The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man

            When I found out that the Spider-Man franchise was going to be rebooted I almost decided to boycott this movie. In face, I did decide to boycott this movie. Spider-Man 3 was released in 2007. It’s been just around 5 years since the last time we saw Spidey on screen. That doesn’t seem all that long. I can still remember how bad a train wreck that movie was. Unfortunately I still have captions of Tobey Maguire, dancing on the streets of New York, like an emo prince. It’s a wretched replay to have stuck in your mind.

            Anyway, I would like to think that Hollywood operates by some type of ethics. The guys at Warner Bros. got it right. Batman Forever was released in 1995. That movie was worse than Spider-Man. It almost killed the greatest superhero franchise. I’ll never forgive Joel Schumacher for that movie. I’ll never see another of his movies because of it. We didn’t get another Batman movie until 2005. That’s a decade. It’s a nice stretch of time to give people time to forget the junk that preceded it. All the faces were new. The director was new. They delivered and resurrected Batman.

            The Spider-Man franchise was not in dire straits like Batman. They just made a bad movie. They didn’t kill the character. I think they could have waited longer and delivered the public a movie that satisfied. It could have been a stand-alone story. They may’ve been able to use some of the same characters. Even though they were getting older. Instead the studio took a risk. They decided to reboot the franchise. They filmed an origin story.

            Reboots and origin stories are almost four letter words among the general public when it comes to Hollywood. It seems like is either the origin of a character or the reboot of an old movie or television show. If you’re going to take a movie, whose sequel was released 5 years earlier, and reboot it then you’re going to need to deliver. You need to deliver big!

            Thankfully, Marc Webb and company delivered big.

Plot

Grade: 8/10

            I’m sort’ve lowballing the plot here. It wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it very much. It wasn’t a total recycling of the previous origin story. There were new aspects that I’d never seen used before. I’ve never followed any of the Spider-Man series. Therefore, I don’t know how true to cannon this is. Being a guy who’s ignorant of Spidey’s background I was cool with the story.

            You’re not going to see anything new. Other than the inclusion of Peter Parker’s parents everything much is pretty much the same. Uncle Ben and Aunt May raise Peter from the time he’s a child.  Peter is bitten by a spider and undergoes a physiological change. He begins to abuse his powers and Uncle Ben gives him the, “with great power comes great responsibility” speech. (Even though the quote wasn’t used verbatim, and that disappointed me, it worked well.) Uncle Ben is also killed and that causes Peter to have an awakening and understand what his powers need to be used for. See, nothing new here, folks.

            The thing that works so well for The Amazing Spider-Man is the execution of the story telling. You can take any trope or overused idea, nail the execution, and you have a quality story or film on your hands. I’ve got to applaud the moviemakers for nailing this. Good job, guys.

Character

Grade: 9/10

            I liked the choice of villain for this movie. The Lizard is a villain I’m not too familiar with. That helped me. If they decided to go with Norman Osborn from the beginning, and have Spider-Man duke it out with Green Goblin, which would have sealed the deal for me. I wouldn’t have seen this movie. With comic movies one of the mistakes Hollywood can make is using just the popular villains (I’m not saying The Lizard isn’t popular.), the villains that work best on screen, or the ones that have the coolest powers. I’m glad they didn’t use Carnage or Venom. Those are by far the most awesome villains of Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery, but the used The Lizard in a way that added depth to the movie.

            How about Peter Parker/Spider-Man? Andrew Garfield, in my opinion, portrays him much better than Tobey Maguire. I’m a Tobey Maguire fan. Enjoyed his performance of the character, but Andrew Garfield was meant to be Spider-Man. He’s awkward, over confident, and sarcastic. Andrew Garfield is a damn fine actor. I thought he was one of the bright spots of The Social Network. I never would have pictured him as a superhero, and to put him in such big shoes paid off.

