GIVE IT TO ME {Creating a Fantastic Villain II}

The first installment of this series can be found at this link: Back Story Time (Creating a Fantastic Villain I}

It's been a while since I wrote that first post, but last night something just flew at me. (Youch...it kind of hit me in the face...okay, not really.) 

It was, can you guess? An idea for another villain post! So, if it isn't obvious, this one is about wanting and desire.

One of my favorite writing quotes: "Make your character want something, even if it's only a glass of water." - - Kurt Vonnegut -

If you take a moment to think about it, everything that we, as humans, do is borne from a wanting. A need. A desire. 

Why do we eat food? We want it, we need it to survive. Why do we buy that thirty dollar pair of shoes? We want them, we desire them because they look sure durn good with that one dress we own...

There's always a reason behind what we do. Even the things done on whims have a reason behind it. We want to prove something, we want to be accepted, we want to be fulfilled... There are so many reasons for our wanting. 

So how does this fit in with creating a villain? Ahem, a Fantastic villain? 

Take a look at your villain. What are his motives? Why does he do what he does? 

If he/she is just kind of there, floating around, just hoping to wreak havoc for the hero, you don't have a well-rounded villain. He could be the most interesting conversationalist, but without a driving force...without a want...he's going to be pretty one-dimensional and begin to bore readers. Nobody wants to be bored...or, (horror of horrors) bore others. That's just embarrassing. 

+ What does your villain want? Fame? Money? Peace? Love? To survive? 

MAKE YOUR VILLAIN WANT SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Even if it's crazy, like he wants to own a donut franchise. At least that's interesting. 

Everybody wants something. 

Make that want the driving force behind your villain's actions.

The villain in my series isn't really...a...villain. Uh...ahem. 

No, his motives are pure, as he sees it, anyway. He wants to spare his best friend the pain of life...or of being captured by the villain corporation. 

So, while he still does evil things, his desire to keep his friend out of VICE's grip is his driving force. He wants to protect his friend. 

I'm reminded of kids who see something they want. What do they say? "GIMME GIMME GIMME."

Now, while you shouldn't make your villain a whining three year old (I mean, that'd be an interesting twist to a story, but...I don't know, man...), your villain should still have that mindset. It's human. 

(I guess if your villain is, like, alien or something, though...that might be kind of different. I can't help you there... :P)

Anyway,

Everybody wants something.

Even your villain. 

What does your villain want?

Military Basics {The Notification Process}

So...military life is portrayed incorrectly more often than not. It takes a lot of research to find out how things actually work on a military base or when a person is deployed. Everything from language and procedure to uniforms and Notifications...people tend to have a different idea of what happens than what really goes down.

Today let's take a look at the notification process. This is something I've seen done incorrectly a few different times. I didn't, for a long time, know how it's done either. The key is to ask. Ask people questions and do research. I happen to know somebody who is actually part of the notification process sometimes. So I peppered them with questions.

And then I did lots of research.

A notification is when military personnel go to tell the family (NOK=Next of Kin) of a dead soldier...that he/she died. There's usually two people who go to tell the family. There's a CNO (casualty notification officer) and a chaplain (military pastor). A chaplain never makes a notification but is there to offer support, prayer, and somebody to talk to.

It usually goes down like this:

A CNO and the on duty Chaplain receive information about a soldier who's died. They don their Class A's (dress uniforms), and go out to locate the NOKr of the deceased within approx. four hours.
This can take hours. Sometimes the pair will go to the address given for the NOK just to find out they haven't lived there for weeks, months. They sometimes have to hunt them down. (Then an extended notification time is allowed).

Never is a notification made through a phone call. If somebody calls you and tells you your soldier has died, it's a scam.

Sometimes a the notification pair has to go out at night and drive in the dark trying to find the NOK.

And when they get there, the NOK usually already knows something's happened. Especially when they see two soldiers in Class A's at their door.

The CNO will identify the people. Then identify self. If they're the NOK, the CNO will ask to come inside (don't deliver notifications outside if a private, indoor place is available).
Oftentimes, the NOK is already crying at this point.
The CNO will list the details of death (if known), including the rank of the soldier who died or was killed, the place and date and time of death. An example notification piece:

"On behalf of the Secretary of the Army I express deep regret that your Son Captain Robert Belinski was killed in action in Iraq on November first at three forty-two."
It will always be delivered in a way the family can understand. It will be dignified, not rushed, and professional.

Obviously each notification isn't going to be perfect. Sometimes the NOK reacts with violence. Sometimes they're in shock. There's no telling what will happen.

The chaplain asks if there's a family pastor they can call for the family, prays, talks it out...
After this process is over, contact information regarding the funeral arrangements/body pickups (for overseas soldiers) will be given to the NOK.
Side note: The group doesn't refer to the deceased soldier as 'the body'. Always by name.
Before leaving, the group should make sure the NOK is with somebody--a trusted neighbor, pastor, etc.

Okay, so recap:
1. Casualty Notification Officer and Chaplain receive information about the soldier.
2. Class A's (this is blue for Army)
3. Track down NOK (sometimes notifications have to be made when a NOK is on vacation...ie: Disney World) (notifications are not done at schools)
4. Deliver notification
5. Support/prayer/other contacts
6. Funeral arrangement contacts
7. Always remain professional even though it's awful

These are just the basics, but they're important. I'm sorry this is a little messy!
Another note: This is difficult not only for the NOK but for the CNO and Chaplain as well.

A great resource that lays out even more information:
http://www.lee.army.mil/hrd/documents/CNO%20GUIDE%202013.pdf

Is there anything else you'd like to hear about regarding the military? I'd be happy to answer/write a post about the way to correctly portray something!

