Question Current events and writing.

How do reading, watching TV, Movies and such influence your writings? Do they tend to provide newer plots as well as characters? Or do you try to keep as much of the cultural happenings out? This doesn't just apply to Whateley but with your writings of other stories.

Also do you try to keep biased opinions out: your own personal beliefs or desires. By this I mean gun control, religion and so forth. This is not meant to be a dig into anyone's beliefs but more about how someone writes the story.

So lets keep it civil in nature as writers and not to be someones personal soapbox please.

I use all types of media for story ideas, after careful dissection so I'm not just copying them. But I try to leave most pop culture references out of it, as it dates the piece too much. Unless it's set in a specific year, I'll let people go with modernish, rather than name something that makes it 2015.

About polarizing personal beliefs, I lean towards them but keep,them largely to the side. It has its place but unless you're writing specifically about it to make a point there's no need to antoginize potential readers.
With religion, I'm an atheist, but I try to keep things respectful unless the character in question is an extremist, and then it's obvious that they are.
With politics, I really don't like The current US administration. So in one story where a character was talking about the world she came from dying (it involves parallel worlds) I had her say the president committed suicide rather than trying to do everything humanly possible to save what they could. No names, no parties, were given. I was writing it so that event occurred in 2013 or so. But because no firm dates were given, people can pick the party and the president that they want. It's my little dig that is extremely harmless.
With things I like I generally don't put them in an unfavourable light, but again I don't try to be blatantly obvious about it. Only on a few core things do I put the focus on them. family is important and losing it or being betrayed by your family is devastating. Sticking up for people who are weaker and need support, making up for mistakes you have made, etc, those ones I'll use a bloody mallet to bash them into a readers head.

On further thought there is one area I do tend to show in my work when it's appropriate. big government sucks. Maybe they are just incompetent and slow to react, or they're a dictatorship, but I tend to show that they're a hindrence at best. But I only bring it up if it seems appropriate for the story.

No one writes in a vacuum, for me anything can trigger the author's bug. Now will I use it in my writing, I dunno. A key-chain with Eiffel Tower on it once caused a quick mental bit about someone who wants to go to Paris but can't so far. Some things are just so awesome you want to use 'em.

Case in point.
Mia from Death Vigil

As for including touchy subjects, ugh, just ugh. The worse part is what's touchy to you might be of no import to someone else, and vice versa. If you feel the need due to story or character try to hit a sensitive point, well make sure that it is a story context. Just beware of the emotional landmines and if you feel the need to set off a few mines to tell the tale do so. If you don't need to go around the minefield. I wish i could say it better but I can't.

~Archangel~ wrote: No one writes in a vacuum, for me anything can trigger the author's bug. Now will I use it in my writing, I dunno. A key-chain with Eiffel Tower on it once caused a quick mental bit about someone who wants to go to Paris but can't so far. Some things are just so awesome you want to use 'em.

Case in point.
Mia from Death Vigil

As for including touchy subjects, ugh, just ugh. The worse part is what's touchy to you might be of no import to someone else, and vice versa. If you feel the need due to story or character try to hit a sensitive point, well make sure that it is a story context. Just beware of the emotional landmines and if you feel the need to set off a few mines to tell the tale do so. If you don't need to go around the minefield. I wish i could say it better but I can't.

Well I bring it up as I was reading about Spartacus and the movie with Kirk Douglas. How it took a president to help stop McCarthyism. The hidden context within the book or how people perceive it to be hidden in or an undue influence and such. Such as C.L. Lewis's works.

Do some do it subconsciously or intentionally, or both.

Ib12us wrote: How do reading, watching TV, Movies and such influence your writings? Do they tend to provide newer plots as well as characters? Or do you try to keep as much of the cultural happenings out? This doesn't just apply to Whateley but with your writings of other stories.

Also do you try to keep biased opinions out: your own personal beliefs or desires. By this I mean gun control, religion and so forth. This is not meant to be a dig into anyone's beliefs but more about how someone writes the story.

So lets keep it civil in nature as writers and not to be someones personal soapbox please.

Movies and TV always provide elements which can be used in plots.
As to current events and controversy, it's unavoidable. In my Op Rescue series, I've had readers get to the premise and stop - sometimes with a nasty-gram because it's related to abortion and they didn't like the view presented, accusing me of being preachy - though I tried to keep it neutral as the 'causal agent' for the story. I wrote one story about a politician and tried very hard NOT to characterize or identify his political affiliation - and that was damned hard to do (I think I carried it off - Bikini Beach: The Senator). I also wrote one BB story where I pretty bluntly pointed to a political philosophy of the 'baddie' (BB: The Coup).

It's very difficult to avoid controversial issues or politics. Either you take them on head-on and accept flak, or you try to keep them as a background element - a McGuffin to enable the plot or unspecified party/philosophy - and STILL accept the flak.

I have had characters follow local sports teams, go to current movies, and other things like that. I tend to stay away from relligion and politics, other than a brief mention.

My characters and those around them are who they are, and that's usually very different from who I am. As for media and current events? all play their part; I don't really shy away from them as much as ignore them for the most part. I do write fantasy and science fiction, after all; not aiming to be all Tom Clancy. If they come up, they come up though.

elrodw wrote: As to current events and controversy, it's unavoidable. In my Op Rescue series, I've had readers get to the premise and stop - sometimes with a nasty-gram because it's related to abortion and they didn't like the view presented, accusing me of being preachy - though I tried to keep it neutral as the 'causal agent' for the story.

Let me go on record here to say that I consider that series a display of sheer genius in how it can be read either as pro-life or a pro-choice, depending on the reader. It's sort of a Rorschach test of one's position on the issue. I think if ElrodW had taken any hard stance in either direction, it wouldn't be even half as engaging -- instead of provoking thought, which it DOES, it would be just a political tract.

Sir Lee wrote:

elrodw wrote: As to current events and controversy, it's unavoidable. In my Op Rescue series, I've had readers get to the premise and stop - sometimes with a nasty-gram because it's related to abortion and they didn't like the view presented, accusing me of being preachy - though I tried to keep it neutral as the 'causal agent' for the story.

Let me go on record here to say that I consider that series a display of sheer genius in how it can be read either as pro-life or a pro-choice, depending on the reader. It's sort of a Rorschach test of one's position on the issue. I think if ElrodW had taken any hard stance in either direction, it wouldn't be even half as engaging -- instead of provoking thought, which it DOES, it would be just a political tract.

<scuffs toe in the dirt> Aw, shucks. Now you got me blushing at such a compliment.

Personally when writing about "current" events if politics comes in at all I change the names (and as required) references so no-one can (accurately) say "he is dissing President/Governor/Mayor/Senator so and so."
Frankly if I were setting up the Whately cannon the president of the US would be a fictional name. After all, the existence of superpowers would almost inevitably change some government policies/actions. For example, if Lord Paramount did rescue the Iran hostages I doubt President Carter would have lost so decisively . (He might still have lost, but I doubt it would have been a landslide.)