Haunted
by Scrivener Blooms
Every night I feel it,
The tickle of your breath -
rising and falling rising and falling
- and the caress of your hooves,
Yet you aren't always there.
I see you sometimes,
Like a shadow in the dark -
light bright burn through the night
- a wisp that leads my eyes on,
And yet then simply gone.
I can taste your kiss,
When I remember how our lips met -
lavender sugar spice and tart
- and our mouths work like lovers,
Breathing each other, then parting.
I almost feel your touch,
That caress, so gentle and soft -
like angels wishes and memory
- as it strokes along my spine,
Electing chills beneath my reality.
Where are you, my soul,
Iridescent and eternal and so -
free proud strong alive safe
- always there and yet gone,
Forever hewn, yet at my side.
Friday 29 March 2013
Friday 22 March 2013
Culture Shock
Okay, okay. Luna says I've been slacking so I'm going to do a more serious post today about writing and... stuff. One that might actually be helpful.
Big shock, I know.
Today's focus is going to be about beliefs and culture in writing. In many ways this all contributes to background and stuff, and it's something that will also go towards forming your characters and in a subtle way, the plot of the story. Believe me, ponies up north would react a lot differently than ponies from the far south to things. So let's uh... start with this topic, lay a few ideas out, and see what happens.
One good thing to start with is not to write your own personal beliefs into the characters. One or two, yes, but try and keep in mind precisely who and what you're writing about, and think about things from their viewpoint. And don't let your personal beliefs intrude into the story too much here and there: say for example that you don't like swearing. Depending on the story and the characters, it might not be entirely feasible to cut out all the bad words that might be said just in the course of a normal conversation.
And that leads into another important idea. Write opposing viewpoints when you can, and characters who don't just act as foils to each other - you know, play off each other and help make different characteristics of themselves stand out - but also who conflict, even if subtly. Or hell, maybe they just have very different views on the world: either way, it'll help add another layer of depth to the overall story. After all, we often do tend to gravitate towards other people who share the same viewpoints as ourselves, but we almost always have friends, family, or just people around us who have at least one or two conflicting ideas/quirks.
It's also a good idea to use your writing to explore different concepts, as long as you keep one thing in mind: be fair. Even if an idea is vile, or something you violently disagree with, try and be as fair as possible with its presentation: particularly if the character or entity putting it forwards is presenting it. Remember, how many bad guys actually think they're bad guys, after all? Furthermore, how many would distinguish between 'doing bad things because' and 'I am a bad person...' not to mention what we'll call the line of actual belief. Lots of people talk tough or say they're quote-unquote 'evil:' how many really believe it and really would be willing to live under that shadow, given the choice?
Believe me. It's harder than a lot of people realize.
Anyway, let's look at this, and bring up an example. Mr.... Stally Stallion has a reprehensible opinion about mares. Well, that doesn't automatically mean he has to be some giant dumb brute lummox. I've known lots of ponies with horrible opinions about mares: many of them didn't even realize they had horrible opinions about mares, too. If something works its way into your system of beliefs, it's normal for you, after all, and the surprise only comes when someone tries to tell you the opposite: for example, maybe Stally Stallion has been raised to believe that mares can only cook, clean and waitress.
Luna can't do any of those things, by the way.
So Stally Stallion finds himself confused and maybe feels like someone's joking when he meets... uh... a mare engineer. A rude mare engineer, because one just recently moved into Ponyville. When he tells her that he doesn't believe she's actually a mechanic or whatnot, in his mind, he's not being rude: he thinks that he's the victim of a joke or this is some impossible, exotic occurrence. Now this is where the stupidity level kicks in: generally, people who are smarter but prejudiced become wary, make assumptions, and study whatever has just kicked their world view. People with less intelligence - or just less tact - tend to start trying to "reason out" what they're seeing and usually conclude something particularly offensive, or try and argue with said pony.
If you want to do justice to a character, then you have to present even the ones with the most vile of views as... well, not necessarily as sympathetic, but in a way that makes them seem like they honestly believe this is how the world works. Yes, there are vile people with vile views out there. There are also vile people with good views, and good people with vile views. Or, even simpler, people who you personally may disagree with, but still like the person, and vice versa.
