Combat Writing 101

Hello everyone! I just want to pause for one second before I even get started and thank God for the soul that was saved during our concert Saturday night. I wasn’t feeling well, I’ve been down with head congestion and stuff; but I asked God to allow me to do my best for Him, and I see the reward. You can’t tell from my writing, but I’m ecstatic! 

Here’s a little background on today’s post concept. About a year ago I started a joint blog with two of my best friends that was supposedly devoted to the subject of “writing” exclusively. During that period, my co-blogger, Stephen wrote a series called “A Lesson Battle”. I’m going to borrow a few of his concepts in this post, where I’ll be explaining how to write a good combat scene.

The important thing to remember about writing any kind of combat is that it is real. Every other section of your story can conceivably be completely fictitious. But, no one will believe or be interested in unrealistic, poorly written combat. Now, there are action and fighting heavy books which can easily get old quickly, and there are action and fighting heavy books that compel the reader to hang on every word. 

The difference is in the descriptiveness of the combat. It’s critical to be overly descriptive in battle sequences, but it is devastating to be overtly descriptive. The best combat sequences are balanced in between a simplistic action render and an intensely picturesque painting. Vague is never vogue. It kills combat to simply tell what happened without telling how; to be overly descriptive is to tell what, how, and why things happen as they do.

There are three major methods of combat writing: vague, simplistic, and comprehensive. 

Vague is the most obscure and difficult to follow. Vaguely combat focuses on the weapons of the combatants nearly exclusively and moves through action at approximately 4 times the pace in which it would have actually occurred.

Simplistic is the most commonly used mode of describing action sequences and is a tool to be imputed to certain areas of combat, not a mandate to be enforced upon the whole. Simplistic combat writing will not only focus on weapon movements, but character movements as well, specifically focusing on balance and footwork, then some surrounding and atmosphere to help the reader step into the scene. Simplistic takes occurs at twice the pace the scene would in real life.

Comprehensive combat writing can be described as holistic. It is the culmination of everything that needs to occur for the reader to see the combat: footwork, weapon movement, speed, and direction; surroundings, climate, sky movement, and time of day. But, it also adds so much much more in the fact that it gets inside the head of the characters and discovers their motives and drive. Things said and done are motivated by the emotions of the combatants or lack of it. Comprehensive combat writing occurs at nearly half the pace the scene would take in real life.

Comprehensive is by far the most enticing style of combat writing. However, in excess it can get tiresome to read, this is where the simplistic combat writing can come into play. Simplistic has a place in reprieve of the comprehensive depth. Vague has no place whatsoever. In order to produce the most effective combat content, the action and thoughts need to occur within a realist time frame and at realistic pace.

Perhaps tomorrow or the next day I’ll give you a sample of what these styles of combat writing look like so you can compare them to your own. But, for today, decide what style you want to write, how it will effect your story, and keep the reader engaged whatever you do. Combat can immortalize or destroy a story, so make it good. And whatever you do, in everything you do, have a point and a purpose. A purposeless and pointless combat is vague and a waste of time to both write and read. Find your balance, find your purpose.

The less distractions we have in our writing, the more professional and compelling it will be. Then we can give our message in the story to a captive audience, ready and willing to receive it.

As always, thanks for reading, and reach for the next rung on the ladder of excellence.

–the anonymous novelist

How to Write a Blog Post

 The green pastures, and the still waters…

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. 

–Psalm 23

There are many different methods of writing and different outlets for writers to express their creativity; a blog is just the most common form of publication that writers use as a platform for their ideas. 

If you want to write a good blog post, you need to ask yourself why? The first question that defines anything you will write, is why you are writing it. This blog, as much as I hate to say it, was never intended to be for the readers. Let me explain myself: this blog was created as a way for me to put to use words that I was already writing every day. Words without reason are just groups of letters. I needed to find a purpose for my writing, I needed to find a place where I could devote my writing to the benefit of others, but also to the benefit of myself.

If my readers take away anything for my blog posts, if they really get anything out of them, then the blog posts were successful. But I would write them regardless, because my intention in starting a blog was to express myself, in a professional and personal way.

