Intrepid Earth: A Series Overview

When I first put pen to paper and spawned what would become the first character sketch of Avatar nearly 14 years ago, I had no idea that the scene of a tan-skinned wood elf standing in a forest clearing watching the sunrise with an outstretched palm would evolve into a novel. And after completing chapter upon chapter (skipping over the more difficult ones because I was too scared to write them) I had no idea that my novel would evolve into a series. And that series into a universe. I've always had stories to tell, but it has also been about something more than that.

"It's not about money. It's about sending a message."

The more I wrote, the more the characters and their world came alive. I'm not the kind of author who writes with much of an outline (if any), and so the situations my characters get into often surprise me. Strangely enough, they often find themselves facing similar moral and emotional dilemmas as myself. When I realized this, I had a difficult time trying to determine what was actually going on. Do I vent and work out my internal frustrations through fictitious means, or are these extensions of my subconscious trying desperately to show me how to overcome them? Are these stories simple expression . . . or a lesson for myself and, hopefully, the readers?

Since well before the completion of Book 1 in 2009, I've known that I wanted to devote a whole book to each elemental. This would make for a total of seven books, with Of Avatars and Elementals serving as my introductory gathering ground for all six primary elements and the characters they embody. While I've designed each book to be enjoyed individually and without the need to be read in any particular order despite the chronology, there is a natural progression to the moral themes involved. That aside, Book 1 is the best way to discern which character's element a reader would like to explore further.

The progression of moral themes is as follows:

In Book 1: Of Avatars and Elementals, we introduce Avatar to a brand new world of humanity, society, and technology. Much like the infantile hermit, we know very little about the world in which these characters live. We get a quick glimpse, and what we see isn't at all pleasant. The civilized world is corrupt, and an outside force threatens to destroy it. When I wrote this story, I was on the fence about humanity. But the more I lived, the more bleak my outlook became. The difficulty was not in convincing the hero to save the world, but rather . . . how to convince the hero that saving the world might not be the right choice?

I had to show Avatar, a full-grown child, the ugly side of humankind. I had to show him violence and cruelty. Ambivalence and ignorance. Lies and betrayals. And I had to blow these things up so big and so fast that they became more ominous than an immediate, physical, worldwide threat of obliteration. I had to ask myself two very difficult questions: "Is there any hope left for humanity?" and "If I had the power to redeem this world . . . would I?"

Let us assume that the answer to both is, "Yes." How, then, should a hero go about this redemption? Perhaps vigilantism is the answer . . . 

In Book 2: Of Shadow and Dissonance, we follow Yamini and explore a darker alternative to salvation while getting better acquainted with the dystopian Rhevisean capitol. Our young rogue's solution is aggressive but rational: Remove the bad seeds of society by way of assassination and manipulate the system until it operates justly. While I've often contemplated this exact same method, Yamini demonstrates the emotional difficulties of putting it to practice.

Most people are beings of conscience and conduct themselves with strict standards of right and wrong. Yamini is not most people. Her boundaries are a bit skewed. Faced with many evil players, she is able to take them out of the game without much initial hesitation. But dealing in death takes a toll over time, and she struggles to answer yet another difficult question: "Does killing, even when clear of mind and emotion and for all the right reasons, invariably cause more harm than good and serve to perpetuate chaos . . . rather than reestablishing order?"

Yamini's call to action seems to yield results ostensibly but costs several innocent lives in the process. What about another approach? Perhaps inaction is the answer . . .

In Book 3: Of Wind and Vigilance, the ranger Marik Keingel and his wolf companion give us a closer look at the empire's military--which is supposed to be the last legitimate method of keeping the peace. He is also the first of my deeply religious characters. Both of these things play into his reasons for enlisting to fight under Epson's command as well as for laying down his halberd in defiance of it. An act of utmost treason.