If you're serious about writing it from their angle, or trying to present unfriendly or less-than-common views, I recommend reading into it from the viewpoints of said ponies. It's hard to do, yeah, but it's worth it. And it not only helps you build up a better knowledge and tolerance of whatever makes you feel uncomfortable, it helps you sharpen your mind and even find ways to argue with it. So really, it's a win-win. And it's just good to do, to help yourself remember... there's a whole world of different viewpoints out there.
The last thing I want to talk about is not to be offended if someone reads what you write, and makes all kinds of assumptions about you from it, good or bad. I mean, I've written some pretty nasty stuff, from some particularly toxic viewpoints. And sometimes that comes back to bite me in the ass, yes. But you know - and this'll be weird coming from me - ponies aren't always so bad about it. Sometimes all you have to do in response to some long, drawn out rant is say: "I don't believe or condone that myself, but it was important for the character." Or something along that line.
Don't say: "Yes, clearly I'm a firm believer in eating babies. I eat babies every single day. There's nothing better than eating babies." Because even if they know you're being sarcastic it really tends to piss them off even more and then they might punch you.
Just because you write about something doesn't mean you condone it or encourage it, remember that. And most people will recognize that, even if you try and write it in the most warped positive light you can. So try not to worry about that too much, or go and present something uncomfortable from a purposefully-uncomfortable viewpoint just because you're afraid of offending people. Try to stay true to the culture and ideas of the character you're presenting. Believe me, it'll make the impact that much stronger, and improve your own writing by that much more. Your writing may often end up reflecting you, but that doesn't mean every little idea represents you, or you have to use wholly your own viewpoints for every little bit. Use it as a tool to learn, to grow, and just to explore things you might normally not. It'll be worth it.
~Scrivener Blooms
Big shock, I know.
Today's focus is going to be about beliefs and culture in writing. In many ways this all contributes to background and stuff, and it's something that will also go towards forming your characters and in a subtle way, the plot of the story. Believe me, ponies up north would react a lot differently than ponies from the far south to things. So let's uh... start with this topic, lay a few ideas out, and see what happens.
One good thing to start with is not to write your own personal beliefs into the characters. One or two, yes, but try and keep in mind precisely who and what you're writing about, and think about things from their viewpoint. And don't let your personal beliefs intrude into the story too much here and there: say for example that you don't like swearing. Depending on the story and the characters, it might not be entirely feasible to cut out all the bad words that might be said just in the course of a normal conversation.
And that leads into another important idea. Write opposing viewpoints when you can, and characters who don't just act as foils to each other - you know, play off each other and help make different characteristics of themselves stand out - but also who conflict, even if subtly. Or hell, maybe they just have very different views on the world: either way, it'll help add another layer of depth to the overall story. After all, we often do tend to gravitate towards other people who share the same viewpoints as ourselves, but we almost always have friends, family, or just people around us who have at least one or two conflicting ideas/quirks.
It's also a good idea to use your writing to explore different concepts, as long as you keep one thing in mind: be fair. Even if an idea is vile, or something you violently disagree with, try and be as fair as possible with its presentation: particularly if the character or entity putting it forwards is presenting it. Remember, how many bad guys actually think they're bad guys, after all? Furthermore, how many would distinguish between 'doing bad things because' and 'I am a bad person...' not to mention what we'll call the line of actual belief. Lots of people talk tough or say they're quote-unquote 'evil:' how many really believe it and really would be willing to live under that shadow, given the choice?
Believe me. It's harder than a lot of people realize.
Anyway, let's look at this, and bring up an example. Mr.... Stally Stallion has a reprehensible opinion about mares. Well, that doesn't automatically mean he has to be some giant dumb brute lummox. I've known lots of ponies with horrible opinions about mares: many of them didn't even realize they had horrible opinions about mares, too. If something works its way into your system of beliefs, it's normal for you, after all, and the surprise only comes when someone tries to tell you the opposite: for example, maybe Stally Stallion has been raised to believe that mares can only cook, clean and waitress.
