SAMPLE IT: 15 ways to write Angry Dave

I've been reading up on body language as I often get tired of using the same old social cues to let the readers know how the character is feeling. So I can use pronouns as well as nouns, I called him Dave. Why? I like the name. So I figured I'd list a bundle of ways to clue the reader into the fact that Dave is angry. Some of them are cliches, some are (hopefully) unique. All should hopefully be worthwhile. I'll throw in a bit of dialogue to make it more interesting.

1. "Oh yeah?" He pounded his fist into the palm of his hand.
2. Dave smacked the table. "You!"
3. Dave ground his teeth together. "Come here."
4. "Sir!" He gritted his teeth and squared off his shoulders.
5. He glared at her. "What do you want?"
6. He grabbed her chin and squeezed.
7. "Thanks for that!" he spat.
8. He flicked a thumbnail against his teeth. "Screw you!"
9. He flipped her the middle finger.
10. He jerked a thumb against his throat with a grin. "See you later..."
11. His nostrils flared with each breath. "You..."
12. Dave's hands balled into fists.
13. "How dare you!" His forefinger stabbed out in time with the words.
14. Dave stomped his foot. "Not fair!"
15. Dave's face turned brick red as he stood trembling with rage before her.

Yeah, I know, No. 7 could count as a saidism. I think it's okay if you quite literally mean that there was a spray of spittle.

Does anyone else know any behavioral cues to add to the list? Or any particularly well-worded line you've read anywhere? Let's add to the list.

RESEARCH: Best How To Write Book I've Found!

I'm one of those writers who loves finding a new how to write book. They're often fairly inspirational and there's usually at least a few lines in them that make you look at everything differently. I own a few good ones at home, I've read even more at the local library, but the absolute best novelist's companion I've found is Plot Vs. Character.

Don't let the name fool you. It's more about plot through character and character through plot. You can find the structure of your novel through your character's psychology and drives; you also find hints of your character's psychology through the novel structure.

It's really difficult to do this book justice. If you don't believe me, track it down at your local library and READ it! It's simply fantastic.

RESEARCH: Responding to a Fire

Well, let's take a look at arson and arson investigation as I'm on a real crime scene roll. It's funny but some of the information I've found, such as how bright red the blood and organs can look when someone dies of carbon monoxide poisoning, could be useful even in my fantasy world. After all, if I mention the red flames and black smoke of a cooking oil fire, I'd have gotten it wrong. It just goes to show that all research is good research!

An arson investigation begins with an exterior examination where the people involved will talk to the first responders, witnesses, and whomever called the alarm. They pay attention to the people present at the scene or even those who have risked themselves to save a life as vanity fires from wannabe heroes are surprisingly common. They try to learn what sort of smoke and flames were released in the early stages of the fire as that can give a lot of information. Red flames are cooler and white fires are the hottest at around 2500 degrees celsius. Since arsonists generally start fires with accelerant, oddly hot fires can suggest foul play.

Other than temperature, what can flames / smoke reveal?

Well, I'm glad you asked! Here's an example: White smoke with a white or light yellow flame indicates gasoline, while brown smoke with a deep yellow flame suggests a cooking oil fire.

The investigators then do an internal investigation where they try to determine the point of origin which is the place the fire started and how it spread. A V-shaped burn pattern on a wallcan hint at the starting point because as heat rises it spreads out from that point. Wooden beams and heavy wood furniture can be used to identify the fire path as damage can occur more on one side than the other. Charred wood looks like scales and one can measure the amount of char to see how long the wood was exposed to high heat. The closer this bit of wood was to the point of the origin, the deeper the char and the smaller / closer together the scales. Window glass tends to discolor from soot but the hotter the fire, the less soot. Incadescent light bulbs normally shatter in heat but, if it has somehow remained intact, it will melt and curve toward the head source. The same effect can be found sometimes with glass salt shakes and even plastic milk jugs.

The examiners will try to rule out possible accidental causes, such as exposed wiring of the stub of an unattended candle. They also look for obvious signs of foul play such as suspicious stains that might be tested for accelerant or long lines of ash that may indicate "trailers" (lines of paper, gasoline-soaked towels or ropes, etc. that are designed to spread the fire). The debris is also carefully sifted for any signs of an igniting device.

Hydrocarbon Indicators can be used to detect accelerants. They are about the size of a flashlight and will report any traces of an accelerant. Sniffer dogs can also locate accelerants though a dog's nose won't stand up in court so the investigator needs to get a sample from the location and get it tested in a laboratory. These samples must be kept in clean paint cans-style equipment since plastic bags can react chemically with the accelerant.

So there you go, a quick look at arson investigations. Hmm, what should I research next? Advanced states of decomposition? Stages of child development? Hmm.... Any ideas?

RESEARCH: Bullet Wounds

Again with the pathology! Hmm, I wish I could find out what a sword cut or arrow shot looks like. Anyone know any markers of medieval-style wounds? As a disclaimer, this research is helpful for you when writing up your draft but always make sure to always double check your facts with your professional. After all, different types of guns, different places shot, and different types of ammunition may all lead to very different wounds. The only way to know for sure is to ask a pathologist or other specialist.

Anywho, to bullets:

The entrance wound for a bullet is often circular with a darker abrasion rim that shows where the bullet had scraped against the skin while the exit wound is more uneven and ragged due to all the bunched up flesh that's being knocked out. The range of the gun from the victim also affects the wound. If the area where the bullet exits was pressed against the floor, or otherwise supported by something solid, you'll have a "shored" wound.