We try to conquer so much through violence in this day and age. How many lives are destroyed because decorated "warriors" issue orders? How many men and women succumb to corruption of mind and soul when they follow these orders without questioning them? How many have fought and died over money, gods, country and resources--all things that we simply cannot take with us, things that have no value outside of that which we bestow upon them? Too many.

While doing nothing is often the right thing to do, Marik shows us that refusal to oblige villainy is often met with replacement. Heroism is seldom fairly matched. Or rewarded.

In Book 4: Of Water and Malice, we explore a different approach via alternating storylines portraying Asche DeBrei as both protagonist and antagonist. As a young man, Asche struggles to provide for himself and his blind brother after a tragic bombing claims their mother's life. As a water demigod, he enacts a vengeful plot against Xearo and Avatar for stealing his powers and sentencing his mortal body to death. In order to neutralize Asche, Xearo must unlock his rival's memories buried deep within the seas.

Like the plot of this story, its moral focus is also twofold. The first is a study of using loss and anguish for manipulation, essentially transforming a well-intentioned but misguided youth into an instrument of evil and a bringer of chaos. The second is a study of bypassing what appears to be malicious action on the surface and instead perceiving the origin of the deeds: pain. To tip someone on the verge of self-destruction into darkness requires little effort, while bringing them back requires an immense, almost superhuman amount of understanding and compassion.

So, how does one achieve these things? Through patience and experience? Through sympathy and sensitivity? Can these bring about world-changing revolution? Maybe so . . .

In Book 5: Of Earth and Resilience, we learn what Aeria was up to for the duration of Book 4's events. Taking up her grandfather's mantle, she becomes swept up in political controversy alongside Yamini and Councilman Turnbase in efforts to eradicate the martial law that has suffocated the empire and remove all emigration restrictions from the borders. But a charming newcomer, who woos Aeria with his knowledge of nature, would see Rhevise leveled rather than reformed.

Equipped with the aforementioned traits, Aeria appeals to the population's suppressed, gentle inclination in order to mend a broken government while also coming to terms with Yamini's involvement in her own grandfather's assassination. She believes that love, rather than violence, will be their key to salvation. In order for this to occur, the people must shift away from their current devotion to a vengeful goddess and instead move toward the earth- and sun-based deities of old. An act that requires healing the planet itself.

Environmentalism was always an inevitable issue for this society, and it requires trust and faith for it to work, just as love requires an open heart. Some lack all of the above . . .

In Book 6: Of Fire and Vigor, our occasionally obnoxious anti-hero Xearo Ta'Lorence takes no time to rest following back to back battles with the water demigod and Aeria's earthen golem. Exhaustion renders him more rash than usual, and his mind has become wracked with bloodlust due to DeBrei's malicious imprint. Teetering on the brink of madness, Xearo unwittingly threatens to destroy half the city during his quest to rectify the past and settle the score with everyone who has wronged him.

We see the old Xearo resurface after more than a year of non-violence. We see a cynical world view challenge all the elementals' hard work and hopeful outlooks. And we see the terrifying results of acting without forethought. The goal of this is to question: "Is Xearo the protagonist or the antagonist of his own story?" In life we are often victims of self-sabotage and project our inner demons onto others. When the desire to seek scapegoats outweighs good intentions, the merit of a person's character is indeed called to trial.

This is a story about forgiving ourselves and our enemies. Are we our own protagonist or antagonist? The only conclusive answers lie in extensive introspection and soul-searching . . .

In Book 7: Of Light and Glass, Avatar D'Kemvi reclaims the spotlight after being mostly absent for the entire series. The spirit of light has found a new body by fusing with the mana statue that Xearo scuplted in Avatar's likeness. Immune to the elements individually and encased in a form comprised of pure magic essence, he is able to tap into the power of oblivion and uses it to travel through time restoring order. While having the power to manipulate time and solve the world's problems seems grand, it is bound to come at a price.

