Taven Moore's Blog, page 15

Hiatus Ends

I have (obviously) been on a bit of an unannounced hiatus for the blog. I actually considered shutting the blog down for a while (Perry talked me out of it) because I feel somewhat like I’m running out of things to talk about.

All of this is tied to the year ending and my feeling like I haven’t accomplished any of the goals I set out to accomplish and feeling overwhelmed by various social things and work deadlines and yadda yadda.

So I took a break, and tried to get my head screwed back on tight, and I reevaluated my year from the stance of “what did I accomplish” instead of “what did I want to accomplish”.

I strongly recommend doing this.

I learned some things about my writing and how I personally react to popular writing advice.

“Write just a little every day. 250 words is better than 0 words, and they add up!”

This is a true statement in many, many cases. However, even with the failed short story I was trying to write (It refuses to be short, and attempting brevity yanks it into infodumpery with the gravitational pull of a black hole) I could tell that it wasn’t working for me.

There was a different feeling when I was writing Choose and forcing myself to write than when I was forcing myself to write these snippets, and the difference for me was how long I allocated to the writing.

If I write in short bursts (at work during lunch or afternoon break, for example) I do indeed succeed in getting farther in stories than I do otherwise. Unfortunately, I lose the cadence of my writing between each snippet and the entire thing ends up feeling a little disjointed and confused. Theoretically better (it can be edited) but overall not satisfying at all for me.

Also, previous years of writing “rules” are getting jumbled up in my head and interfering with my fingers when trying to write. The easy creativity flow is stifled by constant second-guessing and disagreement about whether the pacing is right or this or that or the other thing. It IS good to know these things, but I have been allowing my perfectionist tendancies to tell me that anything less than following every rule I know about is somehow failing. (I know that’s ridiculous, it’s just the litany I only recently realized I was playing on repeat during my writing sessions).

Other writing lessons followed, but I need to consider learning about what works for me to be a victory in and of itself.

And blogging about writing really doesn’t feel right when I don’t feel like much of a writer.

And blogging about my life is pretty uneventful for the most part. I like my life uneventful, and I don’t blog about my work so that doesn’t leave a lot of blog fodder in the off hours. “I really love cuddling” only gets me so far.

So yeah. Hiatus. Perry’s been doing a marvelous job holding down the fort for me. As I watch his posts go up, I finally feel like I understand how people felt when they asked me how I constantly had something to talk about when blogging. Having that constant roll of new content at the ready was a gift I didn’t value highly enough.

So yes. That’s. me. I had to ask myself the very bald and uncomfortable question of whether or not I had the RIGHT to be called a writer.

I do. For as long as I want to write stories and share the adventures that play in such vivid color in my imagination, I am a writer and I have EVERY right to call myself such.

Every published writer’s blog I follow tells me the same story — no magic fairy wand descends to change the writing I do now from the way writing will feel later. There’s just me, the story in my head, my word processor, and those dear and treasured friends who help me through the alpha writing process.

It doesn’t matter if I never get published (she says, never having actually attempted to get an agent) … as long as I’m writing stories I love, that is what matters.

Even if the pacing is off. =]

((It also helps that I read a book-that-shall-remain-unnamed written by an author who I used to adore and it was so bad I almost threw it away after I finished it. I can write better than that, even if I can’t write like Jim Butcher or any of the other brilliant authors I’ve been reading.))

So yes. This is the end of my hiatus. I just figured you folks deserved to know what was up, and why I’m back now. ^_^

Farewell 2014. You weren’t my favorite year, but neither were you cruel.

Welcome, 2015. You shine brightly with all the hope and excitement of a new notebook. Let’s hope I write better things in you.

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[Perry] Humor in Writing

So, the first post of 2015, how about we start off on a good foot with a writing problem?

In the recent past, I saw a short film created for Team Fortress 2 (the FPS game).

In it, the creator included a classic gag.

Basic story? A train full of explosives is barreling toward its target and the soldier starts to realize what’s at stake. 

Watching about 25 seconds of that clip will capture the entirety of the gag.

Now the kicker?

How do you replicate something like that in writing? CAN you even do so?

This gag…the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it? Was Batman. The old Adam West Batman running with the bomb gag. 

It’s a very similar thing, and it’s…it’s a matter of continued, incremental escalation, I think? That’s what makes it funny and that’s where it generates the laughs.

And the thing is, you can alter the timing of the gag fairly easily too.

