Taven Moore's Blog, page 14

[Perry] It’s All in the Twist

Note: This post contains all kinds of spoilers for plot twisty movies. Reader discretion is advised.

No, not the dance.

Though if you want to dance, feel free to dance as you read. I’m hardly about to stop you.

Today we’ll be talking about plot twists, primarily because I recently read an interesting article about them and also because Wednesdays hereabouts the internets is Perry day and I can talk about whatever I want, so nyah!

Cough, anyway…

Much Ado About Plot Twists

I’d never really thought too heavily about them before. I mean, I read and watch them, right? But I never thought too deeply on what it was that made a plot twist great instead of just okay, if you catch my drift.

There were definitely plot twists that I enjoyed more than others. Plot twists abound that made me just sit there, jaw on the floor, trying to put together what the hell had just happened.

And there were other plot twists that made me want to throw my keyboard/tv remote/kindle across the room (or, alternatively, at the person who recommended me the piece of media).

So what’s the difference between them?

Predictability

That’s the key word we’re looking for here. Predictability. A good plot twist is something you don’t see something.

Now you may be thinking, why the hell would Perry be telling us something so uselessly circular? It’s OBVIOUS, right? Of COURSE a good plot twist is something you don’t see coming, that’s part of the definition of a plot twist.

Nope.

Not quite.

The key is, who is that twist directed to?

The One-Night Stand of Plot Twists

If you stop to think about it, it is EASY as balls to fool your intended audience. By hook or by crook, you can simply omit enough information from the story that they have no way of knowing what’s coming up until it actually hits.

It’s easy, and it’s cheap. And largely speaking? That kind of plot twist is not very effective.

Some examples of these? What I’ve always found to be the most heinous ones? Are the ones where characters that you watch die on screen magically come back to life from behind the curtain in the third act…often in a completely nonsensical manner.

Have you seen The Wolverine or Prometheus? A character that’s reported dead near the beginning of the film (and is actually seen dying and has a funeral in one case), magically just…steps into the scene in the final act to play the villain or whatever.

The characters act all shocked, but a lot of the oomph is taken away from the audience reaction because we have NO way of knowing this is going to happen. There are no clues. There’s no lead-up.

It’s basically the one-night stand of plot twists. And it sucks.

The Great First Date of Plot Twists

A level up from the one night stands is the great first date. These are the twists where you kind of figure it out about halfway into the story. This way, you can appreciate the little nods and clues that get sprinkled about, and you can still appreciate the dawning realization of the protagonist when it finally hits them.

The two big ones that come to mind for me is Shutter Island, and Predestination.

In both of these stories, I was in the dark, alongside the character for the first half.

Little clues started piling up around that point. Not enough to break it wide open, but more than enough to give me a pretty good idea of how the ending would play out.

In both cases, I wasn’t disappointed. Being able to appreciate the slow leading of the characters to the truth while sort of being “in” on the joke made me appreciate the experience that much more.

The True Love of Plot Twists

The best of the best twists? Are not just the ones that fool you, as the audience, but also fools the character, right up until the last moment.

While it’s great to be able to predict the outcome and enjoy the artistry of how the character is being led around by the nose, it’s an altogether different experience to get the rug pulled out from under you, right alongside the character themselves.

The examples are iconic, classic, and easily stand the test of time.

Moments like the end of Memento or the big reveal in Fight Club. Or the beheading of a certain title character in the first Game of Thrones novel that set the tone for the rest of the series?

These are the twists and stories that stand the test of time and stay with you.

Caveat

Not all things are the same to all people.

Depending on your level of comprehension for the little clues, or how much attention you’re paying when you’re experiencing a story…

And more importantly? Depending on how willing you are to let yourself be led around in a circle before the reveal? Some plot twists may fall up and down the scale for you.

What I think is important when dissecting what makes an okay plot twist great, is the intention behind it (within reason, of course).

Generally speaking, what I’ve found is that the best plot twists intend to pull the rug out from under the audience AND the characters at the same time.

It’s a shocked surprise that you’re supposed to share with the character you’ve grown to like that really sells the twist and makes it work.

What about you guys? If you had to name, off the top of your head, the best and the worst plot twist you’ve experienced at the hands of a book or movie or story, what would they be? What made them work or not work for you?