            With The Amazing Spider-Man Mary Jane Watson is nowhere to be found. To the general public you would think that this would have been the way the studio would want to go. The name is in the collective consciousness of everyone. Instead they went with someone less recognizable. I had to shoot over to Wikipedia and find out Gwen Stacy’s background. Emma Stone fills the role of Miss Stacy. They scored big with Emma Stone’s casting. She’s one of the best actresses out there.  She’s funny, charming, and attractive. Gwen Stacy is the type of girl I would’ve had a crush on in high school. I identified with Peter and Gwen’s relationship and enjoyed their time on screen together.

Dialogue

Grade: 7.9/10

            As far as the writing of the dialogue I have no problem. It’s well written, well delivered, and some of the better dialogue for a comic based movie. There were some scenes where I had problems understanding people. There are times when Andrew Garfield talks soft or mumbles. I’m the type of guy who turns the television, or a movie, on blast when watching it. I guess I’m hard of hearing. Rhys Ifan’s accent got to me at times and I wondered what the heck he was saying, but that was seldom, and not much of a problem. This problem is sorta petty and takes away from the score, but it annoyed me at times.

Entertainment

Grade: 10/10

            The action scenes for The Amazing Spider-Man are over the top and exciting. At times I laughed out loud to myself. The web work and fighting kept me on the edge of my seat, and a time or two I’m sure I gasped. The Lizard gave the movie a David versus Goliath aspect. You were never sure if Spider-Man would end up with a mashed face or broken bones. You’ll wonder how exactly can a teenage boy overcome a super villain. The ending pays off and you’re left satisfied. I didn’t expect them to do what they did, and that’s good movie making. I can see what they’re setting the sequels up for. Can’t wait to see that play out on screen.

Overall: 8.7

            If we’re going by my math here I liked this movie better than The Avengers. I’m thinking about it and find it hard to answer that question. In some aspects, I have to say, yes. The Amazing Spider-Man is a well made movie, and turned out much better than I thought it would. Even since I saw the first trailer I’ve said this movie would be good, but I didn’t think it would be so good. It’s exciting, emotional, and a roller coaster ride. Definitely a must see summer flick. You won’t be disappointed.

            Before I go, two more weeks until The Dark Knight Rises. I can’t wait, folks. It’s been a long time coming.

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The Avengers Smashed!

                                                           Avengers Smashed!

Foreword

            I just got out of TheAvengers I’ll get to my review in just a minute. I’ve come up with a new format for my reviews. I hope it will make them more readable. My previous reviews made me feel like they were just congested with thoughts. They’ll be split of up into four categories. The four most important categories, in my opinion, that makes a story. They are: 1. Plot 2. Character 3. Dialogue 4. Entertainment Value. I’ll grade each of the four categories on a scale of 1-10, and then give my thoughts on each. The overall grade of the movie will be the four grades added together and divided by four.

            I’ll also say that I’m more of a DC guy than a Marvel guy. I’m also not one of those guys that hold DC above Marvel, and hopes that everything Marvel produces sucks. I want good comic books and good comic movies. As long as Hollywood produces quality comic movies that make money I’m happy. I want to continue to see characters I grew up loving on the big screen.

            Now, on to the review . . .

Plot

Grade: 7/10

            The plot of this movie is straightforward. The Avengers must assemble and save the world from Loki’s evil plan. If you didn’t catch that from the trailers I don’t know what you were watching. Joss Whendon aims this big ship full speed ahead, and hits the bull’s eye. The Avengers is not a game changer. This movie will not revolutionize comic movies in the same way The Dark Knight did. It doesn’t have to. That’s not the purpose to this movie. Marvel already dropped a game changer when they began making movies with the intent to assemble these characters in one big blowout of a movie. Guess what?

            It worked.

            That’s awesome.

            You will be jerked around with twists and turns and moments of emotion will overwhelm you. Joss Whedon is one of the best directors out there. He’s one of the best screenwriters out there. Marvel made the best decision when they brought this man on.  He’s a genre man. He’s written comics before. He understands the nature of the beast, and he serves that up in this movie, and for that Mr. Whedon I applaud you!

Character

Grade: 6.8/10

            I’ve rated the characters lower than what most folk would. Why? There are no true character arcs in this movie. There’s not a lot done to move these characters forward, make them grow, or cause us to understand them more deeply.

That’s okay, though.

