Asimov & Rambling
So I'm trying to read this third robot series book, The Robots of Dawn. And I just can't get into it. Why? Because even sci-fi greats like Asimov make the fatal mistake of rambling too much about stuff the reader doesn't give a crap about.
He's devoted pages and pages to arguing between detective Bailey and his robot partner R. Daneel. They're debating the 'murder' of a robot, and whether a robot can be murdered. R. Daneel, programmed to think of only humans as 'sacred' believes that a robot cannot be 'murdered' in the human sense. Bailey is of course trying to argue that robots can be murdered.
It's an ironic situation, and interesting in theory. The problem? It's some of the most boring reading of the entire series, and I'd rather go read something else.
I'm about two paragraphs away from throwing the book in the trash and reading something else, because I can't stand the pedantic hair-splitting that Asimov seems so fond of in these books. Two characters are arguing about something that has little or nothing to do with the story itself. Get on with it. Action! Action!
And he feels the need to cite his famous Third Law of Robotics on every other page.
The Robots of Dawn is 435 pages. I'm on page 50 and almost nothing has happened yet except the basic setup and the hero arguing with a robot. Failure... pure failure.
50 pages is almost HALF of a typical film script. Now, I'd be forgiving of this sort of thing if the setup was very detailed, and those details were crucial to the main thrust of the story. But in the case of Robots of Dawn, it's not. Asimov is taking his time, rambling here and there on misc. topics, info dumps, and self-amusing intellectual masturbation.
Nobody should do this to the reader. Not even sci-fi greats. This is the epitomy of what I hate about writers and novels. It makes me sad to say that, because I enjoyed the first two books of the series and have no doubts that Asimov earned his credibility. This is just such a disappointment.
Some people may be tickled by this sort of thing, but I'm not. If this were adapted to film, this argumentative rambling would be gutted. Nobody would watch the hero arguing with a robot for 30 minutes, no matter how ironic or interesting the situation might be.
I'm starting to understand how Asimov wrote 400 books. Writing 400 books is easy; Just ramble.
The Patterns That Make a Character
Melly had an
interesting post on which characters are hardest to write. In the comments I said villains were the hardest for me.
I often find myself thinking of evil acts for the villain to pull. But then I think, "Why would anyone do that?"
And the obvious reasons are of course, power, greed, arrogance, etc. But a person doesn't say, "I want to be powerful. I'm going to hurt someone."
It's just something they do along the way, a byproduct of the way they live their life.
So crafting a villain is less about creating an evil person, and more about creating negative patterns in that character's life that affect other people, including the hero.
It is that creation of believable negative patterns that makes the villain, not the arbitrary labeling of evil.
When somebody goes on a murderous rampage, they don't often say beforehand, "Hmm. I think I'll go on a murderous rampage."
They may find themselves at wit's end or under strain in their life, and they crack a little. Their behavior becomes erratic or antagonistic towards others. They may lash out. And in the course of ratcheting tension and pressure, they find themselves sitting in their car outside the pawn shop, contemplating the purchase of a gun.
So it is a series of little steps that are part of a bigger pattern. We all go through these patterns in our lives. We are all both heroes and villains.
It is the people who reach the peak of that negative or positive pattern and make it the defining moment of their life--that is what makes them either a hero or a villain.
Characters are patterns mapped out on the page.
Traveling & the Writer Perspective
I'm having trouble finishing up the vacation story, which may be fine because I'm honestly not sure how many people care?
But there is something else I want to talk about concerning travel, and that's how it affects a writer's perspective.
We all get buried by our routines and habits. Sometimes it's difficult to break out of our own perspective and write something fresh. There's the old writing rule, "Write what you know." But that's pretty obvious isn't it? And it doesn't apply in every case. I think back to when I was a janitor working nights. I didn't have much of a life, and really the only thing going on in my life was being a janitor. Write what you know, eh? Well that would have been the most mind numbing story I can possibly imagine.
So yes, we have to break from routine and experience new things in order to put some spark in our perspective.
Travelling does this really well. Each time I go to Mexico, I marvel at all the tiny differences between Mexico and the United States.
Building codes for one. There, a person can choose to live in a 5x5 adobe shack with a corrugated tin roof. If they want to 'expand' their house, they just toss on a second level, or knock down a wall and build a new room.
In the U.S., we are smothered in beauracracy. Want a new room on your house? Well, that requires a permit from the city with full approval and 500 point inspection. Do you still want to build that room?
This encourages some crazy random construction in Mexico. You will see things that you would never see in the United States. Things like rebar poking up from the tops of buildings. Ya know, those steel rods they set as a guide for the concrete? Yeah, well in the U.S. they cut that stuff off and patch it up when they're done with the construction. In Mexico, literally every building has rebar poking out of the roof. Why? Because they might want to expand someday...