 

 

 

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Viva Pinata (Trouble in Paradise)

So my gaming has been odd and exclectic of late. I tried WoW again and just couldn’t quite make it stick. Stick of Truth (the Southpark game) was absolutely wonderful if you like that sort of thing (which I do).

But not much else going on, really.

Until Steven presented me with one of my Christmas presents — Viva Pinata (Trouble in Paradise).

It’s whimsical, adorable, ridiculous, and unbelievably deep for how simple it is.

You play as a lowly Pinata farmer with your first farm. You must cultivate the plants and pinatas and decorations of your plot to entice wild pinatas to visit and eventually become residents (turning their colors from black and white to vibrant pinata ridiculouslness).

I absolutely adore it.

The art style has this wonderfully animated pinata paper jaggedness to it and every pinata has its own personality and behaviors. (Sometimes this is irritating, such as when Buzzlegums and Raisants fight for no reason, or when your beaver-like Sweetooth picks a fight with your hired gatherer).

The game’s not without its flaws. It takes a while (and an exploit) to keep Professor Pester and his henchmen from entering your property and wreaking havok. And it can take a while to convert all of the red-and-black Sour pinatas to their non-sour equivalents, thus keeping THEM from barging in and causing chaos.

But I’ve finally reached the point where nothing bad can really happen to my farm, and it’s perfect. I can do quests to collect a specific pinata (often with particular paper apparal or color variants), fill it to maximum candiosity by feeding it its favorite foods, and sending it off to a party. (Worry not, we are assured there’s nothing those pinatas like better).

If you’re patient enough to keep farming until you can get rid of the bad guys, the game really starts to shine. Before that, it’s still fun but really hectic and at times quite frustrating.

I recommend buying digitally if you’re interested — old game discs are quite expensive, but it was very affordable on Xbox Live.

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Music Share

Skeleton Key



I don’t often share music here. I have pretty random tastes (which favor Country, enough to send most folks I know running) and I’m not like INTO into music, if you know what I mean.

Steven found this song for me, and I am completely entranced.

Not only is it a fantastic song (great beat, etc) … it isn’t about romance, love, sex appeal of the opposite gender, NONE of that.

Indirectly, it tells a sort of story.

Who is this woman? Is she a time-traveler with advanced technology? Immortal, with a magical artifact?

I do not know, but the possibilities are wonderful to contemplate.

Plus, the music video is all typography, which I love. ^_^

Free Bonus Video: Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk featuring Bruno Mars

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[Perry] Villainy Redux

This is an issue we’ve looked at before, and you know what? I’m going to have to create a third category here.

Let me set the stage.

Preamble

Lately, something I keep running into is the effort to turn villains into heroes, or at the very worst, misunderstood and tragic figures.

Thoughts this time around was triggered by my recent watching of Dracula Untold, starring the commanding Luke Evans as Count Vlad.

In it, we’re essentially treated to a rewrite of the Dracula story. Vlad is a loving family man, loving father, bad guys are invading his country and the only way to stop them is to seek out a monster to gain his power and then demolish the invading army, all by his lonesome.

The movie was alright. Not great, not terrible, just alright.

But I walked away from the movie with a bad taste in my mouth and a thought resounding in my head.

Did that really need to be made?

Argument

Villains…well, three dimensional villains? Are great, if they’re done right. A villain you almost want to root for while he’s laying waste to the world can be a frightening literary force. Look at Loki at the recent Marvel movies. Sure, he’s the bad guy. Sure he’s batshit insane…but you can see the things that drove him to act the way he did.

And maybe? You can empathize with him.

This is an example of the sympathetic villain done well.

My issue isn’t with that, exactly.

It’s that…it’s the feeling that a lot of villains lately are sort of getting shoehorned with these tragic backstories to make us feel for them…even villains that really don’t need this sort of crap to work.

I guess my point is that not every villain needs to have this tragic backstory. Not every villain needs to be sympathetic to work properly.

And when you go to an established villain and try to make them sympathetic, it doesn’t work…as well.

Do you know what I think the problem is? It’s an issue with…misplaced rooting for the heroes, do you know what I mean?

In this specific case, look at the story of Dracula Untold. Then go back into any movie that features Dracula and try to root for the heroes.

How can you?

