Blurb from Novella

This paragraph came to me out of no where -- I think it'll go towards the end of the book, but I really don't have much context for it yet... 

"There was a moment then. As their bullets traveled far across the land, scarring unknown swaths of dirt. What might they be murdering out there, in the dirt? That moment, that thought – brought another vision riding on its haunches. A vision of me taking my rifle, the one leaning across my shoulder and resting its cool neck upon my own and turning it to aim at my own heart. It would be an awkward look, unwieldy to be sure, but I sensed that others had done it successfully. It would be a small target to eviscerate, but larger than the cricket or the worm that was just struck by one of their playful bullets out there in the wastes of the rest of the world that I cannot see. My heart, a small target indeed. What would it feel like? A bullet passing through, the softness of my muscle morphing it forever – from cylinder to mushroom, or would it—

“Eddy boy, what in the barreling fuck are you doing?”

In some meditative state, it seems, I had started turning the rifle towards myself. I couldn’t bring myself to answer him, so I had just laid the weapon down and started to walk away. Wished he had punched me. Or kicked me in the back as I left. But he didn’t. And the shooting continued."

What's the Best Medium?

I find myself thinking a lot about the goals of different writing mediums. When an idea comes to you -- do you always execute it in the best medium? Obviously most writers have their one or two formats: poetry, flash fiction, short fiction, novella, novels, memoir, essay, short or long form article, non-fiction book, documentary, monologues, plays, web-series, half-hour TV, one-hour TV, feature film... to name a few. 

For me a lot of these don't come into play. My writing attempts have been, in no particular order: poetry, most lengths of fiction (never completed a novella/novel though), essays, and one-hour TV (some features too). But many times while the idea is clear the best medium is not. This "valence" issue especially pops up for TV vs. feature screenplays -- but the question could apply to almost anything. 

With TV, I think it could ultimately be a question of character. Are these characters that will continue to live with their problems and conflicts, or does the character require a concise or definitive arc? Many times a plot can be broken and re-broken a thousand times to fit around the needs of the rest of the story. That's certainly something I'm trying to teach myself to do, since a lot of pilots end up feeling "cinematic" in all ways -- bad too, since it feels like it's just ended, how will this story continue indefinitely?  

But it also got me thinking about poetry, a medium I've attempted time and time again (go back all the way to the beginning of these posts for an example) but always feel I've failed at. I think, to justify a poem - the poet needs to examine the most basic building blocks of language itself. The smallest unit of writing needs to be self-aware. It's like physics -- the letters are quarks and the poet needs to be aware of every movement, every application. 

Whereas short fiction, well there's a little more breathing room, right? Each sentence needs to count, needs to do a ton of work, but ultimately it's about the story you weave - not the fabric with which its woven. Poets can tell a story too, but it's about so much more than that. If poets are the physicists of writers then short fiction authors are... chemists? Your basic materials are a little larger, while still being under the microscope. 

Screenwriters and playwrights and folks of those ilk -- I feel like they're more mechanics (machinists?) than chemists. I'm not really sure how far I can extend this metaphor. Chemists and Physicists can take apart the whole world under their lens, while mechanics know exactly what they can and cannot build, take apart, reconfigure. It's limited but still challenging and rewarding. 
 

Climate Change - follow up

Following up on my past post, which partially spoke to writing about climate change, I wanted to include this link which is an important critique of the NYT article I referenced. 

Climate Change

From a NYT Magazine edition fully devoted to how we could've significantly curtailed climate change over thirty years ago, the opening paragraph: 

"The world has warmed more than one degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. The Paris climate agreement — the nonbinding, unenforceable and already unheeded treaty signed on Earth Day in 2016 — hoped to restrict warming to two degrees. The odds of succeeding, according to a recent study based on current emissions trends, are one in 20. If by some miracle we are able to limit warming to two degrees, we will only have to negotiate the extinction of the world’s tropical reefs, sea-level rise of several meters and the abandonment of the Persian Gulf. The climate scientist James Hansen has called two-degree warming “a prescription for long-term disaster.” Long-term disaster is now the best-case scenario. Three-degree warming is a prescription for short-term disaster: forests in the Arctic and the loss of most coastal cities. Robert Watson, a former director of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has argued that three-degree warming is the realistic minimum. Four degrees: Europe in permanent drought; vast areas of China, India and Bangladesh claimed by desert; Polynesia swallowed by the sea; the Colorado River thinned to a trickle; the American Southwest largely uninhabitable. The prospect of a five-degree warming has prompted some of the world’s leading climate scientists to warn of the end of human civilization."

Amazing to think that these sorts of visions of the future aren't already the focus of writers of all tiers and disciplines. The problem of it being an abstract threat, is what people keep coming back to. Well, it seems it won't be abstract for long - and I wonder how we'll look back on the relatively quiet moments before the storm -- knowing that first we failed to stop it, then we failed even to talk about it in realistic, preparatory terms. Times like this, I turn to authors like Roy Scranton -- not for comfort but for strength and focus. 

