The romantic melancholy of city lights

They sparkle like a firmament of multi-coloured stars. They surround us every night, yet we are always taken by them, impressed, enraptured or otherwise intrigued.

There is something truly unique about city lights glowing at night. Their multitude comes together in a coherent whole, shining upon us and reminding us that we are alive.

Indeed, city lights are the very symbol of man's conquest of its environment. During the day, we are all subject to the omnipresent sunlight rays, diffused or direct, but always bearing down on every one of us in the same way. Under the sun, we are all the same. At night, we prolong our worldly presence and our conscious awakened state by turning on that very human of inventions: artificial lights. And each one of those lights makes us unique.

With lights, we conquered the darkness, and with it, we opened up our minds. The dark no longer held mysteries and fears, only possibilities that begged to be pushed further. With light, we prolongued our days and stretched our creative drives deeper into the night. And with light, we marked the obscure hours and claimed them as our own, decorating our nocturnal habitat with trophies of incandescence. We raised the flag of luminescence as our beacon of self-righteous dominion over the universe. Where once before, only the moon and stars shone in the blackness of night, bulbs, flames and diodes now dot the landscape. We own the night, and we kill it with brightness every way we can.

The romantic part of this fact comes from the intentional design of our city lights. More than functional, they are very often decorative, even artistic in their display. They add a sense of wonder to the buildings they are anchored to. They embody the very essence of our pursuit for a higher purpose. Most of all, they remind us of who we are.

When staring at a cityscape, lit brightly in the shelter of night, ask yourself what that glow means. Not the glow of the multitude of sparkling artificial stars hung across the concrete branches of criss-crossing streets, but the one that warms your heart as you contemplate the spectacle they form.

What you are feeling is the reassurance that out there are other lives like yours, other people, other chances to share an experience.

Because lights tell us we are not alone.

Then you can look up at the stars, and feel better knowing that somewhere out there, someone else is gazing at our planet and thinking the exact same thing...

Numbers and letters

It was very clear to me that numbers and letters could have thoughts of their own.

I first put myself in the mind of a number. A sense of logic came over me, I started looking at everything in stark contrast, paying attention to straight lines, pure curves and orderly structures around me. A number would be precise, focused on details, meticulous and wary of anything that intruded on this carefully crafted existence. It craved silence, or at least rhythm. It preferred stillness.

I then switched over and placed myself in the composure of a letter. Strangely enough, I focused on sounds a lot more, taking comfort in the melodious surroundings I found myself in. Colours immediately sprung forward, and movement  became attractive, a symbol of change and therefore of life. I let my imagination drift, looking for ideas to stitch freely together. A letter would prefer that, I felt. Order was not a priority. A letter yearned to move and keep moving.

It was immediately clear to me that numbers and letters would naturally hate each other, out of mere suspicion at something so completely different from themselves. The parallel with bigotry and xenophobia was evident. This prompted in me the question: what would a war between numbers and letters look like? What kind of armies would each side deploy? What tactics would they use? How would they move? And most importantly, what would they each be defending?

This led me to the notion of worlds, separate worlds divided by a clear and prohibited frontier. The numerical world would be the System of Numbers, black and white, rigid and solid. The alphabetical world would be the Land of Letters, colourful and textured, soft and natural. These worlds would be unique, populated by living numbers and letters, with social classes, rules and etiquette, fears, doubts and desires.

I had found my story. I had found ALPHANUMERIC.

I’m convinced we all have moments like I had, where our minds open up to something new and exciting. It’s then up to us to seize the moment and turn it into something more.

I would love to hear about your own stories, moments and ideas. Feel free to share, comment or email me about it.

Third dimension

I was reading an article in WIRED magazine about 3D printers recently (http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/05/an-insiders-view-of-the-hype-and-realities-of-3-d-printing/) and I couldn’t help myself extrapolating.

In the near future, it is easy to conceive of a 3D printer that can print at the atom scale. This means that, given the right 3D model of any shape, that printer can reproduce it down to the last atom. It will effectively print a clone, identical in every way to the original.

So let’s push this a little further.

Scientists everywhere are trying to understand how the brain works, and philosopher have always wondered if consciousness has a physical base in our cortex. So the one scientist who is building a 3D model of the human brain (http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/07/features/thought-experiment), if equipped with this theoretical printer, could actually perform an amazing feat: he could print a perfect clone of a human brain. This brain would be a completely working replica of the real thing. Therefore, it should be conscious.