Tight-contact wound: A gunman standing behind a woman with the gun pressed against her back would leave a tight-contact wound. Gas and residue from the gun would be blown into the wound and the wound itself would be more ragged. Tight contact wounds, especially against the scalp, are more star-shaped.

Near-contact wound: If that same gunman was standing pretty close but the gun wasn't quite pressed up against her, say, it's 1 inch away, there would be 'fouling' (residue) around the wound but not so much blown into the wound.

Close-range wound: Have the gunman take a step back so the gun is fired about 6 - 10 inches away. You can still see fouling but now you can also see stippling, or tattoing, which is caused by the various powder grains burning around the wound in dots.

Intermediate-range wound: Have the gunman take yet another step back so the gun is between 10 to 36 inches away and you'll see stippling but no fouling around the wound.

Distance-ranged wound: Have the gunman anywhere beyond three feet away and the wound will be clean. No stippling. no fouling. Distance wounds are more round and small.

Anyone know of any other wound markings? Especially from bows, crossbows, maces, or other more fantasy-style weapons?

WORTHY LINKS: Lust, attachment, & committment

Lianna Brooks does an excellent and funny article on lust, its effects, its hormones and what influences us in mate selection. Read it here. She also does an article on the attachment phase of a relationship here. For a look at how commitment develops in a relationship look here.

RESEARCH: The Mortis Family: Livor, Algor, and Rigor

Well, this is the real meat of the research I've been doing into crime scene research as my fantasy novels aren't set in a world advanced enough for Medical Examiners. It is advanced enough to have microbes devouring corpses and since murder, wars, famines, plagues, and other really messy stuff are common enough in fantasy worlds, it's certainly worth taking a look at what happens to bodies after we die. Forgive me because I'm ill and tired so I'm going to write this using metaphors and silliness. I lack the brain power for seriousness.

Firstly, the Mortis Family. Livor Mortis is the eldest son, steadfast and noticeable but nobody really talks about him all that much because they're focused on the youngest child, Rigor Mortis, and like to throw his name around. Livor Mortis involves the blood collecting in the lower parts of the body. After about 6 - 8 hours (again dependent on variables such as ambient temperature), it is fixed in place and if the body is moved the Algor Mortis will still be visible in the original spots.

Algor Mortis is the middle son, easily noticed but he rarely gets any attention. He represents the cooling of the body (about 1.5 degrees per hour until reaching ambient temperature in an adult body) and he allows the dramatic moment when the protagonist discovers someone seemingly asleep in a chair and grasps their cold hand. Of course, extremities cool before the core of the body, it depends on how hot / cold the surrounding area is, and the size of the body so you have a bit of leeway as an author with Algor Mortis.

Rigor Mortis is the youngest son and the one everyone pays attention to and he's the gradual stiffening of the muscles that is first noticed in the small muscles of the face and then spreads out to the larger muscles. Generally, after 12 hours the muscles are so rigid the joints won't bend. When Rigor Mortis goes away, it starts disappearing from the bottom of the body and starts moving upwards. After about 36 hours, the body is flexible once more. Rigor Mortis works quicker in the heat and in smaller bodies.

And there's a brief summary of the Mortis family. Hope you enjoyed it!

RESEARCH: Crime Scene Investigations

I’m thinking this week should have a theme so, in line with the brief book review from yesterday, I’m going to do all of my posts today based around crime scenes and the crime genre. Today is, of course, the research day, so let’s take a look at some of the research I’ve done for a roleplaying game I’ve run for the World of Darkness (any excuse for research is a good excuse). A note to authors: this information could be comprehensive enough for your first draft but due to regional differences, try to double check these sorts of facts with a local pathologist or crime scene investigator. They’re generally happy to help.

Crime Scene

When a Medical Examiner comes across a crime scene, they are hoping to establish the cause of death (the injury or disease that led to the death); mechanism of death (how they actually died – blood loss, cardiac arrest, etc.); and manner of death (whether the death is a homicide, suicide, accident, natural death, or unknown).

First, they examine the crime scene in a systematic manner to gather additional information or evidence before moving over to the corpse, if any. The corpse is photographed extensively and then the Medical Examiner declares the person deceased and looks for any obvious injuries. The body may be rolled over, examined for obvious injuries of the back, photographed again if any are found, and then plastic bags are placed on the hands and feet as a lot of trace evidence can be found on these body parts (especially under the nails. The corpse is wrapped in a white sheet brought to the location by the crime scene investigators. They don’t use sheets found at the home because that would contaminate the corpse with trace evidence from the person’s home, for instance loose hairs, fibers, etc. could fall on the corpse. Once wrapped in the white sheet, the corpse is then put into a body bag and a tag on the body keeps track of where the body goes and to whom it goes so that the Chain of Evidence can be established.

Autopsy Room
The corpses are stored in refrigerated units that might be found in drawers along a wall of an autopsy room (open the cupboard door, pull out the tray) or adjacent to the autopsy room in a room that looks like a collection of steel tray pigeon holes. These units are often kept at around 3.3 degrees Celsius which is cool enough to delay decomposition without being cold enough to freeze and damage the tissues.

The autopsy room itself is well-lit, generally windowless, and air conditioned. The autopsy table is generally two-tiered with a perforated and curved top tier to allow body fluids to drip down into the collection tray during the autopsy. A metal stand beside the table contains a range of implements from scalpels to serrated knives, clippers to scissors to magnifying glasses. The room is also often equipped with U.V. lighting, X-Ray machines, hanging scales to weigh organs, and vibrating bone saws. A microphone is suspended from the ceiling for the Medical Examiner to record their findings. Sinks and cupboards stand against the walls. Tissue samples are placed within collection bottles and envelopes. A Sharps contained can normally be found in this room.

