R.W. Ridley's Blog

The Walking Dead: Spoiler Alert

Another spoiler alert. Do not click if you don’t want last night’s episode of TWD ruined for you – Although I’m fairly sure it’s pointless to post the warning because I’ve seen “BLANKS” name all over the Facebooks and the Tweeters. Stupid social media.

This tweet by a fan gives a pretty good theory on how you know who could have survived the zombie herd.

It’s a good theory.

The Walking Dead: Kudos and What the hell, man?

You sons-a-bitches! You glorious, storytelling, sons-a-bitches! I hate and admire you!

This is your chance to bail on this blog post. I am going to talk The Walking Dead spoilers.  Last night was an emotionally charged episode that crushed a lot of souls and broke every fan’s heart. Yes, it’s just a TV show, and yes, it features zombies, and yes, it focuses on the worst of humanity in most episodes where even the good guys do very bad things. But damn it, it’s a great show, and when something as monumental as what happened last night happens, regular viewers go into a deep funk, and we want answers.  Like everyone else, I have my opinion – Scratch that. I have two opinions about last night’s episode: as a fan and as a writer.

SPOILERS START NOW:

As a fan: The thought that Glenn is dead is mind-numbingly depressing. He was the groups’ lighthouse of decency. When the others found themselves slipping deeper into depravity in the name of survival, he was the beacon that set them back on the righteous path. He always did the right thing, risking his life over and over again by doing so. If he is indeed dead, he died because of his goodness. His belief that everyone deserves a second chance cost him his life, not because he was wrong. Nicholas was in the process of redeeming himself, and that’s why he thanked Glenn just before shooting himself in the head. Glenn died for what he believed in, and there is no nobler way to die. If Glenn is gone, I’m as upset as anyone about it, but it was a perfect way for him to go out.

As a writer: Glenn had to die. Otherwise the audience is going to lose interest in the plight of the core characters. If they always find a way to cheat death, then there’s nothing to invest in from an audience member’s standpoint. You can’t have investment without risk. Kudos to the creators of the TV show for having the guts to kill off a beloved character when no fan would have blamed them for keeping him alive until they film their last episode in the series.

There’s a big BUT to all this. The way the scene was shot, with Nicholas falling on top of Glenn, there is an out here for the fans and creators of the show. It’s possible, but somewhat unlikely, that Glenn is simply watching in horror as Nicholas is being torn apart in a feeding frenzy by the zombie herd. As a fan, I hope that is the case. As utterly hopeless as Glenn’s situation seemed to be in that scene, I’m grasping at any straw of a hint of miracle that he will find a way out alive.

As a writer, I think it would be a huge mistake to give the audience that miracle. He has to be dead. For the sake of the fictional world they’ve so brilliantly created, Glenn cannot have survived. He has to be the consequence of risk that we all know is there. If he’s somehow survived, the show will lose some of its edge that keeps viewers terrified and unable to look away.

RIP Glenn or Thank God you survived, Glenn!

Saw the movie The Martian and …

The Book Rules!

The book is better. I know that a lot of people have the opposite opinion, but I beg to differ. The movie was good. I went to a matinee showing, and there were maybe eight people in the theater. I just didn’t think the movie had the same charm that the book does. I’m not a “the book is always better” snob. I swear. It just happens to be in this case.

I feel like Oskar Schindler

Rewrites are in. Did I do enough?

I just turned in my rewrites for the book formerly known as The Closeout Kings, and I feel like Oskar Schindler. I could have done more. I didn’t do enough. I could have done more. This ring, it could have saved Step’s line of dialogue in chapter ninety-two. I could have kept Randle as the character that drives Kenny to the hospital. This watch, it could have saved that poor state police officer’s nose. His nose!

At least I’m 10 days ahead of deadline. That’s got to count for something, no?

Ken Burger: The Passing of One of My Favorite Authors

A Southern novel filled with “OMG!” moments

I was sad to learn that Ken Burger passed away yesterday. Ken was an extraordinary Southern writer that didn’t receive nearly enough accolades for his work. Most of the people of South Carolina and the Lowcountry know Ken as a columnist. He spent much of his career covering sports, but he was much more than just a “sports guy.” He was a brilliant writer that could turn a Southern phrase like no one else. I just happened upon his book Swallow Savannah one day while killing some time in Barnes and Noble.  I Picked it up, cracked the cover and read the first line.

William often walked the back roads of Bluff County at night, his blackness lost in the shadows of low-hanging live oaks, his existence all but invisible to white people.

I was hooked. The book belonged to me, not just because I purchased it, but because it spoke to me in away that very rarely happens. Burger had a way of drawing you into a story and surprising the shit out of you with explosive moments mixed in with the serenity of Southern normalcy. He wrote with both charm and grit, daring the reader to not recoil and then turn the page to devour more of the forbidden text.

