Realmscapes

Moment of Weakness (by KMR)

I remember talking to a fellow writer/artist some time back and his complaints that life has caught up with him and that he now has very little time and energy to focus on the things he wants to do... so he/she gave up...

I spoke with a good friend who opened me up to the friends of my past and learning through him/her that none - as far as I could see - achieved to keep their flowers in their 'field of dreams' blooming.

It made me look at myself and realize that just like them... I had not achieved my goal.

I just sat down because I had a moment of weakness... I had just gone into my 'field of dreams' and kicked my flowers over. Now I am sitting there... picking them up again... and realizing that they took quite the damage (in my mind).

Personally, I think I am just tired, physically, and I hate that my eyes are falling because nature's course forces the body to rest. I rested enough. I sleep enough. There is no reason for this. So yes, I am totally frustrated... and I am not getting things done as fast as I would like them to happen.

Patience. Endurance and faith! It is all right to feel tired, exhausted, disappointed, disillusioned... If I can only write an hour or two a day, that is enough. I work an average of 50-60 hours a week, nothing is going to get done fast into the direction of my goal.

At least, when I get there, I will know the path I had to take rather well because of the pace I kept... maybe that is a good thing.

Violence in Film

It's tough to avoid violence in film these days. I haven't been all that thrilled about the clear and present increasing role that blood and gore plays in on the big screen the last decade. For a time, the violence factor forced me to pass on films I might otherwise have enjoyed. But I couldn't pass on Kingdom of Heaven, Gladiator, and The Patriot... couldn't skip Seraphim Falls and Rambo... and I needed to experience Pearl Harbor, We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, and The Passion of the Christ.

I have reconsidered my position on the role of violence in film. I still don't like it, but there is a part of me that believes that violence SHOULD play a role in the way a film tells its story when it is neccessary. Violence for the "gross out" factor is violence I will never support; blood and gore as an ingredient to the story is far difference from blood and gore AS the story i.e. the Saw franchise, Kill Bill.

Many of my fellow Christians would argue that advocating violence in film is against the principles of our faith. Yet I would respond that any decent perusal of the Biblical text will reveal as much brutal violence as any stomach can tolerate. The Biblical text doesn't leave much to the imagination when describing one of the Hebrew judges burying his knife (quite literally) into the obese stomach of an enemy leader, or what happened to Judas's body when its weight snapped the tree branch. And in fact the brutality that Jesus suffered at the hands of the Romans is meant to sober us as to just what it cost for our eternal redemption.

But what of the children? True that we should protect their innocence--and especially our daughters. But there comes a time when they all need to realise that this world isn't a cuddly place. Sooner or later they must learn that Heaven is as forever wonderful as this world is terrible--indeed hell with be far more terrible and brutal than this world ever will be. And boys must become men, for it is we that must protect our charges from the violent brutality of evil.

So where do we draw the line? I may admit that violence is necessary, but that doesn't mean that I believe God wants us to bathe in blood. As a writer, I always know when adding too much of a certain plot device is too much. As a student of film I can always tell when the filmmaker goes to far. The camera should never linger on violent acts, never draw them out; and violent act after violent act--no matter how swift--will start to numb the brain, and that isn't effective either.

The filmmaker must realise (and the vast majority do) when their blood and gore ceases to be the result of an equation and becomes mere spectacle. And although we cannot protect our children forever, violent films should not be created specifically for nor marketed directly to them--allow them their time of innocence; children should never be raised to believe that violence is cool or the first choice in a situation. They should be exposed to it as fact and the end-result of a sinful human nature, but never as glorified art.

When your Maximus voice cries, "Are you not entertained?" during a violent film, consider your response.

The DGA Deal (Updated)

Great for them that they made a deal for their people, but the deal is not one I would support as a writer.

Keep in mind that 1) the Studios wanted (needed) this deal to lord it over the WGA leadership and 2) Directors often act as the long-arm of [enter name of the Big 8 Studio here] during the filming and production process.

What is more, Directors get a sizable cut of the film's initial budget of somewhere between 5%-7% (ON TOP of residuals), which on average translates from many 100s of Ks of dollars to a couple million. This same average cut rarely gives a Writer more than 30K. So Directors don't care as much about residuals, whereas for Writers, it's where we make our money (especially during the lean times).