So, why did you start a blog? What was its purpose? What is its theme? Then, once you have established that in your own mind, pick a topic.

Topic and Title:

I combined those two because they go hand in hand with me. Sometimes I’ll get a great idea from a title, sometimes I’ll get a great title after writing the whole post without one. The topic will ultimately define your post, but the title will make it iconic and novel. When choosing a title for a post, make it catchy, short, intriguing, a play on words, or a line from a movie or song. Find a title that makes you want to read it; remember, others are just like you, only different. So make it new and fresh to you, and it will be to them also.

When choosing a post to go along with a title, try to think of what that title means to you. What part of it sticks out? What makes it a great title? Then write about that. It’s more difficult for many to write this way, but I find it easier in some cases.

Ideas form around a single thought or phrase, think about the meaning behind those ideas to get a really good post out of just a title.

Beginnings and Endings:

What are the two major parts of anything that people remember the most? The correct answer is the beginning and ending. In real life, people judge you the moment they first set eyes on you, before you even speak; and they remember you by your exit. In writing, the beginning of your post and your ending will have the most impact on the reader for they retain those two things better than everything in between. 

Make your opening statement something special, something memorable and pertinent to the post or to the timing. The opening should acclimate, or ease in the reader to the post, so don’t overload the theology in the first sentence. 

The ending should summarize everything you’ve said before it, bringing all the information to a single point. That point is what you are emphasizing, and what you want to be remembered.

Personalization:

I’ve saved the best for last. This is possibly the most important area of creating a post. If words without purpose are just groups of letters, a post without personalization is just information. Your post won’t make much of a difference if people don’t feel you in it. With all of the millions of bloggers in the world, what makes you any different? Why should anyone listen to anything you have to say? 

Because blogging is not so much about the information but about the people, if you make the post more like you, you’ll find that you’ll put more into it and your readers will get more out of it. Some fun ways to personalize blog posts are: opening comics strips, quotes or words to a song that means something to you, and standard closing statements: this is my favorite one. I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t have a standard closing statement, but I decided to have one because it gives a personability to the blog itself. It has a sense of security, like it will always be there, and it’s constant. It’s my signature, my trademark, something that everyone can identify as belonging to me. That’s why I like it so much, because it’s not about what it says, but that it’s always there.

Summary:

In closing, I hope you got something out of this. If you’re looking into starting a blog or enhancing and rethinking yours, remember that everything needs a purpose and every piece of a blog post is there for a reason. What will you be remembered by? 

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Movie Review Mechanics

I’ve been doing Movie Review Monday now for the past several months, and feel that I should more implicitly expound the process by which I review movies. There is an art and a system to my movie reviews. They’re not just cut-and-dry, spontaneous thoughts, contemplative comments about the film, but actually follow an algorithm of sorts.

Before I did my first movie review, I made sure that I had an established worldview. This is a critical factor in assessing a movie’s quality or message. I first need to select from what position I am viewing the movie, and then determine through which lens of perspective I will relate what I have seen.

My mind is a factory of thought, in many ways it is more intelligent than I am myself. I believe the mind may really and truly opperate apart from the human will. Although all of the human functions exist in symbiosis, and all under the force of human will, I believe each function has a will and a mind of its own, so to speak.

I’ve shared this information in many of my posts, but just to keep it fresh in your mind: the heart is an intelligent organ that operates much in the same way as the brain. The heart gives arbitrary commands to parts of the body, and they obey those commands and perform actions according to the will of the heart.

Thus, using the heart as an example, we see that the brain isn’t our only intelligent organ. Our spirit is another factor. Linked to our conscience, the spirit voices it’s opinions based upon what it feels is the best choice for the body. The mind, heart, and other factions also, in their separate functions, look out for their areas of influence and suggest the choices that make the most sense to them.

In this way, you see that our body is composed of free-thinking elements that subsist under a single force of power, the human will.

My mind is a force to be reckoned with: unruly and often times godless and immoral, I have a daily battle to affix my worldview. This entails exerting my force of will over that of my own mind. This is one of the reasons for which I stand by the doctrine of “Free Will”, as far as it pertains to the voluntary choices of men. 

