Donald J. Bingle

 December 2019 Newsletter

December is the month most people associate with religious holidays, but for writers who have participated in NaNoWriMo-National Novel Writing Month--in November, December is the month when they take their precious novella to their local writers' group or literary workshop so that it can be read and critiqued by other writers. Having others, especially writers (who are not generally known for their subtle and friendly social skills), criticize you work can be stressful. My book, Frame Shop, is about murder in a suburban writers group. In the above video, I chat about my book, which I crowdfunded through Kickstarter, and read an excerpt which ends with a monologue about writers. Check it out, then take a look at the additional material below about writers, writers groups, and critiques.

 

 

The Right Rites for Writing Groups

by
Richard Holinger and Donald J. Bingle

 

(This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin, (Vol. 44, Issue 4; Fall 2010))

 

Whether you are a novice writer or a seasoned pro, it’s good to have someone to talk to about your craft. Your mother, your spouse, or your significant other may be really supportive of your writing (heck, they may be supporting you financially, too), but they’re probably not the best person to read and critique your writing. For one thing, because of the close personal relationship and a reasonable desire to protect it, they might simply be too easy on you—complimenting everything you do, deserved or not. And, of course, every moment you don’t spend revising and rewriting is a moment you could spend with them. Second, they might not have any interest or background in writing in general, much less the genre in which you are writing. Here’s a good test: If their eyes glaze over when you talk about bookend structures, nested flashbacks, shifting points of view, and/or eliminating exposition by writing in scene, maybe you should be talking to someone else about your writing.

 

Finding the right writing group can save the day. Not only will your fellow writers be willing to chat with you about such arcane subjects as those listed above, but they know from personal experience the struggles and the issues that writers face. The question is, “How do you find the right writing group?” What is the best composition of such a group for your needs? What kinds of things do writing groups do? What rites and critiquing procedures are the most effective at helping you make progress in your writing and as a writer? How should group dynamics be handled? What should you do when someone disrupts the positive support and helpful atmosphere of the sessions?

 

Where can I find a writing group?

 

Your local library may host a writing group or may be able to tell you about groups in town or at other libraries nearby. Local bookstores often will be able to give you the same information or may host groups themselves. Even large chain bookstores often allow such groups to meet on premises. Similarly, local community colleges, universities, and even park districts sponsor such groups. Local governments, such as villages and townships, may have facilities that groups may use free or for a fairly nominal fee. The speakers at local writing seminars or at writing or genre conventions (scifi cons, fantasy filks, and the like) can also have useful information, but if they don’t, just ask the other attendees if they have any advice on the subject. The forwards/acknowledgments sections of locally authored books or articles about home-town authors often include a thank you to a local group in which the author has been a participant.

 

Or try joining a book club, also sponsored by many of the same institutions. People who love to read and talk about books often like to write themselves—or know people who do. Don’t be afraid to let people know you’re a writer (You are! You write, don’t you?), and ask if anyone else would be interested in meeting informally to talk about their writing.

 

Of course, there is also the Internet, if your Boolean logic is good and you don’t mind sorting through a boatload of information of questionable relevance. And the Net can be used for much more than locating writing groups that meet physically near to where you reside; a wide variety of writing groups giving advice and critiques of posted materials reside in cyberspace, itself. Three cautions to keep in mind when you deal with an online group, however: 1. Anonymous critiques can sometimes be unduly harsh and petty. 2. Even posting a soft copy of your work on password-protected sites can too easily allow it to be lifted and used elsewhere or otherwise impact the confidentiality of what you are writing. 3. Some publishers regard anything posted on the web (at least on non-password-protected sites) to have been published already and will not consider it as a submission.

 

If you live in an area where there is a dearth of public resources that might sponsor or promote a writers group, your state may offer an arts council that publishes a directory of poets and writers that includes contact information and what genres they specialize in. Many of these authors would jump at the chance to moderate a writing group for a nominal fee—or even gratis, if given the chance to be part of a writing community and promote their books. State agencies may also offer short term residencies that pay the facilitator at least part of his fee as a grant to teach a creative writing class or moderate a creative writing seminar. The St. Charles Writers Group, sponsored by the St. Charles, Illinois, library, began its fifteen-year-long run as a two-week poetry workshop paid for in part by the Illinois Arts Council as part of their Short-Term Arists Residency (STAR) program.