The Autopsy
The body bag is examined before being discarded for any trace evidence that might have fallen out of the white sheet. Then the white sheet is unwrapped and discarded. Photographs are often again taken at this point with special care taken to photograph any newly revealed evidence. The clothes are then inspected for any tears, holes, or trace evidence before being carefully removed and stored for later examination. The bags around the hands and feet are then removed and inspection.

Finally, attention is paid to the body itself. Nails are examined and then scraped beneath the nail for any trace evidence. A detailed examination of the naked body is made, first with the naked eye, and then with a magnifying glass. All wounds, scrapes, bruises, etc. are noted, photographed, and measured.

X-Rays may be taken to look for any metal objects (bullets, fragments, knife tips) or abnormal structures or breakages in the bone. The Medical Examiner then views the body under Ultra Violet light which reveals body fluids (semen, blood, etc.) and even very faint bruising.

The internal investigation is begun with a Y-shaped incision whereupon all the internal organs are removed and examined from trauma and disease (these will later be replaced inside the body cavity). Samples of blood will be taken from the heart and peripheral veins, urine samples taken from the bladder, and sometimes even thin slices of organ tissue are taken. In cases of suspected rape, vaginal, oral, and rectal samples will be taken. Special attention is paid to the stomach contents as within 2 hours of eating, 95% of all food has moved out of the stomach and into the small intestine. The contents themselves can also confirm or deny witness statements such as if someone said the deceased had a home-cooked lasagne with them when evidence of a Big Mac and chips were found.

The neck may then be dissected to look for damage to the cartilage, larynx, or the small hyoid bone which would suggest strangulation. The brain is then dissected to see if injuries to the brain match injuries to the skull. As the brain floats relatively freely in brain fluid, it moves a little when the head is moving. To determine if an unmoving head was hit by a moving object, the Medical Examiner would check to see if the injury to the brain was directly behind the bruise (called a “coup” injury). If the victim’s head was moving at the time of the impact, the bump on the head should oppose brain injury (called a “contra-coup”).

Bone marrow samples may also be taken in some cases of drowning to search for minute single-celled organisms called diatoms that should have been breathed in unless the victim was already dead when they were pushed / dropped / fell into the water. A gas chromatograph can also be used to check the blood and tissue samples for toxins but the investigators need some idea of what to test for and it can’t be used to do a comprehensive check of every possible toxin.



Next week, Wounds, Decomposition and Much, Much More!

REVIEW: Great Resource for Crime Scene Writers

The Medical Examiner, by Toney Allman, from the Crime Scene Investigations series.

Yes, it's often filed under Juvenile literature but it gives such a good grounding in the work of a Forensic Pathologist, or Medical Examiner, at a crime scene and in the autopsy room. It also gives information on livor mortis, rigor mortis, and algor mortis and the stages of decomposition of the body. True, you should probably double check your facts (if only because of regional differences) but this should give you enough information to get the first draft out there without making any dramatic story-based mistakes that will need a lot of ironing to get out of the novel. I whole-heartedly recommend this book. I'm even hoping to get a chance to read other books in this Crime Scene Investigations series.

PSYCHOLOGY: Ladder of Inference

The Ladder of Inference theory is a really good one for understanding how some people short circuit reality and come up with new and intriguing ways of looking at the facts. This theory was initially developed by Chris Argyris, I think, and later presented in a book by Peter Senge called 'The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization'. Let's look at how this might affect a character.

So what is this theory about? Basically, it's a ladder.

Real Data & Experience -> Selected Data & Experience -> Affixed Meaning -> Assumptions -> Conclusions -> Beliefs -> Actions.

You begin at the bottom with the actual facts at your character's disposal which are the Real Data & Experience. For example, a noise in the basement at night. This is a true fact. You did hear something.

Of course, rather than pay attention to a whole host of factors (that might reveal the fact you locked your dog in the basement), you choose instead to wittle away the facts until you have a set of Selected Data & Experience which you pay attention to. It's dark. There's a noise in the basement. You just watched a horror movie where a monster ate someone in the basement.

Then we Affix Meaning, such as night time = a time of murderers and monsters. Basements are a place where murders happen. Noises that waken home owners have ominous significance.

We develop a few Assumptions, therefore, anyone who goes into the basement at night after being alerted by a noise will be killed brutally, or at least raped.

We come to a Conclusion, thus, if I go into the basement, I won't be coming out alive.

And finally develop a Belief, oh god, I'm going to die tonight. I'm not safe in my own home.

The Belief then informs our Actions. I'm going to ring the police, the neighbors, and my husband who works the night shift.

Then, by taking that Action, I gain new Real Data & Experience as the police find my dog trapped in the basement and chasing a rat.

Of course, one could argue that it's our Beliefs that influence which data we select. Someone who believes that crime doesn't occur in their town might happily explore the basement and ignore the fact that the front door is unlocked. As could someone who's used to finding their husband tinkering about in the basement and is used to strange sounds at all times of the night.

Still, it's a good structure to think about when your characters are reacting to things. It's especially helpful for those plotters who sit at the drawing board and go: Well, I need my character to go and do this. What would make that a rational response? Tinker with their beliefs, past experiences, and present data available to them, and that'll help make their responses seem more reasonable.

Happy writing!

RESEARCH: Carola Wetlands

I have a peculiar fascination with understanding the local environment for my stories. A great number of fantasy novels have the environment as scenery and moody set-pieces. Many of them describe the environment in beautiful and haunting ways but there's very little depth behind it. No sense of an ecology. Now, whether ecology is more important than story-appropriate scenery is a matter for debate. I'm not arguing one way or the other. I just like trying to set up the environment so it makes sense. It helps that since I'm using Australian flora and fauna I get to learn more about my own country.

