Using mythology in your stories can sometimes feel like trying to write really complex fanfiction: if you don't do the characters just right, people yell at you.
Here's the thing, though. No matter what you write, people are always going to yell at you. Because many common things are perceived very, very differently by different people. For example, someone who happens to be quiet and mostly introverted can be seen as a secret plotter, as someone who's shy and worried about the way the world is perceiving him, as someone dull and boring who has nothing interesting to say, as someone secretly wise and who spends his time observing the world around himself, as a good listener, or as someone who's off in his own little world and doesn't really care about anything but whatever he's doing at the moment. And say, even if something happens right in the goddamn story that says 'Mr. So and So was secretly very intelligent,' some people are still going to look at this character and find reasons and ways to make him not intelligent. And then some people are going to get mad at other people for not following their interpretation of said character. Because. That's the way people are.
Mythology is like the same thing except there's more people who think you have to be totally 'in character' because clearly mythology is so much more serious and complex and completely full of original ideas. It's not like most mythologies are just copies of each other and use each other's characters all over the place however they please to make their own original mythological heroes look better by beating up that other mythology's heroes.
Luna says I'm cynical.
Anyway. The thing about mythology, however, is that unlike a lot of say... original fiction, if we're going with that metaphor still, is there's not often a comprehensive list of source material left over. Often, we have mythologies filled with deities and demideities we have precious few actual stories about, or maybe even only a mention here and there, and thus just a basic idea of their character. That might be seen as a bad thing, but... is it? Not at all. That's a blank slate for you right there, with one set idea that you have to choose to work in, but otherwise a character you can design to fit right into your story. And because many mythologies do have interlocking or interceding points - such as how the deities of one religion may be referred to as the demons in another - it gives you ways to connect entire pantheons.
The big thing is not to be afraid. If you have an idea about how to use a character or present a particular hero or deity, then run with it. You might be surprised how many people might say that's either really creative or that they once imagined so-and-so might be like this themselves. If you want to twist their relationships a little, do so. The biggest thing is not to be afraid of what you're doing. Any idea, no matter how stupid-sounding or bizarre, can be the foundation of a good story so long as you're willing to follow through with it and not back down in the pursuit of it. Always give your best shot: if it doesn't work out, you can always try it again from a different angle, and you will learn something from the process. I find we often learn more from our failures than our successes, after all, but... that's a post for a completely different series.
So yeah. Using mythology is just like tapping in to ancient fanfiction. I know that's a horrible metaphor but. It's kind of weirdly true. So remember to check your source material, but don't be afraid to make stuff up as you go along. At worst, you can always just claim 'alternate universe' really loudly until people leave you alone.
~Scrivener Blooms
Friday 30 August 2013
Saturday 24 August 2013
Scrivy's Weird Recipe Corner: NHWH Coffee
No Heaven Without Hell (Sweetened) Coffee
This will wake you up and may give you the uncontrollable urge to scream KAMEHAMEHA and run headfirst into people. Beware headaches. Guaranteed to wake you up within minutes.
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Heaping Teaspoons Brown/Golden Yellow Sugar
3 Teaspoons Chocolate Milk Powder Mix
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Coffee
Prepare your preferred brand of coffee in the coffeemaker. While this is working, place all dry ingredients in a mug. Add the vanilla extract, then stir together until it forms into one brown, crumbly substance, ensuring that all the larger clumps of sugar are broken up and it's mixed evenly.
Pour approximately one cup of hot coffee into the mug. Stir well, and enjoy.
This will wake you up and may give you the uncontrollable urge to scream KAMEHAMEHA and run headfirst into people. Beware headaches. Guaranteed to wake you up within minutes.
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Heaping Teaspoons Brown/Golden Yellow Sugar
3 Teaspoons Chocolate Milk Powder Mix
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Coffee
Prepare your preferred brand of coffee in the coffeemaker. While this is working, place all dry ingredients in a mug. Add the vanilla extract, then stir together until it forms into one brown, crumbly substance, ensuring that all the larger clumps of sugar are broken up and it's mixed evenly.
Pour approximately one cup of hot coffee into the mug. Stir well, and enjoy.
Friday 23 August 2013
The First Rule
The first rule of learning to write, is to write.
You're not sure the plot is coherent, or that this story is going to be read by anyone but you?
So what? Write.
You don't want to write because you don't feel like it, you're bored, tired, sad, lazy?
Too bad. Write.
The story is turning out much differently than you expected, even challenging your comfort zones?
Good. Write.
The story feels like a flop, a failure, worthless drivel?
Doesn't matter. Write.
The story's getting really long, and it's not done yet, and there's just so many words?
Keep going. Write.
