Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Wife Beating 101

An Islamic cleric explains the proper way to beat your wife if you are a Muslim. What a thoughtful religion. The Koran even tells you what hand to hold your pee pee with when you take a leak. They think of everything! No wonder the religion is so popular with non-thinking individuals. 

200 Calories

What does 200 calories look like in food terms. It’s pretty surprising.

No wonder I’m fat. I try to be careful, but little things can pack a lot of calories. I’m trying to stay around 1500 calories a day if I can. But I’ll admit I often blow it. 

Transformers Japanese Trailer

Steven Speilberg and Michael Bay introduce this trailer showing a lot of scenes from the new movie. Kind of strange to make what looks like a serious live action action movie from a kid’s cartoon. 

World’s Worst Tattoos

Damn! Some of these are amazing...ly stupid.

20 Ways the Earth Could End

Discover Magazine gives us this cheerful list of ways we could all die. I hadn’t heard this one before.

Collapse of the vacuum In the book Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut popularized the idea of “ice-nine,” a form of water that is far more stable than the ordinary kind, so it is solid at room temperature. Unleash a bit of it, and suddenly all water on Earth transforms to ice-nine and freezes solid. Ice-nine was a satirical invention, but an abrupt, disastrous phase transition is a possibility. Very early in the history of the universe, according to a leading cosmological model, empty space was full of energy. This state of affairs, called a false vacuum, was highly precarious. A new, more stable kind of vacuum appeared and, like ice-nine, it quickly took over. This transition unleashed a tremendous amount of energy and caused a brief runaway expansion of the cosmos. It is possible that another, even more stable kind of vacuum exists, however. As the universe expands and cools, tiny bubbles of this new kind of vacuum might appear and spread at nearly the speed of light. The laws of physics would change in their wake, and a blast of energy would dash everything to bits. “It makes for a beautiful story, but it’s not very likely,” says Piet Hut of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey.

Secrets of Writing: Constructing Characters: Part 1

PERSONALITY

Personality comes in five basic flavors: Boring, funny, sexy, interesting, and scary. You need to determine which version of the latter four you want your characters to have, because boring is the last thing you want a character to be.

Of course, there are times you will want a boring character for the sake of contrast, or to make some kind of point. But even then, you have to make them interesting enough to keep our attention.

Think of a small party of people. Notice how some people seem to always stand out in a crowd. They seem to get all the attention. As a writer, you’ve got to figure out what they’re doing right that makes them interesting to others and use that to your advantage.

Of course, popular people are often shallow and superficial to talk to. They might be popular because of their looks, or money. But a lot of the time, it’s because they are very careful about what they say, and now to manipulate other people’s egos. A lot of the time, popular people are also funny. Maybe not to you, but to their friends. A person’s sense of humor can tell you a lot about them.

Popular individuals are often favored because they retain mystery about themselves. They don’t reveal their inner pain or their personal problems. At the same time, they uplift the mood of a scene. The “life of the party” is always someone with a sense of humor, a schmoozer who knows how to please. Depressed or angry individuals are a turn off, even if they are mysterious.

Human beings are attracted to positivism, not negativism . Successful people tend not to mope around or act depressed. Even if you may be like that, if you want a character to be appealing, you have to think of a way to make them more positive and dynamic than you are.

So creating a personality that is positive and somewhat mysterious should be your main goal. Your hero cannot look like a wimp internally, even if they do externally. You can peel away the layers of mystery as the story unfolds. But never tell us too much about a person right off the bat.

If your hero is popular to others, then they need to behave in a way that’s believable. If they’re not popular, they need to be empathetic.

It’s one of the first things a person learns about dating. Never tell the other person everything about yourself. It will inevitably bore them or put them off. The less someone knows, the more they need to find out. That gives them something to work for. It’s like a carrot on a stick. We need motivations in life. Nothing has value unless we struggle for it. So relationships that have the most appeal are always the ones involving a chase. We chase after what we think we see and want. The less we know about someone, the more we can project our fantasies and ideals on them.

The great psychologist Carl Jung proposed a theory that we project our inner most desires on people we are attracted to. We make them what we want them to be in our minds. They are never truly what we believe them to be. And if we see that demonstrated in some way it’s very disappointing and hurtful. Character personas are idealized human personalities. We create clear individuals we can understand. So it’s necessary to reveal what we want the reader to know at that point in time, so they will form this idealized model of the character in their minds while reading.

