Dan Harris's Blog, page 6
March 7, 2014
Jumbo Extended Captain America Trailer: Banter, Fighting, Scarlett Johansson’s Bum
Looking good. And in a trailer otherwise full of quick jump cuts between action scenes, it’s nice to see they took the time to spend a full four seconds on Black Widow walking away from the camera. As if the average guy in the 18-35 demo wasn’t already going to see the movie.
Meanwhile, Tor are disappointed that the upcoming Terminator reboot is going to, well, be a reboot, which doesn’t fit with the ontological paradox set up in the existing canon. I might also care about this, but it’s the end of a long week and half way through reading the article I decided to have a beer instead. (Of caring. I did finish the article. And now I need to go and research what a Nokikov self-consistency principle is.)
Surprising no-one, 300: Rise of an Empire may not be great, based on the scathingly sarcastic review over at io9.
Arrows and dead men and ship parts float past his head, in the gooey slow motion style that elevates the 300 franchise from mere war porn to aesthetically rich political statement.
Ha.
March 2, 2014
The Danger of The Not Quite Complete Outline
As I’ve mentioned in these pages before, when it comes to the ‘plotting vs. pantsing‘ debate I fall firmly into the former camp. I wouldn’t dream of starting the first draft of a book without having a well-defined outline of the high level plot, chapters to get from A to Z, and even the scenes that make up those chapters. I just don’t know where I’m going otherwise.
So when it came to starting work on my current WIP–Causal Nexus, which will be the third book in the Unity Sequence–the first thing I did was build that outline. Start to finish, all the characters, all the arcs, all done and ready to draft.
Or so I thought.
I started writing, and the first few chapters came with ease. Then, as I neared the end of part one (of three) I started to slow down. The words weren’t coming so easily, and I found I just wasn’t sitting down to write as much as I should be. For a while I assumed it was just life getting in the way; work being busy, too much other ‘stuff’ that needed doing, etc.
But then a couple of weeks ago I went to a work conference, where several colleagues who have read my first two books accosted me–in a friendly way–and demanded to know when the third one was coming out, because they were tired of waiting for it. Which is obviously a very nice thing to hear, and gave me a kick up the backside.
The day after I got home I fired up Scrivener and spent an hour poring over what I’d written so far, the character bios, the outline, the– wait, the outline. I realised that what I’d thought was a very well-defined incident at the start of act two, which kicks off the sequence of events that drives the story through to the end of the book, was in fact not very well-defined at all. Was damn near woolly, in fact. Vague.
I’m not sure how that happened; I can only assume I was in a rush to get down all the other exciting stuff that happens after that point. But regardless, I rolled up my sleeves and fixed it. Nailed those few scenes down so they made sense, flowed, and tied into other plot points both earlier and later in the story.
And what do you know? Now I’m back to full speed again. Seems that my being sub- or unconsciously aware that I didn’t-quite-100-per-cent-totally know where I was going next was making me tentative about getting to that point. Once I did–boom. Away I went.
The moral of the story here, my plotter friends, is that if you ever find your writing trundling along at less than your normal place, or worse, stalling entirely, take a good hard look at your outline. It might be a bit more… ‘pantsy’, shall we say, than you thought.
February 26, 2014
GODZILLAAAAAAAAAA! Etc.
Bryan Cranston? Check. Guy from Kick Ass? Check. Really, really big lizard? Check.
But a lizard so big that repeatedly being hit by nuclear detonations back in the 50s didn’t kill it? Really? I can get behind the idea of a thousand foot tall monster laying waste to Tokyo, but let’s be realistic.
In other news, NASA reported that they found a bunch of new planets. A big bunch. 715 more on top of the 1000 we already knew about. Only four are in the so-called Goldilocks zone–not too hot, not too cold, just right for us finicky humans–but that’s still quite a find. Now we just need a vast amount of money, resources and political will to go and investigate them, and we’ll be colonising the stars in no time!
Over at the Wertzone there’s a great list of female fantasy authors, who apparently Waterstones have never heard of despite being a major bookseller.