Departing from timid, naive origins, Avatar's understanding of the world has increased dramatically. As has ours. Though his ability to empathize is still intact, he is now a harsh but fair judge of humanity. Every minute detail of the events in which he decides to intervene is scrutinized. No one is given the benefit of the doubt. When dire circumstances reunite him with his elemental friends, even they no longer recognize him. The innocent, sensitive forest dweller has been replaced by an emotionally numb--albeit altruistic--worldly protector.

This is the conclusion I myself have reached--that it is possible to do good without being emotionally invested in the results, that being supercharged with feelings is not always the way to go, and that both action and inaction are situationally appropriate.

I can't claim to be the most creative or ground-breaking author. There's a good chance that any sci-fi or fantasy veteran won't see many elements in my stories that haven't been thought of before. But that's not necessarily the point. I draw from the things I know and love and use them to explore my own subconscious. My stories are essentially extended character studies aimed at provoking thought as much as (if not more than) entertaining. Because I'm not an entertainer. I'm a pseudo-philosopher with a hero complex just trying to do my part to save the world. A quest that often involves helping people to open their eyes so that they can save themselves.

So, what is the path to redemption? I don't know. Maybe there is no universal guide, but if I had to boil down the philosophies of each book into single-sentence steps that I intend to follow, it might look something like this:

1. Acknowledge the discord in society.

2. Lash out against tyranny and injustice.

3. Recognize evil players and refuse to do their bidding.

4. Seek to understand and rectify the suffering in others, including enemies.

5. Seek to understand and restore the world around us.

6. Seek to understand and realign ourselves.

7. Achieve balance and determine when (and when not) to intervene.

Intrepid Earth: Series Summaries in 50 Words

In the last year, I've been leaning more and more towards the independent self-publishing route. Even so, I took away a lesson from researching the traditional publishing methods. In order to catch an agent's or editor's attention and stand out from the slush pile, a perfectly-crafted query letter has to hook them with the plot. These query letters must be short and sweet, which often means boiling down your entire book to just a sentence or two.

This proved difficult. After working on my characters and worlds and stories for years and years, it's easy to get lost in all the plots, side plots and lessons. There's so much that I want a reader to experience! How on earth would summarizing an entire book with just a few lines possible do the story justice? How on earth could that ever seem interesting?

I started paying attention to movie summaries on the guide channels and Netflix and whatnot. These stories were also given limited real-estate with which to hook the viewers' attention. I started paying attention to what made me want to watch one film over another. Strangely, the short summaries did not always seem accurate in retrospect. It wasn't that they were far off; it's that there was no way to adequately sum up the plot.

Summing up the plot isn't the goal with the query teaser, and it isn't my goal in providing you with them. The goal, rather, is to give you an idea of what to expect as far as a general theme. Keep in mind that I've left most of these stories open to expansion. I'd already like to write a trilogy based off Yamini's adventures, and possibly a spin off featuring her guildmaster, Soliessen, as the main character. There's a ton of lore to explore.

Below are the "teaser" summaries that I might use if I were to write a query letter for each book and submit them to an agent. Which sounds most interesting to you, and why? Would you read them out of order so that you could skip to your favorite character's story first? Who deserves to have their story explored in more detail?

Book 1: Of Avatars and Elementals

Toughened outlaws and a peaceful forest dweller defend their homelands from otherworldly monsters while resisting the urge to kill each other. Humanity's last hopes lie in mana, a once-abundant alien mineral capable of unlocking powerful elemental magic, and the mysterious hermit Avatar who's not entirely convinced humanity deserves saving.

Book 2: Of Shadow and Dissonance

Eager to restore justice to a corrupt empire, Yamini joins an elite guild of adolescent assassins under the supervision of a mysterious woman. With the aid of her shadowspirit companion, Yamini becomes a favored student . . . until she refuses to kill the one politician who can bring balance to the territories.

