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Choose Wisely - by KT Chen

9/24/2018

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Living in Chicago, I didn’t get the opportunity to watch the Beto O’Rourke vs Ted Cruz debate on TV.  I had to resort to YouTube, after the fact.

I thought Beto came across as articulate, credible, and sincere.  I thought Ted came off as attacking, condescending, and sincere.  Both men have great conviction that their way is the right way.  The divide is whether the people of Texas agree with the way one wants to go about solving problems, or if they agree with the other.

The sticking point (for me) was how Ted continually tried to smear Beto.  I’m very glad that Beto defended himself, but didn’t respond in kind.

The whole thing reminded me of the Kennedy / Nixon debates of the 1960s.  And, ironically, the topics covered were strikingly similar.  It’s really hard to believe that in 58 years, we have made so little progress.

I feel so strongly that this November is going to be a turning point for America.  We can continue the path we are on, where corporations are given free reign to pay workers peanuts and wreck the environment, where the government continues to cut benefits to Social Security and Medicare and call them “entitlements” (even though the Americans have paid into the system all their lives), where a woman is continually challenged in her decisions for her own body, and people of color are systematically treated as less than.  Or we can change course, tax the wealthy at the same rate (or more) than the middle class, provide quality health care for all citizens, allow women control of their own bodies, pour money into public education, and end the duality of the American justice system.  Those are our choices.

Choose wisely.​
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Time and Courage - by KT Chen

9/17/2018

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I’m in a writer’s workshop, and, as we go through each week’s submissions, the one thing that stands out to me is that writing takes courage.
 
It is one thing to tell someone, “yes, I’m writing a book,” when, really, what you mean you have an idea that you’ve kicked the hell out of for years and not gotten past the second chapter.
 
It’s entirely another thing to sit down and doggedly get the story in your head onto paper.  That is a whole other thing altogether.  Because it takes dedication.  Because it takes effort.  Mostly though, because it takes time.
 
I used to tell my students that you get 24 hours each day.  8 hours at school.  8 hours where you are *supposed* to be sleeping.  That leaves 8 hours for doing something else.  And then I would ask:  what is it that you do?  With those 8 hours?
 
The answer is:  you are doing what matters to you.
 
Time is of limited quantity.  But we all find ways to carve out time to do what’s important to us.  – Whatever that is.  Whatever that looks like.
 
These other workshop participants, they have spent their precious time to write.  They have taken up the courage to submit it to other writers for feedback.  And, God bless them, they are using the feedback to become better writers. 
 
They inspire me.  I, too, want to become a better writer.
 
Go forth and write!

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Nike and Politics in Literature - by KT Chen

9/10/2018

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This week’s readings for one of my grad school classes are all about politics in literature.  Ironic, really, given the timing of Nike making Colin Kaepernick a spokesperson.
 
I don’t usually write about political things.  Mostly because it’s a rabbit hole, and once I go down it, I’m not sure I could stop.  There is so much wrong with the world.  So. Much. Wrong.  Yet, here I am.
 
Short Timeline of Events:
 
  • In the 2016 football season, during the preseason games, Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, sat during the national anthem. 
 
  • Three preseason games into the 2016 season, Kaepernick was asked about his actions, and he states it is about "protesting the oppression of people of color and police brutality."
 
  • Kaepernick met with Nate Boyer (Army Green Beret / former NFL player) in 2016, and they decided kneeling was a more respectful way to protest.  (Kneeling is already in practice:  kneeling when players are hurt / kneeling when handing a flag to the family of a fallen soldier, etc.).
 
  • Kaepernick continues to kneel while the national anthem is playing (throughout the 2016 and 2017 seasons), gradually getting joined by other players (across levels and sports).
 
Partly because of the Presidential election in 2016, the narrative of kneeling for the national anthem became an argument about whether or not Kaepernick was being disrespectful of the police / military / America-in-general by kneeling.
 
To the people who say, yes, he was being disrespectful, I say:  protesting things a person views as wrong in society is as American as the Boston Tea Party.  I would add:  Kaepernick found a way to protest that didn’t involve destruction of property (unlike said Tea Party).

To be clear though:  Kaepernick has stated, repeatedly, that his protest is not against the police, the military, or even America.  His protest is about how people of color are being treated in America.
 
I am glad that Nike picked Kaepernick as a spokesperson.  Unfortunately, his selection has spurred some people to burn their Nike gear.  I’m certain Nike doesn’t care that these people are burning items they already bought.
 
Their counter-protest got me thinking though … how could I show that I support Kaepernick’s message?  Short of a couple workout shirts, I don’t have anything Nike anywhere in my closet.  So yesterday, I bought some gear.  I picked out socks, a shirt, a sweatshirt, and small bag that I liked. 
 
I didn’t buy this stuff because Nike needs the money – they don’t.  I bought it because I want to show my family, friends, classmates, and random people on the streets where I fall in all of this.
 
Police killing unarmed people of color is wrong.  The double standard in American society that gives people of color harsher treatment / sentences is wrong.  This is what Kaepernick is protesting.  Nike has hired Kaepernick help continue the conversation about the problem.  And that is why I’m wearing Nike, to do my bit to support Kap's message and continue the conversation.
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How to Start a Book - by KT Chen

9/3/2018

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In the book How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, Orson Scott Card says that the absolute worst books he has ever read started with 50 pages of background before getting to the event that sets the story in motion.  In Card’s opinion, an author should start the book as close to the action as possible, and he’s not wrong.
 
My favorite books all start that way.  S.M. Stirling’s Island in the Sea of Time trilogy start with a historian landing on an island just before the island is shot back into the Bronze Age.  John Jake’s historical fiction trilogy North and South starts with two young men meeting in a brawl on the dock on their way to West Point.  (In truth, the prologue gives background to both young men, but it really isn’t necessary to read to enjoy the story).  My childhood favorite, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls starts with a man coming home from work and saving a dog from a dog fight, which triggers childhood memories of his beloved coon dogs, Big Dan and Little Ann.  In each case, the reader is given a short sketch of the situation and *boom* the event that sets the story in motion occurs.
 
As a writer, it’s interesting to flush out characters and know everything there is to know about them.  A character’s background, motives, and quirks are what makes them intriguing.  However, it isn’t always possible, or wise, to share all of those things with the reader.  Some background, the reader doesn’t need to know because it doesn’t move the story along.  Other things the reader does need to know, but the best way to tell them may not be before getting to the action that starts the story.  Instead, those details can be inserted in later, once the story is already in motion.
 
Writing Ring of the Tax Collector was interesting, because every chapter was a different person, and a different story, which gave me many opportunities to practice getting to the action.  In writing the follow up book, The Book of Death, things aren’t so straightforward.  I managed to crank out 40 pages before realizing I hadn’t *really* gotten to the action yet.  So, I’m trying it again.  Literally.  I put aside all my previous work and am starting fresh.  I know the ending.  I have some idea of how to get there.  The trick is just starting the book right next to the action. 
 
That, I’m working on.
 
Go forth and write!
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    I write about writing, working out, my dog, being deaf, and anything else I find of interest.

    I post on Mondays, before 9 AM.

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