In addition, Poets and Writers magazine publishes the “Directory of Writers,” a book that lists hundreds of authors who you may contact to find out if they would be willing to help start or work with your group. These writers typically have extensive publishing records, or have a post-graduate degree in creative writing.

 

What kind of group composition works for you?

 

Groups can be of various sizes and can specialize in various kinds of writing. Smaller groups may find it easier to cover more material per writer at a two to four hour session and may find it easier to find an accommodating location (a bookstore, coffee house, buffet restaurant, or even an individual home or apartment). Small groups can more easily limit their membership (e.g., by requiring unanimity for invitations to join or stay after a probationary period) and operate with fewer rules and greater informality. Small groups are, however, more heavily impacted by a single individual’s schedule/availability and may provide fewer sources for cross-fertilization of leads for projects and for socialization. Conversely, larger groups need to limit the length of submissions, find a larger facility to meet in, and require more rules and management. While you can receive a broader range of comments and reactions, it can sometimes be difficult to give every piece submitted and every person critiquing it adequate time and attention. Most groups (other than online) range from four to twenty-five regular members.

 

If you write only in one particular genre or produce only one type of written product (e.g., screenplays), it may make sense to seek out a group which specializes in what you do. Some groups, like a college or community college class, focus solely on novels or short stories or poetry or screenplays. Some specialize in children’s books or mysteries or memoirs or science fiction or horror. This specialization can provide high levels of insight within the designated field, but precludes the advantages that can be gained from a group which has diverse writing interests, styles, and genres. While sometimes comments from outside your target demographic may be off the mark, sometimes they can be quite useful. Your potential readership out there in the great wide world may not have as much specialized knowledge in your chosen niche as you do, so you may not always realize when a passage is unclear. Novelists can learn much about dialogue from playwrights and much about lyrical description from poets.

 

Don’t forget, too, that you learn as much or more from commenting on other people’s writing as you do from them commenting on yours, so seeing a variety of techniques and styles and genres can lead to unexpected insights. Simply put, you can learn from critiquing others because when things like run-on sentences, unnecessary adverbs, and awkward shifts in point-of-view bother you as you read, you may realize you have similar issues in your own writing. Finally, writers outside your chosen genre may be able to pass on tips and information they come across as to open anthology calls, agents looking for clients, and the like. Don’t limit your networking to people who are in competition with you for the same projects. One sign of a good and healthy writing workshop is how eager the members are to pass along information, such as local readings, contests, etc.

 

What logistics are important for meetings?

 

Regularity of meeting dates not only allows people to schedule around sessions, even far in advance, but also gets everyone in the group in a regular habit of writing new work, submitting it to the group, and critiquing others’ manuscripts. Frequency of meeting is often dependent on the size and number of items critiqued from session to session. There needs to be enough time between meetings for participants to read and critique everything they receive from others, plus have time to write something themselves to submit, while still keeping their day job and have time for family and friends. But remember, it’s not just the number of submissions to review that matters, it is the length of those submissions. Reviewing four or five submissions of five to seven thousand words each takes just as much time as fifteen submissions of two thousand words or less.

 

The location of your meeting should be conducive to frank discussion (critiquing erotica in the children’s section of the local chain bookstore is not generally a good idea), comfortable for the long sessions that may occur, quiet enough that no one needs to shout to be heard, and inexpensive enough not to be a burden on the group or the individuals in it. Tables facilitate the taking of notes and the ability to organize and access documents readily as the discussion moves from submission to submission.

 

An optimum time for meetings is between two and three hours. More makes the meeting a chore, itself, and increases the need for liquid refreshment and breaks. Less than that means little is accomplished, especially if there is a social or networking component in addition to any lesson and critiquing. Having a nearby place to go for food or drinks after the meeting can be a way to encourage socializing within the group without eating up much of your meeting time. It also allows those who have more time and want to have discussions of particular submissions in greater depth to do so.


