Blog Assignment #6 - Now You See It

So I've found myself stuck in a place that is very uncomfortable for a writer; a limbo of sorts. I love to write, but lately it seems more like a daunting chore, than pleasurable. I have to force myself to write, and for a writer that's not good.

It all started when I made the mistake of taking an Intermediate Screenwriting class. It's a good class, don't get me wrong. But I took the Beginning Screenwriting class a year ago, and I didn't get a whole lot out of it. It was a lot of watching movies, and talking about character development. And I became really good a that.

 I can't take a man's smile and build an entire body around it. Then breathe life into him, and give him a personality. He has a past, present and future; dreams and desires. His world is full of family, friends and love interests; and, they too have well developed lives.  It would be incredible, except for one roadblock. With all that development, I tend to forget what the story I wanted to tell was, and why.

So I sit down at my computer, and I type out scene after scene. Oh wait, I have to write an essay for my English class. Back to my screenplay. Darn it, I forgot I said I was going to develop a couple of short stories for this upcoming writing project. And now back to my... personal blog time. I'm really going to put some time into my screen... I almost forgot my blog for my English class. I'm feeling moody, think I'll write a poem about that. I think you get the point.

It's become so bad, I hardly ever open my laptop anymore; not like I used to. When will this semester end, so I could get back to loving writing?

Blog Assignment #5 - Dystopia At It's Finest

It's interesting that we were given a clip from Wall-E to write this blog about. Mostly because it is one of my favorite Dystopias. For those who aren't familiar with what a Dystopia is; it is the opposite of a Utopian society, in which something is seriously wrong with the society at large and it is undesirable for people to live in.

Some of the most recent famous Dystopian works (both literary and film) are The Hunger Games, The Host and Divergent. But Dystopias  aren't limited to Young Adult fiction. No it can be found in almost anything that is Science Fiction oriented.

Disney/Pixar's Wall-E is one of the best ones that I have seen. Not just because it's Disney, but because it shows a society that nobody should want to live in, but we seem to be headed. toward. That's right, I said headed toward. Why?


Imagine a world were nobody walks anywhere, and everything we desire is convenient. It's not hard to picture because or world is already like that in so many ways. We have motorized vehicles that take us everywhere we go. On practically every corner, we an find fast food, drive up banking, pharmacies, libraries, and more. We can work and go to school from the comfort of our home, and having our groceries and food delivered to us. We video chat, share pictures via social networking, text and talk via our phones. With technology, we could almost live 100% of our life in a chair in our home, and not worry about anything.

That is a life pretty close to the life that the people in Wall-E lived. The only difference was that they were travelling in chairs. Sure they got out and about, but they never had to leave the chair. They wanted to change clothes, there was a button for that. They were ready to eat, there was a bot for that. They had fallen, and couldn't get up, a bot was on the way for that. Makes you think of the statement, "There's an App for that". doesn't it?

They had no cares in the world. Heck, when Wall-E snapped Mary out of her conversation, she seems lost. Like she had no clue where she was, and what was going on. Even the children were immobile. It makes for a unhealthy communal situation. And at the rate that technology is taking us, we are headed that way.

Although, I would rather be in Wall-E's dystopia, than have to watch kids killing each other, like in the Hunger Games.

Blog Assignment #4 - Great Sex & Bad Writing

So by now, the whole world has heard of 50 Shades of Grey.
E. L. James wrote a literary masterpiece that will stand the test of time...

Okay, so that was a joke. The truth is, 50 Shades is not well written and the story itself is just okay. So why all the hype... Because James shocked the world by making porn seem literary.

To those familiar with literary genres, this piece of writing would normally have been tucked away in the erotica section, and the lack of great writing skills would've buried it. But that didn't happen. Why?

Because where the story was lacking, James made up for it with great character development and steamy (oddly enough, well written) sex scenes. Hell, I fell in love with Christian Grey.

But the popularity of 50 Shades created a serious problem. More and more poorly written stories are being published, with well written sex scenes. And they aren't being buried in the erotica section. Nope, they're hanging out in the supernatural romance, gothic thrillers, dystopia, medieval romance and fantasy sections. They're veiled as really good genre pieces, then uncovered as smut in literature's clothing.