Luna can't do any of those things, by the way.
So Stally Stallion finds himself confused and maybe feels like someone's joking when he meets... uh... a mare engineer. A rude mare engineer, because one just recently moved into Ponyville. When he tells her that he doesn't believe she's actually a mechanic or whatnot, in his mind, he's not being rude: he thinks that he's the victim of a joke or this is some impossible, exotic occurrence. Now this is where the stupidity level kicks in: generally, people who are smarter but prejudiced become wary, make assumptions, and study whatever has just kicked their world view. People with less intelligence - or just less tact - tend to start trying to "reason out" what they're seeing and usually conclude something particularly offensive, or try and argue with said pony.
If you want to do justice to a character, then you have to present even the ones with the most vile of views as... well, not necessarily as sympathetic, but in a way that makes them seem like they honestly believe this is how the world works. Yes, there are vile people with vile views out there. There are also vile people with good views, and good people with vile views. Or, even simpler, people who you personally may disagree with, but still like the person, and vice versa.
If you're serious about writing it from their angle, or trying to present unfriendly or less-than-common views, I recommend reading into it from the viewpoints of said ponies. It's hard to do, yeah, but it's worth it. And it not only helps you build up a better knowledge and tolerance of whatever makes you feel uncomfortable, it helps you sharpen your mind and even find ways to argue with it. So really, it's a win-win. And it's just good to do, to help yourself remember... there's a whole world of different viewpoints out there.
The last thing I want to talk about is not to be offended if someone reads what you write, and makes all kinds of assumptions about you from it, good or bad. I mean, I've written some pretty nasty stuff, from some particularly toxic viewpoints. And sometimes that comes back to bite me in the ass, yes. But you know - and this'll be weird coming from me - ponies aren't always so bad about it. Sometimes all you have to do in response to some long, drawn out rant is say: "I don't believe or condone that myself, but it was important for the character." Or something along that line.
Don't say: "Yes, clearly I'm a firm believer in eating babies. I eat babies every single day. There's nothing better than eating babies." Because even if they know you're being sarcastic it really tends to piss them off even more and then they might punch you.
Just because you write about something doesn't mean you condone it or encourage it, remember that. And most people will recognize that, even if you try and write it in the most warped positive light you can. So try not to worry about that too much, or go and present something uncomfortable from a purposefully-uncomfortable viewpoint just because you're afraid of offending people. Try to stay true to the culture and ideas of the character you're presenting. Believe me, it'll make the impact that much stronger, and improve your own writing by that much more. Your writing may often end up reflecting you, but that doesn't mean every little idea represents you, or you have to use wholly your own viewpoints for every little bit. Use it as a tool to learn, to grow, and just to explore things you might normally not. It'll be worth it.
~Scrivener Blooms
Friday 15 March 2013
Thorn-In-Hoof Words
As a writer, you're going to develop certain tendencies, and a kind of awkward relationship with your own writing and moreover, the language(s) you write in. Well. Tendencies, maybe, is a gentle way to put it. Eccentricities. Ticks. Things. If you've been writing for any long period of time you'll know what I'm talking about, I'm sure.
One of these things is love for certain words and a uh... hatred for certain other words. And I mean hatred. Utter apathetic loathing. Really definitely not-at-all liking. I mean, seriously, you'll find that you're going to very literally absolutely just hate some words. Like. You will go to great, amazing lengths to avoid using them. And when you do use them, you'll reserve them for very, very, very specific situations.
I'm. I'm completely sure I'm not the only writer who does this, even if I'm the only writer who'll ever admit to doing this.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, either. With writing, consistency is... basically everything. It's when you're not consistent that your writing really starts to look messy as hell. If you consistently avoid certain words except for certain instances it'll also help instantly clarify a situation in writing. People have a tendency to naturally recognize patterns like that, whether it's conscious or subconscious. You can actually use that to your advantage... you know, so long as you're aware of what words you're avoiding, and can swallow back the frustration of working with them.
