And where did you think these stereotypes came from, anyway?

     Irma and I made a short notice trip to visit with her brother in Cedar City, Utah to give him some support through some ongoing difficult times.  In order to get there, we had to fly to Las Vegas and rent a car to drive 2 1/2 hours into Utah.  I've never been a 'city person', (nor even a large town person), and Vegas definitely fits the bill.  However, we did get a chance to sample some amazing desserts and sandwiches from Jean-Philippes, a patisserie at the Bellagio Hotel where one of our nephews works.  I'm afraid amazing is a bit restrained when it comes to the chocolates and eclairs and, yes, even the roast beef sandwich we had...

     On the flight out to Vegas, as well as while gathering our luggage at the airport, I had the opportunity to observe people.  Yep, those stereotypes fit.  On the flight, there was a large contingent of blue-haired senior citizens (and spouses) who happily chatted almost non-stop with each other and anyone else who made the mistake of making eye contact about how "I personally don't gamble much, but I always seem to win.  But I know someone who lost x-thousand dollars the last time they went".  Funny.  Nobody loses in Vegas, it's always someone else...  ;-)  Of course, on the flight back, most of those same blue-hairs were silent and appeared quite somber.

     Another living stereotype was the white-leisure suit clad, comb-over bearing, 40-something who rushed off the plane to a vending machine near baggage claim in order to purchase a half dozen roses or some other such bouquet, presumable for the girlfriend he was to meet at the airport.  Oozing class, he pondered over the important decision for 10 minutes or so before settling on some arrangement that presumable was almost fresh...  Oh, and the young mid-twenties who put down a brace of beers prior to boarding the plane, talked loudly much of the way, and upon exiting the plane, almost ran to the slot machine to get rid of a few dollars that, based on how quickly he wanted to get rid of them, obviously must have been contaminated with H1N1. 

     There was also the man, sitting across the aisle from me, who grumbled about how they wouldn't let him bring his beer from the terminal onto the plane, and when an infant 4 rows back from us uttered 5-10 seconds worth of loud crying (who wouldn't cry upon being herded into the closed confines of an MD-80), spent the next two minutes loudly muttering to himself "Oh lord, what have I gotten myself into.  Great, a screaming baby.  They should ban those things...blah blah blah")  His harangue was infinitely more annoying than the normal utterances of even the loudest infant.  ;-)

     Anyway, trip out and back went smoothly.  Irma's brother, Omar, and his family (3 kids age 8,13, and 18), probably face a lot more stress as his wife continues her long recovery from brain surgery, but Irma and I both saw good signs of eventual progress and hope.  Puts my whole cataract surgery drama in perspective, at any rate...

     Back to the writing, and I expect I'll be grinding away at Cerryns tale this weekend.  I'll let you know how it goes...

TTFN,
Jim

100k! But is it art?

     I topped 100k words last night as I finished Randir's first scene and started in on continuing Cerryn's tale.  Randir's tale is coming together quite well, and I even did some editing/reworking on some of the first part of that scene that seems to help it read more smoothly.  Picking up Cerryn's tale is a bit rougher, but I suspect as I get back into her storyline, it will come more easily.

     I'm jumping back and forth between Cerryn's and Randir's points of view in part to keep from getting stale as I write.  I'm not certain yet how I'm going to blend those two tales together (scene by scene, or chapter by chapter), nor am I certain how Remy's tale, as well as the empire viewpoint tale will work in.  For now, I'm writing along the chronologic time line of the entire story, which means that as I finish Cerryn's next scene, I should pop in and visit the empire to set their plots in motion.  Then back to Cerryn some more before setting in on Remy.

     Randir's tale will have a longer gap in the story as I'm going to gloss over much of his Kel training and instead focus on the Li'vanya training (Elorna's gatherer) that he picks up as he nears his kel training completion.  The Li'vanya training will force the normally isolationist K'tath to spend some time outside of D'oril learning about the outside world, and that's where things get interesting for him.  BTW, for ifgs'ers, the last Li'vanya was Brandis.

     Meanwhile, Cerryn's training at the Eagles Forge monastery will focus on her sword dance specialization, as well as the extensive philosophic education that she struggles with, setting the stage for the theme of Imperfect Hope.  I'm still putting together my thoughts on the philosophy of the Val'nar temples.  I'll hopefully avoid the stereotypes of warrior-monks by having a distinctive culture built around the concept of Questors (a bit like questing knights, without the lord/government connection).  The Val'nar temples have been trying to guide the confederacy civilization out of a devastating dark age that came about some time back with destruction of the preceding civilization, a humanish empire that spanned the western ocean with it's magical-navigation technologies.  That, btw, is the core of my story idea that's been blurbed on the left here for some time, "Lighthouse".  However, that tale will wait for another day to surface...