The Team Fortress video shows you what you can get if you set the gag up on a short timeline. But the Batman gag is different. Extending the gag gives you a period where it stops being funny, but then you can push through until it becomes funny again.

A relevant example of that extension? Comes from Family Guy. 

So having seen the gag, and thought about the timing variations of it, my question is how do we replicate that humor in writing? Or is it even possible to do in writing?

I think a huge portion of the gag comes from the visual and the auditory ‘sting’ that occurs.

If you look at the original video? The soldier sees the explosive barrels…then the view jumps next door with a musical sting…then jumps next to that with a zoom in and a musical sting…then jumps AGAIN, next to that, more zoom in, with a bigger musical sting.

Can this kind of humor be done in writing?

The lack of zoom-ins, camera direction, or even the musical sting isn’t the problem.

It’s the timing.

A lot of the humor I’ve run into in writing takes on the form of a single short, punchy line (from Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss):

 “Vashet gave me a long look, curiosity plain on her face. ‘I will admit, I’ve never had a student offer himself up for a vicious beating in order to prove he’s worth my time.’

‘This was nothing,’ I said nonchalantly. ‘Once I jumped off a roof.’”

Or it can be that extended gag where it just goes on and on until you’re not quite sure where it starts or stops (from Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson):

“…I just want to clarify that I don’t mean ‘without my vagina’ like I didn’t have it with me at the time. I just mean that I wasn’t, you know…displaying it while I was at Starbucks. That’s probably understood, but I thought I should clarify, since it’s the first chapter and you don’t know that much about me. So just to clarify, I always have my vagina with me. It’s like my American Express card. (In that I don’t leave home without it. Not that I use it to buy stuff with.)”

So how do you do that other kind of gag? How do you do that incremental, bam-baaam-baaaam-BADAMMMM!!! kind of humor?

Because clearly, something like this simply won’t work:

The soldier looked up from his map, realizing that the train would end up crashing into their explosive discard site, blowing them all sky-high.

A bright colored sign to the left of the site caught his eye and he turned to face it directly, realizing with horror that Jimmie’s Kitten store was sitting right next to the site.

Then to the right! To the right of the discard site was an orphanage! An actual orphanage with a crippled kid standing out by the front door! It would also be blown to bits!

But then? Horror of horrors, to the right of the actual orphanage was a kitten orphanage!

That? That up there? Is super, super clumsy. And awkward. And it doesn’t work! The timing is a complete mystery. Some readers may zoom through that passage in two seconds while others may take up to a minute to read it.

And comedy? Is about timing. A big portion of it is about timing. So how do you get that humor across when you can’t control the timing?

How do you translate these classic sight gags into written form?

Can they be translated?

Or maybe the better question is, should they? I mean, maybe it’s just a case where some gags work in some mediums and not in others and it’s as simple as that?

But I’m not sure I buy that.

I think there’s a way to do it that I’m just not thinking about.

How about you guys? Any of you want to try take a crack at it? Throw together a short, incremental gag in written form and toss it in the comments. If we work together, sort of crowdsource it, maybe we can get this thing to work!

 

 

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[Perry] Aaaaaaaaaand….2015

Did you read that right?

Cause I was sort of going for a Claptrap-esque vibe there but I’m not sure if that came through.

Anyway, the new year is almost upon us all (run!) and as we march forward into it, I realize that there are things that I’ve done this year that I want to do again next year. And things that I’ve done this year that I don’t want to do again next year.

And you know what? Challenges of this type are usually a lot more fun and doable if you have someone to do them with.

Something I managed to complete this year, sort of by the skin of my teeth? Was a challenge on Goodreads to read 80 books during the course of the year. I would like to do this again next year. Partly because it’s fun, but also because it’s a good way for me to keep my eyes open as to what’s out there and how it’s been done.

Left to my own devices, I’ve found that I tend to keep going back and rereading old favorites instead of seeking out new books and this helped me push past that and be a little more adventurous with my reading choices, often to great result!

There is seriously some great stuff out there and I look forward to discovering more of hidden gems next year, whether they’re pretty recent releases or older classics that I just hadn’t gotten around to yet until I pushed.

More writing is definitely something that I need to incorporate as a plan as well, but I’m not sure quite how to translate that into a year long goal that I would actually keep up with properly. I definitely have some serious problems keeping up with things of that nature.