Should membership in the group be open or closed? While this decision may be dictated by your venue (libraries and other public buildings sometimes require open membership as a condition of being allocated meeting space), it can also have important implications on group dynamics and even the longevity of the group, itself. If your group is going to admit adult material that is R or even X-rated, it would be advisable to limit membership to those over 18 or 21-years-old. If, however, you want to include family members or you want to encourage high school or even elementary school-aged boys and girls, the no-age restriction will invite a distinctly different dialogue and tenor when discussing manuscripts.

 

However your group is defined regarding membership will factor in determining its personality. An open membership policy for a group held in the children’s section of a library will alter radically from an over-21 membership meeting at a Starbucks or the local pub. Remember that when you join a group, you either consciously or unconsciously begin writing with them in mind as your audience—or at least one of your audiences. It helps to be connected with a group you both admire and respect, for only such a feeling will produce your best participation and output. Your novel about World War I trench warfare may not be intended for the seventh grader who’s into high school vampire novels. There’s nothing that will decrease your group’s numbers faster than when members feel they have no interest in what other people are writing. We have seen poets leave our group occasionally when they feel overwhelmed with an overabundance of novelists and memoirists.

 

What activities are appropriate for a writing group?

 

Obviously, critiquing one another’s work is one of the main purposes for a writing group, along with providing moral support and networking. Other activities and exercises, however, can provide writing instruction and practice and encourage group members. For example, free-writing can be a way to loosen up your writing skills and banish writers bloc. In a free-write, everyone writes for two to five minutes based on a suggested phrase, sentence completion, topic, picture, situation, or other prompt. The goal is to simply start writing and keep going, without planning, editing, or revising, so as to free the creative part of the brain from the limiting, logical side. Then, anyone willing to do so may take turns reading what they have written to the group. While we wouldn’t advise making a steady diet of free-writing, it can be a good exercise, and can teach you about interpreting things in creative and unexpected ways. Giving your mind free range for two or three minutes conjures up thoughts and memories held prisoner to your conscious mind, and proves the dictum of one writer that to find out what you think about something, just write about it. We have seen many products of four-minute free writes turned into poems, short stories, and even the seedling of a novel.

 

As long as we are talking about reading aloud what you’ve written, another activity that can be appropriate for a writing group is to have a session where members read from things they have written, not only to the group, but to friends, family, and even the public at large. Not only can this be a good way to help integrate your writing friends and your non-writing friends, but it can be a good opportunity to show others you are a writer. While reading your work aloud to others is, in our view, not the best way to get a comprehensive and detailed critique of your writing (although some groups do that—more on that topic later), participating in a public reading is good practice in developing good public speaking and marketing skills that you will need as a published author, and helps develop your confidence as a writer. As a bonus, reading your work aloud can make you cognizant of awkward phrases, weak punctuation, and other minor defects in your prose and poetry that you might gloss over when reading it silently to yourself.

 

Announcements are also a good way to get encouragement and recognition for everything from making your desired word-count for the week, to submitting a story, finding an agent, or getting a work accepted for publication. This segment also focuses attention on sharing leads and networking opportunities, local programs of interest to writers, and helping to bond the members together as a group.

 

Particularly if you have a facilitator (either from within or without the group) with a writing degree or professional background (i.e., writing instructor, published author, etc.) willing to take the lead, a lecture, presentation, or group discussion of a topic of interest to writers can give your writing group a component mere critiquing does not alone provide. Topics might include those of interest to group members. If mainly fiction writers, presentations on character arc, plot structure, point of view, publishing information (how to write a query letter, how to find an agent, and so forth), opening hooks, and flashbacks can be not only informative, but can generate discussion and a sharing of best practices.

 

If your group does not have a designated leader, try taking turns presenting topics. Doing a little research on the Internet and reading pertinent magazines, such as The Writer and Poets and Writers can be instructive, as well as serve as an opportunity for you to investigate an aspect of writing you might have heard about, but never had the chance to find out much about, like how to write “formal poetry,” or how does “flash fiction” differ from a regular short story.

