A Faceless Author

Up: Why Adventure Can Remain Elusive

2012-01-16T17:15:00.000-05:00

Up remains one of Pixar's most unique movies. After demonstrating human depths in The Incredibles and Ratatouille, the company decided to take a break from serious stories and decided to have fun. They took a challenge in using a grumpy old man as their protagonist, but the gamble paid off.

Unlike the last post, which covered Theme and Concept, we're going to look at Up's main theme: adventure. Pixar keeps the theme as overt as possible, using the word adventure as a recurring motif. Charles Muntz, the mysterious explorer introduced as Carl's inspiration, even names his ship The Spirit of Adventure, and we get to see why when Carl and Wilderness Scout Russel meet him.

As mentioned in my previous blog post, Pixar makes sure that their themes have balance. In the case of Up, the movie emphasizes that adventure can be crazy and exciting, but you can't let it get to your head. I will explore the theme's light and dark sides.

Defining Adventure

Adventure becomes Carl's liberation when the explorer has something to lose. The movie starts with explaining how Carl and Elliot are a determined, happy couple. We see him and Elliot struggle with a smile to make ends meet so they can visit Paradise Falls and sympathize with their constant failure; the tears come when Elliot dies before she can make the trip, and Carl feels guilty for not keeping his promise to her. As a last straw, when Carl is forced to move to a nursing home after Elliot dies, he doesn't take the news lying down. The audience thus cheers when he opens up the millions of balloons that lift his house off the ground and away from the nursing home doctors. Carl's decision liberates him from a mundane, unfair life and gives him a chance of redeeming his promise to Elliot.

Carl relearns from Russel, an Asian boy who ends up on the flying house by accident, that you only need people you care about to have an adventure. Pixar wants us to view Russel as an annoying, determined, and naive Wilderness Scout who has never been outdoors; they hint at hidden depths, however, when he steers Carl's house through a storm and mentions that his dad lives with another woman. The real sadness hits when he says he used to eat ice-cream with his dad and count cars: "I know it sounds boring, but I remember the boring parts the most." The viewer flashes back to Elliot and Carl's cozy happiness at their more mundane moments and realizes what Carl has been missing.

Carl's living contrast and representation of adventure's darker side is Charles Muntz, now aged and obsessed with capturing an exotic bird named Kevin. Guilt motivates Carl; pride motivates the former explorer. Also, instead of attempting to live in normal society, Muntz isolates himself in the jungle until he brings back Kevin; he has lost any semblance of compassion or morality. The film hints at this when Muntz displays helmets from people he has killed, increases the tension when Muntz captures Kevin and leaves her babies to starve, and has him cross the line by attempting to kill Russel. By the time Russel's life is threatened, the viewer feels no sympathy for Muntz and see how his obsession has corrupted him. While the dogs participate in mundane actions like playing fetch and asking for treats, their abilities to communicate, cook, and coordinate as a military group (some even fly planes) undermine any "boring" or memorable moments that Muntz might have had with a person.

Despite seeing how adventure has corrupted Muntz's sanity and morality, as well as Russel's unintended influence, Carl only realizes that he needs people when he sees Elliot's scrapbook. The movie has Muntz threaten Carl's house to distract him from rescuing a wounded Kevin; Carl shows an understandable lack of compassion about losing Kevin, although we see his similarity to Muntz. He regains his sullen composure, shunting aside his guilt and focusing on getting the house to Paradise Falls. With that in mind, we would have had a very different movie if Carl had opened the scrapbook earlier as well as a very different adventure, because she shows that Carl was her greatest adventure. Her words and pictures remove Carl's guilt and allow him to move forward; he rescues Russel and Kevin from Muntz and befriends Dug, a golden retriever ostracized by Muntz's pack. By building a new family with Russel and Dug, as well as the other dogs once Muntz gets defeated, Carl proves himself as the better of the two men and the more deserving of a second chance.

Visual Motifs

The movie's light tone supports its positive view of adventure; unlike Wall-E's dark palette, or Ratatouille's alternating layers of moody color, Up uses vibrant colors even during the film's most serious moments. The sad beginning has soft pastels that give way to emotional piano music, while Carl's initial takeoff emerges in a triumph of shiny red and blue balloons. Pixar wants it viewers to go on a crazy trip, but not to lose sight of the people they care about; they emphasize that with South America's gorgeous, dangerous landscape and the clean atmosphere of America's suburbs.

The Spirit of Adventure airship represents the theme's ambiguity during the film. Much like how Carl's house is just a house, the airship is just an airship; it serves to transport the owner and house him safely. Muntz and Carl make the ship symbolic; Muntz uses the ship for both benevolent and nightmarish purposes. It can feed a crew of dogs or cage an exotic bird. The ship also tosses and turns during Carl's climactic confrontation with Muntz, emphasizing how it could be used for good and evil. We finally see this when Muntz gets tangled with drifting balloons and the house floats down (on Paradise Falls, no less): Carl now uses the airship as his home, and the dogs become his pets. He remembers his lessons learned with Russel and Elliot's scrapbook, however; he uses the ship only to spend time with the dogs and Russel so they remember the good times. Carl can find adventure anywhere, and he does so thoroughly.

Closing Thoughts

Although the viewer senses that Up is a complex movie, we enjoy its fun and empathetic nature far more. Toy Story 3 dealt with toy "retirement", Wall-E was a depressing look at our future, while Ratatouille asked if genius could flourish from the lowest levels; Up offers a thrilling and exciting adventure and second chances. Beneath the colorful exterior, however, lies the Pixar layers that we have come to love mingled with familiar humor. We get hope for our personal futures, and the promise that we can have adventures of our own with a peaceful conscience. No second of life is wasted, Pixar tells us, as long as we share it with someone.

Cars 2- How Spies and Pixar Go Together

2012-01-12T11:37:00.002-05:00

This morning a friend and I did a Pixar double feature: we watched Up and Cars 2. In another post, I'll go through Up piece by piece and explain what writers can learn from the movie. For now, let us turn to writer John Lasseter's latest creative venture.

Cars 2 ups the stakes from the first movie by introducing the World Gran Prix, an international race that promotes Allinol, and alternative fuel. Racecar Lightning McQueen joins the race and brings his best friend Tow Mater for the trip; they soon find out that unlikely friendships are more complicated than they appear.

The movie also introduces a mob of "lemon" cars that sabotage the race and Allinol's reputation. Fighting the mob are British spies Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell; they recruit Mater after mistaking him for an American spy. They have to stop the lemon car mob from killing Lightning McQueen before the races' conclusion in Britain.

I will analyze the movie by talking about the movie's concept and themes, and how they play out. I am going to talk about the plot in detail, so please do not read if you do not appreciate spoilers.

Concept

   John Lasseter wants to introduce two key concepts during his newest film: spies investigating an oil conspiracy and the regular Cars cast learning to get along. The two concepts have distance that needs bridging and balance, given how far apart they can be on the genre spectrum. Brad Bird previously tackled superheroes in The Incredibles, but he was careful to mix in plenty of humor with the movie's real dangers; when people died in, they usually died in an explosion or off-screen. Lasseter has to recreate that same distance from reality without retreading on Bird's territory.

Balance is the first issue; Pixar needs to reconcile the harsh nature of mob conspiracies with the Cars world that we've become familiar with. The company has learned from Wall-E not to show depressing material; they have to present a colorful world with hope of getting better, at least in terms of contemporary problems. Cars 2 in this case attacks the idea of alternative fuels and organized crime and shows both being handled with hope.

Pixar also can't seriously injure Mater, McQueen, or the British spies; they only kill two minor characters to establish the movie's stakes. The villains even implement a classic death trap when they finally get their hands on Mater, defusing the fear that Mater will die for real. Lasseter then raises the tension by revealing that Mater was allowed to escape the trap and has a bomb strapped to his air filter. Right after that reveal, however, humor is implemented into a serious car chase and Mater's friends successfully take down the lemon mob; the bomb never even gets a chance to explode, and the viewer can breathe easily. The bomb is also not treated the way it would be treated in real life; it's mostly seen as an obstacle, not a life-threatening terrorist situation until Mater talks to the Queen of England.

One may argue that Pixar fails to temper the scary stuff in Cars 2, given the number of parents and younger kids who did not appreciate car spies being tortured to death or using guns. Critics also did not appreciate Mater being the film's main character, although he goes through more character development than McQueen. On the other hand, older audiences have appreciated the movie and the James Bond twang within the soundtrack; the movie may have fared better with a PG rating and a marketing slant at teenagers and college students, who would appreciate it.

Bridging is the second important issue; the viewer needs to believe that the Cars world can have colorful characters like Mater and dangerous ones like the lemon mob. Lasseter manages to introduce exciting spies by first having a short but exciting action sequence in which British Agent Finn McMissile infiltrates a corrupt oil rig and fakes his death. McMissile's explosive gadgets and brutal tactics draw the viewer in; no viewer can resist a movie with gorgeous explosions. Once the tension is set, we switch to Radiator Springs, where Mater plays some pranks on McQueen and learns hilariously to respect his best friend's boundaries. Lasseter wastes no time in connecting McQueen and Mater to McMissile's missions, using the World Grand Prix as a bridge.

Belief is the final issue; the viewer needs to believe that Mater can appear as an American spy, and that the British agents made an honest mistake. Lasseter finds a creative solution: he has the real American agent attach his information to an oblivious Mater, who then impresses the British agents with his knowledge of old cars. That knowledge helps them find a necessary informant and the lemon mob's connection to the World Grand Prix, and also saves Mater's life when the car bomb is strapped to him. Mater in this case cannot be stupid or arrogant, only tactless; he keeps trying to tell the agents that he's only a tow truck, and that he doesn't want to mess up their mission.


Themes

The original Cars movie focused on a racecar learning to appreciate people, not metal trophies. He takes that lesson to heart in the sequel with his best friend Mater when trying to work out their unlikely friendship after several months spent in the World Grand Prix. Even if you appreciate people, however, you also have to be patient with their more annoying characteristics. Lightning McQueen has to learn that the hard way with Mater, who has the tact of well . . . an ignorant tow truck. Mater in turn realizes that other cars, including McQueen, think he's an idiot and laugh at him; he tries to change himself; when the change doesn't work out, he leaves so that McQueen has a better chance at winning. Any person in a similar situation would sympathize with Mater, who tries so hard to help.

Friendship has to go two ways, always, Pixar reminds us; that phrase becomes the movie's main theme and visual motif. We first see it when McQueen doesn't like Mater's idea of a good time in Radiator Springs, has the tact not to say so, and tries to have a quiet dinner with his girlfriend; Mater doesn't get it and poses as McQueen's waiter at the dinner. This gets reinforced later when Mater keeps embarrassing himself in Japan and in from of McQueen's race car friends and when he messes up McQueen's racing in Japan. The final glimpse of the visual motif occurs in London, when McQueen chases a bomb-strapped Mater and refuses to let him disappear into the British traffic. Even when Mater uses rockets to propel himself away, McQueen hangs on; although the action further endangers McQueen, it shows that he won't give up on Mater the way he had previously in the movie.

   Contrasting Mater and McQueen's disintegration friendship is McQueen's rivalry with Francesco Bernoulli, an Italian racecar; Francesco constantly insults McQueen but shows respect and even sympathy for the latter. McQueen soon develops a similar banter and respect for Francesco, recognizing the other car's desire for an honest race and that one should hold on to potential friends. At the same time, becoming friendly rivals with Francesco does not interfere with staying Mater's best friend and in fact helps it thrive.

