Make the Introductions, Josh

There are a number of benefits afforded to extended and long-term narratives. The benefit is felt more strongly in the written word than in movies as far as series tend to go, frequently because of a singular author. Of course moving from the page to the screen can pass on those benefits. I have discovered a really nice benefit while writing the posts for the On Dark Rhoads™ blog that I did not anticipate, as much as it makes sense. I can introduce concepts, characters, and any idea I might like to add into the narrative at any point, without getting straight to the point of why it is there. I can hint at its importance, or I can say nothing and just let it stand. Silence on the point can add its own mystique as well. Then I can come back to it when the time is right and the savvy readers will know they've seen it before and have the kind of aha moment that just wouldn't occur or be possible any other way.

This kind of foreshadowing is really appealing from this side of the process. It may not be quite so exciting for the reader, especially previous to the reveal. I just recently introduced a pretty important element to Josh's story in just such an offhand way. I'd like to think that it is mysterious too. People will read it and tell themselves that this simple, almost innocuously boring update has meaning that is not readily important, otherwise why is it there. The question then becomes can I, or any author in a similar situation, have superfluous posts? The answer must be yes. For starters, the idea of a red herring is reliant on giving information that is not actually important, at least to the true advancement of the story's main conflict, and to the characters beyond the time that it has proven false. By the way, the revelation was that Josh does vote for the hidden-evil political party.

Mood: dramatic.
Music: Street Justice by Twisted Sister and Top Jimmy by Van Halen.

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They Need Your Vote, Josh

If you're new to this blog, or just to this particular topic I am writing a blog called On Dark Rhoads™. It is the fictional account of Joshua Rhoads and the haunting of his house. It is more than that though. One aspect of the fictional world Joshua lives in is a fictional political party running the country. Another aspect to consider is Joshua is psychic and does not know it yet. Now, this is what I'm dealing with...

Another decision point has come up in the Joshua's journey. I essentially have to make the decision before the fork in the road appears. Some interesting links have been brought to my attention that afforded some new tweaks to the still forming setting. Some of them have come up in TechStop™ and others may make their way into there. They are not a part of the horror, but at the same time they do add to it and certainly many of them are not nice for people like Joshua. There is nothing to stop me from doing one thing in Joshua's stories and another in the game, but I would like to have that cohesion. So here is the decision to be made. There is the aforementioned political party with sinister intentions. Is it more compelling for Joshua to be aligned with them and learn of the dark side and reject it or to be opposed to them in the first place?

It may be something of a cliché to be party to the party and then learn the error of his ways. They can only be visibly sinister to a small degree or otherwise they would not have the power and influence that they do. At the same time I do not believe there is some dark core pulling the strings but that it is more a matter of an overall dark outlook. Furthermore I intend for them to be the way they are for the good of others. It's not an intentional malevolence and they are not aware of the amount of harm they are creating or the hatred they foster. It's not about any particularly bigotry either--except for political party opposition bigotry where one party despises the other so thoroughly and thoughtlessly--at least not initially until events of other natures start them down that path. It is not a matter then for Joshua to just be readily aware of their malevolence.

At the same time this party is hard line on a number of subjects, which draws a certain amount of ire from different factions, and a general disgruntlement from people who align themselves with the other parties. The drama is a little less starting on the side of right and removes added dimensions such as guilt over Joshua's former affiliations, and anger at first having indirectly been duped and then becoming victim to their burgeoning malice. There is nothing to stop Joshua's affiliation with the opposition party from having its own turmoil, including the party siding with the malevolent one on the topic of people like Joshua. Here what seemed right is no better, but has the option of it being possible to sway their opinion to a more moderate stance and embrace the approaching sea change for everyone's benefit.

Mood: harried.
Music: Trumpets Of Jericho by Bruce Dickinson and Death on Two Legs by Queen.

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They're Not as Scared, Josh

I talked a bit more about the On Dark Rhoads blog over at Inchoate with "Gearing Up for the Rhoad" and got into some technical and non-writing aspects like commenting and general blog shoptalk.

Last time here we talked about pace and tension. What does it really mean in regard to the scare factor of the tale though? For that matter what does the format do to the scare? Certainly as much as horror is known for it scares, for leaving the audience creeped out if only for a little while, it is about the horrific too, obviously, but as a kind of milieu it is about the situations, beings, and the like that are horrific or monstrous. As such it doesn't always have to scare or horrify at least on the small scale--nor constantly either.

A story about a haunting is a horror story even if you are not scared by it. Stories with monsters are likewise horror as well by virtue of the monsters, though this might require it not additionally being say a medieval fantasy story. It is a matter of degrees and a question of intensity. It is the outlook that matters. Monster heroes in a city will be urban fantasy for instance rather than horror if it lacks horror. It's all shades of grey as far as the presentation goes. Often what distinguishes horror from the other similar genres in this no man's land is how the unnatural elements affect the characters. This is especially true of horror role-playing games. The game need not scare or horrify the players per se, but the setting, the conflict, and the scenarios had certainly better present the characters with fear and horror or a sense of dread.

I see the same delineation in horror fiction even as others insist the product, whatever it is, book, movie, or game, must frighten them or affect them personally to be successful and therefore count. As an example consider the movie Paranormal Activity. I don't mean to compare my haunting tale to it for either its admirers or detractors, but it is a good example from an illustrative viewpoint. Some who live with an actual haunting were dismissive of the bulk of the phenomena as not being scary enough to carry the horror. Others cannot fathom staying anywhere haunted and are floored by these kinds of movies. To bring it back to the original questions I would like the scare factor to be there. I would like nothing more that to have people, well, haunted, by the events, and suspicious of their own surroundings. Was that book where they left it? Wasn't that water glass on the right a moment ago where now it's on the left? At the same time it's okay if they don't do that, as long as the experience through reading the entries was enjoyable.

Come back next week for a special post (instead of my usual day off) regarding a forthcoming role-playing game called Amaranthine from David A. Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions makers of Maschine Zeit. David is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the print run of Amaranthine right now.

Mood: relaxed.
Music: Hotel California by the Eagles and Someone Else? by Queensryche.

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