November 2008 – Page 2 – One Thousand And One Parsecs

No writing yesterday…but there is a reason

Well, as you may notice, I didn’t write at all yesterday. My wordcount meters are both down significantly, especially the 7 day one. Grr…I will get them back up before too long! New goal: get both meters in the red by the end of the week.

However, I have a reason for not writing, and it’s not a lame excuse that such-and-such happened outside my control and I had to put my writing on hold. It’s a lot more complex than that.

Basically, the scene that I’m stopped at has some graphic content, and I didn’t feel that it would be appropriate to write that scene on a Sunday. At the same time, I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t write this scene at all. In terms of the story, I think that this scene is necessary, but I can see people taking it the wrong way when they read it. I can also see myself feeling somewhat embarrassed when my friends read it. I’m not usually the kind of person that avoids controversy, but this is something where I’m not sure how to proceed.

Basically, here’s what I have in mind: Tristen, the main character, is on a mission to find his birth family. He’s left behind this futuristic Bedouin camp that’s raised him, except that the sheikh of this camp will do anything to get Tristen to stay. The first leg of Tristen’s journey is a pilgrimage to this famous temple, and the sheikh sends his daughter with Tristen, ostensibly because she want’s to make the pilgrimage too, but won’t have the opportunity in the future. Really, though, the girl has conspired with the Sheikh to try and seduce Tristen to convince him to stay.

That’s the background, but it really has nothing to do with this specific scene. In the scene I have in mind, Tristen and the girl are in a bar/restaurant halfway around the world, way far away from home, when this graphic performance occurs on the stage at this place. Basically, there is this major religious cult in this part of the world whose priestesses are basically holy prostitutes, like many Ancient Near East goddess cults.

The scene would involve some suggestive nudity and would raise the already existing sexual tension between Tristen and the daughter of this Sheikh. Basically, he’s been raised in this ultra-moralistic conservative environment, so the dance of this temple prostitute shocks him to the point where he doesn’t know what to think about it. He gets these images in his mind that he can’t get out, and he feels confused, guilty, passionate, and just…well, weird. This confusion gets him to the point where he doesn’t know what he’s doing with this girl who’s supposed to seduce him, so that she is able to break through his resistance and almost succeed in getting him to stay (and all that that implies).

Also, I want to throw this scene in to show the moral depravity of the society that Tristen passes through. By demonstrating just how graphically immoral the mainstream society has become, I’m hoping to show who Tristen really is–a morally upright person. I want to have this contrast in the story, even if it does mean writing a scene that might cause a lot of LDS readers (and even some of my friends) to throw the book across the room.

So how do I do this? How can I write a scene that is graphic and yet not pornographic? What do you think about my ideas here? What should I do–and not do? Why?

Destiny

A couple of weeks ago, we started learning about the Seljuk Turks in History 240 (History of the Middle East to 1800). This band of rugged, horse-riding nomads went from mercenary warriors of some Persian dynasty to the de facto rulers of nearly half the Muslim world. In an era when radical Shi’ism swept across North Africa and the Levant, and people thought the rise of the Fatimid Empire marked the end of the world, the Seljuks, self-appointed defenders of Sunnism headed the Fatimid conquest at Baghdad and pushed them back to Egypt. Fascinating stuff!

Then we learned about the Mongol invasion and the sack of Baghdad in 1258, when the world really DID end from the point of view of the Arabs, and I knew that Central Asia would never be boring to me again.

The Turks and the Mongols were both nomadic peoples who lived on the steppes of Central Asia–basically, an enormous stretch of grassland like the prairie in the American Midwest. These guys lived in camps, with their cattle and horses, and looked down on the thought of settling down in cities and living a civilized, sedentary life. To them, the nomadic life meant freedom–the people of the cities were voluntary slaves and beneath the hardy nomads.