Book 3: Of Wind and Vigilance

Devastated by the disappearance of his younger sister, Marik Keingel enlists in the military to seek revenge. Trained under Delenthias Epson, the most decorated commander in history, Marik soon discovers that he is the subject of a biological experiment . . . and that the war between territories is not what it seems.

Book 4: Of Water and Malice

Xearo and Aeria retire their weapons and take to exploring their roles of mage and shaman in the peaceful, hidden town of Orphalese. But things take a turn for the worse when DeBrei, the water elemental-turned-demigod, threatens to destroy the city--and the planet--with a great flood.

Book 5: Of Earth and Resilience

Aeria returns to a healing Rhevise to help Yamini and Councilman Turnbase restore the capitol to the Peacemaker's vision without Xearo's knowledge. She begins to fall for a strangely familiar man who seems to know her darkest secrets . . . only to find that he is ultimately out for Aeria's unborn twins.

Book 6: Of Fire and Vigor

Stirred by visions of killing his family brought on by his confrontation with the water elemental, unruly Xearo Ta'Lorence wreaks havoc through Rhevise to track down Yamini and sate his fury. As his destructive spree intensifies, Xearo understands that the only way to free himself is to embrace his enemies.

Book 7: Of Light and Glass

Finding a new vessel in the glass monument Xearo constructed, Avatar's spirit of light travels through time solving mysteries, preventing disasters and righting wrongs. His final vision leads him to a restored Rhevise where an anonymous figure works to assemble the world's remaining mana shards. And the surviving elementals themselves.

A Gamer's Influence: Character Classes

Enthusiasts will say, "Write what you know." Well, I know gaming. I've been absorbed in them for enough years to find nuggets of inspiration within. Readers with an interest in gaming (the role-playing variety, in particular) might notice some familiar trends in my work, but it can be difficult to justify the amount of hours spent in front of a screen as "research" to a non-gamer. Rather than attempt to convert them so that they can appreciate the subtle homages peppered throughout my stories, I aim to grant them insight to the influence that game philosophy has on my personal writing style.

The use of traditional character "classes" is perhaps the most obvious and helpful influences in my writing. In role-playing games (RPGs), classes are used to determine a variety of things about a character's performance. Will they fight, heal, or protect? Use magic or physical weapons? From range or up close? Sneaky or in your face? Heavy armor or cloth? From here it is possible (and also very likely) to delve into hybrids, duals, or even to invent custom classes to suit a unique purpose.

Deciding early on to make a character loosely based on a specific class answers a lot of questions about how that character can and will be developed, both inwardly and outwardly. A rogue/thief/assassin character like Yamini Lithala will naturally be more introverted, less trusting, and self-serving. Outwardly they are nimble, efficient, stealthy, and often clad in leather. They will use any possible advantage, however dishonorable, to win a fight. A paladin (or holy warrior) like Cyleighre Cleaverhorn serves the people and the church. Violence is used to protect rather than to carry out personal vendettas. Blessed platemail armor is ususally worn, as paladins rely on their strength--and their faith--to mitigate damage and outlast their enemies.

Only . . . my  characters actually have faces.

Several ranged classes also sport companions to fight by their sides. Archers/hunters/rangers like Marik Keingel tend to tame and train their own creatures from the wilderness. While attacking from a distance with a bow, crossbow, or firearm, their pets can then charge in and attack an enemy up close. Magic wielders are not excluded! Warlocks summon various demons to do their dirty work, some of which attack physically or use magic of their own. Necromancers like Drathanas Dustbringer can raise the dead and distract their foes with an army of ghouls while assaulting them with dark magic. Even mages/wizards/sorcerers are known to summon elementals. These minions are less common and usually temporary.

