The plan is to return Monday evening. Meaning, unless I'm in a hotel, I'll be quiet.
Uploaded on February 4, 2006by lightmatter
Why am I asking?
Remember that a few days ago I talked about how I feel I don't follow through with some plot lines?
Well, the reason this is all related (evil and plot) is because I was over at Rantings and Ravings of an Insane Writer and saw this quiz - A personality quiz about your religious and spiritual beliefs.
My result - Secular Humanism (100%)
It was the first time I've heard of that and when I read about it seems to indeed fit me and my own set of beliefs and how I live my life quite well.
The point here is not to get into an ideological/religious debate. It's just that the quiz and the result made me realize (something I knew but never put into words) that I don't actually believe in the concept evil. Makes sense. If I don't believe in a force that is all good, I wouldn't, in the same manner, believe in a force that is all bad.
But, and here's the big but. This causes me to miss on some really really cool and interesting plot lines. For example, I noticed that most of my recent horror (a new thing in my writing life) comes from inner human struggle rather than outside evil force. And I think that in a few latest plots as well, this could very well have been what I was missing, what was required for the plot to be complete - evil. Yet, I couldn't follow through with it because I felt I was cheating myself.
I do envy those who can imagine evil, pure evil, in any form - physical, mental, metaphysical etc. They have more options. I now know why I tend to stick with science-fiction (oh, I can certainly imagine scientific things, or future societies) and mainstream (I can also imagine different, quirky, "evil" human behaviour).
At the same time, I have a hard time with horror/fantasy/religious concepts in my writing because of my very realistic, pragmatic world view.
And you? I think I can already tell which of you (those I know better) explore evil, spiritual, fantastic things. Alas, I keep to the ordinary.Read the rest
Categories: writing, plot, process, genre, horror
15 comments:
I don't believe in 'evil.' I think people are motivated by various factors (wanting to be liked, wanting power, afraid of abandonment, etc.). Even the most evil characters, no matter what genre, will have some motivation to behave as they do. In fact, from what I've learned, that is a fundamental element of creating characters - motivation and goals. Readers should be able to understand why the bad guys do what they do and perhaps even empathize with them somewhat, in some cases.
As far as Canada day, have a great long weekend! DH and I are heading up to Ottawa to visit family and friends.
Nienke sent me here. I think it is an interesting question. I have to agree with Nienke's comment. When writing, my villains are not motivated by pure evil. They are motivated by selfish desires which often appear evil. The nature of evil really is selfishness. Trying to blame evil on a being such as Satan is a cheap shot.
And then there is a total skewed sense of reality. Whether it comes from motivation, mental illness, or just perception - can be the root of 'evil' behavior.
In the instance of Hitler, for example, I think he was a genius to the point of mental illness - perhaps because of it? - and he just had no perception of right and wrong as the average person does.
There is also religion. Chrisitianity demands good morals (commandments forex), but devouts won't accept non-christians despite good morals. But then, many religions believe in evil (Satan) don't they?
(Not sure where I'm going with this, but this is what came to mind reading the comments.) However, this is a very important subject to consider when developing characters and plots. Thx Melly!
In fact, exploring evil would be a great basis for a book.
I'm with Rene on Satan. Most of the evil in the world is caused by ignorance, hate, and selfishness.
Nienke: You hit the nail right on the head regarding Hitler, the devoutly religious and mental illness. Evil springs from misguided perceptions. There is a difference between evil behavior and being evil.
I did some research on serial killers about ten years ago and learned that most of them had savage childhoods that made them insane.
There were some exceptions, which brought me to the conclusion that some people are born with faulty wiring.
Are they pure evil? Perhaps in the moral sense. I don't know, but this is definitely worth researching.
Redchurch:
I'm thinking on a fictional level as opposed to non-fiction. Hmmm... the wheels are turning. I'll be right over for the reviews.
Deborah:
I've heard about testing they can do now to see if your kids are going to end up in juvey hall. The whole concept of identifying genome(s) (sp??), and knowing in advance about disease, mental health, violence. Scary stuff. I'll bet there's a faction out there that would declare mental illness and faulty wiring as a sign of the devil.
Neinke:
That is scary. I can't imagine being pregnant and finding out that my baby is going to be the next Adolf Hitler or Jeffrey Dahmer when he grows up. The burden on the mother would be horrendous.
