I'm posting this because I know biphobia is a problem. I have never personally run across anyone of this horrible variety but I have heard of its existence.
Homophobic straight people will also be biphobic, but what's lesser known is that gay people will also hate bisexual and pansexual individuals because they think we "haven't fully come out of the closet yet" (which is true of some SOME SOME SOME SOME people who identify as bi. (did you get that I mean "not all"? should I put some more SOMEs?))Some gay people think we just "want straight privilege" and so don't want to identify as fully gay. (Um, you'd think that someone who's been oppressed for their sexuality would, I don't know, be sensitive to other people's sexualities and not be a jerk? Just a thought.)
Here's my question.
How hard of a concept is it to wrap your head around? I can explain it very simply right here using small words,if you like.
Some people don't care about their romantic partner's genders. THERE IS NOTHING HARD TO EXPLAIN! It is fewer than 10 words. (10 if you count Don't as 2 words.)
Bisexual means attracted to two or more genders (including all the different trans and non-binary type ones.) You don't necessarily feel the same level of attraction to each gender, and you don't necessarily feel attracted in the same ways (physical, emotional, etc.) If we end up with a female partner, it doesn't mean we're not attracted to males. If we end up with a male partner, it doesn't mean we're not attracted to females. Do you know what it really means? It really means we just HAPPENED to pick a partner with that particular gender. It could have EASILY been the other way around.
Bisexuals are not promiscuous or unfaithful. Of all the people I've known, the many bisexuals I know are the opposite of this description. The only person I've ever known to fit it, was straight. I'm sorry if this rant came across as condescending, I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I'd appreciate it if my words would be spread to where they were actually needed. If anyone of you who read my blog, come across someone who doesn't get it, please educate them. We need all the help we can get.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Another fun thing to do with your villains
Here's something I forgot to mention in my post about villains that is completely optional, but would make them really interesting.
Make them right.
I don't mean "make their actions completely excusable and secretly they were the protagonist the whole time." I instead mean to make their philosophies right, they just went about the wrong way to prove these philosophies, or they did wrong things in the name of their right philosophies.
Ideally, after the villain is confronted and stopped from whatever they were going to do, the heroes should realize that while the villains actions were wrong, their ideas were not. And perhaps it makes the heroes really think a lot about who they are and what they're doing with their life, and maybe they gain a new quest objective after defeating the villain. (They don't necessarily have to go through with said new objective in the story, it can just be implied that they will go and do this after the story's close, or perhaps it's enough to make a sequel.)
A good villain makes not only the reader, but the protagonists rethink major ideas they once had.
A good villain teaches that the difference between "good guys" and "bad guys" isn't that one is right and the other is wrong, rather that one is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, no matter who or what gets hurt in the process, and the other is going to find a less destructive means to the same end.
Make them right.
I don't mean "make their actions completely excusable and secretly they were the protagonist the whole time." I instead mean to make their philosophies right, they just went about the wrong way to prove these philosophies, or they did wrong things in the name of their right philosophies.
Ideally, after the villain is confronted and stopped from whatever they were going to do, the heroes should realize that while the villains actions were wrong, their ideas were not. And perhaps it makes the heroes really think a lot about who they are and what they're doing with their life, and maybe they gain a new quest objective after defeating the villain. (They don't necessarily have to go through with said new objective in the story, it can just be implied that they will go and do this after the story's close, or perhaps it's enough to make a sequel.)
A good villain makes not only the reader, but the protagonists rethink major ideas they once had.
A good villain teaches that the difference between "good guys" and "bad guys" isn't that one is right and the other is wrong, rather that one is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, no matter who or what gets hurt in the process, and the other is going to find a less destructive means to the same end.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
On Writing Couples and Love Interests
If your characters are a couple out of love then show them in love.
Show them doing things for each other, that they wouldn't do for anyone else.
Show them breaking character because their relationship (or the life of their loved one) depends on it.
Show them expressing their love (in ways other than kissing or sex).
Show them interacting with one another. You know, because couples interact. They don't just exist and then never speak to each other.
Furthermore: I don't care what your couples are into, just make sure they both consent. And make sure that their relationship isn't unhealthy or abusive (and I don't just mean physically.) And please for the love of gods, don't have one of your characters be in control of everything. Members of a couple (or poly-relationship) should all be treated as equals and should all have a say in matters concerning both (like whether or not they have children, or where they live, etc.) This is important because putting abuse, non-con, and unequal relationships in media encourages it in real life (whether you believe it or not) and that's not a good path to go down.
And of course: Your characters don't need to be in a relationship to be happy. Two main characters can come out of a situation as friends, they don't need to be romantically involved by the end of the story.
Also, here are some interesting things to do with your couples.
