Doing It Right

John Noble and Jasika Nicole's
Fringe panel at Dallas Comic-con

This past weekend I attended the Dallas Comic-con. It was a blast and I thoroughly recommend it. It's crowded and it's just short of chaos, but its also a great deal of fun. Really, when you get down to it, most people are nerds about something. I've got quite a few somethings, but we don't need to detail all of that out here.

One that I will mention, only because it's relative, is the Star Trek Next Generation Panel that I listened in on. There was a little girl in the audience that had come the previous day in full costume as the Borg Queen. Very creative, very cool. She asked her question to the panel and when she had finished the actors were talking with her parents about the creativity that went into the costume and cultivating creativity in children. They  said that the parents were "doing it right."

That seems to be a common phrase lately. Doing it right, but what does it mean?

 I know that I've mentioned, as a writer, that I tend to dwell on words, their meanings, and how their used. Sometimes almost to a paralytic state. I have the personality that when I set out on route to a goal, I want to make sure that I'm doing it right and sometimes that means that I get so bogged down in the idea that I don't move in any direction. 

It seems like our world is increasingly full of pitfalls and snares that are ready to grab us around the ankles and drag us down. Do my words hold any weight? Have I validated my argument in every way possible? What if I've missed something detrimental because I simply didn't know where to look? How can I do this right?

I'm not sure there's a definite answer for this. (Scary, right?). I may simply be speaking for myself, but I'm not clairvoyant. No matter how many pieces of information I try to gather to make the best decision, there is always the possibility - the probability - that I've missed something. Whether it's research I'm doing for a book, reading up on historical and current news for this blog, trying to figure out the best route for publication, or just conversing with another person: I cannot 100% predict the outcome of an event that has not happened yet. 

So what is doing it right? If we can't pull back the vale of time and peer off into the future for our answers, how do we know? We don't. Sometimes we just have to take a breath, say a little prayer, and not let our fears tie us down. Kristen Lamb says every hard knock is a learning experience. 

Think about our foundings (you knew it was coming around to this eventually) as Americans. What if Dr Joseph Warren had been unwilling to stand strong while his political mentor Sam Adams was in Philadelphia? What if John Hancock, as a merchant, hadn't been willing to dump the tea? Or if Nathan Hale (and so many others) hadn't been willing to give his life? And what if George Washington had demanded a sure victory in order for him to take command? None of those men knew how it would end. Some didn't even live to see what their sacrifices bought. They had no idea that Americans nearly 240 years later would think they were doing it right. 

So we stand as each generation stands: with fewer answers than we have questions. Those knocks we take, both as individuals and as a nation, make us who we are. Own up to the mistakes and use them to make better choices in the future. Perhaps, God willing, they will look back on us someday and say that we were doing it right.

Words, Words, Words

Image via kalyan02
Flickr Creative Commons

As a writer, I think quite a bit on words. What do they mean, how do they fit, and what are the best collections of words to paint the picture of the world that I want to share with the readers? I often wake up with a stream of conversation between characters running through my mind, or a scene playing out, or any number of things, but it all comes back to words. Believe me, putting as much time as I do into thinking on this can be a bit disrupting in life, but I think that it can gives a bit of a different view than others that are not in the business of weaving words. 

Words are powerful, as they should be. After all, as Franklin said, the pen is mightier than the sword, and that is a continuous truth. 

I think this is also why people fear words. When you look to history and start noting similarities in societies  that begin to take that horrible spiral into despotism, there are trends that can be found. Freedom of speech and of the press is either limited or eliminated and knowledge is severely suppressed, often in the form of limiting citizens' access to the written word. While at university the question was posed by a professor why there did not appear to be any art or creativity in the society in the book that we were reading (which took place in a totalitarian state). I stated that artists have always been known to push limits, and that a government that does not acknowledge natural freedoms would not be keen to allow those limits to be pushed. It would threaten them. It would threaten their power.

Image via LordJim
Flckr Creative Commons

It's interesting to think, as citizens of the United States of America, a pioneer in freedom and liberty, that our speech is stifled every day. Our words, thoughts, and beliefs are put under scrutiny, and if we do not toe this imaginary line (one that seems to keep changing without warning) we are labeled. It's as if we've been put in the corner with a dunce hat. Peer pressure will, after a while, encourage all the other students in the room to point and laugh, the words lost and the meanings trampled, even if they might have been worth something. 

Every thought is worth something, even if not implementable. 