On the flip side, what if science can fix these faulty genomes (sp?) while the baby is in utero? I can just see the outrage from the health care and pharmeceutical industries, who rely on our faulty genetics/wiring for their bottom line.
Yes, there are some extremist factions that would declare mental illness and faulty wiring as a sign of the devil. In fact, anything that falls outside of their doctrine gets shelved into that category.
My first writings featured 'pure evil,' and a lot of my writing, especially the shorter, underdeveloped stories still do. However, I'm not writing more 'Marxist horror' and I've been thinking a lot about writing a post on my characters within them, especially the villains.
Marxists believe that the bad things people do or think have been influenced by their material surroundings and experiences. People aren't born a certain way, but their environment dictates their upbringing and the way they act in the future. I'll hopefully expand on this in a blog post soon.
Melly,
I'm more interested in your source of conflict than all the "doomsday evil" out there. Internal conflict, how people resolve it, and how it affects their interaction with the outside world fascinates me more than anything else.
I haven't read your work, but don't sell the concept or approach short.
Hi Melly,
How about this: don't you believe in "goodness"? "Evil" could also be called "evilness" if there were such a word. I'm a secular humanist (and carry a lot of other tags, including "skeptic") and I don't "believe in" much of anything. But I know I see Good in action, which would better be called "goodness". My logical mind will just not allow me not to balance this with a concept of "evilness", which I've also experienced in life, in people. All of it pertains to people, their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. No, there is no Evil stalking the earth, just as there is no Good waiting to pounce on us.
I'll try to consolodate my comment here somehow and I'm sorry if I miss a point:
Nienke, you're making an excellent point about motives, but many fantasy/horror stories have either evil "entities" or psychopaths or something like that. The entities, don't always have motives (occasinally the need for power), and the story evolves around the protagonist struggle. Similarly with psychopaths, don't always have motives. It's the more subtle/human evil characters that have clearer motives. And yes, following that is an interesting and integral part.
Great comment! :)
Eric. Wow!
Okay, I think you went a bit over my head. I'm new at this secular humanism business and can't wait to read your book reviews.
I loved your comments about how evil can come out of good intentions. If that isn't the truest things I've heard lately. And I love how you put it too. So much clearer than when how I think of it.
Loved the videos, btw. Thanks!
Ah, Rene, thanks for coming because without considering selfishness, this wouldn't have been a complete discussion.
Deborah, I had no idea you did this kind of research. You should share! And you make a good point as to how we define evil - is it enough for someone to be completely immoral to be considered pure evil?
Jayne, really? You think evil is inherent in man? That's a fascinating view point. Actually, it would be interesting to see how many think we're born a blank slate and learn good and bad vs. how many think we are born with these concepts already in us.
Ben, so that's the marxist view. Do you ever deviate from marxism or do most of your beliefs coincide with that? I believe, btw, that Karl Marx was a secular humanist.
Georganna, I'm so with you on the "believing" (or skeptic)/action area.
I think we think a lot alike.
I do believe in Evil- Hitler & the Holocaust confirmed that for me. And alot of what is going on in the world today.
I used to deviate from the Marxist view, but now less so. Marxism is a total world view and you always see the world this way (we're not a cult, though ;)). And yes, I believe Marx was a secular humanist.
Deborah, I had no idea you did this kind of research. You should share! And you make a good point as to how we define evil - is it enough for someone to be completely immoral to be considered pure evil?
I did a great deal of research on the criminal mind when I wrote my first story. I'll see if I can find my notes. If I can, I'll post them on my blog for everyone. :)
Regarding your question: I'm not sure if there is anyone in this world that is completely immoral (a.k.a. pure evil), although there are several that have come close. They've certainly done things that society would consider pure evil. This is something I'm going to have to delve into some more.
rdl, yes, evil such as Nazi Germany proves that point indeed. However, I don't believe there is more evil today than there was once. It's just that we have CNN now to show it to us.
Benjamin, I think it would interesting for you to try some thought experiments outside of marxism since marsizm is a very "clear cut" world view which is but at one end of a spectrum of views, while the world isn't really clear at all and has a whole range of views and idea.
I'm saying that because you mentioned that marxism isn't a cult, yet for me, holding "party lines" is not much different than religion.
Just something I'm throwing at you :)
Deborah, that's great, keep us posted (pardon the pun :)
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