A character’s personality needs to grab our attention. They have to light up every scene. Naturally, the Hero is the main bonfire. We don’t want the supporting cast to get to steal the show, though it can happen. Make sure the Hero and Villain keeps us spellbound. Their personality needs to outshine the other characters in the story.

Scary personalities are the kind crazy people have. It can range from homicidal to disturbed. They make us worried that it could rub off. Or they remind us of that old adage: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Scary characters are great for spiking the energy of a scene. The Frank Booth character in BLUE VELVET really grabbed our attention every time he was on camera. But you have to be careful with these kind of characters because they can lapse into parody very easily.

Components of a Persona

The human persona can be broken down into three main components. Intellectual, Emotional, and Habitual. Some people are more prone to reason than emotion. Some are the opposite. And many people have unconscious habits which are displayed randomly or most of the time. These habits can indicate certain neuroses or psychological traits that can be used for characterization purposes. When constructing a character’s persona it’s not a bad idea to keep these three things in mind and see how they can be used to your advantage.

Personas, Masks and Facades

It’s important to understand that for many people, their personality is something they constructed as a tool for interacting with society. It’s not who they really are. It’s a mask. The real person is far more complex. If you could read people’s minds, you’d see their true persona hiding behind the facade.

We all know that how people act under normal circumstances is misleading. We can never be sure of a person’s true intentions, even if we know them well. There’s only one way to really get to see the inside of someone’s head and that’s when they are put under pressure. The cowards run and the heroes let the fists fly when it all hits the fan. When the Audience knows where a character really stands on an issue, they can be more comfortable with them.

In life, this is how you find out who your real friends are. When they are tested by the cruel twists of fate. The term “Fair Weather Friend” is known to us all. We’ve seen who sticks by our side when things get rough and who doesn’t return our calls.

In a story, you need to put a lot of pressure on your characters. They need to be tested, put through the fire. We need to see what kind of person they really are, what they are truly made of. And that’s what the Audiences want to see.

Pressure

Pressure can come in many forms. Through relational characterization, we can show how a normally cool character becomes flustered when his mother is around. By using choice as a tool, we can present the character with problems where the solution they choose determines their moral backbone. We can also cause the character a world of hurt to see how they react to it. The Villain can force them to do something against their will, and we can see how they deal with it.

Pressure is another critical force in storytelling. No pressure, no conflict, no story.

No one cares about people who have an easy time. We might get jealous, but we won’t be impressed. You want your hero to impress us.

There are exceptions, of course. James Bond seems to have an easy time doing certain things. But if you watch the movies, you’ll notice the best ones are the stories where he was under the most pressure to succeed. Ultimately, James Bond’s ability at cards or seducing women isn’t the skills that matter. It’s not how he overcomes the Villain. He does that using his wits and his brawn and usually, they are put to the test.

The job of a plot is to put pressure on the characters so we can see who they are and what they’re made of. Until that happens, your hero is just another citizen.

REMEMBER: True character is revealed under pressure. 

Presidential Material?

“Junkie. Pothead. That’s where I’d been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. . . . I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind.”

Barak Obama.

Something tells me the more we hear about Obama, the more he will diminish in many people’s eyes. Being able to talk a good talk didn’t exactly help Edwards, whom Obama reminds me of. A junior senator who thinks he’s qualified to be president without even finishing out his term.

I think Obama is an attractive package to many people. He’s half white, and he’s very Will Smith-ish. Many people mistakenly, believe that if someone is black they are an outsider who will look out for the little guy. But too many corrupt black leaders have blown that theory. A politician is a politician. They don’t belong to a race. They belong to a different species. They might use race the same way they would use a wedge issue, but it’s a mistake to expect too much from any politician.

I like this commie poster from 1911. It’s rather strident, but it has a measure of truth in it. People don’t get to positions of power without making deals and owing the powerful. There’s no reason to assume Obama is any different. He may be a quasi-socialist like many Democrats, but that just means he’s a stateist.

No thanks.

The system we have allows anyone, no matter how poor to rise to the top. Obama is a self confessed former junkie turned Senator. But the things he espouses, as do many other Democrats, is antithetical to helping people succeed. Obama wants a return to the failed government programs that ruined the black family and destroyed his community in the 20th century. That’s not a promise of hope. But it sure take audacity.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Annoying Cell Phone User

Secrets of Writing: Archetypes

You may have noticed that human personalities seem to fall into categories. Some people are clownish, some are mean, some are serious, some are childish, some are bland. There are several basic human models that everyone recognizes. These are called Archetypes. From these models you can extrapolate a personality and build on it, since no one is 100% archetypal. Men and woman can be a combination of any of these archetypes.