Genghis Khan, born Temujin (“Genghis Khan” is a title that basically means “ruler of the world”), united the Mongol tribes and built the largest empire the world had ever seen. Bigger than Alexander’s Hellenist Empire, bigger than the Roman Empire, bigger than the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sassanians, Umayyids, or Abassids. The Mongol Empire was BIG–it stretched from Korea to the Black Sea! If it weren’t for the Mameluks (one of the few Arab kingdoms that wasn’t mismanaging itself to death), the Mongols might have swept North Africa and the Mediterranean!

The coolest part of the story was the religious justification behind Genghis Khan’s ruthless, bloodthirsty conquest. When Temujin was a young boy, the shaman of his tribe told him that the great sky god Tengri had given Temujin the world. By conquering millions of people, massacring hundreds of cities, and building an empire of blood, death, and fire, Genghis Khan was only fulfilling his destiny!

For the last few weeks, I’ve been practically obsessed with all this history. It’s fascinating! Like reading a really good novel–except it’s real life! Orson Scott Card often says that anyone interested in becoming a writer should study history instead of English in college, and I can see what he means.

All this stuff I’ve been learning about the Mongols has given me dozens of story ideas, many of which I plan on including in my current novel, Hero in Exile. I’ll write a separate post to explain it all, but basically it involves the Mongol Empire in space. Just like the Mongols considered themselves the only free people in the midst of sedentary urban dwellers, so the Hamejis in my novel (a spacefaring people who live entirely in their spaceships) consider themselves free in comparison with the billions of people living under continent sized domes across nearly a hundred settled planets. Just as the sky god Tengri gave Temujin the world, so the god of the epistellar jovian in the Hameji home system has given them the universe. It is their destiny to take and rule it by blood and fire. Bwahahaha!

(photos taken from Genghis Khan II by Koei, a 90s DOS game)

The week is OVER!!!

I am so happy. Yeah, I’ve got a current events paper I’ve got to write for MESA 201…but I can do that in like twenty minutes. Especially since the paper itself is not due, just the stuff that has to be peer critiqued. And really MESA 201 is like a flashback to high school, so it’s really not that hard.

As for Arabic homework…I’m trying hard not to think about it…was trying…dangit!

This is the main issue I had with this past week. Every time I thought I was free, some assignment or deadline that I’d forgotten would pop up and smack me across the head. Today, it was the Poli Sci 201 midterm (take home, open book). There was no other time except today (when it was due) that I could take it, so I ended up clocking out at work and doing it then. Freaking test probably cost me $30 to $40.

But this blog isn’t supposed to be about my frustrations with school, it’s supposed to be about my frustrations with writing. And other life stuff. So I’ll write about something else.

I’ve started to think about what I want to do after I get my bachelor’s degree(s?). Which is to say, I’m completely clueless at this point, but I’m trying to get a feel for my options. Yesterday there was an information session for the Masters of Public Policy program at BYU, and it looks interesting. I would like to go to grad school, and it looks like this program would take me in a direction I’d be interested in following.

Basically, the program prepares you to work as a policy/research analyst, which seems like an interesting skill set I could take to a non-profit / NGO / lobby group / think tank, which is a career path (or set of paths) that I find intriguing. I’ll bet I could find some real satisfaction putting my mind to work for a social cause that I really believe in.

But is this really what I want to do with my life? Do I want to spend 90% of my time working behind a computer at a desk, crunching statistics? And what about Arabic? How would I be able to use that? These are questions that need answering.

As for writing, the plan at this point is to do it on the side if/until it becomes lucrative enough for me to support myself and my family. In other words, for the next five-ten-fifteen years / forever, I’m going to be a mild-mannered man in a conventional (at least partially) career by day, and a super-power world-saving writer by night. Writing, at this point, is a given, a constant–I know what I’m doing as far as my writing career. I just don’t know if/when I’m going to make it my primary, so I have to make other plans like grad school / career path / whatever.

I guess that’s one thing I find reassuring about all of this: writing leaves me a means of escape from being pegged down in a boring career for the rest of my life. And my pursuit of a career feeds my writing by giving me new and exciting ideas and perspectives to bring into my writing. I’m glad I’m not studying English.