I know. I know. It sounds like I’m making excuses, right? I’m not. These characters have already had their arcs. The purpose of the previous movies was to serve as a prequel. Sort of. They laid the foundation of this group of characters so that this movie could be served up already prepared. We don’t have to get to know them. We don’t have to have a foundation laid. We know how Tony Stark became Iron Man. We know why Thor is the guardian of Earth, and why he loves humans. We know the predicament of Bruce Banner. We know about each and everyone one of these guys.

However, that doesn’t mean that character should be set aside, and explosions be served up in its place. Do I feel like this movie did that? Ehh, yes and no. We already know that more movies are on the way, and for sure a second Avengers movie. That will provide the moviemakers with more opportunity to dig into these guys, and let us viewers get to know them better.

Dialogue

 Grade: 10/10

This is where I was prepared to skewer The Avengers. I’m overly critical of dialogue. That makes or breaks a movie in my opinion. If there’s bad dialogue my mind checks out. Movies are different than novels. Novels have prose and exposition. You can fill in the blanks where dialogue doesn’t.

Movies don’t have that luxury. The scenery plays as nothing more than a backdrop. A direction can step in and explain what he’s trying to get across to the viewer. He either has to show you what he means or tell you what he means. Dialogue is one of the primary ways that the movie leads its viewers along.

Thankfully. Thankfully! The Avengers is full of great witty dialogue. Beginning to end. I’ve always loved all that Joss Whedon writes. He is one of the few men in Hollywood (others include: Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Woody Allen) who have an ear for words and great conversation. I can always trust the aforementioned men to have conversation that true to life.

Entertainment

Grade: 10/10

Man, did Avengers smash! If Michael Bay were a great director this is the kind of movie he would make. Not only did this movie contain great dialogue, cool characters, and an engaging plot, but also I did not want it to end. I was bummed as I was walking out of the theater. I am ready for the next installment of these movies. I want to give these people my money so I can sit in the theater and enjoy a two hours of being entertained.

You could honestly make an ESPN highlight reel of all the great moments. From the fights between the heroes to the battles with the villains, the moments where I was bent over in my seat laughing, and where I was on the edge of my seat in suspense. The Avengers does not deny you of the entertainment. Fantastic, I say!

Overall Grade: 8.4/10

That is about as good as a grade as you’re going to get. This movie isn’t decent or good. It’s great but not excellent. It’s the best movie I’ve seen so far this summer. Heck, this year. Don’t skip out on this one. Go see it. See it twice! You won’t regret it. I guaran-damn-tee it.

Don’t leave yet! Here’s your song of the day:

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Magic Systems in Fantasy: High or Low?

Magic Systems in Fantasy: High or Low?

How Much is Enough?

           

            Isn’t magic the reason we read fantasy fiction? I would like to do a series of blog posts on magic in our beloved genre. I’ve been thinking about the importance of the use of magic systems in fantasy. As a forewarning these posts may go longer than my movie reviews. I promise to try and keep these post around one thousand words. But I’ll go as long as the subject requires.

            Don’t check out on me? All right, ya hear?

            Let’s dig into this . . .

            All of fantasy, and its sub-genres, can be split into two main categories: High Fantasy and Low Fantasy. If you’re not a regular reader of the genre, or are new to it, all these categorizations means is that magic is prevalent in High Fantasy, and magic is sparsely used in Low Fantasy. Presently, High Fantasy dominates the genre: The Wheel of Time, Mistborn, The Night Angel Trilogy, and other stories are all examples of novels with magic bursting from the pages.

            There is also High Fantasy’s sister: Low Fantasy. Despite playing second fiddle to High Fantasy the last decade or two there have been influential works of Low Fantasy to be written. For example George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire has influenced fantasy in a way that can only be compared to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Peter V. Brett’s stellar Demon Cycle is a fine example of sparse magic use. This series of novels has one of my favorite magic systems in the genre. Then there is one of my favorite current writers: Joe Abercrombie and his First Law Trilogy. You won’t find a lot of magic here, but when it is used, it’s a game changer.

            The question I’d like to pose in this post is whether or not there can be too much of a good thing? Can there be a too little of a good thing? How much is enough? Who determines how much is enough? Should it be the writer? Should it be the reader?

