I wanted to like this movie. I have such fond memories of the original TRON. It was ahead of its time in many ways back then, and probably a little cheesy too… It was wrapped up in religion a bit, which wasn’t bad— it gave programs a “culture,” a “faith.” TRON: Legacy has kept up with the digital explosion in movies and taken it to grand heights, but it abandoned good writing and good characters along the way. I found it hard not to roll my eyes, and even with such great visuals, found myself bored during the last quarter of the film. How did they fumble such a beautiful opportunity? I don’t know, but I have some ideas. I offer these up for consideration. I’m no Roger Ebert (but I’m a huge fan, Roger) but I think most critics have already agreed that the plot lacks something. The original TRON received 69% on the tomatometer from Rotten Tomatoes, the new Tron 49%. Though, oddly the audience seems to like the second one more. Critics agreed the light show and “glitter” are fun, and who can beat that soundtrack? I loved the light show, the competitions, the music, but the plot is an epic fail.
writing
How to Get Published by James D. Macdonald–good advice
Well, I keep track of Making Light, the blog by Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden and all their friends and guests, and Jim Macdonald has a great post today: How to Get Published. You might have heard the advice a thousand times, but Macdonald gives it some fresh spin.
To be a writer, you must write.
Thinking about writing is not writing. Talking about writing is not writing. Pre-writing exercises are not writing. Only writing is writing.
Write every day. If you only write a page a day, at the end of a year you’ll have a novel. Read every day. If you want to be a writer, you must be a reader. If you are not a reader, perhaps being a writer is not in your future.
Write straight through to THE END.
The urge to give up, particularly in the dread Mid-Book, will be strong. The desire to go back and fix the beginning will be strong. Resist the urge. You won’t know what the beginning is until you reach the finish, and perhaps not even then.
Every synapse in your brain will be screaming “This Is Crud!” Perhaps it is. That’s okay. You can’t make a pot without clay. We’ll fix it all in the second draft. If you need permission to write badly, I grant it to you.
Note that while you will think that your writing is crud, and it may objectively be crud, you should still write to the very best of your ability.
Besides, if you give up in the middle, when and how will you learn to write endings?
The rest of this article, if you’re serious about writing, is worth your time to look over.
Last Day for Tesseracts 15 submissions
Just in case you needed the kick—you still have time to submit to Tesseracts 15 by midnight Calgary Standard Time (I think). We’re all doing that up here in the Yukon in a marathon run to 11pm. Good luck to everyone. Have fun! Be creative. But be quick about it…. tempis fugit and all that.
When the Pilgrims Met the Borg: Faith, Perfection and the Assimilated Pilgrim
As written by William Bradford, 1620, original pilgrim on the Mayflower, original settler of Plymouth Plantation, after the strange ordeals on the Atlantic Ocean on the way to the New World. This account is accurate to the best of the ability of the author, William Bradford, and notes the first instance of the Borg in Sector 001. Though William Bradford is aboard the ship, the reader should note that his record is of the Pilgrims, and notes their struggles, their accomplishments, in a third person, collective account.
There be no assurances in the ways and means of the Almighty God. That He is there to keep and to guide, we may be comforted, but that His methods and ways be strange, there be only the righteous account and evidence of the men and the women of the Mayflower on her journey to the New World.
When they left yon Dutch colonies, they were bound in one ship, leaving the leaky Speedwell back in port, combining the crews of the Separatists, God’s chosen, and the non-separatists, also God’s chosen, to help in the design and building and maintaining of the new colony. There be fifty men and women of God, and fifty merchant adventurers. It was crowded on the ship, and the seas rose and fell with the mercy of God. But to the blessings of God they account that none of the hundred pilgrims, for that is what they called themselves, were in pain, or in hunger, or in distress. All worshipped the Almighty, even as they tumbled and plunged on yon sea.