Becoming part of a spy mission helps Mater break from his borderline obsessive friendship with McQueen because he meets McMissile and Holly Shiftwell, his "girlfriend"; they give him another world to explore and interact with. He gets his self-confidence back when providing information about car parts, only to lose it when McMissile compliments him on appearing like a fool; Mater finally shows confidence when McQueen encourage him to act on his belief that Miles Axelrod, creator of Allinol and the Grand Prix is the head of the lemon mob. Even though they don't believe him, the British agents' obvious questions help Mater solidify his accusation to them and the audience because he can address any lingering doubts. Mater even becomes an honorary British knight and spy, although he turns down the offer to go on another mission (WHY? We need a Cars 3) in favor of staying in Radiator Springs.

Lessons to be Learned

1. When you are writing with different concepts, figure out how your characters will bring them together For that, you need to figure out your characters' motivations and roles in the story and how they will change thanks to the plot. Lasseter built the Cars world to inhabit multiple genres and characters; similarly, you should also built your fictional world to inhabit diversity.

2. Themes often have two sides to them and can be used to establish visual motifs; exploit these motifs in as many ways possible. Use contrasting characters, increasingly intense conflict scenes, and explosions. Everything is better with explosions

3. Use humor to defuse situations that may become too terrifying, depending on your audience.

See what you can do with these lessons, if you can implement them into your writing. See if Pixar can be channeled!

Image cited
Lasseter, John, and Brad Lewis. Cars 2. Digital image. IMDB. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. .

Feels Ordinary

2011-12-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

In seven hours it will be 2012 and the end of 2011. This year we have seen Harry Potter end on the big screen, allowing us readers to say a proper goodbye, and we have lost beloved authors like Diana Wynne Jones, innovators and actors to that old enemy Time.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Father_time_7765.jpg

The Vikings did not believe that Time was a man; on the contrary, they envisioned her as an old woman, one of the few warriors who could beat Thor. In return, no one could defeat Time, meaning that Thor did not lose his reputation as a god of Thunder. He then died gloriously fighting a large serpent at Ragnarok, or joining a group of superheroes on Earth. You may believe in the latter if you are a Marvel comics and movie fan.

Thor can teach us a few lessons: we shouldn't be ashamed of Time catching up to us, because it will in the end. We can only hope to do what we can with the minutes and seconds we have left, even the hours.

Some of those minutes will be spent making mistakes, like breaking a cork while trying to open a wine bottle. Those minutes are not wasted if you take additional time to learn from your mistakes and do better in the future. The benefit of being young: you always have time to learn because Time believes in eventual wisdom.

This is the first year in which I've felt more like an adult, even with little kid moments, because I've had to step up the plate. It's also the first year in which I've gotten straight A's in one semester and gotten universal praise of a novel-in progress. I've drawn a Halloween comic strip series that fit within October and made it as funny as possible.

None of those seconds were wasted because I kept learning. That is my resolution for tomorrow.

Why How to Train Your Dragon Was a Good Movie

2011-12-19T18:19:00.004-05:00

Once there was a movie chosen randomly at the library. The movie started with decent animation, descended into beautiful screenshots, and exploded with story.

That movie was How to Train Your Dragon, based on the book series by Cressida Cowell. At the same library with the DVD were about five books from the series, and I had room on my library account. I read five books in two days, even with an orchestra concert in the middle of it.

I would not have done so if I hadn't seen the movie first, looked it up online, and found out about the books. In fact, I may have glazed over them while randomly picking novels off the shelves in different library sections. The reason is simple: Cowell has received less promotion in the US than some of her European counterparts like J.K. Rowling, although she is well known in the UK. Although this lack of fanfare makes her more accessible, it also makes her less well-known; I hope that last few books in the series will rectify that international slight.

Cressida Cowell wrote a blog entry about why she loved the movie adaptation of her book, and I agree with her on all of her points: all the changes were made with good reason, Toothless is adorable in both versions, Hiccup's relationship with his father is painfully realistic, and we see the beauty of Berk and Cowell's childhood in three-dimensional animation. In addition, the movie has been nominated for two Oscars and for a good reason; we have a beautiful example of storytelling that inspires the imagination's flight. I mean to explain why since it has inspired tremendous feeling in myself:

The background music for How to Train your Dragon is epic, exploiting all potential tones through the orchestra, lending emotion that the animation can sometimes not provide. Small wonder it nearly won an Oscar, losing to the Social Network. In the beginning, the epic music may seem campy, and you are right to think so when we are introduced to Vikings and their comic brusqueness; it then becomes powerful when you see Hiccup fly on his dragon for the first time. The music continues to amplify the dramatic tension and action into the movie’s climax, where we get a giant dragon kicking Norse butt and nearly killing it. I won't say WHO the dragon is, but you will see if you nab the movie on DVD.

Part of the movie’s success also lies in how it handles genius. The two aspects of genius--invention and testing-- must go hand in hand when attempting to create something new. You have to take the risk and leanr from your mistakes. In lesser movies, genius would be taken for granted or used to teach a lesson, as Disney attempted to in Meet the Robinsons. Hiccup shows his strength not with his brawn, or lack of it, but rather with how he uses his brain. We see this strength in his inventions and in how he tests them. In a similar way, Hiccup uses different and meaningful words to explain why he couldn’t kill Toothless the dragon, not the usual clichés associated with love or with inner morals.

Emotion- again, emotion drives the plot, not just action. In fact, the moviemakers want to assure the readers that one must only act if faced with a challenge, even if the challenge can be avoided or ignored. The biggest conflict between Hiccup and his father lies in how they handle such obstacles. At the same time, avoiding a necessary conflict is not a wise choice of action, even if it’s the necessary one; Hiccup learns that all too well when things explode in his face and he has to fix it. We get beautiful action scenes that accompany the emotion; the only shame is that the movie's sequels (Legend of the Boneknapper, Gift of the Night Fury) lack that similar emotional conflict.

Over the holidays I will be analyzing other animated movies that have won me over, and what aspects made them entertaining and deep. I may end up upsetting other people, but I don't care. These movies were fantastic, even if they don't appear so.

Don't Be Afraid to Grow Up, Young or Old

2011-10-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

No longer being a teenager teaches you important things. For starters, there is no such thing as completely attaining maturity. And that's okay.

Second, everyone grows up, despite the Peter Pan myth and the notion of living forever. No one wants to grow old or stop loving the things they love now; think of all the people who have mid-life crises, for example, and buy Harleys. In Florida we have college Quidditch teams and recommendations for the next Game of Thrones book.

Then we have toddlers wearing high heels and posing as Julia Roberts; parents have a reason to be concerned. As noted, we can't stop getting older, but we can certainly not try to speed up the process. Maturity and actual growing will only happen if you stop and let it happen.

Some days I get frustrated because a part of me likes to slow down in the morning and read the latest library book, even when I want to beat the morning traffic and be efficient. That same part of me is the part of me that remains young, the part that allows me to make fun of myself. I can put that laziness (or appreciation for the fine arts, if we put positive spin on this habit) into my stories and create vivid, realistic characters with similar flaws. I can also use it to bond with other people who may have similar habits.

These same people share a mutual love for the same movies and music, even if these movies aren't aimed at our demographic. For example, I have memorized every song in the Little Mermaid, and I'm not ashamed of it. At the same time, I've grown out of shows like Teamo Supremo and Barney; some nostalgia doesn't last. These loves and dislikes balance out so that I will watch Wishbone and Aladdin on Youtube.

Another part of me likes career planning and being on time for school, if not for class. The two are quite different: being on time to school means finding a parking space in the closest lot, while being on time for class means beating the large grandfather clock. I admit that this is the adult side of me, because now I no longer care if I'm on time for my first class and have to relearn it with the fervency of a middle-school student. Again, I can put that in my books because I know kids who used to show up to college classes in pajamas.

Maturity happens when you have to be proactive. When I started to study marketing and aspects of business, I learned that to get any job you have to check application deadlines and meet them as early as possible. I was earlier proactive as a writer after getting disqualified from a writing contest due to a format error. (Yeah, that was not fun.) Now I revise cover letters and resumes ahead of time, much like how I revise query letters and short stories. On some level it means acknowledging that my dream of being a full-time writer may not happen for a long time, but it also means that I'm ready to rough out these years of rejection until one acceptance leads to another. I'm ready to take risks , but I'm also ready for if the risks bail on me.

I'm a young adult. People tell me I'm still young while I worry about my future, and the "adult" part of me reminds me why I should worry. Like my shoulder angel and devil, these parts of me can come into conflict. Part of the fun, however, is the bickering between them; although I may be getting older, parts of my personality will not change no matter what cynical influences appear in my life.

It's more than okay; it makes living an adventure with good and evil on your side. You get to be arbitrary about it until the odd day that maturity wins. And like all things that win, maturity will lose on the even day, but it won't give up.

Neither will you.

Getting a Glimpse of Graphic Design: Doing a Lifebushido Internship

2011-09-09T17:13:00.000-04:00

This summer, I applied for internships, learning belatedly that you have to apply six months in advance to secure a position. I finally acquired an online one with Lifebushido; Lifebushido asks students around the world to work on social entrepreneurship businesses.

When I applied, I asked to be on a skills team since I couldn't decide on a particular project. I was assigned to work with Ashutosh Singh's team; his websites help small business owners gain a marketing presence online. These two websites were Ice Cream Cloud and Bizness Brandy; I proofread the sites and designed logos for both of them. Above is the rough logo I did for Bizness brandy; the one for Ice Cream Cloud is still being modified since I'm working with one of the team's illustrations. Once again, you did a great job Julio.

Working on these websites gave me insight into what graphic designers did as a living. Ashutosh pushed me to keep modifying the logos, changing little details to make the sum of the whole better. Writers have to do the same thing for editors, and it can take several hours to get a satisfactory prototype done. The Ice Cream Cloud one has definitely been the most difficult, mainly with creating a circular logo on Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, but I've been getting better at using Adobe Illustrator to create logos.

Thank you, Ashutosh, for making me part of your project; I hope we can work together sometimes in the future.

Two Months Later

2011-09-05T14:52:00.000-04:00

School has started; I'm trying a semester without creative writing classes and with more violin practice. I've learned that parking next to a lake means circumnavigating around it and figuring out which location is ideal.

In my novel, I've written a "why don't you just shoot her" scenario. The scene comes from an immortal exchange between the Joker and his girlfriend, Harley Quinn:

Harley Quinn: Why don't you just shoot him [Batman]?
Joker: "Just shoot him?" Know this, my sweet: the death of Batman must be nothing less than a masterpiece! The triumph of my sheer comic genius over his ridiculous mask and gadgets!

Although the Joker is not the picturesque picture of a sympathetic villain, he has a point. In a novel where the author wants the hero to win, the villain cannot simply kill the protagonist. There has to be a cat and mouse game, a chance for the hero to fight back, and time to hold the story for a long time. In Harry Potter, for example, Voldemort has many times to kill Harry outright but gives him a chance to join him (Book One), fight back (Two and Four), or face his minions (Books Five and Seven, oh so much).

Even if the villain is utilitarian, he cannot kill the protagonist with one gunshot. I don't believe in divinity, but when you control the novel, you are its god. You control what's going on, so you have to manipulate the controls so that a fatal gunshot becomes a flesh wound, or even a swarm of bubbles. In my case, my hero's wound from being shot allows her to escape, just making the "just shoot him" scenario a "nice job fixing it, villain," since the villains are at the tether end of their sanity.

Think about this trope and use it wisely. Wizards in Harry Potter didn't have guns, after all, but they could still be dangerous.

Birthday Post: What it Means to No Longer be a Teenager

2011-07-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

Today I'm 20. I am no longer a teenager, I have published two short stories and one gory poem since I turned fourteen.

