Well it was Admiral Jespah who set the Ad Astra Blog question this time, clearly Miranda Fave is still in the B’Moth Sector looking for me after the last blog reply and it such a hum dinger that I’ve had to think for most of the week on my answers to her questions. You can view the original questions here: –

http://boldlyreading.com/2013/08/06/blog-prompt-6-writing-complex-evil-characters/

Well after the wait I hope that

a) that this blog is something someone wants to reads and

b) someone will like it on some level

c) don’t feel that I’ve reveal myself to be evil, well I do speak with a British accent which is a usually indication in Hollywood movies of a villain.

For once one out of three won’t cut it on this blog. So without further ado, as Admiral Jespah is of course reveal to be a Excalbian continuing their experiments to understand the human philosophies of “good” and “evil” as last seen in “The Savage Curtain,” [TOS].

I’ll try to answer the questions and not end up in a pool of lava.

Q1. How do you write evil characters that are not mere caricatures?

A1. In all honestly, to avoid creating mere caricatures is a task with great difficulty for me but I find that also apply to my good characters as well.

I think the key thing in writing character is to ensure that I try to bear in mind the following two quotes,

The first by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility”.

The second by Aleksandra Solzhenitsyn,

“…the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

In other words, just as my heroes and heroines need to have vices to break their all star good guy caricature so my villains and villainess need their virtues and reasons why they believe their actions are good, even if they’re perhaps a little warped.

To be honest this is still a work in progress with my writing but perhaps the other piece of good advice I’ve found for this one is from Decipher old Star Trek Role-play game narrator’s guide, “…focus on the character’s motivation. Why is the NPC doing what he does?”

After all Sela reasons for opposing the federation are different from Gul Dukat opposition to it, and the way they go about achieving there goal are thus different.

Q2. Do you find ways to garner sympathy, even for the wicked (or the devil, perhaps?)?

A2. I do try to ensure my regular villains garner sympathy and this is part of the reason that I put a dead Chilo in a MU Agony Booth for my Titan WFW bit story. Because from the round robins the Chilo are a great villain to write but I don’t think till Trekfan put one in a Hank disguise and expanded on their reason for hating everybody did they become a more than two dimensions monsters and became the great villains they are.  On the wider sympathy topic, I do want to try and to do little scenes with my antagonists to try and show their reasons for been in opposition to my ‘heroes’. I admit that my two stories in the archive aren’t the best example of this, but something else for me to work on for future stories, me thinks.

Q3. Do you surprise your readers by turning a character from good to evil, or evil to good?

A3. Not yet, as for the future, I’m going to keep you guessing. Insert evil laugh here.

Q4. How grey is the shading?

A4. Going back to the Solzhenitsyn quote, I do try to put a lot of grey in my shading for both my heroes and villains. By the same note, for me one of Trek greatest strengths is while they’re great shades of grey (not that novel) in Trek, especially DS9, the extremes of the rainbow are bolder at either end and thus the shades in between are bolder in their relief. To try and clarify that, since Kirk or Picard are such the undoubted good guys to their enemies like Kor or Borg Queen villains that when we get the Romulans or the Ferengi and the Cardassians with characters like Sela, Quark and Garak who to call them good or evil outright fails to do them or the actors playing them justice when cast in the light or darkness of the extremes of the Trek-verse.

Bonus questions!

Q5. Which evil characters have you enjoyed writing the most?

A5. The last one, whoever it might of being, there is a strange joy in writing characters who can broadly be classified as evil, as they can say and do things you would never do. It a good relief after a day of toying the line at work in putting a villain in a similar situation in space and let them doing ‘evil’.

Q6. Which evil character, created by another author, have you enjoyed reading the most?

A6. The Chilo. SLWalker had a genius idea and all the writers of Ad Astra over the two multiverse round robins have taken them from unbelievable monsters to a great villain with strange powers, ideas and strategies to achieve their objectives.

Q7. Which canon evil character do you enjoy watching or reading the most?

A7. Q, if he still counts as an evil character and not a strange and scary teacher in your mind. For he is to me the old saying ultimate powers corrupts ultimately personified. He has seemingly ultimate power and is yet so self serving and self justifying in his actions but his chasing Kathryn Janeway and mating with Lady Q, have put him in a different context, so I’m not 100% convinced calling him an evil cannon character is still fair now as it was during the TNG Era. Perhaps that just a sign, that the show writers making the comic trickster more sympatric as they found such joy to have him on the screen and in text of books.

