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Help me along, anyone?
As some of you might know, I am/ have been working on a book about a succubus.
The name that we give to that dastardly female, that makes us do anything for her, re-named for the female sexual spirit that appears to men in the middle of the night and makes them have sex with her, and she in turn drains their life forces; in many cases their health, longevity, and bodily fluids which many equate to the same thing.
This concept of course covers many themes; erotic dreams and the many ramifications of sexual desire, male and female, normal and the unusual, the mundane and the deviant.
What is the most intriguing thing for me, apart from the fact that this female spirit appears very ubiquitously in almost all cultures, almost unchanged, is that the general emotional response to such an idea is fear and rejection of the concept.
Many of the literature of the time, while influenced by women, is still largely documented by men. If we accept this to be so, then can one say that men are afraid of sex, a sexual woman, erotic dreams? Or does it mean that in real life, it is much preferred that a woman take a passive role in sexual relationships, or in all relationships? So that the worst manifestation of a woman, the thing that we are most prone to fear and rejection, is as a demon that prowls on men at night?
AND, if there is a universal fear about what a female SHOULD not be, what a female monster or malevolent spirit looks like, flipping that theory on its head, is there a universal theory on what she SHOULD be?
Is there a woman that every man fall in love with? Is there such a woman that can MAKE every man fall in love with her?
This is my theory, also my question, and I have been battling it out on the pages of my book; literary, fiction, for a long time. (2 years and some odd months).
As with everything, sometimes I get stuck on the direction in which to proceed forward.
The characters look like they are forcing themselves to be (any other writer out there feel me on this one, holler)
But ill pass on to you one of the nuggets of wisdom that I have gleaned from writing forums, something that is so simple, its nearly redundant to repeat.
And that is that when you are stuck for inspiration, take a break, and look at life for the inspiration that evades you in the fiction.
Simple huh?
In the spirit of that, I have been spending some time looking at some of the great examples of Succubi in local legend, urban legends, contemporary news, even in literature that was written before me. Jezebel and Jagua Nana, anyone?
Some of them overt, the others covert. The unifying character seems to be that woman who is so sure of her own power and appeal that is draws you in like a spell.
This is irregardless of her looks, or perhaps even her brains. (even though you have to admit that being a seductress requires some appreciable grey-matter cunning).
Arrogance aside, you do have to admire that grit. To get men’s balls, (sorry, there was no other way to put this), you need some yourself.
I think to myself, if I had that power over men, what would I do with it?
(Cleopatra changed a country from inside a carpet, my kinda gal)
So I will in the spirit of my work post a picture of my succubus of the week on this blog.
You are welcome to say yay or nay, just remember that for every succubus you knock off, you have to give me one back.
That’s fair isn’t it?
This week, I present to you, Madame Chantal Biya.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/5195855/Chantal-Biya-the-first-lady-of-Cameroon.html?image=1
The name that we give to that dastardly female, that makes us do anything for her, re-named for the female sexual spirit that appears to men in the middle of the night and makes them have sex with her, and she in turn drains their life forces; in many cases their health, longevity, and bodily fluids which many equate to the same thing.
This concept of course covers many themes; erotic dreams and the many ramifications of sexual desire, male and female, normal and the unusual, the mundane and the deviant.
What is the most intriguing thing for me, apart from the fact that this female spirit appears very ubiquitously in almost all cultures, almost unchanged, is that the general emotional response to such an idea is fear and rejection of the concept.
Many of the literature of the time, while influenced by women, is still largely documented by men. If we accept this to be so, then can one say that men are afraid of sex, a sexual woman, erotic dreams? Or does it mean that in real life, it is much preferred that a woman take a passive role in sexual relationships, or in all relationships? So that the worst manifestation of a woman, the thing that we are most prone to fear and rejection, is as a demon that prowls on men at night?
AND, if there is a universal fear about what a female SHOULD not be, what a female monster or malevolent spirit looks like, flipping that theory on its head, is there a universal theory on what she SHOULD be?
Is there a woman that every man fall in love with? Is there such a woman that can MAKE every man fall in love with her?
This is my theory, also my question, and I have been battling it out on the pages of my book; literary, fiction, for a long time. (2 years and some odd months).