How does this apply to writing and fiction? Imagine two societies at opposite extremes. One of them is badly beauracratic in the name of public safety. Everything you do is subject to the permit, approval, and inspection of others. The second society requires no permits or inspections, and allows you to do pretty much whatever you want.
Since I'm interested in sci-fi, it's fascinating to see how this might apply. If I was going to write about an alien culture, I'd start closer to home as a basis. I'd look at the differences between cultures that exist here on Earth, and then I'd extrapolate that on another species and take into account millions of years of separate evolution.
They might have all kinds of bizarre customs and rituals, or things that seem insane from a human perspective. You almost can't go too far with this, because we're talking about aliens, right?
So traveling is definitely good for the perspective. My only problem now is that I'm back in the same old routine, which feels a bit stifling after a nice vacation. Now I've got to find ways to freshen my perspective here at home.
What tricks do you use to change your perspective?
Day Seven: Los Organos
Everyone was up early cooking and preparing for the picnic at Los Organos. Since neither Jen nor I were involved in the cooking, we got dressed and watched The Weather Man. I'd heard it was bad, but actually found it to be funny.
Around 1:30 we got everything ready to go. Miguel had gone to the doctor, and wasn't back yet. Raphael had his F350 all loaded up and ready to go. Tila's family had their truck all ready to go. So we just waited.
Finally around 2PM Miguel arrived. Turns out Miguel has a hernia and gastro-intestinal infection. He just has to take it easy til we get back to the U.S.
Around 2:30PM we got to Los Organos. Los Organos are an interesting stretch of rock in the Sierra Madre mountains. It was just as awesome as I remember it being when we went in 2004.
We unloaded everything and started setting up the picnic. Cracked open a beer. We brought plenty of Barrilitos and other alchoholic essentials:
Got bored so the nephew Jacob and I took a little walk over to the arroyo. There was no water of course... things are dry in the spring. I hear in the summer months the area gets flooded with water, which is interesting. You can see the erosion and formations from when the water was last there.
Jacob and I walked back to the camp, where food hadn't even started. So I left by myself and started climbing up to La Copa - "The Cap."
I continued climbing. After a bit I caught a flash of pink shirt. It was Jen's cousin Melissa up ahead, climbing higher up the side of the peak. She had a video camera and was getting video of various things. With nothing better to do, I caught up to her.
We climbed a bit, and then split up. I was getting a bit winded, so I took a more even path around the peak, stopping to rest as I needed. Got some great views of the surroundings though.
After a while it got quiet. I looked around and didn't see or hear anyone. I thought Melissa had gone back to our camp. But as I rounded a bend, I found a gap between some rocks that led up to a higher point of the peak. It looked like something interesting to climb through.
Just then I heard sounds coming from the rocks above. I climbed through the gap and found Melissa had climbed up some tricky expanse of rock. She asked if I was able to climb up there, I said no. She climbed down and we made our way further around the peak. We had gone far enough that we decided to go in a full circle around the entire peak to get back to camp. Along the way I saw some small lizard, and a pack of roaming horses.
Eventually I found the Tres Frailes 'Three Friars.'
Then we continued back to camp. When we got back Jen was a little irritated that I had wandered off. Food had been served and nobody could find me.
I ate, then Jen and I wandered over to the arroyo, as Jen hadn't seen it yet. Then we walked back to camp.
Miguel wanted to take everyone to a cave. It's not really a cave but a sheltered gap between the rocks.
Along the way I got other pics of course.
Eventually we got back to camp, where I continued to drink some Barrilitos. I started playing with the tripod, and got a few pics of Jen and I wearing our Zacatecas t-shirts.
With our stomachs full, we continued with lively conversation and knocking back the beers. I lost track of time. Jen alerted me to the setting sun, so I ran out with my tripod to capture it.
Nobody wanted to stay past dark, so we packed everything up and left. We rode away down the bumpy road away from Los Organos. The clock said 7:35PM
When we got back to the house we started making plans for the drive back to Texas. Alas, all good things must end. But we had one more day. It was my top priority to make it a good one.
Day Six: Atoltonilco
Woke up a little late. Visited Guerrero again. Did some shopping in the markets. Upon return from Guerrero we got ready for Atotolnilco. Gorditas and swimming!
On arrival we piled out of the Sequoia and paid our entrance to the swimming pools. We ordered some gorditas from the stands and set up by the swimming area to relax. Joe and I started drinking Tecates. Other family members from the town showed up shortly after. We had a decent sized group.