Addendum:I do not in any way advocate that there is any possible means of losing your salvation. If God has saved you, you accepted His free gift of grace, there is nothing you can do to lose that.

I do believe that God gave man a freedom of will, we find evidence of this free will in the constant struggle of man against himself. The flesh is our enemy, and the spirit is our weapon. In order to defeat the enemy of us, we need to die daily to our own will. Then every faction of thought and decision making inside of us will relinquish their control to the Holy Spirit.

We have been given the will, the freedom to fight our own battles within, or to give up the gauntlet to God Almighty to wage war for us. These factors: that God doesn’t force Man to a fate, but rather that Man chooses according to God’s plan and will, are pivotal. The choice between here and eternity effects our decisions, but it doesn’t make them for us. If we were ultimately destined to a Heaven or a Hell, there would be no reason for our existance. Without the chance to accept or deny Christ, we have no viable reason for living.

Those who are chosen will, and the damned will not. That is the philosophy behind the doctrines opposing “Free Will”. Yes, God has total control at all times, but to say that judgement is dealt before the crimes is committed is heresy against the only Righteous Judge who is infallible.

We are given the choice, life or death, blessings or curses, self or Christ, the world or Heaven, and this choice is one that only we can make… This choice shapes our worldview. This choice shapes our world. 

Well, I took this post somewhere I had not intended to. I will likely return to the Movie Review Mechanics later on. Don’t mistake me, this knowledge and information is vital to shaping your worldview and how you view everything, including movies. Are we the robots of God, or are we His loving children who choose to love Him willingly? Sure, if He is our father, there is an expectation to love Him, but love is a voluntary action, we choose to love or not to love. It all comes down to a choice.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

How My Childhood Was Ruined By Focus On The Family

  No, I have no comic or verse today, for this post is not a normal post. It might feel a little bit different, but this is just me being me. 

INTRODUCTION: 

Hello readers, I’d like you to meet Focus on the Family. F.O.T.F was a childhood friend of mine and old schoolmate. F.O.T.F, these are my readers, excellent blokes, they have put up with my ramblings for quite some time. Here, I’ll let you two get more acquainted.

Well, as he said, I am Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization dedicated to making clean media and books for the entire family. With my movies, documentaries, books, magazines, and audio dramas I strive to bring the family together by teaching valuable lessons. What about you? What do you do for a living? … (That would be your turn to answer. Go on. Don’t be shy. Just be you).

What about your family, how many siblings do you have? …. Interesting. You seem like a very nice person, Jared is lucky to have you as a reader.

Well, I’m back. I know you’re probably wondering how Focus on the Family and I ever became friends in the first place. Well, it’s a bit of a long story, but my family has, for as long as I can recall, listened to an audio series called “Adventures In Odyssey”. This audio drama series has become a part of my life. With over 60 volumes of 12 or so episodes each, there is a nigh endless wealth of amusement for the long drives which my family has so often.

I have grown up with the series, with the characters. Alex Jefferson and Richard Maxwell were my heroes as a child; I loved it. As I grew older, I noticed the professional quality of the voice actors, many of which you would recognize from old Disney animated classics, “Fox and the Hound”, “Robin Hood”, “Bambi”, and so on. The talents of Will Ryan, Walker Edminston, Alan Young, Earl Boen, Dave Madden, Hal Smith, and Katie Leigh were what really brought this series to life.

Many of those names are big names in the voice-over world, Alan Young had is own television show and a tv series called “Mr. Ed”, about a talking horse. Hal Smith has hundreds of credits to his name, but notably he is Otis, the town drunk from “The Andy Griffith Show”. 

Many of these people were inspirations to me growing up, to have that voice, that inflection. Adventures In Odyssey was part of growing up, more than that, the stories the series told inspired my to write stories of my own. AIO was one of the first exposures I had to brilliant storytelling, I’m still pulling ideas from them that were used in stories from years back.

Up until two or three years ago, I could’ve said that Adventures In Odyssey was the best long running audio drama of all time… Up until two years ago. Then, like all long running series, the older voice actors began to die off and others moved out. The cycle used to be seamless, to add a character in place of another, or to transition one in and another out. Back then, you loved the characters for who they were and the fact that they were normal and believable. Many of them I thought were actual, real people and not just voices. 