I recently read a book on my kindle, called Awakened. I have no clue how it got there, but I figured, "Why Not?" I'll tell you why not. Because it was "Crap in Literature's Clothing". As I began, I thought, "This is okay. Characters aren't too bad, and the story has a decent start." About 50 or so pages in, and I started thinking, "Where are the vampires? Isn't this book a part of the Vampire Awakenings series?"

By page 59, I was slightly angry. Why you ask? Because by this page, there is a pretty steamy scene, and yet the first book of the "Vampire Awakenings Series" still hadn't given me an actual vampire. Sure I suspected, but it wasn't until page 172 that the big reveal happened.

So here we have a book with okay character development, the story layout is horrible, and the plot is just okay. So why would anyone ever recommend this book. Because the sex scenes were pretty awesome. I'm not going to lie. Those scene were written very well, just like E.L. James did with 50 Shades. And as a writer, it makes me furious.

Mostly because there are great works not being published, due to a lack of sex. And yet this dribble can get published because someone got aroused when they read the manuscript. It's enough to make any writer worth their salt want to spit nails.

Luckily for me, I can be a well rounded writer. I can write a steamy sex scene, but it's usually embedded in a not so bad story with awesome character. So I hope some day to prove that Great Sex doesn't have to be tied together with
Bad Writing.

Blog Assignment #3 - Facebook Likes... Business Dream & Nightmare

So a Facebook buddy of mine sent me a link to a video. I thought it was gonna be more "My cat did some crap" crap. Yeah I get that stuff all the time. But this one was an OMG for me.

As an author, aspiring to be published, we newbies are told that social networking is vital to our success. We are told to build followers and keep them active. And it's not just so that you can sell them your product. No, it's to prove that your product is worthy of being put in front of more viewers than just your followers. So one would ask, "How does someone show that they are successfully networking socially?" The answer is simple; "Likes".

When people show interest in your pages and posts, they click a button that has a "thumbs up" on it. This symbol is the "Like" symbol, and for some reason it has developed a monetary value.

That's right. People actually pay for likes. Facebook made a stand against "fake likes" back in 2012. It's hard to believe that something as simple as a click could cause such a stir. It's sad that we have made Facebook so important that people are spending their hard earned money to get people to click "Like". What's worse, something that should have been advertising Gold has become a Business Nightmare. Why? Because by adding monetary value to the click, we have diminished the value of the advertisement itself.

Blog Assignment #2 - Creating Myth and Lore

As I'm writing my screenplay, I'm researching vampires, angels and succubi. Vampires and angels aren't that hard. There is a lot of tales and legends about both. You'll even find people out there claiming that they are experts on these topics. While their expertise is questionable, their ability to create myth and lore fascinates me.

It is this fascination that has created a stir in my fictional world. Could you imagine creating your own myths and legends, and people viewing them as a possible reality? I would've never thought to do so, until Succubi became part of my world.

When you are dealing with a subject that has so little exposure, you tend to wonder where to start with character development. In all honesty, the majority of exposure to succubi comes from erotica and porn. The idea of a sex demon doesn't generally have a place in literary fiction; or even most genres. But what if there was more to a sex demon than just sex?

So I'm starting to work on my myths. It shouldn't be too hard since there aren't a lot of famous Succubus stories out there. The only thing I've come across that many have heard of is a Canadian series called "The Lost Girl". I think I'm going to watch it so I can make sure I'm not going too outrageous with the Succubi. It just makes sense to understand what the people who know about succubi know. Even with all of the research, I have to come to a place where my myth and lore is unique, and stands apart from what is known.

So even with my research, I must remember rule #1 - Creation... Not Duplication.

Blog Assignment #1 - Research... Or Just Plain Fun

It's time for me to do a little research for my screenplay. I spend as much, if not more, time researching for my screenplay, as I spend writing it. The theme, plot points, settings and characters in this piece require more research than most of my pieces.

Why is that? Because I'm not a sexually driven person (contrary to the believe of my readers), nor am I a serial killer. But to make my stories believable, I have to convince my readers that it's possible I am and that's why my characters and stories are so good.

So for sex and sexiness, I turn to the same place most women do... Cosmopolitan Magazine. Not only do I read the magazine itself, but I follow a few of the blogs. My favorite is the Best Sex Ever blog.