So, I hope that the WGA continues to make headway by brokering deals with individual production companies. The Studios are gambling that they can be successful without the Writers, but the Writers are proving that it is actually the Studios who aren't necessary to the process. This is good old fashioned American oppurtunism at work.

Here are the independent deals that the WGA has made so far (UPDATED 1.25.08):

• United Artists: legendary studio formed by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, DW Griffith, and Mary Pickford post-WWI and now owned by Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise; distributes the James Bond and Rocky franchises; other recent releases include Rain Man, Rob Roy, Ronin, Dark Blue, Hotel Rwanda, and Capote
• Worldwide Pants: Late Night with David Letterman, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
• The Weinstein Co: indy studio that also owns Dimension Films; The Matador, Miss Potter, 1408, TMNT, John Rambo
• Media Rights Capital (MRC): new indy TV/film prod co who has invested $250M to fund its first slate of films, which include working with players Sacha Baron Cohen, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Garner, and James Marsden... Family Guy writer-creator Seth MacFarlane... and director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales)
• Spyglass Entertainment: The Sixth Sense, Shanghai Noon, Unbreakable, The Count of Monte Cristo, Reign of Fire, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Legend of Zorro, Memoirs of a Geisha
• Jackson Bites: new company headed by Doug Liman who directed Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Mr & Mrs Smith, and Jumper; produced the Bourne sequels; and executive produced The O.C.
• Mandate Films: recently acquired by Lionsgate; Stranger Than Fiction, 30 Days of Night
• Sidney Kimmel Production Co.: United 93, Breach
• Lionsgate Films: formed in 1976 it is the most commercially successful indy production company in the U.S.; recent productions include American Psycho, The Punisher, Highlander: The Source, 3:10 to Yuma, The Condemned, and all of the Marvel Studios animated films starting with Ultimate Avengers
• Marvel Studios: the film production subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment that now directly produces many of Marvel's comic book adaptations

On Joker in The Dark Knight and Villains

In a recent LA Times article, the current Batman film franchise director, Christopher Nolan, is quoted as stating The Joker "sort of cuts through the film -- he's got no story arc, he's just a force of nature tearing through." This is exciting news because that is exactly how the character should function. What is even more exciting is that Nolan has also confirmed that Harvey Dent serves as this film's tragic-story "backbone", a character who will eventually add himself to Batman's gallery of archenemies.

Batman Begins already hit the characterisation of Batman out of the park, and now they're setting up The Joker AND Harvey Dent on the tee. It is often a mistaken belief that a villain must have his origins revealed for him to have impact. I have always been staunchly against writers giving readers/audiences a tour of a villain's background because it makes them a sympathetic figure. These days, everyone is too afraid to call Evil what it is--our current "poor thing" culture loves to give Evil an excuse for being evil.

The Joker is an amazing character. Batman hates his guts because The Joker represents the very fine line that seperates a "superhero" from a "supervillain". Harvey Dent hates his guts because The Joker embodies every law-breaking evil that Harvey has sworn a crusade against. No matter who it is, The Joker always and brilliantly exploits his opponents' Achilles Heel in a singular obssessive goal similar to The Devil's in our non-fiction world: to ruin Paradise.

It doesn't matter what The Joker's motives are. All that matters is that he means to destroy everything that is--and can be--good in this world for the simple reason that somewhere along the way it was destroyed for him. The Joker is perhaps the most selfish and exacting individuals in the history of fiction. Maybe even fiction's The Devil Incarnate.

Forgetting the heart? (by KMR)

I have heard from a good handful of other writers/teachers in my life, that a story should not be told, but shown. The reader has to see and feel about the characters and sorta forget that they are reading words written by a person which they under normal circumstances never met.

Over the last week, I wrote a chapter of a little side-story in my book. It is one of its oldest plots and is therefore a part I am very well familiar with. Re-writing those two chapters came to easy and I almost finished. Then I stumbled over my words and looked over the last pages, realizing that they had been the worst I had written in some time. It was not the story, not even the words. There was simply no heart in them. It was not what drove the characters. I had failed to show it. So I wondered how this could have sneaked up on me so easily...