Political Correctness has muzzled free speech, causing people to have to internally debate every syllable of every word before speaking them for fear of being called a bigot, a hater, a [insert group of people]-phobe, a racist, or any other number of derogatory terms that are regularly attributed to people that do not adhere to Political Correctness. It stifles meaning and drowns out personal freedoms of expression. Instead of risking offense, we are expected curb our own personal opinions, our own beliefs in many cases, so that they are aligned with what is considered the correct way of thinking in society. All in line. One after another. Just keep marching.

How does this encourage growth? How does a society move forward in such a way? If the Elite (a group nearly as difficult to define as that PC line that we're expected to toe) is able to choose what is right or wrong and demand that you silence any disagreement with it (lest you be called one of the aforementioned names), then they have full control over the direction that society moves in. They have the reigns, and we (the citizens of this nation) become the animal that has been broken in and easily maneuvered the way they wish us to go. 


They control the words and they control the meaning of words. I remember during the '08 elections that a man called into a talk show host on the radio and told the host that he was a racist. The host asked how he came to that conclusion, and the caller stated that it was because he disagreed with Barack Obama, therefore he must be a racist. This was interesting, because I never realized that to disagree with someone on a set of beliefs was to hold a prejudice against them. I suppose that's why I'm not very good at toeing that invisible line. 

Kudos to the person that put this together
It's been floating around FaceBook for a bit now

Words are important. Words are powerful. If a group of people can twist words to mean what they want them to mean or can intimidate another group of people into silence the second group is shackled. Think back, once again, to American history. In many places in America, free speech and freedom of the press was stifled by the British just before the Revolution broke out. Before the Civil War, it was illegal to teach a slave to read. They were not allowed to speak their minds, they were not allowed to put forth their own thoughts in most cases. Why was this? To keep them subservient. Once a voice was heard saying "You cannot own me, I'm a human being" it gained strength. When Americans gathered in Boston and spoke of God-given rights that King George and Parliament could not take from them, it threatened England's authority. 

If you claim to be free, speak boldly, for if you choose to bow to the passing whims of Political Correctness you give up that freedom and enslave yourself to it. Respect those whose views differ from your own. You can always learn something from them. Believe strongly and keep faith in your ideals. It is only by voicing those thoughts that you can change the world around you into a better place. Stand firmly for what is right. People will always speak lies around you, but know for yourself where you come from so that you do not have to rely on their opinions for validation. 

I've been listening to the words of a man that I have a great amount of respect for. That respect grows each time I hear him speak. I'll close out this post with Dr. Ben Carson's words and his thoughts on the matter.

Commitment

Image via IMDB.com

I have a confession to make that is likely to either make my history-minded friends cringe or laugh. I feel I should make this confession in order to begin this post and to explain where I am coming from on this.

I adore the 1776 musical.

There. I said it. I know it's campy. I know it is, in many ways, historically inaccurate, and it often shows only charactertures of the Founders. There are many flaws to it, I know, but there is something to it that pulls at me and I will always love it.

The latter part of my time in undergrad I was very active in local grassroots movements in politics. I gave everything I had to it, fought the fight (as it were), and struggled to do what I could to make a difference. Here's the second confession of the blogpost: In all of that, there are many times when I feel like, no matter what I gave, it did little good in the grand scheme of things. This is not to say we did not make some changes, but they were local and, in the end, I felt very discouraged when I looked at the big picture.


(This does tie together with the 1776 musical, I promise. )

When you give your all into something, whether it's a political movement, a creative venture such as writing or art, or your career and you feel as if you are either at a standstill or losing ground, no matter the effort you put into it, it can be discouraging. If you lean more to the idealistic side as I do, it can be jarring. You feel as if all that time and effort is wasted and you might as well have simply kept your mouth shut and sat on your hands for all the good it's done you.

I've been there, and it's a struggle not to go back to that place. I think it is because of that I am so encouraged by this campy musical. Oh, it's good enough fun for a few laughs to see John Adams bicker with... well, everyone, and to watch the rest of the founders dance and sing about the heat and the flies, but I've always found something much deeper to it.

There are a couple scenes towards the end in which John is voicing his discouragement to Abigail, feeling as if everything he has fought for, everything he has ever believed in has gone to waste. She says, in so many words, not to forget that he is committed to freedom and to liberty. The scene that follows is one in which he is reading over a letter from Washington that asks "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?" In those words you can hear that low that we have all felt if we have put our all into a cause. It's a terrible feeling, but it's one that can make you stronger if you let it.