I like this blog because it makes sex less mundane, and gives new ideas to spice up my characters' sex lives. It's not about porn, erotica or smut. Although, at times it feels like the writer is looking very unrealistically at sex, for the sake of shock value. But since I'm not trying to duplicate what they write, it's still a good source for a fresh outlook on sex. It's all about bringing characters closer, pushing stories forward or giving a serial killer her Modus Operandi.

That's right... Sex as the serial killer's M.O. or "method of operation" (English translation of Modus Operandi). I learned the term on my favorite TV show "Criminal Minds". Not only did I become aware of the world of serial killers, but became fascinated.What I discovered was that when creating killers, you have to let go of all pleasantries and realize that you are dealing with the scum of the earth. So to keep the realism, without actually committing murders, it's important to read about them. I do a lot of my research using blogs like "The World Of Serial Killers".

This blog exposes it's readers to  many cases of serial killers. As well as gives information about famous serial killers, like Jeffrey Dahmer (Pictured left). These articles and stories start me on research mode for M.O., victimology and signatures from which I can create psychological details from my characters. Understanding how the minds of killers of all levels work, can create a level of realism that won't just flow naturally without research.

Now I know that you are probably disturbed by the content I have researched thus far. But truth be told, I research pretty much everything, prior to writing anything. And when I'm feeling that my writing muscles just need a bit of exercise, I like blogs with prompts and writing tips that I can practice. One blog that I really like is "The Write Practice". Tips like "When You Don’t Know What to Write, Write About Your Insecurities" you have a great guide to keeping your writing pretty fresh.

So as a whole, blogs are a great source for research information. But remember, you are reading a person's thoughts, and topics that they researched. So it's not always the best source for all topics. All in all though, it can be pretty fun doing your research with blogs... Especially all of Cosmo's blogs.

Oh well... Back to my writing.

Creation... Not Duplication

As a writer, I naturally observe everything, and everyone. While observing, I sometimes find myself inspired to create. So I'll write a story, and set it in the mall... Oh wow. I said create didn't I?

The one problem with fiction is people will use reality as 100% of the basis for people, places, and things. When this occurs, the reader is drawn into a world, then ripped out by their own thought. What do I mean by this?

While reading a story written by an old classmate, I started craving pizza. My mind kept drifting from the story to thoughts of driving to Mellow Mushroom. Why? Because a scene of her story was set in Mellow Mushroom. So instead of finishing her story, I went to experience Mellow Mushroom for the first time. And it was amazing.

It was probably a few months later that I saw the movie Inception. Great movie. And in the movie, there was a scene with one of the characters (Ariadne played by Ellen Page) building the world of the dream that she and Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) were walking through. This one part of the scene stuck with me.

The statements "Never recreate places from your memory. Always imagine new places." and "only use details" are some of the greatest pieces of advice that most writers are never given.

I once wrote a story that was set in San Diego, Ca. A friend of mine, who read the story, criticized my fictional work, because I left out details of a location that I felt didn't matter. But as a native, I should know that the location I left out is one that the locals loved. Of course, when I asked what she thought about the rest of the story, she had nothing to say. She had focused so much on my flawed setting, the story no longer mattered to her. To an author, this can be career ending.

Same can be said with creating characters based on real people. I love watching Benedict Cumberbatch play Sherlock Holmes. He is an incredible actor, and he has brought that character to life for a generation that might never have desired to meet Sir Arthur Connan Doyle's character. But one thing that sometimes happens is a writer will find someone they think would play a character well, and next thing you know, the character looks just like the actor. Not a good thing.

So how does one avoid these mistakes. Start by remembering that fiction is creation. And with creation, you can have inspiration, but avoid duplication.

You can use Arrowhead Mall as inspiration for a story, but change it's name and layout. In the Foothills Plaza, put the food court down stairs and a fountain in the center of the indoor mall. The Foothills 18 movie theater can still be across the walkway from the Silver Dollar coffee shop.  These are little details, and the reader can visualize them. But they won't be the focus.

With your characters, your angel can have eyes like Benedict Cumbatch, that should be the only detail that sticks. Why? Because you want people to fall in love with your angel, Kane. Not Benedict Cumberbatch as Kane. Especially if Kane isn't even being played in a movie.

So next time you are developing your fiction... Remember Creation, not Duplication.