As with everything, sometimes I get stuck on the direction in which to proceed forward.
The characters look like they are forcing themselves to be (any other writer out there feel me on this one, holler)
But ill pass on to you one of the nuggets of wisdom that I have gleaned from writing forums, something that is so simple, its nearly redundant to repeat.
And that is that when you are stuck for inspiration, take a break, and look at life for the inspiration that evades you in the fiction.
Simple huh?
In the spirit of that, I have been spending some time looking at some of the great examples of Succubi in local legend, urban legends, contemporary news, even in literature that was written before me. Jezebel and Jagua Nana, anyone?
Some of them overt, the others covert. The unifying character seems to be that woman who is so sure of her own power and appeal that is draws you in like a spell.
This is irregardless of her looks, or perhaps even her brains. (even though you have to admit that being a seductress requires some appreciable grey-matter cunning).
Arrogance aside, you do have to admire that grit. To get men’s balls, (sorry, there was no other way to put this), you need some yourself.
I think to myself, if I had that power over men, what would I do with it?
(Cleopatra changed a country from inside a carpet, my kinda gal)
So I will in the spirit of my work post a picture of my succubus of the week on this blog.
You are welcome to say yay or nay, just remember that for every succubus you knock off, you have to give me one back.
That’s fair isn’t it?
This week, I present to you, Madame Chantal Biya.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/5195855/Chantal-Biya-the-first-lady-of-Cameroon.html?image=1
Saturday, 3 October 2009
DIET...
Too much of everything is bad.
Unless of course you are talking about pineapples and fountain pens.
Top of the list of what is bad in huge doses is facebook, followed by twitter, and then youtube and the fourth horseman of the apocalypse is OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS.
Especially when you have a project like finishing a book, to do.
I blame Starcomms you know. When i opted for 100 hours of internet per month, one of the things that I thought this would do, was that given only about 3 hours a day at the world wide WEB (pun intended), I would be able to catch up on readings, check and reply emails, laugh at some funny stuff and the like.
It was a doomed idea from day one.
All the more so since i discovered online games.
Now this is the most unoccupied I have ever been in my life, I currently have no real employer, and my hours are basically mine.
But this is also the time that I have been the most unproductive, ever since I took up my love for writing again.
If I have ignored bills and living the good life to concentrate on my art, why am i letting frivolous things steal that precious time away from me. (To all my Fabulous friends on Facebook and twitter, I'm not saying that you, or our relationship is frivolous, I'm just regretting that I'm not maximizing precious minutes but making them linger and robbing myself, and maybe you.
So, in the spirit of my new found resolve, I hereby will start an internet diet of 3 hours a day, broken into one hour each.
I'm collating my friends and their time zones so that I can sync the online times of most of them and deciding when these periods will be.
i will also post up a graph about my progress, the minute i can figure out how to go about that.
Peace!
Unless of course you are talking about pineapples and fountain pens.
Top of the list of what is bad in huge doses is facebook, followed by twitter, and then youtube and the fourth horseman of the apocalypse is OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS.
Especially when you have a project like finishing a book, to do.
I blame Starcomms you know. When i opted for 100 hours of internet per month, one of the things that I thought this would do, was that given only about 3 hours a day at the world wide WEB (pun intended), I would be able to catch up on readings, check and reply emails, laugh at some funny stuff and the like.
It was a doomed idea from day one.
All the more so since i discovered online games.
Now this is the most unoccupied I have ever been in my life, I currently have no real employer, and my hours are basically mine.
But this is also the time that I have been the most unproductive, ever since I took up my love for writing again.
If I have ignored bills and living the good life to concentrate on my art, why am i letting frivolous things steal that precious time away from me. (To all my Fabulous friends on Facebook and twitter, I'm not saying that you, or our relationship is frivolous, I'm just regretting that I'm not maximizing precious minutes but making them linger and robbing myself, and maybe you.
So, in the spirit of my new found resolve, I hereby will start an internet diet of 3 hours a day, broken into one hour each.
I'm collating my friends and their time zones so that I can sync the online times of most of them and deciding when these periods will be.
i will also post up a graph about my progress, the minute i can figure out how to go about that.
Peace!
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