How to Get Revenge

Revenge is a powerful motive. We writers have the ability to get revenge on the turds we’ve met in life. You know the people of whom I speak. Those annoying, backstabbing, turds that go out of the way to make everyone else’s life difficult. As of today, I’ve taken revenge on three of them, two in my first novel, and one (so far) in my second. 

It’s so much fun taking their attributes for use in characters. In the first novel, originally titled Elevator 37, now titled 2186: The Last Mission, I used the character traits of two so-called friends from childhood because when I thought of how devious they were (I’m talking in grammar school) they fit right into a devious murderous thug. I even used their names for the final touch.

In the second novel, Morn, I used a person who instead of making himself look better using improvement, he tears people down to his level. As Paul Simon sand, “The man ain’t got no culture.” To this I would add, no class, either.

Monday Makes for a Mighty Struggle

I had a very strenuous and busy weekend, making this Monday morning a struggle, at least an internal one. My project for the day is to write another chapter for my new science fiction novel, Morn. Morn the dystopian country that exists far into the future, created to block the rest of the world because the other countries always engaged in war, constant war, just the opposite of my first novel: 2186 The Last Mission.

Both novels take place in the future. I wondered why this morning, about the propensity to write about the future. A simple answer occurred to me. I like to speculate about which direction humankind will take. How we will deal with future situations, and how technology will affect us.

Take a minute to think about how computers changed the world. Think about how the World Wide Web developed from the internet, which DARPA developed because the United States military needed a defense system to combat asymmetrical warfare. This information came from my thesis: The Internet and Its Impact.

Think about how the world came to know one another better using the web. Now, I have friends, at least chat friends, from all over the world. Maybe one day, we will meet in person.

Poetic Disappointment: A Lesson Learned

Because I thought it would help my writing, I began an online poetry course a few weeks ago at a supposedly reputable education site. The advertising omitted to note the base level of instruction for the class. It felt as if high school children were the intended target audience. Even more baffling: this course and organization get promoted through colleges that subscribe to its services. 

After two weeks, I decided this course constituted a detriment to my creativity, innovation, and writing. The so-called instructor didn’t even know what her assignments instructed. Her poems sucked. Her feedback was inane and not well thought out. I picked up a book by Rebecca McClanahan: Word Painting. Reading about one-half the book provided more insight into imagery, writing, and characterization than the course offered.

I recommend to anyone truly interested in creative writing to avoid this online poetry scam, and purchase McClanahan’s book. You’ll be glad you did.