Of course, the biggest problem with naming the flora in your country is that you can either make up names for all the flowers (which can often end up irritating the reader) or risk giving flowers names that might annoy purists because, after all, why does this fantasy world have eucalypts or elms or pines, anyway? I've noticed over the years that many animals and plants mentioned are generically American / English. I think one of the primary reasons why a lot of readers tend toward the generic with their plants is the risk of naming flowers that the readers can't visualise. If you say, white rose, I know what you're talking about. If I talk about pigweed, will you?

I've found the way around this is to pick plants that have very evocative names. Sure, if I write 'pigweed', odds are you'll imagine a very different plant to the reality but it's a name that does at least conjure up an image. It's better than samphire which, despite being prolific in certain Realms areas, really does require its own description. Or worse, the Latin name for something.

So here's some adapted research (research turned toward world building and has already been fantasised):

The Regency Capital is located within the on a floodplain of the lower River Stafford lying 5km south of a major wetland – Carola Wetlands. The Carola Wetlands segment of the lower River Stafford floodplain consists of the main river channels and a diversity of wetland habitats including a series of creeks, channels, lagoons, billabongs, swamps, and lakes. Between the water-bodies are extensive areas of low-lying floodplain that are flooded during high river levels with receding floodwaters being retained in temporary wetlands. The Carola wetlands supports many aquatic fauna and waterbirds, some of which are migratory and also provides important habitat for many terrestrial fauna species, including refuge for wildlife during the dry season.

The floodplain supports extensive stands of river red gum and black box woodlands (both harder to visualise - would require description). There are fringing reeds and sedges (easy to visualise), Herbland (more a category of flora), Samphire Shrublands, saltbush shrublands, and Lignum Shrublands (all free require description). The fringing reeds are Common reed and Spiny sedge (easy to visualise even if the image evoked is wrong). Submerged vegetation include ribbonweeds and red milfoil (second one would be tricky to visualise but is easier in context with ribbonweeds).

The birds include White Egrets, Glossy Ibis, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Red-necked stint, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Greenshank, Caspian Tern. Regend parrots breed in hollows or Vier red gum, Musk duck, blue-billed duck, freckled duck, glossy ibis, banded stilt, square-tailed kite, peregrine falcon, white-bellied sea-eagle, blue-faced honeyeater, striped honey-eater, and the restless flycatcher. Many of these you can visualise because the first word is generally a description and the second word is a category of bird you've heard before - honeyeater, eagle, duck. The last one sounds like an insect.

Southern bell frog in the large wetlands. Yabbies are best in the warmer months and often caught in backwaters and in deep water. Hoop nets are relatively inexpensive and suit most conditions. Hmm, do you foreignors know what a yabby is?

Animals include common brushtail possum, feathertailed glider, broad-shell turtle, eastern tiger snake, carpet python, lace monitor, mussles. There are also feral goats, pigs, and rabbits making themselves at home after a few hundred years of habitation.

Rare plants: Dainty maiden-hair, swamp daisy, black-fruit daisy, water star-wort, pale flax-lily, small-flower beetle-grass, pale-fruit cherry, purple love-grass, hooked needlewood, nutty club-rush, creeping boobialla, jagged bitter-cress. Tee hee, I like this range of choices. They're all very evocative. I particularly like the creeping boobialla and jagged bitter-cress.

Fish include the Murray cod, silver perch, freshwater catfish, golden perch, bony herring, Australian smelt, Murray rainbowfish, flat-head gudgeon, dwarf flat-headed gudgeon, unspected hardyhead, murray hardyhead, and redfin perch. This is more useful when it comes to describing food. The trouble is I don't eat fish so I can't describe their flavor properly.

The landscape overlays a series of horizontal sedimentary formations ranging from sandstones to limestone over which lies sands ranging from fine to coarse sands. Soil type changes greatly over the landscape with the ancestral floodplain being dominated by both neutral and alkaline grey self-mulching cracking clays, neutral brown siliceous sands and neutral firm grey siliceous sands. The highland buffer zone soils consist of alkaline red calcareous earths, alkaline friable red duplex soils and neutral brownish sands. I have an obsession with geology. I'm not incredibly well-versed in the science but I do love rock samples and the strange patterning.

So, what do you think? Am I over-thinking it?

Research: Mining in the Victorian Era

I'm at the very start of researching mining for my next story and I thought I'd put up the information I've found in case anyone else is interested. I picked the Victorian Era and coal mining for ease of research though I'm going to have to sculpt and adapt the information to better suit the setting I'm using. Oh well! A writer always has to start somewhere.

Early coal extraction methods
Before we start, here's a little information on early coal extraction methods. It began with coal that lay on the surface or close to it and miners used drift mining (using a near horizontal passage in the mine), bell pits (basically, a hole slowly excavated outwards and with the coal transported out of the shaft by winch and bucket), and small scale shaft mining (like a bell pit with extraction working out from a central shaft and/or through extracting small sections / rooms of coal and leaving pillars behind to support the roofs). In the 17th century, mining techniques were improved through the use of test boring (drilling down to sample what lies beneath the surface) and mines could be drained by chain pumps driven by water wheels.

Victorian Era Mining Techniques
Wooden pit props were now used to support the roof. Fires were burned, originally, to create air currents and circulate air but later replaced by fans driven by steam engines. Special lamps, the Davy lamp and Geordie lamp, allowed any gass to burnt harmlessly within the lamp - though they gave very poor illumination. Improved techniques allowed for deeper mining with shafts being drilled for hundreds of feet below the surface. Room and pillar mining was still sometimes used with a network of rooms being cut out of the coal seam while leaving behind pillars of coal to keep up the roof. Of course, these pillars can make up to 40% of the coal seam. Blast mining involved using explosives to break up coal seams, then gathering up the coal and removing it.