 

Coming up with topics is easy as brainstorming with group members. If stumped for ideas, look at recent copies of writing magazines, such as the ones mentioned above; these are full of articles by professional writers and academics who offer practical how-to instruction and invaluable inspiration for both the novice and experienced writer. Before each meeting, make sure all the members are aware of the topic under consideration so they can either bring their own insights to the table, or they might want to do some research on their own so they can feel more involved.

 

Another wonderful way of engaging the group and breaking up what might seem like a routine after a while is to invite a local author or publisher to address your group. Watch the newspapers for readings at bookstores and coffee houses; most authors will be honored and delighted that you asked them to visit your group, especially if you encourage them to bring their books or chapbooks to sell to your members. You can even enlist more members this way by letting local papers know of the visitation, and invite the public to join in.

 

What are the right rites for critiquing?

 

Some writing groups offer their critiques immediately after the authors read their submissions aloud to the group. While this approach saves paper (no copies needed), the critiques may be colored more by the performance strengths or weaknesses of the reader rather than the integrity of the work itself. We favor a system in which writers submit hard copies of their manuscripts for critique. Manuscripts should be double-spaced (to allow room for comments) in an easy to read font of at least 12 point type. Each submission should be marked at the top with the author’s name, the medium (short story, novel chapter, or whatever) and genre (fantasy, scifi, mystery, memoir, etc.) and any other information needed. Authors should produce and bring with them sufficient copies of their manuscript so that all of the members of the group can take a copy home with them. Then the members can read the submissions at their leisure, in conditions an actual reader of a published work would experience, and mark the draft with everything from line editing corrections (grammar, typos, syntax, etc.) to marginal notations about plot, pace, clarity, implausibility, perspective, voice, and much, much more. Each reviewer signs his name legibly on the marked copy (so there can be follow-up if a suggestion is unclear and so those reviewing are encouraged to be constructive, rather than mean-spirited) and brings it along to the next meeting. At that meeting, each work is then discussed (more on that below), and then the marked copies are passed over to the author for him to review and consider as he works on revising and re-writing his material at home.

 

One key thing to remember in reacting to readers’ comments is that you are still the author of your project. Consider comments carefully, but choose which suggestions are appropriate for your voice, your story, your characters, your theme, and your target audience. If only one reader suggests a particular revision of your manuscript, say shortening a long flashback, you might question the wisdom of doing so. However, if three or more people all agree the flashback is more of an unnecessary digression rather than what you intended if looked at objectively, then you might do well to do what one writer called “kill your darlings.”

 

Because the quality of a writing workshop depends on the participation of its members, all are encouraged to comment on the work being discussed. What members look for in the work before them is not what is done “right” or “wrong,” but what works and what doesn’t, pointing to the manuscript for supporting evidence. To say only positive things about a manuscript helps the author as little as harping on its negatives. In critiquing a manuscript, members should refer to the manuscript, not the author. Instead of saying, “You didn’t start the story well,” one might say, “The story might involve the reader more effectively if the beginning started off with a scene involving conflict between two characters, not a description of the mountains.”

 

While the group is discussing a manuscript, we suggest its author does not speak; the idea is to let the author know how the manuscript affected its readers, not for the members to be influenced by the author’s intentions. After the group finishes its discussion of the work, the author may ask questions about the piece that were not addressed, or respond to questions the group has raised. All discussion should focus on the manuscript; an author should avoid giving a personal history of how the piece was written or what his intentions were.

 

Members also need to remember that written comments on people’s manuscripts are intended for the private use of the author only. Any public use of praiseworthy critiques that might be used as blurbs on a self-published book constitutes plagiarism unless permission has been asked for and granted.


Understand that not every member is going to be able to put as much work into critiquing every submission every session as they might like, but as long as everyone makes a legitimate attempt to give as much as they expect to get from others, no one should feel guilty or pressured about their contribution level. Members of the group should not feel guilty showing up for the workshop without a manuscript to critique; often the company of writers is what’s needed for the author, much like any other support group helps the participant feel connected, rather than working in isolation.


