Writing about Pacifism (Personal)

What is Pacifism?
One of the topics I write about is pacifism. Pacifism is the belief that violence is wrong. By violence, we don’t only mean war, but knife and gun fights; not only fights, but belittling and demeaning words. Individual stances reason through situations where violence, carefully tailored, is the lesser of two evils.

Why write about pacifism?
I write about it because I think contemporary fantasy has a responsibility to write about those people not normally written about. In an increasingly militaristic United States, pacifists are seldom heard from and are relegated to the fringes.

Who’s a Pacifist?
It’s a minority belief in the US, held widely by Friends/Quakers (I am one), other peace churches like the Mennonites and Amish, and some Buddhists.

What would you do if … ?
Having a stance like that alarms other people, who counter with what they feel would be “aha” questions. Pacifists have generally reckoned very well about what they’re willing to commit to under which circumstances, so they answer “aha” questions easily.

For example:
“What about World War II?”
I point out the historical conclusion that we didn’t get into WWII to save the Jews; in fact, the US turned Jewish refugees away from their borders. We could possibly have liberated the Jews without all-out war. Wars are fought for political reasons, and people die en masse for political reasons.

“What if a school shooter invades your classroom?”
I’ve thought about this carefully, and realize that the protection of my students outweighs my pacifism. So I plan to grab a chair and wield it against the attacker, throwing it if necessary (and hoping adrenaline will be on my side).

“What if someone attacks you?”
I’ve taken a dirty streetfighting defense class. The idea is debilitate and run. Again, this is an imminent situation and fighting may be the lesser of two evils.

“What about a gun for protection?”
This is the slippery slope. When one has a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When one has a gun for protection, everything looks like an assailant. Child deaths and suicide are more likely in a household with a gun. A gun is symbolic of what we want to avoid in pacifism.

“Why are martial arts different?”
I would distinguish here between martial arts with a philosophy that one avoid conflict if at all possible and more aggressive martial arts. Asian martial arts, in particular, emphasize the former. If I were to learn a martial art, it would be aikido, one which uses the force and impetus of the assailant against him.

In the End
I sometimes wonder if setting Apocalypse in a pacifistic setting (the ecocollective Barn Swallows’ Dance) is a bad idea for publication. As much as writers are exhorted toward originality, the noncombatants trying to save the world might be too much for mainstream audiences. But I have to remain true to myself, and writing what I know is part of that.

Winter Blues (Personal)

Does anyone out there suffer from the winter blues? I’m suffering from the winter blues right now. My mood tracking app (Daylio, which I think is available for both Android and iOS) has been registering me as “Meh” the past few days.

I manage to stave off the winter blues through the holiday season because, well, holiday cheer. I love Christmas, with its carols and greenery. But once January comes, there’s two whole months with nothing to look forward to but the end of winter.

What am I doing to deal with the blahs? Not nearly enough. Usually at this time, I’m very involved with seedlings for the gardens at this point in the year, and this helps me keep on an even keel. But we’re working on getting the weed infestation out of the raised beds, so no seed starting.

I’m drinking lots of coffee and eating spicy food. I’m eating too much and need to lose weight. I’m writing, and that always helps, but I don’t feel like writing much.

So what strategies can I use? I happen to teach a positive psychology class, so I have some ideas here:

A gratitude journal — three things I’m grateful about and why
Doing good for other people
Using my signature strengths (link to find out here)
Meditation

Be sure that I’ll put at least one of those into my repertoire.

Optimism and the Aspiring Author

I wish I had more patience.

I’m playing the long game, wanting to be traditionally published. And it’s a long game, because the market is glutted with people like me who want to be published. The market is fickle, as it wants to pick books without risk. And the market is shrinking, because there are fewer readers.

I have invested a lot in my books. Developmental edits, beta reading, and sometimes massive rewritings. I’m now at a point where I don’t think I can improve them any more. (I could, of course, be wrong). I have gone through cycles of rejection, and I don’t know if I can go through it again.

But I do, because I have optimism. Every morning I wake up believing that my life could change in one day. I’ve heard enough stories where someone’s life changes tragically in one moment; I believe it’s just as likely that my life can change for the better. So as long as I have my works in the hands of agents and publishers, I can hope.

Frivolous Questions about Agents and Publishers No One Will Ask (Personal)

NOTE: I have not found the publisher or agent yet. I’m just daydreaming.
ALSO NOTE: I would never wear the heels pictured above.

Daydreams:
I daydream about the two outcomes I’d really like to see in my novel-writing: finding an agent and getting published. And like any pragmatic (and neurotic) person, I have questions:

I Have Important Questions!
1) Do you actually meet in person with your agent? Do you have to fly there or will they visit you on your turf? (A working lunch in New York City sounds better than one at the local steakhouse, but that’s just me.) Who pays for the plane ticket? Can my husband come with me?

2) What do you wear to meet your agent? Do you dress for business? Business casual? Eccentric writer? Should I get my nails done in a French manicure or go for the power red?

3) Same questions as 1) and 2) but for a publisher.

4) I know the part where you run contracts past an entertainment lawyer. But how can you tell an entertainment lawyer’s good at what they do? (There’s one in my area, so I hope he’s good).

#SFFpit and the Concept of the Pitch Contest (Social Media, Writer Development)

I found another pitch contest on Twitter, which reminds me of why #WritingCommunity Twitter is so valuable. This one is called #SFFPit, and is specific to science fiction and fantasy books.

What’s a Pitch Contest?
In a pitch contest, a writer of a completed and unpublished work distills the essence of their book into a Twitter-sized pitch. The author has the opportunity to pitch their book (using a different pitch each hour to get past Twitter algorithms) once an hour for a set number of hours. The purpose of this is to attract potential agents and publishers, who will ask for a query to further judge your work.