It only becomes problematic if you can't work out a synonym and are refusing to use a word on pure principle. But there's only about one percent of the time where that will actually occur, so... you know. Feel free to hate on words all the same. But try and remember they're just words, and they all have their uses. They're not actually teeth gnawing at your brain or thorns in your hooves, even if they can feel like that at times. And besides. Sometimes writing is about the pain. Sometimes the best writing comes when you do the stuff you hate doing, and push through the moments of absolute suck.
~Scrivener Blooms
One of these things is love for certain words and a uh... hatred for certain other words. And I mean hatred. Utter apathetic loathing. Really definitely not-at-all liking. I mean, seriously, you'll find that you're going to very literally absolutely just hate some words. Like. You will go to great, amazing lengths to avoid using them. And when you do use them, you'll reserve them for very, very, very specific situations.
I'm. I'm completely sure I'm not the only writer who does this, even if I'm the only writer who'll ever admit to doing this.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, either. With writing, consistency is... basically everything. It's when you're not consistent that your writing really starts to look messy as hell. If you consistently avoid certain words except for certain instances it'll also help instantly clarify a situation in writing. People have a tendency to naturally recognize patterns like that, whether it's conscious or subconscious. You can actually use that to your advantage... you know, so long as you're aware of what words you're avoiding, and can swallow back the frustration of working with them.
It only becomes problematic if you can't work out a synonym and are refusing to use a word on pure principle. But there's only about one percent of the time where that will actually occur, so... you know. Feel free to hate on words all the same. But try and remember they're just words, and they all have their uses. They're not actually teeth gnawing at your brain or thorns in your hooves, even if they can feel like that at times. And besides. Sometimes writing is about the pain. Sometimes the best writing comes when you do the stuff you hate doing, and push through the moments of absolute suck.
~Scrivener Blooms
Friday 8 March 2013
Much Ado About Research
Research is admittedly one of the suck parts about writing, but... well, it also is necessary. There's a few different ways to research any given topic, but the main two are through actual observation - which can be awkward, some ponies really don't like when you stare at them all day while jotting down notes about them and may call the police on you... not... not that that's ever happened to me or anything... - and through hard research. You know, textbooks, studies, papers, all that stuff.
Yes, it is possible to pretty much make up whatever the hell you want as you go, and get away with most of it. And yes, even if you research every last little detail, someone out there is going to scoff 'no, you're wrong, that's not what we do here at all.' The last, of course, also depends on the field you're researching. Coffee donut guy is going to be a little less defensive about defending the sanctity of his institution than brainshrink guy or lawyer guy or Horses of Heaven forbid priest guy.
Once while spying on a caretaker for the Canterlot cemetery, I saw the guy pop up a nearby loose tombstone and use that to hold the gates open while moving some gardening equipment inside. He did that pretty regularly, even around the other employees, none of whom really seemed to take an issue with it. But see, no one's going to tell you that they're using old Mr. Fizzle's grave marker to hold a door open because it's nice and loose anyway.
Okay, not a perfect example. More just a quirk. But you get the idea, yeah? Some stuff you really can just make up and toss out. And of course, depending on what kind of story you're writing, other stuff is possible to fiddle with too. Physics don't always have to be perfect, you can write about miraculous survivals, you can fudge the facts about myth and monster. As a matter of fact, the last is often actually something important to remember: if you're writing a story about say... the Nightmares of Melinda the Sky Witch, then you probably want to fudge some of the facts or use a different interpretation for phrases like "daggers of the holly branch" than simple thorns: maybe they can only be killed by wooden stakes or something, I dunno. It all depends on the kind of story you're writing.
What I'm saying is this. Be true to your story, but if that means you have to concoct some weird quibble or change the research text a little... do so. Most of the time, that's the better idea to do than to reconstruct a story completely around one element, because chances are someone's going to complain anyway about it. Because I mean, I myself can point out about three different interpretations of what that line up there about Melinda's Nightmares actually refer to, and one of them doesn't even include holly, wood, branches, or weapons of any sort, but a really crazy complex metaphor that if it wasn't suggested by some old literary genius would have been completely discarded as nonsense.