But reading, I can do reading. I may even be able to push forward with some other creative goals for the coming year involving my very, VERY fledgling attempts to draw and largely ineffective work with the guitar.

I’m still a little unsure of the framework of the personal creative goals I’d like to accomplish in the coming year, but I would be open to the idea of trying to pursue said goals as a group, or even just in tandem with one or two other people and their own goals to try and keep myself from slacking off as the year progresses.

What sort of goals are you eyeing for the new year? What type of things are you looking to get accomplished?

Anyone interested in pursuing those goals in a together fashion?

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Weekly Wordcount

[Perry] Christmas Movies

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it?

Are you all filled with holiday cheer yet? And by that, what I mean is, are you totally sick and tired of hearing Christmas music every damned place you go?

If so, you’re in luck! Cause I’m about to hit you with some more Christmas things.

In this particular case, “things” is in reference to movies.

Christmas movies have always held a bit of a special place in my heart. There are just so many childhood memories associated with them, you know?

I mean, I can still remember watching Home Alone for the first time and thinking that it was such an amazing movie…and how I wanted to be just like Kevin McCallister…

…Okay, maybe that wasn’t quite the best example in the world.

But there are some that stood the test of time, for me at least. Some Christmas themed movies that just…I watch them every year.

I don’t have any family traditions behind it. It’s not even always carved in stone. But at some point around the holiday season? Sometime between Halloween and Christmas, there are two movies that I watch every year without fail, and it’s gone on for almost ten years now.

First off, I’ll rewatch The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think it stands the test of time pretty well. While some animated films can show their age, and any real life movie with CG effects WILL show their age over time…this one will always look good, no matter how far off you look at it. The stop-motion animation…god, the songs?

Guys, guys, the SONGS.

Simply amazing.

Go watch it again, right now.

I feel like a kid when I rewatch that movie, you know? And these days, that’s always a welcome break.

And the other movie?

Elf. 

No, stop, come back, I’m not joking.

Listen, I’ll be the first person to say that Will Ferrel’s not for everyone. And to be frank? Most of his work isn’t really something that pushes my buttons either. But Elf?

Something about it, when I first saw it? Just hit me as the right thing at the right time. I thought the entire damned thing was hilarious, as juvenile as most of it was. But it was a clean sort of juvenile humor, you know? There was just this lovely earnest quality to the humor that really appealed to me and keeps me coming back to it, as stupid as most of the movie is.

So those are mine. Watch them every year and let myself regress, for just an hour or two. Think of brighter, happier, Christmas-ier things, if only for a while.

What about you guys? Do you have any specific movies or books that you come around to when the holidays approach?

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[Perry] The New Old Doctor Who

Note: As ever, I will avoid spoilers in the post itself but the comment section be a wild place and spoilers may abound down there. 

Venture in at your own risk!

So this past weekend, I shotgunned the latest Doctor Who season with a friend.

We had the plans set up for a while and we were all excited about it going in. The plan was to just sit there, start the first episode and watch through the night till we got to the last one.

Concessions had to be made halfway through when we realized that we were now old men who couldn’t pull all-nighters at the drop of a hat.

So we took a break for sleep and resumed the next morning.

So we finished the new season.

Peter Capaldi’s entrance as the Doctor…honestly? I wasn’t satisfied.

Actually, scratch that. I wasn’t happy with it.

To a lesser extent, I got these feelings with the change of every Doctor. Most strongly with the change from David Tennant to Matt Smith…but with Smith? Even at the beginning? I had the sense that it would be alright. He was a little more flappy-handed than Tennant, but the core essence of him? That sort of scatter-brained whimsy still seemed to come through really well.

Thus far, from what I’ve seen of Capaldi? I don’t see it, at all.

I can sort of see what the show runners have been trying to do. By introducing an older actor as the Doctor, they wanted to try change the dynamic a bit. Instead of being an object of flirtation with his companion, he’d settle more into the mentor type role. A father figure. They wanted to explore more of the Doctor’s ‘dark side,’ and really dig into the question of “Is the Doctor a good man?”

But it falls apart.

They try to go about exploring this change by essentially turning the Doctor into a jerk.

No, wait, that’s not nearly strong enough.

The Doctor, throughout this latest season? Is a dick. An absolute tit. He’s boorish, short and angry, with little to NO compassion shown for ANYONE he travels with. He’s frequently shown being FINE with people being in mortal danger, and even dropping dead around him so long as he’s given a chance to satisfy his curiosity. He’s utterly patronizing to Clara and anyone else they encounter, and in one episode? Completely and terrifyingly condescending, something that Clara calls him out on in a bit of an emotional breakdown (which was very well done).

