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In life, it’s important to always have a plan. That helpful blueprint to guide us along the pathway we need to follow.
Just like in life, it’s a good idea to have an actual story outline to help a writer know where they want to go with their tale. In my case, I like to plot a story out scene by scene (or chapter by chapter, scene by scene, as the case may be).
Sometimes what you plan out doesn’t always come to pass for whatever reason. Perhaps in hindsight the scene or character interaction doesn’t make sense or becomes redundant. Maybe you just got bored with the idea when you went to actually write it out.
This has happened to me a bit lately. For example, a story chapter I was working on felt boring so I changed the scene a bit. In doing so, I messed up the story progression and had to figure out a new way to work through the plot.
Another time, a short story with what seemed like a straight forward enough premise went off the rails mid-way. I’m still trying to feel my way through that one.
Writing is an art where one needs to plan things out ahead of time. To know where they’re going and how to get there. But when the unthinkable happens and things change, we also need to be able to think on our feet. Improvisation can be crucial.
Consider how many things over the years that may have been affected by changes on the fly. The original Star Wars is a good example, with things changing constantly throughout production. Apocalypse Now!, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek, etc, etc. The list is endless.
How many works of art have been improved upon by improvisatio
n? Some may have been made worse too, of course. Sometimes one over thinks an idea to the point it loses whatever poignancy it may have had in the first place. Or, by over-working it, they reveal the premise wasn’t so great in the first place (I think of countless bad movies that have been rewritten and re-edited into mediocrity).
In the case of writing, this also demonstrates that one needs to have a very good understanding of storytelling in the first place. If it starts to fall apart or veer off in the wrong direction, a good writer must be able to realize that there’s a problem in the first place and then actively work to correct it.
They also need to know how to fix whatever the problem is and get things back on track, even if that means discovering some new and innovative method to course-correct.
Good writing skills are essential, yes, but so are good editing skills. Many a good editor has saved a story from becoming a dumpster fire over the years by being able to recognize issues as they crop up.
I’m also a firm believer that where you start out in a story doesn’t always matter as long as the end-point is properly satisfying. If you stick the landing, as they say, you’ll leave with a much more satisfied audience then if you end on some bizarre note that leaves them scratching their heads. That’s not to say it has to always be a happy ending per se but an ending that makes sense given the overall context and theme of the story.
Good organizational skills, a good imagination, improvisation and an ability to make it all make sense in the end. These are the true hallmarks of a good storyteller. Everything is just icing on the cake when it comes to what one brings to the table.
Posted by David K. Anthony at 8:32 PM No comments:
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Labels: editing, film, writing
Friday, September 25, 2020
The Next Big Step...
There are a lot of perennial concepts I’ve followed over the years. Stuff comes and goes and some ideas are better then others.
This is the time of year where we celebrate the premiere of several Transformers cartoons, for example. The original cartoon, Beast Wars and Beast Machines all debuted in September (which is logical, given the new school year and the run up to Christmas, of course Hasbro wants to attract new kids–and now, adults too–to its newest product).
It occurred to me that I haven’t really found any of the various Transformers cartoons of the last decade or so to be all that interesting. The last one I tried really watching was “Robots in Disguise” (the newer series from 2015).
It was okay but it didn’t really blow me away. Granted, I’m not the target demographic any more (not by a long shot!) but usually the best series have something that can attract older fans too.
I’ve also watched the Combiner Wars shorts (which were boring, imo. No time for characterization or much plot really beyond the superficial). Most recently, I watched the six part 2020 Siege series on Netflix. It was better paced (each episode was about 30 minutes) and had at least some characterization. Again, though, it felt like it could have been better in some regards.
I think part of the problem is the heavy reliance on nostalgia. Nostalgia can be good but how many times do we need to re-hash the same elements from Generation One? Lately, we keep getting the same G1 characters as toys over and over again. Now, we’re even re-doing the war for Cybertron and the journey to Earth.
I understand they can’t do one contiguous story for ten years, since it would make it extremely difficult to attract new kids to the concept, but why not at least try something different occasionally? Why not focus on a new unit of characters in a new setting somewhere? Or the same characters in a new setting? Something–anything–other then the same old thing!
Beast Wars did this and was a smashing success. Beast Machines continued Beast Wars but went off into left field with its idea. The original Car Robots/Robots in Disguise was different. Transformers Animated was a bit out there too...
The last really good, really memorable story Transformers series was Prime. It had the same general robots-crash-on-Earth set-up but managed to still find something interesting in the concept to try.        The current concept is “War for Cybertron” which is a multi-year concept. They start out on Cybertron during the War, travel to Earth and then something involving some Beast Wars ideas (aka “Kingdom”). Once that’s over though I hope Hasbro sits down and brainstorms something new and fresh to do with the concept. Don’t give us more regurgitated G1 stuff again (at least, not for a while anyway).
They need to take it somewhere new and different. Get some decent writers and give us a new–and good–animated series. Get a comic series to try its on take on the idea. Make long-time fans like myself actually get interested and excited in the concept once again, instead of just going through the motions.
(This totally ignores the whole “Cyberverse” line and shows, which are aimed at a younger audience and I’ve not bothered watching. Perhaps they’re trying something more interesting...?)
Until then, I’ll just be over here with my G.I.JOES... 😃
Posted by David K. Anthony at 9:04 PM No comments:
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The Next Big Step...
Got my start writing fan fiction back around 1994 and haven't looked back, with various (somewhere around 70) short stories to my name (some fanfic, some original). Published my debut novel in 2008 and a short story collection in 2009. Currently working on three more novels (one of which should be ready later this year) and various other stuff...