    

It's not always necessary to make these classes obvious from page 1. At times the characters begin ostensibly class-less and must transition into one or several. Aeria Radeus is introduced without a discernable role. Initially she leans toward the rogue and as such is dressed in leather and equipped with a degree of melee prowess. As time goes on and she comes into her powers, her class more resembles the shaman--a caster/melee hybrid with an affinity for earthy spells. Avatar D'Kemvi begins his journey as a druid with a close relationship to nature and a knack for healing. As circumstances push him into combat, he later takes on the role of monk--a melee fighter who wears cloth into battle and devastates his foes with a mix of staff strikes and acrobatic martial arts. Xearo Ta'Lorence conducts himself as a warrior/barbarian for almost the entirety of the first book, boasting heavy platemail, a two-handed sword, and rage as his primary source of power. As the book comes to a close (and as his journey continues into future books), however, he transitions into a full-fledged mage--a powerful magic-wielder with mastery over fire and ice. In the future, his sword and heavy armor will likely be retired.

    

The use of a class system might at first seem restricting (and this is a very common complaint among many RPG'ers who have been spoiled by class-less games), but when seen as a guideline instead of a rule, it's actually quite flexible. In writing, there's no balance issues limiting what a character can and cannot equip. The only limitations placed on the characters are those of the story itself. Yamini doesn't throw fireballs--not because "rogues don't throw fireballs, lol" but because she's a shadow elemental, not a fire one. (Don't get me started on shadowbolts. It's not going to happen.) Conversely, it might seem odd that Xearo, a warrior, has access to the area of effect mage spell [Flamestrike] even though most plate-clad tanks have no knowledge of such sorcery. Being an elemental of fire grants him this ability, even though it's not prescribed by his aforementioned class.

    

This philosophy is not limited to Of Avatars and Elementals, either. While I might have ruined the fun of thumbing through book 1 and trying to figure out which classes belong to which characters, there are other stories to peruse and still more in the works. Keep your minds sharpened and see if you can nail all the character/class combinations! Can you guess which character's abilities were inspired by Blizzard's Deathknight class?

Patch Notes for Book 1, 4.0.1

Since its completion in June 2009, Of Avatars and Elementals has seen some changes and improvements. Some slight, some...not so slight. In the coming weeks and months I will be issuing these "patch notes" to keep readers up to date with what's going on. I fully intend for this to be the final working draft of the story. Should the big boys get their hands on it (and I sincerely hope that they do), further changes will be made prior to publication. If they don't, and I go the route of self-/e-publishing, then this will be what you see at launch.

I've not gotten around to formatting the PDF version and publishing to Scribd just yet. However, if anyone is wanting a rushed Word document inboxed to them, please don't hesitate to say so. Otherwise I will simply update this post with the Scribd link. Please note that ONLY the first chapter and the prologue (once I'm done reworking THAT) will be available for mass download, as I'd like to keep the whole project under relative lock and key when it comes to the masses.

General

Chapter names have been changed to character quotes and are now visible. This was done to be consistent with other novels in the series. Roman numerals will remain unaffected.

The timeline has been shoved back four months (from April to August) to preserve continuity with Book 2. And to make our heroes sweat a bit more in the desert.

Italics (and commas) in the narrative text have been considerably reduced. There will be time for these in the graphic novel adaptation. Eventually.

All characters have received slightly more detailed physical descriptions.

"Datapads" are now referred to as "DREC logs" throughout the Intrepid Earth universe. Looks like Star Wars already laid claim to the former term.

Inmate Asche DeBreis has had the "s" dropped from his surname. It is now simply DeBrei.

Xearo Ta'Lorence now officially has red hair. Somehow "fiery blonde" didn't quite have that elemental ring to it.

Aeria Radeus now speaks more casually. Three characters avoiding contractions was one too many.

Measurements throughout the novel have been changed from metric to customary units for the sake of reader sanity. Doesn't look like the U.S. will be joining the rest of the world any time soon.

Chapter I: Peace Beyond the Sea

Overall word count has increased by 828, from 5,194 to 6,022.

Reworked and added several paragraphs.

