thewarmbloodedvulcan

[thewarmbloodedvulcan]

How 2 Write Gooder: Episode II - Antagonists

Hello Tumblrverse!

Today, we're discussing (is it really discussing if you're reading this?) antagonists. First-what is an antagonist. An antagonist is the main bad guy of your novel/play/novella/script/piece of writing. They are the person that stands in the way of your protagonist, or the guy or gal we're supposed to root for. The antagonist sets the obstacles and challenges the protagonist must overcome or succumb to at the end. (It's usually the former).

Now that we've discussed what an antagonist is, we can now discuss how to properly write for the antagonist. In essence, the antagonist should be the foil for the protagonist. If the protagonist is good and kindhearted, the antagonist needs to be mean and vindictive. But don't take it too literally. If the protagonist likes bunnies, the antagonist doesn't need to boil a bunny and mail it to the protagonist's house just to mess with him/her. But above all, an antagonist needs to be frightening.

How does an antagonist frighten the reader? By not being cliché. He shouldn't say things like "Curses! Foiled again!" or "Not so fast" or "Muahahahahahahaha". They should feel like a real person. You should put the same amount of time and thought into your antagonist's backstory and motivation as you do your protagonist. Remember: your antagonist most likely thinks what he/she is doing is right and/or justifiable, and that makes him/her all the more terrifying.

"But @thewarmbloodedvulcan, how can my antagonist be mysterious and creepy if I know all about my antagonist?" Simple. You're not the reader. It doesn't matter how much you know about your bad guy, he should be mysterious and frightening to the reader. And just because you know all about the bad guy doesn't make the bad guy any less terrifying. I've read a number of books on Stalin and Mussolini and Pol Pot and Mao Tse Tung. These people still scare the ever-loving shit outta me.

Just because we know all about Tom Riddle's tragic childhood doesn't change the fact that he's a terrifying, prejudiced, horrifying inhuman monster who feels no remorse for the hundreds of people he and his followers have killed. Even though we know about Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds doesn't alter the fact that he's a Nazi. My point is, even if an antagonist isn't as mysterious, doesn't make them any less frightening.

One trick that I do for any scenes featuring an antagonist is I write from their POV. I go into their head, turn off the lights, and set a cassette to record. I enter the antagonists mind, like I was getting into character. Then, I speak. I speak how the antagonist speaks. I use the antagonist's diction and syntax and vocabulary  and tone of voice. I then leave pauses in between each line of dialogue. After that, I turn off the tape recorder and rewind it and play it back. I set another tape recorder to record and enter my protagonist's mind and do the same thing. When I'm done, I have two pieces of audio which I can use to write the dialogue and narrative of any scene with my antagonist.

Now of course, this won't work for everyone. This is just what I do. But the basics is this: Know your antagonist as well as your protagonist, Avoid dialogue cliches, and remember: your antagonist is able to justify his or her actions. Why?

So that's all! Happy reading and happy writing!

'Till Next Time,

The Warm Blooded Vulcan

Live Long and Prosper!

[thewarmbloodedvulcan]

How 2 Write Gooder: Episode I - “How to Write A Novel - Part #I - The Idea Phase”

If you’re here, you probably are a writer. Or you just love the fact that I’m an omnipotent perfect being with an amazing sense of humor, quick wit, outstanding humility, a penchant for writing, and an oxford comma enthusiast, despite the fact that we’ve never met. But if you’ve journeyed here from the far recesses of the Tumblrverse to the smaller, yet still vast Writer Tumblrverse, I should make your stay worthwhile, so sit back, relax, and read on as I detail How 2 Write Gooder. This is the first episode of a segment I’m just now creating with my mind, because I’m a writer, “How to Write a Novel

The first step to any piece of fiction is the initial idea - the spark of creativity that turns your mind ablaze until all the whisky is burt up and your brain is a white, ash-caked soulless desolate wasteland, because let’s face it, us writerfolk become consumed by our manuscripts and ideas. But here lies the crux of the issue- how do I get ideas?

Really? REALLY? It’s your job as a writer to be creative, to think of stuff and ideas 24/7. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart didn’t get to become one of the world’s most renowned composers by sitting on his ass all day until inspiration suddenly hit him-he was constantly thinking of music with every waking minute. You should be the same way. (Social life, what’s that? Say WHAT? People enjoy spending time with me, FINE I guess). However, you aren’t completely SOL if you rack your brain and are coming up dry, although that is a little concerning. 

Find what it is that inspires you- whether that be reading other books written by authors you enjoy, going outside and perhaps playing basketball, going for a jog, or riding a bike, or listening to music. The decision is ultimately up to you. One thing that I recommend is taking a long shower or bath. Water is therepeutic and relaxing. How many times have you just lost yourself in your thoughts in the shower or bath? Probably a lot. This is because when you’re in the shower or bath, the primal, animalistic part of the human brain realizes that it’s not in danger, and thus you become less uptight and stressed, and are more relaxed and kind of like a complete mind-blob. Ideas may come to you in the bath. Let them. But don’t jump up as soon as you get an idea. Let it sink in. Let it fester and permeate your entire being. Let it ferment for a while as you lay, still relaxed in the tub. More ideas will come to you, and more after that. Once you have what you believe to be a sufficient amount of ideas for this story, events, characters, places, et cetera, you are ready for the second phase: the thought dumping phase, which will be covered in my next installment of “How to Write a Novel”, if not my next “How to Write Gooder”.

