Control: The Omniscience Cult…

I, Dalton Lewis, wrote a novella called The Omniscience Cult. Usually I write novels about unpopular outsiders fighting against the popular system. In this case I flipped it: the unpopular geeks are the bad guys and the good guys are the so-called popular kids, Easton and Nolan. I wanted them to be innocent, though, and unforgettable.

Characterization is important to me, and that meant creating two friends: Easton is super-nice to everyone around him, giving and nurturing every single person in his life. He helps Nolan when Nolan is suspended because of a mental health issue. He helps his little sister when she freaks out because Satan is giving his little sister gifts. He supports his girlfriend Melissa when she fights for everything in life. I wanted him to be someone that would piss off the geeks that are angry and upset, and the character turned out to be exactly that.

Nolan, however, is an angry rebel who fights the system: he is also a proud gay teen. He broods, and he fights against a church system which says that he corrupts the youth. I wanted this character to have real strength and power, and I feel that I succeeded.

The geeks needed to be unique and interesting. Eli has rage for days. He hates how the moral community treats him. That anger can be found in every high school in America, and I wanted to channel that hatred and anger into a unique character. He hates people and sees himself as the hero of his own messed-up story. He refuses to rape anyone and thinks that justifies his other crimes.

Kyla is a genius who hates homework: it is beneath her and represents her doing what the assholes in charge want her to do. She is defiant, strong, and knows how to fight. Her friend Estella relies on her to help with everything: Kyla keeps people sane and safe.

I didn’t outline this story because I wanted to create interesting characters and see where the story naturally progressed based on the actions of said characters. Normally an outline is ideal but not always. In this case an outline would have hurt the story’s progression from scene to scene.

I wanted to construct a novella which shows anger and rage at the moral community while showing some innocent members of said community: showing the contradiction matters to me. I felt that I wrote an interesting story worth checking out.

Thanks, and take care, friends.