The Hero/Heroine: Athletic, confident, handsome, successful, a leader. A model of what everyone wants to be, but most people are jealous of.

The Saint: Pure, noble, kind, humble, understanding. Usually a religious figure.

The Lord: Aloof, regal, into presentation and appearances, usually well educated but not necessarily intelligent, usually wealthy, has high standards, expects perfection, well mannered, easily turned off. Tends to be cold.

The Nice Guy/Girl: Kind, thoughtful, helpful, sympathetic, sweet, unthreatening, easy going, dependable, a real pal.

The Rake/Harlot: Earthy, flirtatious, wanton, wild, instant mood swings, want’s fun all the time, easily bored, non-committal, freewheeling, looking for a free ride.

The Drunk: Can’t deal with reality, looking for escape, wants to get high, stoned, drunk, laid, anything to take their mind off the pain they’re carrying around inside. Sticks to light conversation, irresponsible, self destructive. Usually insecure.

The Cheerleader: Bouncy, cheerful, positive, grinning, happy, cooperative, an organizer, a shill, a back patter, often touchy-feely, wants to be your friend, is always UP!

Mr/Ms Sensitive: Wants to get involved with causes, self righteous, judgmental, ideological, cynical, passionate, tends to demonize opponents, is prone to zealotry, can be demagogic and polemical, considers themselves torch carriers for “values”, thinks they feel empathy but are really only capable of sympathy.

The Clown: Comical, never serious, always trying to get attention, a buffoon, happy-go-lucky, usually unreliable.

The Egotist: Usually intelligent, but over bearing, self absorbed, self centered, insensitive to other people’s feelings, a know it all, a braggart, talks about themselves a lot, free with their opinions, but doesn’t have much interest in anyone else’s, thinks he deserves everything he wants, basically a spoiled brat.

The Dreamer: Intelligent, lots of aspirations, low drive, daydreams a lot, generally inactive, easy going, usually set in their ways, capable of doubt, but addicted to denial and rationalization, always expects to win the lottery, good hearted but frivolous, generally a nice person but is often irresponsible.

The Drone: Bland, responsible, doesn’t rock the boat, keeps head down, plays the game, low confidence, slow about everything they do, waiting for retirement. Dependable. ]

The Masochist: No self esteem, a weakling and a coward, thinks he’s bad, feels guilty about everything, feels he deserves to be treated bad even though he doesn’t really want it, often keeps these feelings to himself, but radiates the above vibes even so. Often gives off strange sexual vibes, like they’re a voyeur in need of a show.

The Professor: Extremely intelligent, non-aggressive, generally asexual, lacking in social skills, little attention paid to appearance, scholarly, generally unassuming, introverted, extremely focused on pet interests, odd sense of humor.

The Dejected: Depressed, weepy, miserable, gloomy, unhappy, or all of the above. A half empty type person. Never satisfied, nothing pleases, always looking for the fault in things, distrustful of any altruistic gesture, always looks on the dark side.

The Boss: A workaholic, driven, a bottom liner, cuts to the chase, no time for protocol, wants it yesterday, doesn’t care about your feelings or problems, demanding, serious, cheap.

The Grouch: Brooding, angry, paranoid, distrustful, a loner, a shut in. Usually a mean old man.

The Shark: Opportunistic, selfish, conniving, manipulative, heartless, charming when necessarily, cold the rest of the time, greedy, ambitious, driven, always HUNGRY for more.

The Villain (also known as The Sadist): Spiteful, vicious, sadistic, power mad, egotistical, cruel, greedy, out for blood, plays games, sick sense of humor.

Everyone has met a version of these archetypes, so they have powerful resonance in a story. That is why you see these characters in fiction all the time. But no one is a pure archetype. Usually, qualities of the others are mixed in.

Some archetypes are actually masks that people have chosen as their persona. The Clown and The Cheerleader are usually fronts for deep pain or insecurity. The same rule applies to the Grouch. The Grouch is often a good person inside, who is afraid of being hurt by other people, so they take the persona as a defense. The Cheerleader is often the Shark or the Grouch in disguise. The Clown is often the Grouch or the Egotist in reality. The Saint is often the Boss or the Shark. The Hero is often a great looking, lucky version of the Boss or the Drone.

REMEMBER: Archetypal characters should never be fully archetypal. 

American History 101

In a nutshell