Writing Tip #3: There's nothing new, just use legos

It's been said that there are no new ideas, just ideas that are new to you, or old things done in new ways.  This in fact may be true, but that doesn't mean that you can't come up with something that is fresh and "cool" and at least mostly unique to you.

Case in point, if you watch Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, and Avatar (the James Cameron one), you will see that they are essentially the same story set in different times, locations and with different characters.  The same can be said about the first Fast and Furious movie which is essentially Point Break but with street racing cars instead of surfing and skydiving.  These movies took something old and did it in a new way (lets not even touch reboots, which is an entirely different monster).

So now you ask "Okay Crash I understand about the the nothing new thing, but what does this have to do with Legos?"   Let me explain.

There are hundreds if not thousands of Lego sets out there, just like there are hundreds of thousands of stories, and just like those stories, many of the Lego sets are established (aka copyrighted) properties such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.   If you build one of those sets by the instructions then you have what is on the box and you can be proud of the accomplishment (some of them are feats indeed!) but is it your creation?  No, it's the same thing that is one the box, the same thing that was in the movie, and the same thing that license owner still owns.   However if you were to use the pieces from that Harry Potter set and that Star Wars set, and say, throw in some pieces from a couple other sets to create this new space pirate ship crewed by cool aliens who could use magic, well now you have something that is your own. 

Writing is much like this process.  Harry Potter could inspire you to write your own epic tale of young wizards.  However if your character is an orphan who lives with his aunt and uncle and is whisked off to a school of magic after learning he is the chosen one....well you get my drift.  One you're not going to get published, and two, if you do make any money or gain any fame your going to get a nice cease and desist order from J.K. Rowling's lawyer.   However if you take the base idea, a kid going to school to become a wizard, then mix in different elements, like say the fact that humans learn magic from dragons, and perhaps the school isn't on Earth, maybe it's in a fairy realm on a cloud, and there are sky pirates that threaten the school from time to time.  Well then you have something new and different and like the Legos, some one could say that they can see where your inspiration came from, well being inspired is far different from plagiarism.  Artists (that includes writers) inspire each other all the time.

So when you're thinking about writing a story like _________________.  Take a moment to break it down like you would a lego set and play around with the pieces, you might be surprised what you can build.

Writing Tip #2: Read it out loud

This might seem like a silly thing to say, but trust me, this works.  When you proof read silently, your mind often slips in the words that you forgot to type for you.  Also when you read out loud your words form a rhythm, and this is often the same rhythm that a reader will keep when reading your words, even when they read them silently.  You wouldn't believe how many messed up sentences and misspelling I caught just by reading something back to myself out loud.   If you don't believe me try it for yourself!

(I caught two typos just now rereading this out loud ;) )

Writing Tips I’ve Learned That Might Help You Too!

As you can see by the length of time between this post and the last, I haven’t used my blog all that much.  I’m not the type to ramble on about my personal life in a public forum, and I’m not sure about sharing parts of my book in a place where just anyone can see it. 

Recently I began taking part in a creative writing class at the Veteran’s Hospital.  I’ve also been listening to more and more writing podcasts, and am currently enrolled in an English 1 class at City College.  Through these I’ve found some interesting and helpful things that have improved my writing skills.  So at long last I have something to put here in my blog.  After all, a blog shouldn’t just be interesting to me, it should be interesting to the person reading it as well.

Tip #1:  Get It Down on Paper first, then edit later.

The first step to writing is writing.  That sounds silly but if an idea stays in your brain, it’s not available for someone else to read.  A daydream doesn’t do anyone any good except the person who’s having it right?  So write it down.  Don’t worry about editing your work at first.  Just get your thoughts onto the page or computer screen, let the creativity flow until the work is done.  Then go back and edit.  If your edit as your go, you’ll constantly be going back and revising the story and making little changes, trying to make it perfect, and in the end you’ll never really get anywhere.   Finish the story, even if your chop it up into a million pieces and rebuild it later on, you still have achieved something and will feel better about it. 