Now this presents an amazingly complex philosophical problem: if we can create a brain from scratch in this way (and we’re still a way off), would it constitute a living being? Would it be aware of its own existence?

And if we can create a brain this way, why stop there? Why not ‘print’ an entire living being?

On a more practical level, this could still be ethically applied to the creation of new organs to replace failed ones. Everyone could volunteer to have their organs mapped in 3D down to the atom, then stored on a special section in iTunes where people could download them and have them printed for use in themselves, or others. You could print one as a gift. That opens up all sorts of Christmas opportunities.

Pets could be eternal, re-printed after death at will. Beyond biohacking, this would mean that we could replace any part of our body with an equally living part, making our lives endless. It would put immortality within our graps.

All because of a printer.

Now think about that. And tell me what you think.

Because I wont live forever.

Top 10 tips to create memorable characters

People often ask me how to build credible, meaningful and interesting characters. My most common piece of advice is to look around you. When you pay attention, there are weird and wonderful characters just coasting on the edge of our lives who are just begging to be brought onto the page.

I've also often seen or read about lists of attributes that you can fill out to build a character. People cling to those lists as creative life rafts, allowing you to survive but not quite providing sustenance. I believe such lists have value, as long as they are not the final step in your creative process to build multi-dimensional characters.

Kiefer Sutherland, of 24 fame, said on his Actor's Studio interview that when he looks at characters on the page, he begins by defining two things: the first is what the character would always do, and the second is what he would never do. This gives him a framework within which to build depth.

When we describe a friend to someone who has never met that person, we often skip through the basics of name, nationality and occupation to go right to the one thing that makes that friend who they are: a personality trait, an unmistakable flaw, an incorrigible weakness for something, or an unmissable physical feature. What we are describing is the one thing that makes that person stand out from the crowd. It is usually what will make that description stick in our mind, serving as the anchor to which all of that person's other features are tethered.

Once we spend time with a person that was described to us, we will eventually form our own opinion of what stands out in that person. This will lead us to describe him or her to others in a similar way, but with the emphasis tweaked to our own subjective point-of-view. We will have made that character ours.

Taking these elements into account, I would suggest the following 10 tips to building memorable, intriguing and empathetic characters:

1. Give them a rich backstory that you exploit but never fully reveal
A character is merely the sum of where they come from and what they've done. This makes origins and backstory important to flesh out a solid character. A character coming from a broken home with no siblings will behave very differently to a character who grew up in a happy home with several brothers and sisters. This backstory will be the well from which you drink when writing that character into your story. It will inform everything else.

2. Give them flaws
No-one can empathise with a perfect person. Think of how hard it was at first to take Superman seriously: not until Clark Kent humanised him could we feel anything for the man. Characters with flaws are more accessible. These flaws can be as simple as clumsiness or as intricate as Alzheimer's Disease.

3. Give them fears
Fear is an emotion we relate to a lot faster than hope or happiness. A character who fears something will attract empathy, will encourage us to root for him/her, or will give us hope that, as a villain, they might eventually be defeated.

4. Make their end goal require a direct confrontation of those fears
The most powerful stories are those where the heroes confront and overcome their greatest fear. This is because we all dream of being able to do so. It is also the highest stakes that a character could face, so it makes for more compelling drama. In short, it is the most efficient and visceral way to make us care.

5. Give them a hobby that relates to their flaws
A hobby shows something more personal about a character, because it reflects a choice without influence. We pick up hobbies for ourselves alone, so they are by definition an extension of our personalities. A hobby that allows a character to either deal with a flaw or confronts it is a hobby that we will immediately associate with the character. It will also tell us a lot about the character's goals. A mercenary who loves crossword puzzles probably has a higher opinion of himself, wants to be seen as more than just muscle and might even have the brains to pull it off.

6. Give them a redeeming weakness that always puts them in trouble
It might be that uncontrollable urge to feed the neighbour's cat, even though they shouldn't. Or that overindulgent croissant that they just can't stop buying on the way to work. This weakness is not a flaw, because it is something that the character is conscious of. It is something that the character knows has influence on him, which makes it that much more convincing, interesting and real.

7. Give them potential that is revealed but not confirmed
The broken wings syndrome is the most engaging one out there. When you show a character with incredible skill at something (eg. Chess) that no-one has noticed yet (eg. He/she plays speed chess at an underground tournament), you create a desire in the audience to see that potential revealed. Readers and viewers dont want to keep secrets. They want the secrets you show them to be given away as soon as possible to the other characters in your story. Readers and viewers want to share.