Two days later, I realized that I had fallen into the trap of being so familiar with my story and therefore believing that I did not need to sit down and actually 'think' what I was writing. As I had mentioned, it is only two chapters and the characters will not return in this book, so it is very easy (in my opinion) to forget the importance of every word. But it is exactly what I need to do for this story. It is a story that has to be read twice and these two chapters, when everything is done, will be part of the thrill of reading it a third time.

In other words... for what I want to do, I had to come down from my throne of the 'all-knowing-storyteller' and sit with my characters, asking them questions I had never asked. For it is them who tell the story, not me. And how can I show the reader how their eyes look when they must forget all the evil they committed in the past to get a new chance, if I never seen it up close first?

And Another One Bites the Dust

De Palma Iraq Flick Bombs

When will the libs in Hollywood get it into their thick, arrogant skulls that American movie-goers 1) were not born yesterday, 2) go to the theatre to escape reality and politics and 3) if they are going to see an American war film, it better be entertaining AND show the American military for the heroes that 99% of them are.

Maybe if some of these left-wing filmmakers stopped making their anti-war/anti-Bush sentiments so blatantly obvious and put entertainment back into their films, then larger audiences would chance seeing them. It's the same reason blatantly Christian films bomb. People do not go to the theatre to hear a sermon from either pulpit. The message of the film has to be intelligently weaved through the story.. that's why filmmaking is considered a "craft". But first and foremost:

entertain, EnteRtaiN, EN-TER-TAIN

6/7 to go (KMR)

I just wanted to write a post about how daunted I felt with the text I still have to write until I finish - but already after the first words I wondered what I was doing on this screen and why. Then came an incredible urge to want and return to keep on writing... and I think that is how it should be in everything in life. There are always moment when you look ahead and you think for that second, "Good grief! That is a long way, or a lot to do!" :) Yes, it is. So what? If you don't want to do it, don't! And if you do want it... :)

Acknowledge the fact and keep working on it. To this day, I have written this 'first book' of mine over ten times, with an average of 150,000 words. What is another 100,000 when one has written over a million in a life-time (what excludes papers for school and college! :D ) ?

Re-reads (KMR)

The last weeks have been weird. There are days when I write pages after pages and then there are days when I don't write at all. Sometimes it's due to a lack of time and sometimes... because I just don't. Those kinds of days usually made me upset, but certain emotions have settled and I am glad about that. Forcing myself to write was never fun - would love to know why I did that for a while...

One thing I learned over the last days is that I should not go back and read something I had just written days before. I did it at the time because I had a hard time to get back into the story and I wanted to catch 'the flair' again... interesting mistake. Because it is such a new text to me and not the same story I have been writing over the last ten years, I actually believed many things to be wrong and not working out, despite the fact that they were actually better storytelling-wise. The thoughts of re-writing the first chapters entered my mind again... *eye-roll* No, no - no touchy that one! :D

In other words, I discovered that re-reads and re-writes are a bad thing for me to do. And I can't wait until I am where I want to get to with my next books. I want to write the draft on paper, let that one then sit for a little while and then re-write it onto the computer. :D Let's see if I manage that... :D

Of Prophecies and Star Wars

I am not a big fan of prophecy as a plot device in fiction. Its rarely anything more than a cheap pop to establish the hero, and is generally a symptom of literary laziness.

But I have to give Mr Lucas credit on the way he may have used prophecy in Star Wars. A debate has recently raged amongst my fellow fanboys as to the nature of "The Chosen One" prophecy.

A Jedi will come
To destroy the Sith
And bring balance to the Force.

On the surface of the story "The Chosen One" is Anakin. But my friends Sabrina and Ryder put forth this very intriguing theory (and which you will be able to delve into further in Ryder's upcoming Essential Guide to the Force):

SABRINA: I think prophecey says more about the people making the propheceies
than it does about the effect those predictions will have. The
prophecy of the Chosen One below requires one to assume that the
force itself has light and dark sides, not just its users, it conditions
Jedi to accept that it is somehow their duty to either "redeem" the
Sith, or else destroy them. But everything most of the EU says when
describing the force says that the Force is just there it is those who
can sense and touch it who decide how it can be used.