Well those are my answer to this prompt, please comment, but apologises if I don’t seem to answer, for some strange reasons, I can’t see my Blog comments other than in the disquis summary, Must be doing something wrong but that just me, a real D’oh with technology.

Now if you wonder what started this topic, might I refer you to Jespah excellent story ‘Paving stones from good intentions’ which can be read here: –

http://www.adastrafanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1223&chapter=1

And the forum comments on that story, which I believe were the driver for this blog prompt.

http://forums.adastrafanfic.com/index.php?/topic/2069-boldly-reading-book-club-1-discussion-thread/

Well that me done for now, I hope you enjoy this or at least found something to philosophise over later in your own blog or stories.

Thou one question for you other Trek Bloggers, is that everybody else seems to be able to source great Trek pictures to liven their blog’s up, what is the secret source of these pictures?

Well bye for now. Thanks as always for reading.

Well the next challenge ‘Prompt #5’ is in from Miranda Fave and it is “I think this next prompt is a little harder to do. I want you to sell yourself. Sell your story. Sell your character.

Just write about a story/series/character of yours you want to shine a light on.” =/\=

A ‘little harder’ blog challenge you say Admiral? Try a lot harder, tis a hard sell that the Admiral MF seeks. So sell my story or myself, which seems harsh, well here goes.

So I need to convince myself so that I can convince you my two stories in the archive, are some of the best work in the Ad Astra archive. that they are well worth your time and effort to go and see.  Umm argh, give me a moment, while I try to think of something…

Hang on, in the mean time while you wait for a compelling reason, some holding music for you: –

I am a lineman for the county


And I drive the main road


Searchin’ in the sun for another overload

I hear you singin’ in the wire

I can hear you through the whine


And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line

Right got it, It Read One Read the Other For Free, yes they’re both nice and short, I mean you’ve got Lily Fitzroy screwing up a first contact in a different way for 3511 words and then why there is an AOS Nausicaan in Starfleet back story for a mere 1381.

They can be viewed here: –

• http://www.adastrafanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1649

• http://www.adastrafanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1593

Um… O I know they’re both single story with no other link stories calling for you to spend the rest of the day reading if you like them. Well not yet anywhere, oh yes that another reason, if there is every a future part two you can say you were here at the start!

O, Oh, I know, I know it’s a rare attempt to see something written by me without any major grammatical errors in it, thank to Little Black Dog.

Pretty please with all the works on top. Okay now the attempt at guilt for a sale Kallachit doesn’t even have five reviews. He feeling unloved; go on for a quick read and a mere five words review you could make his day and mine. Go on make it your good deed for the day.

If you a real sucker for punishment further works by me, and some other actually good authors can be found on the Ad Astra Weekly Free Writes at: –

http://forums.adastrafanfic.com/index.php?/forum/17-the-weekly-prompts/

No sale? Okay I fully understand. O well Miranda Fave still wants a sale, hang on I should be able to sell bits of myself to that Vidiian physician for…

…Wait what do you mean the Phage has been cured by the Think Tank?

Okay how much for a one-way ticket to the B’Moth Sector, before Admiral MF gets back?

Anyway Thanks for Reading.

Free-for-All Blog Prompt #4 (should you choose to accept it) asked by Miranda Fave

“For your fourth blog prompt I am going to ask you to consider the setting.

So tell me,

Q1. How do you choose your settings – be it planet, ship, ship class, heck Trek era even?

Q2. How does the setting shape your story?

Q3. What world building lengths do you seek as a writer / as a reader?

Q4. Do you like descriptions and to paint the scene or do you leave it to the imagination of the reader?”

+++++

=/\=

Well I do choose to accept the challenge, so here’s at it!

Q1. How do you choose your settings?