8. Give them tastes that real people can relate to and that clash with their archetype
A serial killer with a taste for French wine makes that character human. That killer could be your neighbour. A shy student with a penchant for techno-rock makes her cute and weird at the same time, a powerful combination. The key is to give the character a taste for something that is surprising but acceptable to find in such an archetype.

9. Put them under pressure to reveal their true nature
Readers will never fully embrace who a character is until they are forced to make difficult choices that they don't want to make. When the hero has to choose between saving his wife or his sister, something deeply intimate will be revealed when that choice is made. It works better if this happens before the ultimate climax of the story, as it will create expectations that can then be exploited for further drama towards the conclusion of the tale.

10. Spend time with them
The best way to know someone is to spend time with them. Write scenes with your character going about a daily chore, going to the dentist, having a meal with a family member or a friend. This will tell you more about the characters than any list can reveal. Finish this off by writing a letter to a friend describing the character as someone you might have just met. This will distill that character down to its essence, making him or her a truly memorable person.

Please let me know if you feel this list needs to have more points on it. Comments and opinions are always welcome.

The Art of Waiting in Line

Sometimes it was cold. Sometimes it rained. Sometimes, it wasn't even worth it. But you did it anyway, just to find out.

We were waiting in line to buy tickets to a movie. This was before the internet, before credit card phone bookings. This was palpable excitement. And there was an art to it.

You couldn't arrive too early, because that would defeat the purpose of the line. If you did, you would be amongst the first served and therefore almost guaranteed to obtain a seat. Not the point. If you came too late, however, the result was near the same. You almost knew for certain that there would be no seats left by the time you reached the box office. Again, not the point.

The thrill came from arriving just a little earlier than usual to see a movie that everyone else wanted to see too. Then you joined the line with a purpose. You rolled the dice. It felt exciting, almost dangerous. All of a sudden, certainty was gone. Stakes went up. You had a chance, but it could go either way. You were in the line. 

Inevitably, you would strike up a conversation with the person before you. That was the enemy. You pulled on a fake smile, behind which lurked the dark desire to see that person drop dead instantly on the spot, so that you could gain one precious place in the line. But there were politics involved, mind games to play. Deals to be made. That person could offer you their ticket if something went wrong, if they were stood up by their date, which was also on your wish list. That person was a pawn for you to manipulate. It was war.

You also often started talking to the person behind you. To them, you were an obstacle, but to you, they were harmless. You were first. They would only pick up the crumbs that you would leave. You had power. You had status. You were in the line.

The adrenaline would start to kick in as you approached the ticket booth. Every step mattered, every inch was a victory. You cheered quietly whenever someone left the line, often to curse their return with arms full of popcorn for whoever was holding their place. You would count the number of people left ahead of you. You would come up with scientific methods to calculate the odds of you finally buying that precious ticket, based on the estimated size of the screen and the number of people in the line who might have successfully bought a ticket for the same film as you. Because of course, not everyone in the line was there for the same film. The gamble had multiple facets, countless angles and infinite variables. What if that couple standing two punters down from you were there to buy tickets for a group of friends? What if the four teenagers about to fork out their hard earned pocket money were actually there for a different movie? What if? You didn't know, you never could. You were in the line.

Then the dread poured over you where the box office lady (it was often a lady) would start fixing a sign in the window. Did that say 'sold out'? You struggled to see, you couldn't read the name of the sold out movie, you felt deep in your heart that it was the one you were there to see, but there was still hope. There was still a chance. You were still in the line, doubling down in the hope that there was a ticket, somewhere, with your name on it. You kept moving forward, crunching up your eyes to read that stupid sign. Then it was down to the last few, the last remaining human obstacles to your joy and happiness. You were ready to drop kick the person in front of you if they took too long to check their change. Then you were there! You trembled, still not sure whether you would make it. Your voice would rise in pitch, sweat would bead on your forehead, and you would timidly ask for that glorious seat...

Then you were in. The satisfaction was ecstasy, it felt like the world had aligned its stars just for you on the silver screen. The popcorn tasted like caviar, the soda was your champagne, your seat was your throne. As the lights would dim, a smile would creep onto your face, your eyes would adjust to the darkness and goose pimples would ripple up and down your arms.

You had made it.

You had conquered the line.

Top 10 tips to mapping out story and plot

First, story and plot are two different things.

