Dear Bookworms,
I recently watched the movie San Andreas with my family, and I found it to be a wonderful movie. It exceeded my expectations and inspired me to write, so I thought I'd write a review of it. (Yes, something other than muses and zombies!)
Plot (pacing):
The pacing of the film felt very natural. The set up didn't take too long but emphasized the importance of the earthquakes, giving meaning to some of the concepts that would be introduced further on in the plot. The middle built up towards the finale of the 2nd act, (using the 3 act format) and the ending was not only well played out and one of the tensest moments in the series, but it threw a surprise in that I didn't see coming, and definitely appreciated, and it reminded me that the finale doesn't have to be the biggest event, just the most personal.
Characters:
I won't go into much detail in this, but through most of the film my mom was commenting: "That's what you should look for in a guy!" I think they balanced the heroism of the men with the intelligence of the women, and gave each a chance to save the other. I found that none of the main characters were 'just plot devices' and each of the characters had a unique role to play. Unlike most disaster films where the children just give the main characters something to fight for and the audience a sense of danger, the kid in this film actually had a very important role in the survival of the main characters.
Disaster Scenes:
The main reason that anyone watches a disaster film: the scenes. This film had incredible jaw-dropping cinematography, and while it was noticeable that a few scenes were CGI, the disaster scenes were usually visually realistic. It wasn't just earthquakes, there were...well, I don't want to spoil anything, but it showed some epic shots with a great deal of variety in the destruction.
Accuracy:
There are two sides to this one. On the side of science I've heard that this film had some scientific inaccuracies. I'd have to agree. Here's the thing: writing isn't about accuracy. Writing is about telling your story, and entertaining the audience. If they wanted accuracy they could go watch the History Channel. Though I'm honestly not sure if that would be any better. :) (I've seen some good stuff on the History Channel, but also some REALLY bad stuff.)
On the flip side, their portrayal of human reactions to traumatic situations seemed to be rather accurate. (I cannot fully say, this is just based off of what I've heard.) The way they showed blunt force trauma and how humans respond to stressful situations seemed to be more accurate than most films I've seen. So, spot on.
Story Telling Elements:
Finally, the different elements in this movie were fantastic. They had tension, of course. What disaster film would be complete without it? They also had romance, but it was in its place. The romance was secondary to family. The main romantic interest was more focused on saving his younger brother than on saving the girl. That didn't mean he didn't care, of course he did. But his first priority was his brother. As it should well have been. Finally, it included a lot of something that several disaster films don't have: humor. I understand, if life as we know it is coming to an end, there's not a lot of chances for snarky one liners. But then a movie becomes bogged down and the audience loses interest in the story, and also looses sight of how terrible these events are. By adding in some more light-hearted moments, the narrators were able to pull the contrast on the darker moments and show them for what they were without being graphic. Excellent story telling.
Honestly, I don't know why this movie was as poorly rated as it was. Sure, there's some brief swearing. If I was in that situation, I'd be swearing too. Probably a lot more than they did, and they kept within a PG-13 rating. Anyway. Any other movies you want me to comment on? Anything you want me to write about? Please let me know!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Writing Block Corner: The Muse Pt. 2
Hello Bookworms!
It has come to my attention that my previous conclusion about muses is...incomplete. So, here are 10 more muses that you might come across! Have fun reading?
1: The Research Muse
This muse has ideas, and want to know if it could happen before it's written down. This muse doesn't lead to a lot of writing, but it is the one that makes sure you've got everything right. It wants to make sure you're getting every detail of your story right. It's unpredictable in its nature, and can show up at the strangest times, then last for anywhere from a few minutes to several days, asking the questions you don't honestly have the answers for at the moment, because who want to deal with that editor muse anyway?
2: The Editor Muse
If you haven't run across this muse yet, you haven't been writing long enough. This muse will come up to you at some point in time and yell at you to go back through all of your writing and fix everything wrong. This word doesn't make sense, you shouldn't use that pronoun in that sentence, and you've got an entire paragraph you need to rewrite. No, scratch that, an entire chapter. Well, why not the entire book while you're at it? This muse won't let you live down a mistake, only live it up. It's annoying as anything, and gives you massive insecurity about your book. Unfortunately it's impossible to fully get rid of, as it is necessary. Sorry, but someone needs to tell you to go back and fix your spelling. It just needs to learn timing. Really, dialogue is hard enough without the wrong voice in your ear!
3: The Auditory Muse
This muse is most helpful with dialogue, but really it can help with anything. This is the muse that has you speak your words allowed, and doesn't really like coming out in public. You speak the words allowed and find yourself pouring more emotions into the words than you had originally planned. This is the muse that lets you play out your situations, understanding how long it really takes to speak a paragraph! And if you give your characters the voices of certain actors, well, that's just par for the course.
