Heroes Season Two Backlash

It has disturbed me of late to read the fairly staunch criticisms of the second season of Heroes.
Having watched just over half the Generations, eleven-episode, mini-arc, I have to say that I'm impressed.

Inevitably, there's going to be some 'second album syndrome', with such a landmark excellent sci-fi series but go easy folks and put the knives way, okay?

It's fair to say that season two doesn't quite have the sheer engrossing characteristics of its predecessor but it's compelling viewing in spite of that. It's worth remembering that season one of Heroes was just that - it's first outing. No one knew what to expect (let's face it, shows like Mutant X and Birds of Prey didn't exactly colour the superhero sci-fi sub genre in glory - bring back Condorman is what I say...) and the thrill of the new and exciting should not be overlooked.

What made the first season of Heroes so good was the fact that the 'heroes' were characters first and powers second. The gritty, real-world milieu and exotic international flavour made it like nothing else on the market. It was just good old fashioned drama with a wonderfully fantastical plot line running through it (kind of like what made BSG so popular, albeit in a pure sci-fi context). I'm sure the nods and winks to the graphic novel formula were appreciated too.

My question is, what's changed? It's still gritty, the characters are still great and the international flavour is as pleasantly pungent as ever. I also really like the fact that the characters are developing within their arcs, even as new protagonists are introduced (Sylar with no powers is great and Peter's storyline is equally compelling). The muscle memory girl is great, as is West's growing relationship with Clare and HRG's slow descent into damnation. Okay, so I'm not so keen on the Mexicans, there's some pretty ropey Irish accents and Hiro's stay in feudal Japan was overlong to say the least, but these are tiny ticks on the coat of an otherwise shiny beast.

Lay off Heroes or otherwise (Writer's Strike not withstanding - still no end in sight, by the way...) it might not come back at all. Then who's going to be crying into their Lucky Charms?

Synopsis Writing

Engaged in a little synopsis writing today for my upcoming new novel, I got to thinking about the process of constructing synopses and their importance in the creative evolution of a novel.

First and foremost, synopsis writing is a skill and a tough one at that. Not everyone has a flair for it and most would be advised to train themselves how to write a good synopsis. Books like The Writer's Little Helper, Plot and Structure and Characters and Viewpoint (all excellent Writer's Digest books) are all exceptionally useful in this regard and come highly recommended.

Writing a synopsis is all about balance; you want to say enough to make your story sound exciting but not so much that the editor/publisher reading it feels like they're trudging through the entirety of the novel. Be succinct and explain events and characters simply. Use detail where it's particularly relevant for some big reveal or key aspect of the plot or piece of character development. Keep control of it. Synopses (like blog posts, coincidentally) have a habit of getting out of control if you let them. A good piece of advice is to try and think about your plot in three acts. Act One is the set up where the characters and situation are introduced; Act Two is when you introduce the complication that your characters must overcome in the novel (there could be several but generally this is when the conflict happens); and Act Three is the resolution of the conflict created by the complication and the characters overcoming it. Add in subplots pertaining to character and the story, and you've pretty much got yourself a synopsis.

If you tackle it simply at first, applying a 'skeleton' approach to writing (just go for bullet points with what happens in each chapter that's of particular note and moves the plot along) then add the flesh to the bones later on once you've got your frame work. This way you'll be disciplined not to go off on tangents, adding lots of unnecessary material that is best explored whilst writing. Remember, writing is an organic process. The synopsis is your map so you don't get lost, but by the same token it isn't your rulebook (more like a guide).

When considering your synopsis and, indeed, your plot in detail, ask yourself two things: 1, Does what I'm writing develop the characters? and 2, Does it develop the plot? If it doesn't do either of these things it's padding - excise it with all haste!

Sticking to these rough and ready rules should assist any would-be plotter with writing a coherent and working synopsis that accurately and adequately represents their novel in its best possible light.

Something else to bear in mind, too, is what kind of book are your writing. There are many theories on this, but I favour the MICE method of quantifying, with M representing Milieu, I Idea, C Character and E Event. A more thorough examination of these story 'types' can be found in Characters and Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card, but I'll be brief here. Milieu is a story where the environment is the most important fact (i.e. world-building fiction such as The Lord of the Rings); the Idea story is one that concerns itself with the situation and will usually be riddled with cunning twists. Murder mysteries and caper stories tend to follow this structure (Lee Child does this particularly well in his books); Character stories are obviously narratives in which the character is paramount and Event stories are those in which there's some kind of imbalance in the world that the central characters are striving to put right. Okay, so the explanations are cursory at best (I'd recommend researching these) but the point is, know what type of story you're telling and fashion your synopsis appropriately so that it comes across.

