I heard the advice today on the The Self Publishing Podcast from marketing expert Tim Grahl that writing is an adventure, and when you blog, you should share the adventure.
This struck me as being very true. I don’t have a “normal” life, I don’t do “normal” things, and while the act of writing involves me sitting at my desk either in silence or with music playing and perhaps a cat or two bothering me for attention, being a novelist is actually pretty exciting at times.
Take my sword workshops, for example. Or learning to hypnotize my friends. Or reading Tarot cards. Or any of the other things I take an interest in. For me, any time I find something interesting, I pursue it. Whether that means reading a few books, getting volunteers among my friends, or taking advantage of cool stuff my friends do, I go all in.
Let’s start with the sword workshops, shall we?
I don’t do martial arts. I think they’re nifty, and several of my friends practice them, one in particular being Master Sloan, who is not only a black belt in Tai Kwan Do, but also in Gum Do, and he teaches katana workshops. I was working on In the Dark around the same time he was offered the opportunity to teach a katana workshop near my home, and he called me up to see if we could go for coffee beforehand. I said, of course, but I’d like to sit in on your workshop, if that’s not disrespectful? He said, you could do more than sit in, you could do it if you wanted.
When someone asks you if you’d like to learn to properly swing a sword, and one of the characters in the book you’re writing is a sword master, you say “Yes!”
Now, let’s get a few things straight: Sebastian is not a Gum Do or katana master; he is a student of many martial arts and the sword he carries is certainly a Scottish Glave, although my own research indicates that he would just call the sword a “sword.” People who made and used swords didn’t call them by different names back when they were being used. Blacksmiths made the best swords they knew how, and people who used them learned to use them. There were regional differences, but since there was no internet or even newspapers when swords were popular, people weren’t aware of those differences and called what they made and used “swords” pretty universally. What I learned in the 2 workshops Master Sloan taught were basic block and stroke techniques, suited for the total of 6 hours that I had a sword of any sort in my hands. I can’t even tell you what each of the strokes was called, though I do recall that they each had a name, as did the draw-and-strike move as well as the blood-flick move and the sheathing move. (Yes, I learned how to flick blood off my katana. Actually, there were 2 blood-flick moves. Sooooooo cool!)
I had a blast, though, and I learned that every move in sword work is very controlled, that each muscle in your body plays a part in every stroke, and that it would take a lot longer than 6 hours for anyone to learn much of anything in real sword fighting. I learned about channelling power through voicing your stroke. I learned that a blue mat in a gym makes a really satisfying “thwump” when you drop to your knees on it. I learned about being respectful to your sword, to your practice mates, and to your instructor in a dojo. I learned about the difference between showy displays of power and simple displays of craftsmanship. And I learned that Master Sloan frequently brings Star Wars references into his lessons because he is a huge geek and that’s awesome. Each of those things is something I didn’t know before and that I could only have learned first hand. I also know that sword moves will leave your body sore in places you didn’t know you had used the next day.
Did any of that stuff actually get used in the book? Well, no. There was no good way to bring any of it in without essentially holding up a huge neon sign that screamed “the author actually took 2 sword workshops and would like you all to know that and how cool she is!”Did I have an awesome time learning it anyway? Fuck yeah! Do I think that having a rudimentary experience with a sword of a type that Sebastian does not use made me better able to relate to him as a swordsman? Absolutely. Do I think I could have learned any of that from reading a book? One hundred per cent no. Some things you have to read up on, and some things you have to do. Swordsmanship is a very physical knowledge, and it is, in my opinion, one of those things you should do if you possibly can. Plus, it is kick-ass and super fun and empowering.
So what about all the other things I do or am interested in that maybe my characters don’t do or that I’m not presently writing about? I figure it’s all a catalog to draw from at a later time. Maybe I never use it. But the bottom line is, I am a curious person, and if I ever make use of any of the things I’ve studied or experienced, then it was time more than well spent. If not, well, I still had a hell of a good time leaning about whatever it is. And I do think that everything we take in filters down in to the subconscious anyway, and that’s where stories and characters are born, so the more fodder I’ve got stored in that deep region of my brain, the more likely it is to burp up some good stuff from time to time.
In conclusion, I would like to recommend that if anyone you know does something cool and you get a chance to try it out, even if it’s not your cup of tea, give it a whirl. I’ve never used a sword since, except to practice the strokes we learned in the workshops on and off. To remember how much fun it was, to remember how much work it was, and to try to be respectful of the knowledge shared with me the only way I know how.