You don't know when the story's going to end, but you don't want to work on it anymore because you have another really cool idea in mind?
Switch if you have to. But keep writing.
Writing is something you improve at by doing, and not every story is going to be great. Not every story is going to be good. Sometimes stories are just going to end up as miserable little puddles of mush. Sometimes you're going to write a story, and it's going to get utterly no attention or reception whatsoever. Sometimes you're going to be left with something entirely different than you planned on doing. And sometimes you're really not going to be happy writing.
And that's perfectly fine.
The first rule of learning to write is to write. To write, even when it sucks. To write, even when it's a failure. To write, even when you abandon a project, but start a new one. Learning to actually finish something? That's a lesson waaay down the road. The first rule of writing, is to write.
You will get better. It will get easier. And you will develop as a writer. But you have to be willing to write. You have to be willing to learn to sit there, even when there's other things you want to do, and write. You have to be willing to learn to keep yourself writing, even when it feels like your fingernails are being pulled off one by one.
Good writing, bad writing? Character analysis? Developing a style, learning how to break and bend rules? That all comes later. And much of it will come naturally, as long as you follow the first rule of writing.
Write.
Don't go making excuses, don't go talking about how you don't have the time, don't say 'I'm not in the mood.' It doesn't work like that if you want to be serious about it. And I list those two things specifically because of the way they play off each other: we begin to associate 'not being in the mood' as 'not having the time,' or think to ourselves: 'no, I need some time just to relax, and that's fine, right?'
If you want to be really serious about writing, then sometimes you're going to have to treat it as an obligation and responsibility as much as something cathartic or a hobby. It's fine to take time to relax. It's fine when you want to do something else. But make the time for writing, too. Even just a few words a day can add up, much faster than you might realize.
Seriously, the first rule of writing is just to write. Doesn't matter what. Doesn't matter if it makes sense. Doesn't even matter if it's good or not. The first step of learning to write is writing.
So. Go write.
~Scrivener Blooms
You're not sure the plot is coherent, or that this story is going to be read by anyone but you?
So what? Write.
You don't want to write because you don't feel like it, you're bored, tired, sad, lazy?
Too bad. Write.
The story is turning out much differently than you expected, even challenging your comfort zones?
Good. Write.
The story feels like a flop, a failure, worthless drivel?
Doesn't matter. Write.
The story's getting really long, and it's not done yet, and there's just so many words?
Keep going. Write.
You don't know when the story's going to end, but you don't want to work on it anymore because you have another really cool idea in mind?
Switch if you have to. But keep writing.
Writing is something you improve at by doing, and not every story is going to be great. Not every story is going to be good. Sometimes stories are just going to end up as miserable little puddles of mush. Sometimes you're going to write a story, and it's going to get utterly no attention or reception whatsoever. Sometimes you're going to be left with something entirely different than you planned on doing. And sometimes you're really not going to be happy writing.
And that's perfectly fine.
The first rule of learning to write is to write. To write, even when it sucks. To write, even when it's a failure. To write, even when you abandon a project, but start a new one. Learning to actually finish something? That's a lesson waaay down the road. The first rule of writing, is to write.
You will get better. It will get easier. And you will develop as a writer. But you have to be willing to write. You have to be willing to learn to sit there, even when there's other things you want to do, and write. You have to be willing to learn to keep yourself writing, even when it feels like your fingernails are being pulled off one by one.
Good writing, bad writing? Character analysis? Developing a style, learning how to break and bend rules? That all comes later. And much of it will come naturally, as long as you follow the first rule of writing.
Write.
Don't go making excuses, don't go talking about how you don't have the time, don't say 'I'm not in the mood.' It doesn't work like that if you want to be serious about it. And I list those two things specifically because of the way they play off each other: we begin to associate 'not being in the mood' as 'not having the time,' or think to ourselves: 'no, I need some time just to relax, and that's fine, right?'
If you want to be really serious about writing, then sometimes you're going to have to treat it as an obligation and responsibility as much as something cathartic or a hobby. It's fine to take time to relax. It's fine when you want to do something else. But make the time for writing, too. Even just a few words a day can add up, much faster than you might realize.
Seriously, the first rule of writing is just to write. Doesn't matter what. Doesn't matter if it makes sense. Doesn't even matter if it's good or not. The first step of learning to write is writing.
So. Go write.
~Scrivener Blooms
Friday 16 August 2013
Worrythings.
Do you have stuff that you play with when you're nervous or whatever? I do.
Luna, shut up, not that. You're gross. Stop. Stop touching those. Get out of my office.