And there’s an interesting and well-written article on Tor comparing Sherlock, which I love, with Elementary, which I’ve never seen. Some really good points.
Last up: BATMAN VS. THE TERMINATOR.
30 years have passed since Bruce Wayne survived Skynet’s nuclear blasts in August of ’97. Iron demons now roam the planet, and without the requirement to defend the innocent against crime and injustice, Wayne has seeked refuge in the bomb shelter that saved his life; the Batcave.
Having scavenged the wasteland for resources, he discovers the radio of a dead soldier. There is static over a frequency. Flesh and blood is rising up to the west. With The Stinger; a riot control vehicular unit built before the apocalypse along with a refitted bomb blast vest, Batman makes his way across what remains of the United States to join forces with the man determined to neutralize the electronic menace – John Connor.
Fantastic.
February 20, 2014
Unsurprise! Guardians of the Galaxy Looks Great
Funny, self-deprecating dialogue? Aliens fighting with epic explosions in the background? Chris Pratt? ‘Hooked on a Feeling’? What’s not to love?
*throws money at laptop, cries when movie doesn’t start playing*
February 19, 2014
Fake Controversy Alert: Hitler’s Mein Kampf Was Not A Digital Bestseller
Ah, the media. What would we do without you. *slow clap*
Originally posted on David Gaughran:
A juicy story broke last week, the kind that makes savvy sub-editors salivate over potential Twitter-bait headlines. It had been discovered that Hitler’s pre-war memoir Mein Kampf was a digital bestseller, leading to a global bout of media hand-wringing and pontificating. One excitable commentator even suggested it was a sign the second Holocaust was imminent.
The only problem with this story is that it’s not true. At all.
February 17, 2014
Star Wars Episode VII: Grand Canyon
Mrs. Dan and I went to the Grand Canyon last weekend, which is surely the world leader in seemingly impressive names which turn out to be bald understatement when you actually see them. A bit like if Mount Everest was called Giant Rock. You get the idea.
When we were there I was pretty focused on being awestruck and constantly overwhelmed by how massive it is. But while reviewing my photos earlier today, with the grandeur fairly well diluted, a thought struck me almost immediately.
“They should totally film Star Wars here.”
Can’t you just imagine a squadron of X-Wings screaming across the canyon in the dawn light?
Or Jaina and Jacen Solo sparring with lightsabers on a snowy clifftop?
Or something involving this extremely wide panorama shot that I really wanted to shoehorn into this post?
I certainly can. And one of the benefits of Disney now owning the franchise is that they could probably afford to rent the entire Canyon National Park for six months to film there!
Man, I really hope J.J. Abrams or Kathleen Kennedy reads this.
January 18, 2014
Treadmill Desk is Go Go Go
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and be jealous!
After about eighteen months of using a standing desk to work from home, and loving it, last week I took the final step in banishing the sedentary aspect of working on a computer all day. I’ve been following the trends in treadmill desking over the last year or so, and particularly the amazingly in-depth Treadmill Desk Diary. It was based on the recommendations there that I bought my desk and my treadmill. And the colours even match, which is a nice bonus!
So far I’m not walking constantly while I work, sometimes I just stand, but I’ve definitely been getting some good exercise. I’ve been keeping track of how many minutes I’ve done, and at what speed, and therefore my distance. The treadmill also has a calorie burn estimate, which is handy. From all of this I can say that in Week One A.T.–After Treadmill–I walked 36.1 miles and burned 5340 calories! Which is pretty badass.
If you’re interested in learning more about the terrifying dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, or ‘How Your Chair Is Killing You’, have a read of this report from the President’s Council on Not Being So Overweight And Unhealthy That You Die at Forty Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. If tl;dr, the headline is ‘Stand Up, Sit Less, Move More, More Often’. Which is really just common sense, but it does take a bit of effort to put it into practice. You don’t need to go the whole way and get the same setup as me–and that wouldn’t even be possible for a lot of people who work in normal offices, rather than at home–but try standing up to work once in a while. You might like it!