But I am also saying research. Even if you do research and then decide to never use any of that stuff in your story, just having done it can help lend a sense of authority to your writing, and gives you something to fall back on and fill in any gaps. Like how sometimes emotions bleed through in writing, you can get a sense of just how much someone actually knows what they're talking about as well, usually hidden in the more-subtle details... although of course, yes, if you went and made Melinda's Nightmares into say... Hellhounds, you better have a damn good reason to and a way to pull it off.
So uh... research. Even if you aren't going to use any of it, get into the habit of researching. And remember that research is a tool to help you, not constrain you or force you to follow this specific, exact premise. It's a tool to help improve the quality and the strength of your writing, but you should always bear in mind it's fine to bend and twist things to your specific needs for the story. Because ponies tend to do whatever they want anyway, and there's a hundred odd versions of every popular myth out there, too.
And one day we'll all be the crazy legends no one knows the real story behind, and ponies'll be writing all about our society and all the crazy things we've seen. That'd be funny, huh? Stories about Equestria. I wonder what they'll end up saying about Celestia and Luna.
Luna says I have to write a book now and bury it somewhere for future archaeologists to find. And it has to be full of lies and stupidity. This is a great example of why I say research is great and should be done but also handled with caution. After all, you never know: we might all be the victims of some grand literary prank. Who knows, maybe in the future they'll think we all solve our problems by singing and dancing around together and that we were always happy all the time.
~Scrivener Blooms
Yes, it is possible to pretty much make up whatever the hell you want as you go, and get away with most of it. And yes, even if you research every last little detail, someone out there is going to scoff 'no, you're wrong, that's not what we do here at all.' The last, of course, also depends on the field you're researching. Coffee donut guy is going to be a little less defensive about defending the sanctity of his institution than brainshrink guy or lawyer guy or Horses of Heaven forbid priest guy.
Once while spying on a caretaker for the Canterlot cemetery, I saw the guy pop up a nearby loose tombstone and use that to hold the gates open while moving some gardening equipment inside. He did that pretty regularly, even around the other employees, none of whom really seemed to take an issue with it. But see, no one's going to tell you that they're using old Mr. Fizzle's grave marker to hold a door open because it's nice and loose anyway.
Okay, not a perfect example. More just a quirk. But you get the idea, yeah? Some stuff you really can just make up and toss out. And of course, depending on what kind of story you're writing, other stuff is possible to fiddle with too. Physics don't always have to be perfect, you can write about miraculous survivals, you can fudge the facts about myth and monster. As a matter of fact, the last is often actually something important to remember: if you're writing a story about say... the Nightmares of Melinda the Sky Witch, then you probably want to fudge some of the facts or use a different interpretation for phrases like "daggers of the holly branch" than simple thorns: maybe they can only be killed by wooden stakes or something, I dunno. It all depends on the kind of story you're writing.
What I'm saying is this. Be true to your story, but if that means you have to concoct some weird quibble or change the research text a little... do so. Most of the time, that's the better idea to do than to reconstruct a story completely around one element, because chances are someone's going to complain anyway about it. Because I mean, I myself can point out about three different interpretations of what that line up there about Melinda's Nightmares actually refer to, and one of them doesn't even include holly, wood, branches, or weapons of any sort, but a really crazy complex metaphor that if it wasn't suggested by some old literary genius would have been completely discarded as nonsense.
But I am also saying research. Even if you do research and then decide to never use any of that stuff in your story, just having done it can help lend a sense of authority to your writing, and gives you something to fall back on and fill in any gaps. Like how sometimes emotions bleed through in writing, you can get a sense of just how much someone actually knows what they're talking about as well, usually hidden in the more-subtle details... although of course, yes, if you went and made Melinda's Nightmares into say... Hellhounds, you better have a damn good reason to and a way to pull it off.
So uh... research. Even if you aren't going to use any of it, get into the habit of researching. And remember that research is a tool to help you, not constrain you or force you to follow this specific, exact premise. It's a tool to help improve the quality and the strength of your writing, but you should always bear in mind it's fine to bend and twist things to your specific needs for the story. Because ponies tend to do whatever they want anyway, and there's a hundred odd versions of every popular myth out there, too.