On the 43rd day of their voyage, the scout above in the mast spotted a floating island, shining in the sun, and this island he claimed was land, and their ship sailed towards it. The closer they came, the more curious the island became. It was not land as they knew it, but shined in the sun like gold, and the merchant adventurers were vastly curious of what created composition the Lord had made it. Others believed, however, that it was a bad sign, a false hope, a distraction from the simple quest of the new colonists, a task given to them in purity and hope and vision.
They did not know that the island was actually another ship, one perhaps capsized by the sea, whose inhabitants the good Lord had proclaimed should drown, for He saves whom He desires to save, and does not save those that are unworthy. And yet, they sailed closer. The ship, for now they knew it must be a ship, was twice as large as the Mayflower, capsized in the sea. Some of the adventurers said it had been forged of strange metal, for the base of the ship, that above the water, was curved like a perfect sphere, and the rods and cross-hatches of the metal formed a metal bowl, with the doors and the windows, and other shadowy recesses.
Ten Ways To (Seriously) Improve Your Writing (via Broadside)
An awesome post for writers who are at any stage in the game–but especially those who want to take it seriously. Her advice for dealing with rejection, listening to feedback, and doing things to improve yourself, really ring true to me. Maybe they will for you too.
via Broadside
Tesseracts 15: Young Adult Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Tesseracts 15 is open for submissions with a call for young adult science fiction, fantasy and horror. NOVEMBER 30 is the deadline. Below is the call.
NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
(Calgary, Alberta) EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing is delighted to announce that Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales, is now open for submissions.
Submissions open September 1, 2010 thru November 30, 2010.
This edition of the award winning series of original Canadian Speculative Fiction comes with a twist and touch of whimsy.
| “We’ve decided to do something different with Tesseracts Fifteen.” said Brian Hades, owner of the EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing imprint. “This volume will focus on Young Adult Speculative Fiction – which can include science fiction, fantasy, and horror. However submissions must appeal to the YA audience and be PG-14 in content. As usual, Tesseracts Fifteen is open to both short fiction and poetry submissions.” |
Each Tesseracts anthology since volume one (1985) has featured editors hand picked for each particular volume. For this volume,Julie Czerneda and Susan MacGregor have agreed to co-edit.
| “We seek wonder and astonishment.” said the editors. “Stories that engage the imagination, inspire dreams, and leave hope in their wake.” Both Czerneda and MacGregor want all Canadian speculative fiction writers to “write what will become the classics for a new generation of readers, to be remembered, fondly, for years to come.” |
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
“Adopting My Mother” radio series is up
Hi Folks, if you look under Radio Series, you’ll see I finally put up the 5 parts of “Adopting my Mother.” It was my first radio series. Be kind. I had a lot of fun with it, but it was my first foray into radio series. It tells the story of when my birthmother found me, when I was 30. What follows is me getting used to having another mother, or trying to figure out how to fit in a person into my life who had a very important role in creating me. It’s not easy adopting a new person into your life–when you have a mom, a happy life, and you think you really don’t have to know where you came from or your own history….
But it’s interesting how much that beckons when you’ve never really known where you came from….. or why….
And suddenly here’s someone who can tell you everything… and they’re only an email away.
Come listen to “Adopting My Mother” on the Radio Series page.
Inhuman anthology includes Whitehorse writer, Dave Strachan
You might recognize Dave Strachan as the guy who helps you with your Arctic Cat snowmobile needs at Listers Motorsports (that is not him on the cover of the book there). I know Dave more as a science fiction writer and friend. I’m THRILLED to say that Dave made it into the Inhuman anthology put out by Absolute XPress, a Direct-to-Reader press owned by Hades Publications, which specializes in scifi, fantasy, horror e-books and paper-books.
The anthology is made up of flash fiction–stories under 1000 words–part of the Flash Fiction #4 Challenge that Absolute XPress issued earlier this year. The stories discuss what it means to be human from an inhuman POV. Some stories are all from that POV, and some have characters that are inhuman chatting about humanity. I was the guest editor who helped choose the stories, but I’m proud to say that the judging was blind and that his story was chosen by all three judges. I had no idea if we were going to end up with Dave’s story in the bunch. There were a lot of great entries and we couldn’t put everyone in–but collectively we ended up choosing great stories.