I tend to think the Prophecey of the Chosen One definitley has to be
something the Sith cooked up to screw with the Jedi.

Given that the Sith are hardly destroyed post-Episode VI AND that the prophecy caused serious bickering and divisions amongst the Jedi Council over the course of the film, I'd say that I think we are on to something.

Gaining control (by KMR)

I've been having the best time writing my story - rewriting it to be more precise. In fact, I'm in the middle of doing something I have never done: writing my entire story from start to finish. As stupid as it sounds, it is something I had never done before and to this moment, it is the best thing I ever did.

I doubt that my grammar is going to show much - if any - improvement, but it seems to me for the first time in a decade that I know my characters and the world I created for them. I know their secrets, I know who hates who and why; nothing is a secret to me any more.

That does not seem much, but over the last three years I have been struggling with a certain disappointment with my story because 'the story was over'. I knew how it started and ended... everything was nothing but a memory.

This story turned around on me when I realized how much fun it is to tell a story one remembers from a few years back.

Discovery and Gobiligook (by KMR)

I made I rather strange discovery the other day. Being a writer, I always heard that one should carry around a little notebook because one just simply doesn't know when and where inspiration strikes. :) I've been doing this for some years now... and it worked brilliantly.

The reason for myself doing this was that I never wanted to forget a certain line, expression... idea. It is a fear I am sure many writers have...

However, I noticed that my note-taking over the last two-three years had replaced my actual want to write. Some years before that (which seem many for myself and very little to others) I wrote to get to an idea/plot in the story. Now, I write down notes and the story is done... Not a smart way to go...

There is nothing wrong with taking notes. But I discovered that doing so kills my want to write, tell and show a story... 

Well... for me, it's a start to work on my little problems... :D

Passion (by KMR)

During my teenager years, I wrote on my story almost obsessively. Especially between 99-01. I have no idea how I kept the grades I did in the beginning, although it became obvious that things could not go on. Things went very fast down-hill. But I did not care. Looking back, I think around 60% of my entire story was developed during those years...

Nothing stood between this story and myself. No teacher, no friends, ... no family. Many were concerned; very few listened, understood and offered true encouragement. These traits are still rare and that is why nobody outside my home knows about my writings... I made that mistake once and regretted it. :)

I never believed I could meet somebody who drives me to finish my story. I never believed to have somebody in my life who has a stronger faith in my ideas than myself. I never believed to meet somebody who dares me to make things better than I wanted to make them.

I am glad... because now I can look into my characters eyes and I see what colors they are.

Overwhelmed? (by KMR)

I grew up believing that an artist should never marry another. That was mostly because the two could interfere with each other and get jealous, believing that one is better than the other, f.e. ... On the other hand, living with somebody who has no clue about art or writing seemed more disastrous to me, because that would mean that the two things you love the most could never get truly along and you would need to make a decision.

This post is not about marriage. This post is about realizing that too much creativity can be overwhelming and hurting... I have been experiencing a lack of drive and I think I finally found out what generates it. It is the constant shift we have. We have to many ideas and we do not stick with one.

Josh always says that we should have as many options cooking on the stove as possible. Because sooner or later, something is 'doomed' to start boiling. But how can you put things on the stove when they are not even prepared? I feel pulled back and forth between so many options that I cannot focus and properly prepare one...

I am seemingly not somebody who can work on two projects at the same time. At least not now. No. I need to focus on one, now I just gotta decide on what. :)

Definetly lost in translation (by KMR)

The hardest of all things in writing for me is focus. Mark Twain said, "You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." He might talk about something that does not relate to my first words, but I think that is one of my biggest problems lately. No focus. Plus, I feel incredibly overwhelmed with this story... It is a relativly new feeling to me and I have no idea where it comes from. I never had it. But then again, all I did over the last decade was write - jolt - things down.

In other words, it dawned to me that I could not 'write'. But that is not because I can't write - its because english is not my first language and I am simply writing like a ten year old who skipped some grammar classes. So now, that I on top of things also realized that my brilliant writing over the last years was nothing but a constant filling in the blanks of a constant rewritten draft, I want to take a comb to this paper mess I have.