I find synopsis writing particularly useful from a creative standpoint. Whilst engaged in the action of effectively piecemealing my narrative, I get into the writing 'zone' and start to imagine lines of dialogue, cute little tricks that I can pull and, sometimes, entire scenes. I write all of these down in the relevant chapter precis and save this 'director's cut' in a separate file, excising this extraneous material for the editor. Then, when I have synopsis approval, I go back to my extended cut and use it to inspire and inform me whilst writing. So, I actually get two versions of every synopsis I write; a writer's and an editor's.

The Hard Way

A few weeks ago I promised a review of the latest book I'd been reading, The Hard Way. Well, here it is.

Another Jack Reacher thriller from the genre-winning Lee Child, this time our transient hero is hired to look into the kidnapping of an ex-special forces commander, Lane. Being forced to play nice with the rest of Lane's mercenaries (all ex-special forces with bad records), Reacher isn't exactly thrilled. Throughout the course of his investigation into the kidnap of Lane's second wife and their young daughter the ex-MP begins to turn up a whole host of incongruities that make him think there's more to the situation that was first made apparent.

I'll not spoil the twists and turns of the plot here (there's a doozy of a twist, though), suffice it to say they're pretty myriad. This is one of those books where, upon analysis, not a lot actually happens, but it is such a page turner. With more chapters than any other Child novel I have read, I got through this very fast. There are cliffhangers at every time as you follow Reacher's investiagtion, putting together the clues and cycling through the evidence with him. More than once, Reacher's, and my, assumptions were turned on their head toi dramatic effect. There's a predictable, but exciting, showdown at the end of what is a great piece of genre fiction with clever story telling and juxtaposition as always.

Particular note goes to Child's handling of the scenes in Britain (much of the final third takes place in London and Norwich), making them sound alien to Reacher but oddly familiar at the same time (Child is a British export who writes in the US).

Not Child's best book to date (that goes to his authorial debut, The Killing Floor), but The Hard Way is a great thriller in it's own right.

Star Dust

It's an all-out movie fest for me, lately. Kicking off with the tense and darkly satisfying 30 Days of Night (my review of which you can find in the blog archives), I followed up with Star Dust.

This is the fairy tale fantasy based on the book of the same name by Terry Gilliam.

I'll be honest, I wasn't that motivated to go and see this movie at the cinema (consigning it to my 'must rent on DVD' pile in my head), but I was outvoted by Louise (the missus) and our friends, Mike and Laura. Expectations suitably lowered, I settled in for a couple of hours of mediocre entertainment. Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised.

What you've got with Star Dust is a nice old-fashioned fairy tale, with some decent jokes and the odd flutter of aspirant epic fantasy-hood. At times, buoyed by a rousing and dramatic soundtrack with some stunning scenery, Star Dust borders on the magnificent, only to return to the more Brother's Grimm-esque (I'm referring to the actual fair tales here - not the Walt Disney ones by the way - and not the diabolical movie of the same name) comfort zone established in its colourful opening.

The story is a simple one, as befits the somewhat parochial fantasy milieu; our young hero, Tristran Thorne (Charlie Cox), hoping to win the heart of his true love, Victoria (Sienna Miller), goes on a quest beyond 'The Wall' (effectively, the prosaic inter-dimensional gate between 'England' and the fantasy world of 'Stormhold') to claim a falling star for his beloved. Various complications are thrown into his path in the form of Lamia (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) a witch hellbent of getting the star for herself in order to prolong her unnatural youth and Septimus (played by Mark Strong), an evil prince desperately seeking an amulet in the star's possession that will guarantee his ascension to the throne to become king of all 'Stormhold'. Chief amongst all of these 'distractions' is the fact that the falling star actually comes in the form of a beautiful girl, Yvaine (played by Claire Danes) and, low and behold, Tristran, throughout the course of the film, discovers that it is not Victoria he truly loves (as she does return his feelings, but is a tad more materialistic) but Yvaine. There are a good spattering of chase scenes, witty banter and one-liners and the odd sword fight to keep the interest going (there's a veritable 'who's who' of British comedians in the form of Septimus's ghostly brothers that occasionally steal the show - Mark Williams as the man-goat, Billy, is also worthy of a mention). It's a kind of paint by the numbers, coming of age story that has shades of Time Bandits about it.

