The Privacy of Reading

For Whovian Australians, Boxing Day is Christmas - it's the day when we attempt to avoid all internet connection until 7:30 that night, when we can finally watch it on our TV's. Because the UK likes to laugh at us?  No, we're just a whole ten hours ahead of them - which means we don't get to enjoy jumping in front of the telly with half our Christmas leftovers from lunch still on our plates. Sad, really.

Rewind to December 26th, 2012. 'The Snowmen' is airing and it looks like a fantastic episode from the trailer, plus Ian McKellen is voicing that giant snow globe, and if you don't know who that guy is then you've clearly been living under a rock. Plus Jenna Coleman's in it and we're desperately hoping Oswin isn't dead. So I finish dinner in under ten minutes, jump out of my seat and intently watch the last bit of that weird show before Doctor Who finally appears. Once the adverts start trying to convince us to watch some new show that looks completely boring, I'm joined by my mum, aunt, restless 3 yr-old brother who's going to make an awful racket, and my fellow-bookworm cousin, who's both super excited and terrified at the prospect of watching her very first Doctor Who episode since she was too little to remember anything except of how scary it was.

Watching a TV show with your family is both joyous and irritating, but it's all part of the fun. My aunt kept making little quips, my brother starting running in front of the TV, and my cousin could barely hear it, but we all greatly enjoyed ourselves and I figured I could always watch it again on ABC iview. Then, you know, rant about it on Goodreads later when I can finally think properly again.

Films and TV programs are sharing experiences. They were made collectively and they were watched collectively and they were talked about collectively and it's all a big circle of togetherness - like, there's always going to be someone to talk about the latest Sherlock episode with. More importantly, there's always going to someone who wants to, even if it's just a mindless babble of 'I CAN'T''s and 'OMG DID YOU SEE THE WAY WATSON LOOKED AT SHERLOCK IT BROKE MY HEART''s. (haha, see what I did there?).

Well, reading is different.

Sure, there are book discussions. But while Sherlock or Doctor Who or Frozen are watched with other people, that you kind of go on a journey together with  - and reminding you that they also only go on for less than two hours, yes, that's a story completed in less than two hours - reading, however is a private experience that goes on for days.

Your journey is between you and the author and the fictional characters said author creates. It's up to you which character looks a lot like your favourite celebrity and what the background looks like and if the villain looks terrible or beautiful. You and you alone. Reading is what you do when you want to be left by yourself, or you're so engrossed with that story you can't put it down. And when it's finished you think about it for hours.

Yes, other people have read the book. And loved it. Do we care? Possibly. Do we want to talk about it? Also possibly. But people take it differently. Each story is different, even if it's the same book. We talk about how much we liked it but we don't often discuss a particular scene because a) we can barely remember it, b) we interpret it differently or c) you want to keep the whole thing to yourself.

Anyway, if it's not really a famous book, chances are you'll be hard-pressed to find someone else who has read it. So you're pretty much alone with your book. But that's okay. Because books are company in themselves. You connect with the characters in a way you never do when they're pixels on a screen, because you know what they're thinking and what they're going through (hello my poor misunderstood Frodo).

It's like keeping a secret with a best friend, really. A best friend who takes you on a journey where no one else can follow.

Sincerely,
Leyah (That really lazy person who hasn't updated in goodness know how long and will probably not update in goodness knows how long)

"A novel is a conversation between a reader and a writer." 

- John Green.

Villains: Are they actually evil?

You know those games you used to play as a child? The adventure games, the role-plays, with the 'goodies', who were absolutely perfect in every way, and the unfortunate 'baddies', of whom were pure evil. The protagonist and the antagonist. Simple enough to understand, and common enough to carry out without too much fuss (although I remember not being too thrilled at having to be the 'bad' guy). At that stage, it's all you can understand. But when you get older... everything changes.

