Open Hatch

Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

As I’ve noted here, Richard Dutcher recommended the ZEN AND THE ART OF SCREENWRITING books to me.

I devoured the first book when it arrived (via Barnes and Noble order) and it’s been back on my bookshelf for some time now. Unfortunately I forgot some of its particulars of advice (which I’ll show), but the general advice I remember. I may skim back through it and post more detailed notes later.

The book interviews many very successful screenwriters, interspersed with short chapters of advice from the author, William (Bill) Froug, who founded and headed a reorganization of the screenwriting program at UCLA. It goes through the art and craft, and the business, and also morality, which encouraged me the most, and I’ll address it first.
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I’m making it a project to read these two fictional blogs. Oh my heck, I think they are funny.

It started here at cougarmolly.blogspot.com, and branched out in June 2005 to ponderingpeter.blogspot.com.

As a note to myself I’ve read both to their June 8th entries. Sadly they both seem to have been abandoned.

I look at these as inspiration on the weird/dippy side of mormondom (though I need a lot of research) for a writing project.

I’ve created levels for a video game. It’s a cartoony space station simulation, on the Xbox 360. Here’s a list of reviews. My levels are a love story. The goal is to date any or all of four girls and marry one. These are excerpts of dialogue I wrote for the levels. Player responses are in brackets.

Ann, the Librarian
Would you like to hear part of a poem I started?
[Yes]
Brutish swagger, mop my heart,
Flooding sorrows ‘ere thou part . .

Great Museum! Look at those kids just sucking in the knowledge! I wish I sucked as much as they do!
[You do!]
Really? Oh, I’m so flattered!

Are you enjoying our romance?
[Yes]
Does it sometimes seem like there is only one possible response to anything I say?
[Yes] [No]
What about now?
[Yes]

Poppy, the Hippie
I realized I was a robot when my third boyfriend contracted tetanus. My parents tried to blame my braces, but I knew better.
[Okay]

Will you build me a Comedy Club? It would be only for me. But it would reach out to everyone. Except for the people I make fun of.
[Okay]

Want to hear a joke?
[Yes] [No]
Okay. How many robots does it take to change a light bulb?
[ 3? ] [I don't know]
None! The enslaved humans do it for them! A ha ha HA HA HA WRAAAA HAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
[Heh. . .]

Figures. They didn’t program you right.
[Okay]

Blenda, the Cheerleader
So that you know, my favorite drink is deep fried oil.
[Okay. . .]

Did you know Poppy said I was a bad, bad human in her.. journal? .. Isn’t Poppy awful?
[No]
But I thought you hated everyone I do! I hate you! No, I don’t, because then if you hated everyone I do, you would hate yourself! I’m so confused. . .
[All Right]

Wanna be my boyfriend? I’m not jealous or judgemental like those other terrible girls.
[Yep] [Sorry, no]

Wraeth, the Goth Chick
It’s very nice that you liked Ann’s poem, but I had a thought. If her heart flooded, wouldn’t it be a river of blood?
[I guess so]

Here’s a poem you inspired:
Black Hole spins, devouring all
Matter binding to the fall
Inward screaming, mute I call
None can hear the crushing pall.
[Thanks?]

Want to go on a pretend date?
[Sure]
Wahoo! That was fun.
[It was?]

Clark (to whom I have previously blogged, later to argue with his guests) at libertypages.com draws my attention to an article by one Josh at melbournephilosopher.com. Someday I will understand the references Clark makes. I may also only half grasp what Josh is saying, but I’ll respond to what I grasp.

Clark conscisely summarizes Josh’s argument:
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[Ed. Afterthought - I find myself somewhat dreading this may come across as bitter invective, that you might think I hate a person who hates clichés. I hope not. I'll yet review and re-write this if that seems the effect.]

IGN.com reviews a fantasy book, entitled Eragon, that has become a “publishing sensation”.

Their review mixes overt adulation with cynicism that the book employs clichés:

One can’t help but notice the clichés in place.

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A book drove a good point home to me: if there aren’t a lot of people who know you would bleed for them, you won’t have a lot of people bleeding for you (there were a lot of other useful and disturbing things in that book).

.. I’ve realized I need to volunteer on small independent crews on weekends. Folks working on small projects can be found all over the place. Some of them online at the Yahoo groups Utah Film and Theater and Utah Extras Community. If I’ve helped someone else they won’t mind lending direction or help in small ways.

I need to find a bluescreen stage for Applicant to Hell.

Outside of a bluescreen stage for now, I’ll do a very fun splice screen test of Neverending Story.

And.. the day before yesterday I realized my focus is too narrow. I’ve awakened an acting ambition, but that’s not the “whole mell dell”. I feel that I must write and direct. For the writing, at least, I can actually participate (not lurk) in critters.org.