And…that’s about it for tonight. Holy cow I’m tired!

A slow spot

This last week has been somewhat frustrating. Started it off well, with good progress in my story, but early on in the week, all kinds of assignments started piling onto me–stuff that I should have seen coming, but have been putting off ’til the last minute (as usual). It didn’t help that I just discovered Genghis Khan II, a really awesome old DOS game. :p

So, between juggling homework, struggling not to get addicted to this new game, and dealing with exhaustion in general, it’s been a pretty slow week.

The upside, though, is that I’ve had lots of time to think about the universe of Hero in Exile. I’ve got some REALLY awesome ideas for the world, stuff that’s inspired by Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy and the rise of the Mongol Empire. History 240 is one of my favorite classes this semester–it gives me so many good story ideas!

As a result, I can hardly wait to get to the really good parts of my novel. I just wish I didn’t have so much school to worry about. Grr…

There is a lot that I want to blog about, but I need to get my sleep tonight. Take home test due tomorrow for PLSC 201, and I want to get it finished before work at 10 am (yeah right…).

Hooray for Obama!

Well, the President of the United States has been decided. Obama won. I honestly can’t say that I’m disappointed.

No president would do all of the things that I want him to do, but I think Obama is going to steer this country in the right direction. Less foreign intervention, more multilateralism and better relations with our allies, more economic regulation, etc.

The only thing I’m really worried about is the fact that the Democrats have such a commanding lead in the Senate–I would rather have the branches of government balanced between the parties, especially when one party nearly has the sixty votes necessary to ride out a fillibuster. But I’m not too worried.

Obama’s acceptance speech was very good. I like how he emphasized his family and his wife. The more I listen to him, the more he strikes me as a well-meaning, honest family man. He just seems like a clean statesman in a country filled with ridiculous political scandals. It’s going to be interesting to see who he picks as his advisors and cabinet members.

So, overall, I can’t say I’m disappointed. I’m optimistic that the next four years will see increased American credibility in the world and a government that can stand up to the domestic crises of our times and lead us through. We’ll see whether I’m wrong.

The election issue that I’m most interested in, however, is Prop 8 in California. This isn’t just because I served my mission there–it’s because I think that this election will deal a decisive blow to either the gay-rights movement or the traditional family. I wholeheartedly believe that marriage is an institution between a man and a woman, and that the state should uphold this institution defined as such. In a dramatic move, the LDS church has stepped into this issue and mobilized its adherents across the nation to vote, volunteer, fast, and pray for this ballot initiative to pass.

Fortunately, it looks like it’s going to happen. We’ll know for sure in the morning. I’m almost too nervous to watch, but inshallah, it will happen.

In the meantime, not a lot of writing today. Between elections, homework, and exhaustion, I slipped in about 570 words. Not bad, but I want to keep those pointers in the red all through November.

Halloween and Nanowrimo kickoff

So, if you checked my blog earlier today, you may have noticed the, um, lack of progress as noted by the speedometers. Well, all I can say is that yesterday was kind of a special case, it being a holiday and all.

However, it was an awesome Halloween! I went to work at 10:30 am and started noticing people in costumes, which made me think “hey, today is Halloween…I should get a costume!” (I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been doing things more and more at the last minute, and I don’t know what’s more unnverving: the fact that I’m doing it more often, or the fact that I’m becoming so good at getting away with it).

While chatting with my coworkers in the FHSS writing lab, I decided to dress up as a writer. After all, the costume shouldn’t be too hard–I am one, after all, right? Well, it proved to be a lot easier than I’d thought! Turtleneck sweater, Birkenstocks with socks, a copy of Strunk & White in my pocket–all I really needed was a gray sports coat and a European cap, both of which I got at DI (one I bought, the other I borrowed from a friend I happened to run into at the store).

Properly attired, I was ready to attend the Quark Halloween party!