Used to, the transitions weren’t forced. They didn’t used to have to explain themselves, why they were there and how they got there. It was always assumed that whoever came in had always been around just not heard from. Then, the producers took Odyssey down a politically correct track, adding a hispanic family, a politically correct world, and realistic world problems. They don’t get it. Odyssey was great because it was a world where we could get away from our problems, not one that just brought up our problems again so that we could be reminded of them.

The characters now are nearly completely different from the ones that were there just a few short years ago. They feel forced, awkward, plastic, and entirely stupid. The situations are ridiculous, the main spiritual character who used to be utterly outspoken about his beliefs, when faced with spiritual situations now laughs them off and dances around touchy subjects. 

The figures that kids used to look to for council, wisdom, or even just a laugh are now too confused and messed up with problems of their own to give good advice. The secrets that only the audience knew, the ones that made them feel important and added a suspense element to the series… Well, they’ve been exposed and destroyed. 

The epic characters have left, the funny characters have become stupid, the wise characters are now just old and weird. This is not what a good story looks like. To top it all off, they have now a main character who must’ve been born of the devil himself to destroy this inspirational series. A high-pitched, ultra-annoying half-wit character who has, in my opinion, singlehandedly wrecked what remained of the series intelligence levels. The seasoned actors voicing beloved characters try desperately to salvage some sensibility, but I fear the producers and scriptwriters have carried the show too far to save. 

There are times I wish they would make an episode where the town gets blown up and then end the series there. The way they have changed this beloved series has ruined my childhood. I feel like I have to lower my intelligence to listen to the episodes now. Plus, their target audience is younger children and pre-teens, most of their premises go over their heads completely… Marriage counseling? No 9 year old cares about marriage couseling, yet they destroy characters by putting them into these situations just for the content’s sake.

I say all of this with the utmost respect for what the series once was. I aim no hostility at the voice actors, it is the producers and scriptwriters who have let me down. I still listen to and enjoy the former episodes, they are still not outdated and I encourage you to look them up, you might really enjoy them.

CLOSING:

Okay, I’m done. I would like to encourage you, to learn from these innumerable mistakes. A story needs an ending, and I’m afraid AIO will never get one. The world of Odyssey has outlived its time and the producers refuse to accept that. Every step they take ruins its glorious history a little more. Your characters are one of the strongest appeals you have as a writer. Don’t compromise them for anyone’s sake and please, please do not acquiesce to political correctness even one inch.

The world of your story is one the reader escapes into to leave the troubles of their own. Don’t create a world that magnifies the problems the world is already facing.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Word Crimes

Hello, It’s me again.
If you haven’t noticed it yet, I’m not your ordinary, everyday, average Joe. I’m an analyst and a dreamer, infatuated by fantasy so much so that I mentally live in it.
When other children were staring off blankly during the sermons or falling asleep, as a young child I would be configuring real-time castle sieges. I don’t know why or how, but somehow I knew about those things even at a very tender age. I used to watch over the shoulders of my two older brothers as they played the old Age of Empires games; and perhaps that is where my medieval mind was developed.
I’m different. Some, may even call me strange, but I think precise may be a better word. I see things not often the way they are, but the way they should be. Being thus an analyst of life, little things bother me. The chief of these little things being word crimes.
Crimes like the improper usage of the contracted word “it’s”. For those of you who are not aware, contracted means that “it’s”, is actually two words: “it”, and “is”. Mind blowing, right? The apostrophe isn’t possessive! What will the think of next?
Thus, a phrase like: “The beast opened it’s jaws wide”, doesn’t mean that the jaws belonged to the beast. Rather, because “it’s” is conjunctive, it reads: “The beast opened it is jaws wide”, which is illiterate, if not ridiculous.

While I’m on the subject of ridiculous, newsflash: EMOJI IS NOT A LANGUAGE. The only valid excuse to write in emoji is that you are a 5-year-old who can’t spell real words. Emoji was initially invented as a means of appending a facial reaction to a text. The purpose was not to create a new language, but to portray sarcasm, joy, levity, sadness, etc… and being that it was more engaging than the simple colon, short dash, right parenthesis face, like so :-), it caught on rather quick. The point is to express through text what your face is saying, not to use pictures instead of words. Some people just don’t get it.

