Time

One of the most frustrating things in life is the hopeless, infinite lack of time. We can never have enough for all the things that count: the HUGE bucket lists AND prominent careers (or school)  AND happy, picturesque families AND hobbies, and, and, and... We want to do everything, but in those moments when we feel overwhelmed, we want to sit back, relax, drink hot chocolate, waste time into oblivion, think of the here and now. Occasionally, when we are able to make time for everything, we have fun - we love it! - and then it ends. Looking back, the time is gone, and it may as well have never happened, because we can never experience it again.

In school, we hear about the geological time scale, the biography of Earth (what, some four-billion years long?) and yet, here we are, and those four-billion years can never be reclaimed. Then we go to anatomy to learn about our frail bodies, then on to biology to learn how our dead corpses will be welcomed back into the elements as we decompose in our graves. Then on to history, to reminisce about the billions of lives that have come before ours, shining like flares, only to be extinguished by time.

Our mortal lives are over in the blink of an eye. It's painfully simple and true.

Now, whether or not you believe in an afterlife is immaterial. It still stands that the most should be made of one's life on Earth.

Like YOLO, except not really.

The above acronym is widely misconstrued and used by idiots to justify stupid behavior (Pardon the aggression).

Ex1 "YOLO, dude, just smoke the ---- cigarette."

Ex2 "Just jump! C'mon, YOLO - it's not that high!"

Ex3 "Look, it's Friday, tomorrow's another thing, and, you know what? ---- it. YOLO."

Sigh... If the concept of YOLO were used with any sense at all, people would be saying things like:

• "Quit spending time on inappropriate websites, there are way better things to do."
• "Spend a little more time with your baby brother while he's still young."
• "Why the heck are you cutting your life short with drugs?"

Stupid behavior aside, there is still the problem of having two good options and not knowing which to choose. This is my biggest struggle, personally. Do I get a head start on that research paper, or spend some time practicing my writing? Both are good (equally so, in my opinion - not even school trumps developing one's personal talents). Both present their own set of pros and cons.

Many people have different ways of handling these problems. Some break their time down into micro-chunks, do a little bit of this, a little bit of that. They like to feel like they've tended to each facet of their lives every day. Others will set a priority and shut everything else out indefinitely. I would not recommend this while you are young because youth is perfect for exploring different opportunities and interests. Finally, people like me will "phase."

Phasing is why I haven't posted in a couple weeks. It involves spending long periods of time focusing on one hobby or interest, and then moving on to something else. This works especially well for me because my two major hobbies - writing and computer programming - are both very time-consuming. Phasing allows me to complete whole projects before I get distracted by other things.

During the month of February, my "project" was this blog. I spent most of my free time reading (to improve my craft) and writing posts. Then, during March, my interest dwindled, and that's how I knew it was time for something fresh. My "project" for March was improving my coding skills, which involved a lot of online reading, coding practice, and the purchasing of textbooks through Amazon. These were the types of things I did:

Above is a terrain-generator I created using a program called XNA. This could be used in building custom terrain for a 3D video-game.

This is a nostalgic Mario-style level editor I built from scratch, which I have called TILT 2D (short for "Tile It")

A turn-based, 2D shooter that allows players to fire rockets back and forth at each other (with randomly-generated hills and terrain that can be blown up! #geekpride :D)

 

The most complex of all - a 3D flight-game where the player shoots balloon-targets (the result of a fun online tutorial).

 

I also bought two (heavy) books by Ian Millington: Game Physics Engine Development and Artificial Intelligence for Games, and have spent a "ridiculously large portion" of my free time in the last week delving into their murky, mathematical depths ("my mother" par. everyparagraph).

 

This time-management strategy works for me because I get bored of everything, even the things I love, so switching back and forth keeps me from "burning out" in either of my major hobbies. It also feeds my hunger for progress. Every project that I accomplish reassures me that my reservoirs of time and passion aren't being sapped for nothing.

 

So, I'm curious: how do you juggle all the pieces of your life?

 

 



Sensitive Subjects in Fiction

Even if you have never written anything on a particularly sensitive topic, you probably have read articles online or in magazines about them. To name a few that are popular in today’s world:

-          Health care

-          Abortion

-          Gay Rights

My goodness. Facebook has become a battle-ground for those debating how society should treat homosexuality. Say the word and you will most likely offend the entire human race for some reason or another.

I get so angry after seeing countless page-long posts, both at the offenders and the offended. To the offenders: you have a valid opinion, but posting it on Facebook is not going to do SQUAT. Find a more productive outlet. To the offended: “He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool” (Brigham Young).

But that’s not exactly what I want to talk about. It’s already been done to death on every culture-blogging site in the universe.

I’m wondering about a similar issue: controversial material in fictional stories. My question is, should authors adopt the mantra “Go Bold or Go Home,” or should they omit touchy material and try for an alternate subject?

For some, this may not be an option. Their stories may be set during the Holocaust (The Book Thief) or address the murder of innocent children (The Hunger Games). For others, it may be possible to leave out grey-area components and focus more on their characters because the two are mostly independent of one another.

I’d say there are a few factors to consider when deciding what to do:

-          Audience. You probably wouldn’t write a story portraying an evil Nazi as the protagonist and market the book to Jews. Make sure that you are AT LEAST omitting material that offends your TARGET AUDIENCE.

-          Time. Fictional reinventions of the Holocaust probably wouldn’t have sold many copies back in 1945. The event would be too fresh in everyone’s mind, and readers would be right to throw the book into the toilet.

-          Research. How well do you know the subject? This one’s really important because readers can smell ignorance a mile away, and they’ll call you on it (shortly after flushing your book). Elie Wiesel was a prisoner of Auschwitz, so his memoir, Night, is automatically credible. Consequently, it has enjoyed enormous readership and is now requisite material in most high schools.

-          Emotional appeal. If your story is a light-hearted tale about a time-traveler, throwing him into the middle of a concentration camp is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. If it reads more like a tribute, however, it might just win some loyal fans.

In a story I am currently writing, Christopher Winter is a Freeze Agent, one of many people responsible for keeping the world “on the right track.” The Shadow President literally stops time, allowing Chris and his coworkers to move undisturbed in a frozen world, making changes as they are instructed.

The prologue tells the story of Chris’ initiation into the society, after being kidnapped and dragged away from his father. He’s only eleven, but his assignment has a profound impact: he must let a mysterious man through airport security.

That’s it. Little does he know that the action results in the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11 and the eventual destruction of the World Trade Center.

“What’s going to happen?” Chris asks before all of this. “Won’t that hurt people?”

“Some will suffer,” the division-leader replies. “But many more will be strengthened. It is very, very important that this happens today.”

Afterwards, the story skips ahead ten years, and it’s the last we hear of the incident, except for the pain and guilt that Chris experiences as a result. This guilt is critical. Without it, my protagonist would be the insensitive cause of the 9/11 hijackings, and many readers would despise him. But the internal torture that he experiences combined with the fact that he didn’t know any better makes him human. Not a monster. A lost, confused, and scared child who only wants to get back to his family. A symbol of the 9/11 victims’ heartbreak. Instead of seeming like a way to get money, the story feels sympathetic, and celebrates the way America grew closer together after the terrible crisis of 2001.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, and as soon as I try to publish the story, a squad of assassins will pull up in front of my house. But those are my thoughts.

Do you think it’s too early to write fiction about 9/11? In general, how do you feel about including sensitive subjects in your writing? How do you feel when you read about them in a book?

Let me know in the comments!