Hats go off to a stellar cast with notable performances by Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil witch Lamia but props to Robert DeNiro as the 'fruity' Captain Shakespeare (let's just say you'll never watch Raging Bull or Taxi Driver in the same way again...). There are also some great cameos from Peter O'Toole and Ricky Gervais (who pretty much acts like himself, but is amusing none-the-less) and Dexter Fletcher. Sir Ian McKellen is wonderful as the narrator, too.

Star Dust is a lot of fun with a nice tone that'll please most cinema goers. It's not exactly rip-roaring epic material, nor it is laugh out loud hilarious, but it's a nice, feel good movie and a welcome, pleasant distraction. Recommended.

Beowulf in 3D!

I was lucky enough, earlier this week, to get into a free preview showing of the new CGI movie Beowulf.

I confess to only a passing knowledge of the epic saga but even so, as as a fan of all things fantasy, I was intrigued so went along.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the movie was in 3D! The last time I saw a movie in 3D was Tron or Jaws, and let's face it, since the 80's, it's not exactly a format that's particularly in vogue.

Times have changed in the 3D forum, though, it seems as in place of the cardboard glasses replete with red and blue lens (worn over conventional glasses, it's not a good look) was a new 'REALD' pair akin to something to cheap sunglasses than retro 3D specs. My intrigue increased.

So, the film. The CG was incredible; very, very life like, if slightly redolent of something at the highest end of the Xbox or PS3 video game market. The 3D was simply wonderful (a novelty, I daresay, but an engrossing one at that). What I liked about it was the fact that the 3D element was prevalent throughout with wonderful multi-layered backgrounds and scenes, together with the obligatory 'spear coming out of the screen-type' scenes. Dust storms, fire, barren forests and ocean waves washed over me as I was gripped to my seat.

The story was enjoyable, too. Abridged for sure, and Grendal itself looked a little odd (and not in a good way) but breathtaking, too.

Let's be fair here, Beowulf isn't high-art but it's fine entertainment none-the-less (and worthy of a DVD purchase, I might add - let's hope there's some kind of 3D option...). The fights are exciting (look out for the awesome dragon towards the end), the narrative occasionally poignant and the performances strong, too (even Ray Winstone's monosyllabic Beowulf).

Of course, the fact that it was free was just a real bonus, though I can say that I would've paid to watch this movie. Try and get to a 3D showing if you can, as it makes the experience all that more enjoyable (oh, and I'm not just referring to the scenes with Angelina Jolie as Grendal's temptress mother here, either...).

With a fine score to boot (one for my writing archives, perhaps), Beowulf is a great way to spend just under two hours and should appear to fans of the genre and popcorn crunchers in general.

Writer's Strike

I've been reading more about the Hollywood Writer's Strike today and woe is me that it seems all my favourite shows are going to be affected in some way. So that's a curtailed season of Heroes, Prison Break, Lost and 24. I'm not sure I can take it!

I'm honestly not sure where I stand on the whole issue, either. I sympathise with the writers as 4 cents a DVD seems like pretty small change compared to the mark-up that the studios/distributors and whoever make. Is another 4 cents really that monumental? Shouldn't we, as a culture, reward creativity? After all, if it weren't for the writers then no show - as is being amply demonstrated.

As a fan, though, I'm gutted and just want the talented US writers top up pens again and get creating. There's so much great drama that has come out of the US and imported over to us here in Blighty that maybe they do deserve a pay-rise. Particularly considering that TV shows now get budgets and have production values akin to most movies. The quality has clearly increased, the viewers have increased, sales have increased, so why not pay? As an equation, it is seriously out of balance.

It does always seem that the writer is the one that always seems to lose out and doesn't really get paid a fraction of what they should do (as originator). We should value our writers more, laud then even. One can only hope this happens very soon and that the writer's start doing what they do best again - write!

30 Days of Night

One of the reasons I've not blogged this weekend was because I was at the flicks. Film is a big passion of mine and I'm also partial to a graphic novel as well. The movie I went to see, 30 Days of Night combined both these mediums nicely, so it seemed like the perfect film for me.