I believe that I have a great story. Something, that, if I can only find the right words, focus and patience is simply so amazing that it will make everything in the past worth it. But at the moment I have the feeling I can't explain a single echo of this world I created. Why? I have only known the main character and the basic plot line for the better part of my life. So, why?

Writing With an Agenda

One of the great skills of writing is working hard not to let your beliefs and opinions dictate the story. That is, not to let them drive the story.

I am a Chrisitan conservative, and yet some of my favourite movies are by atheist liberals. That is because they wrote a story with the inention first to entertain. And the best stories are those that allow the viewer/reader to first find or contrast their own beliefs within the environment you present to them.

But if you cannot bring in your audience into your world, and instead resort to preaching at them, that writer will fail. I am speaking here of the many attmpts by my fellow Christians to reach readers and movie audiences, but ultimately fail. The message of Christ is very very important to graft into our stories, but many Christian writers would do well to learn from the best storyteller of all: Jesus Himself. His parables in the Gospels speak of great Truths and the Kingdom of Heaven. His stories use a large variety of characters and real situations, and it is only at the end, when Jesus explains their meaning, that we see His stories for the religious stories they are.

As a writer I want to reach the widest audience possible with the message of the Good News. And yet I know (I have always known really) that this cannot be successfully accomplished by quoting scripture every other scene. The Last Sin Eater and Amazing Grace are excellent and recent examples to Christian writers out there who want their craft to make a difference.

Ghost Rider: If I had written the script

Johnny Blaze sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for preventing his cancer-ridden father from death. Minutes later, his dad is dead due to a bike stunt gone wrong. Johnny is furious at being duped, naturally. Satan responds that he didn't want Blaze's father to get in the way of the purpose he has for Johnny.

While the above works to move along the story, it is way too convenient a plot device. If I had written the script I would have Satan explaining to Johnny that his dad died because he he was meant to die on that day... that he (Satan) has no control over the time of death since that is set by God... that at least he didn't die a slow death.

This sets up a great inner conflict that many of us can personally relate to, is much truer to the dangerously deceptive nature of the Devil, and it makes Johnny's ultimate choice much more rewarding.

Marketing and Audience

From a recent conversation with Mr E:

...the current publishing and film market (which is set from the POV of the publishing houses and studios, who no doubt consider the perceived political and cultural landscape of humanity--that's an important consideration in my view) may be the reason agents are rejecting Kas's book (no one has told Kas that her story is bad, always that "it's not for me"). Not that this is discouraging. I'd be the first one to agree that much of the Christian creative community is too blunt and evangelistic in their approach to literature and film, which is why we continue to pursue mainstream representation and publication.

I see the consumer base of books (and film) as being four parts:

1. the "choir" - these are the people that will always buy a book because they are a fan of the authour or genre, or because it is part of a franchise

2. the "antis" - these are the people that will never buy a book because they do not like the authour or genre, or they do not subscribe to the authour's view (personally or creatively)

3. the "intelligencia" - these are the people who buy books because it is part of their profession and/or because they view literature as nourishment for the mind

4. the "laymen" - these are the casual readers who read up to three books a year, and are generally open to anything that they feel will hold their attention...and if it makes them consider their own personal space, then so much the better.

As a writer with a mind for marketing, the fourth group is the only audience I am interested in when I write. It is the largest group in my estimation, however the "antis" and "intelligencia" tend to be the loudest and thus set the trends (even if they are the wrong trends).

Congrats to Steve!

(...this would be Steve Ersinghaus, not my Dad, who I would never refer to as "Steve", nor my other buddy, Steve DeChellis...)

Steve won the Hypertext 07 competition held in Manchester, England for his hypertext novel, The Life of Geronimo Sandoval. (Thanks to Susan for the heads-up!)

Susan already beat me to the "heaps of personal and professional praising", so a simple Congratulations! full of gusto will have to suffice. This isn't the first time my wife and I have been priveledged to watch creative talent walk the paths of success, and it is always gratifying when it is someone you call "Friend" and whose work you respect.

Writing Comics = Really Really Hard

I remember reading a comment from Mike Stackpole that writing the Star Wars: X-Wing comics was the first time he ever considered writing a "job". Eventually he even needed to get outside help from a writer at Dark Horse because he was having so many issues. And he's right.