It was lots of fun! There were LOTS of costumes this year, nearly twice as many as last year. Most of the people were some obscure Anime character that I didn’t know about…I’m a nerd, but pretty ignorant when it comes to anime and manga). I did recognize quite a few of them, though!

A bunch of the guys from the Super Smash Bros tournament dressed up as their favorite characters. There were three Links, a Princess Peach, a Pikachu, Nes, and a bunch of other characters that I didn’t recognize. I thought it was really funny how Lunesar (on the right) and his wife dressed up as their favorite characters. It’s especially ironic because that’s how they met each other–through the Smash Bros tournament. Hoorah for Geekdom–it’s what brings us together!

I really liked Miriel and her husband’s costumes–Star Wars! Miriel is on the staff of The Leading Edge and helps us with back issues to give out as prizes for the writing contests. I really liked her hair in this picture! She gave me a huge box full of back issues of the magazine at the party, which was really nice–we’d been running short. With the new box of contest prizes, though, we’re ready to have lots more contests in the months to come!

For the Halloween short story contest, we did something new and experimental: we had a live reading during the actual party. I was a little bit worried at first, but it worked out really well, I think. We had the third, second, and first place stories read out loud by their authors. It wasn’t as visually exciting as watching anime explosions and giant mecha fighting each other, but it was still a treat to hear the stories read out loud, especially the first place winner, The Beauty of Decay. We actually had a big prize to give out (a $20 gift certificat to the BYU Bookstore), so it was lots of fun!

Aneeka, who won 2nd place, wasn’t there to read hers (since she’s in Germany, and, um, graduated), so we had Gamila, one of the old timers, read it for her. I briefly told the audience how Aneeka started the writing group, back in the day, and how she was the one who got Jakeson and Gamila to start dating (they’re married now–both were there at the party). It’s always fun to pleasantly embarass your friends.

So yeah, this writing contest thing is definitely something we should keep on doing! I just need to convince the rest of the officers to set aside more money for contest prizes. Everyone who participated got a copy of The Leading Edge, which was motivational I think. Besides that, the voting was fun as well. We need more contests–and not just contests, but readings as well!

So that was the Halloween party. It was basically one of the awesomest Quark socials of the year. I love this club!

Today, instead of having a writing meeting where we critique each others’ stories, we had a writing party in room 135 of the TMCB instead. I think it went really well! We started out with lots of food, chatting, and distracting conversations, but for about an hour-long stretch, there was nothing but writing. It was pretty cool. Then, towards the end, I started getting distracted with showing people photos from my photoblog via the overhead projector, but all in all I think it went well.

Today is (was?) November 1st, the first day of nanowrimo! Sadly, I’m not doing nanowrimo this year–at least, not strictly speaking. The rules of nanowrimo state that you have to start on November 1st with a wordcount of 0 and end with a wordcount of 50k. Unfortunately, if I were to freeze all my current projects and focus on something totally new, I’d lose so much time and momentum with the other projects that I doubt I’d meet my goal to have three manuscripts ready for World Fantasy 2009.

Still, nanowrimo is pretty cool, and it’s a good way to connect with the wider writing community, so I’ve decided that even if I’m not strictly going to do nanowrimo this year, I’m at least going to do something in keeping with the spirit of it. My goal is to get 50k into my current project, Hero in Exile, so that I’ll have a wordcount of 64,500 by December 1st. It’s going to require more than 1,500 words a day, but I think I can handle it.

At the writing party, I got about 700 words in, and when I transcribed it from my notebook to the word document, I got in about another 300. Right now, I’m finished with all the buildup, and now I’m poised to go for the jugular: the next scene is going to involve some fighting, explosions, death, and heroics. I’m excited!

I’ve also got to prepare a Sunday School lesson tomorrow morning, so even though we get to set our clocks back tonight, I think I’d better get to bed now. So far, the first half of this weekend has been awesome–and since I don’t have to do any homework on Sunday, I think that the second half has the potential to be just as good!