Writers Central

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Amanda Beth
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Re: Writers Central

Post by Amanda Beth »

Maybe what she's trying to say is that it needs to be more than a law. There was no law against interracial relationships in the latter half of the 20th century, but it was more about what it would reflect on the community, on the family. You need to build onto how detrimental it would be for their parents, siblings. Put in an example--have a news story come out about how a loved one is killed because someone was found to be in a relationship with this other race, even if it's just in passing. Make it terrifying for the reader that these characters may die or may get someone they love killed. I'm not sure if you've read The Hunger Games, but the way the Capital worked was that if you did something wrong they took out everyone you loved first. That's worse than death.
smitten_by_twilight
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Re: Writers Central

Post by smitten_by_twilight »

Tornado, I generally avoid posting here because I am not actively writing fiction for publication, but I felt really, really strongly about what you wrote.

I totally agree with you and Amanda Beth (and she has great ideas for emphasizing the unacceptability of it which do not need any further suggestion from me). This lady is obviously in complete ignorance of social history and global events, which makes me question everything else she says. This kind of thing is not about "some silly law" - it's about deeply ingrained social beliefs/taboos/structures/what-have-you. Yes, currently on this planet in many countries, people are forbidden certain relationships (not to mention other actions) on pain of death - not by law necessarily, but because their family or neighbors will rise up and slaughter them for shaking the structure of the society. And even in free countries, people are still killed by their neighbors for identity issues - I doubt that America is the only free country that has in recent years had people slaughtered over race and sexual identity. This despite laws forbiddening non-judicial murder of any person, for any reason.

Grr. :banghead: Rant over. Perhaps you could think of this lady as an example of a reader who requires education around these issues, which would be a huge social service you, as a writer, could perform. She clearly needs it to be more evident in the text that this relationship is forbidden for convincing reasons. Looks like your story might get a bit longer....
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Tornado
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Re: Writers Central

Post by Tornado »

There is actually quite a bit of that already built into the story. The race to which the guy belongs is very controlling. They are forbidden from loving anyone - ever. They always fight to keep strong emotions repressed.

This race is treated as little more than an enslaved security team, and there are plenty of horrible conditions that keep them in this state. I assure you, there's plenty in there already to indicate just how terrible life is for them. One of the songs I had on my Playlist for the second book in the series was Soldier's Poem by Muse, which I thought related very much to how they are treated:

Throw it all away
Let's lose ourselves
'Cause there's no one left for us to blame
It's a shame we're all dying
And do you think you deserve your freedom

How could you send us so far away from home
When you know damn well that this is wrong
I would still lay down my life for you
And do you think you deserve your freedom

No I don't think you do
There's no justice in the world
There's no justice in the world
And there never was

Sorry, just doing a bit of 'musing' myself! I really love my story.
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VirginiaMay
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Re: Writers Central

Post by VirginiaMay »

T~ I have to agree with everything Amanda Beth & Smitten are telling you. I'll try not to re-hash, but I think that a law forbidding a couple to have an intimate or romantic relationship together is more than enough of a reason for consider theirs a "forbidden" relationship.

Like Smitten brought up, the law is just a reflection of the more deeply held beliefs and convictions of the people in one or both societies involved in your story. Add to the situation now that we're talking not just about race, but about species, and I think there is serious potential for explosive consequences to breaking the law in question. I mean, one of the reasons that was historically given to justify the separation of races was "blood purity". Can you imagine how much more vehement people would be about the purity of their race if we were talking about "DNA purity"??

Just some food for thought.

Don't give up or get down. Some people write for years, shelving things here and there, until one day... bam! Inspiration strikes and they figure out what it was they could never quite work out before. Sometimes, it even ends up being a best seller. (I'm thinking of something I read in a memoir.)

Best of Luck to you!!



Amanda Beth
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Re: Writers Central

Post by Amanda Beth »

I wasn't even thinking about the whole blood purity. Though it wasn't illegal and definitely not a reason to kill someone, people were shunned by their families if they were Italian and didn't marry Italian, Greek and didn't marry Greek...or religions: Catholic not marrying Catholic etc.

From a literary standpoint, though it had nothing to do with romance, the entire reason behind Voldemort and the Death Eaters stemmed from their hatred that wizard blood was becoming diluted with muggles.
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Re: Writers Central

Post by Tornado »

Yes, and there's plenty of things in literature and film that runs along this line. Romeo and Juliet couldn't be together because they belonged to warring families. This was remade in West Side Story, with Puerto Rican clashes with Europeans. In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye accepts his daughters' marriages when they go against his wishes (and traditions) until one marries a Russian, rather than a Jew. There's also things like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and all sorts of various things that talk about the tension when it comes to mixed race relationships. The issues are huge, and I just don't understand why she doesn't get that.
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VirginiaMay
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Re: Writers Central

Post by VirginiaMay »

Is anyone near their Official Guide???

Is Jessica Stanley's mother named?? (Beyond "Mrs. Stanley", of course.) I don't know why but I'm thinking it's Karen??

:scratch: :write: :scratch:
smitten_by_twilight
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Re: Writers Central

Post by smitten_by_twilight »

I'm not near my Guide, but I'm 95 per cent sure that Mrs Newton's name is Karen. I don't reecall if Mrs Stanley was named, but you could also check the NM outtake on SM's website, The Scholarship.

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VirginiaMay
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Re: Writers Central

Post by VirginiaMay »

Awesome... good thinking!!! :)
Amanda Beth
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Re: Writers Central

Post by Amanda Beth »

For any mac users, StoryMill is 40% off right now: http://www.marinersoftware.com/products/storymill/ (as is all of their software) it says $50 but click on buy and it'll say $30. They've done a lot of updates and it's a much better software than it was when I bought Storyist...I'm checking out the demo now and I may switch.

For screenwriters, Montage is also $30.

Edit: So after fooling around with StoryMill for a day I'm sticking with Storyist. StoryMill does have cool features, but the layout is confusing. I enjoy Storyist's clean and simple buttons and layout.
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