I've learned a lot of things this year while writing. For starters, I learned that writers are constantly getting better as they keep writing and revising their work; that was an important lesson as well as a vote of confidence. I've learned that telling a story can be tiring when you treat it like a job, especially when you dedicate your time to several stories. No matter how many times you get

I'm also optimistic, however; while cleaning up my room yesterday, I found a pile of short stories that I've meant to revise. These include a titular "Ferry" with a modern twist on Greek mythology, an semi-autobiographical foray into summer driving lessons, and a novellette where a crazy Anglo-Saxon warrior chases two teenagers in the middle of Central Florida. Friends have told me how to get better and when they approve of changes. I've gained an ideal reader who can also write well, and family members who will suffer a comic strip or a short story.

I am 20 years old, but I still feel like a teenager. That's the best feeling of all.

What Diana Wynne Jones Meant to Me

2011-06-20T20:00:00.000-04:00

Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vu48w4i8aoc/TY4_Kp961UI/AAAAAAAADhA/PpTzvcyZdb4/s1600/Diana%2BWynne%2BJones.jpg

If you want to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. You may have even wanted to write because of the books you read and enjoyed; this happened to me after reading Harriet the Spy, but I digress.

I deeply regret that I did not discover Diana Wynne Jones until middle school, when I found a copy of Seeing is Believing in the library and picked it up for its title. When you have stories where a girl with mumps creates a story with a bloodthirsty heroine that comes to life, a writer who finds success after getting a computer (and the customary typos), and the story of a cat who helps a stupid magician's servant, you have no choice but to find the rest of the authors' books. I discovered A Charmed Life, Dogsbody, The Homeward Bounders, and proceeded to read every book by her in both the school and public library.

Diana Wynne Jones taught me that anything can be magical, whether it's the green flakes in a chemistry kit or a Friendly Cow. She also taught me Murphy's Law for fantasy novels: anything that can go wrong with magic will, and the disasters will make you laugh. Wizards do not always appreciate people cleaning their houses for that, and they are not necessarily elderly, well-behaved gentlemen; sometimes they are angry fathers pretending to be evil magicians. Heroes won't always know who's in trouble, or how to correct their spells; sometimes you might break your neck twice and still live. Use every implement that you introduce, since golden bricks may be useful to drop on the villain's toes.

Villains can be hidden in plain sight; your parents may not be the villains, but they are certainly no help when push comes to shove. Kids have to rely on their own magical objects and abilities, even if they didn't know that they have abilities. Don't underestimate a pit of orange juice or a cocoon of bookcases if your college roommate is targeted by assassins. Also don't underestimate the insults that brothers can exchange after one decides to attend university.

Most of all, there are no formulas to follow. Jones admired Tolkien's work, but she came to mock the sword and sorcery fantasy that succeeded Lord of the Rings; that fact made me admire her the most. For the record, I tried reading Lord of the Rings twice, and I learned that there is such a thing as too much description. Not all villains are pure evil, and you shouldn't have to travel alone. There is more than one way to solve a problem, especially if you are creative; there is no need to slay dragons with swords when a hot chili pepper will do.

Rest in peace, Diana, and thank you for your writing.

Reverence for Fairy Tales

2011-06-18T10:55:00.000-04:00

To get psyched for revising the last three chapters of this fantasy novel that is a tribute to fairy tales and Daphne du Maurier, I read Grimm’s Fairy Tales from cover to cover. The edition also came with a helpful list of footnotes denoting the different version of each tale, as well as possible sources, but my real point when reading was something that every adult realizes when reading fifty to sixty short stories meant for children’s bedtime:

Most are completely ridiculous!

As mentioned in my last entry, Sarah Beth Durst has written several blog posts going through certain stories line by line and commenting on how good, bad, or horrific they were. Ms. Durst read these stories for her novel Into the Wild, in which real people have to act out fairy tales for centuries if they get caught in the titular plant growth. When the Wild gets loose, Rapunzel’s daughter Julie has to work fast to tame it before it takes over her hometown. When it gets loose again in Out of the Wild, Julie has to worry about the same problem while traveling across the US on a broomstick.

Popular culture has also caught onto the trend of mocking the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, and Hans Christen Andersen; Dreamworks gave us the Shrek movies, while Disney attempted a self-parody with Enchanted. Even Gail Carson Levine, whose novel Ella Enchanted was critically acclaimed and heart rendering, wrote several short novellas that parodied “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “The Princess and the Pea.”

On the other side of the spectrum, Ms. Durst wrote Ice, a gorgeous retelling of “The Sun, the Moon, and the North Wind” set in the Arctic Circle with polar bears, shamans, and creepy deities. Juliet Marillier gave us Wildwood Dancing, which makes “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” look sugary sweet in comparison; I would not have read it if my friend Margaret had not recommended Ms. Marillier. (Thanks, Margaret!) Walt Disney Corporation managed to infuse some of the most ridiculous tales like “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” with lovable characters, monstrous villains, humor, and princess protagonists that did not annoy the viewer in the least.

There is a reason, however, why we feel drawn to fairy tales, whether or not we parody them or depict them in a somber light; I feel drawn to them because fairy tales were my security blanket. Azar Nafisi admitted the same thing in her book Reading Lolita in Tehran: fairy tales may have happy endings, but they also have pretty monstrous obstacles. Such a structure is reflected in the best stories, whether they are complex novels or simple cartoon shorts; readers like conflict, and they like giant monsters that can be defeated.

“Cinderella,” for example, has a stepmother and two stepsisters who will do anything to keep their ash girl from being normal; the Disney version takes that dynamic to the extreme. The two girls blame Cinderella for things that go wrong, load her with work so she can’t get ready for the king’s ball, and finally rip up her handmade ball gown. The stepmother then proceeds to sabotage Cinderella’s chance of trying on the glass slipper by locking her in her room and making the slipper shatter just as she’s about to try it on. It doesn’t help that she has the scariest voice in history, and she’s pretty much what every teenage girl would not want to have: an unloving authority figure who will never give you power. On top of that, Cinderella’s father died when she was just a little girl; that is traumatic for any child, especially when the surviving parent is not sympathetic.

Most fairy tales thus, in addition to providing such an obstacle like a deal with the Devil or a toady innkeeper who keeps stealing his customers’ magical tools, add a happy ending and helpful friends to deal with the monstrous quality. Sometimes this can play for dark humor; about three or four Grimm’s fairy tales involve the hero causing an apocalypse that leaves him the sole ruler of a kingdom (seriously). Others involve the Devil getting cheated, but the hero is not allowed to enter heaven either, so they wander between heaven and hell as a restless ghost. Please note that this happens when the hero is a guy, not a girl; the girl usually marries a prince who rescues her from burning at the stake or an unhappy life with her stepsisters. The king in these stories tends to execute the stepmother and stepsisters in violent manners, so the blood and gore is still presented.

The other reverence for fairy tales that we find is that they can be easily retold, as I’ve shown with the above examples, while keeping the monstrous obstacles and happy ending. We can take out the parts we don’t like, such as Cinderella’s fairy godmother (please stop making fairy godmothers evil), and modify it to suit our needs, as Disney has done. That Grimm’s Fairytales still exists is living proof that even if we don’t like princes who kill everyone to become happy, we do like it when characters receive happy endings after traumatic experiences. We simply change the rules as we go along.

Why Your Dearest Reader is Important

2011-05-23T11:21:00.000-04:00

Fiction workshop classes are very interesting if you read more than one story by a particular classmate. I tend to have high standards for fiction, but I've also learned to be nice to other writers in class. For starters, negative comments can induce writer's block, tears, and that paralyzing fear to put words to the page. Teachers also do not appreciate cutting remarks; my first creative writing teacher gave me a blunt lecture about two negative critiques I had written, and it was the best advice I had ever been given after making me cry for the rest of class. (I still love this teacher to death, and I highly recommend her if you ever take Creative Writing.)

If you want to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. Good readers will have a perspective when reading others' comments on their writing as well as seeing what works and doesn't work with fiction. Few ideas are original; so are few techniques. You'd be surprised with how far long sentences can go when reading aloud.

Tam Lin provides the best visual example of your relationship to a fellow writer as a reader: Sarah Beth Durst has a wonderful response to the ballad, but only peruse if you need context.

In a nutshell, Janet the pregnant heroine has to hold onto Tam Lin as he changes from monster to monster; it's the only way to free him from the clutches of a murderous faerie queen.

In real life, you have to be Janet when you read someone else's story for critique. Do you have to be harsh? Sometimes, but remember that at some point your story will be the monster and may be slain quite brutally by that other person. Therefore, you also have to find some redeeming value in the story so as not to crush the writer's spirit. Someone else may crush your spirit, creating an Evil Golden Rule that you want to avoid.

One point to note: always ask to read the next draft. Your friend will appreciate it, probably read your work as it progresses from draft to draft, and improve their story for your pleasure. I have read improved second drafts because I asked for them, and I've learned what writers can do when they're given a chance to improve themselves. You can do the same if someone else gives you the chance.

The Sound of Your Story

2011-02-26T13:43:00.000-05:00

Source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2982122055_91d6088f9a.jpg

I learned several important lessons from hearing Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book online before the book came out. First off, an author's voice should reflect the tone of the story, and facial expressions help. (Neil Gaiman can look scary as the Man Jack.)

Neil Gaiman didn't teach me one important lesson, though: if readers like how your story sounds, if it's poetic or entertaining, they will keep reading even if they have no idea what's going on. His stories are fortunately clear, affable, and intriguing. No, I'm talking about an Ayn Rand novel about the individual and creative endurance.

Source: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41g3GWJ%2BhdL.jpg

I started reading The Fountainhead on a Parisian train before my brother asked for it (he had brought it, not me, for the record). I started again in my junior year of high school, and though I didn't get the parts that I liked most in the book, I kept reading them. Case in point: Dominique Francon. I didn't get why she kept trying to destroy the protagonist Howard Roark if she was in love with him. I didn't get it for two years, but I liked Dominique's voice and reread her conversations with Howard. And then I got it.

Not all of us will write clear books; clarity is my current problem. However, if a reader likes what we wrote, they will treat it like a beautiful abstraction

Source: http://artmiser.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/30pollock_lg.jpg

and then put the pieces together.

The key word is beauty. If you write a gory psychothriller, infuse it with beauty. If you write a comedic approach to war, make the images enthralling. Even if you write a nonfiction horror story, you need beauty. Know what impact your words have on the listener; study the sounds of a connotation. Make your reader laugh and cry, but also make sure they keep the book open for those moments.

Margaret Mitchell and Her Impact on America

2011-02-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

Source: http://www.picturehistory.com/images/products/1/1/3/prod_11358.jpg

Gone With the Wind has an interesting legacy, as does Margaret Mitchell. On one hand, we have a universally-known love story that people adore; the Berenstein Bears parodied the film while the book received a mention in the Newberry-winning Number the Stars while the protagonists were playing dolls. We all love Rhett Butler, but his flaws invigorate the story with smirks and sadness. Mitchell kept writing the book and kept it a secret, which I always admire in any writer; telling someone you write is like telling a bully where you hide your chocolates. We get a flawed protagonist who someone wins us over because we look into her head and see how she's thinking, feeling sympathy and compassion.

On the other hand, we have stereotypes enforcing the Southern status quo, where Scarlett O'Hara can justify slavery and keep girls like Prissy in their place. Every black person in the book is either stupid or evil, the Northerners walk all over everyone, and we applaud Rhett Butler when he evades execution for murdering . . . a black man for insulting a woman.

The appearance in Number the Stars is quite troubling; Lois Lowry wrote a World War II novel where the main character helps her best friend and family escape the Nazis in Denmark, a story arguing for compassion and courage. Is Gone With the Wind more interesting than pink-frosted cupcake fairy tales? Yes. If Lowry meant for the novel to reflect the time period, she reflected an uglier aspect than intended for a gentle introduction to the Holocaust. (For the record, I love Lois Lowry's books, especially The Giver; it's just this particular scene that bothers me.)