It is now more obvious, via flashbacks and narration, that Xearo was genetically enhanced at birth by his father's biological experiments. This was apparently too subtle in the previous version.

Aeria Radeus is now more clearly defined as albino. As pale skin and "platinum" hair didn't do the trick, she now takes greater care to cover herself and hide from the sun. So much for designing revealing outfits.

Provided a subtle link between Aeria's grandfather and the scribe Azsherade from book 2. It is not story-breaking if this link goes unrecognized, however, but family trees make things interesting.

Tweaked the narrative when Aeria enters the den that could give an inaccurate impression she is more attracted to than surprised by Xearo. It is now clear that she is uneasy and more afraid of than pleased with his appearance.

The journal which informed Xearo and Aeria about Orphalese has been moved from the middle of nowhere to the cabin library. It just...made more sense for it to be there.

Avatar's introduction has been expanded from 5 paragraphs to 11. This scene was rushed in the previous version and is now rendered in its originally intended glory.

Commander Epson's name is introduced one chapter early.

An unintentional gap in Avatar's timeline, wherein a gun is drawn on him in one scene and he finds himself chained to a wall in the next, has been resolved. A short new scene has been added to elaborate on his exchange with Epson that prompts him to follow the commander further into the desert. He won't find himself chained to a wall until chapter 2.

Character Sketch: Henrik Niestrom

Following a disastrous alchemic accident which caused an entire district of the Rhevisean capitol to fall ill, authorities charged 15-year-old botanist Henrik with attempted mass murder. His conviction brought shame to House Niestrom and he was subsequently disowned. Henrik sought refuge in an orphanage and continued his study of plants and mixtures as he awaited trial. While his disrepute across the empire came as no surprise, he had not expected anyone to admire his crude, archaic skills.

 

Soliessen, guildmaster to a group of assassins, thieves and spies, aimed to make use of the young alchemist's potential. After striking a deal with Henrik, she agreed to purchase his freedom using her wealth and political influence in exchange for his services. As Soliessen's most expensive human asset, Henrik assumed the role of poisonmaster and supplied the guild with deadly concoctions. For months his conscience remained unshaken, never witnessing the end result of his work. But with the arrival of a new recruit named Yamini, Henrik finds his moral horizons suddenly broadened and begins to reevaluate his loyalties--an act that may cost him his life...

The Art of a Prequel

As time progresses and the entertainment industry slowly runs out of ideas, the notion of prequels has begun losing consumer appeal. What was once a creative alternative to sequels, spin-offs and...well...brand new stories with unique characters is becoming a surefire last resort for those wishing to cash in on established success. While prequels have much to offer when done well, more often than not they are carelessly put together and the end result is lackluster. This is partially due to heavy reliance on fan knowledge and support, and largely due to writing backwards being less forgiving than writing forwards. To write a good prequel, one must be talented in all the ways he or she would write any engaging story. However, they must do so with even more limitations, awareness, and demand for surprise.

Time is the writer's primary confines. Care must be taken to maintain accuracy and continuity with previous lore (future events) without threatening to alter thresholds in the timeline. The timelines themselves can pose a problem if significant historical events that were previously alluded to are neglected, or if such events are created for the sake of current plot and are then, chronologically, wiped from future lore via character ignorance.

Another issue of time is settling on the start of it. Going backward from a point, the writer only has so large a window to create a compelling tale (assuming the character is human) before an overlap or parallel occurs. The focus, then, is locating the exact moment in a character's life wherein she becomes interesting. From here it is a matter of creating a series of events to aid in a reverse-arc. The original character is dissected, mangled, and ran through the gamut (figuratively, and at times, literally!) to make sure it undergoes enough change to be considered dynamic and interesting...yet winds up in exactly the same state her future self. In essence, we have to uncreate a character backward.