Pitches should illuminate the character, their desires, obstacles to their desire, and the consequences of failure. Be specific of the consequences! Also, all pitches need to have #SFFpit in their body and use other designated hashtags for genre and audience. (Koboldt, 2020).

See more details here!

Koboldt, D. (2020). #SFFpit. Available: http://dankoboldt.com/sffpit/#sffpit-rule-changes [January 20 2020)

Words and Music (Essay)

The Words are Important

I’m listening to Counting Crows to wake me up, immersed in Adam Duritz’ (is that possessive right?) lyrics. He paints images, moods, scenes, describing without telling. I want to write like Adam Duritz, but I have to settle for writing like myself.

Another band I immerse myself in is Dream Theater, which might be on the opposite pole as Counting Crows, but the words evoke a sharp-focus world where people fight internal battles.

Making Room for the Music

I understand the music is important, also, in communicating the mood of the songs. Counting Crows’ roots rock sensibilities invoke moodiness, while Dream Theater’s wall of intricate metal and dissonance convey the intellectual alienation of their music.

I’m a word person — as a writer, this is expected. When I was an unknown singer-songwriter in my home town (before I divorced my guitarist 25 or so years ago), I wrote lyrics to his guitar compositions. I try to understand the music part, but I don’t really get how music can carry mood. I am willing to learn.

Tell Me Your Favorite Lyrics

If you have favorite lyrics, tell me about them and why they grab you!

Interview with Richard Leach-Steffens, writer (Interviews with Writers)

Tell me about yourself:
Growing up, back when I was in high school, I started writing short fiction at the urging of my Gifted Ed teacher, Linda Knoll. I actually submitted to a local community college’s creative arts contest. I actually got a couple of stories — I think I got a second and a first. I did okay, but I didn’t feel like my writing was good enough that I could become a writer for a living. Since then, my writing’s been mostly professional — I have a ten-year career as a technical writer. I haven’t really done much creative writing since becoming a technical writer, because it’s hard to get in front of a computer after you’ve been in front of a computer for eight hours at work.

More recently, at the encouragement of my spouse, who is also a writer, I have written one novella, one novel, and one short story. The novella is set in my spouse’s universe and shares some of the characters, while the novel, which I wrote for NaNoWriMo, is based on an idea I had back in high school. I would like to submit the novel for a developmental edit.

What do you like to write about?
Early on, I wrote apocalyptic fiction. I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s; one of my fears, of course, was nuclear war. What I’m finding is that I’ve moved past that, and my latest ideas tend to be creative with a twist. Think a “what if?” with a “where will it lead?”.

What is your novel about?
The NaNo novel deals with the idea of musicians traveling from town to town for gigs. What happens if humanity gets into space and finds out we’re technologically behind other races in terms of trade? What would humanity have to offer? Humanity discovers that what it does have to offer is artistic culture — music, art, even classic tv shows. As part of that, it’s a way of introducing humanity into other cultures. My protagonists are a jazz combo, and what they find out is that, in the history of this one planet, there is a cultural taboo against sung music. The remainder of the novel deals with solving the mystery: Why did this happen?

What is your advice to writers?
Don’t stop and think that your writing is good enough in its rough form, because there’s always room for improvement.

Thank you for being my guinea pig, Richard.
Oink.

Update (personal)

My brain feels rusty.
These last couple days I’ve been trying to recover from a tooth pulling/the meds/getting off the meds (hydrocodone does a number on me, but so does pain).

Best rejection ever.
I got a rejection on Prodigies from Stirling Publishing (UK) which sounded like an almost-acceptance. I don’t feel too bad about it.

Glass half-full
Lately I’ve gotten second places and honorable mentions on my short story/poetry submissions, so I feel like maybe either my work is getting better or it’s finding its home. Or my luck is getting better. I’m still frustrated and still looking for an agent.

Time to go to bed.

Small Victories (Personal Goals)

I’m writing this on my iPad as an experiment using BlogTouch, so bear with me.

Random picture.

I don’t think I’d blog from here every day, but it might work on-the-go. Finding pictures is harder unless I take my own, and typing is slow, but there I go.

And I can’t change the title without losing everything. Weird.

My 1000th Blog Post (Blogging)

Time to celebrate!
This blog has hit a milestone I didn’t ever think I would hit — my thousandth post! How does one celebrate 1000 blog posts? By writing a blog post!

Origins
I started the blog a little over three years ago with the aim of developing an author’s social media presence. Its secondary purpose was, however, to warm up my mind for a day of writing. Thus, writing in the blog became an almost daily event.

Content
The content of the blog echoes the header above: “A blog about being a writer, believing it, honing it, living it.” As a theme, this has afforded me a bit of flexibility, and I have written about my writing, my struggles with writing, writing tools I’ve discovered, and occasionally examples of my writing.

Most writers don’t write in their blogs daily. I’m pretty sure this makes me an overachiever.

Changes in the Blog
The blog hasn’t changed much in the past 1000 posts. At first, I didn’t post every day. Occasionally, I whined about my lack of progress; those posts have been deleted.

I recently began formatting posts with headers to make the blog more friendly to readers. I hope this has helped readers find meaning in the blog.

Beyond 1000
I’m not sure what’s in store for the blog over the next couple of years. I have thought of moving it to a weekly blog and focusing on writing tools and the like, but there are many blogs that already do this. I want this blog to be accessible to writers and people who like writing, so I will probably continue with the daily posting and the variety of posts I make. This has the added bonus of making the blog more fun to write.

Here’s to 1000 more blog posts!