Readers still love Gone With the Wind, however, because Margaret Mitchell wrote a complex, tragic story. The movie made it more so, with fantastic actors (though to be fair, Clark Gable steals the show as Rhett) and a well-designed setting. We still love moral ambiguity and rascals with hearts of . . . well, silver. And we love a romance where the characters don't have predictable chemistry.

Rudyard Kipling in Retrospect:

2011-01-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

Schools should study Rudyard Kipling more, especially when covering British literature. Neil Gaiman mentions that the original Jungle Book influenced The Graveyard Book strongly, and even Robin McKinley has her title character from Beauty reading Kim in a library with books that haven't been written yet. No mention that Rudyard Kipling wrote about India with affection from the perspective of an English imperialist, yet he was a great writer of his time. Raised in what he considered the mother country, he nevertheless soon came to live in both England and the United States for short periods of time.

What I admire

His courage- Kipling knew he wanted to be a writer when he graduated from school. His family encouraged him, and he took on as many journalist opportunities as possible to support himself while working on his book. He was quite willing to live on a few pennies a day and risk bankruptcy. Even after he was published, Kipling wrote what he wanted despite the criticism he received; he believed in himself, whether writing a propaganda piece for an unpopular war or a series of schoolboy adventures.

His view of human nature- Kipling's best works are when he shows people as people, faults and all. In his autobiography he includes a short story based on abuses he had suffered as a child, which immunized him for life from suffering. This is also prominent in The Jungle Book and in fact the reason I couldn't read the story as a child. I grew up on the Disney version where the tiger didn't get his own back until the end- and in the first chapter of the Jungle Book Shere Khan convinces the wolves to kick Mowgli out of the pack. Harsh indeed, and harsher when Mowgli learns to become a man in the local village and gets kicked out on charges of sorcery. The story nails human nature at its worst; never fear, though, because Kipling also captures human behavior at its best when talking of Mowgli's human mother and how she eventually helps him return to mankind (seen in The Second Jungle Book).

What I Dislike

Kipling's Benevolent Portrayal of Englishmen in Comparison to Indians. This happens a lot; remember how I mentioned that Kipling nailed human nature? In The Jungle Book, he applies the good and the bad to every human and animal except the off screen Englishmen. The off screen Englishmen are honorable gents who would never tolerate an angry mob when facing a feral child. I mean, seriously; consider the English witch hunts and immigration into the New World.

Using the "n" word to describe an Indian- Happens in Kim with a British soldier describing the Indians they're ruling over; at that point I stopped reading the book. Once again, seriously? If Mark Twain cannot use the "n" word as a non-offensive common way to describe black men, then neither can Kipling. That is fairness.

Authors are people and are thus complex. You cannot simply label them as good or bad because they use racist terms or come from imperialistic perspectives. You cannot thus censor their books out of context, although the idea is tempting. Was Rudyard Kipling more racist than Mark Twain? Yes, because of his attitude about native Indians and applying the worst of human nature to them. I am prejudiced because I am Indian and feel that these are personal attacks, but I can also admire an author who knew what he wanted and did all he could to get it in the world of literature.

Great Literary MacGuffins, Part Two: More Great Examples

2011-01-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

What other titles out there capture the essence of the book with one powerful noun and a few adjectives? Let's see . . .One of the best Harry Potter books of the series, and it's not hard to see why. The Chamber of Secrets becomes the Literary MacGuffin as the Heir to Slytherin uses it to petrify Muggle-born students, a ghost and a cat. Harry, already suspected of being the Heir, investigates the real attacker's identity while fending off a house elf's attempts to "save his life." I love how the American cover illustrates the climatic scene, where Fawkes carries Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lockhart out of the Chamber, because it's vivid and colorful. Chamber of Secrets may not be warm and fuzzy, but it needed a happy cover.

Come to think of it, the best Harry Potter books have the best Literary MacGuffins in the title. Deathly Hallows didn't work for me because the search for Hallows fell back when Harry, Ron and Hermione had to search for Horcruxes, BUT Goblet of Fire remains my favorite book in the series, partly because the question "Who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire?" drives the book despite its many subplots. We learn in the end how the Goblet connects these subplots together, but I digress. Another great Literary MacGuffin for the charts...

Anyone who has not read this book or seen the movie with AnaSophia Rob and Josh Hutcherson needs to CHECK EITHER OUT IMMEDIATELY! Aside from being a beautifully written and bittersweet story, the title makes you wonder "What is Terabithia? What is the bridge there?" Terabithia, the fictional country that Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke create to deal with the real world's hassles like bullies and mean teachers. Leslie gets picked on because she doesn't have a TV, and Jesse has to hide his fantastic drawings from his frugal, practical family. Terabithia becomes prevalent throughout the book as Jesse and Leslie's fortress and becomes the climatic focus when tragedy hits home- a surprise that snaps you out of the fantasy this novel has created. But you get reeled back into the fantasy, fortunately, once Jesse figures out how to revive it. I know only one person who didn't cry when reading this, so be prepared with tissues when you start reading.

PLEASE Don't Censor Mark Twain!

2011-01-09T13:08:00.000-05:00

This recent controversy over taking the "n"-word from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has upset some, even though the book has upset several generations of American teachers for including the word while appealing for slaves' humanity. The teachers worry because Huckleberry Finn is a great book, an American classic, AND a book by one of the best American writers, so it has to be taught in school.

Except...

Mark Twain (Real name Samuel Clemens) was probably the mildest famous author from the nineteenth century in terms of race, except for Harriet Beecher Stowe. Huckleberry Finn is great because it covers the moral ambiguity that troubles American society; a boy fights standards ingrained from birth to save a friend's life at the cost of his integrity.

Next post will be about authors that I consider far more racist than Twain, who must not be censored. Ever.

Righteous Fury: Short Comment on the UCF cheating

2011-01-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

The original paragraphs I had for the post on UCF got swallowed up by cyberspace...so let me comment briefly and relate it to literature somehow.

For a bit of context, a business professor accused 200 of his students of cheating on an exam . The students retaliated by posting the lecture on YouTube with their subtitles and a defense: Professor Quinn had used the textbook publisher's exam as his template, and the students had not known they were cheating. The debate has exploded on national television, with some of the major new outlets siding with Professor Quinn.

I side with the students on this issue, though I understand Professor Quinn's frustration. Education may be a privilege, but you have to rear it like a child: sometimes it refuses to comply to your need for a GPA above 3 points. Most of us work our butts off to pass our classes while trying to learn the subject matter. I preferred to learn, but grades measure our learning. And then someone CHEATS and surpasses all the hard-workers, including the professors who once had to work their butts off? No wonder the administration hates students who take the shortcut.

All the good teachers I've had in school believe in elbow grease. An art professor who gave me a B (and fairly enough because I didn't put in my best effort) warned us that he knew when students didn't hand in their own work. My high school economic teacher was head of the Honor Council AND the Social Studies department; she made us work hard, but we all got high scores on the AP Economics exam.

Something else all my good teachers believed in: courtesy. If they lost their tempers, we accepted it in grace and tried to learn from it. If we disagreed with them, we were allowed to bring it up in class, and we allowed them to shoot us down or apologize when we were right. I did a three-part blog post about the importance of courtesy when writing; ideally, we would apply that same courtesy to real life.

As several news outlets have noted, technology has stretched into grey areas where "cheating" and "information exchange" are concerned; students got furious when they perceived Professor Quinn as a hypocrite, since he hadn't made up his own exam. But could they have handled it better? Let's see . . .

Posting a YouTube video of the infamous lecture with subtitles of the students' counter-argument? Effective, but the video was filled with typos. Normally I wouldn't care, but writers never get published if their work is filled with typos and grammatical errors, and I'm a stickler about this sort of things. The students had made their point, but missing apostrophes don't help your cause.

An article in the student newspaper about "confronting" Professor Quinn, with students in the comments calling him "lazy"? I understand your point, but your enemy isn't a serial killer with a chainsaw and a hook.

Source: http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2-SD3boMVvtylbCnssvMEWwkioaabbk-r6vztC29-QwRlY0MZOg

Treat him objectively, and let him give his side of the story. Asking him loaded questions will support your view, but it won't give you the truth, or even his version of the truth.

But Professor Quinn is also at fault. While offering clemency to the accused, he not only forced every student to retake the exam, including the 400 who "did not cheat" but also refused to comment for student press. Professor Quinn has, in a nutshell, burned his bridges with the students as well as the student body by not offering his opinion to the newspaper or being gracious in the face of pressure. Teachers make mistakes, and they're not politicians; any administration that fires someone over a misunderstanding is a narrow-minded administration.

I'm also disappointed with Quinn's supporters; they claim that moral standards have lapsed in the twenty-first century. First off, while everyone doesn't cheat, there will always be people in the world searching for dirty shortcuts. College students have NOT become miscreants, and it's not fair to accuse the hard working of moral lapses. Lapses in work ethic, yes, especially in the age of consumerism. Lapses in working under pressure, yes. But lapses in MORALITY? Not only does that hurt, but we're the generation that has to handle potential ecological damage and political incompetence. I may not be planning to build efficient solar energy, but I know that I will do SOMETHING. I may have a heart turning into stone, but I have values.

I will treat you with courtesy because I believe in being nice, but do not think I am a selfish waif because of my age, or the technological era I belong to. I am not representative of my generation, and my generation does not represent me. I do not cheat. I procrastinate, yes, I may drink coffee and eat peanut butter when stressed, I may enjoy writing horror stories, I may text my friends, but I do not plagiarize. I cite my sources.

I am a writer. I am an artist. And I am a college student.

My Writer's Philosophy in Two Parts

2010-12-13T10:20:00.000-05:00

I was going to write a post on the wave of cheating at University of Central Florida, but I'll save that for next post. In light of submitting a portfolio and talking about writer's philosophy, I feel that a reader should know my goal when I tell a story: take the reader on a journey that does not end in failure.

Note, however, that a successful journey in a book does not necessarily mean the story will translate into an amusement park ride. Case in point, Harry Potter:

Source: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/03/26/alg_park_harry-potter.jpg

Don't forget that the last Harry Potter book has so much wandering around that we never really get anywhere until Harry gets some good (or bad) luck with crazy Death Eaters. So a journey in a story is not necessarily a literal journey.

A journey means change. Whether in a place as mundane and commercial as a large sandbox, or as fantastic and original as Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, the reader gets a reason for the ride. The Cheshire Cat said that you will end up somewhere if you travel long enough, but readers would rather not wander around until they reach any haphazard destination; they, like the protagonist, want a specific ending point. If the writer finds a proper conclusion, the reader closes the book with satisfaction and enjoys rereading it. If they don't, and the rest of the book is good, you can bet that the reader will vent to his best friend about how much the book disappointed them.

For that reason, I do not believe in protagonists failing, at least not in longer stories. You can’t make the journey easy for the protagonist and thus for the reader, but you can’t drop them into the dark without giving a chance against possible obstacles. We go on a journey to escape the outside world, where failure occurs every day; failure in fiction allows the outside world to pervade our secure fantasies. A tragedy must have a hero succeeding, but paying a high price for his victory; Hamlet avenges his father but causes everyone else’s death in the process, while Macbeth becomes king and loses his head to delusions and Macduff. Short stories can get away with failure because we don’t have as much emotional attachment to the protagonists; that’s why we love “The Lottery” and “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, despite their dark nature. Comedy can also get away with downer endings because we watch comedy to laugh at our inner buffoon. But every good comic failure has a sense of success to it, or the potential of success.