It’s like picking on a kid in the school yard, only to realize AFTER you’ve knocked him down and taken his lunch money that he’s like, mentally handicapped…from the time he dove into a burning house to save a box full of kittens.

Do you feel like crap now? Cause I sure would.

Supporting Proof

I recently finished a playthrough of a game called Wolfenstein: The New Order. That’s a story for another day, but really? I can’t remember the last time I had quite so much fun shooting and stabbing Nazis. I mean, they’ve been the villain of the piece for so long that I thought the whole Nazi killing thing was over but hey, play this game and it’ll revitalize your joy in that sort of thing (if that sort of thing is your bag to begin with).

Anyway, the villain of this game? General Deathshead.

Yeah, really.

He’s a twisted scientist and he’s just…just a villain. No complicated motivations. No hidden childhood trauma unveiled to make him how he is. He’s just a twisted monster of a human being and when you finally take him down? It feels SO damned good.

But anyway, in this game? You can root for the hero. REALLY root for the hero. TAKE DOWN THAT SCUMBAG MONSTER! sort of rooting.

Can’t really do that for the Avengers when they go after Loki. You can’t really do that with Dracula anymore either.

Bad guys…one of the best parts about a good villain is that you can root for them to lose. You can cheer when they meet an untimely end. You can WANT the heroes to win.

You can’t do that when the villain was a man doing anything he could to save his family and embraced the dark forces…only to lose his family anyway (Dracula).

You can’t do that when your villain is a retarded boy and the ‘heroes’ are revealed to be his tormentors (Jason Voorhees).

You REALLY can’t do that when the classic villain turns out to be a horribly mutilated fairy girl with GREAT reason for being pissy at the whole situation (Maleficent).

The End!

My point’s wandered a little as I explored a few new thoughts that occurred to me while writing this.

But you know what it boils down to?

If you want to make a sympathetic villain, MAKE a sympathetic villain. Do it well and it’ll be brilliant.

But for the love of god, can we please stop going back to properly established paragons of villainy and trying to give them a tragic, sob story for a past? It’s really harshing my vibe when I see another story of them being a proper villain and I can’t properly wish them ill because all I can think about are the crazy hardships they endured to become what they are now.

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Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

This tv series is available on Netflix and I SUPER recommend it. (Thank you Faith for the original recommendation!)

It is that perfect blend of fun and quirky with just enough serious thrown in to keep it from being ridiculous. Absolutely my favorite murder mystery show (after the first few seasons of Castle, which was incredible).

The setting: Roaring whenevers, when flapper dresses were in style and the rich were truly wealthy. Australia, because that’s where the fun accents are.

The characters: Miss Fisher (our entredpid, resourceful, and VERY forward-thinking lady who was cast as beautiful but not young). Detective-Inspector Jack Robinson (the intelligent and policeman dragged into Miss Fisher’s adventures, often unwillingly). Dot, the sweet Catholic girl who nonetheless becomes Miss Fisher’s most stalwart companion. The adorably awkward Constable Collins who becomes quite sweet on Dot. Mr. Butler. Bert and Ces.

I have never had another show so thoroughly engage me in EVERY side character.

I believe there are two seasons available on Netflix for watching and I gobbled them both up greedily.

By far one of my favorite shows to date.

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[Perry] Help Fill Perry’s Reading List

I?

I could use your help.

I hope to read at least 80 books this year and I’m a little lost on what exactly to add to my reading list for the year, other than a couple of continuations on ongoing series…es that I’m hoping will release this year (Name of the Wind, I’m looking at you!), and I could use some advice.

We’re all friends here, right? We know each other tolerably well, and most of you have seen me pull out my Wednesday post soapbox to rant about something or other for over a year now.

What should I read?!

Do you have any suggestions for me? Absolute favorite books you think that I shouldn’t go without that I should totally check out?

I’d love to hear your suggestions!

If you’re signed up to Goodreads , feel free to add me as a friend and check out my ‘already read’ books, if you’re curious as to whether I’ve already hoovered up your suggestion or not.

If you’re not a member and can’t be bothered? Just throw your reading suggestions at me willy-nilly in the comments and I shall respond forthwith!

I’m primarily looking for more things to add to my science fiction and fantasy libraries.

Right at this current moment in time, I’m more looking into the more ‘popcorn’ type reads. Essentially, books or short series that can be devoured without much thought. Non-weighty books.