Let’s talk about this . . .

When do you have too much magic?

There are times I’ve read fantasy novels and on every other page there’s a scene where a spell is being cast, two sorcerers are engaged in battle, or a magic item is being used. These things can be exciting. They can make for page turning scenes. However, the usage of magic, and really cool abilities or tools, can take away from the story. Huh? (That’s what you’re thinking.) Isn’t that why we read fantasy? We want to see magic in use. We want to see wizards doing battle. We want to see wands shooting bolts of lightning, magic swords being pulled from stones, and teenage sorcerers going for rides on their brooms. The thing is, we don’t want to see too much of it.

If magic begins to overshadow the characters, and muddy the plot, then it is being used too often. Magic is becoming a burden for the reader. It will ruin your story. You don’t want that to happen. You want magic to have a magical effect. You want people to want to read your stories because you have the right touch of magic in your story.

Reese’s Cups are the best. The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is genius. I eat them as often as I can. If I could live off of these candies I probably would. As a kid I would take a glass of chocolate milk and dump peanut butter cups at the bottom of the glass. By the time I finished drinking my chocolate milk I’d have a chocolaty-peanut-butter-surprise waiting for me.  I don’t do that anymore. It’s a good thing because I could overdue. I could have too much of a good thing.

Magic is the same.

You don’t want your readers to overdose because pages 1, 5, 10, 12, 20, 23, 34, 36, 43, and on and on and on until we’ve reached page 455, and there have been approximately too damn many scenes where you’ve had a magical happening. Finesse is better than force. You don’t want to force magic upon the readers. You don’t want to pack your pages with its use. You want the right touch. Like a kiss: you don’t want to force it, but you don’t want to withhold it. You want it to be right. Natural. Perfect.

You can’t have the perfect fantasy story if magic is a burden to the story, the characters, and even worse, the readers. Here’s where you begin to tread lightly. You don’t want there to be too little magic. That’s when you must ask yourself:

How do I know when there is too little magic?

One thing to remember as a writer is: Never deny your readers. If you make a promise to your readers then you are obligated to fulfill it. You know, smoking gun, bullet, brain splatter on the wall, and all that. If there’s a book of spells then Harry better say, “Alacazam” or “Abracadabra” at some point during the story. If that doesn’t happen you are more than likely going to end up with some pissed off readers, at best they’ll hesitantly go into another book you’ve written, or at worst they’ll refuse to pick up a novel you’ve written.

You want people to want to read what you’ve written. Give them what they want. Give them magic. But don’t give them too much. And don’t give them too little. Give them just the right amount. How much is the right amount? The story knows. If magic is important to the characters, if it will help the plot develop, and create conflict then you need to be generous with it. However, if a lack of magic will put your characters in tense situations, and make your story more thrilling, then don’t be afraid to withhold the magical occurrences. The problem here is that if you’ve written two thousand pages, and two scenes of magic occur in the novel, then your story may be better off without magic.

Just a thought.

Think about it.

You were able to write 1,998 pages and magic only occurred on pages 45 and 798. You probably didn’t need those scenes. The story may have been fine without them. Take them out. You don’t need them.

You may be thinking I’m contradicting myself. Use magic but don’t use too much and don’t use too little. How do I know? Magic should be nothing more than salt and pepper for your story. Magic should not be the main character. It is not the who the readers are reading for. Readers want to read about people, characters, and the shit they get into. Magic may be a reason they get into said situations, but magic should remain as nothing more than a tool, a backdrop to your characters.

How can you find just the right touch?

Find your happy place.

Only you, as the writer, can determine whether or not you’re in that happy place. Does the story taste right? Is there enough salt? Maybe there’s too much pepper? Like a gourmet chef you should experiment, and try new things, but don’t be afraid to apply a heaping of magic, and don’t be afraid to toss the story if you’ve burden the pages with too much of that five letter word. Learn to be like Happy Gilmore: Find your happy place and you’ll hit those difficult shots. Find your happy place and you’ll write that fantasy novel that readers flock to read.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LKeD3rHaNY


I had to post the link because the stupid YouTube option wouldn't allow me to post the videos. Enjoy.