I spent much of the day drinking beer and having great conversations with Jen's cousin-in-law Raphael, who owns a trucking company out of El Paso, Texas. Raphael's son Jesus is really into video games. Being my industry, I got to chat with him for a while too.
After a day in the sun, we packed our things in the car and sat down to eat a few more gorditas. It was going to be our last time there, and since they are my favorite gorditas in the world I had to take some pictures.
Of course I can't talk so highly of the gorditas without having a picture of sheepish old me next to the gordita lady!
The sun sets on another day well-spent.
I was excited and happy for Day Seven--Los Organos.
Day Five: Saltito
Dalila and Miguel were sick. Dalila from the greasy gringas we ate at the restaurant the night before. Miguel was sick from partying too hard, I think. We didn't do much in the morning. Later, Joe, Dalila, Jen, and I walked around town.
We climbed the church bell tower, where I took some pictures.
Then we went to the town library. It's very small. They don't have a lot of books. For some reason a lot of the old caballeros (cowboys) hang out on the steps of the library. I don't think they hang around there for the books.
We went to Prieta's for chile rellenos. If you don't know what those are, hold on while I slap you. Ok. They're bell peppers stuffed with cheese, and covered in a batter. The kids were watching a King Kong bootleg dubbed in Spanish.
Finally, we left to go to Saltito. Jen's cousin Melissa came along, as did her other cousin Leslie. At the last minute, we couldn't find the nephews. Samantha had to stay behind and wait for them at the house. They disappeared. I thought maybe they climbed the nearby mountain the adults had been talking about, that had a statue at the top. But we couldn't be sure. We left without them.
Along the way we talked about volcanoes & Saltito. Saltito is an extinct volcano. A crater formed from a blast thousands of years ago. In the blown out caldera is a waterfall and lake. And a forest filled with twisted trees growing among the layers of loose volcanic rock. It's a very interesting and beautiful place.
When we got there we discovered one of the three waterfalls had dried up in the last two years. Nobody wanted to climb down into the caldera with me, except Melissa. Made me glad we brought her along. I would have gone alone, but I went alone in 2004. It's a little bit of a hike in and out of the caldera down a long, steep staircase. Glad we don't need ropes!
Anyway, going down there with Melissa gave me a chance to practice Spanish because she doesn't speak English. She took our video camera with.
Melissa and I made our way down, taking stills and video of the crazy rock wall sides formed when the volcano exploded eons ago.
We reached the bottom, where we got more stills and video of the 'enchanted forest.'
We headed back towards the staircase leading up out of the crater, when we noticed a junked car through the trees that had been pushed over the edge of the cliff.
As we got to the steps, the rest of the group called us from the top of the crater. We ran up the staircase, taking several steps at a time. After one flight we were both winded and laughing--or trying to laugh, between gasps for air. The others kept yelling but we couldn't respond for lack of breath. We ran til our lungs felt like they would explode. When we reached the top, I couldn't breathe. Everyone was waiting in the car. I had to walk off my exhertion.
Then we got in the car. We stopped at La Constancia to see something called Manantial--natural springs not far from Saltito. The town of Constancia is beautiful. The volcanic soil and natural springs make everything lush, even in March when everything else is brown and dry.
On the way, the sun was setting behind the mountain, so I rolled down the window of the car and snapped a pic.
On the way back we stopped at a 500+ year old church. I got some interesting photos.
This old woman came buy and offered to let us into the church. The top of the altar is made of pure gold. This is common around Mexico. Gold sometimes lines bevels in the church walls and entrances.
After the church adventure, we climbed in the car again and headed back to town and the house. I think Jen's cousins Melissa and Leslie had fun. Living in the small town of Villa Insurgentes, I don't think they get out that much. All these interesting places nearby and they never go!
The kids were at the house. Sure enough, they had climbed the mountain to check out the statue. That's why they were missing when we left for Saltito. Figures.
After we got home, we got ready for bed and put the movie Two For the Money playing on the laptop. Jen fell asleep. That's ok, she didn't miss much.
Day Four: Vicente Guerrero
Woke up around 7:30AM. Laid in bed for a while. Didn't want to get up. Finally got up and took a shower. Ate quesadillas & beans, with coffee. Yummy Mexican breakfast. Jen had beans, pico de gallo, and egg.
I took a peek around the town, and snapped a few pics of the nearly-empty streets.
Then we all climbed in the car and headed to Vicente Guerrero. We dropped Jen's Mom Chona off at the clinic.
I got some pics at the center of the town, including the statue of Vicente Guerrero himself.
We passed through the market twice.
