Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 286

Princeton Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight

I have to go make a speech in Princeton, so I’m trying to find my Serious Clothes, the ones I have to wear underwear with because tomorrow I will be in a serious place discussing serious things with serious people. Okay, not really, romance scholars are usually pretty laid back and lots of fun, they probably wouldn’t bat an eye if I showed up in my usual working clothes (pjs and bunny slippers), but I think I should make the effort. I got rid of most of my Serious Clothes when I left Ohio but I still have a couple of jackets and some dress pants and some dresses I might be able to convince people are speech clothes and not just sundresses with a jacket. I even have a pair of high-heeled bunny slippers, but I think that might be going too far. Definitely no hose, though, and no high heels. There’s a limit.

But this is also going to involve make-up, which always looks weird on me, and probably something with my hair. No matter how hard I try, I always look like somebody who just came in on the clown car because I am just not good at this stuff. So there will be much hilarity tonight as I try to figure out how to look like an adult before I get to Princeton. I like to blend in.

And just to remind you, that’s the Princeton Romance Author Symposium, Oct 24-25, in Betts Hall, starting at 5:30 tomorrow night (Oct. 24). Here’s the poster, one of which I must get:

Oh, and the Comedy Tonight? Krissie is coming to dog-sit and we haven’t seen each other in months. There will be much laughter, especially if I practice putting on make-up.

The Exciting Antagonist

It constantly amazes me how I keep discovering the same things about writing over and over and over again, especially since it’s the stuff I teach. Knowing something intellectually and using it viscerally when you write are two very different things, but you’d think I’d learn. This time it’s the exciting antagonist. I’ve said over and over again that the antagonist has to be as interesting as the protagonist, more interesting, in fact, since he or she shapes the story. Then working on You Again, I wrote a one-note antagonist who was pretty much a stereotype and wondered why I couldn’t get the story off the ground. There were so many improvements I was making in the rewrite, but none of them made the story zing the way I wanted it to.

Later, I watched one of my favorite You Tube clips (two things I’m a rabid fan of, Doctor Who and John Simm), and I thought, Boy, he’s fun to watch. What a great antagonist to write, that over-the-top, tear-big-pieces-out-of-life-and-consume-them-while-singing-the-Scissor-Sisters kind of guy. Well, here’s the video, see for yourself.

And then I thought, Wait. I could write that kind of antagonist. I could write the hell out of that kind of antagonist. I SHOULD WRITE THAT KIND OF ANTAGONIST!

Yeah, sometimes it takes me twenty or thirty runs at an idea before it sticks. Argh. And now I have “I Can’t Decide” as an earwig which is okay because it’s going to be my antagonist’s theme. You Tube, John Simm, Doctor Who, the Scissors Sisters . . . salvation comes in many forms, so thank you all very much.

While we’re on the subject, who’s your favorite antagonist? Clearly I have Master-lust, but there are so many more . . .

Next Who Sunday:

We’re skipping “A Good Man Goes to War” because I can’t stand watching it again; stories about children in peril are too damn awful, and basically it’s in there to let everybody know that River Song started out as baby Melody Pond. It also introduces Strax, Madame Vastra, and Jenny, but they can stand on their own in other stories. And then there’s that bitch, Madame Kovarian, who really attains the upper limits of absolute evil in this, but she’s hatable without this episode, so I’m skipping the pain.

“Let’s Kill Hitler,” on the other hand, is fabulous. So let’s watch that.

Also: Teaser “History of Doctor Who” for the anniversary special

Here’s a cheat sheet on some of the details that go flying past.

Who Sunday: The Doctor’s Wife, Neil Gaiman

When we talk about the Doctor Who companions, there’s one we often miss: the Tardis. So Neil Gaiman gave the Doctor’s permanent companion a body and a voice and changed everything about the Who origin legend:

Idris: Did you ever wonder why I chose you all those years ago?

The Doctor: I chose you. You were unlocked.

Idris: Of course I was. I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away. And you were the only one mad enough.

So this is the story of two aliens who stole each other and a relationship that’s lasted centuries, possibly because one of them had no voice until this episode.

Cherry Saturday: 10 19 2013

Today is Evaluate Your Life Day. Still breathing? You pass.

