cry havoc

( continued from part II )

This has been a long time coming, mostly because I wrote the intended post but locked it while I reflected on whether I wanted to make it public, after all -- and then, eventually, forgot about it, as I got distracted by other projects. I was reminded again by several synchronicities: one, coming across the RPG-forum complaint about the post, while searching for something unrelated, two, having it linked (again, I thought?) in LJ's little_details comm (hi, folks!); three, a recent novel that had sounded promising but ended up being an DNF thanks to the author's ignorance of human nature.

The bulk of this post can be summed up in this simple statement: if you're totally convinced the best route to pile on a character's angst is by giving them an abusive-family background, I've got a few bones to pick with you.

( A few notes about the reality. )

( 1. Do not force the backstory to come out for the sake of story. )

( 2. Remember this above all else: no one is *proud* of being a victim. )

( 3. Stop taking the goddamned easy way out. )

( 4. Go read rachelmanjia's posts on PTSD. Process, ponder, read, repeat. )

( 5. Abuse your character, then be prepared to write the hyper-vigilance. )

...more coming in a day or two.

Just a series of collected notes-to-myself that I’d made while replying to the replies on my original post(s). I knew they were around here somewhere -- archived onto a disk when I converted to the new computer -- and la, found them. Rather than go through and completely rewrite and rearrange, just throwing them together and posting. May edit later. In meantime, here ya go, more various details and observerations, with a good dose of ancedote littering the post.

( Verite suggestions... I guess I should wander off to the bookshelf now. )

( A few socio-economic sub-groups. )

( Meet-and-greet classics for runaways. )

( Crash course on throwaways. )

( The old-fashioned way to get around lack of ID. )

( Scene-geared businesses. )

About live shows among the subcultures, a facet that apparently exists on both coasts, per cosplayeriori’s comments in a previous thread:

Yes, for clubs it’s usually the dumb white kids getting into fights. In my years being around music scene of SF and having bouncers for clubs like the Fillmore and Warfield be my ‘baby sitters’ on going to the office with mom days, when I was young, rarely did I ever hear about fights and they didn’t hold back talking around me, because they where always talking about what shows they worked, how late it went, if they had to do anything. Really all you got were guys getting kicked out for moshing/stage jumping (which isn’t allowed at the Fillmore, they will kick you out) or some guy getting drunk and being an ass. I will say one of the most WELL-behaved and friendly audiences I’ve ever seen was at a Garry Newman concert who had Switchblade Symphony as their opener. Granted the Filmore was filled to the brim with a strange mix of ex-80’s now semi-prep office types and hardcore-goth scene. Everyone got along, and was really nice.

When I was in college and home for the weekend (a somewhat rare event, given that I was frequently in the city but not necessarily making any effort to swing by actual home), I managed to get two tickets for the Fishbone show at a city university. I already knew I’d be doing head door for them when they played my own school the following Monday, but it’s one thing to stand at the door the entire night, and another thing to actually, y’know, see the show. It was one of the few times I made a real effort to do something for my sister, seeing how she liked Guadacanal Diary (the actual headliners).

( When we arrived at the university’s gymnasium... )

It’s times like that, that I recognize the incredible power of music to bring us all together, if only for an evening.

[all posts stemming from the original ‘dear author’ post are tagged with bright lights big city.]

I was listening to the radio yesterday and trying to ignore the semi-obnoxious deejay -- who has to be just out of college, given the comments -- blathering on about the days of “punk rockers”.

I really, really, really hate that label.

Now, there are ‘punk rock’ bands -- I’d say the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Replacements, that ilk, would be at the top of the recognizable-names list. That’s punk, certainly -- often Brit, songs with a punk delivery but under that rough-edged veneer it was really just more three-four time basic rock. I wasn’t a punk rocker, and I was just as offended as my friends if we were called ‘punk rockers’... that was a derogatory term and only tolerable when used as an affectionate insult among friends. Anything else was close to fighting words, an implication that you were ‘just’ a punk rocker, that you were all flash and no substance.

