The Echo Chamber ‣ Brynne Stevens

Bloodsucking motif: Vampyr with Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang

Do you ever unintentionally fall into a pattern with the media you consume? Maybe you can’t escape fantasy, whether it’s in books, movies, TV, or video games. Recently, I found myself delving into the role-playing game Vampyr at the same time as I read Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang. Two very different mediums, but set in very close time periods and dealing with incredibly similar motifs. Working through them at the same time added value to each experience, as I established connections and had new questions.

Set in 1918, the game Vampyr features Dr. Jonathan Reid as he reckons with his newfound identity as a vampire. Simultaneously, Europe is facing the consequences of the Great War and dealing with the catastrophic Spanish Flu outbreak. Dr. Reid struggles with his need to feed on humans and his intrinsic desire to heal them, and watches as the flu’s victims overlap with new vampiric hosts.

Alongside Vampyr, I had Opium and Absinthe, a historical fiction/mystery/gothic novel set in 1899. This follows Tillie, a young woman with an insatiable craving for knowledge stifled by her family while they’re driven by social standing. After her sister is murdered, she’s left with endless questions and fills in her own doubts with speculations supported by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. An injury left her with a need for opium, and the more she is consumed by her addiction, the more she is inclined to believe the extraordinary. She becomes fixated on finding the truth of her sister’s murder, and I can assure you, it is not the truth you will expect.

I found the characters of Tillie and Dr. Swansea from Vampyr to be strikingly aligned. Dr. Swansea is a mortal man who devotes his time to researching vampires and the different mutations that occur; he studies what it takes for someone to become a skal, an especially feral vampire. He and Tillie are both fascinated by the concept of vampirism and need to know everything they can. Tillie goes so far as to ask questions about animals that feed on blood and ponder the distance between the two bite marks on her sister’s neck. Both Vampyr and Opium and Absinthe will leave you believing that the most dangerous vampires in society have no fangs or thirst for blood.

Although the two stories appear to be similar in the sense of medically-driven vampire fiction, there is much more under the surface than meets the eye. Opium and Absinthe will pull you in and out of believing Tillie as her thoughts become more obscured by her opium dependency. It is an interesting and disorienting read.

If, like me, you thoroughly enjoy vampire-oriented fiction, I recommend you check these two out. And if you’re especially interested in fiction with medical knowledge tied in, read works by Lydia Kang.

Tumblr Ask #1: Balancing the Research and Story Processes

👋😄 I saw that you write historical fiction! I have a historical fiction book I’m planning atm and I’m not sure how to balance research and story. Any tips on that? ✒
Hyba Ouazzani

That’s a good question!

I think that the most important time to do the most research is at the beginning. When I have a very general idea of the time period and setting that I will be implementing, I research a bird’s eye view. Even if you feel like you know the period very well, it can help to review the major events of a century. Plus, doing this fosters more inspiration. If you find a specific event that sparks your interest, then you can look into it even deeper and include it as an important facet of your story.

For example, I was very interested in the 1618 Defenestration of Prague. My excitement about the topic led me to incorporate it in Atrocious Immoralities as a significant plot point.

You can also research specific historical figures, and include them as characters in your story. Using historical figures as characters is a good tool for emphasizing the fiction in historical fiction. Events are harder to tweak in a compelling way in a story, but characters can be manipulated much more.

Aside from the initial research and gathering events and figures that you are inclined towards, the next most important role that research serves is fact-checking along the way. Often while writing, I will find myself asking absurdly specific questions to Google. These are moments like “Did [thing] exist in [year]?” This is a crucial, less exciting element of making sure your story is grounded in reality. I’m sure you can relate to these silly Google searches.

If you’re feeling like most of your time is dedicated to one or the other, I would suggest thinking of it more as blending the two. After you research something, ask yourself some narrative questions, like:

How could this impact my protagonist?
What sort of societal consequences did this event/person have at large?

Asking these questions will help you to create a cohesive historical fiction narrative, no matter what direction you take it.

I also talked about this topic pretty broadly on my blog. Good luck!

Character writing: avoiding self-inserts

People often say that in order to write a character, you should be able to answer just about any question from their perspective. This is good advice until it’s taken to the self-insert extreme.

There are worse things than writing characters that are essentially just self-inserts. After all, a well-written character is the most important thing, and some authors may write wonderful characters who take after themselves. But it is always preferential to write characters different from oneself.

Imagine you write multiple books which are not joined by a series. Your readers loved your first book, but when they begin the next, they start to sense a pattern. These characters all seem the same, and why?

The only time your characters should answer everything precisely how you would is if you’re a memoir author!