Album / Novel Titles

There's a school of acoustic guitarists -- all lone singer-songwriters whom I love (Max Ochs, Robbie Basho, Davy Graham) and I'll be damned if their album titles don't work perfectly as novels too. Maybe one day I'll steal 'em. 

"Large As Life and Twice As Natural"

"Hooray For Another Day"

"The Falconer's Arm"

"Twilight Peaks"

"The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death"

"Womblife"

University of Chicago

This is just a quick note to, well, note how concretely useful my very very liberal arts degree from UChicago has been - time and time again. Useful in regards to two simple things: research and writing skills. At the heart of good research is asking lots and lots of questions. And at the heart of writing is practice (and knowing fundamentally how to structure an argument to make a statement, whether through non-fictional argument or creative storytelling). And UChicago gave me both of those in spades. I think about this as I dive into a freelance video essay project and all those muscles aren't in the slightest bit rusty. It felt the same working as a writers' assistant on UNBELIEVABLE (limited series - Netflix) -- where both writing and research (of a different kind) was the day-in, day-out of the of the job. 

In other news, here's a hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable band I recently discovered called Magic Sword.

Quotes from Nowhere

Sometimes little snippets of dialogue come to me, totally disassociated from any coherent project -- just a line or a monologue that is inspired by something (sometimes nothing) and may one day find a home in a project with a real character built around it, or not. 

I think I'll start posting these quotes from nowhere here -- maybe I'll be able to use them again down the line. 

"Those are all the reported rumors, sir. There's nothing else to do with rumors than to report them. But I will say there's nothing else so fun to report."

Feels a little Wodehouse to me, who knows?

Video Essay Ideas: Popculture

I recently submitted some broad essay pitches to a company that's building out their digital channels. If any of them are selected and come to fruition, I'll be sure to post a link here -- but if they don't, I just wanted to post them here for posterity.

Also, if they don't - I will try to write at least one of them out anyways because why not?

Why is Die Hard So Good?

This year is the 30-year anniversary of the greatest action film ever made, DIE HARD. And this essay seeks to dive into the history, philosophy, and legacy of the man behind the film, John McTiernan. The thru-line will be McTiernan’s unique voice and style. First, how it evolved from New York theater with European film influences into the genius of Die Hard. Why was it genius? We’ll exam the raw violence and excellent humor combined with camera movement never before attempted in the action genre. And finally, we’ll catalogue McTiernan’s subtle influence on film titans to come, like Tony Scott, Brad Bird, JJ Abrams, and Steven Soderbergh. A post-script might include that McTiernan is finally making a comeback after 14 years away from the entertainment industry.

The Rise of the Half-Hour Drama

This essay aims to prophesy future new mediums in prestige, dramatic television, starting with the half-hour drama. Starting a long time ago, arguably with In Treatment on HBO, creators started to experiment with the form. Now, amid ‘peak TV,’ there seems to be a renaissance. We’ll exam how different successful dramas approach the format in different ways: Atlanta, Vida, arguably Bojack Horseman, The Girlfriend Experience, and new big profile shows on the horizon like Homecoming starring Julia Roberts and directed by Sam Esmail. We’ll end by discussing what other formats might be on the horizon.

TV Evolution: From Anti-Hero to Anti-Heroine

This essay also seeks to dive into the changing world of Peak TV but through a gender-focused lens. Specifically, before Trump came to power or the #MeToo movement gained full momentum - there was a rise of a new sort of recurring figure in television: the anti-heroine. Patty Hewes of Damages, Carrie Mathison of Homeland, Claire Underwood of House of Cards – and the list has only grown since then (Jessica Jones, Game of Thrones, etc.) How do these characters differ from their male counterparts and predecessors? Are there still stereotypes or prejudices written into these characters – or do they do progressive work to break them? Is it time to declare the day of the indefensible male anti-hero over?

The Art of Hellboy

This one would admittedly be for those hardcore fans of the Hellboy graphic novels and movies (currently being rebooted) – and half the fun of this video essay would be the visual feast of Hellboy (and Mignola offshoot) work paired along with examples of his wide spectrum of influences from German expressionists to comic book titans Frank Miller & Jack Kirby. As well, we’d examine how much of this unique aesthetic translated to Del Toro’s film – and what’s in store with the Neil Marshall reboot of the franchise.  

Quotes of the Day

I've been reading the aggressively assertive essay collection, "We're Doomed. Now What?" by Roy Scranton. Enjoyment isn't the word I'd use exactly to describe the experience, but it's certainly compelling. 

In the opening essay, he quotes Nietzche and DeLillo and both these quotes really struck me, so I just wanted to re-post them here: 

Nietzche: "Man will sooner will nothingness than not will." (I know, it's a little densely phrased - I like Scranton's interpretation, 'We would choose meaningful self-annihilation over meaningless bare life.')

DeLillo, from a character from White Noise: "War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country."

The Expanse

I'm late to the party on this one, but the Expanse is really an impressive and versatile show. Elements of Dune, sci-fi noir, and downright sincerely built mystery. Also looks pretty good for the budget I imagine SyFy allowed them...