-Star Crossed Lovers. I just love it when a hero has a thing for the villain or vice versa. Even better is when they both have a thing for each other. Or maybe they were already together to start but the plot has separated them, yet they both long to be back together. Who knows?
-Major cultural barriers between characters. Interracial marriages are cool, both between two different human ethnicities, or between two different fantasy/sci-fi races. Or you could have a completely different cultural barrier. Like a bisexual and a gay or lesbian individual in a relationship together. Or a bisexual with a heterosexual partner. Those count as cultural barriers too.
-More than two people in a healthy poly relationship. Not a harem. A relationship with 3 or more people happily in a healthy relationship together. It's possible and I've seen it happen.
-Fight side by side against adversaries. Seriously, I love it when this happens.
Show them doing things for each other, that they wouldn't do for anyone else.
Show them breaking character because their relationship (or the life of their loved one) depends on it.
Show them expressing their love (in ways other than kissing or sex).
Show them interacting with one another. You know, because couples interact. They don't just exist and then never speak to each other.
Furthermore: I don't care what your couples are into, just make sure they both consent. And make sure that their relationship isn't unhealthy or abusive (and I don't just mean physically.) And please for the love of gods, don't have one of your characters be in control of everything. Members of a couple (or poly-relationship) should all be treated as equals and should all have a say in matters concerning both (like whether or not they have children, or where they live, etc.) This is important because putting abuse, non-con, and unequal relationships in media encourages it in real life (whether you believe it or not) and that's not a good path to go down.
And of course: Your characters don't need to be in a relationship to be happy. Two main characters can come out of a situation as friends, they don't need to be romantically involved by the end of the story.
Also, here are some interesting things to do with your couples.
-Star Crossed Lovers. I just love it when a hero has a thing for the villain or vice versa. Even better is when they both have a thing for each other. Or maybe they were already together to start but the plot has separated them, yet they both long to be back together. Who knows?
-Major cultural barriers between characters. Interracial marriages are cool, both between two different human ethnicities, or between two different fantasy/sci-fi races. Or you could have a completely different cultural barrier. Like a bisexual and a gay or lesbian individual in a relationship together. Or a bisexual with a heterosexual partner. Those count as cultural barriers too.
-More than two people in a healthy poly relationship. Not a harem. A relationship with 3 or more people happily in a healthy relationship together. It's possible and I've seen it happen.
-Fight side by side against adversaries. Seriously, I love it when this happens.
On Writing Good Antagonists
So you have your villain. He's got a death ray and a curly mustache and he only says mwahaha unless he's got the hero trapped. In which case he'll be giving his monologue. He's evil and dastardly and is not a character or a person, rather a prop, an obstacle used to hinder your hero's progress.
I'm gonna have to stop you right there.
No.
Stop.
Wrong.
A villain/antagonist is just as much a person and a character as your heroes/protagonists and supporting cast.
A villain needs to be just as human (even if they're an alien or fantasy race) as the hero is. Because your villain needs to make the audience realize that the potential for "evil" (like the potential for "good") rests within everyone. (Just don't get me started on the black and white bull crap. It's never as simple as good and evil. And I especially hate it when people automatically assume that Chaos=Evil and Order=Good. Why, I associate chaos with creativity and curiosity and the questioning of society, and aren't all those things good? I address this issue many times in my stories, which will eventually be posted here.)
A villain needs to be human because it's never as simple as black and white (see above.)
And so a villain needs to be just as three dimensional as a hero.
-Give them thoughts and ideas and emotions
-Give them interests and hobbies and a job or position in life
-Give them legitimate character development. They don't exist in a vacuum, the events of the story affect them too.
-Explain their motive. Don't just give them a motive with no "why?" (Why do they want power? Why do they hate humanity? Why do they want to see your hero suffer for all eternity?)
-Give them positive qualities as well as negative.
-Make them just as diverse as the heroes. The potential for good and evil rests within everyone. This means Heroes should be diverse, but so should villains. See also my post about diversity!
And here are some optional things you can do to make your villain human.
-Give them friends, or a love interest. Not people they pretend to be friends with just for personal gain, or people they befriend to anger the hero. Give them actual individuals that they care about and enjoy the company of!
-Give them a back story! While their backstory does not excuse their current actions, it can be useful for several reasons. Making them sympathetic makes people realize that they are a person with feelings and not an object or a prop. Giving them a backstory also makes them important. Your hero presumably has a backstory that shaped who they are today. Your villain should have one too.
-Maybe your villain starts off as one of the good characters, but turns bad later on. This is similar to the backstory, except it gets to be told in real time as opposed to in flash backs.
-Or maybe your villain doesn't stay the villain forever. Maybe they somehow turn good, taking a long arduous path to redemption for whatever reason or another, but they did it. They're good now. And they openly admit their mistakes and are shown struggling with their past self.
