ISWG March 2022

It’s that time of the month again, where everyone a part of IWSG comes together to divulge, share and support other writers without fear of sounding foolish. There are people who can extend their hand, offering assistance and guidance for them and this can be a collaborative experience, sharing our stories, receiving tips, and building a community.

For this month the questions that were posed by IWSG co-hosts–Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence–is this: have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

The short answer is yes and yes for these two questions. I have been conflicted about writing a story and adding a scene to an existing story. For writing a story, I didn’t want to write about a protagonist who was brown, was a first generation American, disconnect from their parent’s culture, and queer. That was too much like me, and I am fine with putting aspects of my personality with all my characters, combining it with others, but this would strike too close to home. I was, am, afraid of someone reading it and think that this is me and judge me based off my protagonist. I already keep hidden plots of the two stories I am working on after telling my mom a bit about The Forsaken Tale, where my protagonist cannot state the words, “I love you,” lest she’ll die. All she extrapolated from the basic conflict of man vs self was that I abhor the idea of love. It was quite annoying where I had a conversation and a half where I explained that this concept was explored in a piece of media I enjoyed, and I was expanding on the various types of loves were included in that statement as well. Love doesn’t have to be romantic (and I love being a sadist to my protagonists who shall eternally suffer until the end of the novel) which is something that seems to be the end all/be all in media. I wanted to explore the other kinds of it, to show it through actions rather than words about the ways someone cares for another. My annoyance, and fear, was that people think that I am projecting onto my characters, be it protagonist, antagonists, or side characters. The intent of the story I initially didn’t want to write–I got to about ten thousand words before I just left the incomplete draft sit in my folder for years despite it being mostly plot out–is that it is intended to be based off of my experiences and struggles but placed in a superhero setting.

Superheroes are cool, along with detectives, wizards, magical girls, selkies, D&D, and animals. If I get a chance to include my favorite things I am going to do it. Perhaps one day I’ll introduce a character who loves just anime or Korean dramas, who gets into an argument with the antagonist’s lacky. The two of them do movie, or TV show, marathons where they take shots at the other’s favorite genre, trying to tear it down but is unsuccessful as the two broaden their genre horizon. Along the way, maybe, just maybe, be a pain to the protagonist and/or antagonist as the two foil their plans because their movie marathons fell on those days or on the way to Blockbuster to pick something up. This is actually a good story idea, I’m going to notate this somewhere real quick.

Long story short, I did write partially a story where I was quite emotionally charged, anxious, and fearful. I might look back on it one day, but this is going to be after I finish either The Forsaken Tale or Wandering Affection draft. Regarding about adding a scene in a story, in TFT, I included an important conversation between Mark and Kellina (cousin and protagonist respectfully) who were apologizing to the other about something shitty they both did to the other. I am not going to go too much into detail but originally Mark was going to be the bigger man, ignoring what she said, and Kellina just resents him. Instead, the two of them talk about how their feelings were hurt from what the other said, communicating after a week of stubborn silence between the two. Things make more sense than in the outline as Mark isn’t much of a jerk and I need to resolve a potential plot-hole in the future: why sis Kellina even talking with this man and why is he helping her out if he hates her? Who knows, certainly not me and I was the one who did the initial outline that I threw to the side once I started posting paragraphs in my work email because I keep forgetting to bring my USB to work so I can continue my writing.

Thank you for reading this post. I must head off to bed after scheduling this. I’ll try to edit this in the morning because I feel like falling asleep.

As always to whomever is reading this, I want you to know I am wishing you a lovely day, and remember, stay hydrated!