Let’s start at the beginning, these things that you see on the screen are called letters, they make up an alphabet with which we create words. Note: C, U, R, B is not something by the side of a road, it is the 4 don’ts of literacy. C, U, R, and B are not words, they are letters, simply because when sounded out, they make the same sounds as the words: see, you, are, and be doesn’t make them proper nomenclature.

I hit this hard because I am an analyst. I am also a writer, so these little things bother me; and if you are planning on becoming a professional, or at the very least a competent write, these illiteracy hazards will not aid your efforts. One of the worst things a professing writer can do is to present work with incorrect grammar, syntax, and usage. Now, mistakes happen to us all, but you represent your work. I’ll talk more about that another time, but it is important for you to put forth your best effort possible as it is a reflection of your skill and adeptness.

Bottom line: don’t commit word crimes or you’ll be put under literary arrest. Weird Al Yankovic has a great video on Vevo about this, you can click here to see that.

As always, thanks for reading, and stay legal.

Facebook: @JaredAllen

Twitter: @EJaredAllen

Instagram: @ejaredallen

—the anonymous novelist

 

Blogging For Beginners

  
I know most of my followers are fellow bloggers; big shoutout to all of you. But, if you’re thinking of starting a blog the first thing you need is something to say. 

The ultimate purpose of a self-oriented blog is to promote yourself to others. True, a blog is a mode of expressing your ideas, but it is also a place of fantasy where you can escape. Because it is writing, you cannot see me, thus I can be whatever I want to be.

Technically, I could say anything I wish to about myself and most of you wouldn’t know the difference, that’s just beauty of blogging. Taking a few cues from Jon Arbuckle here, I’d like to impress you with my accomplishments.

1. I made my first million before I turned 12.
2. George Lucas based the character of Yoda after me.
3. I have a pet flying monkey.
4. I can speak twelve languages simultaneously.
5. I invented nuclear fusion.

See what I mean? Anything and everything is acceptable in this fantasy blog world.

 Yep, I’ve been there. When you run out of ideas, make stuff up. A blog is not supposed to be a job, unless you’re Matt Walsh or somebody. It’s not work, it’s a hobby, a pastime. 

I find it odd that the word “pastime”, a conjunction of the words, “pass” and “time” is not spelled with a double “s”. Separately, the words “pass” and “time” mean the passing of time or the engaging in a task that makes time seem to move faster. In the word “pastime”, the words “pas” and “time” mean “not time” or “no time”: pas being the French word for time and time being the English word for-, well… Time. The two meanings then are completely opposite. Do you not find that a little odd?  Anyway, since a blog is just for fun, it shouldn’t matter whether people appreciate the work with likes and whatnot. If you did the post because you wanted to, you should need no other gratification. It’s just you being you, and that’s enough. You don’t have to be something that you’re not; be yourself whatever you do.

Dissapointment is something all artists face. When we pour our souls into the art and don’t get the feedback or love that we expected, it’s dissapointing. So, I encourage you to make your work about something bigger than just you. God is a good place to start if you’re a Christian. If you are not, make your posts be about the good in the world, tie them into some great goal of morality or peace. Make it count.

 Lastly, if you started the blog for you, write about you. I know for Christians we think it always need to be focused on God. But, the topic of your blog doesn’t change whether or not you are a Christian. The world will know us by our love. In other words: let Christ shine through you, then everything that is about you will be about Him. 

And don’t be afraid of what people might think or say. A blog is a fantasy world to do with as you please. I just like keeping it real every once in a while. 🙂

As always, thanks for reading and find away to see the fun in life. 🙂

—the anonymous novelist

Fantasy Or Allegory

What’s the difference? That’s the big question. Where do we find distinction between fantasy and allegory? They seem to be used in conjunction if not interchangeably. Well, contrasted to how the words are used, their meanings can not even be obscured to mean the same or similar things.

FANTASY:

The faculty of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable.