In addition to the mechanics of critiquing, the tone of the critique sessions and the group can be critical to the usefulness of the session. Too simplistic and effusively complimentary, and you get no constructive criticism from the group—you might as well go to your mother for comments. Too nitpicky and harsh (whether motivated by jealously, an effort to show-off, or simple mean-spiritedness) and you may become discouraged, defensive, or resentful. One good idea is to always begin by praising something in the work, no matter how small or large. A perfectly chosen word or phrase or a terrific descriptive passage can set the right tone to temper later critiques about problem areas.

 

How do you handle group dynamics and disruptive or confrontational members?

 

Keeping a smooth-running writing group is easy if all its members are on the same page, so to speak, when it comes to how much to say, what to say, and how to say it. Inevitably, however, someone will want to take off on a tangent, tell a personal story irrelevant to the group’s business, or just be downright nasty, brutish, and long-winded. In these cases, it helps to have a group leader who everyone agreed has the authority to curtail commentary or even ask the offender not to return to the group if after a few warnings the behavior continues. We suggest doing what’s necessary to cut off inappropriate commentary as respectfully and concisely as possible, by saying something like, “We need to stay on task here. Perhaps at the break or at the end of the meeting you can talk to the author about this matter.” It always helps to reinforce the rules you should lay down initially by saying, “In this group, we try to make our comments as constructive as possible.” After the meeting, speak to the person privately, so as not to embarrass or shame him, and go over the rules for engagement, which we suggest writing down and handing out to all new members.

 

One way to encourage cohesiveness is to constantly remind each other how the strength and utility of the group is dependent upon the conviction and commitment of its members. No one leader or facilitator, no matter how knowledgeable, well-read, funny or charismatic, can make a choir out of a bunch of people who don’t want to sing. A group’s success depends on the energy and dedication that each individual brings to bringing the group together.

 

What are the downsides of a writing group?

 

Though the downsides are few, they need to be addressed and acknowledged. First, the time you spend reading and critiquing other people’s work takes away time you can (should?) be spending on your work. Even though analyzing other people’s manuscripts can be instructive, sharpening the attention you pay to problems in your own writing, the fact is that you’re using the logical/critical part of your mind, not exercising the creative/imaginative part so crucial to original composition.

 

Second, listening to people criticize what you thought was second only to Tolstoy, Salinger or Grisham may deflate your ego to the point you stop writing. If you tend to be overly sensitive to others’ opinions of your work, you need to frequent a group that offers mostly praise and encouragement, and shun groups that to you might seem needlessly negative.

 

Third, if the group requires payment for making copies, for paying a facilitator, or for meeting space, costs might tend to add up and prove prohibitive. In fact, you may already be paying for postage and for mailing in submissions, for books and/or magazines on writing, for a professional proofreader or typist, or any other number of expenses. Be sure to ask when first inquiring about the group if any costs are incurred by group members.


Where can I get more information? The most valuable information regarding where to find or how to join a writing group has been covered in the section, “Where can I find a Writing Group?” earlier in this essay. However, if those avenues lead to a dead end, that is, if no group materializes from a search of your local libraries, community colleges, park districts, local bookstores or national chain bookstores or state-sponsored programs, you’re still left with the Internet. It may take several trials and errors before connecting with a group that meets your needs, but you certainly won’t complain you can’t find any. Adding specifics to your search (e.g., “Writing group for children’s books” or “Writing group for detective novels”) can help winnow down the hits, but even a simple Google search for “writers groups online” leads immediately to http://www.squidoo.com/onlinewritersgroupsreview, a site which lists and reviews various kinds of online sites, with handy links to the sites. While we can’t say whether such reviews are accurate or inaccurate, this example does show how much you can quickly find about online sites. Just remember to carefully research the reputation of and details about online groups just like you would research material for your writing, itself. Beware of online scams—red flags include high-fee contests, requests for too much personal information, guarantees of publication, and the like.


Finally, The Writing Group Book, an anthology edited by Lisa Rosenthal (Chicago Review Press, 2003), is an invaluable resource book. National and international writers cover every aspect of the writing group process with practical, informational, and inspirational essays, from “Sailing the Cyber-Seas” to “Moving Beyond Meetings: Having Fun and Adding Quality with Group Events.”