I find this scene encouraging, no matter what I feel my commitment slipping in, because even though he feels as if everyone is against him, he feels alone and unheard, there is a passion that reignites within him and he finds that commitment that he's been looking for.

I know this musical is cheesy, but I really feel like it captures, at least here, that terrible, sinking feeling that the Founders must have had at times. (Go back and read some of Washington's letters sometime... Poor man). No matter the odds, no matter the obstacles, commitment is the key. Don't give up and don't give in. We have to realize that even the greats in history were once questioning if their actions meant anything in the whole of the world. Without ideas there is no vision. Without vision there is no call to action. Without call to action, there is no change.

A Character in the Making: Freedom Lewis

I tend to reserve this blog for historical and social/political musings, but every once and a while I may branch out into a bit more. Today is one of those days. I usually begin with a bit on history, but sadly this has little to do with our foundings and more to do with my own personal history in finding a place for a character that I created in my writings.

My second semester at university I enrolled in a philosophy class. The class itself obviously had little effect on me as I remember very few things about it. I believe it was in the morning, one of the books we read was Pride and Prejudice, the teacher had an affinity for knee-high boots, and it was during one of these classes that Freedom was born.

No, this is not meant to be some grand statement on the liberation of the mind, but an acknowledgement of finding the face and name of a character that I have grown to love very dearly. She had a heart-shaped face and dark hair that was bunched into dreadlocks. At the time she had several peircings (that she has since grown out of in her expansion as a character), a Chi Rho tattoo on her wrist, and was a bit of a gypsy. She was a free spirt and, because of this, she was very quickly given the name Freedom.

"Freedom's Dance" (c) 2006
(excuse the old, terrible art!)

She was fun, but I really had no place for her. She really was a free spirit roaming about my works with no place to settle down in. She had no setting, no family, and she didn't even have a last name that suited her. Every time I tried, it just didn't work. She wouldn't have any of it. So I continued to let her wander through my artwork, settling into a short story here and there where I tried with everything I had to come up with a backstory. It didn't fit.

For a short time in 2007 I was working on a story that I don't believe ever had a solid name attached to it. The idea was to take a look at various underground movements in culture and really dive into them. (I was a sophomore in college, it was that "finding yourself" bit I've mentioned before.) I thought that Freedom would be a nice balance for the characters, many whom would have fought and bickered regularly and her sweet spirit would act as a buffer.

That story line was fairly short lived. I moved on, working on other ideas that floated about in my mind, and Freedom resumed her status as my wandering character. She landed a brief stint in a short story that I wrote for a creative writing class that has since been lost.

Freedom on a political poster
(c) 2009

Then came the summer of 2009. While I have always been interested in politics, this was when I became vocal and active in various events, including peaceful protests. I noticed that many people created hand-written signs and the like, but as a cartoonist I was interested in using the hobby for something more than just enjoyment. As an artist, my art needed to mean something. So I began sketching and dug out my markers, hoping that they wouldn't dry out on the much larger project than they were used to.  Freedom, having no story home and being very much a favorite of mine, took center stage for my own poster.
Her peircings were gone and I still did not have a solid skin tone or eye color for her, but she was perfect.

Fall of 2009 rolled around and school began again. I had begun to think about a dystopian book project that would eventually form up into what has become The Liberty Pole. I knew at the time that I wanted many if not all of the characters to be heavily based off of historical figures. I had Nathan Thompson, a spy deep undercover in enemy territory that was based off of America's first spy Nathan Hale. I had Joseph Diem, a character that was originally meant to be based off of the fantastic Dr. Joseph Warren, though the character's father (Warren Diem) really took on more of the founder's personality as I wrote. I had the general in Alec Lewis, a silent and sturdy man that may bring about thoughts of George Washington, and, of course, there is the novel's lead protagonist: Bethany Adams.

As I began doodling out characters and forming up plot ideas I remember thinking how well Freedom Lewis flowed. As I thought more on it, on Alec and his wife Margie, on their adopted son Nathan, and on Bethany who was in great need of a friend to help her through the trials she faced, Freedom seemed the only plausible answer. After all, a young woman that goes by the name Freedom simply belongs in a story that's plot line is the struggle for liberty.