The antagonist in the story is the one that, supposedly, is made to be hated. They're the ones who get picked on in the story and, in real life, in the forums. It's them who commit the evil deeds. They devise the evil plans. Without them, there wouldn't even be a story - because without the 'bad guy', without the plots, it would be, frankly, as boring as watching paint dry.

But, does this make them evil? Pure evil?

The answer is: No. Because, how could something be so terribly bad that their whole mind is overcome with evil thoughts, since the day they are born? With no reason to hurt anyone but for their own sick delight; with no reason at all but for the sake of being evil...

Because the truth of the matter is, that's only possible in children's tales. True villains aren't born; they're made.

Shall I explain?

Once upon a time, they were all children. Innocent. Struggling with life perhaps. I've noticed that many of them have horrible lives - Loki with his 'better' brother, the Master gone cuckoo at just eight years old. The corrupted Sméagol. All trying to cope with what's been bestowed upon them.

But not evil. Not entirely. 

"Why do people always
presume I'm lying?"

Then one day, something happened to turn them around. Or perhaps it was a group of things? Doesn't matter. Now they've sworn war, or revenge, or whatever, and their minds are bent on it. They can't help being what they've been made into. Heck, sometimes I think they don't remember what they were before - their child's life clouded, the memories gone.

THEY. CAN'T. HELP. WHO. THEY. HAVE. BECOME.

Villains are the deepest, and best characters in the world, because they have suffered so much. Sacrificed so much. Become one with their goal. And, believe it or not, inspiring... for doing what they set out to do. For achieving. For dying in dignity.

"It's so far from home."

And that, my friends, is the best thing you can wish for in a character.

So, instead of hating villains (Seriously, who could hate Loki?) fall in love with their personality. See past the defences. Know their weaknesses, and love them for it.

Because villains aren't born, they're made.

Catch you later,

Leyah Rose (Technically and Literally an Evil Person)

Overcoming Writer's Block

(This was written a while back, for http://insideadog.com.au)

As an aspiring writer I like to take inspiration from the world around me and interpret that inspiration into ideas and emotions and eventually, words. Whether they make it into a story, poem or post remains to be questioned, but hey, it’s the thought that counts! (I made you smile there. Don’t deny it)

Lack of inspiration, or just lack of finding it, is called writers’ block and is the bane of every author’s life. Including mine, yours, and every other person who ever learned to draw and put together the symbols that make up our alphabet and our language. So how do you get past this obnoxious disease? What can you turn to for the inspiration that will set your brain and your fingers moving?

Number one priority for curing writer’s block is, of course, looking around yourself.  Inspiration can be found anywhere, in anything. I’m sitting in my kitchen right now, hitting keys on my laptop, and I’ve been sitting here for about three hours trying to think of what to write – which is where the inspiration for this post came from. Looking around though, I can see several ideas that only need a human mind to convert them into stories, like the old photograph of the workmen sleeping on the foundations of what we now call the Empire State building.

What could I create with that? A history lesson, perhaps? Maybe I could talk about black-and-white reading, or people writing stories ‘on the line’ – far-fetched, but it still comes from that picture from so long ago. It’s possible, to say the least.

Talking to family and friends is another option. After asking them for ideas, studying the relationships between different people is an ideal source for inspiration for the types of relationships you want to create with fictional characters of your own. You could also watch public bickers in the schoolyard, confront your worse enemies (socialising with people who dislike literature), or even study strangers’ conversations - though not to the point that it becomes rude, of course.

And, of course, novels are a HUGE source of inspiration. Whether it’s the plot, the ideas, the characters, or the writing style, you’ll find that many of the books you read are inspired loosely from one or many other books and texts. The trick is not to base your story too much around someone else’s – which can be quite hard! (That’s what fanfiction’s for, hey?)

So really, despite all vulgarities, it's actually pretty easy to overcome writer's block, as long as you keep your mind open and your brain thinking about seemingly random things that may become your next bestseller – or your next A+, whichever is appropriate :)

This is Leyah Rose, signing out.