Mining legislation and coal use.
People began using coke in 1709 to replace wood and charcoal. In 1786, coal started being used for lighting. Children used to work in the coal minds but in 1842, The Mines Act forbade the mining industry from employing anyone, boys or girls, under the age of ten years old for underground mine work. Inspectors were required to enforce the Mines Act, inspect mines, and file reports on the conditions and safety inside the mine sites in 1850. In 1872, further regulations were enforced with the Coal Mines Regulating Act insisting on additional and well-integrated safety measures.

Dangers with mining
The three most visible dangers in working in a coal mine were coal-dust inhalation, cave-ins, and even explosions. Coal dust and carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, could cause lung damage and even asphyxiation. Mine wall failures. Vehicle accidents with those little metal cars (must find out what they're called) running into people. Build ups of hazardous gases are known as damps. Here are some examples: Black Damp (carbon dioxide / nitrogen mix - formed by corrosion in enclosed spaces which take oxygen out of the air - can cause suffocation); After damp (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen - formed after a mine explosion); Fire damp (mostly methane - flammable); Stink Damp (hydrogen sulphide gas - can explode); White Damp (carbon monoxide - toxic even at low levels).

Mining Positions
There were a number of different positions in the coal industry and many worked outside the mine. Coal porters, trimmers, and waggoners were used to transport the coal. When children were allowed to work in mines, they were sent down to haul up loads of coal from crammed passages. Often accidents would occur when children lost hold of mine carts causing them to run over them.

In Summary
Well, that's a big hunk of information and that's just a quickly researched overview. What comes now will be a lot of reading books, watching videos, and searching the internet to expand my knowledge of certain issues and confirm research so far found. Then I'll have to take the information gleaned and feed it through my setting's socio-cultural shredder as certain details have to be changed to better reflect the technologies and cultural values of my fantasy world.

PSYCHOLOGY: Bad Minds Wear White Hats Too!

Everyone wants to paint themselves as the hero of the piece. No one wants to be the bad guy, even if they want all the rewards of doing a Bad Thing. Here are a few different ways someone might convince themselves that they are in the Right (even when they're Wrong).

Self-justification.
They will justify themselves. They will rationalize away what they have done to make it more in line with acceptable social conventions or their own ideal principles. The story will phrase it so that their actions was either the right thing to do and that any sane person would have done the same ... or at the very least, that it wasn't their fault. Someone else was to blame. The dissonance between their own ideal self and their actual actions might lead them to repeat the tale to anyone who will listen. It might even form an internal monologue if the dissonance is strong enough. The story will often have more details than are necessary because the speaker feels they have to back up their words with fact in case others disagree. There is a greater need to make the tale 'water-tight'. (Of course, the same could be said for someone who whole-heartedly believes in an unpopular topic).

Dr. Matt has a brilliant quote on his web-site: "If you have to try to convince yourself, that means . . . you're not convinced!"

Accusation.
Why accept the blame when you can accuse others of doing you wrong? You don't just need a scapegoat for others to blame. You can invent one for yourself. This is the foundation of "I kill because no one ever loved me" or "if she hadn't dressed like that, I wouldn't have raped her" and plays into the self-justification. This can also work on a more subtle level. A long-winded self-justifying tale of how a co-worker had made his working life a living hell with an oddly succinct statement of how they tricked the Manager into firing her before launching once more into Why the co-worker deserved it.

Excitement.
More a motivation than a justification, excitement is still worth a mention. Some people just get a kick out of other people's misery. Perhaps it's the sudden adrenaline rush from risking reprisals or other consequences. Perhaps its the flush of power - knowing you can do that to someone. Maybe it's just some primal instinct that the bad guy has more than anyone else. Someone like this likely believes that others would do the same if they could - they're either too weak or foolish and thus in their own way deserved it.

Minimisation.
Some people just make a point of underestimating how bad their actions really are. They think they're not really hurting anyone really. An excellent example of minimisation would be a classic self-justification from Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy where a rapist said women should stop whining about how horrible rape is because a woman's capacity to have sex is unlimited and thus they're not really losing anything.

Actual Justification.
Also, when building your opposition, don't forget that they might be as righteous as the protagonists' allies. This can be especially brutal and effective when actions on both sides are escalating matters and you can understand everyone's motivations. Who's in the wrong? The tribals or the miners? Both are warring to support their own way of life.

Personally, I love when an author surprises me with a villain's motivation. When I sit there, and I can almost understand where they're coming from. When the most atrocious crimes almost seems reasonable and rational given that argument (and ignoring a whole bunch of other facts). It's kinda creepy having that shudder down your spine and going: "Wow, that *almost* makes sense ... but it's still wrong."

Next week I'll do something on the psychology of Shame.

PSYCHOLOGY: Grief and Bereavement

Two excellent finds in Jeannie Campbell's excellent blog are a series of articles on Types of Grief and Facets of Grief. These are very good reads and perfectly slip into my current research into reactions to trauma. It's always wonderful to find someone else succinctly giving you the information you need....