Unique Individuality

So I just realized that my last post was about three months ago. And my first post was in September. What? That hardly makes sense--where has the time gone? It's kind of freaky to think about. Like, what???

Okay, so there's this thing. That I've been thinking about lately. R.B. Denney and I were discussing this topic. (check out her unique blog here: https://writingishometome.wordpress.com/ --she has a great post on this topic as well!)
There are so many Christian teen (usually homeschooled) writing (writer) blogs. So many. And it's easy to get extraordinarily discouraged when thinking about your own Christian teen writing blog. Dude, it's so easy. Hence the reason I haven't posted since January...and even that was only a short book promotion. Okay. 

So, it's easy to get beat down in this super-uplifting culture of writers. We wonder where our specialness lies--what makes us stand out from the crowd? What makes us different than the other Christian teen writing blogs?

I mean, there's several things I can list:

1. Your unique voice. Everybody has their own way of talking and describing things. If you don't believe me (which you should because it's totally a part of life), just go check out a few different blogs. You will notice stark differences in expression.

2. Your experiences. Hello! Everybody is coming from different places. So the labels "Christian", "teen", "homeschooler" and "writer" might sound so generic and a dime a dozen, but those labels do not contain you. Seriously. There is so much more to you than those labels! How did you grow up? Where? Who have you met? What have you read? What are your passions and interests? What are your fears? Your life is your experiences and therefore lends to your unique voice.

3. Your design. Okay, this one probably sounds weird, but the way your blog looks matters. A lot. We all have different tastes, that's true. And that's great. But the way your blog looks will attract a general certain group of people. For instance, if your blog is all super bright and crazy, I'm more than likely not going to read it. Bright colors tend to hurt my eyes (so why am I staring at a white screen in a dark room? Don't ask...wait, I just did. ugh), crazy...I think that speaks for itself . I'm more of a laid back, muted colors kind of person. And not everybody likes that!

4. What we bring to the table. Okay, so the whole thing comes down to this. Everything above generally reflects this at some point. Anyway, one Christian teen writing blog might discuss book reviews and writing villains. Maybe that's it. And you might discuss characterization and the methods of plotting. Your views are going to be different than somebody else's on certain subjects. You might have a different way of creating characters than I do. Good! I want to read about it! I want to learn something from your blog!

Here's the thing, guys... God can use you if you are open to Him. You can write something (yes, even a blog post) that will touch somebody whereas another person's post didn't touch that person. He can use you and your words and experiences and everything to reach people for Him...and to encourage people. It's incredible. Don't underestimate God's power or His ability to use us for His Kingdom.

He made you the way you are. He loves you. You are special and unique, dear writer! Realize that and write from the depths of your spirit--allow Jesus to speak and work through you...and without realizing it...you'll stand out. Man, if you are speaking Truth, you will definitely stand out.

Like, just bleed truth, guys. ;)

Another side note: think about what you want to read in a blog and write about it! Think about the advice you'd like to hear on a certain matter--chances are, somebody else wants to hear it as well.
Take a step out and write even if you're unsure.

It will be okay.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, for the Lord rather than for men..." Colossians 3:23

Love y'all!

Ray AL (okay, so Ray AL sounds a little weird, but I desperately want a writerly name thing. I don't know! Suggestions?)

Who Doesn't Like Free Books?

Hi, all!

I've been thinking about it for a while, and I decided to run a free book promotion. It lasts from today (the 12) until Friday.

It's for my only (self) published book, Sound Effect. It's for the Kindle and you can read it on an Ipad, computer, Kindle, etc. I hope you'll pick up a copy (since it's FREE ;) and let me know what you think!

You can get it here: Sound Effect on Amazon (free!)

Thanks!

Turning Pages {The Creative Process I}

So about a week ago I finished the first draft of my second book--Yay! It's exciting. Because I get to work on my next book. Oooh. While this last book I finished (Fade Out), is the second book in a series called "A Different Kind of Legacy", the next one I'm working on, Blackberry Heart, is not. It has some of the same characters, but it's stand-alone.

And I'm so-o excited about it! Does this picture show you that? :D

Okay, what really is this blog post about? I'm still trying to figure that out.

As a writer, it's good to explore new ideas and get out of the box. That's why I'm taking a break on my series. It helps the creative process.

In the creative process, it's our job to try new things. To get our brain flowing we need to experiment.
This next novel, Blackberry Heart, is going to be different than anything I've ever written. It's going to be pretty SWEET.

Ah *claps hands* I'm excited. Did I mention that already? Well...

I want to challenge you to try something completely different. Try writing from a different point of view, try writing in a completely different style. Try a different genre. There's so many possibilities.

It can be in short story form, journal form, novel form, whatever you feel like doing! Once you're done, I want you to think about how it helped. Did it inspire you? Give you new ideas? Did it help get your juices flowing?

There are tons of other ways to keep your creativity moving and this is just a way to do it through actual writing. I could go on and on about all the cool things you could do, but that could take a while. Maybe it's for another blog post...

Don't be afraid of messing up. You can't mess up. I repeat: You Can NOT mess up. Some things might turn out pretty bad, but it's not messing up. It's just bad. (Trust me, I have my share of those things).
But...it's writing, there are numerous ways to do things. So many ways. There isn't a wrong way. Find your voice, your style.

It WILL be worth it, no matter how many mistakes you make.

I l-o-v-e comments! So:
1. What types of writing exercises do you like to take part in to keep the creative juices flowing?
2. Are you working on anything that's way different than anything you've ever written? (besides the fact that you're writing it;)
3. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to write a topic about!

{picture thanks to pinterest and pixlr}