Is Beauty Ugly? (Beauty in Fantasy)

I have begun to think about the characters in my next trilogy. My main female character lives in a world where beauty is having a clean shirt and face. She doesn't pluck or prune, trim or clip. No makeup, no hair straighteners, no tweezers, no hair dye, no modern beatifying devices. So how do I make my character beautiful, when she's looking a bit of a feral? By western society at least. I'm speaking mainly of women in this post, but the same can apply to men.

How far can we push realism in fantasy?

Do we want to see slugs for eyebrows, bad acne, crooked and blackened teeth, or hairy armpits and legs? What about scars, or deformities, disabilities, missing limbs? How far you go depends on the world you're building. Is presentation important? Are they at war and scars a rite of passage for warriors? Do they have the means to change their appearance? Can the people afford the costs of beauty? Is beauty genetic? Do the people you're creating have certain physical traits that make them more or less appealing to other races? Is cleanliness important? Has the comb been invented?

Push the boundaries as far are you feel comfortable going, but be careful though not to make your protagonist too repulsive that people won't want to read about them.

Is being too beautiful, too well groomed, annoying?

Sometimes yes. We've all watched tv shows and movies, where the heroine has just been through hell's battlefield and come out looking fabulous, her lipstick un-smudged, her mascara still intact, a strategically placed smear of dirt to highlight her cheekbones. Or historical pieces with woman who's eyebrows are perfect and their teeth glowing. It's unrealistic (says she who writes about magic). Characters need to have flaws, even physical ones sometimes. Most of us have something we dislike about ourselves, why not portray that in your characters as well.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Culture can dictate what is beautiful. At one time the Chinese considered small feet in woman to be beautiful, so woman would bind their feet (ouch!). In Thailand wind copper around their necks to elongate them (which actually pushes down their shoulders – ouch!). Men in Africa paint their faces yellow and flutter their cheeks to attract woman. Looks very creepy to me, but to the women of that culture it's sexy. There are some tribal cultures who wear lip disks. The lip is pierced, and a disk is inserted that stretches the bottom lip (ouch!). To the people of these cultures it's symbol of beauty and power. Most cultures consider symmetry to be beautiful and yet we can love a lopsided face as long as it has character.

I think it's important to make your protagonist beautiful in some way, though it doesn't have to be in a modern way or even a physical way. As a reader I want to find the beauty within the protagonist that makes me care for them. Once you know what that is in your own characters, I think you can push the boundaries of appearance. Make them unique.

Do you need characters to be beautiful to keep reading? Share your views.

OBSERVATIONAL DECK – Is the world inherently lazy?

I have a fascination with escalators and why, when people step onto an escalator, they feel the need to stop walking. Granted, if you're old, disabled, or incapable of walking, escalators can ease your journey. However, for the rest of us able bodied chumps, why do we to stop? My answer, the world is inherently lazy. Before you take insult, you should know that this applies to the universe. It's known as the principle of minimum total potential energy, which comes from the second law of thermodynamics. Basically, the lowest state of potential energy for us humans on an escalator is the standing position (given that it's not safe to sit).

Not everyone, however, is happy to stand and let the escalator move for them. There are those who will keep walking. I find my characters can vary between walkers and standers. There are some who would rather sit at the pub and drink than save the world. Well who wouldn't? They don't want to do as they're told, or go where I need them to go. They are happy to let that escalator move for them, pretending that the world wasn't going to end. In short they're boring.

So why do some of my characters keep walking while others stopped? It was my mentor and friend, Louise Cusack, who answered this question for me. Louise pointed out to me that there are proactive characters and reactive characters. Proactive being the ones who walk and reactive the ones who stand. My boring characters were reactive, waiting for things to happen to nudge them along. I needed to make them proactive so they would do things for themselves.

So how can one keep their characters from being so damned lazy? Throw things at them, so they have to duck. Keep them locked up so they can't get to the pub and make them find their own way out. Put things/people in their way, so they have to swerve. Discriminate against them until they fight back. Unfairly judge them, until they stand up for themselves. Find a cause they can get riled up about, or an injustice they can't ignore. Kidnap their loved ones, or make their love interest appear unattainable, then drive them wild with desire. And so on. Anything to take them out of their comfort zone and forces them to act. Then, in the process of sorting out their lives, they may find themselves saving the world.

For great words of wisdom you can follow Louise's blog at: http://ifyoumustwrite.com

ADULT CONTENT – Part III Swearing

Before I dive into the subject of swearing I should warn those with sensitive ears that there will be swear words starting with the letters s, f, c and e mentioned in this post.

To be fair, swearing is not limited to adults alone, however, there are some who would have swearing corralled and shuffled off to the dregs, so that their children may never be befouled by such language. Which brings me to my first point.

I object to the suggestion that swear words are not part of mine or anyone's language. Statements such as, there is no need for that language; please refrain from using that language; if you continue to use that language you'll be charged, bother me. I didn't realise that swear words made up their own language. Since I only speak English what other language am I supposed to use? Would you prefer I swore in French? Ah, if only I could.

As a writer, I need access to all words so that I can explore all facets of my characters.

It is not the words themselves that matter, but the context in which you use them. Hey cunt, how's it going? can be a term of endearment to some. But to call someone a slobbering dog is generally an insult. The word scum may be considered mild in comparison to fuck, but put a negative edge to it – you dirty, filthy piece of scum – and it becomes extremely insulting, especially to those who have had to scrape their way out of the gutters to make something of themselves. The word fuck probably doesn't mean anything to those who use it every day.