But if you have a weighty, epic series that you think I MUST read? Feel free to drop that off as well and I’ll look into it when the weighty, epic mood takes me.

I’ve also been known to range pretty far afield from science fiction and fantasy, for the right candidates, so if you’re reading something that’s not genre that’s blowing your mind? I’d happily investigate to see if I might want to glance at it.

Ladies and gents, I throw open the lists to you!

Let me at your contenders!

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Off-Key Reading

When I read the writing of others, I do not forgive mistakes. I do not forgive them because if the author tickles my imagination and doesn’t have too many grammatical errors, I don’t even NOTICE them. I devour the writing with gleeful abandon, mind filled with the vivid imagery drawn from the words on the page.

Even when I critique others work, this is a truth. I may point out errors or make suggestions or point out weak areas, but as long as the story has me egaged (and I am notoriously finicky about my stories) I still enjoy it. Still love it, even after multiple re-reads.

This is in sharp contrast to how I feel when I read my own writing. Like rays of rainbow light spilling from the page, I constuct the mental “movie” of what I am reading, but the light is constantly cast at odd angles by th e differences between THIS story and the one that was in my head while I was writing it. The off-key shriek of the two images clashing in my mind sours the tongue and dries up most of the enjoyment.

It isn’t my writing that causes this.

No one else who reads this writing will have that same jarred, disjointed experience because nobody else has that expectation.

The people who read my stories build their own images based on my words and these images are uncluttered by the shadows of the better story from which my writing was drawn.

This is true also of YOUR writing and your art and your craft. Even if you can’t banish that original shadow, realize that it is a companion of your own making and it never interferes with others.

Is a painting enjoyed somehow diminished because the viewers don’t realize the artist originally intended something slightly different?

No. I can love art drawn by artists who apologize while they post it, and I can love writing whose authors describe it as “flabby” and wrinkle their noses at it.

I know why they think it is flawed, and I don’t disagree that it may not be perfect.

But if it sends my soul on an adventure and I close the last page begging for more, that is the only thing that matters.

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Birding

Steven and I are still mostly-actively birding. We managed to break 100 birds in the calendar year of 2014 (we still haven’t been quite birding for an entire year, but it’s easier to track based on calendar than actual begin date).

100 birds.

Super duper thrilled.

With the cold weather finally re-installed, we were able to revisit one of the most magical birding encounters we’d had thus far — and very nearly forgotten!

Nope, I’m not talking about the bald eagles or kestrels or even the nesting swans.

I’m talking about woodpeckers. Mostly small downy woodpeckers, but the periodic hairy woodpecker made an appearance as well.

When it’s chill in the air and you find just the right spot to stop and listen, they come.

You notice the first one by sound rather than sight. Something tentatively ratta-tat-tacking on a nearby tree.

Then you catch sight of it flit a bit closer, black and white ladderback with its jaunty red cap so obvious in the wintery light that you wonder how you could possibly have missed it.

Then you hear another. A moment’s search reveals it on the other side of the path, making its slow and measured way up the woody stalk of a plant.

It is at that moment, when you feel flush with the victory and wonder of having spotted them both (and so close!) that you realize you’re not alone.

There aren’t two woodpeckers. Oh, no. There are never only two. Almost as if there was some signal you missed, you see and hear four, five, maybe even seven woodpeckers, all within ten feet or so of where you’re standing. You hear a tacky-tack, a ratta-tat-tat, a hollow drumming, from above, behind, beside, and in front of you.

It’s the magic of the woodpeckers, welcoming you to the forest.

Enraptured, it would be impolite to do anything but stand and enjoy the music. Nature so seldom invites us into its world, and we’ve felt the magic of the woodpeckers enough times to feel welcome.

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[Perry] Writing in Short Sessions

The Experiment

Near the tail end of 2014, I tried a bit of an experiment with my writing.

I was sort of in the doldrums, no wind in my writing sails and sitting dead in the water. I needed a bit of a change, I needed to push myself to write, so I did.

Following some advice, I banged out a short science fiction oriented story about a man who was linked to a ship and they were on the run together, being chased around the galaxy, etc.

And the advice? Was to write daily.