New characters must also be introduced with caution and their influence monitored. Importance must be such that their existence is crucial to current story progression, but not so much that their absence in future events would go unnoticed or unmentioned by the main character. There are obvious solutions for characters who fail to make appearances later on, solutions which many readers and viewers see coming a mile away. This is an inevitable technical flaw. Concerns should lie in two places specifically: allowing new characters to have an impact in the current story, and making their impact resound in future events. This could be adopted vernacular or mannerisms, skill sets, scars, trinkets and items, or memories. For these reasons, it is a good idea to have every character's history in mind—where they've been, who they've known, what they've done—despite in what order said character appears in the chronology.

Perhaps the biggest technical flaw of all is regard (or lack thereof) for the main character's safety. The audience already knows our character survives to take place in future events. Why, therefore, should they be concerned at all for her health and well-being? For all intents and purposes, the character is immune from death and her success, in one form or another, is guaranteed. This is where strong character building and storytelling come into play, and also where many prequels fall short.

Rather than manifesting a literal theme park and throwing beloved characters on a series of rides to thrill the audience, the writer cannot be lazy and forsake one of the most important rules: Make the reader CARE. To do this, sometimes the character has to be reinvented from the ground up. Her path to the state of mind in future exploits must consist of more than petty action sequences and memorable (or not-so-memorable) dialogue. It must consist of very real emotional struggles, impossible decisions, forged friendships and severed bonds. The audience must be forced to forget that our character survives her obstacles...and one of the best ways to do this is by reminding them of that character's humanity through loss, suffering, and physical pain.

So long as we can relate to and feel something for a character, the mere fact that they survive becomes a moot point before long. By that time, it will become clear that the character does not arrive at her future incarnation physically or emotionally unscathed.

On "Dumbing it Down"

I don't do it so often anymore, but occasionally I will look back at my old short stories, poems, and the first draft of A&E and marvel at how far my writing has come over the last decade. With age, experience and reading I have managed to improve upon many things that have strengthened me as a writer while coming into my own personal style. Learning new words, new techniques, experimentation. All of these are a part of development. And thanks to a few courses in creative writing, I learned how to trim down my prose when I became too wordy. I've finally reached a point where I am confident in my abilities as a writer, yet I still struggle with one aspect of feedback that I receive constantly: the issue of dumbing it down.

Like most commentary, my initial reaction is to take it with a grain of salt. When someone says that something doesn't make sense, I have to balance the possibility of my not having explained it thoroughly against an individual's capacity to solve, interpret or deduce. Additionally, personal opinions and tastes play a large role in a reader's feedback. As a result, suggestions are not always objective, neutral critiques. What flags a comment in my mind is having heard the same complaint or suggestion several times before. This says to me, "Hey Sean, maybe you're doing something wrong!" To which I reply, "Perhaps I should take a closer look." And so I do. This has also made me a stronger writer.

But I seem to have hit a wall where I am unable or unwilling to compromise.

After a bit of research I have learned that most publications, be them magazines, newspapers or novels, are written between a fifth- and eighth-grade level because it maximizes readability by the widest margin of people. Obviously, the easier something is to read, the more people in theory can and will read it. (Movies focus on the PG-13 rating for this same reason.) It makes sense, of course. But I also have to consider the publications that do not subscribe to this philosophy. I have to consider the literary geniuses throughout history who didn't care about "maximizing sales" but instead focused on being original and creating a masterpiece. Even if it meant only a precious few would understand or appreciate it. Even if it meant that they would be long dead before their genius became fully realized.

My concern: How is an author's style defined, and at what point does an oversimplification of prose infringe upon this? I worry because I have worked hard to get my writing where it is. I work hard to write elegantly and intelligently without seeming pretentious or verbose. Yet still, most of my work goes over people's heads. And I know it's not my stories because the incident isn't limited to fiction. My articles, blogs and essays have all had the same effect. I want more than anything to be read and understood and appreciated by the masses, but is establishing myself as an author worth putting on hold the heart and soul of my writing? Are the words I choose and the order in which I use them not the very things that set me apart from another writer? By changing these words to smaller ones or using fewer of them solely for the purpose of increasing their readability, am I...really strengthening my writing, or am I just conforming to the modern paradigm that entertainment should be easily--nigh mindlessly absorbed?

