No Good Deed...

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day, a monthly event where authors in the blogosphere can share about insecurities and other stuff going on in their lives. Today's IWSG question is:  Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing? I don’t know if this counts but once I wrote a short story about the supernatural and later found myself frightened by some of the ideas I created in my own work. 

Today I don't have an insecurity. I just want to speak in vague generalities about some stuff I've been thinking about: Back in the winter, I did a small favor for someone. It was a favor I didn't have to do, and refraining from this favor wouldn't have been a breach of ethics in any way. Someone I know needed guidance and I helped out. Since then, the ripple effects of my favor have sometimes been a source of stress for me.  

My experience makes me think of the saying: "No good deed goes unpunished." Come to think of it, I can think of a bunch of other instances in my life that this quote supports.

That said, I still believe in helping others (but while being mindful of my personal boundaries and natural instincts.) 

Being a writer and a reader, I have been reflecting on how much of the fiction I've seen tend to show positive reinforcement for kind deeds. While I've also come across fiction where negative consequences punish a good doer, I'd say I spot this less frequently. But with the latter kind of story, the potential for character development could be quite interesting. After all, what is the motivation for one to continue doing the right thing if they have suffered for doing just that? A story that addresses this question could be more enticing to explore than a story about a character who consistently gets a pat on the head for doing the right thing.

Have you ever been "punished" for doing a good deed? Can you name stories that illustrate negative consequences from good deeds?

IWSG: Beauty and the Beast

It's IWSG day, a monthly event author Alex Cavanaugh started to get writers sharing about insecurities and other stuff going on in their lives. This month’s IWSG question is: What’s the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story? I don’t know if this is considered weird or cool…But since my WIP has a culinary theme, I’ve been spending time in the kitchen trying new recipes. When my recipe is successful, it’s fun to eat my research. (And when the recipe is a fail, I consider it a learning experience.)

Today I don’t have an insecurity to share but a thought about how stories can be interpreted differently from one audience member to another.

Back in March, I took my daughter to see the live-action movie for Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson. Both my children have seen the Disney animated movie. Lately, they have been listening to the soundtrack for Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast. 

I’ve always interpreted the story’s villain as Gaston, who shows no empathy to the suffering of others, tries to have Belle’s father incarcerated and killed, and attempts to kill the Beast once he realizes Belle has feelings for the Beast.

The other day, my son asked me if the Enchantress who cast the spell on the Prince to turn him into a Beast was a bad guy. I responded that the bad guy was Gaston. My son persisted and asked why the Enchantress had to turn the Prince into a Beast. I explained that the Prince wasn’t nice to the Enchantress- he unfairly judged her looks-and so the Enchantress wanted to teach him a lesson about looking past outside appearances. My son responded, “Just because someone isn’t nice to you doesn’t mean you have to turn them into a beast.”  

I have always been fascinated by the character of the Enchantress in Beauty and the Beast. In the recent live-action movie, I was particularly pleased to see that the Enchantress played a bigger role than she did in the animated feature.

(Actress Hattie Morahan did a great job.) I never saw the Enchantress as a villain but a character who existed to support the fantastical elements of the story.

Nonetheless, my son’s perspective is also valid and offered an idea I hadn’t considered before. It is true that you don’t have to turn someone into a beast just because they aren’t being nice. (You can just imagine doing it, haha.)

What do you do when you encounter someone who isn’t being nice?

IWSG: A Quote for the Overwhelmed

It's IWSG day, a monthly event author Alex Cavanaugh started to get writers sharing about insecurities and other stuff going on in their lives. I hope that those of you who are participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge are having a good time so far. I did A to Z last year, but this year I decided to pass.

Today I don’t have much to share except that I have a lot on my plate right now with an endless to-do list. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. Sometimes it just feels like a 24-hour day isn’t enough to do what I need to do. Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed too? If so, here’s a quote for you and me:

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” –Williams James

What quotes or thoughts do you find comforting when you are overwhelmed? How are you feeling today?

Fan Theories

Thanks to D.L. Hammons for hosting the Deja Vu Blogfest, where bloggers are invited to re-post something we'd posted earlier this year. Since I had posted about fan theories late on IWSG day back in the fall, I don't think this post got as many views by the IWSG community as it should have. So here I am, posting it again...

There are a lot of fan theories about popular stories of various mediums on the Internet. These fan theories range from the one about the classic film Grease, that Sandy actually died when Danny tried to rescue her from drowning, as referenced in "Summer Nights," to the speculation that HARRY POTTER’s Ginny Weasley drugged Harry with a love potion, to Gilligan being Satan while the other inhabitants on Gilligan’s Island were the seven deadly sins, to how, in the movie (or theatrical production, which I'd recently seen) of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's Bizarro twin was actually the deceased Wicked Witch of the East, whose face is never shown. But interestingly, the two ladies share a shoe size. 

The creator of Grease dismissed the fan theory about his musical being merely Sandy's coma dream. It wouldn't surprise me if other creators of stories coming under speculation would brush off out-there fan theories as well. Still, I find some fan theories quite insightful, regardless of whether or not I believe in them. The "what if" questions presented in some of these fan theories challenge my notion of what seems familiar and comforting in these stories and encourages the exploration of a darker or more twisted perspective of what could be lurking beneath the surface. (I should add though that fan theories where everything was just a dream or a fantasy in the protagonist's head don't do much for me.)

Taking the concept about hidden stories past fiction into reality, I am reminded that it's important to take a closer look at what, at first glance, might seem familiar and comforting and to remember what is intentionally projected in any environment for an audience might not necessarily reflect what is actually there. 