Source: http://www.ultimatedisney.com/images/g-i/iaswof4-03.jpg

We also allow failure when a funny protagonist deserves it. If he or she kicks a baby penguin, they receive a kick in return. If Donald Duck interrupts a band concert with "Turkey in the Straw," the players squish him with a tuba. Why? Because we can laugh at it. If our hero is a jerk in a dramatic dystopian novel like Brave New World, we are less likely to laugh even if he deserves his fate. So if you must go for failure, make it a funny failure for the reader. Go dark and go deep, but don't lose the punchline. If you can laugh at Harley Quinn, a villain in an abusive relationship, then you're all set for funny failure.

Source: http://www.comicon.com/resources/pulse/images_07a/36bmcd3.jpg

Get ready to face failure on your quest for meaning, or at least an adventure with your protagonists. I know I will.

Courtesy, Part Three: Your Readers

2010-11-14T17:55:00.000-05:00

Out of all the courtesies you owe as a write, courtesy to readers remain the most subjective. I've mentioned before that you technically don't owe the readers anything, but you were once a reader too, and you know what it's like to be cheated of your time and maybe ten to twenty dollars.

The uncertainty occurs when a reader (or an audience) reads a story and dislikes it. When readers dislike a story, they can dislike it IMMENSELY. Remember, people, that fictional authors have gotten arrested or threatened (like Salman Rushdie) for WRITING something, not for having committed murder or thievery. Not because the story is bad necessarily, as we all know from Banned Books Week and the charges of witchcraft against Harry Potter, but because the story offended the reader. It may be a case of bad timing, like a cartoon with severed heads after some terrorists have performed a public beheading (which happened twice to Stephen Pastis, the cartoonist for Pearls Before Swine), or it may be a case of the literature being written in a time when marital rape was not a crime, like in Gone With the Wind.

You cannot control this. You cannot help if other people find your book offensive; take their criticisms with a grain of salt and think about them. I scrapped a whole comic storyline (about four strips) because four people said the joke was offensive; while I'm glad I never did it for different reasons, it killed me that I had offended a group that I respect. I know how that feels, being accidentally offensive, but if your story is clear enough, at least one or two readers will get the point.

You owe the readers a good story. Period. Characters they can follow, a plausible plot-line or storyline, and a fantastic ending. Readers will feel cheated if you resurrect the dead without a plausible explanation. They will dislike villains that pose no threat, or a one-sided perspective of a romantic relationship. They will feel cheated if you give a happy ending that the protagonist does not deserve; the same goes for the tragic ending that results from ultimate failure. And if they don't get the joke, or the riddle that you didn't mean to insert, then you are going to have frustrated readers.

So don't despair if a hater calls you a fascist, or threatens you; and don't despair if they catch errors in your story. In class, people liked my story, but they wanted to know who the mysterious creature was that helped the protagonist. I'm still stinging, but I can fix it. You can fix you story, so don't get in a funk.

So remember: courtesy to yourself, your characters, and your readers. But also: You. Can. Fix. Period.

Courtesy, Part Two: Your Inner Reader

2010-10-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

In my last blog entry, I talked about treating your characters with courtesy. This time, I focus to a group more grounded in reality: the readers.

When I say courtesy, you tell a reader the best possible story you can. You never at your critics, or even your fans, if they disagree with you or say that your story sucks. And when you are writing, you ALWAYS try to write a good story.

You are your story's first reader. Are you writing this story to please yourself- to explore an idea, take yourself on a trip into another person's head, or to attack a frontier no author has attempted? Are you uncomfortable with your preference for tied-up detectives- and tackle it in fiction?

If you are a writer, an idea won't always be fun to explore. You may write yourself into a dark alley with a serial killer and the heroine has nothing but her hairspray and a big mouth. You may end up in a boring part when the antihero blasts through a prison. But corners do not necessarily mean that you haven't pleased your inner reader. It merely means that your inner writer has gotten in over his or her head, which can happen.

Here is a big no-no, however, no matter what you write: NO SLACKING OFF WHEN CLASSMATES ARE READING!!! If you are taking a creative writing class, your classmates want to assess your strengths and weaknesses while you write and maybe spend a few minutes enjoying a story. When you put no effort into your work, they cannot help you become better writers, and they will know when you haven't gotten into the story. Your inner reader will know, and not care. At least until the criticism hits.

Your inner reader's judgment will fragment. You will stop writing for a few days, or at least throw out a few pages of work. And your inner reader will only come back together when someone says that they like your story and shows you how to make it better. Or if you pick up a new book and cheer up for the next round.

ALWAYS try, at least for the sake of your inner reader. You may not be able to fix the errors in your story sufficiently, but at least you will have tried. And you will be able to trust yourself when you revise.

Courtesy, Part One: Your Characters

2010-10-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't written in ages, thanks to a bunch of classes and time constraints. But I thought I'd write about something that I've never seen before: showing courtesy to your characters.

I believe in courtesy, even if I forget it sometimes. I also believe that writers have obligations to three life forms:

1) Ourselves- first and foremost, we write the stories that we will enjoy writing, that we will slave over because we enjoy writing that line of action or inserting a line of humor. This is a courtesy to yourself because most writers need day jobs, so if they're investing time and possibly money into a hobby, they better enjoy it.

2) Readers- You owe your fans and your personal readers a good story. Period. Not because of some weird obligation, but because you were once

a fan of something, and you know what it's like when you hit a twist ending or your author essentially says "I just want your money haha" when they write a horrible sequel or prequel. Do unto readers as other writers unto you.

3) Characters- They may only exist in your notebooks, but they're the ones that your readers fall in love with. Every story needs a character, specifically a protagonist and a conflict. Your protagonists matter the most in how they're shown as they grow through a story.

The novel functions as a democratic medium because it shows most of a character's three-dimensional layers. If you write many novels, you have to add more to that person's character IF you are writing a serious story. With more fun novels, like the Pippi Longstocking books, you can get away with simply having the same character in different circumstances. The bandits from the first Pippi Longstocking book differ greatly from Jim and Buck in the third book, while similar old ladies have different reaction to this peculiar carrot-top.

Another good facet that some series writers do is add a layer of character to their mean, unsympathetic characters. This sometimes fails if we have hated this antagonist for a rough decade and suddenly we see their perspective, like Severus Snape, at the tail end, but it's an effective tactic to open up a fictional world when done right. Edmund from the Narnia books is such an example; he's horrid in book one, but he matures to the point that he and his sister Lucy can enter Narnia without their older siblings.

An absolute no-no, however: no matter what you do, you CANNOT make sympathetic characters into monstrous or even unlikable villains, ESPECIALLY if their actions are out of character. While C.S. Lewis did well with Edmund and redeemed him, he lost all sympathy for Susan of little faith. In the second book, Aslan forgives her for being sensible and

thinking that he no longer exists, but The Last Battle shunts her out of the picture. Her siblings say she has gotten interested in "nylons" and doesn't believe in Narnia anymore; we never hear her side of the story.

C.S. Lewis by then had nurtured a fanbase, and they all called out his mistake, but he stayed by his decision despite his reputation as a kind, religious man. Whether it be prejudice (Edmund and Eustace were both horrible in the Narnia books when they first appeared but soon became heroes) , a comment on flapper girls and rampant materialism, or a reenacted fall from grace, Lewis betrayed Susan and the democracy of his books by turning her "villainous," or at the very least unsympathetic. Even worse, he didn't show us the story from Susan's perspective, or at least tell us what happened. This came back to haunt American and British literature, leading to gory works like "The Problem of Susan" by Neil Gaiman and modern complications for the directors doing the films.

Remember Susan Pevensie, folks. Remember her well.

Wearing a Banana Skin While you Write

2010-08-08T11:12:00.000-04:00

Meg Cabot on her wonderful blog wrote a few posts about writing for non-white characters if you are white, and her own experiences with racism, given that her adopted brother is black and she dated an Arab American while working at a dorm. Meg also said that one should not be lazy if you're writing out of your comfort zone: if you are white and you want to write about non-whites, you can't just dress an average American in a brown identity and call it black, or it will taste like buttered edamame (stirfried soybean pods) at The Cheesecake Factory.

If you are going to write about bananas, for example, read books about bananas, talk to people who've been in Bananaland, even buy tickets if you can afford it, zip on a huge banana skin before you write a fantasy novel with Arnold the Banana flaying the forces of Hungry Darkness, or at least before you revise it. Because if you take a white character and dress them in banana skin, then someone named Denise the Banana will call you out for it.

Which is all right if you're a white author trying to overcome your prejudice, but how about if you're non-white? Because I'm Indian, but I know little to nothing about Indian culture. As a kid I created an alter-ego Jenny Andrews who was Indian, but completely Americanized and a secret agent to boot. The most I know is Hindu mythology because we have a lot of books, and I do plan to write a book combining Hindu mythology and superheroes, but I know nothing about transportation or politics there.

And if you're Americanized, you're most likely going to write about white people because you mainly see them in the media and in school, and in your circle of friends. Even if you join the Banana Students Association, you may not feel comfortable writing about bananas because you know little beyond their sweet taste, especially when fried in butter. You might write about being an Americanized Indian, but you might also want to tackle with righteous fury the bananas who have been trampled on when everyone preferred apples.

The best way to do research on unfamiliar cultures is to read literature on that culture. The textbooks provide guidelines, but go with fiction, with essays, maybe even with artwork. One book I read for my manuscript was about Chinese restaurants, filled with surprising information I could integrate into the book. Use your libraries, both school and public, and read read READ. And it you want to tackle modern racism, go with this book:

This book provides a snapshot of 1960s racism from a white man who tinted his skin, shaved his head, and dyed his hair to appear black. Then he traveled in the Deep South to find the truth of racism. A disturbing fascinating, and heartbreaking study that will definitely put you into someone else's shoes. Along with a whopping dose of common sense.

Banana skins indeed. What will they think of next?

A lot of Yackum

2010-07-11T08:43:00.001-04:00

You learn a lot from rereading first drafts. And second drafts and third drafts too, for that matter. Rereading "Murder in Panel Five," a satire on the typical Agatha Christie mystery, I've discovered a lot of what we call yackum.

"Yackum," aka "rambling," aka "unnecessary nonsense," becomes the vice of all writers when slogging through draft 1 of an unpublished short story. Novelists can get away with yackum, especially if they are literary elephants like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, but short story writers do not have that luxury. Unlike novelists, who experiment with their medium to the point of exasperating us readers, the short story writer has to tell a story. Period.

Types of yackum to look out for:

1) Dialogue- Usually worse in novels, but unnecessary or flat dialogue must go. If it sounds false? Cut it. If it has one word off and the word can't be removed? Cut it. Characters put the "yak" in "yackum".

2) Inner Dialogue- Even worse than outer dialogue because it occurs in the character's head. Aka Rambling for God Knows How Long, especially in a mystery. Show your character's reaction, don't have them say it. Yak in yackum, folks!

3) Description- Hairier than dialogue, but rely on your ear for this one. If you read at an open mic, you'll trim on the fly to avoid being cut off in the middle. You want concise and lyrical sentences. And if you have even one paragraph (four sentences) waxing on, the editor will probably slap your manuscript. Here you can break the dialogue rule and have other characters judge your protagonist, or each other, as long as you keep it concise and clear.

Have fun!

Great Literary MacGuffins: Titles to Examine

2010-07-02T09:12:00.000-04:00

Since in an earlier blog post I talked about Literary MacGuffins that should be the title of your story, why don't we take a look at some classic Literary MacGuffins:

We read this novel in gifted 4th grade, listening to audio tape, as mentioned before; I finished it ahead of everyone else and mispronounced "sadist" for several days until our teacher put it on our vocabulary list. In a nutshell: Meg, the protagonist, goes on a journey with her precocious brother Charles Wallace and schoolmate Calvin to rescue her father from another planet with the help of Ms. Whatsit, Ms. Who and Ms. Which, three strange ethereal beings.