Funnily enough, a lot of novels include triggers for grief but I think the fantasy genre include the most but often deal with it the least. In some cases, this is because it wouldn't be appropriate to send a swashbuckling tale of magic and monsters crashing back to Earth. In other cases, it would be appropriate but it's hard not to be swept up in the action and exploration that comes naturally to most fantasy authors. It's hard to sit down and realize that right now the character would be thinking, 'Screw the shining whirl pool, the pretty fairies, and the gorgeous underground tunnels, this picturesque place doesn't make me feel uplifted ... it just makes me angry because the world somehow remains pretty while my life is destroyed'.

While I'm sure many of you can think of multiple incidents of protagonists getting upset over death, what about the more subtle triggers of grief. Think of the average fantasy novel. It often involves a character living in a small village or town for all their life, rarely visiting other towns, and then leaving forever and flying / running / hiking through six different types of terrain. They have a bout of grief, wail and gnash their teeth, but generally this is only if their home town is actually destroyed or if they were exiled. I've been stressed by moving house into a bigger house a few suburbs away ... yet these people who up and leave small towns for the big beyond don't bat an eye unless some great trauma happened.

The characters often visit places that are similar to their old rundown villages and strikingly different like a city in the clouds, yet they're barely touched by homesickness or nostalgia. They barely even think of their own towns or villages, unless its a memory of some traumatic incident or another, and even in the case of trauma - it rarely flavors the mood. Have you ever been stressed out of your mind? Or scared? Or even nostalgic? It changes how you see things. Thinking on it, even a young adult or more light-hearted fantasy could use at least a few touches of these responses. It just adds a touch of depth that is rarely seen but which could really help me identify with a character.

How many of us have been excited yet sad when leaving home for the first time? Or had a pang of nostalgia over some small thing? How much easier would it be to identify with a character who had similar responses to leaving home? I'd assume it'd be all the more stressful for someone who has never left their village before, as well. It'd be the equivalent of moving to a radically different country. Divorces have happened over less.

What do you think?

PSYCHOLOGY: Using Trauma In Novels

Most novels involve the protagonist undergoing some form of trauma. Due to this, I’ve already done two research articles here and here on this topic. Generally in a fantasy setting, these traumatic experiences are generally considered just part of the normal, everyday lives for the protagonist. In these settings, the protagonist struggles less with such issues of trauma because the sudden, negative incidents are expected and fit perfectly into the victim’s frame of reference (how they see the world) because their culture treats murder, violence, and cruelty as simply a part of life.

Of course, car accidents are quite common in our society but we often find ourselves experiencing some trauma from them, especially if someone died or was badly injured, so arguably, even acceptance that these issues can happen isn’t insurance against being traumatized by them. So, while the cultural manifestations of trauma (symptom duration, types of symptoms) and the causes of trauma (severe humiliation) may differ between our world and the fantasy setting, there still should be some form of psychological consequence. At least, assuming that you’re going with a more realistic setting. Some fantasy novels are sheer escapism and they wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable if the reader had to watch the protagonists’ developing trauma.

I’m writing a novel, the Butterfly Lady, which features a few forms of trauma in a young boy’s life. Most of these traumatic themes and experiences wouldn’t be out of place in your average fantasy novel or even fairy tale (death of a parent, betrayals, instability in childhood, somewhat self-imposed exiles, fear of self) but what I’m trying to do with the Butterfly Lady is explore these themes and experiences. Basically, take a young boy and see how he would deal with these various issues. Sure, there’s magical powers, demons, conspiracies, and murder mysteries to unravel, alongside some hopefully interesting places to explore, but deep down a story is about character and the character of Jason Arneil is hopefully complex enough to warrant all this attention.

Of course, the protagonist isn’t the only one traumatized. He has family and friends. There’s the various people that he meets. An entire village suffers one particular trauma and everyone has to come together to deal with it. So trauma features fairly heavily in this novel as the characters’ response to conflict. A lot of the inner conflicts come from both material needs and psychological needs but also responses to trauma.

So I need to do a fair bit of research to make sure the psychology is about right. I need to ask myself, how do people cope with natural disasters or warfare and how does this differ depending on the scope of the trauma and their own cultural and psychological resources? What does betrayal do to a child’s psyche? What would growing up and thinking you’re a monster actually entail? And what is it like to be on a slippery slope of alcoholism and drug addiction?

Of course, for all you potential readers out there, don’t worry. ‘Hope and Horror’ has always been my favorite mood. Without one, you can’t really emphasize the other so there will be some really positive themes in my novel that I will need to research. I’ve already researched love in a few articles (here and here) and there are other areas of positive growth I’ll need to research as well. How does a person build resilience? What does mental health look like? Why is it that some people actually do become better people after experiencing trauma? And how does hope, forgiveness, optimism, and social sacrifice work, anyway?

Fallacious Arguments Part 3

So, today’s example will be a court case example. Don Brown has been accused or murdering his wife and rather than focusing on the evidence, the prosecutor has decided to use his superior oratory skills to confuse the jury while summing up the case. First, he makes an Appeal to Ignorance, “Don Brown failed to prove he didn’t kill his wife, therefore he must have done so”. This is a fallacy because the assumption is based on something being true/false because it has not been proven otherwise.

This is a bit of a kangaroo court with the jury functioning as a simple formality so the prosecutor also makes an Appeal to the Stick and attempts to coerce or threaten the opposing party (the Defense Attorney) into giving a poorer defense. “Only a fool willing to endanger the lives of his family would be willing to defend this man.” Another example of this is when a teacher counters a student’s argument with a threat of detention.

The Prosecutor then makes an Appeal to the People by claiming: “Everyone in this town knows that Don Brown is guilty. How could this be if he were not guilty?” In other words, since it’s believed by the majority to be true, it must be true. He then makes an Appeal to Authority – “The Mayor himself has called Don Brown a guilty man” which he follows up with an Appeal to Accomplishment – “And we all know the Mayor is a just and kind man who has fairly overseen negotiations between factories and the union on many occasions.”