And one day we'll all be the crazy legends no one knows the real story behind, and ponies'll be writing all about our society and all the crazy things we've seen. That'd be funny, huh? Stories about Equestria. I wonder what they'll end up saying about Celestia and Luna.
Luna says I have to write a book now and bury it somewhere for future archaeologists to find. And it has to be full of lies and stupidity. This is a great example of why I say research is great and should be done but also handled with caution. After all, you never know: we might all be the victims of some grand literary prank. Who knows, maybe in the future they'll think we all solve our problems by singing and dancing around together and that we were always happy all the time.
~Scrivener Blooms
Saturday 2 March 2013
Horseapples!
Yesterday threw me off. I can't even seem to stick to a normal schedule, can I? But let's see what I can think about to talk about to... oh, yes. This is a fun one.
Swearing in writing.
Yes, it has a point. Yes, it's very possible to go completely overboard. No, because there are 'naughty words' doesn't automatically make it bad writing. Yes, sometimes it can make you uncomfortable. Yes, sometimes it's supposed to make you uncomfortable. No, that doesn't make it bad writing. Sometimes the entire point is actually that it's supposed to make it hard to read, but I don't want to get into that. That's really better saved for another post.
Swearing and nasty language and Luna-words can be classified under several different things. The most common categories are 'I'm trying to look edgy or cool or tough and I think adding a swear every two words helps that image' and 'aggressive rhetoric.' I'm going to stick with aggressive rhetoric for this post. But I could really easily do the later. You don't goddamn think I couldn't frigging do the motherbucking latter if I wanted to? Well apparently I can't because it hurts my head just to read that mangled sentence. Balls.
Balls is not a swear, by the way.
Anyway. Aggressive rhetoric. That's when you use language meant to be interpreted as aggressive or to make people uncomfortable. Don't mix it up with violent rhetoric, although they're pretty close, since in both cases you're trying to say something that's going to stick in people's minds: the difference is that swearing is usually part of a method used to propel a smaller audience into doing something. I would not scream "Get out of the motherbucking way" at a platoon of Royal Guard. Luna would, but then she'd follow up with actual violence.
Violent rhetoric also often uses inflammatory messages, condemnations, 'slave hooves are worthless, and they'll kill our economy if we don't make them serve us!' kinds of things. Aggressive rhetoric features tactlessness, bluntness, cursive dialogue, such as 'listen to me, you son of a bitch, move your goddamn ass before I move it for you.'
See how it's so much more personal and one-on-one? It's also focusing less on actual 'rhetoric' and more on actual intimidation tactics. Which are. Actually still rhetoric, by the way. It doesn't seem like it, but it's still a form of speech, and it's actually very articulate, direct speech: you're threatening violence and you're using an explosive form of confrontational dialogue, but as long as you haven't acted on it, you're still using rhetoric. It's very base and crude, but sometimes that's also the most effective strategy: I mean, let's compare.
"Sir, the consequences of refusing to move from your current position could result in physical harm done upon your person if you fail to comply with this simple demand to relocate yourself to a less-intrusive angle."
"Get the buck away from me or I'll hurt you."
Average Pony is going to scratch his head at the first, take a few moments to process, probably have to ask for a repeat in simpler language. And then,when given choice number two, will probably choose to move. Let's not all stand up now and brag about how tough we are, by the way. Let's just assume that we are the average pony and the threatener is the average dragon.
But it has a lot more uses than that. For example, a character who speaks in a sudden burst of very aggressive rhetoric after a calm period, or in the seeming middle of an otherwise almost-dry argument, can tell you a world about that character you've been developing, drop a lot on the table... as well as their emotional reaction afterwards. Say a bunch of friends are making lighthearted jokes, and then one says: "yeah, except for you, because we all know you actually like other stallions," and then Average Pony just explodes with anger, maybe something as simple as "Buck you, take that back!" or something as verbose as: "I ain't no bucking faggot, don't you ever say something like that about me again, ever, crowbait, you got that?"