I went to the Post Office nearest my neighborhood one day, and as I was traversing the parking lot, I looked up to see Ken Burger walking towards me. My first thought was, “Holy shit! Ken Burger lives near my house!” My second thought was that this would be my best chance to tell an author I admire just how much his work meant to me. The problem is I am a painfully shy and awkward person in the real world. I don’t exactly possess the kind of extroverted qualities that require the kind of bold move it would take to walk up to a perfect stranger and introduce myself, much less fawn all over them like a fanboy.

But this speaks to the power of Swallow Savannah. I was able to suppress my inhibitions. I walked up to him, stuck out my hand, probably like a nervous idiot, and did something I never do, I initiated a conversation with someone I don’t know.

“Mr. Burger.”

“Yes.” He shook my hand, but eyed me with a suspicious glare. He was a columnist for the Post and Courier who had written a number of disparaging remarks about virtually every college football program in South Carolina at one time or another. He was never one to hold back. He was most likely sizing me up to see if I was about to rake him over the coals for some blasphemous remark he had made about either the Gamecocks or the Tigers.

“I just wanted to let you know that Swallow Savannah is one of my favorite books. You actually had me saying, ‘Oh my, God!’ out loud on more than one occasion.”

He chuckled. “Well, thank you. That is so nice of you to say.”

He let me know about his next book, and we parted ways. I didn’t get his autograph. I didn’t take a selfie with him. I didn’t even tell him I was a writer too. I just shared a private moment with one of my favorite writers and let him know what his work meant to me. It was all I needed, and I hope he got some satisfaction out of the encounter too.

To Ken Burger I say thank you for writing one of my favorite books.

The Third and Final Pass?

Project Rewrites 1, 2 & 3

I’m about to make my third and hopefully final pass on the rewrites. With 5,000 new words, it has a different feel to it. Same tone and irreverence, but Deputy Dani Pearl is now the backbone of the book. There’s a new first chapter, and the other changes appear in the conclusion of the novel.

“It’s an exclamation point!” he exclaimed.

An exclamation point needs no exclamation!

Pet Peeve Warning: It is not – I repeat – NOT necessary to ever use the verb exclaim when you want to attribute a line of dialogue to a particular character. Why? Because the exclamation point you used at the end of the sentence is a pretty good indicator that the character is exclaiming something.  Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

“I heard you!” Johnson exclaimed.

The fix could go a number of different ways, but the only way to definitely screw that sentence up is to use the word “exclaimed.”

Remember this little rhyme as you write your novel:

It’s lame to exclaim!

The Today Show Plays Fast and Loose with the Truth in Post-Debate Poll

I’m in the middle of my coffee-infusion ritual this morning, watching the Today show as I work up the energy to get back to rewrites. The morning show has been excitedly proclaiming from the opening bell about new poll results that show Hillary has “opened up” her lead against Bernie after the debate.  I was a little shocked because every online poll I’ve seen shows that a wide-margin of viewers thought that Bernie had won the debate. I realize online polls are easy to manipulate, so I had already decided that his numbers were somewhat inflated. More than Bernie supporters voted for him. Hillary haters of the GOP persuasion voted for him too as a “fuck you” to the Clintons.

I watched the segment on the poll results, and they had two columns in a graphic. The left column was for October poll results and the right column was for September poll results.  They showed the post-debate (October) results. Hillary is at 45% and Bernie is at 31%.  They didn’t show September results, not until Biden’s name came on screen. He dropped five points after the debate because – well – he wasn’t in the debate.  They still didn’t show September numbers for Bernie and Hillary, so there was no point of reference to gauge Hillary’s gains over Bernie.  They even showed the October and September numbers for two Republicans – Trump and Carson – to illustrate how the race has tightened in the last month.

Hillary hasn’t opened up her lead over Bernie

So why not show the September poll results? Because it didn’t exactly support their narrative that Hillary has “opened up” her lead against Bernie. I went to their own poll results to see if I could figure out the complicated math that prevented them from showing September numbers. This is difficult to figure out, so get ready with your calculators. In September Hillary polled at 42% and Bernie came in at 29%.  So, if you carry the one, and loop around the universe three times with a tape measure you will see that Hillary’s post debate bump was 3% and Bernie’s was 2%. Hillary “opened up” her lead by 1-point in a poll that has a margin of error of +/- 2-points. Even on the website, they describe the results as “fairly unchanged.”

I don’t believe the media is ignoring Bernie because they have a pro-Hillary agenda. I think what we’re witnessing is the influence of Superpacs on elections. The mainstream media outlets are the biggest benefactors of Superpac money. Billions will be spent this election cycle and a huge chunk of that money will be going to the major players in the corporate media cabal. Bernie has sworn off Superpacs. If he wins the Democratic nomination, they will lose a significant amount of revenue. They couldn’t care less if Hillary wins. They really couldn’t, but she brings much more money to the table, so they want her to play over Bernie. It’s really that corrupt and simple.

