Bryan Young's Blog, page 7

Good Foreshadowing

I was watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind for an upcoming piece and it's a film I hadn't seen in a long time. I remember loving the film, but I didn't quite remember why it had left such a big impact on me. Maybe it was the age I was when I'd first seen it and the age I am now, approaching it with fresher (older) eyes, but it really stood out as a masterwork of storytelling. It's straightforward, sure, but as a piece of character work, it's stunning.

There's one scene in particular tha...

Writing Vlog #3

Wherein I discuss my favorite part of creating a world inside a story, how I make sure all the strings tie together at the end of a story, and whether or not a story is ever truly "finished."

If you're interested in watching these live and asking questions, keep an eye out on my Facebook author page, which you can find here. 

You can also leave questions in the comments here and I can try to answer them in the next week's video.

–
As a reminder: The Aeronaut and Esca...

Anatomy of a Scene - City Lights

We're going to break down another scene this week, and it's one of my favorites in cinema history. It comes from the ending of City Lights by Charlie Chaplin, which I think is the greatest romantic comedy ever made. 
It's a touching film from 1931 and I would make it mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to learn to tell a story.
The scene we're going to be breaking down comes from the very end of the film, so if you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil it for you. Go watch the film. Yo...

Writing Vlog #2

Wherein I answer questions about writing live on Facebook. First, I talk about what I learned as a storyteller from the world of film, then good ways to show emotions, and finally about good transitions in novels.

I plan to try to be doing this every week on my Facebook author page. 

Too Much Inspiration?

This was 5 days ago, and I'm still on the streak.I did my first Facebook live chat this last weekend and there were a number of questions asked, but there was one that I answered a bit in the video, but I wanted to dive into more detail about it here.

The question came from Eric Onkenhout, and he was asked, "Are you afraid of being too close to an established story?"

And this is a big question to deal with and the answer might be different for every single writer. At what point does inspiration...

Writer's Rules Revisited #17

Back in 2011, I put together a list of rules I'd been collecting over the decade prior to that as a writer. It was a list of 50 things I'd put together to remind myself to keep in mind as I wrote. You can check out that original list here. Over the last five years, I've slowly been breaking out each "rule" into a more detailed essay for me to explain just what the hell it was I meant.

Before we start, I want to remind you that "rules" of writing are largely guidelines to help you figure o...

Diversity for Diversity's Sake

Over the weekend, I got to teach a class for the League of Utah Writers about "Better Diversity" in writing. I'm not sure why I was selected for the particular class, but I was grateful it was offered with me teaching, rather than not at all.

It was a great class and the attendees and I had a great conversation about it, but I wanted to bring some piece of that lesson here to you on the blog.

"I am fine with diversity, I just don't want diversity for diversity's sake."

I hear this a lot, and I'l...

Anatomy of a Scene: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might be one of the most meticulously well-written movies ever made.  William Goldman scripts are almost always something special. He's a master of creating something that's interesting, every scene has a kinetic energy to it that keeps you moving. He's a talented prose novelist as well. His novel of The Princess Bride might be even better than the screenplay and the film.

But today I want to talk about a scene in particular for Butch Cassidy and the Su...

My Salt Lake City Comic Con FanX Schedule

I'm going to be on a lot of panels at the show this weekend. It's hard to believe it's here already, but I'd love to see you there.

Unlike year's past, I will NOT be having a table to sell books from. At this point, I have one signing at the Shadow Mountain Booth, so if you want to grab a book or have it signed, you're going to need to do it there during that hour. And you're going to want to do that anyway since I'll be sitting next to Claudia Gray and she'll be signing nifty new posters for...

Anatomy of a Scene: Citizen Kane

I could have chosen practically any scene out of Citizen Kane for this column. It's a movie brilliant in its writing and I think it helps open up storytelling so much. I think part of it is because of how it was made. 
In Michael Chabon's book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, the characters go to a screening of the film when it was new in 1941 and Chabon is able to illustrate the impact the film had on the artists of the time and I think it still impacts storytellers of all so...