Replacing f's with b's isn't cute when it ruins alliteration.
Buck.
Anyway. Then the reaction afterwards, but I've played through emotions... haven't I? I think I've done a post on that. If I haven't, I should. Should I? Well, either way, it'll really affect the presentation of his character. Is he a homophobe? Is he scared of his own attractions? Was he molested by some other stallions and now has an aggressive and compulsive need to disassociate himself with male sexuality? Of course, his wording itself would differ too, based on those choices, but. I wanna get into one more example instead of explaining all that.
The "guess what" example, we'll call it. What comes to mind is an old story I read. Happy, brightish story. Foal's story, mystery kind of book. It's a little dreary because it's post war, and the kid's big brother has just come home, but it's only semi-focused on. Then there's this one scene.
Kid goes to try and talk to his big brother. Tries to get him to open up. Starts talking about what a hero he sees him as, and then about how cool the war must have been. He's just a kid, right? And after only a few sentences the brother just rounds on him, and you get a full out: "You think it was fun? Fun, watching my friends die, getting shot at by other guys who are just as scared as me with guns, hoping like hell when I shoot back I'm gonna kill another of these guys no older than me who probably don't even know any more than I do why we're even fighting, until some dude in a suit who's never seen a day's work tells us kindly we can all stop and go home now?"
It was a lot better than that, but that's the basis. But even with my mediocre retelling, you can see how it would just flump, change the tone of the story. And I only used 'hell,' too, and that's not even a swear. You see how much emotion can be portrayed through that? And you see how that could stick in your mind? And I didn't even have the chance to really build up to it with this fairly-plain, relatively happy story from a kid's point of view beforehoof. It was brilliant. It got the point across, and it wounds the kid... but it also opens a window that was fantastically used to show him picking himself up, learning from the experience, and reaching out again to his brother anyway. Which you realize at the very end is really the whole point of the story: even though the brother only seems to get mentions, he's pretty much the biggest figure in this colt's life and... the whole time he was playing, he was happy, but he was alone.
Anyway, anyway, anyway. That's enough of that for now. Luna just called me a really nasty word so I have to go insult her in return, and she won't stop poking me with her stupid horn until I do.
Hey, I didn't say all swearing was good, any more than I said it all was bad. This isn't that bad. It's just Luna and I having a little fun with each other. We're both grown adults who can... who... can...
...oh Horses of Heaven, where did you even learn that word?
~Scrivener Blooms
Swearing in writing.
Yes, it has a point. Yes, it's very possible to go completely overboard. No, because there are 'naughty words' doesn't automatically make it bad writing. Yes, sometimes it can make you uncomfortable. Yes, sometimes it's supposed to make you uncomfortable. No, that doesn't make it bad writing. Sometimes the entire point is actually that it's supposed to make it hard to read, but I don't want to get into that. That's really better saved for another post.
Swearing and nasty language and Luna-words can be classified under several different things. The most common categories are 'I'm trying to look edgy or cool or tough and I think adding a swear every two words helps that image' and 'aggressive rhetoric.' I'm going to stick with aggressive rhetoric for this post. But I could really easily do the later. You don't goddamn think I couldn't frigging do the motherbucking latter if I wanted to? Well apparently I can't because it hurts my head just to read that mangled sentence. Balls.
Balls is not a swear, by the way.
Anyway. Aggressive rhetoric. That's when you use language meant to be interpreted as aggressive or to make people uncomfortable. Don't mix it up with violent rhetoric, although they're pretty close, since in both cases you're trying to say something that's going to stick in people's minds: the difference is that swearing is usually part of a method used to propel a smaller audience into doing something. I would not scream "Get out of the motherbucking way" at a platoon of Royal Guard. Luna would, but then she'd follow up with actual violence.
Violent rhetoric also often uses inflammatory messages, condemnations, 'slave hooves are worthless, and they'll kill our economy if we don't make them serve us!' kinds of things. Aggressive rhetoric features tactlessness, bluntness, cursive dialogue, such as 'listen to me, you son of a bitch, move your goddamn ass before I move it for you.'