First, the title "A Wrinkle in Time" refers to a new term called a tesseract, which is indeed such a wrinkle. The tesseract links the book together because the three "witches" in the story use the tesseract to travel through time and space, and a mishap with a tesseract starts the book by taking away Meg's father. Makes sense, no?

And since we're talking about Madeline L'Engle, may I say rest in peace, since she died in 2007, and thank you for writing such a wonderful book.

The Importance of Reading Your Work Aloud

2010-06-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

We hear this tip all the time if we write. It may be the most crucial tip . . .

And I didn't listen for about five years. I read other people's work aloud, especially poems that rhymed, and I read out my own stuff when I got the chance, but in terms of performing I tend to get in over my head. Reading out loud to others? Definitely. Reading out loud to myself? NEVER.

Why this negativity? It stemmed from when I entered a gifted program where we followed books on audiotape. With respect to my Language Arts teacher, since in his class I learned to love reading and developed my love for horror, audio works didn't work for me. For one thing, I could read faster than I could listen to the stuff; I finished A Wrinkle in Time five days ahead of schedule. For another, I believed in characters having different voices; now I know that the speaker's quality is much more important. If you have two voices doing about ten characters, you were dead to me as a fourth and fifth grader.

But now, having received about a hundred rejections total for all the work I have, and writing poetry for class, a habit I haven't kept unfortunately, I've realized how important word flow needs to sound. We may see the letters on paper, but we also have to hear them. And if your readers even in the classroom don't laugh when you want them to, then something is wrong with the words, not with their hearing.

Even better, reading aloud will give each of our characters a voice. Neil Gaiman at Mouse Circus gives the Man Jack a terrifying growl, while the Sleer truly comes off as a smoky creature. When I read aloud a piece with a supervillain, I gave the villain a maudlin British accent, which helped him appear even goofier.

In the case of a novel, individual voices are necessary for a novel where every character gets a say. Not just the villains and the heroes, but the anti-heroes, the helpers, the thugs, and minor people who steal the show. Democracy has a price, but it gives our novel strength.

Serial Titling: The Real Condensation Begins

2010-06-17T17:18:00.000-04:00

Let the record stand that titling stories and naming characters are one of the most unpredictable events in terms of difficulty; sometimes it's easy as pie, as any author can tell you. Sometimes a character will come fully formed to your head, as what happened to J.K. Rowling on a train, but sometimes they just remain in the story like square gears that you can't really fit in. Or they're wood and the rest of the story is metal. Weird stuff like that happens.

With titles, though, you encompass all of your story's elements into a few words. Not all writers try to do this; for younger audiences, the titles might be more concrete (The Berenstein Bears And Too Much Vacation), but as you go into the scholarly set, people want clever titles with meaning.

Most often, the title centers on the object mentioned in the title, whether it's a person, or a significant object. We call this the literary MacGuffin, because we, the reader, want to find out who or what the thing mentioned in the title is. (Macguffin: object that protagonists in a story want. The literary MacGuffin is something that the readers want.) In fact, Wendelin Van Draanen wrote two Sammy Keyes books when these MacGuffins popped up as titles, and she wrote to find out what the Sisters of Mercy and a Runaway Elf were respectively. Another great example is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, since Sirius Black, the title prisoner, is an integral character that the whole world is searching for.

This strategy doesn't always work, however, because your literary MacGuffin might be cliched. If your book has a lot of MacGuffins, then you have to pick the one that encompasses the story the most. My whole story is about Magic Turning into Memories, but that title doesn't have the zing I'm looking for since magic is a necessary staple of fantasy novels and memories is a huge mouthful. So what is an author to do?

The solution is to make the theme sound less cliched. So I need to find apt synonyms for magic and memories respectively. Either that or use the theme of Midsummer and Snow, or something off about the woods, since all of these appear in the book. Hey, it might happen.

The Night Owl is Really a Cuckoo

2010-06-13T11:01:00.000-04:00

As a writer trying to balance schoolwork with cartooning and possibly revisions, I have come across a rather exotic species, one that is worth keeping if one has the money and time. But as I have neither, I warn everyone else who is reading this blog: the night owl is not your friend.

See, the night owl is looking for only thing: your time. And if that time happens to be at night and you are a morning person and you're not used to taking naps, you a

re going to be very grumpy. You don't even hear him coming in because he uses the back door, with all his specialized gadgets. But if you do see him, he wears this cunning disguise:

Do not be fooled by this gentle exterior, diurnal writers. Anyone will tell you in the wake of the Harry Potter craze that owls are not the gentle messengers that will nibble your fingers fondly. They are expensive, noisy, and fussy And the night owl's true face looks like this:

And to be honest, you can't trust a guy who dresses up like an owl unless you know he has a teenage sidekick and that he's mean because he really cares about everyone except the psychopaths that killed his other sidekicks- oh wait, I'm thinking of BATS! Silly me!

If you DO have the money, you DO have the time, then you can make the night owl a rat sandwich. But tonight I'm closing my window and hope that he doesn't have lockpicks . . .

Balancing Cartooning with Writing

2010-06-06T18:19:00.002-04:00

Things I have learned over the past two weeks:

1)Don't let the night owl routine dominate you; find the time to write, NO MATTER WHAT.

2) Don't get stressed, or everyone will hate you.

3) Biology is never easy, so always study.

4) Do a little bit every day, just to salvage your sanity.

The Individual and comedy

2010-03-24T09:05:00.000-04:00

My older sister and brother are Gordon Korman fans. They love his early, zany books like the Macdonald Hall series, Losing Joe's Place, and Don't Care High, while ignoring (most) of his newer stuff. D (the sister) mentioned that the most recent Korman book that she read, Schooled, was good, but not a "pure" comedy, which Korman excelled at while in high school.

Well, duh. I read and finished the book last night, and it was EXCELLENT because it was about a homeschooled idealist kid who becomes president of the local middle school after his teacher (aka grandmother) breaks her hip. The ending seemed pasted on, but it was a great book because Cap, the idealist kid in question, never breaks, to the annoyance of the local school bullies. And yes, it had serious stuff, but the serious stuff made the book even better.

In general, I prefer a mix of comedy and drama in my stories because the complementary tones each help the other from going over the top. To do a pure comedy, like Little Miss Sunshine or Don't Care High, is difficult because you have to make the comedy the dominant form. And since not all humor is universal (proof since I disliked the Korman books as a kid), it's EXTREMELY difficult to get everyone to laugh.

Why? Because, in a joke, you need:

1) Clarity- People must GET the joke, or they won't laugh.
2) Absurdity- A joke is intended to make you laugh about the world.
3) Creativity- everyone knows the joke about the man-eating shark, so you have to delve to find something people won't groan at. Must balance with clarity.
4) Presentation- Corollary to clarity, and a good joke should have either a good storyteller or artist.

Addendum: For pure comedy, you must have ALL of these points present for least 50,000 words in a novel, four or five comic strip panels or 2.5 hours of film.

And thus we see why people laud pure comedy when authors capture it.

Magical creatures that are not novel protagonists

2010-02-23T09:45:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of vampires, ghosts, and dragons out there in children and YA lit, but some creatures and mythological beings never make it to the title page:

1. Sphinx- we have changelings, dragons, and even fairies, but no one likes a riddle-loving lion who will gobble you up. Poor sphinx!

2. Mermaid- Blame Disney for this. No one wants to tackle these fish-tails for the same reason that they won't retell the Hans Christen Andersen fairy tale.

3. Muse- Neil Gaiman and all the other writers who have written about muses made these nymphs a fictional cliche. Best version? "Ballad of the Flexible Bullet" by Stephen King.

4. Zombies- not brainless zombies, mind you, but emotional undead beings who are trapped in suspended animation

And am I going to write about all of these? Heck yeah!

Five Things about Queries

2010-02-05T17:36:00.000-05:00

Finished draft 2 of my wolf novel. Sent out a query, led to automatic rejection. Found QueryShark, a blog that attacks queries and teaches you how to improve yours. I learned the following important components of a query letter:

1) Clarity- Make sure the editor understands your description of the plot, and the conflict your protagonist faces.

2) Brevity- Keep your query word count under 170 words, or at the very least under 200. Use as few words as possible to entice the editor and make them WANT you.

3) Logic- Subset of clarity. Make sure your described plot makes sense. Example of illogic: "Joy is a twenty-three year old millionaire working as a prostitute as a penance to ease her guilt over the death of her ex-boyfriend." (This is verbatim from the QuerShark blog.)

4) Voice- Give an inkling of the tone your novel is in. If it's a thriller set during the Cambodian massacres, write a fast-pasted query. If you're writing a satire involving cucumber gondolas and evil overlords wanting all the world's cheese, incorporate a few biting phrases. Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling are famous because they have writing styles that flow into their reader's mind; add that verve to your novel!

5) Consistency- My additional rule. If you write the query in first-person (that is, the protagonist's voice), make sure your novel is in first person. If the editor likes your query, have the novel ready for them. Can also be labelled at EXPECTATIONS.

Need to go now to slice some oranges. Tootles!

The Lottery: So Odd and Normal

2009-09-14T08:26:00.000-04:00

“The Lottery: So Odd and Normal: On Jaya Lakshmi’s blog, a Faceless Author”

Citizens in a sleepy town stone a housewife as part of an annual ritual. How can these people accept something this brutal as standard routine?

The answer: It’s normal for them.

Most cartoonists who have read How to Make Webcomics would label this story as “The odd thing done normal.” In humorous comic strips, this method guarantees humor if done right.

How do we know that this story is not a joke on the readers? Shirley Jackson shows us. We get this rising dread according to the characters’ reactions, especially Tessie’s. If it weren’t for this rising action (the term for increasing suspense as the story proceeds), then we would have no idea where the story was going, but we have SOME idea of what’s going to happen, just not what exactly. Ms. Jackson never lets up on us, taking a slow pace with the story. Instead of telling us that they stone one person every year, she hints at it and shows us through her words. And then we reach the climax, where we create the image in our hands. A cartoonist would probably close in on Tessie’s eyes as she screams “It isn’t right.”

Of course it isn’t right, but for that town it’s certainly normal.

2009-08-29T19:21:00.000-04:00

I commented on a blog that criticized Neil Gaiman's "The Problem of Susan" which is a critical look at the Chronicles of Narnia. Here is an excerpt of her argument:

"“The Problem of Susan”, to me, is a whole different question. It’s not an assault on God; it’s a specific, personal assault on one specific person’s affectionately rendered depiction of his beliefs. C.S. Lewis wrote Aslan to reflect his experience of God, and as I’ve said, that man loved God like nothing else. Whether you agree with him or not, he wrote Aslan with such absolute sincerity and love. I think it is unkind to take such an honest expression of someone’s religious devotion, and do this with it; no matter how much you disagree with him, or find his beliefs about women/God/whatever, to be damaging. It makes me feel all yucky to read this part of the story – a reaction I don’t think I’ve had to something I’ve read since this horrible book I got for my eleventh birthday, the contents of which I don’t remember at all, but which upset me so much I hid it under the couch and still couldn’t sleep knowing it was in the house so I got up and threw it in the trash and poured wet coffee grounds on top of it."

You have a legitimate argument, Jenny. I agree that the dream is disturbing, but I think that was Neil's point. (He admits that in the introduction after explaining his bout of meningitis.) The story was deliberately irreverent because Neil wants to remind everyone that Narnia is, at heart, just a story. At the same time, it shows the power of children stories, especially with the Mary Poppins dream. (I know what you mean about horrible books, though. The first Sandman volume made me feel the same way. Twilight made me feel that someone had taken what could've been a great book and chopped the ending into firewood and hamburger meat.)
"The Problem of Susan" is more about security, or the loss of it. Susan as an adult no longer feels secure concerning God; that's why she dreams of Mary Poppins, who is the ultimate form of security. She rescues the Banks children from constant mishaps and manages to keep the household running and stable, even when she leaves.
That said, I think the story could have been done better. It's like the Graveyard Book could have been done better with the plot. But I keep rereading both of them because Neil's style is freaking beautiful, sad, and addicting.
We should email each other. This was a fun article.