4: The Actor Muse
I am not even joking when I say that this muse has taken up a large percentage of my Pinterest pins, and entire board. This is the muse that sees a picture of an actor, and suddenly a completely rounded character appears. Fully grown, and on his horse. The problem: this character has no story. Oh, the character has a story, but there's no story that the character belongs to. We're not just about to write an entire story for one character, are we? We're not that big into his previous works.
5: The Copy Muse
We're that big into his previous works. This muse is the muse that is tired of working with original stuff, and wants to see what it's like to experiment with other characters. This is the muse whose works we fondly keep in a drawer and pull out sometimes when we're sentimental. This technically isn't our own work, but hey. We wrote it, and we learned important lessons while doing so. And yes, it might be called fan-fiction, but we prefer to call it a nowhere story. Besides, did you hear the music for that film? Awesome!
6: The Music Muse
This is the muse that loves music. Not every writer has this muse, but for those who do, they find that they do more writing with music in the background than without it. Music is what gives this muse a sense of purpose. An emotion to key in on during a scene. A sense of epic purpose to help you transform your book for words to adventures. This muse works surprisingly well with other muses, which isn't honestly that common.
7: The Muse Clique
This is a group of several muses who never go anywhere without each other, and it's very hard to write one without writing all of them. These muses will copy each other's emotions. They are very difficult to break up, and usually become very upset if you manage it. Eventually you're just going to have to either try writing all of them at once, or take one of them out at a time and give them each your undecided attention for long enough that it no longer feels the need to band with other muses. Even the principal muse has difficulty ratcheting down on these muses.
8: The Principal Muse
If your mind is a school, then this muse is its principal. This is the muse that oversees the rest of them. Or at least tries to. Your principal muse is the means of communication you have with your other muses. If you have writer's block, it's typically because this muse isn't feeling well. This is one of your most helpful muses, until it decides that you should be writing, only none of your other muses are even awake. You're stuck with a desperate urge to write and no outlet, meaning that you generally end up stuck examining the morph.
9: The Morph Muse
You know one thing about this muse. Whether it's a character, or a general arc, or a world, or maybe even the way three characters interact. But other than that, nothing is known. Everything changes. Is it a Western? Is it a Sci-Fi? Is it in the past or the future? Nothing is known. Everything is suspect to change. It's a very difficult muse to write, and also one of the most addicting. You just want to examine every aspect of it, peel away the surface, get underneath its edges, carve away at it...
10: The Constructive Muse
Unlike constructive criticism, this muse means constructive in a very literal term. This is the muse that works best when you're using your hands for something else. Whether it's drawing, cooking, building, blowing things up, this muse wants you to see that you've done stuff. This muse is also a very logical muse. Not everyone has this muse, but it's a very polite muse to have. Well, polite for a bit of a control freak.
Alright, so please! What experiences do you have with muses? Would you like for me to continue talking about muses? Or is there something else about the insanity of writing that you'd like me to go into?
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
It has come to my attention that my previous conclusion about muses is...incomplete. So, here are 10 more muses that you might come across! Have fun reading?
1: The Research Muse
This muse has ideas, and want to know if it could happen before it's written down. This muse doesn't lead to a lot of writing, but it is the one that makes sure you've got everything right. It wants to make sure you're getting every detail of your story right. It's unpredictable in its nature, and can show up at the strangest times, then last for anywhere from a few minutes to several days, asking the questions you don't honestly have the answers for at the moment, because who want to deal with that editor muse anyway?
2: The Editor Muse
If you haven't run across this muse yet, you haven't been writing long enough. This muse will come up to you at some point in time and yell at you to go back through all of your writing and fix everything wrong. This word doesn't make sense, you shouldn't use that pronoun in that sentence, and you've got an entire paragraph you need to rewrite. No, scratch that, an entire chapter. Well, why not the entire book while you're at it? This muse won't let you live down a mistake, only live it up. It's annoying as anything, and gives you massive insecurity about your book. Unfortunately it's impossible to fully get rid of, as it is necessary. Sorry, but someone needs to tell you to go back and fix your spelling. It just needs to learn timing. Really, dialogue is hard enough without the wrong voice in your ear!
3: The Auditory Muse
This muse is most helpful with dialogue, but really it can help with anything. This is the muse that has you speak your words allowed, and doesn't really like coming out in public. You speak the words allowed and find yourself pouring more emotions into the words than you had originally planned. This is the muse that lets you play out your situations, understanding how long it really takes to speak a paragraph! And if you give your characters the voices of certain actors, well, that's just par for the course.