The prosecutor than figures that a bombardment of Appeals to Emotion is in order whereby he relies upon manipulating emotions to win an argument rather than using valid reasoning. He begins with an Appeal to Consequences “If Don Brown is declared innocent, then that would mean the Mayor, witnesses, and police would all be conspiring against an innocent man, and as that cannot be and should not be, Don Brown must be guilty.” He then adds an Appeal to Fear: “If Don Brown is guilty and freed, then he will set an example to other murderers, that they might murder with impunity, and who will be safe then?” An Appeal to Flattery: “But the just and righteous jury, with a mind to such details, will, in their wisdom, make the right decision. Of that I have no doubt.” An Appeal to Ridicule: “If there is a conspiracy against Don Brown, then I guess that means there is a conspiracy to use satellite technology to read people’s minds and we might as well all go cover ourselves in alfoil.” An appeal to pity or guilt: “If you pronounce him innocent while doubting his innocent, and you had to stand before his murdered wife, could you look her in the eye?”

They still look unconvinced but most of the jury are poor and multicultural and the man on trial is quite rich and white so an Appeal to Spite where he exploits their bitterness towards him could be in order. “Declaring him innocent will be just another example of letting the rich, white man do as he will to whomever he pleases.” This is also an Appeal to Poverty whereby the prosecutor tries to get the jury to think the conclusion (his guilt) is affected by the defendant’s financial situation. If the situation was reversed, it would be an Appeal to Wealth whereby poverty becomes a statement that someone is in the wrong. The prosecutor capitalizes on all of this by throwing in some Wishful Thinking by requesting they base their decision on something pleasing to imagine rather than according to evidence or reason: “Declare him guilty and you will prove that we live in a country where neither money nor race can protect anyone from the long arm of the law.”

Now they are in a warm and cozy space, an Appeal to Motive is made whereby the prosecutor calls into question the motives of the defendant’s alibi: “Yes, Mr. Hartley said he was with her at the time but he is a notorious chauvinist who is unlikely to care about the death of any mere woman.” An Argument from Silence attempts to draw a conclusion based on a lack of contrary evidence: “Some may say there is little evidence to convict this man but, in fact, there is even less evidence to suggest that the murderer was any other man.” Finally, he makes an Appeal to Tradition (the argument is said to be correct because there is a long-standing tradition behind it): “It is a fact that most victims of murder are murdered by their partners, thus, Don Brown’s wife was killed by none other than Don Brown! I rest my case.”

For two final appeals that I couldn’t slot under the last examples, you can have an Appeal to Nature: “Even eating worm wood and tree bark is better than eating lollies because it’s a natural product” and an Appeal to Novelty: “Of course this mobile phone is better than yours. Yeah, it has no added features but you bought yours a year ago and I bought this one yesterday. It’s superior because it’s newer.”

And that’s it for my Fallacious Arguments segment. And remember, there’s nothing to stop someone from either using these fallacies in a con game or, better yet, using these fallacies to justify their own way of thinking. I find fallacies really help me understand how a person can think something that contradicts all evidence to the contrary. Rationality need not always apply to arguments or even beliefs.

Enjoy!

Natural Disasters - Favorites and a link

Since it's the week over Christmas, I'm not going to fulfill my Review / Research cycle. I'll start that again in the New Year. In the meantime, a cool research site is Australian Geoscience. If anyone is curious about Australian natural disasters, their commonality, and historical examples, well, take a look. If not, no biggie. Just comment with what your favorite natural disaster is. Whether by favourite you mean 'most frightening', 'most awe-inspiring', or any other 'most' you care to apply.

My favorite are tornadoes and cyclones. I keep dreaming of those. It's one of the few natural disasters that you can follow and watch.

Fallacious Arguments Part 2

Now for Part 2 of Fallacious Research we’ll take a look at different methods of appealing to your audience through various tricks of words that can sometimes sound so reasonable. Also remember, fallacious arguments don’t just exist in dialogue. They can also occur inside someone’s own mind as a convenient method of justifying certain behavior.

First, we’ll start with circular causes and consequences. This is a fun one. This is where you claim that the consequence of the phenomenon is claimed to be its root cause. “The boy was poor and hungry because he was a thief.” Far more logical than the boy stealing food and other odds and ends because he’s poor and hungry, right? Well, we can always prove it by cherry picking. We’ll point out a few individual cases or data that support our argument – a man who lost his job because he was a compulsive thief, for example – and ignore all evidence to the contrary, even if there is more of it. Well, we could also throw in some Misleading Vividness and describe this one man, this incorrigible thief, in such glowing detail that – despite being an exceptional occurrence, it appears to be such a problem that people forget that this is just one man.

Ahh, but let’s say the members on the opposite team are giving me a really good counter-argument that might even sway me - thus destroying all my justifications for owning a mansion while homeless kids are arrested for stealing pears (oversimplification and exaggeration, did you catch it?). I could demand negative proof – instead of offering evidence that thievery causes poverty, I could instead demand that they prove the opposite, thus making my own position look like the generic one that they must disprove. If they do manage to bring their evidence to bear, I can then Move the Goalpost or Raise the Bar by dismissing their evidence because it doesn’t prove that poverty is the leading cause of antisocial behavior.

If they satisfactorily counter-argue, perhaps by successfully arguing that the goal posts were moved too far or that we were getting off-topic, I could try to win by giving Proof by verbosity and simply give them an argument far too complex and verbose to be truly dealt with and keep bombarding them with multi-layered questions that they can’t hope to answer. If they manage to get close to answering it, I’ll sprinkle a few Red Herrings around to distract the audience by introducing a separate argument that I believe will be easier to win. Such as how people today are so coddled they expect to be babied.