As we were walking along the street we bumped into Luis Gomez selling peppers out of his truck. I probably don't remember him well because the last time I talked to him was two years ago during the Villa Insurgentes town festival, after I'd had quite a few beers.
Anyway, he had some nice peppers, so I took pictures of them.
When Chona was done at the doctor, we decided to eat lunch. The kids were left at this interesting Xbox arcade. I say interesting because it was 5 pesos for 30 minutes of play. That's like 50 cents for half hour of Xbox play. Quite a deal by U.S. standards, but I doubt the kids of Guerrero have much money.
After lunch we stopped at a grocery store. Jen had to hold the eggs carefully on the way back to Villa Insurgentes. They don't sell them in cartons there. They give them to you in a plain plastic bag, so keeping them intact is another story. Don't bump into anything!
After getting groceries we came back to Villa Insurgentes, to the house. A short while later lots of people showed up to hang out.
At one point, two donkeys came wandering down the alley past the house. One of them had a bulging stomach and looked to be pregnant. Donkeys, cows, and stray dogs wandering through towns in Mexico is common. Amusing for Americans!
Dalila, Joe, Jen, and I went for a walk through the side streets up to the cemetary. On the way to the cemetary, Joe stopped off to take a leak. He came running back claiming to have seen a rattlesnake. We returned to the spot, but found no proof! Then we entered the cemetary. We found the grave of Jen's maternal grandmother. The cemetary was interesting. Graves were packed very close, some touching. They are in a wide variety of states and quality. One was little more than a wooden cross planted in a rough patch of asphalt.
After the cemetary, we walked back through sidestreets. I got lots of photosource for game textures or whatever. We saw this funny cow watching us over the top of an adobe wall.
And a creative use of materials to make a bench: Concrete, tile, and plastic Coca-Cola cartons.
Later we ate dinner at Jen's aunt Prieta's house. We got a tour of their new house, which is huge by Mexican standards. It is more the size of an American house. I talked to Prieta's husband Martin about computers. He has a decent custom PC - a rarity in rural Mexico!
Being the geek that I am, I ran back to our house to grab my laptop so I could share some photos with Martin and Prieta, and burn Martin a CD of photos from our 2004 trip. After a few slideshows, we came back to the house where relatives were still hanging out. I got introduced to some of Jen's relatives from Chicago. They were impressed that I know Spanish.
A bit later, everyone left. We all shuffled down to a restaurant just around the corner for a late meal. I was still full from eating at Prieta's house. But I couldn't turn down a beer! Afterwards, we came back and went to bed.
Day Three: Zacatecas, Plateros, and Villa Insurgentes
We were awaken by the kids at 7AM. They were at the door telling us to wake up because everyone was getting ready to leave. We got dressed quickly. There wasn't time for a shower. Everyone was ready to get out and see more of the city. We went into the market, where we got 'liquado,' a sort of Mexican breakfast smoothie. I had a strawberry one.
We started walking around the city. Just like clockwork, the men riding donkeys began to appear around the city selling agua miel. Agua miel is a sweet tasting liquid made from the maguey plant. The nephews climbed on the donkey and I snapped some shots.
After, the kids got donuts. I got a gordita. Then we took taxis to the top of La Bufa. Took pics of Pancho Villa again. Looks different this time. They cut out some of the maguey plants from
last time.
There was a stiff wind. Everyone was cold except me--Minnesota Boy. The cool breeze felt good. I got quite a few photos. Here are a few:
There were some Huichol natives selling jewelry and trinkets on the path down to the teleferico (gondola). They must always be here... they were here in 2004 too.
We took the teleferico down from La Bufa.
Then we walked down the rest of the way. Along the way we got some Barrilitos. It's a beer made by Corona, but tastes very different from regular Corona. I think it's my new favorite beer. Anyway, I like the twisted streets and inclines of Zacatecas. It reminds me of San Francisco, dressed like Spain.
We stopped at the mine. Joe, Dalila, the kids, and Miguel took the tour. The rest of us stayed behind because we had taken the tour in 2004. It was Miguel's second time. He said there were new things in the tour. Oh well. The outside had a new wall sculpture, and a lot of the entrance had been redesigned. Business must be good!
We walked down from the mines back into the city. There are a lot of interesting features of architecture and city layout. Empty lots in places, and dug-outs in others.
We found a pizza place on the way back. It was ok. Not as good as ol' USA pizza but close enough. Then we went back to the hotel and started packing. We had to check out from the hotel. Everyone else came back shortly after us. We packed up and left Zacatecas city around 2:30PM.
Along the way we saw a Corona plant. Mmm...