4: The Actor Muse
I am not even joking when I say that this muse has taken up a large percentage of my Pinterest pins, and entire board. This is the muse that sees a picture of an actor, and suddenly a completely rounded character appears. Fully grown, and on his horse. The problem: this character has no story. Oh, the character has a story, but there's no story that the character belongs to. We're not just about to write an entire story for one character, are we? We're not that big into his previous works.
5: The Copy Muse
We're that big into his previous works. This muse is the muse that is tired of working with original stuff, and wants to see what it's like to experiment with other characters. This is the muse whose works we fondly keep in a drawer and pull out sometimes when we're sentimental. This technically isn't our own work, but hey. We wrote it, and we learned important lessons while doing so. And yes, it might be called fan-fiction, but we prefer to call it a nowhere story. Besides, did you hear the music for that film? Awesome!
6: The Music Muse
This is the muse that loves music. Not every writer has this muse, but for those who do, they find that they do more writing with music in the background than without it. Music is what gives this muse a sense of purpose. An emotion to key in on during a scene. A sense of epic purpose to help you transform your book for words to adventures. This muse works surprisingly well with other muses, which isn't honestly that common.
7: The Muse Clique
This is a group of several muses who never go anywhere without each other, and it's very hard to write one without writing all of them. These muses will copy each other's emotions. They are very difficult to break up, and usually become very upset if you manage it. Eventually you're just going to have to either try writing all of them at once, or take one of them out at a time and give them each your undecided attention for long enough that it no longer feels the need to band with other muses. Even the principal muse has difficulty ratcheting down on these muses.
8: The Principal Muse
If your mind is a school, then this muse is its principal. This is the muse that oversees the rest of them. Or at least tries to. Your principal muse is the means of communication you have with your other muses. If you have writer's block, it's typically because this muse isn't feeling well. This is one of your most helpful muses, until it decides that you should be writing, only none of your other muses are even awake. You're stuck with a desperate urge to write and no outlet, meaning that you generally end up stuck examining the morph.
9: The Morph Muse
You know one thing about this muse. Whether it's a character, or a general arc, or a world, or maybe even the way three characters interact. But other than that, nothing is known. Everything changes. Is it a Western? Is it a Sci-Fi? Is it in the past or the future? Nothing is known. Everything is suspect to change. It's a very difficult muse to write, and also one of the most addicting. You just want to examine every aspect of it, peel away the surface, get underneath its edges, carve away at it...
10: The Constructive Muse
Unlike constructive criticism, this muse means constructive in a very literal term. This is the muse that works best when you're using your hands for something else. Whether it's drawing, cooking, building, blowing things up, this muse wants you to see that you've done stuff. This muse is also a very logical muse. Not everyone has this muse, but it's a very polite muse to have. Well, polite for a bit of a control freak.
Alright, so please! What experiences do you have with muses? Would you like for me to continue talking about muses? Or is there something else about the insanity of writing that you'd like me to go into?
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Friday, July 29, 2016
Shady Friday #22
Hello Bookworms!
I've been....busy. So, several of my muses went from comatose to highly caffeinated in a short period of time, so I've been busy writing and doing things.
Today's post is from...wait for it...Mildly Normal Insanity! Yup, I'm still writing it, and it's still giving me grief about how little I write! Oh, and the name of the book has changed. It's currently going by See Us, and now I've run out of things to say. Please read the small snippet from the book, and leave a comment! This is told from the perspective of Basil, a character who I'm still developing. He's a modern adaption of Agamemnon, so if you know a better way to adapt Agamemnon into the modern era, please let me know!
~
So, thoughts? I'm changing perspectives through every chapter, so it's really fun writing from the P.O.V. of so many characters. Still, some of the characters are tricky to write! Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope to have another post soon!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Today's post is from...wait for it...Mildly Normal Insanity! Yup, I'm still writing it, and it's still giving me grief about how little I write! Oh, and the name of the book has changed. It's currently going by See Us, and now I've run out of things to say. Please read the small snippet from the book, and leave a comment! This is told from the perspective of Basil, a character who I'm still developing. He's a modern adaption of Agamemnon, so if you know a better way to adapt Agamemnon into the modern era, please let me know!
~
I swore as a cacophony of screams erupted from the other side of the plaza. I saw people running as quickly as they could
away from the northwest end, and I immediately ran for a lookout post. I found
it in the form of the clock tower in the middle of the plaza. I made my way
through the swarming masses of people until I could reach the door to the tower
and slam it closed behind me.
