IDEOLOGUES, ONE AND ALL

I’m trying to create a detailed character profile for someone in a future book at the moment and it’s something that I’ve done with everyone in my books. Making sure that I know who they are means that I can develop a consistency when I’m in the trenches of writing.

One of the things that I kept picking out that was always appearing in my planning was the idea beyond what the characters looked like and more around what they liked or disliked, what they believed in. It was never about finding the most minute detail to include, like their favourite fictional detective or if they thought the ball had REALLY crossed the line during the 1966 World Cup, it was there to help me have an idea of who they were at the very core of themselves.

In my page of information from The Circle of Fire where I made notes about one of the more central characters, I included details about their family, what was it that drove them to act the way they did? If they agree with one idea, does that follow that they must agree with the next five of that kind? It just gave me a fuller and more rounded picture of who I was writing.

Now the thing that came along with each character, nestled beside all of the above, was the line that they wouldn’t cross or the belief they had that was unshakable, and it’s that idea that made me stop and think.

Do we all have that same nugget of who we are that will just never move and we’d never entertain anything which could threaten it?

Politics is an interesting place to begin considering such an idea so let’s dive in.

Are you a red voter or blue?

Brexit or Remain?

Personally, this is an area where I’d consider myself as being the ‘floater’. I’ve voted across different parties, candidates and propositions over the years and I’ve tried to at least give everyone a chance to make their point. I’ve certainly never just remained loyal to one regardless, yet there are so many people in the world who just ignore any facts that might get in the way of what they might ‘feel’.

How do you feel about vaccines? Big Pharma?

What about QAnon?

Do you trust the BBC?

Is the Earth flat?

Now I accept that these are at the more extreme end of the continuum but we’ve all met someone who had an unshakeable belief in, if not something from above then something else, a topic which they just know about.

Ask anyone about any particular global event, wars and the like, and you’ll likely hear some very weird thoughts. The issue comes, as it would from the above collection of ideas, when that person does everything in their power to spread their viewpoint far and wide.

Previously, the world wasn’t anywhere near as connected as we are today but now, someone shouting their particular thought can pick up adherents at a remarkable rate to spread like wild fire. In no time at all, we can have that idea oozing around the planet regardless of the truth.

We all have opinions on everything and we all share and discuss stuff with others but we’re all vulnerable to the effects of something which sounds all too plausible but which is actually garbage. Every one of us has it us to be an ideologue about any given topic so it really falls to each and every one of us to be sure we’re saying the right things but at the barest, we should be asking ‘Are you sure?’

Stay safe all.

Also, the Moon isn’t real, and anyone who tells you different is clearly trying to hide something!

THE RIGHT SPACE

There are an almost unending list of places that people can work. We all know that there are different jobs everywhere but as I’ve been sitting staring at my screen over the last few weeks, it struck me how important my own work area is to what I do.

As with every job we’ve ever had, and I’m talking about any job or task rather than just employment, it’s important to do everything you possibly can to maximise your chances of success.

If you want to complete a jigsaw, sitting outside in a high wind may not allow you to get the best results. Attempting to change a tire on a car but rather than using a jack, you get an air mattress foot pump and start the task with the car on a huge hill.

We all recognise that to make the best of whatever it is that we’re doing, we’re going to have to makes sure we have all of the consideration of location and tools and time nailed down.

I don’t know about any of you, but I’d say that my desk in my office needs to be slightly chaotic order to allow me to get my writing on. I do well with order and structure but if it’s too ordered and structured I can end up finding my mind wandering. The chaotic side of my work area is that collection of personal effects which I have all over the show as I work.

I have a note board for bits and pieces of info for my writing but I’ve also got photos on there of good times at work and from one convention appearance. I’ve got a medal from Top Golf and a crochet Spiderman keyring. I’m being watched by a skull which sits next to one of my monitors and crochet Alien Queen that my wife made and there are shells and small bottles in a little pile too.

Add to that I need to be listening to music of some flavour and you can get an idea of the personal stamp I’ve added to how I do things. And it’s great. I can spend more time at the coal face because I enjoy the space I surround myself with and that means that I can relax into it and get creative, having set myself up as best as I could.