When I write fantasy fiction I tend to use less of the s, f and c words in favour of more creative words. I do this because I find those harsh swear words have more impact when used sparingly (but that's just me). I do know others who like to use them more often to give their story a gritty feel. There are many different ways I like to come up with soft swears, as you might want to call them. Three of the mains ones are:

Religion

Many of our modern swear words come from taking the lord's name in vain. All of my fictional worlds have some form of religion that my characters follow or resist. I give my gods and religious leaders names and titles and then use them as swear words.

Animals and Body Parts and Bodily Function

We've all heard the term bullshit before, I'm sure. Animals, body parts and bodily functions are a great way to swear. Sometimes I make up animals, or use animals common to my story as a replacement for the word bull. Then, instead of using shit, I might use a bodily function similar to shit; poo, diarrhoea, crap, dung, farts, burps (all the fun toilet humour stuff). Or I might use body parts, which I won't elaborate on here, but dog's balls is a great example. Be creative. Of course these animals, body parts, bodily functions can all be used independently. I'm sure I don't need to explain that one.

Another way to use animals is to pick ones we tend to think of as repulsive or dim-witted; maggot, slug, snake, cockroach, worm, mule, turkey. The list goes on.

Ordinary Words

The word fuck/fucking has been replaced with ordinary words such as freaking, fruit-tingles and flaming. Almost anything can become a swear word if you use it the right way. Just stick the word dirty in front of it; dirty mutton; dirty cheese hole, dirty wax stuffer, etc. I'm sure you can come up with better ones.

Making Words Up.

This one is my favourite. I love making up words. One trick I use is to take a real word and swap the letters about and play around with the way it sounds. For example, take the word shit. This can be changed to shet or shek or skick. Othere examples: you're such a smenk; keep your bleaming hands off my you cepidizoid; get the frugo outta here; you're such a eglitest.

These are pretty mild examples, but you can see where I'm going. How harsh you want to get with your swear words comes down to your characters. Where they grew up, how they were raised, culture constraints, friends and families can all attribute to how and when your character swears.

Tell me your creative swear words.

Coming up next Observation Deck – Is The Universe Inherently Lazy?; and Beauty in Fantasy (not necessarily in that order)

ADULT CONTENT – Part II Sex

In my last post I spoke of violence in adult fantasy fiction. Today I'm going to continue the discussion of adult content in adult fiction and talk about SEX. To me, sex in fiction means a number of things; sexual interests, the way people behave around the opposite sex (or same sex if that's your fancy) and of course the physical act of sex. In my opinion fantasy books should have a combination of all three. All adults think about sex, engage with the opposite sex and (if they're lucky) have sex. There's no avoiding it. So why should your characters.

Quick note:  I am generally talking heterosexual interactions, however, everything said can apply to any sexual orientation your characters may take, monsters and aliens included. Also, I am speaking from a woman's point of view, so guys if you have a difference of opinion, would love to hear about it.

Sexual Interests.

The sort of fantasy novel you're writing will dictate how deep you go when it comes to romance, but that doesn't mean you should ignore sexual interest. Your characters can still be attracted to others without falling in love. Obsession for the one you can't have can really drive a character's decisions.

You can't go through life without being attracted to someone and neither can your characters.

The way you behave.

The lack of sexual interaction is one of the most frustrating things for me when I read a book.

Men and women check each other out. Sometimes you get caught, sometimes you don't. To all the women writers, don't make your male characters overly sensitive. When there's cleavage in the room men are going to look. To all the male writers, women are looking too, it's just our wider peripheral vision makes it easier for us to be subtle.

We alter the way we behave around people of the opposite sex, especially if we are attracted to someone. We make excuses to be closer to them, or touch them. Or if we're shy, we desperately avoid eye contact. We have all flirted at one time or another with the opposite sex, even when there is no sexual pursuit involved. Flirting is a great way for your characters to  subtly manipulate, or be manipulated. We have all talked about sex – wish mine were/was bigger, what are they like in the sack. Whether we are comfortable, or embarrassed in sexual discussion can depend on who we are with.

There are always going to be people who push you out of your comfort zone and become crude and crass. Or maybe you are the one doing the pushing. Put your characters in awkward positions with the opposite sex. Don't make it easy for them.

The physical act of sex.

The fun part. I find it most unsatisfying when the main character, who I've invested my time in, spends the whole book eyeing off their love interest only to get a kiss at the end (or not even that in some of the books I've read). Not all of your characters are going to have sex in your book, but in real life people are having sex. Don't avoid it in your adult novel.

This doesn't mean you have to write graphic thrust by thrust descriptions. On the contrary, writing a sex scene can be an opportunity to bring out your literary side with metaphors and colourful imagery. If you're feeling bold then you may want to add some detail; give the reader something to remember. Don't be afraid to use the word penis. Just be careful your descriptions don't cross over into erotica if your aim is to write down-the-line fantasy.

It can be hard knowing the limit of how much or how little sex you put in. Too much and it becomes porn, too little and you have yourself a young adult novel instead. When you do find that balance it will add a whole other level of depth to your story.

Coming up: Swearing - the fun I have making up words.