Story is what you are telling, plot is how you are telling it. There is more than one plot for any given story, and every plot can fit a number of different stories. A detective story can be told from the point of view of the killer, or from the investigator's perspective - two different plots for the same story. Similarly, a mystery thriller plot can be used to tell the story of a crime as much as it can be applied to the story of a sports victory (how did they do it?). Story and plot rely on each other to speak in your own author's voice. The fit you choose is up to you.

I take my cues from scriptwriting, which has a very structured format for writing stories based on the plot often referred to as the 'Hero's Quest'. This plot structure is based on the premise that the main protagonist, or Hero, will venture out through the course of the story with the aim to achieve something.

This is not a formula, it's more of a recipe. It doesn't mean that what will come out will be good, or even the same as someone else using the same recipe. It just gives you a set of tools to build your narrative. It doesn't replace your voice. Nothing can. The cake doesn't bake itself, it always needs a cook.

There are broadly ten turning-points in this plot structure, all spaced out somewhat evenly in a script, somewhat less so in a novel:

1. Introduction
defines tone, time, setting and main character

2. Enticing incident
something happens that opens up the quest

3. Refusal
the hero turns down the quest, for whatever reason

4. Commitment
the hero commits to the quest with a plan, but with the option to quit

5. 1st hurdle
the hero confronts the main obstacle (usually the villain), shows strong potential to win but suffers a setback. The hero chooses to press on with the same plan but can still quit

6. 2nd hurdle
the hero confronts a larger obstacle, suffers a bigger setback but continues to believe in his/her plan and pushes on, still able to quit later

7. Point of no return
the hero goes all in, bets everything on victory through his/her existing plan, certain to succeed and no longer able to quit in case of failure

8. Abysmal failure
the hero fails catastrophically, loses everything and abandons all hope. This is the low point, where all seems lost

9. Angel moment
something or someone gives the hero a new perspective, or a new opportunity. This leads the hero to conceive a new plan with solid chance of success

10. Victory
the new plan succeeds and the hero defeats the villain, thereby achieving his/her goal and completing the quest

Since this is a very broad plot, it can be used with almost any story. As such, here are the 10 tips I have garnered from using this technique:

1.Let the characters drive
Everything that you will write will need to make sense from the point of view of your characters. It is therefore crucial to make sure that all their choices are motivated by who they are, rather than what you want

2. Work the structure before the prose
Don't start writing anything until your structure is rock solid. This will save you valuable time. When you write with your structure clearly defined, it gives you a roadmap to aim for. Think of it as driving at night with the headlights on (your structure) or off

3. Find your ending then work your way back
You need to know where you're going in order to map out how you will arrive there. Shape your ending properly, then step back through to the beginning. Be open to changing the ending along the way

4. Break things down into turning-point moments
As in the structure above, there are turning points where your characters will make choices that will have important repercussions. Those are the pillars holding up your story, so you should use them and place them well, letting everything else derive from there

5. Start with broad acts
The first act leads up to the commitment to the quest, the second act brings us through to the abysmal failure of the hero, and the third act gives us victory. Once you see where your acts begin and end, you are ready to dig deeper

6. Place your turning-points within the acts
Armed with your turning-point pillars, you can flesh out each act and test that they are fluid. Be sure to compare your acts with one another in terms of length and density of important moments

7. Flesh out sequences that link your turning-points
Once all your turning points are defined and placed within your acts, all you need now is to link these points together with short and punchy sequences, or scenes, that will drive the narrative. Bullet points are enough, just be sure to include every scene you need to write later so that you have the full plot before you

8. Test your hero
When your hero fails, it has to hurt. It has to be tough, and then some. For your reader to feel empathetic towards your protagonist, you need to put them through the ringer. That's how heroes are made. Push it

9. Push yourself
And while you're at it, push yourself too! Don't take the easy way out, don't go for the simple resolve. Go further. If you use coincidence to put your hero in trouble, never use coincidence to pull them out of it. Aim high. Then aim higher

10. Rewrite
It's never right the first time and it can always be better. I recommend letting your first draft rest for a day or two, but not too long. As time passes, you change as a writer, so you might re-write something not because it's weak, but just because you've changed. Stay in the mood of your story, just give it a little space, but then make sure to come back and polish it. Once it's out there, it'll be too late to change it.

Please let me know how you feel about these tips, I'm always happy to hear thoughts and ideas that I may have missed or omitted.

Enjoy, and happy writing!