We stopped at a town called Plateros. This is supposedly where Santo Niño de Atocha appeared for the first time on the hilltop. A temple was built there. There are a lot of saints in the Hispanic world. For us jueros that aren't familiar, Santo Niño de Atocha is the saint referenced by the character Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, in his class president speech from the movie. People bring locks of hair, prosthetic limbs, along with prayers or letters declaring the 'miracles' that the Santo Niño de Atocha brought them. I wasn't in the spiritual mood, so I failed to take a picture of the incredible masses of prayers and personal articles nailed to the walls of the temple. Even for the non-religious, it is interesting to say the least.
We drove on towards Jen's hometown of Villa Insurgentes (formerly Calabazal).
Along the way we stopped at Atotolnilco for my favorite gorditas in the entire world. I ate four. I told the woman at our favorite stand, that hers are the best. It's true! Then we continued on towards Villa Insurgentes. Somewhere in between I snapped this pic of sunset:
We arrived at Villa Insurgentes at 7PM. We unpacked the car, Jen's aunt Maria on Miguel's side came over. She's from Mexico City. It was the first time I had met her.
Jen's Mom sent us to get groceries but all the stores were closed. Along the way Dalila ran into a childhood friend and she stayed talking to her while we continued on in search of a grocery store that was open. Jen stopped some girls and asked them which store was open. It was one on the other side of town.
On the way we passed Jen's aunt Sanjuana and didn't even see her. She stopped us, and we said hello and chatted for a bit. We finally found an open store, and Jen started gathering the items. Some guy outside the shop freaked out and started talking to me. He was super surprised to see a white guy in the town. Funny.
On the way back to the house we found Miguel and stopped at Jen's uncle Juan's & Sanjuanas. We drank lots of Barrilitos, and talked for over an hour. Jen had left to bring the groceries back, because her Mom Chona had put beans on but was missing some ingredients. Beans are of the utmost importance! :)
Joe, Dalila, Miguel and I stayed drinking beer for a while at Juan's. We finally left and came back to the house. Miguel is happy and keeps handing out beers. He seems really happy to be home. Jen's aunt Prieta was there. We all talked for a while. I got tired, so we went to bed. I fell asleep right away.
Day Two: Mexico Arrival
We crossed the border in Laredo at 3:15AM where the non-Mexican members of our group had to file for entry papers. This was Joe, and I. The rest of the family has citizen status, or easy entry due to being children of Mexican citizens. They gave us 180 day passes. Maybe I could be a migrant worker into Mexico? Nah...
About five hours later we stopped off to rest and eat just past a toll booth between Monterrey and Saltillo. I took a few pics of the road and mountains. One of the mountains is called 'La Silla,' which means 'The Seat' in Spanish.
We got to Saltillo just before 10AM where we saw some familiar sights.
After gassing up and stretching our legs, our goal was clearly visible:
Around two hours later we stopped to stretch and for a bathroom break. We were truly in the middle of nowhere. A lot of Mexico looks like this. I guess you could call it the 'Nebraska of Mexico.'
We finally arrived in Zacatecas city, the capitol of Zacatecas state. We got our rooms at the Hotel Condesa, where we stayed two years ago. Jennifer and I got the last room available that had a balcony.
It made for some good first pictures of the city.
The same duros stand was there from two years ago. Same mother and daughter running the stand, too. Some things never change!
P.S. for Jueros (whiteys): Duros are a fried corn-puff snack covered in hot sauce & lime juice. Duros stands often sell fresh fried potato chips, also covered in hot sauce & lime juice. Where do you think Doritos came from?
The park with statue kitty-corner from the hotel was just as picturesque as ever.
We all rested and took showers after the long drive before heading out for dinner. We ate at RecoVeco Buffet. Forget Mexican buffets in the U.S. or anywhere else. This was the real deal. We had eaten there two years ago and it was just as good as I remembered.
After dinner, we explored the city and markets.
Jen and I bought Zacatecas t-shirts. Then we walked through the plaza featuring the statue of Genaro Codina, author of The March of Zacatecas -- the state's official song.
We walked by the Fuente del Faroles - 'Fountain of Lanterns.' When we visited in 2004 it was under renovation, so this is the first time I've seen it the way it was meant to be.
Of course you can't walk in a five hundred year old city without walking by a five hundred year old church.
After that Jen and I split from the group to go exploring on our own. We decided to return to the hotel via backstreets.
We got lost. Zacatecas city is not a bad place to get lost in though. The alleys are never too dark, and there are always people passing through them.
We found our way back to the hotel eventually, where I experimented in taking some night shots using my tripod from our hotel room balcony.