 

Conclusion:

 

You are an adult. If your writing group does not provide what you need to get from it, there’s no reason to go. It’s an activity that is directed at keeping you writing and keeping you connected, not an end of itself, so beware of letting the group (or an addiction to multiple writing groups) sap energy and time away from productive writing. A writing group should teach you useful things, encourage you to write, and provide networking opportunities and useful leads, as well as support your growth and morale. It should be beneficial and fun—more like a trip to the zoo and less like a trip to the dentist. If your first writing group doesn’t provide you with what you want or need to get out of the experience, try another and another until you find one that is just right for you. Sooner or later, you’ll find one whose personality is a fit for yours.

 

Richard Holinger’s writing has received three Pushcart Prize Award nominations. His poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and book reviews have been published in several literary periodicals, including The Iowa Review, WHR, Other Voices, ACM, Cream City Review and The Southern Review. Degrees include a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from The University of Illinois at Chicago. He received an Illinois Arts Council Artists Grant for poetry. He teaches English at Marmion Academy, a college prep school in Aurora, writes a bi-monthly newspaper column, and is founder and facilitator of the St. Charles Writers Group, St. Charles, Illinois.

 

Donald J. Bingle is the author of more than sixty short stories and six books in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, mystery, steampunk, romance, memoir, and comedy genres. He is a member of SFWA, the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, the International Thriller Writers, and the Origins Game Fair Library. One of his books, Frame Shop, is about murder in a suburban writers’ group. See more at http://www.donaldjbingle.com. His Christmas Carol Critique Collection also critiques holiday songs as if presented as short stories.

 

 

 

Lots more content below. But in the meantime, check out these banners for various promotions for readers and reviewers and see what they have to offer you! Just click on the banner for more info.

 

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I told you there was more blogging content to come. 

 

 

STORYORIGINAPP: A NEW TOOL FOR AUTHORS

 

If you've been getting my newsletter, you've no doubt noticed the various graphics with links to group promotions by various authors--generally grouped around some genre or calendar theme. Those promotions are put together by authors who belong to StoryOriginApp.com. I found it when I was looking for ways to build my newsletter list and signed up (it's free) because I thought it would help me build the number of newsletter subscribers and would allow me to put some of my books in the various promotions and help build my sales and, almost more importantly, my number of reviews.

 

While features are still be added, the site already lets authors do a number of things, including:

 

1. Create a Reader Magnet. This lets you post a link to a short story, writing sample, or even a book, which allows people who sign up for your newsletter to get a taste of your writing for free. They get some free writing; you get a new newsletter subscriber.

 

2. Find Reviewers for Your Book. This lets you post your book--new or old--for reviewers. But you are not just putting your product out there for anyone and everyone to grab for free. If a potential reviewer is interested in your book based on the cover and a blurb, they ask to review it. You then get to check out the reviewers by looking at their other reviews (on Amazon, Goodreads, or a number of other sites) and if you think they are a responsible reviewer, you can approve them to get the book. If they don't have a history of posting reviews or their reviews are for other genres or otherwise inappropriate, you hit the button to ignore their request.

 

3. Find Reviewers for Your Audiobook: This is the same kind of service as mentioned above, but instead you can give out copies of your freebie codes from Audible.com, with the same type of review and approve or ignore approach. There's no guarantee that these reviews (or those for your ebook) will be favorable--you're just giving a copy to someone who intends to give an honest review.

 

4. Creating and Joining Promotional Campaigns: There's a master list of various campaigns that are being put together and a simple form to fill out if you want to submit one of your books to the promo. The creator can say yea or nay based on whether they think your submission matches the theme, tone, and criteria of the promo. Some are promos targeting reviewers, but most are targeting readers. Different promos not only have different themes (romance, scifi, horror, etc.), but different criteria (freebies, Kindle Unlimited, 99 cent books, books under $5, or whatever). Once the promo commences, all of the participating authors mention the promo in their newsletters and social media and people click to see the offerings and, if interested, click through to get your book via your link (including affiliate codes if you like) to Amazon, Nook, or wherever. Unlike some other group promo sites, not all of these promos are give-aways, so you can actually get a few sales this way.

