David Vienna's Blog, page 76

aurumacadicus:aurumacadicus:The kids on TikTok think t...

aurumacadicus:

aurumacadicus:

The kids on TikTok think that just because he was a classic country singer, Johnny Cash was conservative??? My babies he covered a Nine Inch Nails song in his seventies.

Classic country singers (the majority of which came from poor roots) were always talking about how much The Man sucked because they were taking money from poor rural folk. You’re gonna tell me that’s conservative?? Get outta here.

And somehow on the opposite side of the scale with the same exact opinion the conservative kids say “I like the old country music, because there’s no politics to it” Woodie Guthrie’s got a “this machine kills fascists” sticker on his guitar? You think there’s no politics in 9 to 5 or Folsom Prison Blues?!

GPOY

GPOY

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;Or clo...

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead!

A tree near our boys’ school has become a sign o’ the tim...

A tree near our boys’ school has become a sign o’ the times. Each day as kids walk home they hang their used mask on a branch.

I just discovered Spotify lets you block specific artists...

I just discovered Spotify lets you block specific artists from being played on your account. Goodbye forever, Red Hot Chili Peppers!

pakastekaappihomo:I fucking love context clue worldbuild...

pakastekaappihomo:

I fucking love context clue worldbuilding, that talks as if the reader knows what you’re talking about, and to keep up they’ll just have to nod along like “okay, alright, so this is a thing”, where like you descirbe shit like

“The globe was as large as an egg” - okay so they’re usually smaller than an egg? or if you’d have said “as small as an egg”, it’s still the same fucking size but now we know they’re usually larger than an egg?

“She owned both of the two tallest hats in the county”, okay so this is a place where the height of a woman’s hat is something people generally care about? Looking at the way this character otherwise behaves, this is clearly a flex.

“His scowl was as frightening and beautiful as those of gilded temple dragons” okay so there are temples in this setting, and they have scary-looking gilded dragons in them, and also the narrator finds red flags sexy.

This. THIS!

And it doesn’t just apply to world-building. It can apply to dialogue or action and even other types of writing, like screenplays.

Let’s take screenplay dialogue as an example. One of the biggest mistakes writers make is assuming the reader needs to be told exactly what’s happening, which makes dialogue clunky and unrealistic.

Take this hastily-written example of a way overused style of information delivery via dialogue (and don’t get on me about it, I dashed these out on my phone while waiting for my kids to get out of school)…

EDITOR: I need you to go talk to General Ramsey.

REPORTER: The Secretary of State? Why? I’m on the Jones murder.

Here’s why this fucking awful:

The reporter’s first line is solely for the reader. In real-life, the reporter would just ask why (or better yet, express disbelief) because if he has to double-check who the fuck General Ramsey is, they’re a shitty reporter.The reporter’s third line is also solely for the reader because the editor would already know what story they’re on.

Here’s a hastily-rewritten version of the same exchange …

EDITOR: I need you to go talk to General Ramsey.

REPORTER: Yeah, right. There’s no way the fucking Secretary of State would be involved a murder.

Here’s why this works better:

The audience now knows Ramsey is the Head of the State Dept. without the characters sounding like absolute dip-shits.The audience also now knows there’s been a goddamn murder and the reporter is already on that story.Who’s been murdered? Let the reader find out as you go.

[And and even better way is to just have the reporter say, “OK” or “On it,” leave, and the next scene have him walking into the office of the damn Secretary of State.]

I get this all isn’t exactly like OP’s point, but they’re in the same wheelhouse. And you will have to fight for this. I’ve had countless producers, developers, even actors, ask me to spell something out for the reader (and potential viewer). And I constantly have to explain that my writing will never speak down to the audience, that there’s a more natural way to convey whatever it is they’re worried about.

Anyway, I can’t tell you how much your writing will improve when you stop assuming your reader is an idiot.

Handsome. Devils.

Handsome. Devils.

For all of you writing AITA posts: Yes. YATA.

For all of you writing AITA posts: Yes. YATA.

Some personal news: Same snark, different topic.

Some personal news: Same snark, different topic.

I improved my Chucks with some Morphine lyrics…And Boone ...

I improved my Chucks with some Morphine lyrics…

And Boone improved his with squiggly lines and some Van Halen logos.