A little bit later, we went out again to explore. Just for fun, we tried to find a pizza place. We succeeded, but the pizza didn't look that good. They only had some dried slices under a heat lamp, which obviously weren't that fresh. The woman who ran the shop couldn't make any fresh pizzas because she was out of cheese. Out of cheese, in Mexico! That'll teach us for trying to find pizza at 9PM in Zacatecas.
We found a drug store and asked about sun block for me. At 200 pesos ($20 U.S.) they can kiss my white butt! We returned to the hotel where we ate in the hotel restaurant. Jen had grilled cheese sandwich and I had enchiladas with green sauce. The sauce was creamy, not like the usual lime-chile kind.
Jen had cocoa, which she really enjoyed because it was frothy and tasted like 'Abuelitas.' In other words, it was authentic Mexican hot cocoa, not the low grade American kind. I had some fresh-squeezed orange juice. Real juice! Imagine that!
Then we went back up to our hotel room and fell asleep quick. It's hard to sleep on a 20 hour drive, but easy to sleep after!
Day One: Road to Mexico
Left our house in Garland and headed past Dallas to Ft. Worth where we met up with the family and packed everything into Miguel's Toyota Sequoia
We left about 5:30PM and hit traffic immediately.
Made it to San Antonio around 10:00PM and ate at "La Salsas" restaurant. These huge burritos were like $1.25. The cheap culinary Mexican goodness begins! And we haven't even gotten out of the U.S. yet...
¡Adiós Amigos!
I'm off to Zacatecas state in Mexico to climb some hills and ruins. I will be eating lots of very inexpensive, delicious food. And drinking lots of very inexpensive beer. And... well, you get the point.
These are pictures from our 2004 trip. I can't believe it's already been two years! Time really flies...
This time I'm bringing a better camera and a video camera. I'm also going to take a journal of each day. Last time I tried to remember and summarize it all when I got back, and it was hard to keep track of all the incredible things we saw and did.
And of course when I get back I will share it with all of you! Until then you can read my
short write-up of the 2004 trip.
Quantum Storytelling
Writing is a lot like quantum physics.
It is impossible to keep all the elements of a story in mind,
while also writing. The best we can hope for as writers is to get the words down on the page, and possibly the story will turn out ok. Or we might plan and outline beforehand, but when we sit down to write our story often deviates from the plan.
This is why many writers have settled upon the tedious process of drafting as the only solution. First draft, second draft, third draft. There doesn't seem to be any other way, does there?
Oh, but there is!
It's called Quantum Storytelling. You don't need a degree in quantum physics to use it. We can use some of the same general principles that guys like Heiseinberg, Bohr, and Einstein used to overcome the most challenging physics problems.
The essence of Quantum Storytelling can be distilled in this paraphrased argument between Einstein and Bohr found on Wikipedia:
Einstein was in essence saying: "Of course, we can know where something is; we can know the position of a moving particle if we know every possible detail, and thereby by extension, we can predict where it will go."
Bohr and Heisenberg were saying the opposite: "There is no way to know where a moving particle is ever even given every possible detail, and thereby by extension, we can never predict where it will go."
This isn't very different from the debate between writers on whether a story can be planned, or if it is planned, that it will turn out as good as a story written by an author who is purely
following their muse.Regardless of how you feel about planned vs. unplanned storytelling, there are principles we can learn from the heart and history of quantum physics.
If you decide to examine your story at the particle level, that is, something smaller than the whole story then you need to divide your story up, at least in your mind, into smaller components. This division into smaller 'atomic' parts is where the similarities between writing and quantum physics can become helpful for a writer's perspective.
Quantization. This is the breakdown of your story into different parts, and the description of what those parts are. It is the same as in physics when light is broken down and measured as photons. In Quantum Storytelling, quantization could be acts, stages, sequences, or scenes.
Wave-Particle Duality. Matter can be interpreted as a wave or a particle, depending on how you measure it. The same is true of stories. You could measure a story in acts, but broken down further a story could be described as scenes. So is it three acts, or sixty scenes? Well of course, in common sense terms it's both. You can measure either way. It is important for writers to keep this in mind when they get stuck. "I'm not sure where I want my story to go next." A writer might say. Sometimes this is because the writer is thinking about their story at the wrong level. If you're thinking about your story as a whole, and can't decide what happens next or how it happens, it's time to switch from a wave to a particle. Switch from the whole view of your story down to acts, sequences, or scenes. Usually at a smaller level the problem can be solved.
Uncertainty Principle. In quantum physics one of the biggest 'problems' to solve is how to measure two values like position and momentum at the same time, without disturbing the process and skewing the results. This is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle at its simplest.
