Likable Characters

Dear Readers, 

I'd like to point out the difference between a character that's "Likable" and a character that's "Interesting."I met someone who has a serious-minded character in his story and I had a hard time relating to that character. The writer thought it was because I didn't like the character's serious personality rather than the lack of plot. I'd just like to say that I was one of those kids who grew up not even knowing how to recognize sarcasm or joke around with people outside of my family. I totally sympathize with everyone who has a down-to-earth, practical personality. But just because you have a character who is serious, doesn't mean that character can't be totally fascinating and compelling. Here's a list of some of my favorite books that have down-to-earth protagonists:

Zeck in Orson Scott Card's War of Gifts was fantastic! So much emotional depth!

Captain Lawrence in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series

Keladry in Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet

Lord Cazaril in Lois Bujold's The Curse of Chalion

John Cleaver from Dan Well's I Am Not A Serial Killer books

Even characters that have annoying personalities can carry a novel. Anyone ever seen the TV series House? Dr. House is a horrible jerk to everyone he meets. But he's also cool because his insults are incredibly witty and clever, and he's a medical genius that saves lives every day. So, not exactly likable, but VERY interesting because he's always tackling impossible odds. Sherlock Holmes doesn't exactly have a good bedside manner, but he's so smart that he's still cool. I also love how Steven Moffat's modern Sherlock series capitalizes on his social awkwardness because it's so fun to watch how other people respond to Sherlock.

A friend of mine who works as a script doctor said, "In Breaking Bad, people typically can't stand Walter White and they like Jesse. But they are concerned for Walter's struggle. They are constantly rooting for him and completely invested in his story." When a character faces insurmountable odds, it's almost impossible not to feel for them. The reader wants to know if the character will succeed. If you don't have something interesting for your character to do, then I'm afraid your story is dead. ALWAYS have interesting events in your story. Next week, tune in for a discussion about the difference between emotional storylines and physical, real-world storylines. Both are essential, but beginning writers like to separate the two instead of putting them together.

Katherine Patterson's Perfect Paragraph

I did it again. Walked into the library with a dollar in my pocket that I just had to spend on a book that I'm sure I already own. But it was in such a nice condition and had that professionally applied contact paper covering that I love.... So I gave in. That's the horrible thing about library book sales. They entice you with their $1, $2, and .50 prices. I'll never shop on Amazon or Ebay again and someday my book shelves will overflow with library castoffs.

I bought The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Patterson. Everyone knows about Bridge to Terabithia, but I haven't met very many people that have read The Master Puppeteer. It's a historical fiction set in Japan during a famine in the 18th century. I read it once as a kid, and I don't remember much. Actually, I only remember ONE paragraph. Yep. That's right. I paid a whopping fifty cents for a book because of a single paragraph. Even as a kid, I liked that paragraph so much that I memorized it instantly. In the book, 13-year-old Jiro becomes an apprentice to a Puppeteer company and at the same time, a masked man named Saburo starts stealing rice and giving it to the poor. Unfortunately, the thefts of rice inspire the nobles to strike back at the village and in the middle of all the political chaos and violence, Jiro finds out that the old, blind, Master Puppeteer is the thief Saburo. Jiro's world shatters. He locks the old man in a storage room and runs away, but not before someone from the puppet theater catches him and drags him back to the stage. Jiro's friend has disappeared and he's the only one who can do the part of the girl Akoya's feet for the "Torture of Koto" scene, a famously difficult scene to perform. Here's the paragraph. Actually, two. I'll put in the preceding paragraph to preserve the proper context:

"Jiro grasped [the hem of the Akoya's skirt] between his fingers and bent into position.Ow. Some god saved him from crying aloud as Yoshida's high clog banged into his ankle. The next second the three of them were gliding onto the stage behind the puppet. The performance of "Torture of Koto" had begun.


If he lived to be one hundred and became a master puppeteer with a theater of his own, he would never again rival the performance he gave that day. Had his concentration wavered for one instant from the performance, he would have gone to pieces, so he drove himself into the depths of it. He was like a pearl diver, leaving the world of light and air far behind, plunging toward the treasure at the bottom of the sea." pg 152

See? Wasn't that cool? I don't know if it works as well unless you read the whole book, but as a kid, I was stunned by the intensity of the description. Particularly the first line: "If he lived to be a hundred..." I still love it! If you have any favorite quotes from novels of short stories that you'd like to share, please comment below.

Having Fun at the LDS Film Festival

Since I'm currently an intern at Cedar Fort Entertainment, for the first time ever, I got a VIP pass to an awesome event! Hopefully, I can get a VIP pass to SLC Comic Con next. This was my first time attending the LDS film festival and it was pretty fun. I met Orson Scott Card, his assistant, a bucketload of producers and novice filmmakers, and I even saw a short film about a modern day transcendentalist. That particular short film sticks in my head, not because of the talking duck (I hated the duck), but because it was so hilarious to see a young college student, bright eyed and full of promise, voluntarily starving himself and sleeping in a park so that he could learn from nature. It was ridiculous because you could see houses in the background. He wasn't far away from civilization at all. I also loved that irony of how he learns that isolating himself doesn't help anybody. He should be with his own kind and help them out. Maybe that movie was only funny for English majors who have studied Thoreau, but it was fun to watch (except for the talking duck. Maybe they just needed to change the voice of the duck. It grated on my nerves.)