I am the writer on a comic book project. Now I have written all kinds of things in my career so far: magazine articles, press releases, web content, screenplays, prose, this blog.. none of those are like a comic book script. I remember first thinking that writing a comic was going to be a perfect blend of screenwriting and prose writing. Yeah, in theory. By the time I was halfway done with the script for the first issue, I was numb. Because by then I realised that unlike screenplays, you have to imagine X number of scenes per page. And it can't be a random X number because you have to have enough panels to explain the story, while at the same time you only have between twenty and twenty-four pages (depending on the publisher) so you can't have too few panels either or the story won't progress.

I have a difficult time writing prose because often I have a kick-ass story in my head and I want to get it down usually faster than my pencil can write (or my fingers can type). Mastering prose is not at all necessary for a comic book script, but you still have to know how to be descriptive (yuck!) and write straight on a line--meaning you can't go off on tangents like you can in prose. If you don't have enough description then there is a good chance that the penciler is going to return something that you will not be happy with. And if you don't pace and progress the story, then you will have a comic that is either rushed or laggy, and both of those are bad.

There is not much room for failure when writing a comic book script. If this is a path you intend to walk, be VERY prepared. And read a ton of comic books before you start.

And oh yeah: writing comic books rocks!

I Love it when a plan comes together

A lot of writing craft books (and their sometimes famous scripters) say that it's a big no-no to plan a book out. I subscribe to about 80% of this belief.

I find that I write a much better book when I have a general road map of where things are going.

What I don't do is get too specific. I do not advocate any writer compiling a synopsis before they sit down and write. Stories and characters need a decent amount of room to maneuver and change within the pages.

But beyond that, I do think it is beneficial to have half a dozen sentences (or maybe ten short thought-phrases) for each ACT of the book--just enough to show yourself that you have something. I find this process also excites me and can be a nice motivator during those periods you fell especially burdened. And since you will need to be able to condense your story for potential publishers, producers, and/or agents, these little blurbs will be a huge help when it comes time to pitch.

The Journey of Creativity

For those of you convinced that you are never going to be successful artists, writers, poets, whatever...

"...it's not the destination but the journey itself that is both the goal and the purpose."

I find that too many aspiring Artists expect to peak after only a few years of effort. I have been trying to just break in to the entertainment industry for nearly ten years. I'm doing work that ranges from screenwriting to game developing to starting my own publishing company--ANYTHING that involves my talents in some way.

...and I switch gears on a dime if I have to. One month it may be game developing that is my best road, the next I may be trying to sell my screenplay, and I'm always working to get my wife's book/comic published (preferably through our own company).

And even tho I have not yet achieved my creative goals, I cannot call the last ten years a waste. I have learned so much and met so many great fellow Artists. I use all this experience and what I have attained so far as building blocks and proof that I am on the right path to begin with.

What Syd Field is saying above is that the journey makes the Artist.

Fan Fiction

Check out this very interesting article from The Wall Street Journal re: fan fiction's increasin role in publishing.

Speaking to characters

A question that I often get from readers is how I interact with my characters. Every writer talks to their characters different from the next. The best way I can describe my experience with my characters is similar to the relationship of Sam and Al in Quantum Leap. In my writing world, I am Al. My characters jump back and forth between their world and this one in my mind. Nothing I tell them returns with them.

For instance, Markus; he is a Templar in the novel I am currently working on. When I'm working on this story, Markus tells me about his 12th century world and I tell him what the 21st century believes about his, or that the Temlars are wiped out. But anything I tell him disappears from his mind when he goes back to the 12th century.

Anyway, I am not so much a writer that writes down dictation from my characters. I often will go back with them and "live" their life or "see" the action unfold as though I am watching a movie. I can pause and rewind, but I rarely see the whole mive at once. I may have a feeling where the story is going to go, but I don't see any of the details. I guess this part of my storytelling is like a Jedi vision of the future: always in motion, and something I feel more than see. And this is a good thing because certain characters (Markus being one) are especially hard when it comes to me putting elements or personal views into their stories. The cool thing is that characters know where I stand on a whole range of personal and religious views, so I am never in danger of getting a main character (on the hero side anyway) that goes against my core values.

Villains on the other hand are a totally different story...