Do you have any fan theories surrounding a story? What fan theories have you heard that you find interesting? (I myself could spend a day discussing my fan theories about the movie Inception.)

IWSG: Fan Theories

Today is IWSG day, a monthly event Alex Cavanaugh started to get writers sharing about their insecurities and other stuff happening in their lives. I am late to post today, but we still have a couple of hours left in Wednesday and here I am! This month’s IWSG question is: When do you know your story is ready?  My story might feel ready after I have had it properly critiqued, have given it an honest revision, have taken a break from it, and when I revisit it after a break, I don't itch to revise everything I see. Right now, my story is not ready.

Today I'm here to share an insight, not an insecurity.

There are a lot of fan theories about popular stories of various mediums on the Internet. These fan theories range from the one about the classic film Grease, that Sandy actually died when Danny tried to rescue her from drowning, as referenced in "Summer Nights," to the speculation that HARRY POTTER’s Ginny Weasley drugged Harry with a love potion, to Gilligan being Satan while the other inhabitants on Gilligan’s Island were the seven deadly sins, to how, in the movie (or theatrical production, which I'd recently seen) of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's Bizarro twin was actually the deceased Wicked Witch of the East, whose face is never shown. But interestingly, the two ladies share a shoe size. 

The creator of Grease dismissed the fan theory about his musical being merely Sandy's coma dream. It wouldn't surprise me if other creators of stories coming under speculation would brush off out-there fan theories as well. Still, I find some fan theories quite insightful, regardless of whether or not I believe in them. The "what if" questions presented in some of these fan theories challenge my notion of what seems familiar and comforting in these stories and encourages the exploration of a darker or more twisted perspective of what could be lurking beneath the surface. (I should add though that fan theories where everything was just a dream or a fantasy in the protagonist's head don't do much for me.)

Taking the concept about hidden stories past fiction into reality, I am reminded that it's important to take a closer look at what, at first glance, might seem familiar and comforting and to remember what is intentionally projected in any environment for an audience might not necessarily reflect what is actually there. 

Do you have any fan theories surrounding a story? What fan theories have you heard that you find interesting? (I myself could spend a day discussing my fan theories about the movie Inception.)

IWSG: An Encouraging Comment

Today is IWSG day, a monthly event Alex Cavanaugh started to get writers sharing about their insecurities and other stuff going on in their lives. This month’s IWSG question is: How do you find time to write in your busy day? My response: I wrote about this subject in last month’s IWSG post. The truth is, I don’t get to work on my novel everyday but that doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking about it or doing other things (reading a book, researching details, or just reflecting on my story) to prepare me for the time when I get to work on it.  

 A few months ago, the IWSG question of the month was about sharing the best comment someone made about our writing. I don't know if there is one best comment I've received, as I've been lucky to receive support from many people. But there is one encouraging comment that has stuck with me for a long time:

…Years ago, I attended a weekend writers workshop with about two dozen other writers. Most attendees were other adults, like myself. A youth program allowed a few teens to participate too. The first two chapters of my YA work-in-progress at the time was publicly critiqued by everyone. Most of the feedback, useful or not, seemed to come with kind intentions. Still, I came home from the workshop feeling misunderstood and defeated. A few grown-ups in the workshop clearly didn’t get what I was trying to do. *Sigh* As a courtesy, I still emailed most of the people I met that weekend, grown-ups and teens, with a quick note about how it was nice to meet them and good luck with their writing and all that stuff. One of the teens wrote back to me and shared that my manuscript had been her favorite among the grown-ups’ manuscripts.

It was a short note but it made my day. It also helped me see that not everyone has to get what I’m doing. But as long as someone does, it makes the effort to do what I'm doing worthwhile.

What  is an encouraging comment someone offered you about your writing? Have you ever felt, by certain feedback you have received, that your work was being misinterpreted?

Z: Paul Zindel & THE PIGMAN'S LEGACY

"You see, my mother and father never even touch each other, which makes me wonder how on earth I ever was born. I figure it was just an accident- they both happened to be walking around the bedroom nude and they made a mistake and tripped." - Paul Zindel, THE PIGMAN'S LEGACY (HarperTrophy, YA)

When I was a young kid, I frequently tagged along with my older sister to the library's teen section (they didn't even call it YA then).  I remember Paul Zindel's books were always in the Z section. I read his book THE PIGMAN'S LEGACY ages ago. This book is a sequel to a first book, THE PIGMAN, which I don't remember if I read. THE PIGMAN'S LEGACY is about two teens, John and Lorraine, a pair of friends who meet the Colonel, a senior citizen living in the same home where another senior the teens once knew had lived. (That other senior died in the first book.) At first, the Colonel doesn't seem very friendly but he eventually warms up. John and Lorraine set the Colonel up with Dolly, a lady who works in their school cafeteria. Soon after the Colonel and Dolly meet, John and Lorraine learn that the Colonel is dying. He has always known this. After marrying Dolly on his deathbed, the Colonel dies. The story ends when John and Lorraine are walking through the hospital past the nursery with the newborns. Here, John tells Lorraine he wants to spend his life with her.

My description probably gives the impression this is a sad and somber story. But much of the story is actually told with humor, as demonstrated in one of John's quotes shared at the top of the post here. I believe  humor is a weapon that some of us cultivate to better deal with the pain we experience in our lives.

Have you read THE PIGMAN'S LEGACY? Have you ever used humor to cope with something difficult?

And that's my last post for this month's Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: authors whose work I read when I was younger. Thanks to all of you who visited and supported my blog this month!