Aaron N. Hall's Blog, page 9

Writer’s Log #6 – Hammerfist Second Edition

Its been a week since I finished the first draft of Purged and I still feel pretty stoked about it. I want to jump into it right away. I want to paint the picture in every scene. But alas I must stay my hand. Every writing book Ive read has told me to take time away from the first draft before I come back for the second. So with the waiting time, I decided to polish up a previous project.

For the past few months, Ive wanted to put out a second edition of . It was really...

Little Women Review

Summary Excellent actingSharp writingBeautiful costumes and set decorationI might be in love with Soairse Ronan nowGOOD PEOPLE BEING GOODKiller direction from Greta GerwigGIRLS CAN DO THINGS TOO, PEOPLE10/10 The full lowdown

My only other familiarization with the story came from a community theater production in my hometown of St. George, Utah. I havent read the book (yet) or seen any other movie adaptation. And frankly, I dont know if I could fully enjoy any other movie adaptation of Little...

Skyrim: The Feminist-Friendly RPG

For me, feminism was kind of a bad word for a while. Most of the feminists I knew were angry, lonely women ranting on Twitter about how men are trash and that we should overthrow the patriarchy. They made me feel as though I had no intrinsic value just because Im a man. It kind of put a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks to some calmer feminist friends down the line, I grew to understand that Ive kind of been a feminist all along. Its not about making men step aside and letting women take over. It...

Writer’s Log #5 – It’s done.

Purged Progress: First draft complete

Thats right. First draft complete. 123,386 words, 213 pages at 12-point Times New Roman font, single spaced. Done.

Dont let the picture fool youI actually feel much better than Frodo in this moment. Its just that finishing a book can feel like arriving at the opposite end of a battlefield. Youve spent a lot of time sprinting, writing as much as you can, hoping that it comes out as something cohesive. And when you do reach the end, its like you just got...

Your boy’s TOP 5 ALBUMS and WHY

Recently a friend gave me one of those Facebook challenges where you post an album cover each day for ten days representing albums that had a profound impact on you. But youre not supposed to explain why they matter to you or how they impacted you. Just post the album cover.

What a crock that is.

Dude, I am going to give these albums the attention they deserve. Im going to give you my top five albums and give you a detailed explanation of why they affected me. For years I was planning on...

Writer’s Log #4 – So it begins

Purged progress 110,000 words (first draft, ~90% complete)

Heeyyy so you know how I was super productive last week? Yeah. This week wasnt as productive.

I think I had two days where I didnt write at all. On one of the days I did write, I only did about 500 words instead of my typical quota of 1600, which is super weird because it looks like the manuscript moved along a solid 9,000 words from last Saturday? Where did all those words come from??

Anyway, Im entering the climactic battle in the...

Your boy’s TOP 5 MOVIES and WHY

I love movies. I love movies so much that I actually started college as a film student. Yep. I was one of those weirdos holding boom poles, writing scripts, and editing stock footage of beer bottles. It was an awesome experience and taught me a lot about approaching movies critically.

For that reason, Ive compiled a list of my top five movies of all time. Im not a high profile movie aficionado, but Id say I know more about movies than the average bear and I have some pretty strong opinions....

The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Disney’s most underappreciated film

Summary Beautiful animationIncredible soundtrackSnappy dialogueALL OF THE FEELSInvaluable messages about judgment and prejudiceIs brave enough to address lust and theological corruption in a childrens film?! The full lowdown

I have strong feelings about The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

When I watched it as a kid, I enjoyed it just as much as Pocahontas or Hercules or Aladdin. But unfortunately, I was too young to understand Disneys adaptation of the famed Victor Hugo novel for what it was. I didn...

Writer’s Log #3 – It’s over 9000!!

Purged progress: 101,000 words (first draft, 88% complete)

Sure is! More like 10,000, Id say!

Im feeling stellar about this week! Ten thousand words feels like solid work for five days. This doesnt count the extra writing Ive done on documents such as the Wevlia Compendium and the Ancient Nezmythian Guide. And that doesnt count all the previously-written material I deleted from this draft. If we threw that in, that might be good for another 5,000 words. Basically, it was a super productive...

Tom Nook, the lonely, misguided businessman

Have you ever heard the song Sixteen Tons? Its a classic. It was written way back in 1946, but it didnt become a hit until it was recorded nine years later by Tennessee Ernie Ford. As soon as he gave it an attitude with his smooth bassy voice bam. Chart-topper. The chorus goes a little something like this:

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? / Another day older and deeper in debt / Saint Peter dont you call me cause I cant go / I owe my soul to the company store

The song is an...