Unfolding the Map

NetFlix is worth every penny. I have been struggling with a new character. A Crusader knight with a pain-ed and confused story. But it's a story that's relevant. It touches on the (im)possibility of world peace and whether wars such as the Crusades were (are?) just.

I had the character and the event that serves as the catalyst for this character's self-persecution. But I didn't have the plot. So as soon as The History Channel's latest documentary on the Crusades became available, I bumped it up to the top of my list. I wanted to see it anyway, but I was especially interested since I hoped that being immersed in three hours of Crusade history would help to clear the mist surrounding my story's plot.

It did. Laying in bed, at nearly 1am Moday morning... it was like Somone came and unfolded a map of my character's travels. Like something you might see in a Tolkien reference book or the Marauder's Map. It was awesome.

If you're having a problem getting your characters to unfold the map of the their travels, make them comfortable and immerse yourself (and them) in their world.

Discover Forrester

If you want to see a great movie about writing, watch the film Finding Forrester. It stars Sean Connery as the recluse authour, William Forrester (loosely based on American writer, J.D. Salinger).

FORRESTER:
The first key to writing is to write. Not to think.

The movie also carries an excellent message about education. We never stop learning, either about our craft or about Life.

Writer as Product

Creative Screenwriting is one of my favorite magazines on the writing craft. Don't let the "screenwriter" label distract you. There is a plethora of great writing tips within its pages regardless if you prefer prose over script.

I also subscribe to CS's e-newsletter CS Weekly. In the latest issue to hit my inbox is this great reminder from the article's authour, Jim Mercurio, that every (aspiring) career writer needs to be reminded of from time-to-time:

[Make] sure you haven't confined yourself into thinking in only one way about your career, or more importantly your happiness. Think about all of the skills you have developed as a screenwriter -- perception, creativity, discipline, storytelling and writing. Your script is not the end-all-be-all. It is not the product. You are.

And for those of us on the self-publishing train, this advice cannot be stressed enough. Don't limit your work to just one form of publishing! Explore all roads.

Batman Returns (not the movie)

I finally had the oppurtunity to experience the movie Batman Begins. It was an excellent film and a beautiful piece of storytelling. The Batman character has finally returned to what he always has been--a shadow in the night that you don't really want to mess with, whether you are good OR evil.

There's no sense in reviewing a movie that I enjoyed on all levels. But I would like to touch on the movie from the standpoint of a writer. Any writer who thinks about writing a book series, and who is a Batman fan, needs to watch this movie (as well as the four Batman movies that preceded it). Batman Begins does right what the original four movies in the 90's never could (although the Keaton movies were pretty close).

In just over two hours, this movie explains the origins of the character's skills, his motivations, his suit, his gadgets, the "Batmobile", the "Batsignal", the Arkham facility, and Commissioner Gordon. On paper, this in an incredibly tall order to pull off, especially for an established franchise such as Batman. All this and in a way that mixes just enough realism with the comic book fantasy to make you want to look up the history of The League of Shadows at your local library. But the writer did just that, and it helped that (and I daresay was only possible because) the writer was a fan. Never shy away from being a fan of something. Being a fan means that you delve into a universe, and along the way your work as a writer will reap the rewards of your being a fan.

Batman Begins is an excellent teacher of how to tell a good story while subtly weaving continuity into that story. Continuity is not your enemy. Even George Lucas seems impatient with it at times, but continuity is a beatiful garden where ideas can grow and be harvested.

Peanut Butter Cups and Sir Walter Scott

I am still meandering through Scott's Ivanhoe. Not because it's boring or archaic--quite on the contrary--but because I am taking the time to experience another writer as a writer. Scott is an authour that never would have made it as a writer today. Agents would have rejected his style of storytelling (on the basis that it's "amateurish") and marked the period setting as "unmarketable", and Publishers would have shied from the way Jews and women are portrayed and treated by some of the characters.

Thanks to Scott, I feel much more confident telling a story the way I want to rather than some stupid formula designed by a witless Publisher looking for cookie cutter books. Telling a story is like a Reese's: There's no wrong way to approach it. Scott's way of telling Ivanhoe is so logical. The book's setting is Medieval and so Sir Walter takes the role of a bard at a bonfire. Wonderful. He and Bilbo would have gotten along masterfully.