How I chose my setting with difficulties, I all think picking the Trek Era has a lot of bearing on the other choices. For me I currently break trek into the nine following eras: –

1. Phoenix Rising Era (2151 to 2160)

NX-ENT to Coalition of worlds / Romulan War Era

2. Early Federation (2161 to 2252)

Foundation of the federation to the Federation / Axanar War

3. Cold war Era (2253 to 2293)

After the Axanar War to Khitomer Accords [TOS/TAS/AOS era]

4. The Dark Night (2253 to 2363)

Khitomer Accords aftermath to launch of Enterprise-D [between TOS and TNG]

5.Age of Diplomacy (2363 to 2370)

Enterprise D Launch to the destruction of the Odyssey by the Jem’Hadar [TNG/DS9]

6. Age of War (2370 via 2387)

From the destruction of the USS Odyssey by the Jem’Hadar up to the Hobus Supernova. [DS9/VOY/NEMESIS]

7. Typhon Pack/Age of Restoration (2387 to 2397)

From the Hobus Supernova till the start of the Third Klingon/Federation war.

8. STO ERA (2397-2409+)

From the start of the Third Federation/Klingon war into present Star Trek Online Era.

=/\=

So if I want to do a full out war story, I’m likely to stick in the Age of War or STO Era’s. If the story depends on the story as a fast or swashbuckling attitude to solve then story I’m likely to go to Early Fed or TOS era, while if I want to touch on a morale dilemma I go to the none war eras. Of course those rules aren’t hard and fast, for me the scene is depend upon the characters I want to write at the time.

As Captain’s Fitzroy, Pike, Ha’rris or Kirk I would expect to see in frontier settings opposite to Galayski, Trieres I see in more developed settings, While Gorrim and Riker would be into the unknown.

As for picking ships that is the hardest thing for me, but the Era does tend to drive that

As era one would be NX Cruiser while era nine I’ve got a pick of over seventeen federation ships. I go for a ship that a) fits the era and b) suits the Captain style. I.e. Emmylou commands Excelsior to reflect her tactical verity while her husband Scott commands a defiant class as he a fighter.

Q2. How does the setting shape your story?

The setting shapes and influences the type of story to a large extend, by determine what resources the commander has to call on. In a frontier town been raid by the Nausciaans the heroes can’t used technobabble to save the day as there not going to be any fancy equipment to spring on the pirates.

While if you on a starship or starbase, you going to have highly training individuals with access to top grade equipment and so you might be able to stop the raiders with some new equipment.

Q3. What world building lengths do you seek as a writer / as a reader?

I’m not sure if I fully understand this question. I build my world in metric or imperial lengths depending upon which I think suit the story audience. 😉

If you mean do I create the world first and plan every building and it contents before I start my stories then no I prefer to have a vague impression and build on it as the story progresses.

Q4. Do you like descriptions and to paint the scene or do you leave it to the imagination of the reader?

Well for me less is more. In descriptions I’m full paid up members that you should show not tell with stories but scenario is my exception, I think you should keep it simple, as people imagination can create more vivid scenes and less likely to break reader emersion. So unless there is a reason to describe the room in story then I prefer to keep to the minimum.

Take these two examples (written DEITDJW): –

Alpha.

Captain Lily Fitzroy kicked in the wooden cabin door her phase laser pistol drawn.

She quickly scanned the room; it was like something out of history. The walls were wood with no insulation, an old fashion stove in the corner and a family wooden table set for a meal with four chairs around it, as she entered the room to search for the missing colonists. She spotted a rag doll, and other stuff toys on the floor, she step carefully to avoid them as she went to the other door which lead to the corridor into the bedrooms.

Beta.

Captain Lily Fitzroy Kicked in the old wood door to the wooden cabin she had found in the woods away from the main colony. The sight that greeted her was a room about six by four feet. There was a large Plexiglas window on the west wall. The window allowed plenty of sunlight to light up the room. Now Lily could see the room was like something out of the history books. The walls were made up of a wooden tree trunk stacked vertically with no modern insulation between them. The centre of the room had an average height table, made of wood that looked like it was a normal flat back construction style. There were four places set out, each had a stainless steel knife and folk and spoon next to a plate, there was half-eaten cold food on each plate. As Lily enter further into the room with the pistol drawn to continue her search for the missing colonists, She notice that was a old charred black metal heater sat in the back right corner of the room, the dying ambers inside providing the rooms only heat and some extra light via the grill face. She saw that a worn rag doll lay on the floor under one of the chairs, it appear to wear a simple approximation of an old Starfleet uniform. She notice in the centre of the room there were more stuff toys, one was a faded green dinosaur which looked like it need re-stuffing, and a Orange Cat with a mass smile on it face, the eyes were two black beads that seem to catch the light and mock Lily, the Colonists had disappeared like the Cheshire Cat of Lewis tales. Lily had to step carefully to reach the light screen door that separates the room from the corridor to the two bedrooms.