From what I’ve seen? The new Doctor lacks the charm that’s been so central to his character thus far int he show.

The new Doctor is NOT a sympathetic character, the last of his kind (except Moffat kind of fucked that up pretty badly in recent seasons, hey?). He’s a dick. I felt no sympathy for him. I couldn’t empathize with him.

I wondered if I was alone in this? If maybe it was just a personal reaction to Capaldi’s mannerisms and such? But my friend was also pretty dissatisfied as well. So now I wonder what the rest of you are making of this new Doctor, whether you’re enjoying the new direction for the character, or if you’re as unhappy with what they’ve done to him as I am.

I will say that I really enjoyed the character of “Missy”, even though I thought the reveal at the end of the season was a tad nonsensical? Missy was just so damned fun to watch in action that I hardly cared.

Anyway, what did you guys think? Did you enjoy the latest incarnation of the Who? Or did something strike you as off? I’d love to hear from you!

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[Perry] Doctor Who: The Good Bits
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[Perry] Reading Unfinished Series…es

Okay, before I begin, Steve signal?

How do you pluralize “series”? oO

Anyway, long and unfinished works, what’re your strategies? I found myself on the horns of dilemma recently when I turned my attention back to the Expanse science fiction books by James SA Corey (it’s a pseudonym used by a pair of writers).

I had read the first three as they came out but the series had dropped off my radar for a while and I suddenly was smacked in the face with book four, which was apparently out and glorious.

Then I found myself in a bit of a predicament.

Thing was, it’d been a while since I read the first three books, I didn’t remember them all that well. I had the general gist of the story, but a lot of the specifics had been blurred over time.

So what was I to do?

I could either read just the latest book and hope that the familiarity of the world and characters would jog the important things back to mind when I needed them.

Or? I could read just the last book (book 3), and rely on that to do all the memory jogging and then charge forward into book four.

Or? The nuclear option? I could just go right back to the beginning and read the series straight through from the beginning.

In this case, I went with option three.

I remembered the books being really good, and now that I didn’t have Goodreads pressuring me to reach my goal of 80 new books read for the year? I had the time and the lackadaisical pleasure of reading whatever the hell I wanted.

And I’m enjoying the hell out of my reread of the series. It’s a hell of a rip-roaring, space opera adventure mixed with elements of the macabre and a film noire vibe at places.

But it got me thinking.

What do other people do in this situation?

There are other series I’m reading that are still ongoing. Some of them? I’ve essentially given up on so it’s a moot point now (coughWheelofTimecoughcough). With other ones? I enjoy reading them so much that I’ve read and reread the series over and over again so that when a new book comes out, I’m still completely up to date on what’s happening (Dresden files/Monster Hunters International).

But what do you guys do?

Surely there must be some of you out there in the midst of a series that’s yet to be complete.

When a new book comes out, do you reread the whole series? Or maybe just the previous book? Do you just jump into the latest book blind? Or maybe seek out plot summaries and such online?

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[Perry] The Appeal of Urban Fantasy

As I finish a book on my Kindle, it gets sorted into a category.

Fantasy books get slotted in with all the other books about dragons and unicorns and rainbows.

Science fiction books get tossed into deep space.

Horror gets to take a seat with all of the other ghosts and ghoulie things.

But there is a category that’s experienced some RAPID expansion this past year, and you know what it is?

Urban fantasy.

Something about it…just…got me on a massive urban fantasy kick this year. I have been scarfing down urban fantasy books, good and bad, as well as rereading my favorite ones (either the full thing or just the ‘best bits’) almost incessantly lately.

And I can’t seem to stop. The craving for it is still going strong.

Normally I get tired of a genre, then I’ll deluge myself in another genre for a while? Not so in this case.

Urban fantasy, almost week in, week out, throughout this year.

Do you know what it is about urban fantasy? The appeal of it? At least, for me?

It’s the idea that there just might be a hidden world, intermingled with our own, do you know what I mean?

I mean, fantasy takes you away to a whole nother world…but once you’re done? You’re back in boring ole Mundania (cookies if you catch this reference).

Science fiction can open your mind to a wider vista and staggering possibilities of the far-flung future…but it’s exactly that. A far-flung future. It’s not right the hell now.