Wish You Were Here is Free Right Now

Lani Diane Rich’s Wish You Were Here is free for the Kindle on Amazon right now!

And thank you German Chocolate Betty.

Next Who Sunday: The Doctor’s Wife, Neil Gaiman

I know this is a favorite for a lot of people, but I’ve never thought it was great, although I love the antagonist and the conflict is terrific. I’ve watched it three times and I still can’t pinpoint what it is that misses for me. However, it hits for most people, so here you go, the Doctor’s wife, no not River Song . . .

And Then She Said . . .

I like dialogue. This will come as no surprise to anyone who’s read my stuff, but what I really love is reading great dialogue by other people, like River Song’s line from Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who episode, “Let’s Kill Hitler.” Confronted by of Nazi soldiers in the streets of Berlin while holding what I think is an automatic rifle (I’m lousy with guns), River says:

I was on my way to this gay Gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought “Gosh, the Third Reich’s a bit rubbish. I think I’ll kill the Fuehrer.

That’s the kind of Up Yours dialogue that makes people cheer. But there are lines that are a lot subtler, that make the viewer connect the dots, that can be more devastating. This is one of my favorites from the Sports Night episode “Sally” by Aaron Sorkin and the other people on his writing staff:

Gordon, you’re wearing my shirt.

Yeah, if you’ve never seen the series, it doesn’t have the oomph of River Song, but I remember watching that scene for the first time, my mouth dropping open at the shock and brilliance of it, and thinking, “Why can’t I write like that?”

Which goes back to context. Most great lines are great because they’re in the mouths of characters who are characterized by them, who are affected by them, because we care about those characters and that situation so much. River saying her line to one Nazi in the bar does not have the same impact as River standing in a street surrounded by Nazis pointing guns at her. The first situation is River being a smart ass. The second situation is River being a smart ass insanely gutsy freedom fighter with boundary issues. Context is everything.

That may be why so many favorite “lines” are actually exchanges. KM Fawcett posted this exchange in the comments from the last Doctor Who discussion (this is Moffat again, in “The Impossible Astronaut” after River slaps the Doctor):

Doctor: “I’m assuming that’s for something I haven’t done yet?”

River: “Yes, it is.”

Doctor: “Good, looking forward to it.”

That’s good dialogue for a lot of reasons: it’s entirely in character for both of them, it plays with time travel, and it summarizes their relationship with a lot of sexual tension undertones without being about sex or flirting. Moffat is a master of that rapid fire banter, but I can tell you that banter is easy compared to the Great One Line because you can set up your own tension between not just the characters but the sentences. Your characters can riff off each other, turn tables on each other, each exchange making the previous dialogue better in retrospect. This is River and the Doctor again in “The Wedding of River Song” by Moffat:

River: Cleopatra was a real pushover.

The Doctor: I always thought so.

River: She mentioned you.

The Doctor: What did she say?

River: “Put down that gun.”

So banter is (comparatively) easy, but the single line stopper is hard. Which may be why my favorite line of dialogue of all time is from a book about a boy who’s just trying to do the right thing by his society and his best friend and finds them in direct conflict with each other. He’s too young to work out the distinction, but he makes his decision anyway, and delivers it in seven words that sum up everything he is and everything his story is:

All right then, I’ll go to hell.

Best line ever.

Your turn. Favorite lines of dialogue, please. with source, writer, and speaker if you can.

Who Sunday: “The Impossible Astronaut/The Day of the Moon” by Steven Moffat

I think this double-episode is where the mythology finally ran off the road. I’m okay with saying, “WTF?” during a show, but not after the ending, and not continuing on underlying several more episodes. (“The Curse of the Black Spot” is an entire episode WTF?) Another sticking point for me: emotionally abused children, of which Amy’s baby is one. Breaks my freaking heart, and not in a good way, like the end of the first season “You need a doctor” final scene. OTOH, this season also has “Let’s Kill Hitler” and “The Wedding of River Song,” both of which are brilliant, so it’s worth sticking around. Also Matt Smith: still amazing.

Now tell me how wrong I am.

Cherry Saturday: 10 12 2013

Today is Moment of Frustration Day, but since that’s usually every day for most people, I think we’ll go with Old Farmer’s Day: Go to a farmer’s market and kiss an old farmer unless you have one lying around the house you can smooch.