And before you go. Here's your musical treat for Monday.

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The Five-Year Engagement

The Five-Year Engagement

     It’s that time of year again: Summer blockbuster time. (Even though it isn’t technically summer.) This is the time of year when I blog consistently. Great, huh? Yeah, I thought so.

Glad that you agree.

My wife’s birthday is Tuesday. She’ll be mutter-mutter-years-old. Don’t tell her I told you. She’s not sensitive about her age or anything. It’s just not polite to tell. If you ask her she’ll probably tell you. Anyway, we decided to kick off her birthday bash by seeing The Five-Year Engagement.

Going into this movie there were only two reasons I was seeing it: 1. Jason Segel 2. The funny trailer. Okay, there were really three reason. 3. Emily Blunt. I’m a total sucker for a British accent.

     My wife and I are always promptly early for movies. As we were seating in the theater the previous showing was at the end of its roll of the credits, and to my surprise I saw that Judd Apatow helped to produce this movie. Later on I found out that Jason Segal was one of the movies co-writers. These are both good things. Judd Apatow’s movies are always consistently funny. Jason Segal is one of my favorite comedic actors. I think we connect at a soul level or something. Our senses of humors are on point.

     A few things that stand out about the movie that I should go ahead and get out of the way. The dialogue is great. The more mature I grow as I writer the more important good dialogue (in any art form) becomes to me. I’ll quit reading novels, comics, or quit watching a television show or movie because of bad dialogue. It kills me in the most painful way. Think Chinese water torture. The plot could be inventive and never done before, the characters could be three dimensional, blah blah blah, you get the point. Bad dialogue equals pissed off Mark.

     This movie kept me entertained from start to finish. The funny parts were not only in the trailer. There were plenty of laughs throughout the movie. That is good. It disappoints me to see a movie, and the trailer served as nothing more as a highlight reel. Essentially that’s what a good trailer is. But when all the good parts of the movie are in the highlight reel I feel like I’ve flushed my money down the toilet. You won’t feel like you’ve wasted your $13.50 when you see this movie. (Or whatever jacked up ticket price you’ll pay to get a few laughs.) The movie is equal parts funny, equal parts emotional, and equal parts satisfying.

     The main thing I want to point out about The Five-Year Engagement is that it’s a realistic portrayal of relationships. Romantic Comedies leave me infuriated when they follow the Nicholas Sparks formula for fictionalized relationships.

    

     Act One: Good looking guy and beautiful girl meet and fall in love.

     Act Two: Good looking guy and beautiful girl hit potholes, and end their relationship.

     Act Three: Good looking guy and beautiful girl realize what a tremendous mistake they made and mend their relationship. They live happily ever after.

     Relationships are not like that. They’re fun, they’re work, they’re happy, and they suck. Sometimes all those things at once. It’s nice to sit down and see a flick and say, “That dude right there has been through the hell I’ve been through” or “My wife and I experienced a moment just as beautiful as that, and it will forever be stored away in my safety deposit box of memories.”

     The Five-Year Engagement receives a grade of: A+. Sink your money into this cinematic pit, folks. It’s good stuff.

Before you leave you can’t go without giving a listen to a new band I’ve discovered: Fitz and The Tantrums. I’ve got them jamming on my Pandora as I write this review. You’ll thank me for the happiness that your ears will have been served.

See y’all round here next week. I’m taking my mother to see The Avengers for Mother’s Day. It’ll be a nerd-tastic time!

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Movie Review: The Hunger Games

Man, my first movie review of 2012. I'm glad I picked The Hunger Games. It lived up to my expectations. It was a nice visual reference for the book. Basically they cast the very people I saw in my head. Except for Peta. I envisioned someone a little more tubby. I don't know why. Probably because he was the son of a baker.

The real gem of the movie is Jennifer Lawrence. She really displays her acting chops. More so than in X-Men: First Class. That's not to say her acting was bad in X-Men. It's just to say that she was not the focal piece of that movie. What a hit she's been? That's two big movie franchises in less than a year. I bet she's skipping all the way to the bank. I'll keep following her to the theater as long as she continues making quality movies.