ALLEGORY:

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to revealed a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

There we have as clear and plain a distinction as ever I have seen. You can see that neither fantasy nor allegory is a genre, but more like a toolbox of materials to be used upon and in a genre. Like I said a while back in my post “Fantasy: Good Or Evil“:

Fantasy is the great magnet of writing; wherever it is concerned it transforms the genre completely.

What do you know? I believe that was a direct quote, those hardly ever happen. Moving on, fantasy is not like allegory in that it is capable of converting an entire story with a few choice words of myth and method. That puts fantasy on a larger scale than allegory and we can think of it as being the bigger of two objects. Say that fantasy is a large sponge and allegory is a small cup. 

By comparison the cup is much smaller than the sponge, so we consider the sponge greater. However, with enough squeezing and pushing, the sponge will fit in the small cup because it is more flexible. Fantasy is broad and absorbitant, yet it can be reduced and fitted into the allegory category. You’ve probably read a Fantasy/Allegory novel at one time or another. “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C. S. Lewis is a good for instance in Fantasy/Allegory. In the series Lewis portrays the character of Aslan the Lion as God, he even has him sacrifice his life for the guilty as Jesus did on the cross. Allegory is a picture of something else, something real.

Yet fantasy, in order to fit in the category of allegory, has to empty itself of nearly all of its contents like a sponge would do to fit in a small cup. A lot of the quality is lost from the fantasy when it is made to pattern or outline real events or people. Both fantasy and allegory are useful tools in telling a story, they can coincide to a degree but the quality of one or the other may suffer because of it. The greater of the two is allegory just for the sheer depth and power over other elements it posses, but fantasy still retains a larger realm of influence among genres and it shall always be so.

Remember these are tools to be used in the telling of a story for the reader’s enjoyment, to compliment the plot and message, and above all, to bring glory to God. That’s where allegory comes in handy. For with allegory, a glimpse of God may be input into fantasy. Allegory opens the door for a supernatural God to step into a world made to mirror and magnify His glory. The hand in hand conbination of fantasy and allegory is like a million spotlights all pointed to a stage upon which stands the theme, the message, the focal point of the story: this should always be Love, and the love of God.

So, the question began and the question remains: fantasy or allegory? I say yes.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it. Like, follow, leave a comment, let me know what you think, and follow me on social.

Twitter: @EJaredAllen

Instagram: @ejaredallen

—the anonymous novelist

Immortal Writing- Concept and Conflict

DAILY COMIC:  

A vile imagination, once indulged, gets the key of our minds, and can get in again very easily, whether we will or no, and can so return as to bring seven other spirits with it more wicked than itself; and what may follow no one know.

-Charles H. Spurgeon

While I’m still in the mindset of brilliant minds of the past, I thought I’d employ some quotes of great philosophers and theologians to emphasize the point of this post.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
-Genesis 6:5

Imagination is of the heart, now we’ve been through all of the rigamoral of the heart and its evil nature. I’ll not dive into it all over again, suffice it to say: the heart is decieteful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it? The heart is the throneroom of our soul. Jesus comes to live in our hearts because He wants to save our souls from spiritual siege.

LESSON: 

And we return with yet another episode of Imortal Writing, how to write good fantasy in a way that spans the pages of time. Fantasy is imagination, it exists inside of our minds and hearts, so how do we define imagination?

If the imagination is of the heart and not the mind, does that make it evil? Since the heart is evil, always seeking after its own, how can its imaginations, its imaginings be any different? In reference to the quote from Spurgeon in the opening of this post: Spurgeon was not a philosopher, he was a theologian; ology- meaning the study of, and theos- meaning God, Spurgeon was a student of theology and therefore a studier of God. And if studier is not a legitimate word, it should be, it is the most concise way to say what I mean.

I could preach several sermons on words and their faults, but not today. Today is a day for imagination: the institution by which all concepts are derived. 

CONCEPT:

Concept is the most basic starting point of an idea. A concept is a vague outline of a idea. Like the outline or skeleton of a story, a concept is the conjugation of many thoughts pulled together as if by magnet to form a singular idea. Every theory begins with a concept, every story begins with a concept, every character, every plot, every outline, every world, every sentence begins with a concept. And concept are generated and progressed faster than we can even imagine.