I was silently grateful that the guards had
abandoned their posts to flee with the rest of the crowd, and quickly climbed
the tower to find a lookout position after bolting the door behind me. It took
me a matter of seconds to climb to the top of the tower and stare down at the
plaza.
I could see the cause of the riots then. There were
about ten of them, and a whole line of people who were in various states of
shock left behind. The creatures were practically tearing down the slowest of
the mob, and I swore as I saw the wanton destruction of bleeding bodies left
behind them.
“Please watch your language around a lady, sir.”
I turned around quickly, and realized that I wasn’t
the only person with this idea.
“Sorry, I thought I was alone.” I thought for a
moment. “If you don’t mind me asking ma'am, why didn’t you run with everyone
else?”
“Just because everyone else decided to run around
screaming and drawing attention to themselves like perfect idiots doesn’t mean
that I have to do the same.” She stated, and I nodded.
“You from Britain?” I asked, turning back to stare
out the window.
“I am.” She nodded. “And you? You're from
America?” I nodded. “Very well. What’s your plan?” She asked.
“Wait for the creatures to chase everyone else,
then get the hell out of here.”
“I thought you were going to watch your language.”
“That was me watching my language.” She snorted,
and you’ve never heard someone insult you until you’ve heard someone from
Britain snort at you. “So what’re you doin’ here in Switzerland?”
“I was attending a fashion show.” I turned to stare
at her. While she looked the part, with some kind of jacket, a modest skirt,
and heels that would make me wince, something didn’t really make sense.
“Sorry if I’m reading into things that are none of
my business, but I got the impression you had more common sense than that.”
She snorted at me again. “I take offense at that.
Several people I know have an incredible amount of common sense and love
fashion shows.”
“But not you?” I asked. She sighed.
“It was a different type of fashion show.” I took
my turn to snort, but apparently I did it the wrong way. “Is something I said
amusing to you?” She asked.
“Sorry, I was just wondering when Switzerland was known for its fashion shows.”
She squared her shoulders and stared out the window
with me. “Like I said, it was a different type of fashion show.” And she
wouldn’t say more on the matter.
“Basil.” I said, offering her my hand.
She looked at it almost distastefully, but shook it
eventually. “Hera.”
“Nice to meet you Hera.”
“Nice? Amidst the screams coming from the plaza as
creatures kill and mutilate everyone in it aside from us? I hardly think so.”
She turned back to the window, and I did too. There were some people that you
just couldn’t talk to.
~So, thoughts? I'm changing perspectives through every chapter, so it's really fun writing from the P.O.V. of so many characters. Still, some of the characters are tricky to write! Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope to have another post soon!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Monday, June 13, 2016
Writing Block Corner: Character Arcs
Hello Bookworms!
A friend of mine who has been a writer for a while asked me for this post. (Please ask me for specific posts!) So, I figured I could share what limited experience I have in this with you! Mostly I'm just sharing some of the various arcs I've seen. Have fun reading! (Oh, and spoilers for the ending of shows and movies, so be warned! I won't go into details, but I do say where characters end up.)
#1: Redemption Arc
I'm sure this is the one you're most familiar with. Example: Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He started out as a villain, but an understandable one and a redeemable one. Over the course of the show the writers portrayed him as struggling with his desire for something other people tell him is necessary, and battling external and internal expectations, and reconciling his own actions with his sense of justice. They showed the corruption of his justice, and how he slowly got it back, along with all his lapses in judgement, and how they each weighed on him until he eventually decided to join the right side. Even then it wasn't easy for him, but he eventually managed to get there. This was an excellent example of the struggles of overcoming something that's both external and internal. Redemption arcs take many forms, but this was one of the best I'd ever seen done.
#2: Trauma Arc
I don't have much I can say on this arc, as I haven't seen many good ones. (Probably because as a rule I tend to avoid movies about sports.) One was Fitz on Agents of Shield. He started out normal, and something (I can't say what!) happened that caused him to sustain major damage to his mind. Over the course of the second season he is seen struggling with being 'damaged' and learning where he finds his own value, and having everyone else start treating him like a member of the team again. It was an excellent way of showing several different ways in which people who've been through mental or even physical trauma find value despite their injuries. I think too many people ignore the fact that a lot of people are 'damaged', or if they allow people to sustain injuries they don't show how it impacts their life. Tell their story too.
#3: Unwanted Responsibility Arc
There have been several examples of this arc, because it's a fairly common one. The main character is destined for something, (typically to become king,) and he doesn't want the responsibility. It's usually because he's afraid that he might disappoint the people he has a responsibility to. It could be a girl facing this responsibility, but I've typically seen it in male characters, such as Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia, or Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. The character starts to see how they might actually be able to accept this responsibility, but also has moments, especially near the end of the story, where he doubts himself again. It's a constant struggle between whether or not he is capable of accepting this responsibility.