Even though he wasn't prevalent in the movie I thought Woody Harrelson was great. I've always been a big fan of the guy. For as far back as I can remember anyway. I remember enjoying his character in Cheers as a kid. Why I was watching Cheers as a kid I'm not sure of. It was probably on tv, and my parents weren't around to tell me to change the channel. I turned out all right so I guess that makes Cheers harmless. I think my love for Woody was revitalized when he was in Zombieland. That was his best bit since White Men Can't Jump. Ha. Now, Haymitch. Honestly, the look was not exactly what I had in mind, but that doesn't matter. It was the person that Woody created. He made Haymitch feel real. The movie doesn't delve into Haymitch's flaws the way the book does. The book is pretty heavy. Suzanne Collins deals with weighty material for young adults. You have a dystopian world, teenagers fighting to the death, an alcoholic, and a slew of other things.

Since I'm on the subject of the heavy subject material I might as well opine further. I've seen so many posts on Facebook of parents warning other parents not to take their children to see this movie. Duh! Have they read the synopsis, the books, or done even an iota of research? These freakin books are about teenagers that kill one another for sport. Of course the movie is going to be violent. It should be violent. If it hadn't of been violent I would have felt they compromised the subject material. The most important thing when adapting a piece of art is to stay true to it. Violence is apart of the world that Suzanne Collins created. It must be incorporated into visual form. Furthermore, neither the novels nor the movie is intended for children. The books were written for young adults. Wikipedia defines a young adult as anyone from 20-40. I think it's generally accepted that young adult books are written for kids between the ages of 13-19. I don't believe in censorship of any form. I do believe in common sense and being smart. The movie is PG-13 for a reason. Don't be shocked when people get killed. It's apart of the movie's premise. Besides I found people's criticism of the violence to be exaggerated.

Do I recommend this movie? Yes. For a few reasons.

1. The strong female lead. I enjoy literature and movies with strong female characters that aren't manly. Katniss is strong while remaining feminine. If my wife and I have a daughter one day I'll put these books in her hand before she has a chance to read Twilight. I'd prefer my daughter be apart of team Katniss rather than team Bella.

2. Good writing and good movie making. I thought the script and movie making justified the adaptation. My only complaint was the shaky cam during the action scenes. I don't attend movies for motion sickness. I want to see everything that happens. Shaky cam is a poor excuse for failing to shoot a good action scene.

3. Costume and set design. The movie did a better job than the book of brining these things to life. I'm not going to elaborate. You need to see it.

This is a good film to start the 2012 spring/summer movie season with.

Check it out, folks.

mark

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Editing: A Love Hate Relationship

Recently I decided to try my hand at a writing contest. The contest is being put on by a website I frequent: Fantasy Faction*. Initially I was hesitant. I've never let anyone outside my circle of friends or family read my writing. These will be people who I've never met judging my story. That's sorta scary. The other thing that made me step lightly is that I've never written a short story before. The word count for FF's contest is 8,000 words. After writing a 150,000 word novel 8k words seems like a tear drop in a pond. No, a lake. After I moved past the feelings of hesitation and fear I got inspiration for the story I would write.

The story wrote itself. It was a firestorm of words and action. It was a beautiful time of creation. That was back around the 3rd of February. The story was finished in about two weeks. Since then all I've been doing is editing: cutting, chopping, rearranging, and throwing whole sections away.

When I began the editing process it was fun. That's strange to say. Especially if you listen to some writers complain about the process. They put the fear of God in you. When I put hands to plow though it seemed natural. I cut words that were unnecessary, changed dialogue that didn't work, made action flow more smoothly, and did whatever I could to make the story better.

I contacted three friends to beta read the story. Two of the guys have been especially busy, and haven't gotten back to me on their thoughts. I'm now working on my fourth draft, and my friend Marc, has let me know his thoughts each step along the way.

A Word About Marc:

Marc is not a fantasy reader. He's read your classics but he's more of a literary guy. This is good because he can read the story with unbias. Our friendship doesn't get in the way of his critiques.