One last piece of advice I have regarding ideas is this: write what you want to read, not what you want to write. You may have heard the old adage “write what you want to write”. I have too. However, I find this advice counterproductive for one main reason: If you only write what you want to write, your book could very well wind up as non-stop sex scenes, non-stop fight scenes, or non-stop streams of dialogue, or anything else I’m not mentioning, and then your book is without any substance, characters or narrative. “But Mr. WarmBloodedVulcan,” I hear you saying “Nobody would do that, that’s just silly.” You’d be surprised. 

So write what you want to read, not what you want to write. This inevitably means your gonna have to write stuff you hate writing, or find boring. Get over it. I’m sorry I can’t be nicer about it, but seriously. If you want to grow as a writer, you’re going to have to write stuff you’re not good at, or you hate writing. We all are scared of failure. We all wish we were the best writer in the world. Sometimes, we want to curl up into a ball and cry. Fear of failure is normal. You know what you do? You write the damn thing anyway. Garbage can be edited and molded into something amazing. Michelangelo’s “David” in Florence started out as a rectangular chunk of rock. Now, it’s one of the most recognized marble statues of all time. The Sistine Chapel started out as a blank ceiling.

While I can’t guarantee you’ll be the next Michelangelo, or JK Rowling, or the next Stephen King, Jane Austen or William Shakespeare, what I can guarantee is that you will regret not trying. Again, garbage can be worked with. A blank screen cannot. But I’ve veered off topic. What does writing what you want to read truly entail?

Well, have you ever read a story where after you finished it you enjoyed it, but you hypothesized about how the story would be different if it took *this angle* or *that angle* or instead of plot twist X, the author went with plot twist Y, or what if this person didn’t die, or that other guy did? I know I have. You’ll notice that I’m being pretty vague with my descriptions, this is intentional. This is a feeling you should get while reading fiction. Use this to your advantage. Obviously, don’t plagiarize. I don’t condone plagiarism or intellectual theft in any form, and find it cheating. But what you can do is use similar elements from different books and put your own spin, or take it in an angle you wished the books you read did.

For example: How many books are there with dragons in them? More than a metric ton, but I guarantee the way dragons are dealt with in one story versus another are completely different. In “Harry Potter” dragons are fearsome, untamable creatures that require special spells and magical objects to control, and are used to guard bank vaults. In “The Lord of the Rings”, or “The Hobbit”, I should say, the dragon Smaug is the villain. In George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, better known as “Game of Thrones”, Dragons are fierce creatures, tamable only by the noble family who’s blood of the dragons, House Targaryen. The objective is to find certain elements from the genre, and put your own spin on them so they feel fresh, new, and not elements indicative of the genre, in other words, cliche and trite. It’s hard. It’s really hard to come up with worlds, characters and events out of nothing, but then again, writing a book is really, really, REALLY, hard. We write because we want to-because we love writing, and love sharing our stories with the rest of the world……we might also be masochists.

But the bottom line is-WRITE THE BOOK. No one’s gonna motivate you but you. You’ll encounter a whole lot of shit on the way that’s gonna try and bring you down-haters, naysayers, crippling self-doubt, the works. The only thing you can do is write on. The more you put off writing for lack of inspiration, or just not feeling like it, the less likely it is you’ll achieve your goal of writing a book. I lock myself in my room and tell myself I’m not allowed to go outside my room for a glass of water or food until my scene was done. It took from 6 to 8:30 at night, but the scene was done. Hold yourself accountable. Set goals for yourself. But above all, believe in yourself. You’re the only one who will…at least for now.

That’s it for today! So what are the five things we learned today? 1. Me and succinct do NOT mix, 2. Write what you want to read, not what you want to write, 3. Writing a book is hard, and you’ll inevitably encounter a lot of hardship along the way, 4. Hold yourself accountable, set goals for yourself, and exercise every muscle of self control to complete them, and 5. No one will believe in yourself, but you. And maybe me. If you’re good enough. Maybe. (You are.) And remember: if you’re ever down, if the haters ever get to you, use their criticism as motivation. Resist the urge to rip their spine out of their throat, and channel that rage into writing the most amazing book popular, because there is nothing better than being able to say “Hey, jerk, you didn’t beleive in me, well, I finished the damn book–I TOLD YOU SO.” But then before you say that remember not to stoop to their level, and take the high ground.

So that’s all! Happy reading and happy writing!

‘Till Next Time,

The Warm Blooded Vulcan 

Live Long and Prosper!