Anyway, no. I meant to do something intelligent today but maybe I'll do something later in the week. Me, I have... all these kinds of things I play with. And I seem to lose so much time doing that, but I've come to realize when I don't have something to toy with in my hooves, or I resist the urge to get up and pace around the room a little, I actually. Get less done, because that urge is sitting there in my brain gnawing at me. I mean sure, sometimes I do ignore it and keep going. Other times, if I ignore it, it murders my brain.
I also find that some days, when I don't just. Get up and move around a little, when I spend too long sitting there, thinking... drooling a little on my desk, as Luna likes to point out... then I end up with more worries on my mind, too, and always less satisfied with my work at the end of the day. Which sucks. But if I balance it right... the right amount of balancing my quill on my nose and neurotic pacing with the right amount of work... then I end up doing better. I feel more relaxed, I feel better about my work, everything just feels... you know, better.
So yeah. That's my silly thing for now. Because I'm exhausted but I wanted to write something silly out. And Luna says when all else fails, touch yourself.
I don't really. Know how to argue with that advice.
~Scrivener Blooms
Luna, shut up, not that. You're gross. Stop. Stop touching those. Get out of my office.
Anyway, no. I meant to do something intelligent today but maybe I'll do something later in the week. Me, I have... all these kinds of things I play with. And I seem to lose so much time doing that, but I've come to realize when I don't have something to toy with in my hooves, or I resist the urge to get up and pace around the room a little, I actually. Get less done, because that urge is sitting there in my brain gnawing at me. I mean sure, sometimes I do ignore it and keep going. Other times, if I ignore it, it murders my brain.
I also find that some days, when I don't just. Get up and move around a little, when I spend too long sitting there, thinking... drooling a little on my desk, as Luna likes to point out... then I end up with more worries on my mind, too, and always less satisfied with my work at the end of the day. Which sucks. But if I balance it right... the right amount of balancing my quill on my nose and neurotic pacing with the right amount of work... then I end up doing better. I feel more relaxed, I feel better about my work, everything just feels... you know, better.
So yeah. That's my silly thing for now. Because I'm exhausted but I wanted to write something silly out. And Luna says when all else fails, touch yourself.
I don't really. Know how to argue with that advice.
~Scrivener Blooms
Thursday 8 August 2013
On Using Mythology, Introduction
This is just a short post, because I'm going to start another series, describing my personal views on how best to incorporate mythology - popular and historical - in one's work. And yes I'll explain what I mean by that, too. Of course it'll be full of personal bias and weirdness, but if you read this blog then you know what to expect. Luna also wants to contribute and I don't really plan on letting her because that would probably not go over very well.
For one thing, yes, it's popular to do. And yes, if you want to create your own whole mythology, that's fine, too. Just don't come crying when you find out how insanely hard it is to weave all the stuff together properly. Plus there's the fact that many mythologies have a distinct sort of theme to them: the gods - or spirits, or entities, or whatever-they-may-be - all work together in a certain distinct way, have varying relationships, and often all bear some similarities. And even more important than that, common mythologies teach us to commonly associate so-and-so with this-and-that: in other words, it saves you the trouble of a whole lot of character building and design. I mean, hell. I just say the name 'Zeus,' and what do you end up thinking about? What kind of thing are you picturing? Beards and lightning bolts. You can play off that: either in the expected direction, or by inverting or juxtaposing the anticipated image with something more of your own creation.
But we'll get more into that next week. For now, let that serve as a warmup. Partly because Luna wants to. We're not going to go punch a god in the face, Luna. That's not how it works. Please put that away and I'll read you a folk tale instead of trying to make one with you. Mythology is not just about things punching other things.
~Scrivener Blooms
For one thing, yes, it's popular to do. And yes, if you want to create your own whole mythology, that's fine, too. Just don't come crying when you find out how insanely hard it is to weave all the stuff together properly. Plus there's the fact that many mythologies have a distinct sort of theme to them: the gods - or spirits, or entities, or whatever-they-may-be - all work together in a certain distinct way, have varying relationships, and often all bear some similarities. And even more important than that, common mythologies teach us to commonly associate so-and-so with this-and-that: in other words, it saves you the trouble of a whole lot of character building and design. I mean, hell. I just say the name 'Zeus,' and what do you end up thinking about? What kind of thing are you picturing? Beards and lightning bolts. You can play off that: either in the expected direction, or by inverting or juxtaposing the anticipated image with something more of your own creation.
But we'll get more into that next week. For now, let that serve as a warmup. Partly because Luna wants to. We're not going to go punch a god in the face, Luna. That's not how it works. Please put that away and I'll read you a folk tale instead of trying to make one with you. Mythology is not just about things punching other things.