Another strong point: don’t count on people who don’t have your interests at heart, or have wrong interests at heart against you. I’ve met them. The things they do are not pretty.

As time passes I am more and more content with the way Revenge of the Sith seems to lay the groundwork for an actual redemption of Anakin, so that I no longer feel compelled to fix it.

Which isn’t to say I haven’t collected other problems relating to Return of the Jedi abundantly, and besides the main one that Sith seemed to solve.

I’ve thought more about Anakin’s youth also. I’ve said that what his mother gave him in just the six or so years before he left laid a solid enough groundwork to resist the.. philisophical nincompoopery of the Jedi. But.. I think if I spent ten years under Yoda and Windu and Obi-Wan’s psychologically detaching attributes.. I might go bonkers too.

But only in the circumstances of Episode III. I’m still unconvinced of Episode II’s psychology and am beginning to consider the set of films ideally as fast-forwarding through most of Ep. I-II, then wholeheartedly indulging III-V, then doing my best to overlook my complaints for VI.

And it’s not like I’ve been writing anything more or posting complaints from my old archives either: I’m waiting for my decisions on the pivitol element of Anakins role, and if I swing back in favor of Return of the Jedi as it is, this whole blog is a graveyard.

So.. occasionally I’m plagued by doubts of my ability to write believable dialogue, being that while I’m a nice, fairly affable person (or so I like to think), I can be.. socially defunct (which line of thought led to a funny exchange with my wife). And it’s led me to wonder: is there some book or course out there called “Gab for Dummies?” Not that fantasy dialogue should necessarily sound like teeny-boppers in the school lunch hall. Indeed I’ve thought that a tremendous problem of fantasy dialogue is that we at least think people in older times spoke more formally (and I often wonder what proof or realities evidence or strongly suggest this), and yet.. I just don’t totally buy that, so that I would guess that the best fantasy dialogue (and I’m not saying what I link there is best) would come accross as heightened speech yet still informal-ish.

Gaaaahhh.

I need to be able to write everything from the informal to the formal.

Someone answered my question by recommending How to Win Friends and Influence People. First off – this book is a living light bulb. More qualifiers – not that I ernestly apply it or have finished reading it – but I strongly recommend this book. And per the topic here – it says the way to be a conversationalist is to stop talking about yourself and show sincere interest in other people’s thoughts. They’ll talk your ears off and you’ll learn a score of really relevant stuff: what other people think.

That’s great – though not enough. Fiction has two-way exchanges, not one sided ones (or I suppose I think that’s an ideal).

Where can I find it – histories or journals of intimate (and not in the revoltingly intimate connotations) conflict resolution? And which fantasy authors do this best? Or where are very good media approximations (very cynical about media here)? Where? Where?

[Update: this has been put together as a short film, and posted here, with the revised script archived here [link needs update!] in Adobe Reader format.

By Richard Alexander Hall

Concept by Robert Langford Hall

This is the first of four ideas that have been lodged in my head and which I spat out last night. I very much welcome comments and criticisms.

INT. – WHITE SCREEN

The bored head of a MALE PERSON is before us. A hand at his side reaches in and rotates an imaginary nob on his ear; as the hand does so, THE PERSON’S MOUTH ROBOTICALLY OPENS. The NARRATOR announces in his SEMI-BOILED DECLARATIVE SCIENTIFIC TONE:

NARRATOR

Hmm. Turn that dial. Travel back through time.

A SCREEN OF FUZZY GLOWING BLUE LIGHT SHIMMERS IN THE PERSON’S MOUTH for a while, THEN VANISHES. He opens and closes his mouth mechanically and licks his chops. He goes somewhat stale.

NARRATOR

The flavor of dust. It tastes like 1952!

The person rotates the unseen dial on his ear, the shimmering blue mouth light FADES IN AND OUT. He licks his chops still mechanically but a bit more vigorously.

NARRATOR

(happy)

The Nintendo Entertainment System you cleaned with your tounge in 1982. Turn that dial again!

The person again rotates the dial slack-jawed; more shimmering light and it settles. He has a pleasant expression.

NARRATOR

Ahh. Hummus of Ancient Egypt. Circa 2000 BC. Turn the dial again!

The person extracts a tub of hummus from his mouth and licks his chops. Slack-jawed dialing, shimmering, fading. He has a bitter expression.

NARRATOR

Bratwurst at OctoberFest, 1992. Misdial! Dial on!

Slack-jawed dialing, shimmering, fading. The person looks puzzled for a moment, then has a realization, and smiles.

NARRATOR

It tastes like today! Your journey is through!

THE END