Better yet, I can instead take one of their phrases out of context and argue that or even attack the person instead of keeping to the argument. “Isn’t it true that YOU once stole a lolly from the teacher’s desk and YOU weren’t even poor!” I could even poison the well by beginning with a few details about any shoplifting they, or someone they know (if I’m going with Guilt by Association instead), did in their childhood before we get into the argument proper so that everything they say may be discredited or ridiculed due to past indiscretions.

Finally, if all else fails, we could go with a Sentimental Fallacy. It would be more pleasant if thieves became poor, and not the other way around; therefore it ought to be that way; therefore it is that way. This fallacy can also lead to the Fair World Hypothesis: If the world is fair, then people get what they deserve, therefore poor people deserve to be poor, therefore they have no right to steal, regardless of if it is a basic foodstuff or a Porsche.

And wow! I’ve still got enough research for a Part 3 which will include the various “appeal to’s….” After that, who knows?

Fallacious Arguments Part 1

Well, since I’m about to embark on some political debate and speech-making in my novel, today’s research topic involves Fallacies. These are often found in arguments where, rather than a person providing evidence and debates in a rational and open-minded manner, they use tricks in conversation to win. These fallacies don’t just work in speeches, though, they also can be in operation in a person’s own mind and can underline certain contradictory beliefs that don’t make much sense to anyone who bothers to scrutinize them.

First, let’s discuss the straw man defense. This is particularly useful when I have to win an argument with someone who has more evidence, a better case, or is simply better spoken than I am. Instead of tackling the issue at hand, I create an argument for them (the straw man) that is superficially similar but fundamentally different and then argue against that. So if a woman gives a well-researched argument that starting school an hour later (and letting youths sleep in an extra hour) improves student grades because their body clocks are wired to get up later and stay up later, I could use a straw man defense against her in a number of ways.

For example, I could re-construct her argument by misrepresenting her position. “Oh, so students should be allowed to stay up as late as they want?”

I could quote her words out of context that change the meaning of the words. “As you said, ‘teenagers just don’t go to bed early enough’, so why don’t we focus on getting youths to do just that?” This could also count as an oversimplification of her argument. Yes, teenagers aren’t going to bed early enough but the research in this example has just suggested that their body clocks keep them from doing just that. This counter-argument over-simplifies the matter so that I don’t have to argue with evidence involving body clocks.

Rather than argue with the expert, I could publicly argue with someone who is terrible at debating and then quickly refute that person’s poor arguments, therefore undermining the credibility of the studies without ever clashing with the expert.

The slippery slope argument is another fallacious argument as it states that even a very small change will inevitably lead to a series of increasingly greater changes that will end in some significant impact. It ignores the possibility of middle ground or even that the first step will also be the last step. “If we let teenagers sleep in an extra hour, what then? Soon the School Board will let them sleep in to midday and then where will we be?”

Or I could appeal to a probability that simply because it might happen, then it certainly must happen. “Allowing teenagers to sleep in will make them stay up later at night.” Or the Is-Ought fallacious argument where something is claimed to be better one way because it is that way. “Since the school day has always started at 9 o’clock, then it ought to start at 9 o’clock.” Related to this is the Naturalistic fallacy where goodness and rightness is the same as how pleasant or popular something is. “Every other school starts at 9 o’clock so ours should as well.” I could Appeal to ridicule by making the other person’s argument seem flawed by presenting their argument in a ridiculous light. “Oh, let’s let them sleep in because it’s such hard work getting to sleep, is it? Oh, I’m sure it must be the hardest work any teenager even indulges in!”

If you’re like me, I’m sure you can think of dozens of fun ways these fallacies can be used to frustrate more logically-minded characters, entrap characters in faulty thinking, or confuse an antagonist. They can also be used for humorous effect and thus can be handy dialogue tools, especially since we tend to use them so much in our day to day lives.

So that’s it for Part 1 of Fallacious Research. Stay tuned for Part 2.

Research Is Hard

I'm trying to prepare for tomorrow by doing research into techniques of arguments and conversation as well as the instruments of power and regulation (reading Foucault to see his views on that). It's hard going to find any books here that boil it all down enough in an easy-to-read and understand manner. Hmm, hopefully I'll have better luck when it comes down to the actual research article writing bit.

Local Government Meetings

Well, we had a big department meeting and other than sharing what each section has been doing, we also brought in wedding photos to put up on the whiteboard, told tragicomedic wedding stories, and had a paper plane competition. There were awards for Best Plane, Worst Plane, and Best-Looking Plane. I got the Best-Looking Plane award (despite having written an inspirational piece as an incentive to the plane that said: 'Fly well or I'll burn you). Our Deputy CEO decided to demonstrate to all of us the value of innovation (which was the Corporate Value we were working on that day) by scrunching up his plane into a ball and tossing it. It did go furthest but he was disqualified as it didn't look like a plane at all.

Other office antics include a girl wearing a party hat as her Do-Not-Disturb sign, a team leader using ticker tape to let us know that when she closes the door assume its a crime scene and don't disturb, a walk-around-with-balloons-tied-to-your-feet and try to pop the other person's while strolling around (I'd hate to do the Risk Assessment on that one), and other merry antics.

Also, our watercooler conversations actually take place at the printer when random people meet up to beg the Printer Gods for our paperwork.

So yes, for those writing office scenes and meetings but haven't worked in one ... life isn't always as boring as we expect it to be. Always find someone to ask if you can.