Being called a ‘new waver’ was even worse, though, no matter how good Bowie’s music might’ve been. New Wave meant hair like Flock of Seagulls or Thompson Twins (both semi-pop bands but hello, that hair) -- bleached and permed and dyed manic-panic color (if not several colors at once) -- not to mention the spandex, sometimes ripped and torn, the oversized jackets with sleeves pushed up, and all in bright colors... and it seemed a bigger thing in NYC and LA than anywhere I hung. We didn’t have a lot of new-wavers in the city by the time I came around. The few we had, either had shaded into punk rockers at the edges of the hardcore scene, or were stepping sideways into the proto-goth world (and I don’t mean Evanescence-style neo-goth, but early Cure what-is-this-goth-you-speak-of whiteface and smeared lipstick).

( I was hardcore, not punk rock... and if you're wondering where I'm going with explaining this: ) as someone who actually adores bluegrass, I’d still like a moratorium on all fiddles in urban fantasy, at least until any authors arrive who are willing to contemplate, and incorporate, a solid reason for a fringe environment to embrace a greater distance between itself and the mainstream, rather than the more likely wish of usurpation or at least recognition. And to qualify, I wouldn’t lift that moratorium for any author who seeks to justify the musically-expressed greater distance as a metaphor of “old versus new,” because, hello, DONE.

---

all the parts ▪ dear [not just urban fantasy] author part I ▪ dear [not just urban fantasy] author part II ▪ dear [not just urban fantasy] author part III ▪ permanent record, pt I: edginess, and street fighting ▪ permanent record, pt II: guns, knives, and making it hurt

Originally this was intended for urban fantasy (UF) authors, but many people have pointed out it has implications for more than just one sub-genre. Hence, title revised accordingly.

[ETA: some folks have told me the tone is arrogant, so it might help to remember that this was written with a great deal of annoyance running beneath the surface -- aimed at writers who get it wrong even in really simple things. ALSO: this post isn't applicable to all cities, or even all countries; ie, if your country doesn't allow private citizens to own guns, then there are parts that won't apply. That doesn't make my words automatically wrong; it just makes them inapplicable. Take what works and leave the rest, because everyone's experiences and mileage will vary -- and for alternate perspectives, I recommend scanning the comments for what others had to say about their own experiences.]

This is due to a long -- and I mean long -- conversation with difrancis last night, because when the semi-annual phone mood hits me, it takes a good four hours before it's out of my system and I'm ready for another three to six months of email only. I even killed my phone, no really, how's that for dedication to a conversation? Anyway, in the various tangents of the conversation, we hit on a few points that I think some urban fantasy authors might benefit from...

Let me rephrase. We hit on a few points that I know some [not just urban/cont fantasy] authors would find useful. I've read their books and there's major lack of vérité. But either no one is willing (or knowledgeable? can't be that, I hope) to knock the authors with a reality check, or the authors just haven't realized how much they need it and to take it when offered.

Dear author: this will hurt you more than it hurts me, but if any point o' mine might apply to something you've written... then it probably does. Pay attention; it's for your own good. Love, me.


( 1a. It's not enough to just shoot the gun: understand why a person prefers one gun over another. )

( 1b. A weapon is a personal thing, not a random choice, and the choice has significance. )

( 2. There are rules at the fringes of society. They're just the opposite of your rules. )

( 3. Never, ever forget the economics: things cost money. )

( 4. Know the law: because the character sure as hell would. )

( 5. When the economics fail, the solution tells me a lot. )

( 6. Things don't just take up space; it's how we perceive them in our space, too. )

( 7. Everything has a price: there's no such thing as a gift. )

8. ...I forget what eight was for.

( 9. Understanding politics may save your ass, but ignorance will eat it alive. )

continue to part II