"Let Freedom Ring"
(c) 2010

"Freedom is Never Free"
(c) 2010

I can't begin to describe how excited I was to finally have found a place for this beloved character. She had a name, a past, and a family that she loved. It was just so right that I'm not sure how I could have ever pictured her in any other story line. There was no forcing her into the plot, there was no awkward shifting of other characters to accommodate her. She belonged in The Liberty Pole.

Most characters (or at least mine) set out on their journey at the beginning of the story that they are in. Alec, Bethany, Nathan, and the other characters of The Liberty Pole developed as I wrote, telling their story. Freedom, to me, had already been through so much. There was no questioning what she would do in a situation, because I knew the character inside and out. I knew her wants, her dreams, and her desires. It was comfortable.

I feel I'm having a hard time wrapping this post up, but I think that's because her story's not quite over. It may never be, as I do hope that others will enjoy her journey as much as I have. I would dare think that every writer would hope to produce something of worth that will change the status-quo and shake up the wrongs of this world and it would be well within this particular character's personality to be involved in that.

Freedom Lewis
(c) 2012

Finding Your Voice in the Masses

I once had a co-worker and good friend that referred to me as a walking history book. I took it as a great compliment and continue to do so even though I certainly don't feel as if I know as much as I should. The reason that she (affectionately) gave me this nickname was because I have a habit, in many conversations, of noting tidbits of history. After several months of working together, she decided that I could link most anything to history, no matter the subject matter.

I say this because I've been thinking quite a bit lately about the best way to share your voice today and, obviously, my mind went to some of my favorite historical figures and how they shared their voices during the early stages of the American Revolution. Great men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Dr. Joseph Warren, and Thomas Paine have their words immortalized in grand speeches and beautifully constructed documents. Even personal notes were saved. John Adams seemed to have quite a few of his correspondences put into the public eye as there are collections made of his letters to Abigail, to Jefferson, and others. Through the times that tried men's souls founders remembered and not-so-well remembered wrote their thoughts and argued their opinions, many under pseudonyms in their local papers (my personal favorite, of course being Dr. Joseph Warren's writings).

I have always been a writer of fiction. My parents tell the story that when I was young I would dictate long stories to my grandmother and have her read them back to me for editing. University woke a brief spark in me in the earliest stages and I wrote under a pseudonym, mostly on social topics that were important to me. Looking back (and I don't dare at this point) I can only imagine them as bumblings that might have come across as rants, with little research and quite a bit of emotion (emotion, I believe, is a necessity when you believe fully in the subject, but fact is just as important). Coupled with the fact that I had no idea where to go, I did not go very far and soon gave up on the venture.

Towards the end of my university years I formed a friendship with another student who was also a writer and shared in many of my social and political views. As writers, we decided, we could use our talents to bring attention to local and national happenings that would affect our fellow students on campus. With this thought in mind we began tossing around ideas of creating a newspaper. If memory serves, we even discussed taking on names of our favorite historical heroes as pseudonyms in their honor. While the newspaper was not practical with our limited time and financial budget, we turned to the blogs. Together we created a blog called The Liberty Pole: Conservative writings from a generally liberal generation and were joined by a fellow contributor or two along the way. 

Once again, time restraints did a number on the project. I contributed a bit on a club's blog during those days, but most of my writing time (beyond the many papers required as an English Lit undergrad) was devoted to the novel I had just begun. It took on the same name as the blog and within its pages are characters that are (some more loosely than others) based on those historical heroes that we had discussed using the names of when The Liberty Pole was to be an underground school newspaper.  

Three and a half years have passed by since we started the blog called The Liberty Pole and probably about that since I first dove into the depths of writing the book. As an author of novels and short stories, I find my voice in that, but in today's publishing world they need more. I attended a writing conference last year and was told ever way that I turned that I should have a blog, a twitter account (something that I had avoided vehemently), and make sure that I was involved in the various other social media outlets. It's been a slow road, but I'm climbing it. I found my voice in my novel and this is yet another avenue to take in getting it out there. 

With all the outlets, with all the possibilities, I often think of how it might have changed things in the late 18th century if Warren and the others had had access to this. Would he have written his own blogposts? Gone viral? The whole works that every online-author hopes might happen? Then I stop and give it a good, hard look and realize: it didn't matter that he didn't have access to everything that is at our fingertips today. He spoke honestly and passionately and he didn't need all of this. His and the other founders' words live on today because they meant something. They continue to mean something. That, I think, is truly finding your voice. 

 "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

                                                                                                   Benjamin Franklin