G.L. Breedon's Blog, page 14

An Integral Theory for Novel Writing

 (Image from: EnlightenNext Magazine)

Back in 2003, after I had finished writing the script for Dark September Rain I wrote some short notes on how to take Ken Wilber's Integral Theory and apply it to theatre. The plan had been to stage Dark September Rain as a play for a few weeks before shooting it as a film. Eventually I dropped this idea, both because the actors seemed more enthusiastic about the film version, and because I really couldn't afford to do both.

I came across the notes the...

What Makes a Hero?

 

I've been thinking lately about heroes – what makes a hero we want to root for, what characteristics does a hero need to have so that we will want to empathize him or her, and better yet, how do you create a hero that people not only want to watch or read about, but that they want to spend time imagining themselves as?

First off, I'll be using the word hero to refer to both male and female characters. I've never understood the need to cling to male and female words for the same occupation...

Unexplained Phenomenon – A Screenplay Excerpt

 

The day job has been keeping me far too busy lately. I have a bit of breather today, but no time to write a substantial post, so I thought I'd dip into the archives and post an excerpt from a sci-fi screen play I wrote years ago called Unexplained Phenomenon.

I wrote the first draft back in 1996 and a agent shopped it unsuccessfully for a year before letting it drop. I've revised it a few times over the years, the last time in 2008.

Below is a quick description of the story and the first few t...

Laws of Story and Magic

A few weeks ago I came across Brandon Sanderson's First and Second Laws (of magic) at his blog and they sparked a great deal of thinking.

The two laws are:

Sanderson's First Law of Magics: An author's ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic.

Sanderson's Second Law of Magics: Limitations > Powers

Sanderson goes into detail explaining each law and how it affects his writing. His first law is pretty simple. If the reader doesn't...

Future History

I came across this film in progress called Man Conquers Space on the Sci-Fi Movie Facebook page. It's an amazing retro-future history documentary of a space program that never existed, but that every space geek dreamed of in the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

Since I grew up reading Popular Science magazines from the 1950s and a great set of 50s encyclopedias my grandparents had, I too envisioned the future of space travel and exploration though that brightly, rose-tinted lens of 1950s space optimism. It ...

Philosophical Science Fiction and Fantasy

Last week there was a great interview in The Atlantic with Professor Tim Maudlin, who teaches the philosophy of physics at New York University. It's a really interesting interview and it got me to thinking a number of things all at once.

The first thing it brought mind was the question of how philosophy, the love of wisdom, is applied to the various fields of human endeavor and study. Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Ethics, etc.. A few weeks ago I posted a blog...

Favorite Sci-Fi Movie Posters

I need to post a blog, but I'm a bit pressed for time working on Wizard of Time #2 (still no title), so as  a placeholder until I can come up with something interesting, I figured I'd post a collage of my favorite sci-fi film posters. These aren't my favorite sci-fi films (some are) just my favorite posters.

Hope you enjoy.

New Cover for The Dark Shadow of Spring

The Dark Shadow of Spring has a new cover. I was never happy with the old cover.I'm hoping this one helps sales a little. It will also make it easier to create a unified look for the four novels in The Young Sorcerers Guild series.

A Chronology of the Atomic Age

A few days ago I was looking through my old computer files for the stage play version of a screen play I wrote back in the 90s. I couldn't find the play (seems it is lost on some 3.5" floppy disk), but I did come across something I had written in 1996 that seemed like [...]

The Central Questions of Science, Religion, Philosophy, and Spirituality

From October 2000 to spring of 2002 I took sabbatical to research and write a non-fiction book about the relationship between spirituality and globalization – examining the intersection between personal transformation and the transformation of the world.  I called the book The Chrysalis Age. As part of that book I wrote a short dialogue between [...]