January 8, 2014
He’s Only Gone and Actually Written Something
Yup. Much like Hercules still finding time to stay in shape and have great hair whilst completing his twelve labours, yours truly has found time in his busy schedule of working, sleeping, playing Red Dead Redemption, watching Sherlock, thinking about the Sherlock I just watched, and wishing there were more than three episodes of Sherlock in a season, to actually write some more of my soon-to-be-nearly-upcoming novella – the very science-fictionally titled Causal Nexus.
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Entirely gratuitous picture of BC to attract clicks. Hi there, people who were expecting a post about Sherlock!
Chapter six is in the bag, and that’s six of my seven characters introduced. One more chapter will complete the cast, and also act one of the book, which with a gentle, not-quite-literary-but-getting-there pace quite unlike that of the first two books in the series, sets the scene.
Then in act two everything starts going to shit for everybody, which is much more my usual speed. Fun!
If I can get some momentum going I should be able to knock out the rest of the draft in fairly short order. It is, after all, a novella, not a novel, so isn’t likely to run much more than about 50,000 words. I’ve got a third of that done already, so another couple of months at a decent clip should get a draft done. Then it’ll be time to bring in the editor, rustle up a cover, try to remember how to compile ebooks and do paperback layouts, and all that jazz.
Onward! Also: upward!
January 2, 2014
Dan’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2014
When visiting Grand Canyon in February, take at least one decent photo.
Exercise more. Remove squidgy bit of body hiding abs. (These may have disappeared since last sighting, though prodding suggests one or two still remain.)
Complete and publish third novel. Start fourth.
Blog more.
Read more.
Try harder to acknowledge dog owners before greeting dog.
Learn how to properly roast a duck. Also: goose.
Bring unruly sideburns under control.
Don’t use bulleted lists so much.
December 16, 2013
China on the Moon, Doctor on TV, X-Men at the Movies
Sounds like a David Bowie song, isn’t:
Chang’e 3 sticks the landing, and takes home the gold medal in the individual lunar lander parallel bars. That gives China its seventeenth gold in these Olympics.
Wonderful footage from Chang’e 3 as it touches down. This makes China only the third nation in history to land a craft on the Moon, decades after the United Kingdom and Italy both achieved the feat in the 1950s*, their years-long rivalry having driven a technological renaissance that made the European Union the world-leading scientific powerhouse it remains today**.
In equally exciting news, I’m back in the UK for the first time in eighteen months. After a very pleasant Thanksgiving at home in D.C., and a fun but blessedly brief visit to Chicago – daytime temperature 18°F, or -2°F with wind chill – I’ll be back in the mother country for three whole weeks for Christmas and New Year. It’s cloudy, raining, and everywhere you go you hear the same five Christmas songs that have been playing every year for the last three decades, but no-one cares! Because Christmas means only one thing – a new Doctor Who Christmas special!
OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH.
And just as soon as we’ve got over that excitement, it’ll be 2014. 2014! That’s basically the future. If you’d asked 1995 Dan what he expected life to be like in 2014, the answer would definitely have involved jetpacks. And probably hyperspace, as I’d just started reading Asimov’s Foundation books around then.
(Sorry, 1995 me. SPOILER ALERT: It didn’t happen.)
But it’s not all disappointment. Who needs a jetpack or faster-than-light travel when we’ve got a trailer for THE MOST EXCITING MOVIE OF ALL TIME?!?!
!!!
?
Ahem.
It says a lot for X-Men: Days of Future Past, that ‘Jennifer Lawrence basically naked’ is only the seventh or eighth most exciting thing about the film.
Almost as thrillingly, 2014 will also bring the release of the third novel in my Unity Sequence: Causal Nexus. I’ve run out of excuses as to why I haven’t finished a draft yet, and was just reminded by my friend Steve that it’s eight months since Venus Rising came out… seven months after I started writing it. Poor effort, Dan. Time to knuckle down.
And while I do that, I’ll be reading Neal Asher’s Agent Cormac series. I’m halfway into the second book, The Line of Polity, having only started Gridlinked a few days ago. It’s tremendous space opera, and well worth picking up.
That’s all, folks!
* Citation required.
** Citation definitely required.