The same is true in writing. Niels Bohr didn't like the name 'uncertainty principle.' He preferred to call it 'indeterminacy principle,' because the problem of measuring position and momentum at the same time isn't about uncertainty, but the inability to determine both position and momentum accurately at the same time.
For writers, perhaps indeterminacy is a better word used to describe the 'quantum problem' of storytelling. Writers are uncertain folks already. We don't need to go making them insecure by calling them uncertain to their faces!
Determinism is the leading concern for every writer. A writer always wants to determine their characters, motivations, plot, themes and subthemes, emotional impact, etc. The list goes on into infinity!
Quantum Entanglement. In physics this is when two particles separated by a distance share the same properties, and when one changes the other changes as well. The two particles are linked to one another across space.
The different elements of a story are also entangled. Something that happens in scene three may affect what happens in scene fifty two. In other words, the connection between two elements in a story may not be linear, even though the story is linear.
So how can all these nonlinear elements be managed?
Mindmapping is one one way. There are other tools as well, such as
StoryView or the free
yWriter. You can use 3x5 note cards to block out the scenes of your story. The important thing is once you start thinking about your story in smaller parts, you can get more work done and keep track of things better.
Of course after all this some writers may stick to the plain old drafting method, without the use of any additional tools. In that case the only useful analogy between writing and physics is general relativity.
General Relativity. Gravity is not a force, but a curvature of both space and time. This curvature of space-time is produced by the mass and energy existing in the same place. This suggests a concept which is mindnumbing in its obviousness; For a writer to create gravity in their work, they should build energy, mass and momentum.
If you want to finish your story and have it be something special, spend more time and energy on it.
In other words, stop screwing around. Write!
Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
This wall-climbing robot looks like something straight out of sci-fi. Think that's something? Check out this 4-legged trotting
'Big Dog' robot. Watch the video. See when the guy tried to kick it over? If that's not downright creepy in an exhilerating way, then you don't appreciate the future!
Sometimes I think
Vernor Vinge exaggerated
The Singularity a little too much. Likewise,
Ray Kurzweil seems a bit too optimistic in his
technology predictions from time to time. I have to admit when I see great robotic demonstrations like these, the Cranky Critic in me shuts up, because the future isn't so far away after all.
Is 'said' redundant?
I've finished up Isaac Asimov's
The Naked Sun
. It's the second book in his robot series, after
The Caves of Steel.
I'm almost to the end of this second book, and I only just noticed something. He doesn't use '... said.'
As we all know, there is a rule about good writing; You're not supposed to write sentences like this:
"The book was interesting!" She exclaimed.
No exclaimed, gasped, laughed, stammered, etc. It is bad form, and that you should only use 'said' to end a line of dialogue.
Asimov didn't. Some of the time, he didn't use anything at all. Sometimes the quotes of dialogue stand alone. Just dialogue. He didn't bother to tell you he said or she said.
Now I have to admit, a few times while reading the book I became unclear on who said something, and had to backtrack a bit. But the problem was not nearly as bad as you'd imagine.
It didn't prevent me from understanding and enjoying the book.
Is 'said' redundant?
Self-Improvement is Self-Organization
As many
writers will attest, it's not easy to stay organized.
There is a difference between organization and creativity. Or is there?
I'm not the most organized person in the world. You wouldn't know it from my posts. I'm the first to talk about plotting and things like mind maps. I scream about structure with the amp cranked to eleven.
Organization for me is a form of compensation. I know that I'm disorganized. I know that I can sometimes be a slacker. We are all our own worst enemies. With that in mind I try to 'hack' my bad habits into good ones or compensate in some way.
Some people will say go with your strengths. Don't waste time on your weaknesses. I agree with that. However, some weaknesses can't be ignored. If your weaknesses
prevent you from succeeding in life then they need to be addressed.
I learned to love organization and structure over a long slow period of time. Once I started to learn a bit about organization I realized there is actually a tremendous creative power in organization itself.
Structure and organization are part of the fabric of reality. Life would not be possible without coded instructions like DNA as a 'blueprint' so to speak. Almost everything in life and nature follows some kind of structural plan. From honeycombs to cracks in the pavement. Cells aggregate to form tissues of organs. Two different DNA unzip and merge to form new life. Without that blueprint, you would have never been born.
Out of the craters of volcanoes form new volcanoes. From the ash spewed fertile soil grows new life. The calderas of exploded volcanoes often form lakes, which after thousands of years form new life.
These are measurable processes. It all depends on whether you stop to measure them.
Many writers don't like to measure. They don't like the idea of
story DNA.
"Coded instructions?" They say.
"That's too formulaic!"Apparently life and the universe don't live up to the standards of creativity.