Having a VIP pass means that you can hang out on the squishy couches in the VIP room and snack on the bowls of goodies. I was also happy to get a selfie with Matt Meese, my favorite actor from the TV show, Studio C. I'd still like to know how much they get paid for each episode, but he didn't say. The short film Nightblind had some AMAZING special FX, including one shot that was worked on by a guy who was involved with Guardians of the Galaxy! The director and his buddies have done seven short films in the past few years and their next goal is to make Nightblind into a feature. I spend so much time polishing my scripts that I'm jealous of the people who just go out and shoot films. I wish them the best of luck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz4N3w5U3DY

The Secrets of Being a Bestselling Author

Ever wanted to know what it's like to be a bestselling author? This article explains how being a bestseller isn't always a picnic and as an author, you'll have to adjust to a whole new set of circumstances after you reach that landmark in your career. Since we're all going to be famous some day, be prepared and read this article!

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-dark-side-of-being-a-bestseller?et_mid=724677&rid=239109624

Favorite Quotes from Brandon Sanderson's Firefight

It's a joy to know writers can create books as amazing as Brandon Sanderson's Firefight. The structure of the story is superb, along with the characterization, dialogue and the wonderful twists in the plot. And with any book, it's fun to see writers when they play with English like it's their favorite toy. In this series, Brandon has established a running joke about bad metaphors. Supposedly, the protagonist, David, is really bad at making metaphors, but it definitely takes a master writer to make metaphors this horrible. Here's some of my favorite examples:

"Prof could LOOM when he wanted to. Like a gravestone about to topple on a sprouting flower."

"Marco was a short guy with light brown hair so curly it looked like he'd stapled moss to his head."

"I needed to say something. Something romantic.
'You're like a potato!' I shouted after her. 'In a minefield.'
She froze in place. Then she spun on me.
'A potato,' she said flatly. 'That's the best you can do? Seriously?'
'Listen. You're strolling through a minefield, worried about getting blown up. And then you step on Something, and you think, 'I'm dead!' But it's just a potato. And you're so relieved to find something so wonderful when you expected something so awful. That's what you are to me.'  p.174

[talking about a type of gun]
"Always jamming. And about as accurate as a blind man pissing during an earthquake."
"Wow..." I breathed.
She frowned at me.
"That was a great metaphor!" p.177

And some of my other favorite quotes that have nothing to do with metaphors:

"My only real experience with girls had been Megan; how was I supposed to react to a girl who didn't immediately seem like she wanted to shoot me?" p.155

"Oh, thank you,' I thought, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. Dancing was stressful--but murderous demigods, those I could deal with." p.150

"This time, when she'd pointed the gun at me, she'd flicked the safety on. If that wasn't true love, I don't know what was." p.179

I hope you enjoy reading Brandon Sanderson's book, Firefight, book two in the Reckoners trilogy. You can purchase a copy here, on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Firefight-Reckoners-Brandon-Sanderson/dp/0385743580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422087712&sr=8-1&keywords=firefight+by+brandon+sanderson

Writing in a New Year!

So, for everyone who feels guilty for not writing enough in the year 2014, this year is a new chance to clean the slate and write until their fingers drop off! Here are the lesson I learned this past year: first of all, make sure your entire story is plotted out down to the last detail before you waste time writing script pages. Looking at how life works, I've figured out that I need to write faster so that I can finish all the projects in my head. One way I can do that, is plot out the story BEFORE I start writing it down in final draft. And on a positive note, I think my brain has become faster in this past year at making stories. Last year, it took a full three months before I had a solid storyline for my Ninja Turtles spec. This time around, it's only taken me about a month to put together a firm outline. I'm jaw-dropping amazed. And grateful, since I'm supposed to write three television scripts before the end of May.

I've also learned that when you edit someone's novel, sleep on it BEFORE you write any commentary. I should have slept on it so I could evaluate the novel from a more objective point of view. In other words, sleep on it so that you can rip it to shreds in a way that still give the writer hope that they are not the scum of the earth, nor the most horrible writer that ever lived. An editor's job is never to destroy, but to give hope and show writers how to reach their greatest potential.

Lesson three--you don't always have to toss everything out and start all over. I'm often tempted to do so when a story isn't working, but if you stick around long enough to figure out a different solution, a lot of times you can use the material you already have just by changing a few minor things. Figure out the REAL problem with the scene (dialogue is boring, motivations are unclear...etc), and you can fix it without rewriting your entire story. I admit, sometimes I get a little trigger happy in killing my darlings.

Happy New Year to all the writers out there! What lessons have you learned?