 

5. You can also do "swaps" with other authors who have books in the same genre as you. You each post an indication of the size of your newsletter list and the date you will be sending the next issue. If they have a book that is appropriate, they can provide you the same information about their list. You don't swap lists; you each put a blurb and cover photo of the other's book in your newsletter to introduce them to your subscribers. Your subscribers click through or don't as they wish.

 

6. The site also keeps an easily downloadable list of people who have subscribed to your newsletter through StoryOriginApp, which you can combine with your own lists when sending out your newsletter. It also helps provide certain statistical info about how many people open your newsletter and how many click on various links--I haven't done much with that info so far, but it sounds cool.

 

StoryOriginApp is in beta testing now, so everything is free to those helping out. And the creator is very responsive to suggestions and problems, which is very cool.

 

Check it out. StoryOriginApp.com

 

Aloha,

 

Don

 

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Shopping for Christmas? Use my Amazon Afflilate Link. Click here, then navigate to wherever you want to go on Amazon. 

 

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Book Review

Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, by Bonar Menninger

 

November would have been a more timely spot to place this four-star review from three years ago for a book about the Kennedy assassination, but better late than never.

 

Interesting and Plausible Answers to Many Questions about the JFK Assassination

Format: Kindle Edition

 

I'm not much for conspiracy theories. Many of them are outrageously wild or obviously constructed with an agenda in mind. And, it is easy to pick and choose your evidence to show only what supports your theory. (If you don't believe that, look into the "Paul is Dead" hysteria re The Beatles.) What is especially interesting about this book is that there is little evidence of an agenda by the author or Mr. Donahue and no initial intention to challenge the Warren Commission's findings. There is also a heavy dose of scientific data and explanations that logically resolve many of the inconsistencies and mysteries which have long dogged the public's perception of the situation. Moreover, there is an end result that explains Oswald's involvement and the ballistic evidence without requiring conspiracies and logical leaps. Finally, there is no attempt to blame the theorized second shooter, who acted instinctively and heroically in an attempt to do his job and was the victim of an unfortunate accident, perhaps not even immediately realizing what happened. A limited involvement cover-up is much more plausible than a broad and irrational conspiracy. Although there is a bit more biographical detail about Mr. Donahue than I needed, I found the book to be well-written and engaging in the course of explaining a plausible and compelling theory. Recommended.

Don

 
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COLLATERAL DAMAGE: DIE HARD, BURN NOTICE, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, COMIC SUPERHEROES, AND MAGNUM, P.I. (Blog post from July 21, 2013)

 

Just watched A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard 5) a few days ago. This isn't a movie review column, so I won't go into why, despite the fact that the original Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever, the latest installment is a murky, boring, and unlikeable movie ranking as one of the worst action movies of all time (unless you have a car crash fetish). But it highlighted some of the thoughts that I had been mulling recently about the issue of collateral damage in movies and books and, thus, got me to sit down and write a blog post, even though I'm on deadline on a ghost-writing project.

 

Collateral damage comes in two types in books and movies. The first is the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one/few" approach. This type has a respectable place in both real life and fiction. Soldiers go on suicide missions to secure a target, dams and other huge infrastructure projects get built despite the fact that it is statistically almost certain that one or more people will get hurt during the difficult construction, drugs get human trials (which can not only have adverse effects, but which trials deny patients getting the placebo a chance at actually getting a cure). You see this all the time, although the American fetish for identified victims can stand it on its head at times (e.g., People will spend big bucks to get a kid out of a well or help out the victim of a high-profile crime, but not willingly bear the cost of life-saving programs like pre-natal care, constuction codes/restrictions to prevent building in flood-prone areas, etc.).

 

Heck, the "needs of the many" trope can add drama and pathos to a storyline, by showing the sacrifice of the hero. And, in a world-setting, using this tactic can help identify who the bad guys and who the good guys are, though overusing it can make a government look oppressive (bye-bye Alderaan).

 

Second, collateral damage can refer to loss and destruction resulting from either the single-minded focus of the protagonist or the need for special effects and things that blow up real good.

