Blogging through...
I'm still Deadline Girl (which isn't an actual superhero...but should be.)
I did make my daily goal yesterday and rewarded myself by watching a (somewhat lackluster) episode of Prison Break and...
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP!
Oh my gosh. I've been waiting for this for months, and upon reflection, it didn't disappoint.
Writers should study Aaron Sorkin to learn how to meet characters. Sure, some people may complain that his fast-paced style is hectic and his full commitment to showing rather than telling makes you have to work to keep up. He doesn't spoon feed you information. You have to earn it. And I like it!
These characters had lives before we started watching. They're going to have lives after. And everything they say and do reflects that.
Instead of long-winded backstories we get Amanda Peet telling the wacky brother from Wings that she wants to hire Chandler and Josh (or whatever their new names are), and Wings guy freaks out. Gee, you think there might be a history there?
We don't get contrived dialogue about how Chandler and Josh have made the big-time now. No, we see them winning a Writers Guild award.
And finally, we get a story that moves. I've recently figured out that I write best in real time. Put me (or rather my characters) in a scene that needs to unfold and I'm happy. I'm in the zone. It's the two or three "bridge" paragraphs that are supposed to illustrate that a day or week or month has passed that drive me crazy.
The Pilot of Studio 60 unfolded over one night. Some people might have spread the action over several days--maybe even multiple episodes--but Amanda Peet's character stated up front that she wanted the issue resolved by the end of the night, so there was a sense of urgency.
Pacing.
Pacing rocks my literary world.
I have soooo much work to do
Guess I'd better go do it.
-Ally
I did make my daily goal yesterday and rewarded myself by watching a (somewhat lackluster) episode of Prison Break and...
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP!
Oh my gosh. I've been waiting for this for months, and upon reflection, it didn't disappoint.
Writers should study Aaron Sorkin to learn how to meet characters. Sure, some people may complain that his fast-paced style is hectic and his full commitment to showing rather than telling makes you have to work to keep up. He doesn't spoon feed you information. You have to earn it. And I like it!
These characters had lives before we started watching. They're going to have lives after. And everything they say and do reflects that.
Instead of long-winded backstories we get Amanda Peet telling the wacky brother from Wings that she wants to hire Chandler and Josh (or whatever their new names are), and Wings guy freaks out. Gee, you think there might be a history there?
We don't get contrived dialogue about how Chandler and Josh have made the big-time now. No, we see them winning a Writers Guild award.
And finally, we get a story that moves. I've recently figured out that I write best in real time. Put me (or rather my characters) in a scene that needs to unfold and I'm happy. I'm in the zone. It's the two or three "bridge" paragraphs that are supposed to illustrate that a day or week or month has passed that drive me crazy.
The Pilot of Studio 60 unfolded over one night. Some people might have spread the action over several days--maybe even multiple episodes--but Amanda Peet's character stated up front that she wanted the issue resolved by the end of the night, so there was a sense of urgency.
Pacing.
Pacing rocks my literary world.
I have soooo much work to do
Guess I'd better go do it.
-Ally
posted by Ally Carter at Tuesday, September 19, 2006
1 Comments:
So glad I'm not alone being challenged with bridge graphs. Ugh, they are the bane of my existence!
No sense in not admitting it - it's my weakest trait.
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