     The empire storyline will involve the rise of the new emperor to power, and detail how he follows (and adapts) his fathers long term expansion plan that replaced the previous dynasties rather blunt-force plans.  Those plans led to the disaster (for the empire) at Sha'te Valley and eventually led to the fall of the previous emperor.  The new dynasty adopted a longer term, more subtle strategy to obtain the resources needed to keep the empire running.  The current emperor's father will come across as a rather brilliant strategist, but his son, having fallen under the influence of a powerful seta high priest, will be less successful at long term planning.  I've not really fleshed out the emperor's personality yet, since I only touched on him in one scene in my first draft.  I'm sure as I start to work on that, I'll find out who he is, beyond the two-dimensional figure he is right now.

     Time for a blurb, something from the tail end of Randir's first scene.  It's first draft material, so don't expect too much. 

     Elorna laid the newly crafted j'tai on the log next to her sleeping li'vanya.  Moments passed as she gazed at him, her face a mixture of joy at his choice, and sadness at the harsh path she had just placed his feet upon.  The glade returned to normal, the wind picked up and snow swirled about the clearing again.  Gradually, the guardian faded from view until only the faintest of outlines could be seen, though her eyes remained star bright as she watched until the storm began to wane and the sun rose. 

Clear skies,
Jim

January Progress

     Back in the grinder.  If you note the word count on the left, I've recently updated my count on Imperfect Hope to reflect that I've put in several thousand words of late.  Current total, slightly over 97k.  Being a rough draft, I know that number isn't terribly accurate when it comes to the final product, but it gives me a measure of my progress.  I think I'll treat myself to something when I top 100k words (probably tomorrow).  Little celebrations...

     Reader Matt (Thanks, Matt) sent me a note last week commenting on a posting from a bit more than a year ago about personality.  Back then, I was reading up on the Meyers-Briggs personality tests, and applying that in some degree to my character development.  At first, I envisioned the entire culture of the K'tath to be somewhat homogenous in their makeup, with a strong preponderance of Introverted, Intuitives.  However, Matt, whose father has taught Meyers-Briggs for some 25 years, pointed out that the overall percentages of types is pretty much cross cultural.  That 3% of americans who are INFP's compares to the 3% of East Germans, 3% of Nigerians, and 3% of Chileans.  As usual, I got to thinking...

     It would make sense if I concentrate certain 'types' within the three castes of the K'tath, much like certain types do well (and concentrate somewhat) within certain professions (And that got me to thinking about the mb-types of air traffic controllers, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms).  Thus, I'm going to look at the 16 types, especially the informal names (like guardian, mentor, artisan) and allow that to concentrate the typings for me.  I'm also going to look at my current thoughts on the typings of my major protagonists to make sure it fits, but I don't anticipate any changes in their personality, I used the Meyers-Briggs as merely food for thought when I was fleshing out Randir and Cerryn.

     The "informal" names for the types seem to provide a clue to the typical personality of the various types.  For example, a wikipedia article refers to the INFP (my type) as a healer, though not necessarily a "Physical Healer", rather it implies that an INFP is an emotional and spiritual healer (thus many INFP's do well in careers such as counselors and therapists).  The INTJ's nickname is "mastermind".  ISFJ is "protector".  An ESFJ is a "Provider".  You get the point.  Using those 'non-scientific' names as a beginning, I can more easily see the makeup of the k'tath culture, at least regarding their disposition within the three castes.  Sen would include ESTJ supervisors,INTP architects, and INTJ masterminds. Krath, the bulk of the k'tath, would include ESFJ providers, ENFP teachers, crafters, counselors, and so on.  The Kel would include ENFP Champions, ISFJ Protectors, and possibly the ENTJ "Field marshall" (though they also might go into the Sen). 

     Does this help me write?  Perhaps as I'm jotting down notes about characters as I write the story, having a 'type' on file helps me keep the characters actions consistent, so long as I remember to consult my notes every so often to remind myself of the details I've accumulated.  Many of my notes are scattered about my desk drawer, poorly organized, but since this summer when I upgraded my writing software to a program called ywriter-5, I'm able to append notes to characters, objects, places, whatever I need, and recall them with only a few mouse clicks.  By the time I've finished IH, I suspect I'll have quite a file of notes saved on my harddrive(s) that will carry over to my next project.  Now, where did I put my D'oril maps...

     Anyway...  I'll probably get back to work on writing tonight after work, if I break 100k anytime in the next three days, Irma and I will reward ourselves (well, me for the milestone, and her for putting up with my madness) with a nice dinner somewhere.  Anyone got any suggestions?

TTFN,
Jim

    

2010: New Year

     I find myself a bit in awe of the fact that we're beginning another new decade.  Y2K really doesn't seem that far back, and yet, here we are, 2010.  Is anybody else feeling like the calendar is flipping by faster and faster?