~Scrivener Blooms
Friday 2 August 2013
Scrivy's Weird Recipe Corner
So. Luna can't cook, and I... well. I'm not going to pretend I can cook. But I do make all our meals, if you can call it that, and so sometimes I find myself trying to poke out different recipes and experimenting a little. It helps that Luna has a weird pallet and has been getting me to eat a few things I normally wouldn't. Even horrible things that should probably kill me, but... well, let's just say I've had experience with eating less-than-appetizing food in the past.
Here's a recipe I put together after Luna came back with some... I don't know where she got it. I don't know why she bought it. I really don't want to, either. I'm scared that she actually barbecued a seahorse drake and cut it up into can-sized portions and that's why we have so much of it now, but... well, anyway. I thought I'd put this recipe up and uh... maybe see if anypony can help me figure out what I'm missing.
So here's the first recipe corner. I dunno, maybe I'll make this a regular thing. Crappy food with a crappy poet. Fantastic, right? Or craptastic, at least.
Scrivener's Incomplete Crabmeat Sandwiches
1 Can of Crab Meat
2 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
Pepper
Salt
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
2 Slices of Cheese (Or shredded cheese or cut up cheese block or whatever)
4 Slices of Bread
[Makes two sandwiches]
So we're going to need a small mixing bowl, first. Pour your crab meat in there, and add the mayo, then the vinegar. Start mixing it up, and add a little bit of pepper, one or two dashes should do. Keep mixing it up until it takes on a mushy, batter-like texture.
Spread a thin layer over all four pieces of bread: if you want a really thick sandwich, though, you can always just use two slices. Once the stuff is spread on the bread, add another dash of pepper, and a dash of salt as well, for seasoning. Then put your slices of cheese on two pieces of bread: personally, I actually cut thin strips off a cheese block and layered those on, that seemed to work really well.
Put the bread, stuff-side-up, in the conventional oven. I was lucky and had one with an auto-toast setting. If you don't have that, then set it to broil for five or ten minutes, or long enough to brown the bread and melt the cheese. Take the bread out of the oven and put the slice with the cheese on the slice without. And voila, you have toasted crabmeat sandwiches that aren't nearly as gross as they sound.
Now here's the problem I had. They came out a little bland, and I know nothing about spices. They need a little something extra to season them. I mean, Luna and I ate them and we didn't mind them, but... I need something extra. Maybe pickle, too. I want to say that pickle would probably be good. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them.
Okay, Luna's. Looking at me all weird. And calling me... well, that makes you a stallion. I. Regret saying that. Please don't be a stallion tonight.
~Scrivener Blooms
Here's a recipe I put together after Luna came back with some... I don't know where she got it. I don't know why she bought it. I really don't want to, either. I'm scared that she actually barbecued a seahorse drake and cut it up into can-sized portions and that's why we have so much of it now, but... well, anyway. I thought I'd put this recipe up and uh... maybe see if anypony can help me figure out what I'm missing.
So here's the first recipe corner. I dunno, maybe I'll make this a regular thing. Crappy food with a crappy poet. Fantastic, right? Or craptastic, at least.
Scrivener's Incomplete Crabmeat Sandwiches
1 Can of Crab Meat
2 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
Pepper
Salt
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
2 Slices of Cheese (Or shredded cheese or cut up cheese block or whatever)
4 Slices of Bread
[Makes two sandwiches]
So we're going to need a small mixing bowl, first. Pour your crab meat in there, and add the mayo, then the vinegar. Start mixing it up, and add a little bit of pepper, one or two dashes should do. Keep mixing it up until it takes on a mushy, batter-like texture.
Spread a thin layer over all four pieces of bread: if you want a really thick sandwich, though, you can always just use two slices. Once the stuff is spread on the bread, add another dash of pepper, and a dash of salt as well, for seasoning. Then put your slices of cheese on two pieces of bread: personally, I actually cut thin strips off a cheese block and layered those on, that seemed to work really well.
Put the bread, stuff-side-up, in the conventional oven. I was lucky and had one with an auto-toast setting. If you don't have that, then set it to broil for five or ten minutes, or long enough to brown the bread and melt the cheese. Take the bread out of the oven and put the slice with the cheese on the slice without. And voila, you have toasted crabmeat sandwiches that aren't nearly as gross as they sound.
Now here's the problem I had. They came out a little bland, and I know nothing about spices. They need a little something extra to season them. I mean, Luna and I ate them and we didn't mind them, but... I need something extra. Maybe pickle, too. I want to say that pickle would probably be good. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them.
Okay, Luna's. Looking at me all weird. And calling me... well, that makes you a stallion. I. Regret saying that. Please don't be a stallion tonight.
~Scrivener Blooms
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