-Perhaps your villain has a code of honor. Yeah they're bad, but maybe there are some things even they won't do. Like hurt a child. Or fight the hero without first trying to reason with them. Maybe your villain is willing to listen to what your hero has to say before they fight them. Maybe they'll actually consider what the hero said for half a second!
-Perhaps your villain has a code of honor. Yeah they're bad, but maybe there are some things even they won't do. Like hurt a child. Or fight the hero without first trying to reason with them. Maybe your villain is willing to listen to what your hero has to say before they fight them. Maybe they'll actually consider what the hero said for half a second!
-Give your villain a family! Show them interact with parents, spouses, children, siblings, etc. And make those relationships real. Don't just say "oh, he's my older brother." Make it look like these characters actually grew up together!
That is all.
On Writing Characters Well
There are two types of stories you can tell.
1: Stories with heavy plot and theme and symbolism
or
2: Stories that are heavily centered around characters.
It's true, you can have a mix, but for the sake of simplicity, let's pretend there are only 2 types.
Personally, when I write, I like to make my stories Character based, instead of Plot based. Obviously it's important to have a compelling plot and a nice theme, and perhaps a little symbolism, but it's equally (if not more) important to write a good cast of characters.
There are only so many themes in the world, but every character is unique.
I have three main stories that I plan to eventually get posted here.
One of them is about mythology. It has many long story arcs, and some short story arcs and the plots of the chapters within the arcs are similar yet different and brought together at the end of the arc. The main point of writing them, however, is to showcase the characters and watch them interact with the surroundings of the given scenarios. My second story, one about a group of scientists, works in a similar fashion. But the best example to get my point about characters across is the third story.
My third story is about super heroes. And the plots of each arc are extremely similar (for there is a limited pool of super hero plots) but I still insist I write each arc and each story because I fully believe that each story is unique. And this is because the characters are different.
I will always be a fan of the super hero genre because, even though the plots tend to be the same, the characters (and the action) make up for it.
But every good writer knows that they need compelling protagonists and some good writers know that the supporting cast needs to be good too. What many people don't know (and I've seen even the best of writers fall into this pit of despair) is that your villains and antagonists need to be written just as well.
To Be Continued
On Writing Diversity
Being diverse with your characters doesn't mean simply having characters that belong to ethnic, sexual, gender, romantic, etc minorities. It means having them and writing them well.
You are not a diverse author if your minority characters: your POC, your women, your LGBT+s, etc. are just stereotypes. That isn't diversity, that's offensive.
To write a good character that is a member of a minority group you just write a good character, and then make them a minority group. Bam. That's it. If you have a hard time doing that then decide their personality, interests, social status, etc. before you decide their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Or pick their ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation at random after figuring out the character.
You are not a diverse author if your minority characters: your POC, your women, your LGBT+s, etc. are just stereotypes. That isn't diversity, that's offensive.
To write a good character that is a member of a minority group you just write a good character, and then make them a minority group. Bam. That's it. If you have a hard time doing that then decide their personality, interests, social status, etc. before you decide their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Or pick their ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation at random after figuring out the character.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
The very briefest way to explain evolution.
Okay so as a prospective biologist and anthropologist I've learned a lot about evolution (though I have no credentials.) Here's a little bit I've put together to explain evolution since it's something a lot of people have misconceptions about (including myself, once upon a time.)
How people think evolution works (a.k.a. This is NOT how it works)
"And on the third day, Mother Nature said "Let humans walk on two legs, for this is the way it must be. That is the best and fittest option for their kind.""
How evolution actually works (in fewer than 10 words)
Chance Mutation + Time (lots of time) + A Population = Change.
There is no "best" there is no "fittest" there is no "because" there is only "eh, it works." (And even that is personifying and antrhopomorphising nature, which is a common human filter.)
Anywhoo, this is just a short summary of things I've learned with a bit of a silly exaggeration at the beginning. Again, I'm merely a student, I have no credentials to my name. But I will eventually! And when I do, I'll say the same thing I said here!
Guaranteed or the 0 cents you payed me to read this back.
How people think evolution works (a.k.a. This is NOT how it works)
"And on the third day, Mother Nature said "Let humans walk on two legs, for this is the way it must be. That is the best and fittest option for their kind.""
How evolution actually works (in fewer than 10 words)
Chance Mutation + Time (lots of time) + A Population = Change.
There is no "best" there is no "fittest" there is no "because" there is only "eh, it works." (And even that is personifying and antrhopomorphising nature, which is a common human filter.)
Anywhoo, this is just a short summary of things I've learned with a bit of a silly exaggeration at the beginning. Again, I'm merely a student, I have no credentials to my name. But I will eventually! And when I do, I'll say the same thing I said here!
Guaranteed or the 0 cents you payed me to read this back.
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