Writer's Mumbo-jumbo

Why do writers using complex psychological phrases to describe the writing craft? (To know what I'm talking about, see this post at The Great Lettuce Head). I don’t know why writers do this? Leave the fancy dress-ups to the scholars and journalists. What good is a writer whose language goes over the head of the reader? If I want to describe what writing is like I would suggest these lyrics from Dido's song "Sand in My Shoes":

Two weeks away it feels like the whole world should've changed
but I'm home now, and things still look the same
I think I'll leave it to tomorrow to unpack, try to forget for one more night
that I'm back in my flat
on the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To life where I can't watch sun set, I don't have time, I don't have time

I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you but, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye, anything else would've been confused
but I wanna see you again

Tomorrow's back to work and down to sanity
should run a bath and clear up the mess I made before I left here
Try to remind myself that I was happy here before I knew that I could get on a plane and fly away
from the road where the cars never stop going through the night
to a life where I can watch the sun set and take my time,
take all our time

I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you but, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye, anything else would've been confused
but I wanna see you again

Writing Game

If you are a writer and a gamer, then you are in for an awesome treat.

Writing is like poker: you have to know how to bluff... when to hold 'em... when to fold 'em... and even when to walk away.

Writing is like a World Championship: the glory and the goosebumps of achieving the ultimate success when you see your book at a bookstore or when you attend the world premier of your movie.

Writing is like chess: you have to outhink the reader.

These are but a few of the things that make being a writer and a gamer so appealing. I can't have one without the other. And I daresay that both are on the mind of any writer intending to be a success at the craft.

"Original" Fiction

ALL fiction is inspired. Be it from real life events, history, faith, or our favourite works of fiction or movies. No writer can say that he or she has an original piece of fiction (unless he or she is lost in the present day from one of the ancient civilisations).

Exmaples?

...George Lucas took Star Wars from early Japanese dramas and Flash Gordon seriels

...Tolkien took the whole concept of the "Ring of Power" straight from a Norse myth immortalized in Wagner's 19th century opera, "The Ring"--and the rest of LOTR came from Arthurian legend and The Bible

...Rowling's Harry Potter and McCaffery's Pern also has obvious ties to Arthur

...Rodenberry's Star Trek is basically Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, just in the other direction--PLUS elements of Wells's The Time Machine

...Sherlock Holmes was based on one of A.C. Doyle's medical professors

...and Robinson Crusoe was taken from the account of a real-life castaway that made his way back to England

...and the list could go on.

I don't say this to lessen the auras of these great authours. Instead my point here is that the above writers simply figured out a way to take elements of known works, current events, and legend and mingle them into something different. A great authour is like a great magician: you have to take what people already know about and get them to forget that they already know it.

It is very natural for growing writers to write things that are very obviouslly connected to favourite shows or common life events. When I was a young writer, all I ever wrote was Star Wars fan fiction--and my first fanfic was mostly inspired by one of my favorite movies (and themes), Ben-Hur. Only recently (as in the last two or three years) did I realize that I could actually tell a story that didn't have to fit snug inside of a galaxy far far away. But that's how we grow. We take what affects us or what we like and change it in order to put our fingerprint on it. And as we get older and experience more and read more, our writing also matures. Soon it becomes very difficult to figure out what is borrowed from where. The secret of the magic trick is to blur the lines.

Only rarely (like in the case of The Wheel of Time series, Shannara, and so many other epic fantasy series) do we manage to make a career of being able to "mimic" something like LOTR. Because in the end that's what readers want and so it becomes "okay". We will never have more LOTR from (or endorsed by) Tolkien, so Wheel of Time and Shannara become our new "Lord of the Rings". Those authours were in the right place at the right time and so they can get away with it. But such authours also have to work harder (imo) to prove that they can be "original". Paolini will have the same obstacle after his Eragon series is done.

In the end, ALL stories are parables meant to speak a truth or a warning or reaffirm the virtues of society. And these truths and affirmations are constantly repeated throughout Literary history because humanity needs to be constantly reminded of its moral obligations to the rest of society.

Original fiction is a myth. As writers we need to be more interested in what the message of our writing is, and less in what clothes we dress it up in.