So Alpha is 98 words while beta is 311 words but to me the image painted is very similar so which is the better one?

It all personal choice, but if it an action scene with Lily in hot pursuit then I say Alpha would be my choice, while If Lily is searching an abandon Colony for missing people unaware of any remaining danger beta might be better choice.

Well that MF Challenge four answer and in only one thousand and two hundred forty-two words.

Anyway thanks for reading, hope you like it.

Till next time.

Regards,

Well Hello Blog-a-sphere,

FalseBill has arrived, So many thanks to MDG for set up the blog so fast.

So the final piece of the jigsaw for Ad Astra – I can blog like a redshirt. Sorry no pretty picture, this time I will work on that one.

Well I think I’ve got disquis install now to answer those questions from the Ad Astra Forums. So to hit the road running here are the first three of Miranda Fave. Blog questions answered.

1 – What do I like to read?

I think I’ve read a lot of various things over the years including a lot of Star-Trek and other Sci-fi and Fantasy books.

The only Star trek books that I’ve failed to get to get into was the Enterprise books just after the series ended, the whole Trip didn’t really die arc thing just didn’t work for me. It was a poor call for the series end but once it was made they to accept it and move on and not try to re-con it out of existence.

Outside of Trek being British both Hitchhiker guide to the universe, Doctor Who and Red Dwarf are TV shows who books, I’ve read over the years. However I don’t rely on TV for ideas, I’ve gone through most of the late Ian M. Banks Culture Novels, as well as Ian Fleming’s James Bond books. Terry Pratchett Discworld series (now there be a crossover for Trek “Fascinating Captain Sensors report there appears to be a planet on the Back of a Giant turtle approaching us off the starboard bow,”

Plus things like HP Lovecraft works and the usually suspect of comics from Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, and Judge Dredd even the G.U.R.P.’s sourcebooks, great ideas shame about the system.

2 – Reviews

2.1Q what do you like to see in a review of your work?

2.1A A review, even if it’s only five words long, the fact someone took the time after reading to comment, is always nice. Of course constructive criticism is a bonus.

2.2Q what do you comment upon yourself in a review?

2.2A I try to keep it simple, and focus on the two main things I look for in a story, was it easy to read and did I enjoy reading it? I occasional offer minor suggestion or queries on anything that broken me out of the story.

2.3Q has a received view changed your opinion on a story you wrote or were writing?

2.3A – Yes, constructive criticism can and has spark new ideas or a new character viewpoint. So good constructive criticism is always welcome.

2.4Q and finally, has a review sold or warned you off another author’s story?

2.4A Occasionally but I think it might of a couple of time that it might of being a mistake, In the end stories I do feel stories are a personnel thing and so reviews can only every be someone personnel view.

3 – pursuit of IDIC in our fanfics.

3.1Q So, of those who are doing it, what other shows/media (or even star trek eras) are people pulling into their fanfics as crossovers?

3.1A At the moment not applicable, but that might change or it might not, I’m still trying to full establish my Trek series before I think of any crossovers.

3.2Q What crossovers do some people wish we could see, or want to try and write themselves.

3.2A more TNG/DS9/VOY main characters to show it is the same universe, or Q with anything 😉 but when it comes to crossovers I do feel less is more, and I know cannon character aren’t my strongest suit. So I’m happy for others to write them but I think I’ll steer clear of any direct crossovers. I use to say Star Trek/ Doctor Who / Blake’s 7 crossovers but recent IDW comics have cooled me on that idea. Thou that Discworld idea has suddenly take hold, I’m getting a wick urge to write something.

3.3Q How do you feel about crossovers in star trek in general?

3.3A if it internal Trek series crossovers and the reason behind it solid enough, when it just an attempt to put all your favorite characters in one place, it seems to distract from the works in most cases for me.

Well that enough from me for now. I do hope there was something that made your visit to this blog worth your while.

Till next time