Stop at Nothing

2009-08-20T21:51:00.000-04:00

Right now I'm listening to a CD of wolf howls. It's pretty cool, like attending an animal choir. This venture is strictly research related, as the novel I'm rewriting involves wolves. Specifically, it involves wolves in California.
The howls have deep howlers, high-pitched "woos" and yips, and bits of whining. It sounds mournful, almost. Ravens caw intermittently, like the accompanying drum. There are grunts, whines, rolling sounds, and rumbles.
I learned an important lesson a long time ago: RESEARCH!! If you need to learn stuff for your story, look it up. Use Google. Do whatever it takes to get your book accurate.
You can't cheat on this. Readers will know if you cheated. (If you didn't, then they will find out thanks to your backstabbing college roommates.)
That's all I can say tonight.

Action => Reaction

2009-04-04T14:22:00.000-04:00

Here's a lesson I've learned from writing: no one likes a passive protagonist. We could have observant narrators in ye olden classics, but in modern stories editors want heroes who do stuff.
Exceptions to the rule can occur, however; Countess de Winter from Rebecca remains pretty passive throughout the novel, but she does do stuff.
That leads us to the reluctant hero, who doesn't want to handle the responsibility handed out to them. I love reluctant heroes, especially the ones that fail to do the job right sometimes. (Case in point: Peter Parker as Spiderman.) We all say that something must be done, but only true heroes do stuff when confronted with it. And even those heroes may continue to make the same mistakes, as we do.
"Sugar and Spice," which will be submitted to a magazine this week, started out as a short story exercise with a passive narrator. Then I made the narrator more active, but he didn't do enough. (Also, the editors didn't relate to him or his best friend, since they were careless.)
I just rewrote the story from another perspective, from a character who does a lot more and is more human than his companions. This sixth draft needs more polishing, but when it's softened I am sure that it will find a magazine.

Lesson Learned

2009-03-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

I'm a happier and probably better writer, but I've learned an important lesson:
HAVE A CRITIC.
And here are the signs of a good critic:
1) They care enough about your work to go on a long rant about it.
2) They see potential in the story (see # 1)
3) They're willing to see the story evolve through drafts.

Enough said.

Score!

2008-12-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

Allow me to say this before beginning . . .

YEAAAAAAAHHHHH!

Aphelion Webzine published a short doll story that I sent them, "Niloufar's Friends," about a father who tries to keep his daughter innocent. It's up now, with a one sentence description.

In general, that story shows how much tamer I've become because I've been thinking about life and death in literature. It's like marriage and love; if you use it too much, then you devalue it. And if Niloufar had killed her treacherous friend, she would have had to climb up from a deeper pit of morality. (Ironically, I then read a Joanne Harris book over the summer where Anouk Rocher gave ringworm to three bullies; I swear I did not copy it!)

It's somewhat autobiographical, because I did have an EasyBake oven before I tried to use it to make clay pots and a friend did tell me the exact same words about feeling sorry for me. (That was last spring, actually.) I was upset the whole day after that.

The idea came from an AlienSkin magazine contest about evil dolls and toys. I wrote another story with evil toys, but I knew it would be too long to meet the typical word count. "Niloufar" was cut because the dolls in it actually weren't evil, just misguided.

I'm surprised they labeled it as fantasy, and not dark fantasy, because it is dark; horror may have been too extreme. It is also probably inaccurate regarding Iranians, as I based the culture in that book from the lovely stories Reading Lolita in Tehran and Persepolis. In other words, a lot of Persians are going to send angry emails.

I'll deal with it though. The whole point of me writing about people that are not Indian, white or American is to diversify myself and become a better author.

Missing the point

2008-06-02T14:19:00.001-04:00

Normally I only post about myself, but I really want to criticize the movie Chocolat, primarily because I love the book so much.
For the record, I started writing A La Mode BEFORE I read Chocolat by Joanne Harris, and I've tried my best not to let the novel influence the comic strip. I checked out the movie from the library a few months ago and I have to say this- it SUCKED.
Not because of Johnny Depp, mind you, although he becomes a Mary Stu in the film- in general the screenwriter, producers and directors were too afraid. They weren't willing to tackle genuine racism, evil priests, or death, which the book dealt with.
In one stupid feat they made Father Reynaud into the mayor Comte de Reynaud, who likes to maintain a conservative order within his town. Alfred Molina does a good job, but still, the new priest is meh and not really a character in the movie.
The second thing that the movie did was make the conflict between Vianne and Reynaud open rather than subtle. Reynaud always remains civil to Vianne, never announcing his intention to shut her down or to ruin her festival. Vianne just tries to be herself, even if it means shaking up Reynaud's pseudo-perfect world. Vianne's acceptance of the gypsies seems to be open defiance of Reynaud rather than her own personal feelings, having been a traveler herself. Reynaud in response to this defiance cracks down on the gypsies. In the book Reynaud genuinely fears the gypsies (having had a racist priest as a mentor and having set fire to a gypsy boat when he was fifteen) and short of violence uproots many of them from the town's river banks.
The directors then decide to simplify Josephine's growth and development. The movie here seems to get off on the right foot, with Josephine stealing some pralines from Vianne's shop and then returning to pay for it. However, they then mess it up by having Josephine leave her husband early. In the book, the gypsies arrive before Josephine decides to leave her abusive husband Paul-Marie, and she wanted to serve them. Paul-Marie has hit her many times before and only when he sets fire to one of their boats does she decide to leave. Even then, she isn't that strong. Her inner strength accumulates over time as Vianne supports her. In the movie, she suddenly receives all of this inner power.
The fourth thing the movie does (and for the worse) is not deal with Armande's decision to die. Death was a huge theme in the book, especially since Vianne's mother dealt with death as well and a man named Guillame loses his dog to cancer. All of this (with the exception of a small reference to Armande's diabetes and her death) goes out the window. The mere fact that Vianne and her daughter Anouk attend Armande's funeral (in the book Armande leaves a note telling them not to) infuriates me because it shows that some producers are afraid to be accused of promoting suicide. They also take out the whole thing of Armande having ESP, being able to see Pantoufle (Anouk's imaginary friend, a rabbit in the book and a kangaroo in the movie), and knowing Reynaud's dark secret of setting fire to the gypsy's boat as a teenager.
The fifth thing that the movie does (although it's not as bad as the lack of discussion about death) is make Vianne's sojourns sound very important, and then allow her to toss them out the window in one mere scene. Vianne struggles a lot with deciding whether or not to move, and she eventually does, as shown in The Lollipop Shoes.
If the movie had kept the theme of death, then maybe I would be more lenient, but they took a lush book on mature themes and turned it into a Hollywood production.

It's ALIVE...in a few days

2008-06-02T11:19:00.000-04:00

The Graveyard Book is almost out! Go, Neil!
Sometimes I get really jealous of my favorite authors. I got not one, but TWO rejections this past month, one for the story "Outside My Window" and for the novella "Cutting the Cord".
"Cutting the Cord" (which is undergoing a title change and was submitted as "Her Demands") was supposed to be rejected. I'm going to submit to the intended magazine, Renard's Menagerie, as soon as I revise it one more time.
"Outside my Window" infuriated me more because when I submitted it, the editors of New Moon Magazine said, "What a chilling story!" And that was two years ago. Now, granted, the story doesn't have a moral like the other New Moon stories, and it's not that upbeat. But still, what story did they choose over mine?

...I guess I'll submit the story to another magazine after one more revision, but I AM going to keep submitting to New Moon. If I have to brave a religious man like Judge Claude Frollo, I will!
That is, assuming that I don't have to climb on Parisian rooftops.
At least they enjoyed the story.

Holy Cow

2008-03-31T19:47:00.000-04:00

Before I talk about my post, I want to give my theory for the origin of the phrase "Holy cow".
You see, in Hinduism (which until seven years ago was my family's religion), the cow is a sacred animal. To kill a cow is sin. To insult a cow, even by accident, will result in having no children. (Not kidding; this happened to a king and his wife.) So, much in the same way that "Oh my God" is the common expression for surprise, "Holy cow" became the less than cool equivalent of "Oh my God" when Hindu worshippers immigrated to the West and started speaking English.
Don't look so innocent, Apu. You know who I'm talking about.

Now I return from my digression.
...I won a Silver Key in the regional Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards! And I also won first place in the local youth fair for the short story "Persona Sin Corpus"
This is how I feel right now. I thought the story wasn't good, just like Quasimodo thought he was ugly, and look what happened!
Call me Quasi for short.

The Writer is mightier than All Others, Except Maybe Paper Shortage

2008-02-10T19:36:00.000-05:00

The strike as we all know it is over. The negotiations have been made, the sword has been exchanged for the pen.

But what I'm really interested in is what happened last Tuesday at 7:15 PM.
...I saw Shannon Hale! She wrote the wonderful; Bayern books, Newberry Honor Princess Academy, and the hilarious Austenland. And she recognized my name from the comments that I've posted on her blog (It's a small world when you've got the Internet) and gave me a big hug. And I won a charm bracelet for remembering that she owns a plastic pet pig.

In other news, Neil Gaiman finished The Graveyard Book, which is supposed to be The Jungle Book set in a graveyard. I hope that he manages to surpass Rudyard Kipling in terms of racism. I'm going to read The Jungle Book anyway because it's been weeks since I read a classic, and I liked the Disney movie. And I probably should give Kipling another chance because I like Margaret Mitchell, who owns racism about African Americans. And seriously, who can resist the Disney version of Mowgli?
Definitely not me.

I also recently read The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, the one banned in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I only found it disturbing that high school juniors were drinking and that relationships at this age could be so volatile. And the story ended too happily. If anything, I'd complain about it being one of the reasons to NOT get involved in a relationship while in high school. But ban it? It makes as much sense as banning high school relationships.
Honestly, book banners should meet Neil Gaiman's little friend:A cute dog will win anyone's hearts and erase the evil in their hearts that wants to eliminate free speech. Unless, of course, they're terrified of dogs like my little brother.

Free Speech: Use and Abuse

2007-07-27T09:54:00.000-04:00

If free speech was a drug, would you get addicted to it? Or would you use it in small quantities, like caffeine? http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/001005.html On the other hand, I drink a lot of caffeine when I need to, or when I want to. (Since I've started this journalism workshop, it's been a case of desire more than genuine need.)

Seriously, though, where is the limit to free speech? Does it stop at the end of the world, or the place where zombies go after they die again?

The abstract limit is either "when you violate another person's freedom of speech" or when "you shout 'Fire!' in a movie theater." In another words, when you are a hypocrite or when you lie and cause unnecessary chaos.

Here is the question about the "fire" thing: what if you have to shout "fire"? If someone had shouted "fire" and pulled the alarm at Virginia Tech, maybe less people would've died. If someone had evacuated Columbine under the pretense of a fire drill, then maybe the two shooters would've hit less people. On the other hand, the opposite could've occurred as well.

Evil Books

2007-07-25T17:09:00.001-04:00

There's an anthology where you have to write about "books gone bad". I am definitely submitting.

But here are a list of books that I don't recommend, of books that went REALLY bad for me personally:

1) Kim- by Rudyard Kipling. In this book, Indians are called the n-word. That's the point at which I stopped reading the book. Kipling knew nothing about Indians.

2) The Rosemary Tree- by Elizabeth Goudge. Come to think of it, The Little White Horse is Goudge's best novel, the one that heavily influenced J.K. Rowling.

