Update n°7

As I mentioned in my last update, I’ve started at the beginning of February a 10 weeks children’s fiction course run by Jane Mitchell.

I love it and it makes me feel better with all these things that are going on around me. I’m not in a happy mood lately for a series of problems but writing is my personal lifejacket so I’ll grab it and I won’t let it go! I don’t want even to think about what I could do without writing.

Let’s talk about the course! During the first lesson we introduced ourselves and then Jane explained how the course works. All the most important novel topics will be touched and ideally by the end of the course we should have a 5 chapter’s book draft. This is amazing! If this comes true I’ll have three drafts in my computer, one of them finished at least!

The story is about my fantasy world, Sonrisa, once again, but it is set many years before the event of the first book I wrote took place. I don’t say anything more for the moment!

We had homework to do for the following lesson: we had to jot down the writing project and also read a book. I didn’t think I could read a book in one week. Ok, it wasn’t The Lord of the Rings (something that I’m still reading…yes I’m still at the first book since last year…I won’t say it defeated me though! At least so far!) but fairy long: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. She’s the English queen of fantasy, full stop and I’m not going to spoil a single word out of the book, you just have to read it! I wish I’ll have such fantasy and ability sooner or later!

I feel proud anyway I managed to reach the goal although at least a couple of people in the group read two or even three books. This is something it’s not likely to happen until I’ll retire! Or until I’ll be a writer able to live of my writing!

The second lesson, we had last week, was about characters. Nice challenge I’d say. The small exercise we did in class was about finding a coat owned by our character and telling five objects we find inside it, in order to describe who he/she is without give any other information. The homework was describing our character eating something, using only food, tools and custom. I’d never tried to think in this way. And, believe me, it was harder than just describe your character in the “standard way”!

I suppose that the rule “show don’t tell” is a bit clearer in my head, but still difficult to apply.

To add some notions more I read chapters about character from Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans. The odd and nice thing was discovering I was doing some of the right things without knowing I was doing them! Although I know I need a lot of hard work to do I feel good for the find.

Another nice thing about last week. I was home sick, I then decided to follow my partner’s advice and stay in bed at least for one day. At the end of the afternoon I finished to read one whole book. Nothing big, fantasy book for young adults, but still I remember that I was in high school the last time I did that! I felt good!

Finally on Tuesday I went to the third lesson. We touched the setting and its influence on the character. How the character perceive the setting according to his/her emotions. As homework we have to write about the perception of the same environment by a character in two opposite situations! That will be fun!

I love Jane’s style of teaching. Every time I attend a different course I learn something more and something different. I just feel awkward at times, because I’m the only non-English speaker but this is the path I’ve chosen so I have to live with it and give my best!!!

Talk to you soon!

New Pirates

Why have people always hated pirates?

Because they were dirty. Because they were criminals. Because they were violent. For all that, they were told dangerous for the society.

And yes, for a certain point of view they were all this. Well, they were all of this, but not only!

I know that probably you wouldn’t believe me because everybody who knows me a bit more is aware of my love towards those mythical scurvy dogs and the golden age of piracy. But this is not the moment or the place where I’ll try to explain my fondness! I’ll do in one of the next posts.

What I’m here to say is that piracy is not gone! It still exists in the world, in our everyday life. And don’t tell me “Oh, yes, what a news! We all know that! We all read the newspapers!” because I’m not going to talk to you about the facts happening in the Middle East or that kind of stuff!

I’m going to speak about those pirates that live among us and that usually are thought cool by the most.

They are not even true pirates, they are more like privateers. They’re allowed to behave like that by the established power.

For those who don’t know anything about the privateers let me explain. They were basically pirates, like the others. So they robbed, killed, destroyed villages, raped and kidnapped, all for the vile money! BUT (because it is a big but!) they were allowed to do that by the governors and trough them by the king himself who, to be honest, sit on his throne in Europe hardly knew what happened in the new world for sure. They paid the governor a percentage out of the booty or slaves to ensure their freedom in action.

Can you imagine whom I’m talking about? No, no it’s not the politician….they actually are included in the category, it’s obvious. What I’m talking about it’s something you don’t think immediately at: the management class (let’s be honest, you cannot define them otherwise) in every big company.

The biggest is the company the worse and more violent are the pirates.

I’m saying that because they behave like them, kidnapping our neurons, destroying and robbing our brains and raping our way to be.

But there is a huge difference between these new pirates and the legendary ones. And you mind, I want neither you agree with me nor that you think I totally justify the old ones.

But the matter that counts is that the old pirates and maybe the privateers as well had a moral code. Yes you heard correctly!

Although they were immoral for the most they had a code and most importantly they respected the code between them, no matter the grade you were wearing or your race or your credo. They were really the same for the code.

Apparently you have the same thing among the new pirates, but this is exactly what I hate with all my heart: appearance!

They eat each other no matter what. And everywhere is the same because what it counts is the money….but no rules, no rules in sharing the booty…nothing!

And now just do answer: which one do you think is worse?!

Talk to you soon

PS. I was editing this post when I watched this video by mistake. I think it could fit the cause.

Those are pirates too, but the worse kind. They seek kids and prevent them to think with their heads from such a young age. This is just disgusting.

But, you see, it’s not just Christians…after the last post you might thing I’m sticking on them. Here it is another nice one! (for the few who didn’t got it, the last bit was ironic!)