See how it's so much more personal and one-on-one? It's also focusing less on actual 'rhetoric' and more on actual intimidation tactics. Which are. Actually still rhetoric, by the way. It doesn't seem like it, but it's still a form of speech, and it's actually very articulate, direct speech: you're threatening violence and you're using an explosive form of confrontational dialogue, but as long as you haven't acted on it, you're still using rhetoric. It's very base and crude, but sometimes that's also the most effective strategy: I mean, let's compare.
"Sir, the consequences of refusing to move from your current position could result in physical harm done upon your person if you fail to comply with this simple demand to relocate yourself to a less-intrusive angle."
"Get the buck away from me or I'll hurt you."
Average Pony is going to scratch his head at the first, take a few moments to process, probably have to ask for a repeat in simpler language. And then,when given choice number two, will probably choose to move. Let's not all stand up now and brag about how tough we are, by the way. Let's just assume that we are the average pony and the threatener is the average dragon.
But it has a lot more uses than that. For example, a character who speaks in a sudden burst of very aggressive rhetoric after a calm period, or in the seeming middle of an otherwise almost-dry argument, can tell you a world about that character you've been developing, drop a lot on the table... as well as their emotional reaction afterwards. Say a bunch of friends are making lighthearted jokes, and then one says: "yeah, except for you, because we all know you actually like other stallions," and then Average Pony just explodes with anger, maybe something as simple as "Buck you, take that back!" or something as verbose as: "I ain't no bucking faggot, don't you ever say something like that about me again, ever, crowbait, you got that?"
Replacing f's with b's isn't cute when it ruins alliteration.
Buck.
Anyway. Then the reaction afterwards, but I've played through emotions... haven't I? I think I've done a post on that. If I haven't, I should. Should I? Well, either way, it'll really affect the presentation of his character. Is he a homophobe? Is he scared of his own attractions? Was he molested by some other stallions and now has an aggressive and compulsive need to disassociate himself with male sexuality? Of course, his wording itself would differ too, based on those choices, but. I wanna get into one more example instead of explaining all that.
The "guess what" example, we'll call it. What comes to mind is an old story I read. Happy, brightish story. Foal's story, mystery kind of book. It's a little dreary because it's post war, and the kid's big brother has just come home, but it's only semi-focused on. Then there's this one scene.
Kid goes to try and talk to his big brother. Tries to get him to open up. Starts talking about what a hero he sees him as, and then about how cool the war must have been. He's just a kid, right? And after only a few sentences the brother just rounds on him, and you get a full out: "You think it was fun? Fun, watching my friends die, getting shot at by other guys who are just as scared as me with guns, hoping like hell when I shoot back I'm gonna kill another of these guys no older than me who probably don't even know any more than I do why we're even fighting, until some dude in a suit who's never seen a day's work tells us kindly we can all stop and go home now?"
It was a lot better than that, but that's the basis. But even with my mediocre retelling, you can see how it would just flump, change the tone of the story. And I only used 'hell,' too, and that's not even a swear. You see how much emotion can be portrayed through that? And you see how that could stick in your mind? And I didn't even have the chance to really build up to it with this fairly-plain, relatively happy story from a kid's point of view beforehoof. It was brilliant. It got the point across, and it wounds the kid... but it also opens a window that was fantastically used to show him picking himself up, learning from the experience, and reaching out again to his brother anyway. Which you realize at the very end is really the whole point of the story: even though the brother only seems to get mentions, he's pretty much the biggest figure in this colt's life and... the whole time he was playing, he was happy, but he was alone.
Anyway, anyway, anyway. That's enough of that for now. Luna just called me a really nasty word so I have to go insult her in return, and she won't stop poking me with her stupid horn until I do.
Hey, I didn't say all swearing was good, any more than I said it all was bad. This isn't that bad. It's just Luna and I having a little fun with each other. We're both grown adults who can... who... can...
...oh Horses of Heaven, where did you even learn that word?
~Scrivener Blooms
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