The Saddest Moment From Last Night’s Democratic Debate Came After The Debate

It was incredibly sad that after the Democratic debate political pundits and masters of truthiness were utterly shocked and baffled by Bernie Sander’s decision to stick up for Hillary Clinton and lambaste the media for focusing so much attention on the so-called email scandal. The humanity of the moment utterly dazed and confused them. They clearly don’t know how to handle sanity. We live in depressing times when journalists and analysts try to score civility as a win or a loss.

Rewrites and Reading The Martian

Two thumbs up, but…

Today is reconstruction day in the rewrite phase. I pulled seven chapters and did a total remodel on them.  In addition to that, I wrote two new chapters: a new beginning and a new ending.  Now, I have to do some reshuffling to get the new material to fit. Most of this week will be re-reading the book in its entirety to see if I’ve done enough to make this a Dani Pearl novel with a strong supporting cast, instead of a closeout kings’ story featuring Dani Pearl.

During my down time I’m reading The Martian by Andy Weir. Weir’s self-publishing triumph somehow escaped my notice, but I’m happy to see an indie author jumping up to the big time.  I want to see the movie, but not before I’ve finished reading the book.  I’ve heard both high praise for and biting criticism of the novel, and I have to say I understand both.

The story is completely engrossing. It’s virtually impossible not to pull for the main character, Mark Watney. He’s resourceful, funny, and intelligent. Some might even call him delightful.  The mixture of personal log entries with third person narrative is nicely done.  Weir does an excellent job of keeping the reader invested in Watney’s plight. I’m just a third of the way through the book, but that wouldn’t stop me from recommending it to friends and family.  It’s that entertaining.

The criticism I’ve heard, and to which I agree to some extent, is that there are some technical issues with the writing that temporarily pull you out of the story.  There are no typographical errors and there is no misuse of grammar that I’ve spotted.  Nothing like that.  But there is an enormous amount of exposition. Science fiction is a genre that needs a certain level of explaining just because you are dealing with subject matter that is either invented or real science. You want the reader to have some understanding of what the characters are up against, so you serve up background information to them that would be frowned upon in other genres. I don’t really have a problem with Weir’s use of exposition in this case.

The use of exposition that I object to may not be noticed by most readers.  I’m looking at it from a craft perspective.  Understand, when I say objection, it doesn’t mean it ruins the story for me, or that I haven’t made these same mistakes. It doesn’t, and I have. However, with more than a dozen books under my belt, I am trying to eliminate them when I notice them. They do slip through the cracks from time to time.  I’m not sure why Weir’s editor didn’t catch them, however.  As I understand it, this is his first book, so I’m giving him a pass. He’s obviously a really smart guy that constructed a story much like Mark Watney constructed the pieces that helped him survive on Mars, with a lot of good old fashioned ingenuity.

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about.

When we first meet the folks at NASA in chapter six, we are in Venkat Kapoor’s office. Kapoor is talking with a man identified as administrator Teddy Sanders.  The administrator is admonishing Kapoor for not speaking at Watney’s memorial service, and he delivers the following dialogue after Kapoor explained he didn’t want to speak:

“Yeah I know that. I didn’t want to either. But I’m the administrator of NASA. It’s kind of expected.”

As a reader, it feels like I was just force fed Sanders’ title.  It just didn’t seem a like a natural exchange between a boss and his subordinate. It’s a simple fix from an editor’s perspective. Given the book’s tone, I would have suggested something like, “I’m in fucking charge. It’s expected.”  Knowing the man’s official title wasn’t completely necessary and to get it in such a fashion was a little jarring.

Weir also falls into the trap of telling us how characters feel. Example:

“Fuck,” Annie said, thoughtfully.

Stephen King is famous for giving the advice to eliminate as many “ly” words as you can, meaning adverbs, also known as modifiers. In this case, Weir had an opportunity to show us how Annie felt by describing the timbre of her voice, or the expression on her face. Telling us she was thoughtful in her expression of the word “Fuck” robs the reader of experiencing the emotional turmoil that Annie is feeling.

Another bit of criticism is Weir constantly identifies the speaker when the flow and nature of the conversation makes it unnecessary.  Here’s an example of a television interview:

“A pleasure to be here, Cathy” Venkat said.

“Dr. Kapoor,” Cathy said, “Mark Watney is the…”

The ellipses are mine.  The point is this, there are two people in the television studio talking on camera. We didn’t need to know that it was Cathy presenting an interview question to Venkat when he had already acknowledged her name. If you remove “Cathy said” from the passage, we still know it’s Cathy speaking, and it trims some fat from text. Again, an editor should have pointed this out.

These criticisms are minute when compared to the level of enjoyment I’m getting from this book. I share them here today because I know a lot of writers visit this page, and while such “errors” obviously won’t prevent you from landing a huge publishing contract, I still think it’s prudent to commit to perfecting one’s craft. Weir has done a masterful job of taking an enormously difficult premise, filled with tons of technical information and making it not only assessable to the average reader, but also entertaining. A tip of the hat to him for his talent and success.  I’m looking forward to finishing the book and seeing the movie.