination far more. Video games can improve hand-eye co-ordination and reflexes, be played socially, are interactive, entertaining and challenging. My question is, why are we comparing them?

            I've spent a lot of my life playing video games and reading and I love both forms of entertainment. Each has its merits and neither can really be compared to the other. Sure, they have similarities, but in my opinion they complement each other more than anything else.

            What got me thinking about this was when I started playing through Final Fantasy IX and Colleen, periodically looking up from whatever she was doing to watch the game, suddenly said, “This game’s a lot like reading a book!” My reply was, “Of course! Video games are the bridge between books and movies.” They really are. It’s like watching a book where you can take control of the characters.

            So why, if video games are a combination of two of the world’s most popular forms of entertainment, won’t they ever take over the entire entertainment industry? Because they can never replace either of them. Let’s take a comparison of books and movies as an example. When have you ever read a book, then gone to the movie and been entirely happy with what you saw? I can’t say I've ever heard anything other than “the book was better”. The reason for this is because there is just too much information in a book to translate into a movie; all that can be done is an interpretation of the book. The same is true of video games – they can fit in more information than movies, but never as much as books.

            At this point you might say, well, it sounds like books are better, to which I reply, no; they’re just different. Books rely on your imagination, which is great, but sometimes people actually want to see that amazing setting or action scene. Video games feel more like you’re doing something and take more concentration (unless you’re reading while there’s a lot of background noise or buzzing flies). The closest a book can get to giving you a choice is with those ‘choose your own adventure’ books and the only way a book can improve your reflexes is if you have a lot of flies you need to swat.

            You can say books deal with important topics – games frequently do, too. Most games deal with morality issues, I’ve played games dealing with handling finances, environmental issues, racism – just about anything books can cover. Books teach you things – if you play the right games, they do as well. It all comes down to choice; what you choose to play, what you choose to read, what you choose to read and play.

            As an author, I also have to look at plot lines and characters. Some of the characters I've become the most attached to are in games. Some of the greatest stories I've ever come across were in also in video games – they even inspire some of my own writing. I currently have the good fortune of working behind the scenes on a video game. I'm on the writing team for an upcoming game called Anaria Online and, let me tell you, it has been far more challenging to work out the plot lines for even a small portion of this game than it has to write three complete books. I’d go so far as to say that I'm becoming a far superior book writer through my work on this game.

            So, readers, before you harp on video games, I suggest educating yourselves. Sit down with a game (an RPG would be best, such as Final Fantasy or Assassins’ Creed) and play through it. Gamers, just read a book. Most of you have done it before, you just need to find one that you love to remind you how much you enjoy reading. Then we can just stop comparing these two wonderful entertainment mediums and perhaps find ways of making them work together even more than they already do.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.