Don't get me wrong. I value ease just as much as the next person. But I also value having the option of various levels or types or degrees of difficulty in whatever I'm doing. (Video games get this right. There is a reason why developers often include hard or outright ridiculous modes to play through.) People--gamers, at least--enjoy challenge. Ergo, being as my target audience largely consists of gamers anyway, I have to believe that people want this same choice when it comes to literature. I mean, do people really want to read 300 pages of sentences consisting of five one- or two-syllable words ALL the time? "John ran to the kitchen. He picked up the phone." /headdesk

Again, nothing wrong with the format, or even the level of writing. What has begun to irk me, however, is the intolerance shown toward writing above the average level of readability. At one point it was acceptable to have varying degrees of difficulty when it came to literature. Now, everyone seems to want easy, easy, easy. On the off-chance that someone tells me why they cannot read my writing through to the end, they usually say something like, "It's too hard," or "I don't want to have to think." Well, why not? Has thinking become so difficult that we can no longer bear the thought of it? What happened to challenging ourselves? What happened to broadening our vocabulary and strengthening our grasp of the English language? Tabloids happened. Reality TV happened. The desire to absorb rather than interpret happened. And the editors, publishers and producers let it happen. We demanded, and they supplied.

And it is possible, too, that the artists, the musicians, the writers are to blame as well. It is possible that when faced with the ultimatum of "dumb it down so we can sell it, or get out" that we commonly take the former option in favor of getting published, finding fame, reaping riches, and so on. The latter option is an exercise in faith, but it is also a stance of principle. To walk away from a surefire deal to preserve one's creative doctrines shows a confidence beyond the money-centric ideology that seems to have afflicted most forms of personal expression. We sacrifice ourselves all too often because we equate the deal, the job, the gig, the contract, the check, to success. We allow those things to validate us despite having diluted who we are and what we create. The proverbial endgame, therefore, has become more a matter of winning favoritism and less one of having something unique or inspiring to offer.

Do we cheapen our methods of self expression by selling them? Of course not. There's nothing wrong with putting a pricetag on one's work. But I do believe that whatever message we are trying to convey as artists is weakened by manipulating and distorting and fine-tuning it to fit inside the perfectly average box so that everyone can perceive it the exact same way. Requisites for interpretive skills, for drawing conclusions, for questioning what we take in, have been relegated into virtual non-existence because everything is constantly spelled out for us! There is little room to inquire, "What about those things?" before someone replies, "There are no other things, save for what we have presented. Nothing exists outside of the box we have drawn for you."

We are supposed to accept this. And I believe most are so conditioned to soaking up like a sponge whatever is poured into their entertainment bowls that they've forgotten how to demand more and instead settle for shallow things...not out of preference, but out of a lack of any other choice! So I'm here to give it to them. And if it takes winning over readers, agents, editors and publishers one by one, then sobeit. The world has plenty of mindless garbage to absorb. But whatever the case, I have absolutely no intention of selling out.

Do I speak from experience? Have I refused a year's salary or more because I'm too stubborn to write "can't" instead of "cannot"? No. My decree, as it were, is one of intent...and it states that my creative integrity will not buckle beneath the pressure of corporate demand and monetary incentive! It will not cater to indifference, to a lack of curiosity or initiative, to those wishing to keep one eye on the prose and the other on the television. My work is not meant to be read on autopilot; as such, I cannot expect everyone to enjoy it. Even those with an affinity for harder and heavier reading won't enjoy it. And that's okay. I still subscribe to the notion that literature is more than a frivolous means of entertaining. It is also an artform. Art...is subject to interpretation, and that's precisely what we could be doing more often. Interpreting...

Instead of absorbing.