“I want to be the one you choose when everyone else wants you”
— (via permeate)
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Oblivescence
Noun
[ob-luh-ves-uh ns]
1. the process of forgetting.
Origin:
Oblivescence dates from the late 19th century and is a later spelling of obliviscence, which dates from the late 18th century. The spelling oblivescence arose by influence of the far more common suffix -escence. The English noun is a derivative of the Latin verb oblīviscī “to forget,” literally “to wipe away, smooth over.” The Latin verb is composed of the prefix ob- “away, against” and the same root as the adjective lēvis “smooth.”
“Would that our sins had built-in qualities of oblivescence such as our dreams have.”
- Iris Murdoch, A Word Child, 1975
“Emily Brontë’s voice is full of violence. Everything takes place in the inner landscape and the poet pours out passion, hope, despair, ecstasy, an uncensored range of emotions. She pits her mind and her heart against death. In many ways Emily Bronte belongs to the period and is historically a Romantic poet. In the deepest ways, however, she belongs only to herself.”
Louise Bernikow, from “The world split open: four centuries of women poets in England and America, 1552-1950,”
Anonymous asked: Politics. Politics everywhere. My character’s in a situation where there’s a lot of political and social problems that’s verging on a world war. Can you give some tips on how to write and handle politics?
- Determine the problems in their society.
- Determine where your characters stand on the political and social problems.
- Create factions. Factions are groups with one or more shared traits, such as ethnicity, religion, opinion, or income level. Since you’ve already mapped out how characters feel, you can group them into factions based on their opinion. Characters can belong to more than one faction. For example, a character could belong to one opposing one on the war and one promoting religious tolerance and one favoring a laissez-faire economy. You should probably appoint leader(s) for these factions.
- How much power do they have? Hint: There’s going to be at least two dominant factions that butt heads with each other. That creates conflict. Where do they get their power from? Do some hold high offices? Do others control the city guard? Do others have magical powers? Basically, find out where their power base comes from. You should also include powers outside the main political sphere, like: what group(s) of civilians support them? Why? Are there any businesses that fund the factions? Why do they do that?
- Determine how the factions feel about each other. Are they violent? Do they filibuster? Do they throw their money around? Is one dominant? Is one a militant version of another, and if so how do they see each other?
- Keep them in constant contact. You can do this by centering them in a city, small region, boat, island, or other small area, or by keeping a steady stream of letters, email, or other forms of correspondence between them. Politics is a rapid-fire world. Don’t have too many lulls in your story.
- How do they solve problems? Basically: is assassination better or worse than slapping them with an expensive fine? This depends on what kind of world you’ve written. If you can be hanged for stealing bread, chances are assassination is fair. If the country has a strictly enforced law for the freedom of speech, chances are diplomacy is the weapon of choice.
- Politics is a giant reaction. Politics might dictate a great deal of what happens, especially before a war, but you must remember that there are things going on outside the capital building. Let’s say religions A and B are at loggerheads. Finally, some great conciliator comes in and brokers a truce between the two sides. Everything seems to be going well. Later that day, a mob of Religion A people lynch several important officials of Religion B. Now the faction Religion B will be on the offensive and they might think Religion A planned the attack. Religion B will break the truce and everything will go back to being as tense as before.
You can find out more here and here. The latter link is about creating a pseudo-medieval court, but it works for any centralized government.
“I desire the things which will destroy me in the end.”
— Sylvia Plath (via girlrejectsgod)
it is tiring, being endless political just as someone existing. my teacher asks me if i’m writing more of that “feminist poetry.” a lot of it is just talking about me, being a woman, being afraid in the city. i write about walking a line, about how i am expected to choose between home and work, how each comes with a slew of its own insults; how it feels when i am wearing shorts and there are too many men outside. these are just facts of my life. someone in the comments says, “where are woman even coming up with these crazy generalizations in their feminism?”
i hold hands with the prettiest girl i’ve ever seen and someone sighs when they see me. “do they have to make everything gay?” she asks her friend, loudly, “like, do you have to force those views in my face all the time?” i can’t stop blushing. my girlfriend holds my fingers tighter, tighter, tighter, until my knuckles are white, and i let her. somehow, this is us, protesting.
my father’s cuban blood stains my skin, i think. when i am honored with a position in the dean’s private council, a boy sneers, “you only got in because you’re hispanic.” did i? i spend the rest of our meetings wondering if i was selected for my stellar academic record, for the multiple recommendations, for the clubs i lead - or if i was just a move the dean made, to make use of me. when we all take a picture, the dean brings me in the front. in the first three we take, i am not smiling.
it is odd. “i exist.” i say, “i deserve to exist.”
“oh my god,” he groans, “we get it, you’re a feminist.”
“You were unsure which pain is worse - the shock of what happened or the ache for what never will.”
—
Simon Van Booy, Everything Beautiful Began After