Random Thought of the Day

I wonder if "Golden" has any relevance anymore. I wrote it ten years ago, give or take, but it reads like a very long, very detailed outline. It was meant to be a historical sweep.

But Golden, the title character, was really a metaphor. She's a long-lived kind of biological/electronic/mechanical hybrid being, engineered for reasons undisclosed, and placed onboard an interstellar ark for reasons disclosed. Many people in the ark are, by parts, afraid of her or repelled by her, and oppress her mercilessly. Others feel pity for her but do little or nothing to help her. Everyone agrees she's a machine. No one sees her as a person with rights, until the end of the story.

To fulfill her function on the ark, her emotions are suppressed. But although she feels nothing consciously, her subconscious mind does feel. This causes her major problems that, to all appearances, should not exist.

Of course Golden serves as a metaphor for a transgender woman (or a transgender man, for that matter). I came up with her at a time when I thought writing a story centered on a transgender character would make it unsellable. I'm not so sure about that any more.

If you're a genius writer (whatever that is) you can probably write about anything! That doesn't guarantee everyone will recognize it while you're still alive though.

What do you think of following advice?

http://litreactor.com/columns/the-ten-worst-pieces-of-writing-advice-you-will-ever-hear-and-probably-already-have

Quote: rxwine

If you're a genius writer (whatever that is) you can probably write about anything! That doesn't guarantee everyone will recognize it while you're still alive though.

It was funny. Several people read that story. All but two commented they felt Golden stood for something else, but couldn't figure out what. The other two were transgender themselves and they saw what Golden was supposed to represent at once.

Come to think of it, I must have written it fifteen years ago, not ten....

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What do you think of following advice?

I have heard it all before(*) ;)

I'm surprised "Less is more" and "Never use passive voice" didn't make it.

(*) Except for "Start in the middle." That's very hard to pull off and best left to masters like Isaac Asimov. His novel, "The Gods Themselves" starts on chapter 6. I mean there is a "6" at the top of the page, and a note saying that's the start of the story, in the sixth chapter. "The End of Eternity" begins near the end of the novel.

The priority for any unpublished author is to get published. Of what's in my pipeline, what would be the surest sell is "The Useless Rebellion of Callum Shad" (come to think of it, that one starts in the middle). It's about a history teacher, Callum Shad, who leads a revolt of her people against the Overlords, who claim to be divine and invincible (it's futile to fight against divine beings, ergo the "useless" part of the title).

But it's not what I want to write right now.

Really? Notice the candles.

Quote: rxwine

Really?

I should think some people take eschatological fetishes too seriously.

The family that craps together, stays together.

Quote: rxwine

If you're a genius writer (whatever that is)

All writers are geniuses, in their own estimation. Some of us humbly own up to it, others trumpet it from the rooftops with a loudspeaker.

Now you know ;)

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you can probably write about anything!

That's a given, really.

I want to thank you for your post. Now I'm psyched to re-write "Golden." Also probably the triptic made up of "Loner," "Solitude" and "Mother."

After I'm done with "Ours," and "Betrayal, " that is.

Thanks!!

stumbled across this picture while looking up some polio stuff [I had been watching the PBS program on the Roosevelts].



"Iron lung ward filled with polio patients, Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, California (1953)" [wikipedia]

Quote: odiousgambit

stumbled across this picture while looking up some polio stuff [I had been watching the PBS program on the Roosevelts].



"Iron lung ward filled with polio patients, Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, California (1953)" [wikipedia]

This picture should be mandatory viewing for all the mothers who do not want to get vacinations, or in the case of polio oral vacine, for their kids.

Quote: Nareed

I should think some people take eschatological fetishes too seriously.

I take it you wanted scatological here?