Back To Our Regularly Schedule Program:

Not gonna lie, some of his suggestions have been discouraging. Not in a bad way. But in a I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-going-to-do-with-this-blankety-blank-story-kind-of-way. My biggest problem with the story so far is the ending. I've changed it with every draft. My first ending came on a high note. My main character gave a rousing speech that riled up the crowd, and it set up future stories for bad assery. The problem was that the ending was not consistent with my main character's character. It is not a speech he would have made. He's a guy who's indifferent to the things that happen around him. He's more of a force of nature than a man. He does not contemplate his decisions. He just does. Saying that, that's a hard character to write. You have to consider every little thing he does.

I rewrote the ending a second time. It was terrible and not worth spilling words over.

My third ending was an improvement, and more consistent with the character, but still didn't work for the character.

This morning I finished a first round through my fourth draft. (With each draft I do two or three rounds through the story before moving on to the next draft.) I came to the ending and crossed out everything I wrote. I began writing a new ending. I believe this moves my story in a better direction for an end, but I wasn't satisfied with what I wrote. Not gonna lie, I'm getting aggravated. It began to turn into one of those moments where I take my ink pin and stab the manuscript to death. Luckily, I refrained and let the story live. Tomorrow I'll go back to work on it.

A minor problem I'm also working on is two sections of the story where Marc's not happy with my main character's characterization, and I can see his points, but I'm not as bothered by them. I may be looking at this with tinted lenses, but I just don't see it as big as deal as Marc does. While I want to take all of his suggestions into consideration I have to remember that he's not the only person that's going to read this story, and that's no slight to him. He's been a great help. But I have to take into consideration every person that may read this. What Marc likes they may hate. What they hate Marc will like. The best thing I can do is get the story to the point where I'm satisfied with it. These sections he's point out I enjoy. Could they use improving? Yes. But I'm not going to rework the scenes entirely. I like the way they unfold. I like the way Thoros - my main character - acts in these situations.

Editing is fun. It's all in your attitude. You can't let yourself get unleashed and lose all sense while doing it. You'll destroy your story, lapse into a depression, and won't resurface. You've got to let yourself have fun. Otherwise being so strict with the story will stress you out. You want the words to shine like a newly minted quarter, but there are going to be flaws no matter how many times you brush through the pages.

Neil Gaiman, one of  the most brilliant living writers, says that a novel can be best defined as a long piece of prose with something wrong with it. That statement can be taken a number of different ways, but it should be kept in mind, no matter what you write. You can polish and define and mold until your manuscript has no kinks, but even then there'll always be another problem. Eventually you're going to have to put your story out there to be read despite whatever's wrong with it. I'm trying to keep this in mind as I work on Thoros's short story.

Keep writing, friends

mark

*Clink the words Fantasy Faction. You will be taken to the contest page if you would like to enter the competition. Hurry. Deadline is looming.

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A Cause for Celebration

I've been away from the blog a long time. A much longer time than I'm normally away. My last post September 16, 2011. Part of that is because I haven't had much time for writing. For the past five months I've been working on a novel. The first draft began way back in July. July 24th of 2011 to be exact.

Today I typed the last sentence of Thronebreaker's final chapter.

It's a truly bittersweet feeling.

I'm excited because this is the first novel I've completed writing.

I'm sad because I've spent the last five months of my life with Thoros Thronebreaker, Faye Flamekisser, Rhezak, and Khul. Who am I going to spend my time with now? I know that there's editing and revisions to do (a lot of editing and revisions I'll admit), but that's not the same. While writing the first draft I was getting to know these characters. I learned what their personalities are like, what idiosyncrasies they have, what their viewpoints of the world were, etcetera etcetera. Once I start editing I'll refine all those things. I don't feel like there will be more to learn about these characters. Maybe there will be. I don't know.

I had planned on ending the book with an epilogue, but I don't want to pull a George Lucas.

The new year is starting off pretty well. I already have a cause for celebration. I'm also scripting a comic. My first comic script actually. I hope to finish that by the end of this week, or early next week. I'll keep you guys updated on the progress.

There are more posts to come.

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