Luckily, the good news is that delving into your characters is a lot of fun. I know authors who take personality tests from their character’s perspectives once they’ve come to understand them fully. But before you start pulling up Myers-Briggs tests, create something like this:

A Very (Very) Abridged Character Analysis Worksheet

Physical Appearance
Favorites
Background/upbringing
Family
Occupation/passions
Attitude/mindset/outlook
Personality
Interrelation with others/perceived as…
Their goals
How they react to problems/crisis

These are the major headings I use in my character analysis, which are then broken down into subsections diving in much deeper. You can take it as far as you want; some of mine go as far as their favorite book and their name’s etymology.

To further show the detail I delve into with my own character worksheets, here’s the physical appearance alone of Avis Papley, the protagonist of my upcoming book Atrocious Immoralities.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Age: 18
- What is their perceived age: 15
Eye Color: Green
Hair color: Light brown
- Distinguishable hair feature: wavy
- Type of hair: coarse
- Typical hairstyle: Down to her elbows, roughly chopped
Height: 5’6
Weight: 117
Type of body/build: Thin due to undereating
Nationality: English
Skin tone: Pale
Shape of face: Heart, round
Distinguishing marks: Birthmark on her ankle, scar on her cheek (unknown cause)
Most predominant feature: Her striking eyes
Resembles (famous or not): Avis Magellan
Accent: Cumbrian English
Are they healthy: No
- If not, why not: Malnourished

When you finish a character worksheet, read over it again. Do you see yourself in the details? If you relate too much, try again. Think about your character’s situation in life and the setting in the story. Does this make them more inclined towards a certain proclivity or appearance? What can you change about your character to make them more believable as a wholly different entity?

Thinking in these terms helps me to create unique characters with unique desires in my work.

Creating a book playlist

It does not surprise me that nearly every author jumps to the creation of a playlist, sometimes even before writing the book itself. Coming up with a set of songs to listen to while writing is often an integral aspect of the writing process and one which only further connects your intentions with the audience.

Depending on the type of person you are, this may come as a stressor. “You mean I have to pick songs for my book, and the list is limited?”

Well, if you’re like me, making book playlists is a whole lot of fun, and has the crucial role of helping you set the tone of your story. But if you find yourself wishing for a bit more guidance, here’s my method:

Choose a medium
Will your playlist be made on a streaming service like Spotify, or would you rather go physical with a CD or cassette? I like to use Spotify for personal use as I create the playlist, then I can transfer the playlist to more shareable sites like SoundCloud. This makes it easy for me to listen to, and easy to share as a fun connection with readers.
Start with your gut
You might be tempted to go to genre-inspired playlists that already exist. Resist that urge, and begin with your own tastes. This is critical because your music taste will intermingle with your authorial voice in a beautiful, genuine way while writing. More importantly, you want to listen to music you like! You can add some of those genre songs in later.
Adapt to character
Once you’ve added some of your favorite songs that just make sense, step into the mind of your characters. What music would they listen to? What do they like dancing to, or love to hear performed by a quartet? This helps you to develop an even stronger setting. Keeping in mind the period in which you are writing will create a much more immersive atmosphere.
Consider specific tones
When your book is a work in progress, you will have ideas of when certain scenes will occur. Having specific songs to set the tone for an action sequence or heartbreaking betrayal will help you to convey the same tone through your words. This could even be a diegetic choice, allowing you to elicit the same emotions in the characters. What song is playing when they dance, and what does that feel like to the characters?
Don’t be afraid to keep adding
It is inevitable that you will find the perfect song that you missed. I continued adding songs to mine until well after the book was finished, as I picked up on tones that I had not previously recognized.

With your playlist ready, you will have a compilation of moods, scenes, characters, and settings, all ready for you to work with. Get to listening and start DJing your book process!

To see the end product of my own book playlist, listen to the Atrocious Immoralities playlist here on SoundCloud:

Creating your writing space

We all have our favorite spaces to create, whether just out of comfort or awareness that we produce our best work while there. But Rattner is able to break down why this happens and how to manually foster a creative space.

I’ve been incredibly inspired as of late after listening to an episode of The Writer Files podcast featuring Donald M. Rattner.

Rattner is a “creativity architect”, an architect who specializes in designing spaces that maximize creative productivity and inspiration. This concept felt so obvious to me as soon as he introduced himself, but it wasn’t ever something that came to mind naturally. We all have our favorite spaces to create, whether just out of comfort or awareness that we produce our best work while there. But Rattner is able to break down why this happens and how to manually foster a creative space.

An important first step is to assess your surroundings in your favorite writing space. Is it a minimalistic setting where you have few surroundings, or is it a space filled with memories and ephemera that inspire you? It can say a lot about where you find inspiration when you look around.

My favorite writing spaces have been some of both, depending on what sort of headspace I was in. I like writing at my desk where I’m surrounded by my inspirations and favorite art, but I also finished my first book at the beautiful, modern UCSB library.

You want a place where you can either find inspiration around you or where you have to find it yourself. Some of us need that outside inspiration, and some of us just need peace and quiet.