Wow, did I just make the statement that concepts are faster than imagination? Don’t we use our imagination to form fantasy concepts? True. But without a concept of what imagination even is, how can you work inside of it at all. Concept is the basest, most powerful item our mind possess in terms of thought and comprehension.

So, everything begins with concept, in life, in writing, everything begins with concept. 

CONFLICT:

Hand in hand with concept, conflict is essential to a story. In fact, I’d venture to say that there is no story without conflict of some kind. Conflict is the groundwork of the story, the apex, the thing from which everything else circles.

Think of a story as the solar system. Alright, now put conflict as the sun, in the direct center, then have the planets rotating around it on different orbits, at times we see some planets nearer to the conflict and at other times farther away, but they all orbit the conflict.

  
Something like that is what a story solar system should look like, and fantasy is not the only thing that can go in that outer circle, really, your genre should go in that circle. There is an added planet for romance should the solar system deem it necessary to the story.

But, you can see how even in this rough representation, storyline is the constistent closest planet to conflict. Almost always it is right beside conflict in its orbit, but when it is farther away, character planet comes right alongside conflict to compensate. Everything works out to keep the solar system, the fantasy universe in perfect balance.

CLOSING:
  

Imagination rules the world.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

But what you do with the world once you have it is what makes your story worth reading. Use your imagination, rule the world. Write your story, change someone’s perspective on life. Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Story Progression

 DAILY COMIC: 
VERSE OF THE DAY:

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
–Philippians 4:19 

This verse is especially pertinate to my writing currently, as some very dear friends of mine recently purchased a computer for me as a gift. After my laptop was stolen in San Deigo, California two years ago I became extremely limited in what I was able to do in relation to writing, web coding, and graphic designing as well as several other important things that I did for the ministry. For those two years I had been getting by with using my phone or a shared laptop for what was needed, but had very little oprotunity to progress my future.

I could not write with the liberty and ease that I had been, and research for my other interests was non-existent. So, timely, and very much a need that God has provided for me through His servants is a laptop. I am grateful beyond words for their investment into my future and God’s purpose for my life, whatever it may be.

INTRODUCTION:

Well, I want to talk about story progression. Really, story progression simply means the moving foreward of a story. If you are a writer or have ever atempted to write a story, this is one of the trials you face. How to move it foreward, how to conceptualize it. A story progression is the envisioning, the skeletizing, (that is a word, I made it up), and the construction of the story.

LESSON:

Story progression, in my opinion is best done in a large group setting. Much like you would brainstorm for a school project, brainstorming a story is easier when many minds are set upon it. Like it says in the scriptures: there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. The progression is more than just the moving of the story and creating the ideas for the next part, story progression is the process of bringing your story to life. It takes many mouths, many brains, and many hours to create a masterpiece, and that is what every writer should strive for.

More than just the stories we write, it is the stories of our lives that we progress. It takes many many mouths, many minds, and many hours to create a masterpiece, and that is what every Christian should strive for. To the stories of our lives we should devote our best ideas, best plans, and best abilities to create the best possible future we can. But, as in story progression, we need to seek the council and advice of others and ultimately God if we are to write the story of our life with the wisdom and skill to make it great.

The majority of my stories have undergone development and progression with a very special friend of mine, Stephen Dodd, who is in my opinion the most brilliant mind of our generation. Our families have known each other since before we both were born. We have in a way grown up together; as my family traveled, his would follow us, moving their own home base to states we visited frequently. Eventually both families came to rest within 30 miles of each other, his in Springfield, MO, and mine in Branson.

For years we have undergone story progression with one another, developing our skills, forging characters and stories, plots and ideas, but overall just having fun. When you make your work fun, it gets done more quickly and is a better product for it. However, it does help to not consider it work to begin with.

I never thought of my writing as work, though it may become that some day, it has always been a part of me. Something I just do, I don’t have to make myself do it, I don’t even have to conciously decide to on most days. It’s an instant reaction to information to want to write it down and record it.