Urban fantasy appeals to that part of me that still hopes I might find Narnia when I open the closet doors. It gets to the part of me that still wants to believe that there’s magic in the world. Not Hallmark magic about sharing a moment with family…but real, fire slinging, gravity altering, fairies and demon summoning magic.

It appeals to the part of me that wants there to be something wondrous, and magical, and unexplainable about the world…and the part of me that still hopes to be a part of that someday.

You know the part of you that’s still waiting for your owl from Hogwarts? Or to get lost in the woods one day and wind up in Brakebills, like Quentin? Or hells, I dunno, step into a phone booth to find out that it’s the frigging TARDIS.

That’s the appeal of urban fantasy for me.

It’s the idea that all of this is really, really out there. That it’s just waiting for me to stumble onto it, and that once I do? Everything will change.

It’s a childish thought, but it’s one I find myself hanging onto, one way or another.

And so? Urban fantasy.

Whether it’s the good stuff, like the Dresden files, or the not-so-good stuff, like the Libriomancer series (just not my cup of tea).

As long as it’s set in our world, it trips that switch in my head that makes me interested…because it could still happen. Because I might still stumble upon a pocket community of the fae. Because I might still be a wizard and not know it.

As long as it’s set in our world, in the present time, there’s definitely still a chance. And I’ll fight to believe in that chance.

There are the occasional urban fantasy novel set in fantasy worlds? Things like that? And while I enjoy them…it’s just not the same. It doesn’t kindle that same tiny hope in the pit of my heart that really reels me in.

That’s why the urban fantasy category on my Kindle has been growing by leaps and bounds.

That’s why I’ve been scarfing down urban fantasy like it’s going out of freaking style.

How about you guys? Do you enjoy the genre? Maybe you can’t stand it?

Care to share your thoughts on why?

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Unexploded Cow

Steven and I discovered a wonderful new game called Unexploded Cow.

It’s a little like Killer Bunnies, but faster and simpler.

Europe. Summer. 1997. You and your friends have discovered two problems with a common solution: mad cows in England and unexploded bombs in France.

You’ve decided to bring these two powderkegs together just to see what happens. And you wouldn’t say “no” to a little money on the side.

So round up your herd, march them through France, and set them loose behind the Cordon Rouge. If you’re lucky you’ll come home rich before Greenpeace figures out what you’re up to.

Either way, there’s something magical about blowing up cows.

Unexploded Cow is a card game in which players invest in mad cows, and then reap rewards as they rid the French countryside of leftover bombs.

Steal a cow, explode a cow, put a spy cow in someone else’s herd — player with the most money after the Sudden Death round wins.

It’s good stuff, and I recommend it.

After playing it, Steven and I came up with some ideas for cards to enhance gameplay. (IE: make it more complicated).

New Events

* Out to Pasture: Choose any cow in play. You pay the cow’s cost in order to discard it.

* Turn Spies: All spies in any one herd become yours.

* Mad Cow: Roll as if for a bomb — all cows of the resulting cow type (General, Mechanic, Tough, etc) die immediately without exploding. Discard all of these cows in play.

* Psychic Attack: Roll as if for a bomb — All cows of that type explode. Share loot clockwise.

* Blackmail: Turn any cow in play into a spy for you.

* Taxes: Everyone must ante 500.

* Cattle Auction: Choose one cow in play. That cow is now up for auction and may be purchased by the highest bidder and is placed in their hand

* Leather Goods: Shuffle any number of cows from your hand back into the deck.

* BBQ Invitation: Each player makes a bomb roll. The resulting cow’s herd must pay its price to keep it, otherwise it is discarded.

New Cows

* Unexplodable Cow (this would be a negative or “red” cow that you’d play into someone else’s herd in order to possibly invalidate a bomb roll)

* Bomb Disposal Cow. Play face-down into the herd. The first bomb doesn’t actually explode the cow, it just turns face-up. Second bomb explodes the cow.

* Show Cow. Very expensive price but very low value. (this would be a situationally useful cow, such as making someone pay to give them a cow)

* Wolf in Bull’s Clothing. At the beginning of the turn of the herd it is in, it eats the cow to its right. It will change herds as needed, continuing to eat cows until there are no cows left or it explodes or is otherwise discarded from play. This would be a red cow.

* Sniper Cow. Instead of exploding this cow, the player may choose to have it explode any cow in play that is not in this player’s herd. In either case, this cow is discarded.