Write daily? But do it in short spurts. Set a super relaxing and easy word count on yourself of 300-350 words per day. It’s enough of a chunk to make you feel like you got something done on the story, but not enough to tire you out.

If you don’t feel like writing that day? 300 words is short enough that you can force yourself to do it pretty easily. It only takes about fifteen or twenty minutes. And if you happen to find a good groove? If you slip into the zone? Hey, write more. Nobody’s going to stop you.

Putting It Into Practice

So I tried it. And wouldn’t you know it? It worked. In relatively short order, I had enough of a story out and on paper to know that I wasn’t happy with it on foundational levels and shelved it for later pondering.

But it still worked. I wrote every weekday (I took the weekends off), and got it done.

One problem?

I wasn’t happy with the result.

And it wasn’t just about the building blocks of the story I didn’t agree with. No, I had issues with the disjointed tone, pacing, and general clumsy feel of it.

Results and Analysis

So what happened?

I couldn’t figure out why I was so dissatisfied with my writing until I spoke with Tami about it. And while speaking of an unrelated issue she was dealing with, she smacked that nail right on the head.

Writing in such short bursts? Tends to make my writing feel disjointed.

You know that feeling you have when you’re reading and you’re interrupted mid-paragraph? You set down the book and maybe hours or days pass before you get back to it. Can you really just read from the very word you left off?

I mean…you could? But it feels a little jerky, disjointed, till you settle back into the groove and remember what you’d been reading before your interruption.

In much the same way, I feel that every time I break off my writing sessions and resume the next day? It takes a couple hundred words before I’m back in that groove…except with this method of short, daily writing? Right when I settle back into the rhythm, I usually called a halt.

Queue the next day and the same thing happens…

This becomes a problem.

The writing was getting done, but it wasn’t…I mean, I wasn’t happy with it. I felt that I could do a lot better, write more clearly and incisively, even on a first draft attempt.

I’m aware of the idea of just vomiting out the words and completing it first and fixing it later on the edit…but you know what? Speaking just for myself, when I finish a piece? If I get depressed reading it over? That’s not really a piece that motivates me to devote the time to clean it up to a mirror shine, you know?

I mean, I think back to our Saucy Ink endeavors. My entries for those? As rough as those first drafts were (overburdened sentences growing all up in here), I LIKED my writing in them. I felt that spark, where the only issues I had with the writing were largely of a grammatical (and repetitive phrasing) nature.

Looking at my little scifi story that thought it could? I just want to smother the writing with a pillow while it sleeps >.>”

Conclusion

So clearly…for now? That short spurts of daily writing advice isn’t really going to work out well for me. I’m exploring other options, especially as the third week of this new year rolls out and I’m about to start making good on my promise to myself to spend more time writing this year.

What sort of writing schedules and stratagems have you guys concocted for 2015? Any tips or methods that you’d care to share that worked for you last year that you’re planning to repeat?

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Ollie

As everyone on facebook already knows, Steven and I now have a new member of the family.

Ollie (short for Olliver) was bred by Basilic Blessing Siberian Cats and is (predictably enough) of Siberian breed. Siberians are friendly, intelligent, hardy, healthy, hypo-allergenic, GIANT balls of fluff and mischief and Ollie is living up to every ounce of his breed description.

His parents may be show cats, but he’s our little buddy and is destined for a liesurely life as a pet.

He travels well in the car and has been remarkably accepting of his harness and leash (only used under VERY controlled circumstances, as a panicked cat and a poorly leashed dog makes for a very dangerous combo). He wasn’t too sure about the snow at first but now treats it as a grand adventure.

He’s fearless (and knows what no means, which is an important combination). His very first week home, he was already greeting visitors at the door with an upraised tail and a bounce in his step.

His playtimes are rivaled in intensity only by his cuddle times, and he wants to be where we are (if not on our lap or draped across our feet).

We’re positive he’s at least twice as big as when we first got him and he’ll only get bigger. (Male Siberians grow to be at least 17 pounds and we’re pretty sure this guy will cruise right past that).

We absolutely adore him.

I’m keeping track of his progress through daily photos that I’m uploading to Flickr, along with a photoset of the best photos we take of him.

So here’s the official introduction. Blog friends, meet our new kitten. We intend to keep him around for a very long time indeed.

More videos uploaded at our youtube channel. :D

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