That’s not to say that as you’re typing you can’t go back in the sentence and fix a typo, that’s fine.  I’m talking about starting from page 1 of 20 pages and going through and making changes.  If you figure out along the way that an earlier event needs to be changed, make a note of it and go back to it when you are done.   Remember, the first draft doesn’t necessarily need to make sense to anyone but you.  So if your story changes on page 25, and you know you have to make changes on page 5 for it to work, that’s okay, you’re in control and can fix it later.   Get to the last page, take a break, then go to your notes and start your editing.

Reference:

The Secrets Podcast by Michael A Stackpole:  www.michaelastackpole.com

Shitty first drafts by Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird

New children's book in the works

 Last year I published my first illustrated children's book, or rather we published a children's book that was written by Andrean Jacobs and illustrated by me.  The book has met with a good amount of success and we're now working on book 2.

Book 1 titled "Granny! Come Back Down Here!!! is a story about a little girl who loses her grandmother and how she copes with it.   This second book deals with children and how to deal with inappropriate touching.

I've also been doing a few commissions here and there including a couple for my new friends over at the "Guys with Toys" podcast.  A podcast focusing on the various 80's franchise from their (and my) youth.

I'm also still working on a novel. Though that has stalled a bit at the moment.

Look for more from me in the near future!

Customized Faker

 I've been a fan of the Masters of the Universe since the day that 8 year old me walked into the Mervyn's toy department and saw these massive figures on dark red blister cards literally towering over the Star Wars and GI Joe figures next to them.   I was enthralled by the art on the packages and the mixture of  fantasy and technology.   I had many of them as a child, in 2002 when the line was reborn I began collecting them again.

In that line there was one figure that have I always wanted but could never find at a good price. Toyfare Magazine had a mail away offer for Faker, the evil robot version of He-man which, in the secondary market still claims a ridiculously high price tag. So at Power-Con this year I found a open He-man figure and a Skeletor harness and decided to make my own! 

 I've painted figures before as a kid, but this was my first attempt to make a professional looking figure.  I think he turned out pretty well!

There and Back again: A Hobbit Review

I went and saw the Hobbit this morning and here are my thoughts

*SPOILERS* If you are one of the five people in the world that haven't read the book or seen the cartoon.

- Peter Jackson and Co did their usual outstanding job with this latest edition to Middle Earth. The same attention to detail that went into the Lord of the Rings was here. My only criticisms are that a large number of the goblins were CG and lacked the depth, texture and variety of the Mordor Orcs or the Moria Goblins, and it was fairly easy to forget that three of the company were dwarves unless they were standing near Gandalf or some other tall folk.

- In addition to what is "seen" in the book and cartoon, we a treated to a couple of new scenes dealing with what Gandalf was up to when he was separated from the Dwarves and Bilbo. We are also treated to a couple of new villains, one is the Necromancer who's true origin many will know but I will not say as it is sort of a spoiler. The other is an Orc that was named in book in passing, and much like Lurtz and Gothmog the Lesser, was given a larger role on screen. This new orc ties together several different scenes in the book nicely and is a good addition in my opinion. I was also happy to see Radagast the Brown make an appearance in the book, and I'm hoping that Beorn makes the cut in the next film.

- The movie ends around the halfway point of the book, just as the Dwarves are reaching Mirkwood, and it appears that the actually tale told in the Hobbit will wrap up in the second movie and the third will finish tying the two trilogies together.

Can't wait till next Christmas to see the next part!

Werewolf Book ~ Second Draft

What happened in the first draft

The start of the book was an outpouring of a real life event that happened in my life, which led to a situation where in real life I went left where as Vic went right.  From there it was a combination of bits from my life mixed with made up scenes and of course the supernatural.  I wrote almost straight through without much of an outline or planning.  I knew in my mind what I wanted to accomplish in the story and to my surprise the story took me in directions that I hadn't expected.   I finished it and let it set for a while, having several people read it and give me feedback.   Then I started to analyze it myself.

Which leads us to the Second draft

As I looked over my book I realized that there were things that I wanted to change.  Not so much content wise.  The things I wanted to happen occurred, though not in the order I wanted them to.  In addition the time line seemed far too short for the things that happened.  What I intended to happen over the course of 9 months to a year, ended up happening over the course of four months.  Lastly there is a couple of characters that I felt deserved a bit more attention. 

 So currently I'm working my way through the book, chopping up and rearranging parts into a new order and trying to work them back together.  It's a fun and frustrating process let me tell you.