* Cow-tipult. Move any cow from your herd into someone else’s herd.

New City Cards

* Negative City: You exploded this city by mistake. Pay 500 in repairs.

* Propoganda City: All other players must put one city card back in the city deck

* Hovel: This city is worth negative points

* Vegan-ville: This city is worth zero points, and the winner must pay the price to keep each cow in their herd. (a great way to get rid of negative cows)

New Card Type: Modifier

* Distraction: Play on the face-up city card. That city now does not notice the first explosion that should have won its affections. Instead of getting the city card, discard this modifier

* Grant: Play on the face-up city card. Double the effect of winning this card.

* “Cow-Verter” — turn any red cow into a normal cow, or vice versa.

* Magnet: Place on any cow. This cow MUST steal the next bomb roll that lands in this herd

* Suburb: Place on the face-up city. This adds +5 to the value of cities taken by the player who wins this city.

* Lock Horns: Place across two adjacent cows. Whatever happens to one cow now happens to both cows.

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A Good Day to Die

I propose that we make a new meme based on the much-beloved character of Worf from Star Trek.

He (and all Klingons) are wont to proclaim “Today is a good day to die!” when going into battle.

But let’s be honest. Not EVERY day is a battle, right?

So let’s build some sayings for other situations.

The obvious first choice:

Worf has a hair appointment …. Today is a good day to dye!

Easily expands into a plethora of wonderful situations.

Watches a 3 stooges marathon …. Today is a good day to pie!

Worf’s son is acting suspicious …. Today is a good day to pry!

Hears one of his friends tell a terrible pun….Today is a good day to sigh!

Wife asks him if her dress makes her look fat …Today is a good day to lie!

Uses an orb to see the future….Today is a good day to scry!

Your turn!

Share some fun ones!

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[Perry] Too-Similar Sequels

So recently, I finally managed to watch 22 Jump Street, sequel to the unexpectedly successful 21 Jump Street from two years and a half years ago.

If you haven’t seen them, 21 Jump Street is a reboot of an old tv show about cops going undercover at a high school.

21 Jump Street was an unexpectedly self-aware comedy that worked REALLY well. It looked a lot like it would just be an incredibly stupid movie, one of those low brow comedies? But it was anything but.

22 Jump Street followed in its steps. It basically took the same formula as the first movie, switched it around just a little so that a different character finds himself in the “cool” crowd, and just…lets them work.

And you know what? It works. It works REALLY well.

But here’s the thing that surprised me.

Back a while? I watched another sequel to a successful first movie.

The Boondock Saints 2. Have any of you ever seen that tripe?

Riding on the success of the first movie, the sequel took the exact same formula, almost shot for shot in some cases, and tried to use the exact same methods and techniques to tell a different story.

And it failed.

It failed HARD.

The general consensus was that it was trying too hard. It was trying too hard to evoke the success of the first movie and ended up following it with slavish devotion.

It felt tired. It felt like it was nothing new. It was trying so hard to do what the first movie did, that it started stepping right into its old footsteps with no variations.

Conversely…there’s 22 Jump Street.

Same as the previous example, 22 Jump Street does a lot of callbacks and references to the first movie. In this case, though? It doesn’t feel derivative. It feels playful and light-hearted. It feels like they made the movie so similarly intentionally. Like they’d planned to do it all along. Right down to the very end and the final lengthy gag about potential sequels to the franchise.

In one case, a very similar seeming sequel works out very well.

In the other case, a very similar seeming sequel flops around like a dying fish.

What I think? Is that it has to do with that self-referential humor and attitude.

Jump Street knew that it’d be making fun of itself going in. And a lot of the humor played off of that idea, first by flipping the personal trials of the characters around from the first movie, and then laying it on thick with the marginally fourth wall breaking humor.

Boondock Saints just…wanted to make the first movie again. Didn’t really differentiate enough from that first movie to feel like a sequel…more sort of like a cheap knockoff of itself. It ended up feeling like a washed out, pale imitation of itself.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this, to be honest. They were just thoughts kicking around in my head after I watched 22 Jump Street and started thinking about other very similar sequels and what made them work or not work.

If there’s a lesson to be had in all of this?

It’s this.

When it comes to writing sequels, DO keep the elements that made the original popular and famous.

DON’T play close enough to that line that it feels like tired, slavish copycat, instead of a homage to itself.

 

 

 

 

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