All of these elements are key to good and painless story pro. To have a mind for the task, to have a friend to help in the task, and to absorb information with the the intent of imputing it to the task is what story pro is all about. Story progression, whether that of our lives or of writing takes concious decisions and choices on our part. It also requires more than just us to work properly.

For your writing projects and stories, blogs on writing are a good starting point in stimulating ideas for story pro. Also, it’s good to have a bounce point, a person or group that you can bounce ideas off of. I’d love to discuss ideas with you and answer any questions you may have about writing. We all need a little help every now and again with our stories.

CLOSING:

So, I guess my question is to you: what kind of story are you writing? What methods are you using in the making of the story of you? What do you want your life to be? Aim for it, plan for it, consult others, consult God, and if everything falls through and you screw it all up… Well, you can always start a blog.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

A Lesson In Latin

  
I think it is about time I had some sort of standardized format for these posts. Up ’til this point, I have been haphazardly throwing posts together, not particularly having a set layout. I’m thinking that now is as good a time as any to change that, starting with an official daily comic.

This new feature will have absolutely no significance to the content of the post whatsoever, but will hopefully make you smile. Also, I’m incorporating a verse of the day, this will have everything to do with the content of the post. Living everyday with a theme and goal should involve scripture, and I hope this blog will begin to incorporate that goal more substantially.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 

-1Timothy 1:5

Three words jump out of this passage right off the bat: charity, conscience, and unfeigned. These are big words with big meanings, which brings us to the reason for the name of this post: Latin.

INTRODUCTION:

Most people do not realize it, but nearly every major language spoken today can be traced back to Latin or Greek. Spanish, English, French, and Italian are well known for sharing the same roots and many of the same words with each other; that is because they all had a common ancestor: Latin. For this reason as well as many others, it is important for every learned person, especially those whose occupations involve words and phrases, to have at least a base knowledge of Latin.

A rudemintary knowledge of Latin can be of unmeasured help when trying to decide the meanings of words. For instance, the English word peruse is composed of two words, the Latin word per, meaning “many”, and the Latin word use, meaning “times used”. Now, in the world we are familiar with, the word peruse is becoming somewhat archaic and antiquated, so much so that it has lost its meaning. If you have heard or seen it used recently, doubtless it meant “to glance over or browse”. In a sentence: “the man perused his newspaper”, we would take that to mean that he scanned his newspaper briefly.

However, clearly the Latin roots spell the word out to mean many uses, or a detailed examination. Our words and their meanings have become blurred, yet, still we can trace many if not most of our words back to Latin. The words Audio, (to hear), and Video, (to see), are actual Latin words, we have done nothing to them, yet we use them frequently in our English language. 

LESSON: 

Now, with that rousing introduction let’s start our lesson in Latin. 

1. Every Latin word is made up of three key parts, the Antepenult, Penultima, and the Ultima.

2. Each of these three define different attributes of the word; for example: A-mar-e. 

The word amare means love, more precisely it means to love, a present active infinitive. The word, like all Latin words, is separated into three sections. The first section, the Ultima–Latin works from back to front– defines the person. The Penultima, or the second section, defines the tense. The third, the Atepenult, defines the aspect of quality of action. To understand part of a word you must first see a conjugation.

The most popular of all Latin conjugations, (meaning the connection between things, in this case, words), is the following conjugation of the root word: Amo.

Amo: I love

Amas: You love

Amat: He, She, or It loves

Amamus: We love 

Amaris: You, (plural), love

Amant: They love

As you can see, by changing the end of the word, the meaning changes also; and these endings are universal, they can be moved and placed on any root word and conform its meaning.

Understanding these endings and the conjugation helps build a retention and knowledge of Latin in your mind, however, it is not very applicable by itself unless you wish to study Latin outright.

What is important is roots. From the Latin roots you discern the meaning of any word we now use today that hasn’t been created for crass or flippant usage.

Click here to read an arrival on Greek and Latin root words that gives examples of the usage of these roots in everyday conversation. Though, Greek is as much a basis for our language as Latin, I believe that Latin is a closer translation and therefore easier to deduce the meanings of words based upon its reference.

CLOSING:

Well, I hope this has been educational if nothing else, I enjoyed writing it, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist