July Recap

Ah . . . July. Thou hast been an intriguing month. I'm not really sure what I have actually done during these last thirty-one days. Hmm . . . let's take a look at that, shall we?

Blog Happenings

All this month's blog posts were scheduled ahead of time and it was lovely. Because of that I managed to give you all four full weeks' worth of posts (minus my Sunday book reviews) so you may all thank the scheduling feature of Blogger very much.

• I enlightened you all about my incomplete and ridiculously long writing process.
• Aimee Meester of To the Barricade! did an awesome guest post on why characters need motivation!
• I ranted about the problems of reading too many books.
• My cats got the chance to show themselves off in a one-time off-topic post.
• I did a series of posts on three different cliches: Why is the orphaned protagonist cliche still used and how can you mix it up? Why is the cliche YA love triangle so irritating and what are the ways to remove the cliche-ness? What should you do to make your chosen one cliche work?
• Aimee Meester was also so kind as to let me guest post for her blog. You can check out my post "One Simple Way to Add Dimension to Your Characters" over at To the Barricade!

Books!

(All links to Goodreads)

This month I finished three novels. Not as many as usual because of Camp NaNoWriMo . . . even though, considering how that went, I really don't have much of an excuse. *sigh* More on that later.

• Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Half Blood by Jaye L. Knight
• The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

I didn't post reviews of anything this month but they're coming, I promise!

My bookshelf stock has increased quite a lot for some reason this month as well, and now I have about twenty books all piled up to read in August.

• Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (for a two-person book club)
• Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengle (Thriftbooks, that amazing website)
• Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengle (Thriftbooks)
• Captives by Jill Williamson (Thriftbooks - I've started reading it but haven't had time to finish it yet)
• How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!! by Neil Zawacki (gift)
• The Villain's Guide to Better Living by Neil Zawacki (gift)
• Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism by Larry Siedentop (received this in the mail from my college honors program director to read before the fall. So far it is interesting if a TAD inaccurate about Christianity and Jesus Christ.)

My favorite book of the month was probably Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde just because of its depth. I didn't really have a least favorite, though I expected more from Half Blood.

Writing

Camp NaNoWriMo!!!!! Errr . . . failed. I think I mentioned already that I doubled my word goal to 100,000 words. I swear I was doing excellently for the first week. Then something drained my motivation reserves and I just . . . stopped. *headdesk* There were a few valiant efforts to start again but none of them stuck. Still, I did achieve over 29,000 words (the vast majority in that first week) so it wasn't a complete waste. I just can't really consider it a success either because I didn't meet my goals.
A few character quotes popped out this month from Ace, so I'll share those. They're in chronological order. Click to enlarge.

Ace is my new baby and I love him so much. *cuddles him* This month's Beautiful People was done on him (again, I know) and you can read that here. I'll try to do next month's on someone else, I promise.

Other Internet Happenings

• Krissy Aleman @ Words in My Soul had a wonderful idea to use a song lyric to describe each MBTI type. It's the beginning of a series of posts done in such a way and I love the idea. Check it out!
• So I found out that my online Christian writing group has a Facebook chat group. And I got myself added to it and . . . it's awesome. The group is amazingly supportive and encouraging, I became a dragon, we're plotted world domination, and I got married to a fictional character. So that happened.
• Popular Science published a short blurb on the future of warfare. Here's a jumpstarter for people writing war in the future. 

Favorite Pins of the Month

What Is to Come

• As of right now the only post I'm certain I will be doing this month is Beautiful People and a couple linkups I was tagged in. So those are coming.
• I want to do another post or two on cliches - but I don't have topics. Give me every cliche you can think of in the comments!
• Also, I think it is time for another character interview. I'm thinking Mara. Look for that soon!

Questions I Now Want You to Answer:

1. At least in the comments, the cliche posts went over very well. What was your favorite thing about each one?
2. As stated above: which cliches would you like to see me write a post on in August? 

Is anyone else gearing up to head to college? Or prepping for the start of school? Any of those books look familiar to you? Tell me about them. And for you Camp NaNoWriMo goers - how did it go? Congrats if you did well and my sympathy if it didn't go as well as you hoped. I feel you.

The Chosen One Cliche - When SHOULD It Be Used?

Harry Potter, Harry Potter. Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars. Tris Prior, Divergent. Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games. Eragon, The Inheritance Cycle. The Pevensies, The Chronicles of Narnia. Every Protagonist Ever, Warrior Cats. All these main characters share something: each is somehow the only one in the entire world who can solve the war/galaxy/society/government, despite being a pretty average Joe. Oftentimes they are special because of a prophecy, but there are occasionally other reasons. But the underlying concept is always the same: this (sometimes only seemingly) average protagonist is the only one who can fix the overarching plot problem. Commonly, this gets called "the chosen one" cliche, and it can either go over really well or really, really badly.

Hahahaaaaa . . . not in Star Wars. But more on that later.

Many people get annoyed with this particular cliche. After all, why is that girl/boy, out of millions, the one who is special? Why couldn't anyone else just step in and beat up the big baddies, whoever they may be? Sometimes, these people are voicing valid questions - why couldn't someone else have been the "chosen one"? But other times, when the story is well done, there is a legitimate reason for the "chosen one" cliche. It all depends on the individual story.
Take Harry Potter (SPOILERS for The Order of the Phoenix and onwards ahead). In this series' case, the cliche was well used. Harry was "the chosen one" because of a prophecy which clearly was talking about him - but there was actually more to it that that. Harry really was the only one who could have finished off Voldemort, because: (1) he was the only parselmouth apart from Voldemort, thereby allowing him to stop Voldemort's return in book 2 and claim the sword of Gryffindor, (2) he was the only one able to sense the horcruxes and therefore find them, (3) he had the sword of Gryffindor because of point 1, which allowed him to actually destroy the horcruxes once he found them, (4) he had to die in order for Voldemort to be kill-able (although, why Voldemort had to do it himself I've never understood), and (5) he was the only one Voldemort couldn't kill in one shot. So, in the Harry Potter series's case, there were reasons apart from "because this prophecy said so" that Harry was "the chosen one." (SPOILER END.) Because of that, the use of the cliche worked and no one complained.

Basically Harry Potter.

Now, let's look at Star Wars (minor SPOILERS for Episodes I-III ahead). Anakin Skywalker is "the chosen one" in this case, as we are told in Episode I (a real disappointment of a movie, actually). We are told via the Jedi that the Chosen One is prophesied to bring balance to the force. Yes, another one of those pesky prophecies (maybe that's another cliche to talk about later?) - they always seem to be messing up people's lives, don't they? Any-hoo, while I adore Anakin and the ability of his character arc to make me cry, the whole "chosen one" thing was really quite unnecessary in my opinion, and therefore is just an annoying cliche instead of an actual plot device. Why? Well, in Episode I (bleagh) Qui-Gon Jin discovers Anakin's super-high midichlorian count, which makes him think Anakin is the Chosen One, thereby getting Qui-Gon to break a whole load of Jedi tradition to make Anakin a part of the Jedi Order. Because of Anakin's midichlorian count, we'd expect him to be really powerful in the force - like, maybe moving starships, or something. However, as far as powers go, Anakin seems to be just like every other Jedi.

So much for special.

Here is where the problems start. If we'd seen evidence that the prophecy meant something, and that Anakin truly was special because he was super-powerful, then we would have had evidence that Anakin was worthy of being "the chosen one," subject of a prophecy. As it is, the prophecy is expected to create its own importance . . . which in my opinion, wasn't very successfully done.  Next comes problem two: because Anakin doesn't appear to be special, the prophecy doesn't seem to play any part in the entire rest of the series, and "the chosen one" thing isn't really mentioned after Episode I, the only reason for the entire "chosen one + prophecy" set-up in the first place was to get Anakin inducted into the Jedi Order. Which is a really bad excuse to use a cliche, especially if you aren't going to back up "the chosen one's" chosen-ness with actual tangible evidence or utilize the prophecy and/or chosen one thing much at all in the rest of the movies. (SPOILER END.)

Except for that one time when Obi seemed to remember it.

It didn't stop me from crying over Episode III, but still. Poorly done, Lucas. The prequel trilogy would have been much better if Anakin had been unusually powerful. And look, most Star Wars fans don't even like the prequel trilogy, or at least Episodes I-II. I wonder why.

That was a mistake no fan would have made.

Another poorly done "chosen one" cliche was in Divergent. Tris is never named a "chosen one," per se. However, she is supposedly special (SPOILERS ahead) because she is Divergent. However, she wasn't the only Divergent! There were hundreds of them. Roth's main problem with this was how she set up her world. How had so many Divergents gone under the radar if they were being hunted? Why is the majority of the population so limited in admirable traits? Why was Tris the only Divergent who took action? (SPOILERS end.) All these questions caused the idea of Tris's special-ness to fade, and had readers doing a little bit of head-scratching.

So, don't use "the chosen one" cliche unless:

1. You'll use it as a plot device more than once.
2. There is a reason apart from prophecy that this character deserves to be labeled special.
3. The character takes actions or possesses abilities no one else can manage.
4. There is literally no one else in society who also shares the character's specialness.

The Chosen One can be done really well and used to create a really fantastic story (look at the sheer success of Harry Potter!), but you need to make sure you're not just using it as an easy excuse to propel the plot forward or as a cheap way to set your protagonist apart from others.

What do you think? Do you agree with my assessments of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Divergent? Do you think that this cliche shouldn't be used at all, ever? If you don't, when do YOU think it SHOULD be used? I'm interested in what your guys' opinions on this are, guys!

Want more posts on cliches and how to put a twist on them? Click here for all my posts on cliches, or click the label in the sidebar.

The Requisite Cat Post

Today we derail from topics of books and characters and words, and instead focus on fur and fluff. I give to you: my family's cast of cats. They are often reading friends, but writing distractions. 

This post was requested by one of you readers. I did not come up with this idea on my own. However, I love my fluffies and will take this chance to show you all how adorable they all are. Got it? Good. Now go adore those cute little photos.

This is Cutie, also known as Fluffy, Fluffum-Squish, Fluffles, Fluffer-Nutter, Squishy, Squooshy, Moosh-Ball, Space Cadet, Mushum-Face, Allergies, and a host of other nicknames. At this point, even we're not really sure what her name is. She's about nine years old and we've had her since kittenhood, when she used to quite literally bounce off walls. Now she just spends her time sleeping and messing up our typing by walking on keyboards, stretching her paw onto my laptop trackpad, and falling asleep on our arms (as she has done to me as I write this very post). She will sit and/or fall asleep anywhere not normal: in boxes, in baskets, on top of backpacks, on shelves, or even just on a piece of fabric that has been left on the floor. In the last couple days she has made a habit of escaping from the three boy cats by jumping from our counter to the top of our fridge and then to the top of the kitchen cabinets. We aren't certain whether this was a stroke of rare genius on her part or another example of her daftness.

This picture doesn't really do this cat justice. Meet Joshua, who is officially "my" cat, since I chose him and named him when he was a kitten (my sister chose Cutie, in case you were wondering - they are the same age and we adopted them at the same time). When we first got him he was the biggest scaredy-cat out there - hiding inside our office desk, only walking around the edges of rooms, etc. Now he's the most arrogant and in-your-face of all our pets. He just gets this look in his eyes that clearly says, "I couldn't care less about you and if you disturb me, I will not be happy." If you pick him up, he is likely to hiss, or at least growl if you're lucky. He doesn't bite though - unless you're a mouse or a bird. Then you might be in danger. Joshua has killed dozens of small critters and kindly leaves them on our porch for us to clean up. He even killed a small snake once and captured another. He rules the kitty roost.

This is Derby (pronounced Darby, like Derbyshire in England). We adopted him when he was a kitten about four or five years ago, along with his brother Bromley (below). He is my cuddle buddy but is terrified of absolutely everyone else. He eats like the world is going to end if he doesn't finish his meal within 1.6 seconds, and likes to meow at us while we all eat dinner. He will carry out a conversation with you if you bother to meow back. For some reason, he enjoys the flavor of grass. He mostly just tries to stay out of Joshua's way.

Lastly, we come to Bromley. He is Derby's brother, and the biggest cat in the house (although, that could be due to the volume of fur on him). We think that one day he'll coup Joshua for the position of superiority. However, he hasn't killed any critters yet, and he's gotten this paranoid streak in him since he received a few smacks for not knowing where the litterbox was. He'll have to grow a bit more of a backbone if he wants to overthrow Joshua. Bromley is my sister and mother's favorite, having attained the nickname Brom-brom (pronounced more like Breeium-breeium if you want to get technical). He likes to hide in our linen closet and will automatically collapse on his side if he walks through a patch of sun. 

And now, a few more pictures, just because I probably won't do this again and my kitties are adorable and characters unto themselves:

Oh yeah . . . she fell asleep partially on my shoulder once.

So there they are, my messed up little group of kitty friends. I think one day I'll write a story featuring human versions of all my cats, just for the heck of it. I think their personalities are character-worthy.

Do you have pets? What kind? Do they hang out while you write/read? Tell me about the animals - especially the furry ones.