A Series of Thoughts on the Power of the Mind, Part 2

Two psychological laws from a list in Robert Assagioli’s book The Act of Will are:

• Needs, urges, drives and desires tend to arouse corresponding images, ideas and emotions.
• Urges, drives, desires and emotions tend to and demand to be expressed.

It’s the demanding to be expressed that struck me. As an author, how do I use that law to good advantage? Then it struck me.

How often have you experienced writer’s block? The phenomenon is a blocking–a failing to express, if you will–of ideas to continue the telling of a story. It is getting so far in your tale, then hitting a wall. Nothing more comes to mind.

The two psychological laws above suggest a solution to writer’s block. However, you, as writer, will have to become an actor. How so?

The next time you are stymied on where to go with your storyline, try this. Stand up and act out the role of each character, one individual at a time, in their actions, feelings, needs, urges (especially urges), and desires as you have written about them up to now. Become the person (obviously, you want to do this in privacy to keep your friends or family from locking you up). Get inside the person and feel the motivation. What are they thinking? Feeling? Smelling, hearing, tasting? Use their body language: stance, posture, expressions, gestures, ticks. Do this for each person in the story line. Be uninhibited. Get into it.

If you truly become the character and incorporate the ideals, zeal, passion of the persona in your role play, then, according to the psychological laws, the urges, drives, desires and emotions of the personage will demand to be expressed. A pathway will open down which to take the story. The character will lead YOU by the hand. Just follow–and write it down!

The Origin of the Fantasy Genre Is Noble

Fantasy Masterworks: The King of Elfland’s Daughter.

I am not a fantasy reader or writer. But after spending time reading the post I’ve linked from the blog Fabulous Realms, I am tempted to give the genre a try.

An Irish lord created the genre. That, in itself, seems  ironic, since the romanticized life of princes, princesses, lords and ladies dominates the imaginary world of fairy tales and fantasy worlds. It seems most fantasy readers want transported into a royal realm to vicariously experience it. With Lord Dunsany, you have a nobleman capturing his own culture using the fantastical. His escape is no escape at all.

I was encouraged to read that Dunsany refused to be restrained by genre in his work. He was a versatile and creative writer, with works including fantasy, drama, poetry, science fiction, prose and autobiography. According to Fabulous Realms, Dunsany’s surviving published works exceed 80.

Yet, I was floored to learn the skill of this 20th Century author. Once he imagined a tale, he may practice it orally before an audience. But once he started to write–by hand–his manuscript, he rarely rewrote it. His first draft was the draft which ended up with the publisher.

He had an interesting writer’s ritual. He wrote sitting upon a crumpled hat. It’s as if it were a magician’s hat, conjuring up rich vistas and characters to populate Dunsany’s story. As the story goes, the hat was stolen by a visitor to Dunsany castle.

My guess is the thief was cursed, if not with a pox, then certainly with bad dreams, where the thief is chased to his death by dragon-riding elves.

Need a nudge this morning to get the writing started? Take a moment to read about writing Lord Dunsany-style. I think you’ll be bewitched.

Feed Your Head

No, this is not a reference to the newly legalized pot smoking that’s going on in Washington and Colorado.

Tyler Durden says:

Isaac Newton, the father of classical mechanics and progenitor of nearly every technology we use today, was easily one of the top 10 most influential minds in all of human history… Yet as accomplished as he was, Newton credited the brilliant scientists and philosophers who came before him, acknowledging that his insights would not have been remotely possible without the foundations laid by great thinkers– Archimedes, da Vinci, Descartes, etc. No doubt, all great ideas flourish by expanding upon the works of others.

As writers, we have our own influences; those whom we revere and those whom we emulate in style or content. It’s the ‘taking in’ that gives the creative brain the puzzle pieces to connect to make a picture. The creation coming from the mind of an author is a bit like compost. A myriad of articles go into the bin to churn and percolate. Then out the other side comes a rich, aromatic, fertile product. It is a by-product of what went in, yet it looks nothing like the original articles that created it.

Today’s task is simple. Feed your head. Give it something to write about tomorrow.

Facts (f)or Doomsday Sci-Fi?

On November 13, I cut the segment below from a lengthier post on ZeroHedge.Com, a financial web site that monitors all things Wall Street. Since this topic is atypical for the organization, it caught my eye. Quotes within the article from Retired Major General Jerry Curry riveted my attention, particularly the last line of the portion pasted below.

Today, writing about the Apocalypse is popular. The form the end of time takes in a book plot is as varied as the authors writing on the topic. One of my readers has an indie book out in this genre, with a second book in the works. Book two is due to be released by the end of the year.

Given the high level of interest in doomsday matters, I had to share the following text. It is FACTUAL fodder for fictional stories. At this point, I normally sign off with something like “Enjoy, and happy writing,” but given the words you are about to read, I think I’ll pass on the cheery salutation.