Making well-known, if slightly cult in tone, graphic novels into films seems to be all the rage at the moment. You've got to look at far as Frank Miller's 300 for a recent example and Sin City a couple of years prior to that. I'm a fan of both of those movies; whether it's the noirish stylings of Sin City, replete with gore and tin-pot philosophy or the brutal and otherworldly 300, replete with gore and enough machismo to turn the average Mardi Gras straight (well, maybe...).

30 Days of Night isn't a Miller incarnation this time, though, but it does have the requisite gore in common with the aforementioned titles. Written by Steve Niles, essentially, it's a vampire movie - a pretty bold choice of subject matter given the dirge the horror sub-genre is currently experiencing - and a damn good one at that.

Set in the town of Barrow on the northern most point of the North American continent, the premise is relatively simple. Due to their global position, every year Barrow experiences a month of darkness (30 days in fact, hence the title). A group of blood sucking vampires (these guys are scary as hell in this movie and just a tad screwed up) decide to take advantage of this fact by first sending a human thrall to sabotage the town's communications in during the last hours of daylight in anticipation of their invasion and then attack he helpless town, cut off from anyone else, to enjoy a nice human banquet. It's then up to the human inhabitants to try and survive the month.

The vampires are absolutely savage, nothing like the suave of a dreary Anne Rice adaptation but not as bestial as Dracula's alter-egos as played so well by Gary Oldman in the Bram Stoker version . There's a certain wrongness about them and their attacks, preceded immediately by an unearthly scream, are just terrifying. The sense that they are in fact an entirely different species is well conveyed and compounded by the vampires only speaking in their own depraved language and even then only by their more human-looking leader.

Some of the scenes are breathtaking (watch out for an aerial shot lasting about five minutes that pans over part of the town as the battle for survival is unfolding) and the tension is full on. There are nods to the graphic novel format in places but these aren't intrusive and are actually pretty nice to see. It doesn't mess about either. Segues from one scene to the next are dealt with quickly so that the narrative is kept fresh and constantly on the move.

I'd highly recommend it.

As well as enjoying the film, the way that it was handled from a structural point of view was very interesting, particularly the short, scene setting segues used to move the narrative along. There's a lesson to be learned from a writing point of view in there, somewhere - I'm sure of it.

25 words

After a brief blog break over the weekend, I'm back in the saddle.

It's been an interesting week so far (and only one day in!).

Currently, I'm working on the chapter-by-chapter breakdown from my new novel. I can't reveal any details yet but the honing is taking up what little free time I do have, so it means I'm behind with Wyrd Dreams. Originally, I'd planned to write out the entire thing and release it gradually. I'll still probably do the latter (once a week, perhaps) but instead of waiting until I've finished it I might post as I've written significant sections. Stay tuned for further developments.

Synopses are top of my agenda at the moment. It's a tricky business writing one as it has to convey everything that's cool and interesting about your story and characters in relatively few words. A lot of aspiring authors struggle with them; they really do. Honing your mind and being so ruthless with your words that only the most important, the most salient, make it through is a worthwhile skill to get to grips with.

One particular exercise I'd recommend in this regard is writing a short, short story. I'm talking 25 words short. Another one of my activities today was to write such a story. It's for a semi-secret project that I'll be able to reveal in the fullness of time (together with posting the actual story I penned here on my blog). Suffice it to say that it really clears your mind of the extraneous bumpf that inevitably comes with writing and enables you to almost surgically
get to the point (ironic, given that I'm talking about conciseness in this blog but hey-ho).

Personally, I found my language became more terse and direct. The words had a sharper, more intense energy that they might not have possessed otherwise. As far as an exercise in writing concisely yet conveying the maximum information is concerned, this is a good one. Every single word takes on incredibly significance and it made me pay much more attention to them. That's the thing about words, you can easily take them for granted. My advice? Don't. Treat them with care and know when your using them.

I have to admit, when I first thought about the 25 word story idea I was dubious. I've realised the error of my ways. So much so, in fact, that I'd actually like to write some more...

New Project

Just a quick post today as I'm being aggravated by a painful headache.

I'm currently in the process of planning my third novel for Bl, following hot on the heels (well, tepid to be honest) of Oathbreaker.

I'm not at liberty to reveal any further details yet but I can say that it involves dwarfs but isn't a direct sequel to Oathbreaker.

More soon...