Our surroundings can be arranged to get the best results as you would arrange a station on a production line. You can make sure that all of the tools and materials are available at each station and are placed in a consistent spot to mean the least wasted effort and that’s something that I’ve done to my desk at it’s core. But beyond that, adding just a splash of who I am to the desk means that I can grab the best of both worlds.

Doing all of the right preparation means that I can reduce issues to any success but by keeping that added flourish of ‘me-ness’ things are less sterile or bland and that helps my creative process.

Everyone out there, do your very best to keep that little accent colouring of yourself when you try and do things, it could then lead you anywhere.

Stay safe all.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

I’ve listened to loads of clips of ‘The Atheist Experience’ over the years and they’re a great way to explore an understanding of opinions on the existence or not of any and all mystical powers. There are more than a few examples where the people calling in have marched into the ring to prove the existence of the almighty and have been crunched because they didn’t have anything like a coherent idea at their fingertips but it’s not those things that got me thinking.

One of the first questions that gets asked of people when they call in saying they can prove the existence of the magical in any and all possible forms is that they need to define what it is that they’re going to prove before they start, and you’ll be amazed at how often that’s where things unravel.

Making sure that there’s a shared understanding of meanings is a tiny part of how we collectively communicate but without that shared understanding of what words or events or things mean, comprehension falls apart.

There are examples of tiny actions that don’t translate between different parts of the world. Put your thumb up in the UK for example and you signal that all is well, but do it in Iran and you give a message more akin to the middle finger gesture. The two finger V sign is either ‘Peace’ or ‘**** off’ depending on which way round you present it so the most simple elements of how we show or explain to others can often not be as clear cut as people would like.

Making sure that there is a clarity surrounding definitions of things ensures that we can all understand what each of us is trying to say but it goes beyond just describing things.

How do you define yourself?

How do each of us define ourselves on a day to day basis? Do you use your job? Your age? Your sports team? Your nationality? All of these things can be ways that we see ourselves and other people but should we solely use singular factors as defining the whole?

Are all old people the same? Do all fans of a certain sports team think the same way? Do all tall people behave the same? If you vote for one person, does that follow that you share every trait of everyone else who voted the same way?

Making sure that we have the correct definitions for things is vital but looking at a singular thread and using that as the sole defining characteristic can be a dangerous route to take. It then becomes far too easy to generalise the group of a specific point in whatever way you could imagine.

BMW drivers don’t know how to use their indicators?

All foreigners are dangerous?

Sound familiar?

If we look at ourselves through a single lens, wouldn’t we risk distorting how we view everything as we relate everything back to our job? Does that mean that our families become those people we see when not in work or the ones who moan if you have to work late?

If all we are is a single strand then we become two dimensional. It’s all of the other things that we do, think, or like that goes into making up who we all are so being too focused on defining ourselves by a singular point or factor can bring the risk of shattering you if things were to change.

Lose your job and that can destroy you if that was all you defined yourself as.

Embrace the many different things that make up you.

Stay safe all.

TAKING STOCK

I’ve written three books in ‘The Circle’ series so far, with the completed project set to be five when I’m done and something that I’m having to always keep in mind as the books build, is to always remember the weight of the previous events on the characters.

We all live our lives and day by day by day, the experiences which surround us mount up and steer how we see the world. The great things we see can make it so wonderful that our on-going perspectives are tilted to the positive, although, when the horrifying should cross our paths, it can drag us into the darkest depths and cast a perpetual greasy shadow over everything we encounter from then on.

That weight of experience happens to all of us and everyone is a result of the life that they lead so we recognise on the pages of the books we read that all of the characters should have similar weight to carry about.

Shadow in American Gods carries his history into every choice and the weight of his marriage is shown almost too literally through the book. Harry Dresden can always feel the weight of his life, either the lack of family or his resentment of the power figures around him and that weight that he has to deal with makes him constantly more relatable. We can see that these characters have struggles and that means that they’re the same as us, and you know what? If they can keep going through all of the fantastical troubles that they have, then maybe we can too.

Looking backwards to draw fuel for moving forwards is the nuts and bolts of experience, and being able to see that we’ve all been through the widest possible spectrum of life events just means that all the way down at the very bottom, we’re all doing the same things.