Retired Major General Jerry Curry wrote Friday, November 9, 2012:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) confirms that it is purchasing 174 thousand rounds of hollow point bullets to be delivered to 41 locations in major cities across the U.S.

 

***

 

Those against whom the hollow point bullets are to be used — those causing the civil unrest — must be American citizens; since the SSA has never been used overseas to help foreign countries maintain control of their citizens.

 

What would be the target of these 174, 000 rounds of hollow point bullets? It can’t simply be to control demonstrators or rioters. Hollow point bullets are so lethal that the Geneva Convention does not allow their use on the battle field in time of war. Hollow point bullets don’t just stop or hurt people, they penetrate the body, spread out, fragment and cause maximum damage to the body’s organs. Death often follows.

 

Potentially each hollow nose bullet represents a dead American. If so, why would the U.S. government want the SSA to kill 174,000 of our citizens, even during a time of civil unrest?

***

If this were only a one time order of ammunition, it could easily be dismissed. But there is a pattern here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has ordered 46,000 rounds of hollow point ammunition. Notice that all of these purchases are for the lethal hollow nose bullets.  These bullets are not being purchased and stored for squirrel or coyote hunting. This is serious ammunition manufactured to be used for serious purposes.

 

In the war in Iraq, our military forces expended approximately 70 million rounds per year. In March DHS ordered 750 million rounds of hollow point ammunition. It then turned around and ordered an additional 750 million rounds of miscellaneous bullets including some that are capable of penetrating walls. This is enough ammunition to empty five rounds into the body of every living American citizen. Is this something we and the Congress should be concerned about? What’s the plan that requires so many dead Americans, even during times of civil unrest? Has Congress and the Administration vetted the plan in public.

***

All of these rounds of ammunition can only be used to kill American citizens, though there is enough ammunition being ordered to kill, in addition to every American citizen, also every Iranian, Syrian or Mexican. There is simply too much of it. And this much ammunition can’t be just for training, there aren’t that many weapons and “shooters” in the U.S. to fire it.

***

We have enough military forces to maintain law and order in the U.S. even during times of civil unrest.

 ***

This is a deadly serious business. I hope I’m wrong, but something smells rotten. And If the Congress isn’t going to do its duty and investigate this matter fully, the military will have to protect the Constitution, the nation, and our citizens.

The article on ZeroHedge.com ends with a 1987 quote from a United States Senator. That quote, which follows, when combined with the words of  Major General Curry is enough to make the hairs on my neck stand on end. The words of these powerful, knowledgeable men stimulate my imagination. How about yours?

Senator Daniel Inouye said in 1987:

There exists a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself.

 

Quotes for October 19, 2012 — A “Twofer”

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the Life you have imagined.

and

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.

 

–Henry David Thoreau

 

 

Music as Muse

First, this blog writer never assumes that what is espoused here is the be all, end all for all people. On the contrary, I espouse what works for me–for the moment, when I am in the mood and not being lazy.

That said, I thought I’d share how my muse works to spin a tale from music. I use YouTube links for songs because:

•  it’s easy to access for everyone
•  it’s easy to replay the songs over and over
• lyrics are provided
•  the YouTube channel deals with the copyright issues

I listen to a song three or four times in a row. The first couple of times through I read the lyrics as the song plays. Inspiration can come from either tune or lyrics.

If I know the song, I sing, too. The point is to turn off the conscious part of my brain  and turn on the subconscious part. I integrate as many senses (hearing, feeling, speaking, dancing) while listening as I can. The more visceral the music experience becomes, the more likely I am to get images in my head.

(This ritual beats soaking my bare feet in a tub of fresh chicken blood under the desk; I read one famous author does that when writing.)

Then the writing starts. More than half the time I get halfway through the story and hit a wall about a conclusion. I repeat the listening ritual, and the end comes. I write it.

As I’ve said innumerable times, I have an active imagination. In my subconscious mind, stories are everywhere, under every leaf, around every door jamb, behind every melody. In any given day, a complete novel floats through my head. The problem is my memory doesn’t hold a candle to my imagination. So in the time it takes me to say, “that’s a cool story,” it’s gone for good.

Oh, well. I guess I can’t have everything.

Right now I am enjoying writing short shorts because I can capture them on paper before the music drifts away.

Extinction Event — Diaspora

Here’s a visual treat to stimulate your imagination for a story of diaspora. If you are a science fiction writer, your tale  may have humans forced from earth in order to survive. Or you may write about the survival, prepper-style, of a select few who dodge an extinction event on earth. Whatever doomsday event you imagine, this little video will prod your timetable forward to finish your book.

Radioactive Ocean Impact Map 2011-2012