     Imperfect Hope has languished for the last 6 weeks.  As I'd mentioned in my last post, writing during the holiday period has felt nearly impossible.  I know it would be different if I were writing full time, and not putting most of my energy into keeping my head above the water at the FAA.  Though our traffic levels are down a little from last year, it felt busier than ever, in a large part due to the extra load we veterans have to carry while the new generation of trainees learn the ropes.  With retirements coming fast and furious, the trainees are getting pushed hard to get checked out on the various sectors, sometimes too rapidly for them to absorb it all in a meaningful manner.  When I went through the training process some 22 years back, it took nearly 4 years to complete.  The technology has changed dramatically since then, but the core of the job is the same.  It still takes about three years for the newbies to get through the program, and honestly, I think it takes another year or more for some of it to really sink in.

     I've looked at my skill progression and have come up with a comparison to medieval times.  Back then, (and I'm playing a bit loose with hard facts because, frankly, there are dozens of different facts that contradict each other to some degree, so I'm picking the ones that I remember from readings that seem most relevant.)  Anyway, back then, in the skilled artisan or trade guilds, an apprentice (trainee) spent many years learning the job (Controller wise, that's 2-4 years college, plus 3-4 years on the job training).  Once they became a journeyman (we call them "FPL's", or full performance level controllers), they might spend 15 years or so perfecting their art.  Then, they became masters.  In the ATC world, I see the trainees get checked out, and spend about three years becoming what I consider a "journeyman" level, then another 12-15 years before I feel that skill levels are at the "master" level.  Yes, there is a definite difference between a 6 year "journeyman", and an 18 year "master".  There's an efficiency in action, a calmness, and frankly, a confidence in the way the master handles things that a journeyman, even though he may have all the technical skills, just can't project with the same smoothness.

     Thats where the challenges this year have arisen.  We've got two humps of ages in the ATC system, a hump of 40 percent or so of controllers with 20+ years of experience who are all "masters", many of whom will be retiring in the next few years, another hump of 30 percent who are "journeymen" with 5-10 years of experience (yes, there was a period of ten years where the FAA just flat out ignored hiring new controllers because "we've got enough right now"), and the remaining 30 percent who are either trainees, or less than 5 year veterans.  The burden is falling on the "masters" to train the newbies, not because the journeymen can't, but because the stress levels in 1 on 1 training pushes them much harder than it does the veterans. 

     However, it is tiring.  Sitting in front of a radar scope for 2 hours at a time with full attention on projecting what will happen in the next 10 minutes is fatiguing enough.  Sitting behind a trainee with full attention on both the radar scope and the trainee is doubly so.  A good trainer's eye spends almost as much time on the trainee because, basically, you want to sense trouble forming in the trainee's mind before he or she even realizes it is there. 

     I watch my trainee's shoulders, hands, and leg movements.  I listen to the timbre of his voice, speech rate, note stumbles and the frequency of "Calling Center, say again?".  Some trainees start bouncing their knee when they begin to stress.  Some lean further and further forward until their noses seem to almost touch the radar screen.  And some just flat out freeze.

     A "journeyman" controller probably isn't aware of those telltales, so the trainee gets in trouble, and the journeyman trainer notices it about the time he see's that the sector is almost beyond control.  He then has to jump in, pull the trainee out of the way, and spend the next 15 minutes shoveling furiously until he's out of the hole.  Meanwhile, the trainee sits back and fidgets and stresses and, by the time he or she jumps back in, often has lost confidence.

     A veteran trainer might simply mention that the trainee is leaning too far forward, and perhaps he should unclench his fist and let his microphone button breathe a bit.  A simple suggestion to head off a problem 15 minutes before it's a problem might be the key that a veteran see's, but the trainee hasn't.   Rescue the trainee from the stress before it begins, and quite probably, the trainee will be able to get through whatever is building.  He'll learn from it. 

     Obviously, some veteran controllers have no business sitting behind a trainee.  And some journeymen instructors do very well.  There are as many training styles in the center as there are controllers.  Some of us use more than one, depending on what is needed. 

     Bottom line, though, is that, as I'd mentioned last month, we're tired.  With Ski-country routes and traffic levels climbing again, it will be until after spring break before it starts to wind down.  I'm on a crew with 6 FPL controllers (4 of whom are "veterans"), and three trainees, one of whom is a complete beginner, only having arrived at the center a couple of weeks back.  Looks like it's going to be a long year...

     However...  It is a new year.  The FAA is 40-48 hours a week, and it is a stable job, something many out there don't have.  It is up to me to shed the fatigue and stress of the job as I leave the facility and drive home, and be grateful for the blessings that have come my way.  I just have to remember that the rest of the time is our time, so I'll keep my eyes on the stars...  Just like Randir and Cerryn are supposed to do in Imperfect Hope...  ;-)

Clear skies, all...
Jim