Thank you, everyone who submitted. I’m proud of the stories included in the anthology. You can order the anthology on their website, or through Amazon.com.
And, Dave…. way to go.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Class for Young Writers: FH COLLINS, WEDNESDAYS
Our very popular science fiction and fantasy writing class–aimed for 11-18 year old writers–is happening again at FH COLLINS, on Wednesdays. This year we’re concentrating on helping everyone get something finished by Christmas. Many of them are doing their own novels, but want to explore shorter fiction. We have writers who enjoy historical fantasy, dark fantasy and comedy, hard science fiction, comedic horror, urban fantasy, and just plain I-don’t-know-what-it-is-but-I’m-sure-it’s-probably-fantasy….
These are some of the coolest kids I know; very smart, well-read, and ready to explore some of the more mundane aspects of fantasy writing this year: making the fantasy more real. So we’re gonna have a lot of time spent on developing characters, description, scenes where there’s no “action” going on, and other stuff.
We meet afterschool–around 3:30 in the FH COLLINS LIBRARY till 5:00. We’re being sponsored by the City of Whitehorse. If you’re interested, contact me here–at jstueart@yahoo.com and I’ll get you set up with the City. Cost is $85 for 13 weeks of instruction, which include, of course, SNACKS. (We know that proper fantasy and science fiction can only be written with food….and we try to make it healthy–fruits, crackers, cheese, nutri-grain bars, etc. Bring your own drink)
We’ve done a lot together in our three years here—and the students are always looking to find new people to bring into the group. Come join us and be a part of a strong writing group that can read and enjoy your science fiction or fantasy.
The class is taught by me: I have a PhD in English with a specialty in Creative Writing, and am a veteran of the bootcamp for science fiction and fantasy writers, Clarion Writers Workshop, makers of many good writers. I enjoy the enthusiasm of these young writers. (This is not a class for adults, but we do have a group for adults, as well, that will be meeting Tuesday nights. )
Harry Potter Diary: Outside the Demographic Looking Inside Hogwarts
I decided to read the Harry Potter Series this summer, for the first time. After 10 billion people were happily served by the boy wizard and his pals, after the series was put to rest by JK Rowling years ago, and just as the film franchise explodes to a close, I decided to read the books.
Some questions immediately pop to mind: Why didn’t I read the books years ago?
1. I’m not a fad kind of guy, so having millions of people read the books actually made me feel less like becoming part of the phenomenon.
2. I actually loved the movies. I did read HP 2 after the first movie came out, and before the second movie. And loved it. But when I watched the film, I was terribly disappointed that a whole mess of story was eliminated as if it didn’t count. I vowed then and there to see the movies first, and then I would read the books to add in parts that the movies had left out. This is actually a decent strategy.
And why now??
Well, the end of the era is around the corner…. by summer 2011, the films will be done. But I think it’s more because I really want to read the books. I want to see how Rowling built the arcs, how she developed series characters, and how she managed to maintain the hook for so long. It’s okay to admire the books on a “how are they written?” sort of way.
I want the magic too. Even though, now, I know at least where the movies have taken me. Now I want to see where the books take me.
I’m not the demographic JK Rowling was aiming for. Her 9-17 age bracket probably resonated with the idea that children can have power too; that magic exists under adult noses; that the world doesn’t have to be like their parents told them it would be–office buildings, stock markets and 2 hour commutes.
So what would a 41 year old, single, gay writer and English teacher living in the Yukon Territory–with no children– get from reading the Harry Potter series–besides how to create a blockbuster series? It’s a good question to think about. How does a book transcend its ideal market, appeal across the board to adults and children alike? What will be the pull of the series for me? (I already loved the movies—but why.)
I’m keeping a Harry Potter Diary as I go to ponder things about the series along the way. Just reactions to, thoughts about, resonances with the series.
There’s a spot at Hogwarts for me–and I’m going to find it.
Bear Witness 