Go to one of each and try writing. See how it feels, how hard you feel like you have to work to get words on the page. Maybe you want a blend of the two. Be sure to try writing outside at least once in your life!

I highly recommend listening to that episode (The Writer Files: How to Design Your Writing Space with Award-Winning Architect Donald M. Rattner) and checking out other episodes of The Writer Files. Kelton Reid is an excellent host and the guests are incredibly varied and bring unique insight every time. I also recommend checking out work from Rattner (donaldrattner.com). I don’t yet own his book My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation, but I hope to get it soon.

Historical fiction apart from suffering

If there’s a special, weird interest you have in positively anything, that affinity shines in your writing.

My first full-length novel was historical fiction.

Gasps from all around. The audience collectively shivers. One person dares to boo.
Writing historical fiction is simply not as insufferable as many people may think. It may take an acquired taste for research, but you never know until you’ve tried it. And if you enjoy reading it, you can absolutely write it.

Writing my first book, I had two companions by my side: Google and one (1) Renaissance history book (Christendom Destroyed by Mark Greengrass). I accumulated many bookmarked tabs with information regarding dialect, textiles, and torture devices. I annotated the book because tend to think that a highlighted, well-read book is just prettier.

Certain documents stood out to me more and became really exciting discoveries. I began to realize that I might just really love research. I love diving down a rabbit hole and entering a world of metallic crystals for a science paper or finding out about legal loopholes in the 17th century. This is an excellent trait to have in general but it makes historical fiction a joy to write.

If there’s a special, weird interest you have in positively anything, that affinity shines in your writing. Think of J.R.R. Tolkien; his interest in linguistics meant that he was drawn to create his own language for The Lord of the Rings, and the parts written in Elvish are gems in the books.

This is because it’s simply fun to live vicariously amongst someone’s interests. When your best friend tells you about their favorite song and why they love it so much, their words exude passion. And it feels great to be the one telling someone about your favorite things, too, because it’s a very intimate way of communicating. The listener is showing that they care about the speaker’s passions, which immediately connects the two with knowing this.

For example, if your favorite song has deeply emotional lyrics, by telling someone else that you love it you’re expressing your relatability to the piece of music. This instantly places you in a position of vulnerability that reveals what you connect to and makes the other individual wonder what experiences you must have had in your life to connect to that music so much.

By writing, you are putting that vulnerability on paper. You are unintentionally writing your wounds into every word. And when you know so much about something or simply can’t help but be interested in Greek mythology, your readers will thank you for including it.

We write best from what we love and feel.

You’ll find that when you use these resources that are lying around in your writer’s toolbox, they will come together effortlessly to elevate the story into something bigger and better.

Nick Cave on writer’s block

Maybe you take a break from looking at the page or the screen and step away for a bit. But what do you do if when you return you’re right where you left off?

Hello writers.

Writer’s block is a universal concept. That time when you got stopped up and the words can’t flow. Maybe you were writing so fast the pencil was flying and then, suddenly, you lose your train of thought. You can’t think of the next line of dialogue.

Maybe you take a break from looking at the page or the screen and step away for a bit. But what do you do if when you return you’re right where you left off?

Essentially nothing, at least not yet. I’d wager to say that anyone who has ever written anything has experienced some form of writer’s block. And yet, there are professional authors who write thousands of words each day. You’d think they must have found some way to avoid it but most of them deal with it just like we do.

Nick Cave is often regarded as one of the most brilliant lyricists in music. He writes elaborate stories and poetry into his music in a way that carries their significance, along with bringing his experiences along through his words.

And no more shall we part, the contracts are drawn up, the ring is locked upon the finger and never again will my letters start sadly, or in the depths of winter

His thoughts about writer’s block may be specific to lyrics in his words, but it’s clear how his advice applies to all writing.

Cave says, “The idea of lyrics ‘not coming’ is basically a category error. What we are talking about is not a period of ‘not coming’ but a period of ‘not arriving’. The lyrics are always coming. They are always pending. They are always on their way toward us. But often they must journey a great distance and over vast stretches of time to get there. They advance through the rugged terrains of lived experience, battling to arrive at the end of our pen. In time, they emerge, leaping free of the unknown — from memory or, more thrillingly, from the predictive part of our minds that exists on the far side of the lived moment. It has been a long and arduous journey, and our waiting much anguished . . . our task is to remain patient and vigilant and to not lose heart — for we are the destination.”

We are the destination — not our writing. Through writing, we discover more about ourselves and the writing continues to convey more and more about us. Our writing must cross the terrain of our lived experiences; we cannot write disconnected from our lives. Everything we write is deeply ingrained with our joys and pains.

But ultimately, as he says, vigilance is key. We can’t be upset with ourselves for the ideas taking a while to reach us, because they need time to develop.

Next time you find yourself staring expectantly at the page, take a walk with your thoughts. Drink some tea and let the ideas steep. Don’t let yourself give up simply because you lost the patience to wait for your best ideas yet.