 

In the original Die Hard, John is clearly a hero, but a practical, down-to-earth guy. He takes some risks for the greater good (dropping a body on a squad car to get attention), but is concerned primarily about protecting innocent life. Sure, he refuses to turn himself in to save the coke-head wheeler-dealer, but he feels conflicted and guilty about it, even though he knows it was for the greater good.

 

Flash forward to A Good Day to Die Hard, however, and we get an interminably long opening action sequence in which John literally wrecks hundreds of cars filled with innocent people in order to chase his son not even knowing yet whether his son is a good guy or bad guy or who is after him or why (I guess cause they're Russians, mostly, we're not supposed to care). At this point, John has ceased to be a hero. He has, instead, become an uninteresting action junkie.

 

In a similar vein, look at the progression in Burn Notice. Here we started with a hard-core superspy, but one which was all noble and soft-hearted inside, taking jobs to help people thwart gangs and thugs and criminals. But as the series continued, Michael's heart hardened and his scruples faded as he became more and more willing to let others sacrifice themselves or to do things which might be hurting unknown people/governments in an effort to protect himself, his quest, and his friends and relatives, including burning another spy. Jesse may have forgiven him for that, but I haven't. The end result, a less interesting show with a less interesting protagonist.

 

Star Trek Into Darkness includes both kinds of collateral damage, culminating in a large airborne craft colliding with multiple buildings, killing thousands. The fact that the ship plows into the bay first doesn't change that dynamic. It's too soon for that to be entertainment. Heck, it will probably always be too soon for that to be entertainment. At least in Transformers, we know the creatures causing such high-casualty mayhem are alien robots who don't know any better (they styled themselves after cars when they came to the planet because they thought autos were the dominant life form on the planet), not that I care for CGI bloodshed.

 

Though the Comic Book Code may also have had something to do with it, early superheroes understood this problem. Nukes were tossed into the sun to prevent collateral damage and the hero wasn't allowed to voluntarily kill anyone. Yep, no matter how much sense it might make to off Magneto, he had to be held in an acrylic prison. The Marvel Superheroes Role-Playing Game imposed massive damage to a character's karma for an intentional death.

 

I've explored the concept of collateral damage in a number of my books and stories. For example, in GREENSWORD: A Tale of Extreme Global Warming, the protagonists talk about the issue, but care more about damage to animals and the environment than they do to humans. And in Net Impact, both the main character and the head of The Subsidiary, the spy agency he works for, are tough and practical--they do what needs to be done to save the world--but they are mindful of collateral damage (e.g., timing operations to lessen the possibility of civilian loss of life and refusing to engage in a firefight with local cops).

 

The line between tough and reckless may be difficult to walk, but it can be done. In Net Impact, for instance, the main spy threatens to kill an innocent, as well as her mother and her cat, though he never actually intends to do any of the three, but he hates the fact that the job makes him traumatize her at all.

 

Most people may not remember, but Thomas Magnum of the original Magnum P.I. actually murders someone in cold blood in the course of the series without damage to the character's likeability. Why? Because he kills the Russian KGB operative who tortured him and Rick and TC when they were captured as POWs in 'Nam. It was a justifiable kill consistent with the canon of the backstory and episode plot and they ended the episode with the shot--no carnage, no picture of the bullet hitting--so that anyone who wanted to believe Magnum didn't actually do it, that he shot near the guy to scare him, could believe that if they chose.

 

Over the top action sequences are big these days and lots of stories have large body counts (certainly a number of my stories do). Whether collateral damage is appropriate for a particular project or genre may vary.

 

Certainly, I've written stories in which characters take actions and do things and say things that I would never do--you have to write what is right for the story. But think about the consequences of gratuitous collateral damages on your characters and on your readers.

 

Nuff said.

 

As always, you can check out whether my writing reflects the stuff I talk about in my blog by checking out my website at www.donaldjbingle.com or just searching for books on Amazon, Kindle, bn.com or elsewhere by Bingle (you'll get a few extraneous hits, but not really that many).

 

Aloha.

 

Don

 
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