#4: Character Regression Arc
I have only identified this ONCE. I'm sure if I went back over some things I've seen before I could find more examples of this, but the only example that I recognized when I read it was Napoleon in George Orwell's Animal Farm. It has an EXCELLENT line that I loved. (Major spoilers!)
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
And that is how the book ends. Throughout the book the pigs, especially Napoleon, hated humans, and wanted to be clear that animals were above humans. As the book progressed however, they end up compromising their rule to have no interactions with humans, and eventually the pigs become the very beings they had claimed to hate so passionately. It was chilling to read, and I highly recommend the book.
Bonus: Flawed Arc: Introvert to Extrovert
DON'T WRITE THIS ARC, PLEASE! Being an introvert isn't a flaw, and it doesn't need fixed! Please, all you writers out there, don't write this arc! Extroverts don't seem to understand, we usually aren't scared of people, we just don't like them. And have you seen people? They're scary! Anyway. Being an introvert, or shy, or quiet, isn't a flaw. Please stop writing characters as if it is.
Alright! So, thoughts? Do you want me to write about more arcs? Is there an area in writing you're having difficulty understand? Please leave a comment, and let me know what you think!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
A friend of mine who has been a writer for a while asked me for this post. (Please ask me for specific posts!) So, I figured I could share what limited experience I have in this with you! Mostly I'm just sharing some of the various arcs I've seen. Have fun reading! (Oh, and spoilers for the ending of shows and movies, so be warned! I won't go into details, but I do say where characters end up.)
#1: Redemption Arc
I'm sure this is the one you're most familiar with. Example: Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He started out as a villain, but an understandable one and a redeemable one. Over the course of the show the writers portrayed him as struggling with his desire for something other people tell him is necessary, and battling external and internal expectations, and reconciling his own actions with his sense of justice. They showed the corruption of his justice, and how he slowly got it back, along with all his lapses in judgement, and how they each weighed on him until he eventually decided to join the right side. Even then it wasn't easy for him, but he eventually managed to get there. This was an excellent example of the struggles of overcoming something that's both external and internal. Redemption arcs take many forms, but this was one of the best I'd ever seen done.
#2: Trauma Arc
I don't have much I can say on this arc, as I haven't seen many good ones. (Probably because as a rule I tend to avoid movies about sports.) One was Fitz on Agents of Shield. He started out normal, and something (I can't say what!) happened that caused him to sustain major damage to his mind. Over the course of the second season he is seen struggling with being 'damaged' and learning where he finds his own value, and having everyone else start treating him like a member of the team again. It was an excellent way of showing several different ways in which people who've been through mental or even physical trauma find value despite their injuries. I think too many people ignore the fact that a lot of people are 'damaged', or if they allow people to sustain injuries they don't show how it impacts their life. Tell their story too.
#3: Unwanted Responsibility Arc
There have been several examples of this arc, because it's a fairly common one. The main character is destined for something, (typically to become king,) and he doesn't want the responsibility. It's usually because he's afraid that he might disappoint the people he has a responsibility to. It could be a girl facing this responsibility, but I've typically seen it in male characters, such as Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia, or Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. The character starts to see how they might actually be able to accept this responsibility, but also has moments, especially near the end of the story, where he doubts himself again. It's a constant struggle between whether or not he is capable of accepting this responsibility.
#4: Character Regression Arc
I have only identified this ONCE. I'm sure if I went back over some things I've seen before I could find more examples of this, but the only example that I recognized when I read it was Napoleon in George Orwell's Animal Farm. It has an EXCELLENT line that I loved. (Major spoilers!)
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
And that is how the book ends. Throughout the book the pigs, especially Napoleon, hated humans, and wanted to be clear that animals were above humans. As the book progressed however, they end up compromising their rule to have no interactions with humans, and eventually the pigs become the very beings they had claimed to hate so passionately. It was chilling to read, and I highly recommend the book.
Bonus: Flawed Arc: Introvert to Extrovert
DON'T WRITE THIS ARC, PLEASE! Being an introvert isn't a flaw, and it doesn't need fixed! Please, all you writers out there, don't write this arc! Extroverts don't seem to understand, we usually aren't scared of people, we just don't like them. And have you seen people? They're scary! Anyway. Being an introvert, or shy, or quiet, isn't a flaw. Please stop writing characters as if it is.
Alright! So, thoughts? Do you want me to write about more arcs? Is there an area in writing you're having difficulty understand? Please leave a comment, and let me know what you think!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
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