Writer's Blog 2011-02-14

I have mentioned the web reviewer Sfdebris before. Recently he reviewed the episode Shades of Grey. This is a clip show which, as he points out, is a thing hated by almost everyone. When I saw he was to review this I though, 'How can you possibly review a clip show. Well he managed it. Here is the review:




What I find particularly interesting is his suggestion of other possibilities for the story. Clip shows come up now and then usually because of money problems. As a writer just starting I hope never to be responsible for a clip show. The easiest way to do that is not to become involved in television!

Being serious I don't understand why clip shows happen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Babylon 5 never had clip shows. If you're a skilled writer you can create tension with two people in an empty room. Intersections in Real Time does this. This episode is about an interrogation/torture but there is no reason why that would have to be the theme.

TNG ran into money problems on another occasion. The Drumhead was produced as the writers felt they didn't want to go down the route of another clip show. So I hope never to produce anything of that sort. However from a text perspective, novels and short stories ect. There is something you can do that may sound similar but is very effective.

This I will discuss in the text post. Nothing in writing is ever really waisted.

Writer's Blog 2011-02-11

In continuing to look at Writing a Novel there's a paragraph I'd like to share with you:

There is a basic human need for fiction, a need which comes on the heals of our primary requirements...There have been storytellers since people had full enough bellies to stop and think for a moment...the audience is seeking the fulfilment of these same three needs: entertainment, escape, understanding. (p16)

Each chapter has many exercises. At the end of this chapter we are asked to think of our favourite story.

I can't say what my favourite story is. Frankly it depends on a great many factors. I'll probably have a different answer depending on who I'm with. Two excellent stories come to mind though:
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and the Old Kingdom trilogy.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a great story. I've read it, listened to it and watched it. So as not to ruin it for you, this is the story of a man who travels the galaxy in his dressing gown. The radio version is the best, followed by the book, then the TV series - the movie? AVOID. Okay it wasn't that bad. It wasn't Star Wars prequels bad. But it doesn't hold a candle to the BBC series.

The Old Kingdom trilogy is a set of fantasy novels. I have been looking at the follow up book, Across the Wall, recently for a critical essay for university. I found I remembered very little of the original trilogy other than the fact that they were very good books. They are not your typical fantasy novels. I don't really want to say more than that other than: 'They're brilliant - read them!'

I would just like to highlight something I tweeted the other day. Recently I've been watching Charmed. I completely missed it in its original run. It must have been on a channel other than BBC! Anyway I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the writing in this series. In one of the last episodes I watched, Piper brakes up with her boyfriend. They talk briefly, he calmly says he understands, kisses her and leaves. I'm glossing over the details but the point is that there were no feelings of hatred and it was calm. Often when a relationship ends in film or TV there's always crying and swearing and, in the case of Buffy, death. These two people were written like human beings!