3) Hatching Magic- by Ann Downer. I know people like this story, but it doesn't make sense historically (yes, America was not discovered until 1492 people, and the likelihood of a woman carrying on the family line into the 1990s is pretty small). Not to mention that most of the jokes are a little mind-boggling.

The list will be continued, assuming that I remember the other books that I don't recommend.

Further thoughts on the Uglies trilogy

2007-07-23T16:44:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned that the Uglies trilogy was good because it was original. That is partly true. (The covers on the right are the German covers, which I think look better than the American ones.)

The first book, Uglies (I know, the trilogy and the first book share a title; I didn't write the series), is actually the classic betrayal plot that appears in Over the Hedge, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Gargoyles, you name it. The ending, unfortunately, is not a happy ending; I actually liked the ending and didn't want the series to continue.

As for the cover, I think that the girl posing for the cover could be a pretty, so that's why I don't really like the cover because it then implies that the pretties in the novel are super-beautiful like Barbie dolls. Which they are, but I don't think the pretty standards should be raised more than they are already.

Pretties is a different story, both literally and cover-wise. It's the story we never hear of how the remorseful betrayer actually pays huge consequences for her actions and how her friends suffer as well. The story ends on one of the most twisted cliffhangers that leads straight into book number three.

The cover is the best of the American covers because it actually nails down what pretties should look like. The problem is that this new Tally bears little resemblance to the old Tally. (Tally is the protagonist.) They even change her eye color. That may be intentional, but I still don't like it.

Specials brings the story to a thrilling climax. Tally is not a betrayer, but now an enemy. The world and Tally's ethics turn upside down more than once during this book and she again has to pay for her actions' consequences. This is the first time such a novel has been written. The ending leaves possibilities open
This cover is better than the one for the first book, but it's still a disappointment. Yes, Tally is pretty and she looks arrogant and artificial, but the artist didn't nail her, though he did a good job. When I see this cover I think of a regal queen, not a cruel empress. Once again, you cannot see the previous stage Tally was in, partly because the camera angle does not allow it and because they changed her eye color AGAIN. How do we know that this isn't Shay or Dr. Cable?

That bring said, you can't judge a book by its cover. You'll do yourself a favor if you read this book and the companion to the Uglies trilogy, Extras. And no, I'm not going to post up the cover until I read the book.

A better picture of Death and thoughts on fantasy

2007-07-23T12:01:00.001-04:00

I like this picture of Death better with her brother Dream.

Something I was thinking about: why people don't read fantasy but they read Harry Potter. My sister told me on the phone that it was because Harry Potter is very mainstream since it's very funny and most fantasy isn't.

Also, Harry Potter is the most famous fantasy out there. That's why Diana Wynne Jones isn't mentioned among the famous fantasy authors although she has an international fanbase and she is a hilarious writer.

The biggest problem is that there is this stigma that only people who are obsessed with fantasy read it. To an extent I am obsessed with fantasy, but I also read sci-fi, children's fiction, the classics (sometimes I like 'em, sometimes I don't) and a little bit of nonfiction.

I also write fantasy the best out of these categories, but that's because I like to make stuff up. It's so much easier because you can be more original in fantasy. In science fiction there has to be some basis in SCIENCE, which is hard to come up with. I've recently come up with an idea, and there are some sci-fi stories that I'm proud of, like "Black Emily," but so many science-fiction writers have used all the good and original ideas. Even though the best sci-fi classics, Ender's Game and the War of the Worlds, are not original (alien invasions), the current sci-fi good stories include The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld and Dr. Who, which are both VERY very original.

The doctor does look like he could be a sci-fi writer if he ever gives up being a Time Lord:

Then again, maybe I'm biased because he's good-looking and he looks intelligent, which he is.

SPOILER WARNING: Why Neil Gaiman is better

2007-07-22T09:23:00.000-04:00

So my brother sent me a surprise birthday present: the seventh Harry Potter book! I hadn't even asked for it, but I read it in a day, neglecting my writing and daily exercise. (Then again, I'm neglecting them anyway with the journalism course.)
I can't believe that J.K. Rowling did such a cop-out at the end. It makes sense, and the book is the best out of the seven, but-
WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO TELL YOU THAT FROM HERE ON THERE WILL BE SPOILERS ABOUT THE SEVENTH BOOK. READERS BEWARE.
What J.K. Rowling did is what Neil Gaiman did in Neverwhere and American Gods. Why Neil Gaiman is better is that when he revived Shadow and the Marquis, it was not as simple as getting up. The Marquis has his throat cut (he has to bind it) and was coughing up seawater. It was painful for Shadow to come back, and he wanted to stay dead.

Neil Gaiman is the best author on reviving the dead. I mean, he did create Death, or at least Death from the Sandman comics.

No offense to Ms. Rowling, but when I read the scene in the Harry Potter books, I felt like it was a rendition of the scene in Happy Feet when Mumble finds himself in the aquarium. In fact, there was only one death in the book that touched me. But I'm not saying who it is.

A rule for writers: if you are going to revive the dead, it has to come with a price. The revived has to pay a price, not someone else.

Ten More Hours

2007-07-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

Harry Potter comes out in ten hours, or more like ten hours and fifteen minutes. How many people will go and wait till midnight? Who will go? Will it be just kids? Will it be adults? May it even *gasp* be a politician?

Here are my thoughts: I DON'T CARE.

That being said, I do love Harry Potter and I can't wait to read the last book, but I have thought about it and I think that I can wait. It is just a book, after all. It's not like it's going to disappear if we don't read it.

I think that Mary GrandPre should've looked at this Photoshopped cover:

When I look at this, I think, "DIE HARRY, DIE!!" It would be cool if J.K. Rowling actually killed him off- that would be the ultimate tragedy. And Harry is a tragic hero- his parents died, his godfather has died, and now his best mentor is dead. Who next? Why, him of course!

I'm writing a Harry Potter parody where the person who's supposed to be Harry, Calliope "Carrie" Nutter, dies. I will not try to publish it as it's only for my own enjoyment to make fun of the series as it should be made fun of. No Tanya Grotters for me!

To Be Honest

2007-07-18T17:33:00.000-04:00

This is how I feel, even though I've just ingested a chocolate rainbow-chip cookie packed with sugar (so much for being careful). This is from Dead Like Me, a two-season dramedy currently ending on the Sci-Fi channel.

This image below NEVER appears on the show, except in the silent, hilarious opening. By the way, you can see the opening http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1527713065055343143&q=Dead+Like+Me&total=4118&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

My First Interview

2007-07-18T16:14:00.000-04:00

I just Conducted A Phone Interview for my article. Lessons I've learned:

1) Make sure that you get good service- I had to call the interviewee about three times before I got good service from sitting outside. Waste of time and cellphone money.

2) Listen carefully. There might be useful information that you'll want in your news article and maybe even a quote that you don't want to forget.

3) Take a break- I've been looking at Robin McKinley's website. I'm tempted to email her and ask her if she has read Shannon Hale's books, including The Goose Girl. I've emailed Shannon before and I comment on her blog, and recently I became a member of her forum Little Red Reading Hood (before the course on a pen pal's recommendation).

4) Get back to work after your break- this is how you avoid wasting too much time. I'm going to put part of my story together now, the part about the interview. In fact, I'm trying to organize the information now.

5) Remember that this will look good on your college resume, that it's a good slice of experience from a real journalist's day/night hours, and that you now know whether or not you want to be a journalist.

Here is a picture of how I feel:

Ostensibly I'm doing work, but in reality I am transparent. (I love Googling pictures of Frollo.)

How to tell a Good Story

2007-07-17T16:05:00.000-04:00

These rules apply to both fiction writing and news articles.

Rule Number One: find a good story! A "good" story is one that transports the reader into another world, or into another setting at least, making us care about the people in it and educating us without preaching. In fourth grade our English teacher showed us this clip from The Hunchback of Notre Dame: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6226987819861532910&q=Hunchback+of+Notre+Dame&total=888&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6

The film displays this method of a good story by showing the transition from pre-modern Paris to Paris twenty years ago and from a puppetmaster's booth during daybreak to a dirty hidden dock during nightfall. Occasionally it goes back to Clopin, reminding us that he has not disappeared, but only tells the story. Frollo, our protagonist, kills a gypsy woman without guilt. He only feels guilt when the Archdeacon reminds him that God and the Virgin Mary have seen him commit this heinous crime and will condemn him for it if he kills her child as well. Clopin ends with the big question ("Who is the monster and who is the man?") that leaves his listeners satisfied.

Rule Number Two: Show both sides of a story. Later on in Hunchback, Frollo feels lust for Esmeralda, as shown here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9012756407798333875&q=Hunchback+of+Notre+Dame&total=889&start=20&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

We understand Frollo's point of view because other people's minds work this way and may even take it were it not for Esmeralda's song, which shows her point of view: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6248269357798932172&q=Hunchback+of+Notre+Dame&total=888&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Keep in mind that this is a Disney movie, so of course we don't like Frollo and we root for Esmeralda. But we understand how Frollo's mind works and why he commits his terrible crimes, just like the one in the beginning of the movie.

Rule Number Three: Wrap it up well. This clip says it all:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3724892245402393685&q=Hunchback+of+Notre+Dame&total=888&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4 If you haven't seen the movie, you don't need to. All you need to know is that Quasimodo is determined to protect Esmeralda from Frollo, even as Frollo plans to kill them both. Frollo dies, Quasimodo lives, and it ends happily with the little girl from the beginning embracing the hunchback. Clopin wraps up the story the way he began it.

That's all the basics you need. Now start writing.

Golden Ethics

2007-07-17T15:24:00.000-04:00

Ethics is a word we should never use when we talk about politics; our advisor has convinced us why ethics are important to journalists so we don't end up like this:

This image is from Mirrormask, a movie that Dave McKean directed and Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, Coraline, Stardust) wrote. To find out what I'm talking about, go to this link: movies.yahoo.com/feature/mirrormask.html and click on the "Close to You" clip where the dolls hypnotize Helena.

My point is that journalists should not become like Helena and end up as politicians' pets or puppets. Also remember to be reasonable, as Aristotle said. There is always another side to an issue. Seek to find the other side.

Facing Hard Facts

2007-07-17T13:54:00.001-04:00

I once made a promise to myself to only blog when I accomplished something like publishing a book.
Why am I breaking this promise? The journalism workshop that I'm in requires me to have a blog.
Speaking of which, journalism is new to me. I write fiction. However, I have found this field fascinating, especially since I am in a class where every student is female. We're all getting along and since no one is grading us or making us pass tests, I'm enjoying this workshop.

This is Personal

2007-07-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

If you are a teacher reading this post, be warned: it has nothing to do with journalism.

A short story I wrote got rejected this morning. This is my second rejection, by the way; Black Gate Magazine rejected it first.

I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the way this editor, Mr. L, said no: he said that they didn't "like" my story enough to publish it. "Like"? How does "like" matter that much?

Black Gate rejected it because they couldn't follow some character motivation and there was too much back story. I appreciated the fact that they took the time to critique my story and they said "there was some good writing". Mr. L is under no such obligation. In fact, no editor is. But Mr. L's response was tactless if it's not intended to help me; a better usage of words consists of, "We're sorry, but this isn't right for us".

He also said that they don't accept simultaneous submissions and that the other editor to whom I sent the story probably doesn't accept sim. submissions either. I did research using Storypilot, a story magazine search engine, and I made sure to only submit to three magazines that accepted simultaneous submissions. I've been submitting for three years now with only one published short story, several retired ones, and plenty of rejected ones.

Finally, he didn't bother to check that I had included my real name in the email and instead responded to me using my pseudonym, which is my email username. I made it clear in the letter that my pseudonym was a pseudonym.

Has anyone ever had similar rejections? What is your opinion on such lack of care?