I do not believe everything in life is random. I also do not believe everything is controlled by some unseen hand or being in the sky--even if one exists. Everything is a matter of aggregation, and probabilities. In other words, things add up. Coincidences are nothing more than the math adding up. Behind every coincidence you could research the probability and find that not only was the coincidence probable, but likely inevitable.
We don't like to admit that, because doing so makes us responsible. If we drink, do drugs, hang out with criminals, and have unprotected sex with many partners, we're playing Russian Roulette with five out of six bullets in the gun. The chances we'll catch a bullet are greater than getting the empty chamber.
Everything is life like this. Even success! You can stack your probabilities of success by making conscious decisions that lead to success.
Your writing will form a pattern, even if you don't choose one. Your writing will follow a formula, even if you don't choose one. Just because you haven't measured it, or haven't looked at it, doesn't mean it isn't there. People used to think germs were a joke.
"What, these little invisible things that float and crawl and move from person to person making people sick? What a joke!"Take a look at your writing. Look closely. It probably follows a pattern, whether you intended it to or not. Wouldn't you rather be in control of that pattern than a slave to it? You can be. You just have to look closely and measure. Make conscious choices about structure instead of avoiding them. Make choices early, rather than late. Take control of your life and your writing.
You can be a disorganized person by nature and still find organization. Read about DNA. Read about the brain. Read everything you can about nature and the universe. It's our job as writers to do this stuff anyway. Many great stories have been born out of the ideas that came from non-fiction, or even magazine articles.
Here are some resources to help you appreciate structure:
Emergence @ WikipediaEmergence by Stephen Johnson
A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe by Michael S. Schneider
Self-Organization @ WikipediaThis is just a small sampling. To list all of the things that have cultivated my love of structure and organization would require several pages.
The things that have been the greatest help in my life have often been things I previously ignored.
Your consciousness is not an accident. Make the most of it.
Mind Maps
Writers have a tough job. The most difficult problem a writer faces is keeping track of all their ideas and keeping organized. There are the raw ideas floating around the writer's head. Then there are characters, events, plot, and a host of many other things.
How can the writer keep track of it all?
Mind maps.
Wikipedia
describes a mind map best:
"A mind map (or mind-map) is a diagram used for linking words and ideas to a central key word or idea. It is used to visualize, classify, structure, and generate ideas, as well as an aid in study, problem solving, and decision making."
That makes it a perfect tool for writers, because it solves the most difficult challenge of writing;
Organizing ideas.
There are several ways to create a mind map. You can draw one by hand. There is free open source software like
Freemind. There are also more robust commercial applications like
Mind Manager. Take your pick!
Mind mapping can be a great way to visualize your ideas and their relationships to one another. I use it all the time, and rave about it to others. Why? Because
it works. Try it and see for yourself!
Focus
My intellect has been raging the last few days, in case you couldn't tell. I go through periods on occasion where I must grab an idea or debate by the horns and shake it furiously until I make a jackass of myself.
Then, once I realize what I've done I sink back into my normal quiet thoughtfulness, and an amazing thing happens.
I start to get more things done.Focus for me comes at an extreme price. Maybe I have A.D.D. or maybe I just need more Zen in my life. I have some funny ways of finding my center, and focusing on my work.
There are two ways I find focus:
1) Desire. The quickest path to focus is to want something, plain and simple. If you want it, and you want it bad enough, you will do it. You won't do something else. You won't talk endlessly about how you're going to do it, or maybe do this other thing. You'll just do it. Because you want it that bad.
2) Get distraction out of your system. Be unfocused to the point where it becomes obvious, and you can't ignore it anymore, and you feel like an idiot. This is the less efficient path to focus for me. It could even be the least efficient path to focus for all of mankind. But sometimes, when I'm being really stubborn, it's my only option.
How this works; I become distracted, and stay distracted from my work or my goal. I stay distracted until I've exhausted so many other options unrelated to my goal that I suddenly become very self-conscious of what I'm doing, and feel stupid about it. I literally get it out of my system.
My ego takes a massive punch to the face. I say to myself, "Great Eric. You're an idiot. You stumbled around doing all this nonsense only to realize the obvious--that you weren't doing the thing you were supposed to be doing or really
wanted to do. Brilliant! Gonna hunker down and get some things done now?" Yes sir. I will. I am.
Now, this could just be me and my own personal problems. My own development. But I know of a few other people who are similar to me in regards to focus. So I think there might be others.
Do you have problems of focus? What do you do to keep yourself in check? How do you eliminate distractions and 'get in the zone?'
What happens when you're not only distracted, but you seem to be enjoying those distractions too much? How do you reign yourself in, and find discipline?
